Fade to Black

by Unknown

  Song after song, she captured the tiny faces that seemed to adore Rich. It wasn’t a side of him she’d seen before; a side that endeared him to her. He was tender with the little ones, playing whatever song they requested.

  “Mr. Spencer! Mr. Spencer!” A teeny little thing with blonde pigtails waved her hand from her wheelchair.

  Rich stopped the concert and turned to her. “What is it, sweetheart?”

  Kate zoomed in on her face, forever preserving her dark lashes that briefly hid her big blue eyes for only a moment. “Mr. Spencer, would it be okay if I sat next to you?” Giggles dotted the room and she ducked her head, embarrassed.

  His cheeks tinged with a yummy shade of pink as he stood and walked over to her. The little girl’s mother nodded and Rich bent down, resting one knee on the ground in front of her. “What’s your name?”

  “Sami.”

  “Well, Sami, I’ll let you sit by me if you’ll do one favor for me.” Her little head bobbed up and down. “See that lady over there?” He pointed at Kate.

  Sami’s wide eyes blinked as she looked at Kate. “Um hum, she’s pretty.”

  “Yes, she is,” Rich agreed. The color rose in Kate’s cheeks now. She pushed the record button and the red light went off. There was no sense recording this. His smile told her that he knew exactly how uncomfortable she was, and that he was enjoying it. “Do you think you could help make her jealous?”

  Sami giggled. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  They both looked at Kate, and she lowered the camera from her shoulder, unsure of why she was so intrigued by what his answer would be. Rich smiled. “No, but she does mean a lot to me.” Kate didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until it all flew out of her lungs in a whoosh.

  “Mr. Spencer.” The little girl held up one finger and motioned for him to come closer. He did and she kissed him on the cheek. She giggled and looked at Kate. “Did it work, are you jealous, Miss Callahan?”

  Kate sat the camera down on the floor and walked over to where the two of them were and crouched down. “Horribly jealous.” Kate winked at the precious little girl.

  Sami clapped her hands and chanted, “Kiss him! Kiss him!” Within seconds, the whole room echoed with the phrase. “Kiss him! Kiss him!” Every child trying to out scream the one next to him. “Kiss him! Kiss him!”

  Rich stood, offered Kate his hand and pulled her to his chest. “Well, Miss Callahan, what are you going to do? You’d hate to disappoint all these children.”

  She tipped her head to the side and looked into his darkening blue eyes. “You did this on purpose.”

  He feigned offense. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Kiss him! Kiss him!”

  She grabbed his chin and turned his head, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Closing her eyes, Kate puckered her lips and leaned on her tiptoes to peck his cheek. Rich’s arms tightened around her and when her lips met his skin, it wasn’t the rough, stubbly cheek she’d expected. Her eyes popped open in surprise and she gasped into his mouth, tasting him.

  Their audience applauded and whistled.

  He looked down at her and his eyes reflected the conflict she felt. “I’m sorry, Kate.” His voice was quiet, barely a whisper. “I shouldn’t have done that. Let’s wrap this up so we can talk, okay?” He released his hold on her and leaned down to the little blonde who was bouncing in her wheelchair. “Come on, princess,” he said as he unlocked the wheels and pushed her over to his chair.

  Once they were seated, the dark-haired woman stepped up to the front and the children groaned. “It’s time for our last song. Mr. Spencer, do you know ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’?”

  “Sure do,” Rich said.

  Kate picked up the camera and began rolling again. The melody filled the air, pushing all thoughts of Rich out of her head, replacing them with Jesse—and a lot of guilt.

  Rich’s lips on hers shouldn’t have made her toes tingle. His scent shouldn’t have made her breath catch in her throat. The taste of him shouldn’t have caused her legs to feel like they were made of Jell-O, and talking about any of those reactions wouldn’t do anything but add to her already confused feelings.

  The group finished singing, a few of the mothers wiped tears from their eyes, but instead of capitalizing on their grief, Kate turned the camera off and sat it on the floor then slumped down into a chair.

  Emotionally she felt like she’d been through the wringer, even without Rich’s kiss. Seeing all the children in varying degrees of illness was painful to witness. Then Rich stepped in to play the guitar, and made little Sami’s day. Kate sighed. All of it only made Kate even more confused.

  Confusion was dangerous.

  Her stomach flipped as she thought about the conversation that Rich wanted to have.

  “Let’s grab a few soundbites and get out of here,” Rich said softly. She looked up, expecting to see him gloating, but his face was contrite, his eyes pained. He frowned. “Kate, please say something.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Kate, Rich, I can’t thank you enough for saving the day,” Rhonda rushed up to them.

  Rich smiled at her. “You’re very welcome. I’m glad that we could be part of this great day. I hope we can come back next year. If it’s okay, we’d like to interview a few of the kids.”

  “Oh, sure. Sami, would you like to be on TV?”

  Within half an hour, they’d wrapped up the interviews and were in the car with an excruciating silence dragging on between them. Rich stared out the windshield, not even looking at Kate.

  When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she cleared her throat. He still didn’t look at her. “Rich, did I do something wrong?”

  “No,” he grunted.

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “No.”

  “Rich, what the hell is your deal? You kiss me like that…” She couldn’t stop the sigh, remembering what it felt like to have his lips on hers. “Please say something, even if I have to tell you not to say things like that.”

  He closed his eyes and opened them again slowly, his chest expanded with a deep breath. “Kate, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, you deserve better.”

  So maybe he didn’t feel that way about her anymore. Maybe the kiss was just some kind of sick joke to make the kids laugh.

  “It’s okay. At least the children found it humorous, right? We both know it didn’t mean anything.”

  His face didn’t register any emotions, nor did his voice. “Kate, I…” he paused, still not looking at her. He blew out a controlled breath. “I…I’m sorry.”

  The story turned out really good. Kate had proven to be Rich’s equal; getting the ‘money shots’. As much as he hated the story revolving around him saving the day, he loved the stuff with little Sami.

  Sitting in the photographer’s lounge with his head resting against the wall, Rich closed his eyes and tried not to think about what had happened only hours before. Having Kate’s lips on his…. Just the thought of it caused his heart to race and his lungs to stop breathing. The way she tasted. He groaned. Flipping open his phone, he dialed the familiar number and waited for the answer.

  “Rich?”

  He knew that since Nate had been assigned to Clayton, there wouldn’t be listening ears while he was in his vehicle. Clayton always insisted on driving himself to the story. None of them ever knew why, but it saved the sanity of the photographer, that was for sure.

  “You gonna be back soon?” His voice was a pathetic whisper.

  “Yeah. You okay?”

  Rich groaned. “Kate kissed me today.”

  “What? Dude, that’s so great…and so bad.”

  “I know.” His response only validated the fact that Rich was a selfish jerk. “Do you have time to get a drink tonight? I really need some girly, share your feelings, time.”

  Nate laughed. “You got it, man. Lemme call Roxy and tell her I’ll be with you for a bit tonight.”

  �
��Please tell me you’re not discussing all this with her.”

  “No. Claudia explained to me how important it was that you have a confidant. She told Rox that if I was with you, she couldn’t ask questions. Roxy’s cool. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  Since apologizing to Kate, he’d tried to avoid her, but it was proving to be difficult. Her determination was quickly becoming her only annoying trait. She wouldn’t let it go.

  Through the windows that surrounded the photographer’s lounge, he could see that she was heading toward him. The internal tug-of-war began; his heart told him to stay while his head screamed at him to protect her and run.

  “Rich,” she whispered as she walked slowly around the corner. Her beautiful eyes glistened and her gorgeous, full lips were pulled into a worried line. “Can we talk?”

  He wanted to jump out of the chair, pull her into his arms, and talk to her about everything. Everything. His lips longed to kiss her again, a real kiss, one that could unleash all the passion he felt for her, removing any doubts she had about how he truly felt for her.

  Instead he managed a controlled rise out of the chair and buried his head in his lock-up cabinet. “Um…I really can’t…uh, talk…right now. I’m supposed to…”

  “Rich. Kate.”

  His head jerked up and slammed into the top of the cabinet, stars streaked across his vision. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath as he rubbed a hand over the sensitive spot.

  Dale smiled. “You okay, Rich?”

  “Yeah, no blood.” Rich smiled at Kate as they both remembered her overreaction the last time he had a head wound.

  She rolled her eyes, unamused, and looked over at Dale.

  “I just wanted to tell you two how great your story was. The best one I’ve ever seen. Quite emotional.” He shook his head. “Rich, you with that little girl was fantastic.”

  “Thanks,” Rich mumbled, embarrassed.

  Dale laughed. “I’ve decided there’s only one word to describe the way you two are.” Kate and Rich looked at each other and then back at Dale. “Perfection. You are perfect together.”

  Rich choked on his saliva at Dale’s response. His hand flew to his throat and the coughing continued while he tried to breathe easily. His eyes watered as they met Kate’s, which quickly filled with tears.

  “Thanks, Dale. Excuse me, I really need to get home.” And with that, she turned on her heel and rushed out the back doors.

  Rich forced his knee to the ground and resisted the urge to run after her, to explain. Of course she’d misinterpreted what had happened; he’d been deadly silent, then nearly choked to death. He’d have seen it as rejection if the roles had been reversed. At least that’s what he hoped she thought, and not that the idea of them being perfect disgusted her.

  Dale meant that they were a good team, that they worked well together. Perfectly. Rich agreed with him. They were perfect. We are perfect.

  “Is she okay?” Dale asked, pulling Rich out of his thoughts. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” Hoped she was.

  “Okay then, you have a good night.” He walked back toward his office and Rich sunk into a chair, resting his head in his palms, to wait for Nate.

  “Dude, what’s up with Kate?” Nate was standing right next to Rich. “She’s out in her car, crying. What the hell happened?”

  “She’s crying?” Rich really wanted to rush out to her and kiss her tears away, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t do that to her. This would be for the best…until he could always be the man to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. He ached to be that man. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Rich, are you going to bother to fill me in?” Nate’s normally calm demeanor was on the verge of frantic. “Did you make her cry? I thought…”

  “Just get your stuff. We’ll talk about this at Fuzzy’s.” Rich secured his lock-up cabinet, grabbed the few things he needed to take with him, and started for the door…only to stop and turn around. “Um…”

  “Oh, good hell!” Nate pushed past him, exasperated by the whole situation and the fact that he was still in the dark. “I’ll make sure the coast is clear.” Nate opened the door and stepped outside. “We’re clear,” he mocked in a voice straight out of an old James Bond flick.

  Rich rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you there in a few.”

  His mind raced as he drove the few minutes to the bar. It sucked to live in a world where choices actually had consequences. He wanted nothing more than to hold Kate in his arms, to continue his declarations, to slowly whittle away at the hold Jesse had on her heart. But he couldn’t.

  The phone in his hand beeped with a text message. His heart jumped in hopes that it would be Kate trying to open the line of communication that he’d successfully managed to cut. He flipped it open and frowned.

  Do I need to worry about Sami too?

  She’s a little young.

  Don’t you think?

  He closed the phone with a snap and tossed it on the seat next to him where it would stay until he was done speaking with Nate. Even if Kate did call, he needed to keep his head clear while talking things out.

  Nate pulled into the parking lot behind Rich and parked two spaces down. They walked into the bar and found a table near the back. Luckily, the whole place was pretty deserted, just what Rich needed to discuss what was going on in his head—and his heart.

  They sat down and Fergie came over to take their order, then left. Nate waited patiently while Rich picked peanuts from the bowl on the table. When the silence was too much for him, he cleared his throat. “What happened?”

  Rich took a swig of his drink, a deep breath, and then relayed the events of the afternoon; the guitar, the sing-a-long, Sami, and the kiss.

  “Wow, she really kissed you, huh?”

  Rich nodded, fighting between elation and abhorrence.

  Nate laughed. “I’ll bet Jesse would love that.” His eyes flashed and he smiled. “How was it?” His question caught Rich by surprise, causing him to laugh, and he threw a peanut at Nate, who dodged so that the nut hit the wall behind him.

  “Here’s the problem, Nate.” Rich pulled the conversation back into the realm of seriousness. “I don’t want anyone to blame Kate for my divorcing Shea.”

  Nate burst out in laughter and slapped the table with his hand. “Are you kidding? Anyone who knows Shea won’t question why you divorced her. Most people wonder why you’ve waited for so damn long.”

  “I don’t want Shea to blame Kate.”

  Another bark of laughter. “If Shea doesn’t blame Kate, she’ll blame someone else. She certainly won’t blame herself and all her twisted antics.” Nate shook his head and took a drink. “Look, Rich, I get wanting to protect Kate from Shea. But I really don’t think you have to worry that anyone else will blame Kate.”

  Rich’s lips pulled into a tight smile. “Dale said we were perfect together.”

  Nate’s eyes widened and he lifted an eyebrow. “Is that what had Kate crying?”

  Rich ran his fingers through his hair, pulling just a little to torture himself. “Well, when he said we were perfect…I choked.” Nate laughed. “Yeah, a whole choking fit, actually. I’m afraid Kate might have misinterpreted my reaction. I couldn’t agree more with Dale, but I have to be careful how close I get to Kate. Do you think…”

  When Rich didn’t continue, Nate asked, “Do I think what?”

  “I’m going to ask Jordan to have you start working with Kate. Would that be okay?”

  His brows pulled together in confusion. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “I can’t trust myself with her. Today proved that.” He shoved frustrated fingers through his hair. “If she’s with you, I’ll know that you can watch out for her.”

  “Of course, but will Dale go for it? I mean, he just told you that you’re perfect together. Do you really think he’s going to want to break up a winning team?” Dimples developed on his cheeks. “I kinda doubt it
.” He paused. “But, if you can swing it, I’ll work with her for you.”

  “Thanks. If you see Shea anywhere near her, you have to call Claudia right away. Don’t even bother calling me. You call her first, do you understand me?” Rich didn’t like the vulnerability or the panic in his voice, but Nate needed to understand the importance of the task he was being given.

  Nate nodded. “I understand, my man. I see Shea, I call Claudia. Got it.” He smiled and winked. “You talk to Dale and Jordan, and then let me know what you want me to do.” He stood and threw some cash on the table. “I’ve got to get home to Rox. You okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Rich extended his fist and Nate bumped his knuckles.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, my man.”

  Could Rich really go through with this? Could he not be close to Kate, stealing accidental touches, hearing her laugh?

  Before even turning on the car, he checked his messages. Of course he had text messages.

  Are you coming home?

  He deleted the message and moved to the next one.

  Where the hell are you?

  Please tell me that you’re not

  really with that CHILD.

  I was kidding before.

  Rich, are you?

  Call me!

  “Do you not know me at all?” he questioned the silence. Did she honestly think he was capable of that? He had definitely made the right decision in divorcing her. He deleted her disgusting message and moved on to message three. Probably another rant…

  Rich,

  What happened today?

  Please talk to me.

  The not knowing is killing me.

  Friends?

  Kate

  He could feel her emotions as she poured them into each letter of her message. He had hurt her, and hated himself. But things were better this way. Weren’t they?

  With every ounce of self control he could muster, Rich forced himself to turn off the phone and drop it into the passenger seat. He wouldn’t answer Kate’s questions. If it meant that she was safe, he would leave her alone.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kate rolled over and slapped the snooze button. The other side of the bed was cold, empty. Tony had taken a turn for the worst, and Jesse had insisted on staying with him a little longer. All the dates for him to return home had come and gone, and it was beginning to wear on Kate’s heart in a way she’d never expected. She needed him desperately.