by Mari Carr
“This job, the agency, all of it. I’m just so fucking tired.”
“Good.” He was surprised by the strength behind that single word. Before he could ask her what she meant, she continued to speak. “Do you need me to come there? I can miss a few days of work and catch the first flight out. I could be there by morning.”
Touched by her willingness to put everything aside for him, he shook his head before realizing she couldn’t see the gesture. “No. Wes will need to stay here for a couple more days and then they’ll transfer him via helicopter to the hospital over in Harrisburg so we can be closer to home. His leg is broken as well as his nose and a few ribs. With any luck, I’ll be home the day after tomorrow and we’ll both be back in the farmhouse to stay by Christmas.”
“Jill and I will put up a tree and decorate so Wes will have a nice place to come home to. We can even set up a bedroom for Wes on the ground floor, so he won’t have to deal with the stairs.”
Rick grinned, more than happy to let Kate take care of all the details. “That sounds perfect, Kate. Moving Wes’s bedroom downstairs is a good idea.”
“Don’t worry about anything, Rick. I’ll get Seth to help me start moving some of my stuff back over to Jill’s. Today’s Tuesday and I have to work this week, but I can probably have most of it out by Saturday.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Rick was upset by the thought of Kate’s sudden departure from his house and life.
“You’re coming home, Rick. That sort of alleviates the need for a house and dog-sitter.”
Spying an opportunity, Rick glanced back at the door of Wes’s hospital room and silently apologized to his friend for what he was about to do. “Actually, I need your help now more than ever.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll need help with Wes. He’s going to need care while he recuperates. I was hoping between the two of us, we could supply it.” A small thread of guilt permeated his conscience, since Rick knew the agency would offer to provide a nurse for Wes, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He wanted Kate in his home, his life and his bedroom, and if he had to tell a hundred little white lies to make that happen, he would. There was no way he was letting Kate get away.
“Oh my goodness. Of course I’ll stay and help. I wasn’t thinking. Are you sure you won’t mind having me under foot for a while?”
Rick wasn’t sure about the under foot part, but he sure as hell wouldn’t mind having her under another part of him. “I need you, Kate.” His exhaustion was getting the better of him, causing him to forget to shield his words. Luckily, Kate misunderstood his comment.
“Then I’ll stay. For Wes.”
Chapter 8
Kate ran through the house double-checking every room one more time. Rick had called earlier to say he was getting ready to leave the hospital in Harrisburg and should be home in an hour or so. She’d intended to leave work early today, but as it was the last day before the holiday break, friends and students delayed her with cards, gifts and well wishes for the season. Rex, in tune to her nervous excitement, finally frazzled her last nerve and she put him in the basement so she could finish making dinner without constantly tripping over him. Wes wasn’t coming home until late next week, just a couple days before Christmas Eve.
Anxious to make sure everything was perfect for Rick’s homecoming, Kate straightened the banner she and Jill had hung up yesterday afternoon. The words “Welcome Home” were emblazoned across it in bright red and green letters. Kate felt a bit like a teenage girl going on her first date, which she knew was ridiculous, but she couldn’t calm the butterflies twittering around in her stomach.
Ever since Rick’s midnight phone call she’d been plotting and planning for this evening. After months of fantasizing about the man, Kate had come to a decision.
She was going to seduce Rick McAllister.
The sum total of her sexual experience was wasted on Zack Summers and she had admitted as much to Jill a couple weeks ago over a bottle of wine. Jill had convinced her that being free didn’t mean being celibate and that Kate certainly needed to live a little. Kate had to agree that the bloom was off the rose as far as her vibrators were concerned and she was anxious to spread her wings a bit in the bedroom.
As far as Kate was concerned, she would have Rick all to herself for a week and she intended to make use of every minute. The man wouldn’t know what hit him by the time she was finished. Jill had laughed when she told her what she’d planned and then inundated her with suggestions, advice and an incredibly expensive trip to a lingerie store. Kate blushed to recall some of her uninhibited sister’s more risqué comments. When Kate began to get cold feet yesterday, Jill had suggested a trick.
“If you get nervous and find yourself drifting back into shy Kate mode, simply think about what I would do and do it.”
“Right,” Kate said, nodding her head enthusiastically. “What would Jill do? What would Jill do?”
“Well,” Jill laughed. “It sounds kind of sacrilegious when you say it that way.”
“And the things you just told me to do aren’t sacrilegious?”
“Oh heck, baby sister, one look at the new you and you won’t have to do a damn thing. He’ll be falling at your feet.”
Jill’s words had gone a long way toward reassuring her.
It took her nearly two hours to get ready, soaking in a long, hot bubble bath before taking special pains with her hair and makeup, doing it exactly the way Jill had shown her. She’d lost nearly twenty pounds since she last saw Rick and she was determined to show off her new figure. In addition to the lingerie, and as an early Christmas present to herself, she’d purchased a new red-silk blouse and short black-velvet skirt. She felt skinny and sexy in her new clothes and she couldn’t wait to see Rick’s reaction to the new Kate.
If she was successful in her scheming, Rick wouldn’t see just the new outfit, but the matching black bra and thong beneath.
It was hard to believe she and Rick had actually been in the same room together only once. Her obsession with him had grown as the months passed and she was amazed to see the difference less than a year could bring. During Rick’s eight-month absence, she’d transformed herself into a new, stronger version of herself. She could face herself in the mirror now and like what she saw. Through their emails and phone calls she’d begun to consider Rick one of her best friends. His compliments and kindness had carried her through more than a few rough nights when she’d felt like she’d die of loneliness or heartache.
A knock at the door caught her unaware.
That was a fast trip. Rushing to the front door, she paused with her hand on the knob, taking a steadying breath. “Breathe, Kate. It’s just Rick. You can do this.”
Opening the door wide, she was shocked to see not Rick, but Zack the Rat on the front porch.
“Katie.” He graced her with a charming smile that didn’t fool her for a minute.
“Zack, what are you doing here?”
“Is that any way to greet your husband?” His voice oozed false friendliness.
“Ex-husband and I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?” Kate was pleased with the steadiness of her voice. In the past, she’d let this creep run roughshod over her, but those days were over. She could tell Zack was taken aback by her new attitude.
“It’s the holidays, Lovekins, and I missed you. Thought I’d pay a visit. See how you’re doing. I thought you might be missing me too.” His lips formed a playful pout she found neither cute nor endearing.
“Yeah, well, next time call.” Then she reconsidered her words. “Actually, no, don’t call. I don’t miss you and I never will. Now I’m busy. Good night.” She attempted and failed to close the door before he managed to sneak a foot in. No doubt Zack had plenty of experience with doors slamming in his face. After all, he was a seedy lawyer who took great pride in robbing the rich and poor alike to fill his coffers.
“Katie, what’s gotten into you? I thought you’d be
glad to see me.”
“No, Zack, I’m not.” Kate tried to close the door despite his foot wedged in the way. Frankly she didn’t care if she broke the thing off if she could make him leave. Of all nights, he would show up tonight. Glancing over his shoulder, she was relieved to see Rick hadn’t arrived yet. “You left me, remember?”
The tug-of-war on the door ended when Zack finally managed to shove his way completely into the house and Kate felt her temper reach fever pitch.
“Get the hell out of here!” She was furious that Zack would attempt to muscle his way into a place where he so clearly was not wanted.
Zack looked behind her. “Where are your boyfriends?”
“Boyfriends?” She felt a bit stupid for responding to the shallow jerk and found herself wondering what on earth she’d ever seen in him. While the time apart had been good for her, Kate couldn’t help but feel a perverse satisfaction that the same didn’t appear to hold true for Zack. His expensive suit was wrinkled and beginning to show some wear and his usually immaculate hair looked greasy and in dire need of a good cut. His face was covered with much more than a five o’clock shadow. In fact, it didn’t look like he had shaved in days.
Moving closer, Zack reached his hand toward her face as if to touch her. Kate’s skin crawled at the thought and she smacked it away. She took a calming breath and repeated her request. “Go home, Zack. Go home to your girlfriend. You remember her? Soozan.”
“She threw me out,” Zack muttered. “Said I spent too much time with the boys. All she ever did was yell at me and nag. You never nagged me, Katie.”
“Yeah, well, I was wrong not to.”
“Oh no, Katie, you were the perfect wife. You never cared if I went out with the fellas and came home drunk. Soozan actually hid my car keys and this last time, she threw all my clothes out into the yard. Look at my suit, Katie! Do you know how much this cost?”
“Great,” Kate muttered. “I’m suddenly starting to respect Soozan. Zack, I hate to burst your bubble, but the reason I never nagged you is because I didn’t want you at home. You really do need to leave now.” Once again, Kate tried unsuccessfully to move Zack out the front door.
“Got nowhere to go,” he added. “This is a nice place. I always wondered what it looked like on the inside.” He started looking around the house.
“Go away, Zack. I’m busy and have absolutely no desire to sit around and rehash the good old days. Oh wait a minute, that’s right. There were no good old days.”
Hoping he would follow her lead, Kate moved back toward the door, but Zack halted her with a strong hand on her upper arm.
“Not so fast, Lovekins.” Kate caught a whiff of his breath as he spoke. Whiskey. So that was it. He was drunk.
“If you call me Lovekins one more time, I swear to God I will castrate you.”
“Okay, Sweetpea, okay. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I just wanted to talk to you. Are you alone?” Kate felt a cold chill creep down her spine at his question.
“Rick will be home any minute and as I said,” Kate shrugged Zack’s hand off her arm, “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Sure, Rick will be here any minute.” Zack drawled Rick’s name in a way that made Kate uncomfortable. “Talk around town is he’s out of the country.”
“He’s back now.” Kate didn’t like the way Zack was ogling her new outfit.
“Look at you.” Zack took a step back, looking her up and down. “You’ve changed, Katie. Nice, tight, firm body, new hairdo, badass attitude. This isn’t good, Katie. Not good at all. What happened to the sweet little girl I married?”
“She divorced you.” Kate’s voice was deadpan, but Zack didn’t seem to register her words at all.
“Nope, don’t like the look of this at all.” He grasped her hair, pulling several strands out of the braid.
“That’s funny.” Kate shoved his hands away. “I don’t remember asking your opinion. You have thirty seconds to get your ass out of here or I’m calling the cops.” With that, she moved toward Rick’s office and the phone. The longer Zack stayed, the more he said, the more he tried to touch her, the more uneasy she became. Zack had never raised a hand to hurt her before, but obviously her ex-husband had done quite a bit of changing in the past year as well. There was a hard edge to his face and his green eyes suddenly seemed cold as he looked at her like a starving dog drooling over a juicy bone. The thought brought to mind Rex. Damn it, she never shut the dog away before tonight and now, the one time she really needed his threatening presence, he couldn’t get to her.
“Oh no you don’t.” Zack grabbed her roughly. Kate didn’t have a chance to react before he threw her violently against the wall. Struggling to regain the breath he knocked out of her and process Zack’s anger, Kate stopped struggling and merely looked at the man she called husband for six years. Zack’s unleashed fury was evident and for the first time, Kate felt true fear in his presence.
“You think I don’t know all about you?” he taunted. “What do you think the guys at the bar are talking about these days?” He didn’t wait for a reply. “You. That’s what they’re talking about. You and this cozy little set-up you got going here. My wife playing house with two men.”
Kate was stunned speechless by the vehemence in his voice and she couldn’t begin to understand his anger. Clearly he was so inebriated he didn’t know what he was saying. Rick and Wes weren’t here and hadn’t been since she’d moved in.
Kate struggled to process Zack’s jealousy. He’d never paid two minutes of attention to her in years of marriage. Now he was here, ranting and raving about other men and calling her his wife just as she was picking up the pieces and moving on with her life. Besides, she hadn’t heard any nasty gossip from the town about her living at Wes and Rick’s farmhouse.
Of course, she was the last one to find out about Zack’s infidelity as well.
Zack’s voice quickly reverted back to his previously charming one before she could reply to his strange comments. Reaching out, he drew one finger down her cheek and the action caused a tremor of fear to rumble through her body again.
“You should have told me you wanted two men in your bed, Katie. Any one of my friends would have been happy to join us in our bedroom. Shit, I’d love to watch one of my friends fuck your ass while you suck me off, especially now that you’ve lost all that disgusting weight. All you had to do was ask.”
Revulsion at his words caused her stomach to lurch. “Get your filthy hands off me!” Her earlier strength was gone, replaced by confusion and disgust.
“My hands—filthy?” Zack snarled at her insult. Kate never saw it coming, but she felt the thousand pinpricks of pain his hard slap on her cheek initiated. Her head rolled to the side hard and only the wall at her back kept her standing.
“You’re the filthy bitch and don’t you ever forget it! You play Miss Sweet and Innocent with me then turn around and spread your legs for McAllister and Robson. Oh no, Katie. You owe me. Years of boring sex and now it’s payback time.”
As Zack grabbed her struggling hands, Kate was surprised to discover her ex-husband was so strong. The only lifting she ever saw him do was beer mugs in the bars. In the midst of her attempts to get free, Zack pulled on her new blouse. Kate cried out as the shirt ripped down the middle. Buttons fell onto the floor like raindrops and the sound of them hitting the hardwood woke up a demon in Kate. She knew she should be horrified by the situation, but her anger was definitely stronger than her fear and panic at the moment.
“You asshole!” She struck out at him with both fists.
“Why are you fighting me?” Zack’s grip on her shirt was relentless. “You’re my wife.”
“Are you delusional?” Kate screamed back. “We are divorced, Zack! Divorced!”
Her words failed to penetrate Zack’s whiskey-induced fervor as he tried to kiss her. Kate managed to elude his lips at the last minute, the smell of his rancid breath sending a wave of nausea through her stomach.
“Let
go of me.” She kicked out with her legs as he held her arms pinned tightly. Her knee connected with his balls and Zack howled with pain, but he still managed to hold her tight. Raising his arm, he slapped her again. Harder than the first time, even though she didn’t think that was possible. A metallic taste touched her tongue as she realized her lip was bleeding.
“My wife!” His hand reached out to pinch one of her nipples through her bra—hard. It hurt and Kate screamed at the top of her lungs. Rex, hearing her distress, started to bark loudly and she could hear the dog scratching and pawing at the basement door, desperate to get to her. She watched Zack glance nervously over his shoulder for the animal, but when he realized the dog wasn’t a threat, he turned back to her.
Before she realized his intent, Zack grabbed the hem of her skirt, yanking it up around her waist, revealing her new garters.
“Is this how your new boyfriends like you to dress?” Zack snarled as Kate continued to fight him off. Her sexy lingerie seemed to trigger his insane jealousy toward Rick and Wes yet again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She was breathless with her attempts to escape. “Let—me—go!”
Zack merely laughed at her request, scraping her neck with his teeth and biting her bare shoulder.
A deep voice from the doorway and the sound of a gun cocking stopped them both.
“I believe the lady made a request.” Rick’s gun was pointed steadily at Zack’s head. “I suggest you let her go.”
Zack seemed to consider Rick’s words and for a moment, Kate feared in his drunken stupor he wouldn’t stop and Rick would be forced to shoot him. Finally, after several tense moments, Zack dropped her arms. Kate scrambled to grasp the sides of her torn shirt together while trying to pull down her skirt at the same time.
“This is my house and Kate is my guest. You’re a lawyer.” Rick’s voice was laced with menace. “You know the law is on my side. I can shoot you for a trespasser or a thief and get away with it. Get out.”
His words were so soft Kate could barely hear them over the incredible thundering of her heart and her struggles to catch her breath.