“It’s okay.” He could feel the tension within her as she shook in his arms. You’re okay, I’m here. Gently he stroked her hair and back until the sobbing ceased. Only when she lifted her face did he break the silence.
Normally he wouldn’t have even entered the room, knowing a woman was crying. Katherine wasn’t just any woman, and he not only willingly entered the room, but he truly wanted to console her, take her pain away. When did I start to care? Drew wasn’t able to pinpoint the exact moment, but something about her made him forget all his rules of engagement. Damn. He was about to become personally involved. Something he had been able to avoid most of his adult life. Is that why my dad had pulled away? So he didn’t have to deal with anything real?
The first thing he needed to do was gather the required information, from there he was confident he would be able to provide a simple solution, and they could move on. Please don’t be crying because of something I said or did. Nothing came immediately to mind, but that didn’t mean anything. He wasn’t known for being the most sensitive guy. Maybe she got a call while I was out? It was possible she had received some devastating news. Was not knowing better than knowing? Whatever it was, he was certain she shouldn’t have to go through it alone. Opening this door was as good as saying he was going to be there for her. I hope I don’t regret this.
“Tell me what happened? Why were you crying?”
She pulled her T-shirt up to wipe her tear-streaked face. With a heavy sigh she replied, “Drew, you didn’t come all the way to California to hear my problems.”
You’re right about that. “Does it matter why I came? I am here now and willing to listen.” He wanted to shut his mouth, but the words flowed out anyway. And the worst part? He meant them.
Katherine lifted a framed picture so he could see what she’d been clutching. He took it from her and looked more closely, noticing it was her in her Marine dress uniform. Drew had never found a woman in uniform sexy, but this was his one and only exception. There was another woman in the picture in civilian clothes who appeared slightly younger.
“This was taken when I received my nursing degree. That was my younger sister.”
Was? He could only assume she had died, but looking at the picture again, the girl couldn’t be more than twenty-five. She offered him the opportunity to leave earlier. Was it too late to take her up on her offer?. Everything in Drew demanded him to focus. Think. This conversation was about to turn heavy. Get up, get out, and run like hell, Drew. “Tell me about her.” He wondered when his brain disengaged from his mouth. It seemed when he was with Katherine the words flowed without a filter. He was going to need to work on fixing that issue. Later.
Katherine, staring off into the distance, let out a heavy sigh. Was he wrong for asking? It really wasn’t his business. Obviously it was extremely personal, and he knew he didn’t appreciate people asking him personal questions. Her expression wasn’t one of anger, more of utter sadness. If he was right in his assumption, and he normally was, there was good reason for her to feel this way. All he could do was be there for her now, not rush her. And then I’ll leave.
Drew recalled the time after his friend Brad’s death five years ago that, no matter what else was going on around him, he’d felt as though he’d been in a vacant space—just him and his loss. Though Brad and he were as close as brothers, they were only friends. To lose a sibling, especially one so young, probably left a void no one could fill.
When she finally spoke, her voice was nothing but a whisper. “She was so full of life. If we went anywhere, she was the first one people noticed. Her smile brightened every room she entered.”
Quietly, he sat by her listening. He had so many questions, but this time was hers, time to remember the good and the bad. No words would change what she felt deep within. There are some things you have to go through alone. This was one of them. All he could offer her was some TLC while she relived it.
“Do you know who she reminds me of?”
Drew shook his head. Since he hadn’t met her it was difficult to compare her to anyone. He chose not to make his normal sarcastic remarks. Not now. Not today.
Katherine continued. “Jill. That’s who.” A small smile crossed her face ever so briefly then disappeared just as quickly. “I guess that’s why I am struggling with all these emotions again right now. With Jill spending the night here last weekend it . . .well, it reminded me . . .” After a long pause she said, “It reminded me of how things were before my sister got sick.”
Reaching out, he took her right hand in his, stroking it gently. “I’m sorry, Katherine.” The words seemed too simple, but they were all he had to offer.
Katherine forced a smile and said, “I don’t know what came over me. It has been two years since she has been gone, and this morning when I woke and the house was so . . . empty. I lost it like it had happened just yesterday.”
He felt like a jerk for slipping out quietly and taking her dog with him. It had been thoughtless of him. He hadn’t even left a note. I never leave a note. That was because what he normally shared with other women served its purpose but was shallow. Most times he didn’t even call or see them again. His feelings, though not yet clear, were very different for Katherine. And considering how she was sharing with him, opening up, she must have felt something as well. “I’m sorry, Katherine. I didn’t want to wake you.” Lame excuse.
“Really, I appreciate you taking Blossom for her morning run.”
Run? Blossom? He looked at her, her ears perked up, then she turned away looking guilty. Yeah, you played me this time. What was he thinking? Like there is going to be a next time. He wanted, no needed, to get back on track. Being here was only going to make things more difficult. Yes, they had a connection of some sort, but eventually it would fade and they could go back to their normal lives. “Why don’t you take a shower, and we’ll get out of here for a while.”
“Where do you want to go?”
He wanted to say back to your bed, but she needed, no they both needed, a distraction. Then he remembered he had prior commitments in New York which he couldn’t avoid. Like Jon and Lizette’s wedding. He knew he was going to regret this, but it appeared they came as a package deal. “How does Blossom do on a plane?”
Did she hear right? She had thought maybe out for lunch or even an ice cream or something. Neither of which required boarding a plane. Totally bewildered she asked, “What? Why?”
“New York. I have a wedding to attend. I would like you to be my date.”
He had to be joking? Looking at him, he appeared to be serious. Blossom took her head out of Katherine’s lap and went to sit beside Drew. Traitor. How do you protest when even your dog likes him? Okay, think this through. I don’t know him well enough to jump on a plane and go to the East Coast with him. KJ laughed to herself. But I knew him enough to sleep with him. She was losing the argument with herself. That couldn’t be a good sign. More details needed. She couldn’t just go to someone’s wedding. What if it was a family event? That would not be a good place for her.
“Whose?” Like it really mattered. Her heart was already pounding with excitement thinking about dancing with him to some slow love song. This is wrong.
“You remember Jon and Lizette?” Drew asked.
She nodded. That’s right, they had mentioned the upcoming nuptials. A sweet couple.
“They have a rehearsal dinner and a wedding in two weeks. Since I need to get back to take care of some business before then, I thought maybe you would like to come and stay with me until after the wedding.”
Her head was spinning. He had just witnessed something no one else had seen: her falling apart. Why had he stayed? Most men would have run out the door at the first tear. Yet, he not only stayed, he held me through it. God, it felt so good not to be alone. Surely she wasn’t considering going. KJ had no idea what he was thinking of her, but she didn’t want him to think her weak. An extended stay, though? Surely he was not serious. Maybe he just feels bad.
“Would you like me to call your boss for you?” His tone actually said he wasn’t joking.
God, no. It was apparent Drew was used to getting what he wanted and on his terms. That wasn’t the way real life went. “I’m not sure if you understand how the real world works, Drew, but you cannot just take a last-minute vacation for a few weeks and expect to come back to a job waiting for you.”
“If you could, would you come?” His eyes searched hers till she turned away.
“It’s not that simple. I have Blossom, too.”
“I believe I already said she could come.” Laughing deeply he added, “To my penthouse that is, not the wedding.”
There was a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and she couldn’t help but laugh. He did have a way of easing her anxiety. It was . . . nice. “How about I meet you next week if I can make arrangements with the hospital for coverage?” That seemed like a fair compromise. Though deep down she wished she didn’t always have to be the responsible mature person who would never call out sick when she truly wasn’t. Damn, I need to learn to let loose. There was only one problem, the Marines never taught her to unlearn that behavior.
“I need to go make some calls myself. Why don’t you ask your boss for the time off and if he says no, then ask him for time off starting next week. Is that fair?”
Since she was positive her boss wouldn’t agree to that, she had no problem agreeing to his terms. KJ was scheduled for the next four days, twelve-hour shifts. Getting coverage at the last minute was going to be impossible, never mind giving them one week’s notice. Looks like you’re going to have to get another date. Once she thought about it, a sick feeling overcame her. She didn’t want to think of him holding another woman in his arms. What is wrong with me? She had gone from controlling all her emotions to trying to hold back the floodgates. “It’s a deal. If they grant me any time off, I will spend it with you in New York.” That was as good as saying no.
“Fair enough,” Drew said and kissed her on the forehead lightly. He got up. “I’ll be back in a few hours for your answer.”
Blossom wagged her tail and followed him to the door. KJ sat stunned. What just happened? When she heard the click of the door shutting, her dog came running back to her. “Oh, now you’re my friend?” Laughing, she gave her a scratch behind the ear and said, “I know, I can’t resist him either.” Drew wasn’t the man she thought he was. Sure, he was charming, sexy, funny, but she hadn’t thought him capable of empathy. He was probably resenting that now and trying to work out how he could get out of his offer. That won’t be an issue as there is no way my boss was going to grant me one week, never mind two. Patting Blossom on the head, KJ said, “It was a great fantasy while it lasted.”
Chapter Seven
‡
“I’m not sure how I will ever be able to go back to flying commercial after this,” Katherine said as they disembarked from his jet, her dog following closely behind.
After all the bullshit he’d had to go through to pull it off, he was glad she was enjoying herself. He wasn’t about to let her know how close it came to not happening. When he’d first reached out to the Chief of Staff, he’d encountered more pushback than he’d expected. Drew wasn’t one to ever give up on anything he wanted, and he’d wanted a few weeks with Katherine. After heated negotiations, and a new MRI machine for the hospital, Drew had made his point. The Chief of Staff agreed Katherine could take off whatever time she needed.
Normally Jon would have given him the third degree as to why he wanted such information, as he took business way too seriously, but not this time. Instead, Jon dropped everything and, using his connections in the medical field to find out what the hospital needed most, within a few hours had all the information Drew required to seal the deal. Always know your opponent’s weakness. It was a pricey, but sweet, victory. The Chief of Staff had known the game was over when he’d played the “donation” card.
When Drew had returned to Katherine’s bungalow, she still had a look of surprise on her face. All those years playing poker does come in handy. She’d never suspected a thing when he’d said, “I told you. You never know until you ask.” Katherine had been so excited that she’d never asked him if he had been involved in any way with the Chief of Staff’s sudden change of mind, so technically he hadn’t lied. So I live in the gray zone. Not the first time and it won’t be the last.
Drew spent many hours flying both cross country and internationally. Unless he was piloting his sea plane to his private island, he normally spent those long hours either sleeping or working. Neither was possible this trip. His computer may have been open on his lap most of the time, but his focus had been on the view: Katherine’s sexy-as-hell body and eyes that told everything. If it wasn’t for Blossom’s constant interruption, prancing from one window to the next with a look of disappointment when she found they didn’t open, he might have enjoyed the flight as well. “Sorry, guess she prefers convertibles,” Katherine explained. Whatever her problem was, the pilot was going to need to get a cleaning crew in. Damn, that dog can drool.
As the driver held the limo door open, Drew thought of his: his pride and joy, the thing he enjoyed reminding his friend Trent that he didn’t own, his 918 Spyder. Ross, you so owe me, buddy. The text he’d received from Ross earlier left him with mixed feelings. “Had an accident. Only a few bruised ribs. Your car is a total loss. Sorry.” Sorry? Damn, I’d loved that car. He was grateful his friend was okay. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kill Ross when he saw him next.
Katherine slid into the limo first and sat on the far side by the window. Blossom took the seat by her, leaving Drew to sit opposite them both. And this is why I like a two-seater. Shaking his head, he looked at the two of them. It was apparent they shared a bond. What sort he wasn’t exactly sure, but over the next two weeks, hopefully, he would come to know and understand her better. Without the dog around.
“I really can’t thank you enough for letting me bring her along. Since my sister’s . . . well, Blossom has been there for me.” She patted the dog’s head then continued, “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have her.”
He could only imagine what it had been like for her. Did she have to go through it all alone? Was Blossom all she had? Drew had enough contacts to find those answers for himself, but that wasn’t how he worked. He made his fortune by reading people, seeing what lay beneath their words. No amount of research could ever replace that. It was all in choosing the right question. “How did you find her?”
After a quiet moment, she smiled and answered, “That really is a great question. One I haven’t shared with anyone before, but I guess it’s time I do.”
She took a deep breath as though gathering her courage, for what he wasn’t sure. The look on her face said it wasn’t going to be what he thought.
“I wasn’t looking for a dog, or anything else for that matter. I was going through . . . a difficult time. It had been almost a month since burying my sister, and I decided to go for a jog in the park. That was when I saw this woman who had about seven or eight dogs, all shapes and sizes. At first I thought nothing of it, thinking she was a dog walker or something. But then I saw her take all the dogs off their leashes. That stopped me in my tracks because I knew that woman had to be crazy and was never going to be able to catch all of those dogs again. When I approached her I saw the signs posted stating: ‘Service dogs in training, do not pet.’ It intrigued me so I put my run off and found myself sitting on the grass watching her as she gave command after command. Each dog obeyed without hesitation. It was like watching boot camp but for dogs, and she was one hell of a drill sergeant.” Laughing, she said, “Blossom here was in that crazy mix. Of course she towered over all the others, and all I could think was how huge and scary she looked. Any moment I anticipated her to sit on one of the other dogs by mistake. Just look at her, she is almost two hundred pounds.
But the handler had full control of every one of them without even raising her voice, using mostly hand motions.” Blossom, now content, moved to hang her head out the window as Katherine told her story. “You would’ve been equally impressed by her techniques.”
Drew wasn’t about to tell her that he had absolutely no interest in watching dogs at a park no matter how many tricks they could do.
“Before I knew it, there was a crowd gathering to watch too. What was a quiet prime spot, had filled with families all around me. Two young girls skipped by right in front of me as they were trying to fly their kite.”
Drew noticed her eyes darken and fill with sadness. Swallowing hard, she bit back the tears that threatened to flow before she spoke again. He wanted to stop her; reliving it was causing her pain, and that hadn’t been his intention.
Before he could say a word, she continued. “One moment I was watching kids playing and the next thing I knew I was thinking of my childhood with my sister. A flood of memories, both happy and sad ran through me. I knew what was coming. The agony of the loss was hitting me there in the park where everyone could see me.” Her voice cracked with deep emotion. “Tears came down uncontrollably. I didn’t want anyone to see me bawling my eyes out, wasn’t ready for anyone to console me, so I lay in the grass face down, my head pillowed by my crossed arms. And for the first time, I didn’t hold back; I let it all out.”
“You’ve been through a lot.” He yearned to reach out to her, hold her, make her forget all of it, but this wasn’t the time for that. Soon.
Shockingly, Katherine continued with a giggle. “Can you picture this? Me lying on the ground oblivious to anything happening around me, when I feel something heavy pressing down on the back of my legs. I almost jumped out of my skin; rolling over quickly I was ready to confront whoever was about to attack me. And that is where it all began.” Katherine tapped her thigh twice firmly, and Blossom left her prime spot at the window and lay on the seat, placing her head on Katherine’s lap. “The handler came running over to me and this sweet girl here. For the first time, Blossom wouldn’t obey her. She called her, then tried to pull her by her collar, but Blossom wouldn’t budge.” Scratching her behind her ear she added, “Ursula, the handler, apologized, then explained what she did, that she rescued dogs who were on a list to be euthanized and trained them to be therapy dogs. Ursula had been working closely with the military for soldiers who suffered from PTSD for several years. Even though I didn’t suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, my time serving as an active duty trauma nurse overseas for all those years qualified me. As you might guess, this sweet pooch adopted me, and we have been together since.”
The Billionaire's Jackpot: Betting on You Series: Book Four Page 5