by Lacey Silks
I nodded.
“Thank you. I mean that. Thank you for taking care of me last night.”
“Always, Kate. I should get going. Mass starts in less than an hour.”
“I’m not sure I can handle showing my face in church right now.”
“Learn from yesterday, Kate.” I winked at her and saw her smile. “The Lord forgives all. Don’t miss mass because you had a fun evening. The mistakes we make are all part of life. The trick is trying not to make them again, which is sometimes easier said than done. When you pray, you reflect. You shouldn’t dismiss last night as a bad night when you didn’t get a chance to reflect.”
“That sounds… a little confusing at the moment. You look tired.”
“You were thrashing a little at night.”
Her inquisitive right brow rose, and concern filled her eyes.
“I should get going.” I stood up. “The retreat next month, do you think you can handle the remaining details on your own?”
She gave me a questioning look and her eyes fell sad as she replied, “Yes, of course.”
I didn’t want to leave all the work for her, but given everything that had happened and the feelings I was having a difficult time dealing with, I had no choice. I had to stay away from her, for both our sakes. It wasn’t until last evening, when I saw her chatting up my brother, that I realized the degree of my infatuation with this woman. It was uncontrollable. It was dangerous.
“Take care, Kate.”
“Take care, Father Cameron.”
She waved as I stepped out of her room. Even our greetings and goodbyes had become informal. Our friendship had grown informal as well.
Kate showed up to the first mass that Sunday. She sat in the back row of the church, her head lowered for most of the hour, large bumblebee sunglasses shading her eyes. I didn’t see her again afterward and didn’t look for her, either.
When I went back to my room that evening, my brother was there, waiting for me the way we’d agreed. I poured myself a scotch on the rocks and refilled my brother’s glass.
“What’s the news? Should I get the fuck out of this town now?”
“Don’t pack your bags just yet. I was here last night when I called you, but got… sidetracked.”
Was he seriously saying what I thought he was saying?
“You came here for a woman, didn’t you?”
“Not just any woman, Cam. She’s… she’s been driving me nuts since the moment I came here.”
“Wait, what?”
“Kate has a ghost.”
“Shit.”
“Someone hired her to protect Kate.”
“Protect Kate? From who?”
“I’m assuming Cortez. Who else is there? I need you to find Kate’s connection to the cartel. Maybe she’ll have some information about the money.”
“All right.”
I didn’t like doing this. I didn’t like the sound of Kate being under another watchful eye, no matter whose it was. I didn’t like the fact that Kate could be in trouble and not even know it.
“So, why are you here? You could have told me this over the phone.”
“Cortez is on the move. Nothing alarming yet, so don’t panic, but he’s trying to get to the girl as fast as we are.”
“That’s a good thing. If he finds her, we’ll be in the clear.”
“I wouldn’t trust Cortez that far. He placed a bounty on her head. Ten million. Add that to the rumors about the Cortez brothers possibly hiding fifty million, and something’s not adding up.”
Ten million for the same girl we were looking for?
“That’s a lot of money.” This meant that she was worth more alive than dead, and since Mateo and Pablo Cortez didn’t care about anyone outside their family, it meant that he was looking for information from the girl. He wanted to find the woman who was at the root of my troubles as much as I did – but why?
“You think that bitch knows where the money is?” I asked.
“Possibly.”
How was it that someone could hide it so well? Who was she, and why was she so stupid as to cross that family?
“Shit!” I pulled my fingers through my hair. “And you really think this money’s in town?”
“Now, that’s speculation, but it’s the last place anyone heard of it. No one saw the brothers move it or spend it. Find the fifty million, and all our troubles will go away. Find the girl, and we get ten million and maybe a pass on this mess.”
“We don’t bow to anyone, Brook. Especially not Cortez. All I want is justice and not to get killed in the process. She duped us that night, forcing you to run from a fucking cartel, and Father doesn’t have much longer. If we don’t settle this with Cortez, if we don’t find her, we’re sitting ducks in the middle of hunting season for the rest of our lives.”
“If the rumors are true, though, it sounds like you’ll have a front row seat when she comes to town to dig it up.”
“Okay, so I need to be on the lookout for chatter about fifty million dollars. Seems simple enough.”
I mean, how hard could it be to find fifty million in a town of one hundred and eight?
“Or find Cortez before he finds us.”
“Yeah, that too.”
“Speaking of Kate, did you know she’s originally from Long Island? What is she doing in Pace?”
“Subtle, brother. Her mother was ill. She’s recovering from heart surgery at a clinic in Seattle.”
“Heart surgery?”
“Yeah.”
“And we’re looking for someone who stole Father’s heart.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, either you’re dumb, or a woman messed with your head. Kate should be your number one suspect. She could be looking for the fifty million as well.”
Kate wasn’t some bounty hunter, and she would have never pulled the stunt our mystery woman had that night. She was good. I’d seen it first hand, though I hadn’t asked her how long she’d lived here.
“If she were on the list of those looking for that money, you would have known about it, wouldn’t you?” I asked.
I could tell from the look on his face that he agreed. Kate was the last person I should have been worried about.
“All I’m saying is, be careful. The name Cortez doesn’t exactly correlate with safety. How about I do a background check? What’s the last name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, fortunately I can get information from a drunk woman. It’s Black I can’t believe you don’t even know her last name.”
“Sorry, she’s… did you see her? It’s a little difficult to think when she’s around.”
“And you say that I’m the one who thinks with his dick.”
I removed my clerical collar and set it aside, hoping my brother would stop giving me the side eye. He should have known best that at this moment, I was his brother first, not a priest.
“How’s Mom?”
“Same old.”
“So back to business as usual?”
“When wasn’t she? You know, she’s the one who gave us all cover. She’s really good at this keeping her identity hidden thing.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking of joining her venture.”
“It’s a multi-million dollar business, and believe me, it has its perks.”
“A manservant?”
Brook rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re a priest.”
“It got me in, didn’t it?”
“What good is it doing if you can’t find any information?”
“Just give me some time and keep Father well. That’s all.”
“He’ll be fine, but if it weren’t for our plan B, he’d be a dead man.”
Yeah, plan B. It felt like I needed one now as well. If I didn’t find that money and if the girl didn’t show up, I’d need to move.
Three months.
That should give me enough time to dig under every rock in this town. If I didn’t find the money here
, it meant that it wasn’t here. And if the girl never showed, it also meant that she was smarter than we presumed. It would be nearly impossible to find her then.
Unless the fifty million is really here.
“Did Kate say anything to you last night? You know, about me?” I asked.
“No, but she did say she’d be in for a hot night of sex if it were the right guy.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you get some tequila into her and she sings.”
“Tequila is the only thing you better ever get into her.”
“Don’t worry. Apparently I’m not the right guy. I see you’ve made a claim on her.”
“What the hell is a claim? And if you mean did I fuck her, then no, I can’t make such a claim. I’m a priest,” I said through gritted teeth.
As soon as the thought of diving between Kate’s legs entered my mind, I got stiff. It would be so easy to give into the temptation. I knew she wanted me. Hell, if I let it happen, it would happen, but I couldn’t test her faith that way. I couldn’t ruin her innocence just because I hadn’t gotten laid in years.
“You don’t feel strange talking to me like this?”
“Why?”
“We’re in church.”
“Yo, I know you and Father were close and all with the church stuff, but that ain’t me.”
I sighed. Sometimes I wondered whether there was a greater age gap between us than a year.
“She’s into you, you know,” he added. “I could tell.”
“I’m not bringing her into this mess. I can’t.”
“Man, only you know how to let a good thing slip between your fingers.”
“You should head home, Brook. And take the long way.”
“I’ll be gone tomorrow morning. Think about what I said about mom’s business.”
“There are a lot of things I’ve been in my past life, but I’m not going to work as a manservant.”
“Mother’s best at anonymity and satisfied clients. Besides, we may not have a choice.”
Oh, there was a choice, all right. And it started with finding the bitch who stole my father’s heart.
Chapter 8
Kate
A swimming pool and a nightmare.
That’s what my kitchen had turned into in a matter of seconds. I pushed the soaking rug around the base of the faucet, but it didn’t help. The valve spewed what seemed like gallons of water onto my kitchen floor.
“How do you turn this off?” I grumbled, diving into the cabinet underneath my sink, but all I saw were pipes without a valve.
Soaked and discouraged, I stood up and looked around the kitchen, slid in my socks across the floor, then quickly removed all the bowls and containers I could find, placing them underneath the constant fountain. As I switched the dishes from full ones to empty, I rushed around the kitchen looking for an invisible solution when a knock at my door sounded.
I don’t have time for this.
Dejected, I rushed to the front door and opened it without thinking. Father Cameron’s gaze skimmed over my body. What was he so surprised about? He was the one knocking on my door.
“Good morning, Father. I’m sorry, but this isn’t really a good time—”
“You know you’re all wet, Kate.”
“Yeah, and I managed to turn my kitchen into a swimming pool.” I rushed back to the sink, nearly slipping on the tiles, and replaced another full container with an empty one.
“What happened?” Father Cameron must have followed me in. I skidded in front of him to the other side of the kitchen, grabbed a pot, and then rushed back to the sink. “I don’t know. I just turned it on, heard a little crack, and it all decided to flow out.”
“Why didn’t you turn the water off?”
“The knob twists, but it doesn’t do anything.”
“No, I meant the main water valve.”
“I couldn’t find it.”
He passed by me and dove underneath the sink. A moment later, the water stopped flowing.
“Come here.” Father Cameron moved to the side and I joined him at the sink. Squatting, I followed his pointing finger. “There’s a knob just behind this pipe. It’s not easy to see. Twist it up to stop the flow. If that one ever fails, there’s another one outside, by the water meter.”
It wasn’t until I saw his strong hand make the twist motion that I realized we were leaning against one another, shoulder to shoulder, soaked sleeve to a dry one, a sexy warm breath to my uneven exhales. Shivers ran through my body. Was I even breathing?
“I got you wet,” I whispered, lightly turning toward him. He took my hand and guided me to stand up.
“It’s all right.”
Time slowed and I turned around to eliminate the longing I felt when he was near. It didn’t work.
“Thank you. I think I would have destroyed the house if it weren’t for you.”
“Need help cleaning it up? It’ll take you twice as long if you have to clean this place up on your own.” Without asking me again, he opened the pantry door. A set of chess pieces spilled from the top shelf. They were here when I moved in. He cleaned those up and removed a mop and a bucket from within, and then proceeded to swipe through the mess.
And I just couldn’t stop watching him.
“Father Cameron, I can do this.” I reached for the mop, grasping it firmly, and he paused, looking me over again. This time, I felt his gaze snake down my body because it left a trail of heat behind. My nipples pebbled hard under his stare. I would have had to rub a bucket of ice to get the same effect, except ice wouldn’t have turned me on.
“I think you should change before you catch a cold,” he said, still staring.
Self-conscious, I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to cover the shirt clinging to my chest. I didn’t even dare to look in the mirror to see how much of my breasts I could see. But I could definitely feel them.
“If you don’t do it for your sake, then do it for mine,” he added.
“I’ll be right back.” Focused on my bedroom door, I turned around and lost my footing. The sound of something crashing to the floor jolted me backward as Father Cameron dropped the mop. He caught me before I hit the floor, except he didn’t. The momentum of my fall took us both down, and now I was lying on top of him, my back to his chest, and his erection to my ass.
Well, that didn’t take long, did it?
“Ouch,” he moaned in pain.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
I swear, I’d never be forgiven for all the ways in which I had managed to hurt a priest. I was up in a flash, assessing Father’s twisted limbs.
“Yes, I’m fine. Are you?”
“Of course. You caught me. Here, let me help you.” I reached out but he didn’t take my hand. Now it was he who was all wet.
“I think you better go get changed,” he grumbled.
“But I—”
“Kate, if you know what’s good for you, then you’re going to march into that bedroom, take the wet clothes off, and put on something dry so that I don’t have to look at how perfectly round your breasts are.”
I gasped and watched him open his mouth slowly, then close it again before completely dejected, he lowered his head.
That commanding tone with a hint of displeasure was everything that my body wasn’t used to. It reacted in ways I couldn’t control, all on its own, swelling in some places, lubricating in other.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, Kate.”
“It’s all right. This is my fault anyway. I’ll just go… that way,” I said, pointing to the main hallway.
I quickly rushed into my bedroom where I changed into a fresh pair of undergarments, jeans, and a t-shirt, then went back to the kitchen, stopping in the doorway. The water was gone, buckets and containers put away, counter and cabinets wiped, and Father Cameron was sitting at the table with two cups of steaming coffee.
“What are you, Superman?”
He turned around with a smile,
and everything seemed to be all right between us again.
“Thanks. My mother used to make us clean the floors all the time. I hope you don’t mind I made coffee.”
“Thank you. I should call her and thank her that she’s taught you so well.”
A spark of amusement I couldn’t understand flashed across his face.
“Here.” I handed him a dry t-shirt and my sweat pants. “They’re the biggest ones I could find. You can go to my bedroom. Or the bathroom. It’s up to you, really.”
“Kate, what I said earlier… I’m sorry. When I’m around you, I find my faith being tested more often than it should be. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”
“It’s all right. I mean, you said that you’re human. And being human is being a man. So you’re fine. We’re fine.”
My heart drummed in my chest, forcing me to take quicker breaths. Talking to Father Cameron about being human and him being a man always gave me the wrong ideas.
“Oh, I’m definitely human. I hope you won’t hold my shortcomings against me.” He then held the shirt in front of him, measuring it with his gaze. “I’m not sure if this will work, but I’ll try. Much better than walking into a church soaked.”
I smiled. As soon as Father Cameron disappeared into the bathroom, I pulled out a chair, and sat down. An image of him changing floated through my mind, and intrigued with the picture my mind conjured, I took a sip of my coffee. It was perfect. Just the way I liked it.
A hot priest just cleaned my kitchen.
There was nothing normal about this. I was a temptress who pranced around in a soaked shirt in front of a priest. Poor Father Cameron had to keep his hidden urges intact around me. Something about the thought made me feel even hotter. But he was human, and so was I. A very sexy human with a good heart. They just didn’t make men that way anymore. Was I being tested? Because if I was, then I was probably failing miserably, and I wasn’t any closer to finding Jack. When I called back home to the precinct, no one asked any questions about my leave, which also meant that Cortez wasn’t on my tail just yet.
When Father Cameron returned, wearing my t-shirt and jogging pants, which by the way reached only down to his calves and looked like capris, I almost spit out my coffee.