Christian looked at his watch. He really needed to leave soon. He’d moved beyond the small shoe factory where he’d started long ago and was now in charge of East Coast sales for a company with multiple government contracts, notably one for military boots. He sometimes envied Teddy. They’d both been promoted over the years, but Teddy had stopped short, on purpose, of any position that would require any significant overtime or travel. Teddy would always be there for his kids. Christian, on the other hand, was just the opposite. As Teddy became more of a family man, he’d become more focused on his career - the sky was the limit. He’d come to the conclusion that maybe a family just wasn’t in the cards for him.
The clock on the kitchen wall showed 10:00 p.m., and Christian wondered at how fast time had flown. He’d meant to leave hours earlier, but Teddy and the bratwurst had kept him from going. Teddy and Mimi had lighted the yard with tiki poles and Christmas lights—anything to keep the party going. He went outside and walked over to the couple.
“I have to go now. It’s getting late.
Teddy bent to open a cooler and pulled out two bottles of beer. He tried to hand one to Christian. “Come on, have another beer. You can always sleep on our couch.”
“No, I want to wake up in my bed. Need to be fresh.”
Teddy’s cheeks were flushed, and it was obvious he’d drunk Christian’s share of the beer. “Just one more? You didn’t drink a lot today. Fifteen more minutes.”
“Nope. Never been arrested in my life. Don’t plan to be tonight. Especially for drinking.” He hugged his friends and went home.
Chapter Eighteen
As Katherine walked down the stairs Monday morning, she watched for Jack. It almost seemed as if he’d been watching for her too, because once she hit the landing, he quickly came out of his office.
“Good morning, Katherine,” he said. “Off to work?”
“Good morning, Jack. Yes.”
“Well, you have a nice day.” He smiled, and his eyes held Katherine’s for just a second longer than necessary.
Is he flirting with me? It had been so long, she wasn’t sure she’d recognize a guy flirting with her unless he sat on her lap and started nibbling on her ear. “Ah, thanks. You too.”
On her lunch hour, Katherine drove to the county courthouse. She’d done a lot of packing the day before, and thinking. She’d decided it was time to get the divorce. The pamphlet and paperwork were easy to find - they were on what looked like a three-tiered magazine rack, Dissolution of Marriage written in large bold letters across the top. She slowly walked toward the exit, her eyes on the ground. She held the paperwork with both hands, as if it were very heavy, and thought about Ray. He’d been a great boyfriend, but a lousy husband.
***
Even with the class Katherine had skipped thanks to Scott, she was ahead on their project and the other class work. So when she wasn’t feeling well on Monday afternoon, she felt only a little uneasy about skipping that night’s class.
When she arrived home, she didn’t see Amy. She knocked on her bedroom door and opened it a little. She noticed that Amy had bought a nice dresser and two nightstands. Did she give up her place in Seattle? Katherine assumed she must have, and was buying things for her own place. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Amy staying in Reno. She shrugged and went to her own room, undressed and got into bed. When she saw on the cuckoo clock above her dresser that it was five thirty, she thought of Scott. Class had just started. She kept stealing glances at the clock until it was finally 7:00 pm and she knew the class had ended. She checked her phone – the battery was fully charged. She was annoyed with herself, because she’d hoped Scott would call.
***
The next morning, Katherine slammed the medicine cabinet door, and yanked open two dresser drawers and then slammed those, too. She threw her work outfit onto her bed and kicked her shoes across the room.
“Hey, what’s all the racket about?” asked Amy, standing in Katherine’s bedroom doorway.
Katherine mumbled something unintelligible, and Amy shrugged and went back to her room. Katherine dressed quickly, then grabbed her purse and coat and left for work.
***
She was glad to see that her supervisor Claire wasn’t in yet, but she groaned when she looked down at her to-do list. She sensed Scott’s presence before she saw him. I must be psychic, or it could just be the huge shadow he casts across the desk.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked. It was an effort to keep the irritation from her voice. She was cranky and annoyed that Scott hadn’t called to find out why she’d skipped class, but she knew it was stupid to feel that way. Scott held up a manila envelope.
“There’s a small insurance office in this building. I needed to pick something up before going in to work. Thought I’d stop by and say hi.”
Katherine stood up. “I’ll ride down with you. I want to hit the break room.” She left a note on Claire’s door and followed Scott into the empty elevator.
The doors shut; they’d gone down maybe one floor, when suddenly the elevator shuddered and came to a stop. The doors didn’t open. A phone attached to the wall rang, and Katherine answered it. She was told the elevator would be fixed in a few minutes.
Scott’s large frame seemed to take up all the room, and his deep voice echoed off the walls. Katherine backed up a little. She felt vulnerable, as if he was dangerous. There was definitely something going on between them. Katherine felt like a trapped animal—but one that wanted to be trapped. The elevator started to move but then shuddered again, and Katherine fell into Scott. His hands gripped her arms.
“Don’t worry, I’ll save you,” he said, laughing.
“Sure, my knight in shining armor. That’s what you are—not.”
He dropped his hands. Each was grateful that the other couldn’t read minds.
“So the class—I finished a lot of the slides. How are you coming on the oral presentation?” he asked.
“It’s coming along.”
She was already up against the back of the elevator when Scott took a step closer. Does this man have no concept of personal space? She imagined placing her hands on his hips and pulling him close. She wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and…
“That’s good, good. So I, uh, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night?” Scott said.
“Sure.”
“Unless you want to get together before then. I was wondering if you're free tonight. I thought we’d have dinner.”
Katherine was surprised by the invitation. She felt as if someone had splashed cold water on her. She’d allowed her libido to influence her actions in the past, but this time she’d do the important thinking with her brain.
Scott could see her hesitation. “It's only dinner, Katherine. What's the big deal? Just two friends eating together.”
Katherine was skeptical. This was the first time he’d suggested they get together in a date-like setting. She knew that spending any more time together than was necessary was turning out to be a big mistake, but the pull toward Scott was just too strong. Luckily, there was only a month of class left. After that, if he asked her out, she’d say yes.
“Sure, why not?” she answered. “Where did you have in mind?”
Scott laughed. “I love all food. I’m all about equal opportunity. Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian—you name it, I’m there.”
“I know a good Chinese restaurant,” said Katherine.
“I love Chinese. How does six o’clock sound?”
“Works for me.”
They quietly waited for the elevator to start moving, and when it finally did, it went up instead of down, right back to Katherine’s floor. She got out.
“Thought you were hungry,” said Scott.
“Ehh,” she said, shrugging, “I thought I was, too, but I’ll eat later. I’ll see you tonight.”
Katherine gave him her address. The doors started to shut.
“Okay, see you tonight,” Scott said.
*
**
Katherine poked herself in the eye with her mascara brush, and then nearly broke her neck tripping over her heels as she prepared for her dinner out with Scott. When he arrived, he looked around at the still-messy apartment. “You didn't have to clean on my account.”
“I told you somebody broke in on Thanksgiving.”
“Oh yeah. Did they take anything important?”
“So far, it doesn’t look like anything’s missing, but you should see my room.”
“Ooh, baby, this is so soon,” he said as he sat down.
Katherine smiled. “Very funny. It was worse than out here.”
Amy came out of her room and looked Scott up and down and then smiled at Katherine.
“Scott, this is my sister, Amy.”
“Nice to meet you,” they both said.
“Well, why don’t we get going?” said Katherine. “I don’t know when I’ll be home,” she said to Amy as they left.
The ride to the restaurant was a quiet one, with both seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Katherine was determined to quash any attraction she felt for Scott, but it was a lot easier said than done. He had a lot going for him. More than once her gaze rested where it shouldn’t have. Once he might have even seen her looking, and the thought of it made her face turn crimson. She looked out the window, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
***
It was an elegant restaurant, colorful but tasteful. The music playing sounded like waves and reminded Katherine of music you might hear while getting a facial. They were led to a booth, where chopsticks were already on the table.
I won’t need those, Katherine thought. I want to eat tonight.
On the table was a small calendar depicting the signs of the Chinese zodiac.
“I was born in the year of the dragon,” said Scott. “I’m very complex.”
“Sure you are,” Katherine said, without looking up from the calendar.
“What year were you born in?”
“The year of the horse, and you’d better watch how you respond to that.”
Scott laughed, and Katherine’s heart raced. Neither looked at the other until the waitress came to take their order. When their dinner arrived, Katherine watched as Scott tried to use his chopsticks. For every noodle that made its way into his mouth, twice as many fell back onto the plate.
“I've decided I don't like Chinese anymore,” he said. “At this rate, I'll starve to death.”
Katherine had ordered fried rice and was wisely using a fork. The conversation became easy and comfortable.
“I bet you were voted prettiest girl in school,” said Scott, and he meant it.
“I bet you were a nerd,” replied Katherine, laughing.
“Oh, so we have met before.” Still using chopsticks, he began eating again, or tried to. “This is not good.”
Katherine looked over at his plate. “What? Is something wrong with your food?”
“No. I'm worried I'll only have room for two desserts.”
Katherine shook her head. “Must be nice to be a guy, to be able to eat a ton of food and not gain weight.”
Scott patted his stomach. “It’s a curse, but I try to bear it with as much custard - I mean composure - as I can.”
They finished their meals and Scott ordered sake. The server filled two small sake cups and left the ceramic flask on the table. While Scott had only one cup, with encouragement Katherine drank three.
“You trying to get me drunk?” she asked.
“Who, me? I don't need alcohol to woo a woman, just my natural magnetic personality. In high school my friends called me Don Juan.”
Katherine’s eyebrows rose doubtfully. “Yeah right. More like Don Knotts.”
When the waitress brought the check, Katherine reached for it. She thought letting Scott pay for her dinner when she only wanted to be friends wasn’t nice. “I owe you for all the times you’ve bought me coffee. Let me pay this time.”
“What? Nah, I invited you.”
Katherine took out her wallet. “Please, let me.”
Scott had been raised by parents who had instilled a healthy respect for women in him. It was second nature for him to treat a woman like a lady, and to pay for dinner, especially when he had done the inviting. But he wasn’t an old-fashioned guy either, and if she wanted to pay, though it made him a little uneasy, he’d let her.
“Okay, if you’re sure. Do you want to do anything else, maybe dancing?” he asked as they left.
Katherine was feeling a little tipsy, but instead of making her want to go crazy, being tipsy made her want to go to sleep.
“No, I think I should have stopped at two shots.”
***
Scott stopped in front of Katherine’s apartment building and parked. She started to get out of the jeep.
“No wait,” said Scott. “Let me help you get down. I’ll walk you to the door.”
Maybe it was the sake, or maybe sake was all the excuse Katherine needed, but the impulse to kiss Scott was strong. He stepped out of the jeep, hurried to her side and opened the door. He helped her down, and they started walking up her front steps. Katherine turned around; she was a few steps up from Scott.
“I had a good time tonight,” he said.
“Me too.” said Katherine.
They were eye to eye again. He opened his arms. It should have been a quick hug, but neither let go. The next thing she knew Scott’s mouth was covering hers. Warm and soft, forceful yet gentle, his tongue seeking hers and tasting of peppermint. One hand held her tightly against his body while the other ran through her thick hair, grabbing hold of it almost roughly. He pulled her head back and his lips traveled down her throat and as far as her coat would allow. Then his lips found hers again and he kissed her deeply. No rational thoughts, just a hunger.
Her body seemed to melt into his and she felt every detail. His coat did little to soften his muscular chest; his pants did little to hide his arousal. It felt so right, as if his lips had been made only to kiss hers. She felt breathless and didn’t want it to end. At least for now, she didn’t care about school or what was smart or foolish. She just wanted more of Scott, and then he pulled away. He shook his head as if to wake from this dream, one he’d had since meeting Katherine.
“Look,” he said, “there are some really good reasons why we shouldn’t do this. I’m sorry I kissed you. I shouldn’t have. We’re both adults, in control of our actions. We should pretend this didn’t happen. I’m going to.”
Katherine was speechless. She wasn’t even sure if it had been Scott who had started the kiss - she kind of thought it might have been her. She was one part hurt, one part embarrassed, and two parts pissed, but more at herself than at Scott. All her thoughts of independence had been no match for his lips.
“Of course, sure, you’re right,” she said. “Um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Wanting to groan, Scott didn’t answer. He just wanted to pull her into his arms again and kiss her. He felt insanely aroused. In his mind, she was already naked, his lips were already traveling over her breasts. He mentally smacked himself and then turned around and started back to the jeep. As much as he wanted to, he wouldn’t sleep with Katherine. The smart thing to do was to keep things in the friend zone, at least for now.
“Sure, tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder.
Katherine watched as he drove away.
Chapter Nineteen
Wednesday morning Scott sat at his desk staring at the phone and debating with himself. Putting the brakes on after the kiss he and Katherine shared had been the smart thing to do. He knew this. He also knew that the sooner they saw each other, the less awkward it would be. They only had a month left in the course and the project was nearly finished, and those were the biggest reasons he’d had for not pursuing her to begin with. But now there was something more: they were becoming friends, and he knew sex would mess that up. Finally, he dialed.
“Hey, let’s do lunch today,” he said.
“Le
t me check my schedule. Could you hold on?” Katherine placed the phone against her stomach, her hands shaking just a little. On one hand she was tempted to make a snarky comment motivated by her feelings of rejection, but on the other hand, she didn’t want him thinking she gave hoot.
“Can’t get enough of me, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah. Do you want to have lunch together or not?”
“Sure, I guess. Why not? Lobby at eleven?”
“It’s a date.”
“No, it’s not,” said Katherine.
***
Scott drove them to the diner near Katherine’s apartment, the one she’d been on her way to the night the Churchill woman had been killed. It was shaped like a boxcar, with a long Formica counter; red and white checkered curtains hung on the windows. They were seated in one of four booths. Katherine had to be careful not to sit on a rip in the seat.
She played connect-the-dots on her paper placemat while Scott, chin resting in the palm of his hand, stared out the window. Katherine’s hand slowly crept toward Scott’s plate.
“Hey, stop pilfering my fries,” he said, pretending to be annoyed.
“Then you stop stealing my tater tots.”
“Listen, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
A jingling sound made Katherine look up. Seeing the look on her face, Scott quickly pushed the plate across the table,
“Here, take the fries, calm down.”
“No, you dope, I don’t want your fries. I think I know the guy who just came in.” Near the diner’s entrance, a man sat facing Katherine and Scott, intently looking at his menu.
“I do know him. I’ll be right back. I’m going to go say hi.”
Scott turned and looked. “Fine, but I can’t guarantee the safety of your tots.”
Under the Moonlight collection Page 6