by Winters, KB
Hot rage seethed through me, but I spun on my heel and stalked down the drive, this time, not bothering to hold back, and flipped him off as I backed down the drive. Only once he was back inside the house, did the fear that I’d caged up let loose, wreaking havoc on my emotions the whole drive home.
Chapter Ten — Jace
Kat had made it painfully obvious that she didn’t care to see me again. She’d been ducking me at the diner, ignoring my calls, and hadn’t answered any of my text messages. I’d seen her at the grocery store over the weekend. She’d been crouched down in the cold and flu aisle, checking out a couple different bottles of medicine. She looked like hell and my heart churned at the thought of her spending the weekend alone, sick, and undoubtedly missing her son. I’d called out to her, but when she turned to see me, she rolled her eyes, threw both bottles in her basket, and walked the opposite direction down the store aisle.
When she wasn’t at work on the following Monday, I knew something was up. I asked Patrice where she was, and after a few tries, finally coaxed her to confess that Kat had called in sick. I abandoned my normal lunch order, and instead, asked for two bowls of soup and two cheese sandwiches to go. Patrice looked a little nervous, but in the end went to the kitchen to put in my order.
Several minutes later, she reappeared, and set the bag down on the edge of my table. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said, while I fished a twenty from my leather wallet.
“What do you mean?” I asked, somewhat startled by her statement.
“With Kat,” she said. “Her ex really worked her over, okay.”
I nodded slowly, unsure how to respond.
“We all love Kat and want her to be happy,” she added, turning away before I could rush to defend my intentions.
I picked up the bag of food and left, still puzzling over Patrice’s cryptic warning as I went to Kat’s townhouse. The night she’d invited me over for dinner, she’d opened up a lot about her fears and her ex. The guy sounded like a first rate douche bag in my book, but I also understood that Kat had to play nice for the sake of their son. I admired the hell out of her for keeping everything together. Which—I added to myself as I parked along the curb and retrieved the food from the side pouch on the bike—was exactly why I was standing in her driveway with soup and sandwiches to help her feel better. Kat deserved the world, and I wanted to be the one to give it to her.
Her car was parked in front of her garage, and I wondered what was in the garage that made it so she couldn’t park inside. Bikes? Boxes of storage? I shook my head, focusing my mind on what mattered—finding a way to get her to let me inside long enough to patch things up. I went up the stairs two at a time, and knocked, but there was no response. I tried again, and waited another minute, but still nothing. I peeked through the long window to the left of the door, but she had a filmy curtain blocking the view inside, which was smart, but frustrating in the moment.
I was about to turn back when I heard a rumble inside. I took a step closer to the door and grabbed the door knob, flinging the door open at the sound of a loud crash. “Kat?” I called out in the direction of the bang that was still echoing in the air. A split second later, Kat’s face peeked around the corner and her mouth dropped at the sight of me standing in her entryway with a takeout bag from the diner. “Are you all right?” I asked. She stepped out and I ran my eyes over her, as though checking for gaping wounds. “What’s going on in here?”
She crossed her arms. “Nothing,” she insisted, setting her jaw.
I’d expected to find her wrapped up in a bathrobe with a pink nose and messy hair, but she was actually made up, her hair tucked back in a complicated looking knot on the top of her head, and she was wearing a sleek black pantsuit, with an emerald green top underneath that made her eyes absolutely dazzle. Although, I realized a split second later, with the way she was staring at me, I could have mistaken rage with dazzle…
“Kat, what’s going on?” I asked, taking two steps inside, closing the door behind me. “It sounds like a construction crew was on the loose in here two seconds ago. Are you okay?”
“Yes!” She threw her hands in the air. “I threw some pots and pans in the kitchen, okay?”
“You threw them?”
She scoffed and disappeared into the kitchen. I followed her and watched as she stooped over to rearrange a pile of pots and pans on the floor in front of the open storage drawer under the oven. “This drawer is stupid, like whoever designed it needs to be put away or sued or something…”
She was fuming mad, but I couldn’t help but smile at her statement. I set the bag on the small dining table and went to her side, gently leading her off the floor and to the table. “I brought you some lunch, I’ll do this,” I instructed, ushering her into a chair before she could protest.
She spun the bag around on the table and looked at the logo. “Jace, what are you doing here?”
I knelt on the floor next to the mess she’d clearly made out of frustration, and started stacking the pots and pans into orderly piles that slid into the drawer. “They told me you were sick, so I thought I would bring you some lunch. Soup and a cheese sandwich.”
I glanced over at her and found her already staring back at me. “I’m still mad at you, you know.”
I laughed softly. “I figured, you didn’t exactly bother hiding it when I saw you at the store on Saturday.”
Her cheeks tinged with a crimson color, and she buried her nose in the bag, breathing in the savory aroma. I took the seat next to her and unpacked the bag, setting a bowl of soup and a wrapped sandwich in front of each of us, and then unpacked the plastic spoons and wad of napkins, before stashing the empty bag under my chair to get it out of the way. She picked up her sandwich and started peeling the wax paper away little by little. “Why are you being so nice to me, when I was such a bitch to you?”
“I like you Kat, and I know you’re scared, and I’m not going to push anything, but you need to know I like you.” Her green eyes were searching mine and I found myself wishing I knew what she was looking for. “I care about you and when you care about someone, you do things for them. You’re sick—I brought you stuff to make you feel better. Simple.”
She nodded slowly and turned her attention back to her sandwich wrapper. “Thank you,” she said softly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the other night—I still don’t know why I freaked out like that. There’s just…a lot going on.” Her voice was wavering and uneven and the sound twisted my heart.
I reached over and helped her unwrap the rest of her sandwich. She smiled sadly at me and took a tiny bite. We ate in silence for a few minutes, and when she set down her food and pushed away what was left of the soup, I leaned back in my seat, giving her space, before asking, “So, what really happened? I’m thinking there’s more to your pots and pans party than a faulty drawer…” My voice was gentle, but she still flinched at the question. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s okay, too.”
“No, it’s all right,” she replied, sucking in a deep breath, before continuing, “Mitch, that’s my ex, Jax’s father, is having a baby with his mistress-turned-wife, and is going after full time custody of Jax. He told me I had to go to a mediation meeting today, to hammer out a new arrangement, or else he’d take me to court. So I called in sick to work, which, I was, this weekend, but it was mostly to go to the meeting. Anyways, I get there, and he had this huge list of all the ways I’m failing as a parent, and is blackmailing me, in front of our freaking mediator, that if I don’t give him what he wants, he’ll take it to a judge.”
“Oh my God, Kat, I’m so sorry, that’s…that’s crazy fucked up.” My mind was spinning trying to process everything she’d just said. Her eyes were red, and I knew she’d been crying and was close to tears again. I scooted my chair over to hers and pulled her into my arms. “Where’s Jax now?”
“He’s next door, with Hilda. She took him so I could go to the meeting. I just got home a little while ago and ne
eded a minute to…decompress,” she explained.
I nodded, my mind reeling with what to say next. After a long minute of silence, I reassured her, “It won’t work, you know? There’s no way a judge could meet you and say you’re an unfit mother or whatever that bullshit is. I’ll come and be a witness for you, whatever you need.”
She snorted. “That would be interesting,” she mused, almost to herself more than meant for me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, tipping her chin up so she met my eyes with hers.
She bit her lip. “Nothing, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Kat? Tell me.”
She shifted her eyes away for a beat. “Mitch knows who you are, like from your show and stuff on the internet. He’s using you against me, saying that I’m hanging out with the wrong kind of people, he brought up a bunch of stuff, and I don’t know if it’s true or not…something about trashing hotels, partying, drinking…”
I jumped up from the table, exploding out of my seat. My fists balled together and I had to bite back the urge to swing at the wall. It killed me that I was being used as a pawn by her asshole ex.
“If you wanna throw the pots and pans, go for it, it actually helped a little,” Kat sighs, pointing at the drawer I’d fixed minutes before. Her voice and posture reminded me of a dry sponge, every drop wrung out.
Her resignation stopped me in my tracks, and my anger dimmed as I stared at her. “It’s funny how being a decorated war veteran doesn’t come up in my resume. It’s like those six years didn’t exist or something. Now I’m just the side show who tattoos people on TV after most of the country has already gone to bed,” I spat out, leaning over one of the wooden dining room chairs, letting my body weight sag against my arms braced along the back of it.
Kat reached over placed her hand on one of mine, silently reminding me that she was there. “Those years existed Jace, the people talking shit don’t even know you— you can’t let it get to you.”
I shifted my eyes to her. “But it’s hurting you, and your baby. You were right, we can’t do this.”
Kat turned in her seat, placing her other hand on my arm. “I’m ready to fight, Jace. I’ve never been strong enough before, to actually call Mitch out on his bullshit, but this time I am.”
“What are you saying?” I asked her.
Her green eyes locked with mine and she offered a small smile. “I like you too.”
Fireworks exploded in my chest as my heart ricocheted around, bursting with joy at her simple declaration. Without another thought, I leaned over her chair and crushed her lips with mine in a searing kiss that sealed the words between us.
Chapter Eleven — Kat
Jace’s lips took mine in a possessive, body-melting kiss. His lips were soft, but the sense of urgency and hunger behind them took my breath away, instantly, and left me gripping his shoulders, hanging on for sweet life as he devoured me. His fingers were warm on the back of my neck, but each touch sent shivers down my spine, waking up every fiber of my being with an electrified jolt.
Each time our lips met, things got hotter, and deeper, until I was left panting against his chest while he gave my lips a break and traced the line of my jaw with his kisses, tongue, and teeth, taking in every inch, before sliding down lower, to rim his tongue around my earlobe. I moaned quietly at the new flash of sensations dancing down my body, and Jace set to work on removing my jacket, unbuttoning the two large plastic buttons on the front, before my mind cleared enough to still his frantic hands. “Wait—” I said, my voice a breathy gasp. “Hang on, just a sec.”
Jace stopped unbuttoning, and set both of his hands on my waist, holding me firm. “What’s wrong?”
I pressed my eyes closed together, hating that I was interrupting. My lips were already aching for his again. “I have to go get Jax, he’s next door with Hilda.”
To my surprise, Jace smiled. “Tell you what,” he paused to press a sweet kiss to my forehead. “I’m gonna go pick up a couple pizzas, and when I get back, we can all have dinner together and after dinner, when little man is down for the count, we can pick up right where we left off.”
His eyes were deeper blue than I could recall seeing, like two mysterious pools full of secrets and promises. “Really?” I asked.
“Of course. But, it’s up to you. You’re the mom, and if you think it’s too much for Jax to be around me, especially with…ya know.”
I nibbled my bottom lip for a moment, buying myself some time to think. I didn’t want Jax getting confused about who Jace was, and why he was around, but a dinner would be harmless enough. Wouldn’t it? Jace’s hands were still braced on each side of my waist, his fingers warm and strong. I wanted him, more than any man I’d ever met. We’d had so many close calls, and I was finally ready to lay it down, and be with him completely. But, as Jax’s mother, I had the fallout to consider.
“Okay, but, Jax can’t know you’re staying over, so you can’t sleep here tonight,” I answered, nodding to myself, confirming that it was the right decision. “Is that okay?”
“Anything you say,” Jace replied, flashing me a smile that warmed me all the way down to my toes. “I’ll be back in an hour with dinner.”
I nodded again, and he pressed a goodbye kiss to my lips, lingering long enough to remind me of the night we had to look forward to.
Jace had been gone for ten minutes when I finally calmed down enough to go next door and get Jax. I didn’t want Hilda to question me, and she always had a way of knowing when something was off. When I got Jax, I didn’t say anything about Jace, and only let Jax know we were having company once we were back home again. He ran off to his room to play with Mickey and his toys, and I went to my own room to change and freshen up. I’d showered, shaved, and already had make-up on, because of the court date, but I changed into a pair of dark wash jeans that made my ass look bigger and perkier than it actually was, and slipped on a long sleeve sweater that hugged my gentle curves, and showed just the right amount of cleavage to be sexy, but still mom appropriate. I took my hair down and shook it out into loose waves.
By the time I was ready, someone was knocking at the door. My heart fluttered at the sound and a goofy smile instantly spread across my face. I fluffed my hair one more time and went to get it, calling for Jax as I passed his room. “Hey bud, I think someone’s here to see you.”
We both went to answer the door and Jax busted out some crazy happy dance when Jace stepped inside holding two huge pizza boxes. “Jace! Jace! My friend Jace!” He chanted.
We both laughed as Jax went wild. “For a second there, I wasn’t sure if he was excited about me, or the pizza,” Jace joked.
“For the record, I’m more excited about the pizza,” I teased, taking the boxes from him.
Jace leaned in—close enough to whisper in my ear, “I’ll get you back for that later.”
My body flushed at the string of possibilities that came to mind, and I turned away to take the food into the kitchen so Jace wouldn’t get the satisfaction of watching me blush and melt over his frisky promise.
“All right my fabulous men, how about you go wash your hands, and I’ll get some slices set out,” I said, remembering the last time Jace had been over for dinner, and how easy it had been for him to get Jax to comply with the pre-dinner hand washing routine.
I heard the two of them down the hall in the bathroom, Jax was laughing his head off about something and I smiled to myself listening to their silly banter. I marveled that I’d somehow found a man that I connected with in such an electric way physically, but that also had the capacity to warm my heart and make me see a tiny shimmer of hope, that maybe, just maybe, I could have the family I’d always dreamed of—or at least, that I’d dreamed of until Mitch took that dream and sent it through a paper shredder along with my heart.
I shook thoughts of Mitch out of my mind, shifting to what would happen once Jax was asleep and I had Jace in my bed…
Luckily, with a three-year-old around, it w
as easy to keep my mind from obsessing too much—something that was sure to only lead to anxiety—and the evening flew by in a flurry of stories, playtime, and the inevitable struggle to get Jax bathed and ready for his bedtime story. Jace waited out in the living room while I went through the bedtime routine with Jax, and when I brushed away the precious hair of my—finally—sleeping angel, my stomach clenched at the final boundary being removed between Jace and me.
With a strange mix of excitement and terror, I got up from Jax’s low bed and tiptoed out, leaving him in Mickey’s care as the two snuggled together. I shut the door softly behind me and padded down the wood floors to the living room. Jace wasn’t on the couch where I’d left him, and my heart jumped, panicked that he’d changed his mind and left. The light was on in the kitchen, and I heard a decidedly masculine hum, and followed the sounds, my smile getting bigger with each step, until I rounded the corner and found Jace standing at the sink—then, I burst into a muffled laugh.
“Is this funny?” Jace asked, spinning to model the royal purple apron he must have found hanging on the inside of the pantry. He was up to his elbows in soap suds, and had plowed through the two days worth of dishes that had piled up on the counter.
I leaned against the wall and watched him. “I feel like I should take a picture of you like this. I could probably get a pretty penny from some tabloid, right?” I teased. “Trust me, a picture of you in an apron, doing dishes—it would be like catnip to women around the world. I can practically see the headline now, He’s Hot, Single…and Ladies, He Cleans!” I dissolved into quiet giggles.
Jace dried his hands off and took three steps toward me, closing the space between us. “Catnip huh?”
I nodded, still smirking at him.
He braced an arm above my head and leaned in close. “Is this making you wet, Kat?” He growled into my ear.
I sucked in a breath at the question, all humor drained away.