My Soul For You

by Morgana Phoenix

  “Did you forget to take Kitty’s jacket?”

  The man looked momentarily confused.

  “My fault,” Katie said quickly. “I forgot to take it off.” She unbuttoned the front and rose to her feet, but Bernard was already there, gloved hand outstretched. She passed over the jacket. “Thank you, Bernard.”

  He inclined his head, whirled on his heels and disappeared from sight.

  “It’s not necessary to make excuses for the staff,” Joyce said. “They’re all incompetent.” She sighed heavily.

  It was on the tip of Katie’s tongue to ask why they were still employed if that were the case, when a soft, almost bird-like voice spoke up.

  “Pretty dress.”

  For a moment, Katie thought the voice belong to some piece of furniture, before remembering the girl in the armchair. There was a faint stroke of color in her cheeks when Katie looked at her, surprised.

  Katie smiled as she sat back down. “Thank you.”

  The girl seemed to only sink lower in her seat.

  “It’s a Lacy Chou original, isn’t it?” Joyce asked, looking almost impressed.

  Katie blinked. “Sorry. A what?”

  “Your dress, dearie. Who is the designer?”

  Katie dropped her gaze down the length of her dress and shrugged; it had been one of many from Rebekah’s collection of things.

  “That is a very good question,” she decided, facing the woman once more. “I have no idea.”

  “Not materialistic, huh?”

  “Not particularly,” Katie answered. “But your dress is gorgeous, and yours, Stephanie.”

  Stephanie shrunk even deeper against the cushions of her chair, but there was a happy flush in her cheeks.

  Joyce beamed. “It’s Prada, of course.”

  Katie nodded. “Of course.”

  A woman in a tight, black dress hurried in. She curtsied to Joyce.

  “Well about time,” Joyce huffed. “Champagne, for me,” she told the woman. She turned her attention to Katie and Kaleb. “Kitty?”

  “Katie would like an apple martini, if you can,” Katie said, smiling politely at the server.

  Beside her, Kaleb cleared his throat. “Nothing for me. Thank you, Chun.”

  The woman did another curtsy, spun on her three inch heels and left the room.

  “An apple martini.” Joyce chuckled. “That’s an interesting choice. It’s more for lonely, single women at bars and prostitutes, isn’t it?”

  “Joyce!” Kaleb growled.

  Katie smiled placidly and rested a hand on Kaleb’s knee. “I don’t go to bars, but maybe that saying is before my time so you would know best.”

  A hot glint flashed behind Joyce’s eyes before it was masked by a quiet chuckle. “Too busy studying?” she prodded.

  “Amongst other things.”

  “Other things?” The woman tittered. “Sounds so ominous. You’re not a stripper in your spare time, are you? I hear most college girls resort to taking their clothes off for money at least once.”

  Katie laughed. “I wouldn’t know. The only man I’ve been stripping for is Kaleb and he’s so good I wouldn’t dream of asking him to pay.”

  Kaleb broke out in a fit of coughs. Stephanie squeaked and smothered her giggle behind small hands. But neither Katie nor Joyce noticed. Neither so much as blinked. They stared at the other with the same smile, sweet with an undertone of bitch I hate you.

  “My, my,” Joyce said at last. “You are most definitely not like his other girls, are you, Katie?”

  Katie beamed. “Why, thank you!” She finally turned to Kaleb. “You okay?”

  Red-faced and still coughing, Kaleb nodded. “Fine.” He cleared his throat. “Fine.”

  Chun hustled into the room carrying a silver tray of drinks. She went to Joyce first.

  Kaleb leaned over ever so slightly and brushed Katie’s ear with his lips. “I would kiss you right now, if I wasn’t afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop.”

  Katie peered at him through her lashes. “Maybe later.”

  His eyes darkened. “Count on it.”

  With a last glance at him, Katie accepted the drink Chun offered her. She took a sip.

  “This is delicious. Thank you.”

  Chun inclined her head, snapped on her heels and scuttled away.

  Alone with the witch, Katie thought, taking another sip. It really was delicious.

  “So what are you studying, Katie?” Joyce asked, twirling her champagne delicately.

  “Business law,” Katie said at once.

  Something in Joyce’s face changed. There was a wrinkle in her nose that she was having a hard time concealing.

  “You must constantly have your nose in books,” she said in a tone that suggested the very idea was abhorring.

  “I love reading,” Katie said without reservation. “I think the best power in the world is knowledge.”

  The blonde wasn’t nearly as controlled to tame the curl of her lips this time. “An intellectual.” She took a sip of her drink like the very word left a sour taste in her mouth. “Nothing at all like your other girls, Kaleb. How can you possibly stand it?”

  “Rational conversations with a smart, beautiful woman?” Kaleb hissed through his teeth. “Good question.”

  Katie elbowed him playfully.

  “I like books,” Stephanie squeaked, and then shot her mother a timid glance.

  “Having your mind full of fantasy and fluff will never help you accomplish anything in life,” Joyce said snippily. “Reality is nothing like they make out in that rubbish.”

  “But isn’t that the point?” Katie wondered. “You read books to escape reality.”

  Joyce waved her free hand dismissively. “I have yet to find a single worthy piece of literature.”

  Deciding the other woman’s disregard for all books was a waste of her time, Katie turned her attention to the girl.

  “What do you like to read, Stephanie?”

  For a moment, the girl reminded Katie of a spooked, cornered rabbit. Her wide, gray eyes kept darting between her mother and Katie like she was watching two wolves descending upon her. Katie instantly felt bad for putting her in that position and was about to retract her question when the girl spoke.

  “J … Jane Austin,” she whispered so softly, Katie almost didn’t hear her. “Charles Dickens.”

  Katie smiled. “I love Jane Austin. Which one’s your favorite?”

  The girl’s features softened. “Little Women and—”

  “Since this conversation has taken a turn into the realm of ludicrousness, I’m going to go see what’s keeping your father.” Joyce rose fluidly out of her seat and flounced from the room.

  The moment the sound of her heels had faded somewhere down the hall, Katie looked from Kaleb to Stephanie, barely suppressing her grin.

  “Is she always this much fun?”

  Kaleb chuckled. “Only you would think so.”

  Katie set her drink down on the glass coffee table and shot to her feet. “Well, I do.” She smoothed her hands down her skirt. “I’ve never met anyone who hated books. It’s incredible, like meeting an alien.”

  Sending a wink towards Stephanie when the girl giggled, Katie hurried around the furniture to the fireplace and the neat display of photos framed in gleaming silver.

  “Rats! There’s none of you here, Kaleb,” she observed, going over each one closely. “I was hoping for one of you naked on a bearskin rug before a roaring hearth.”

  “No.” Kaleb laughed and moved up behind her. “You won’t find any of me here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he would always steal the pictures and burn them,” Stephanie murmured from her chair.

  Katie gasped in amusement. “Why? Were you an ugly baby?”

  He poked her in the side. “No! I was very adorable, I’ll have you know.

  “So why—?”

  “Because I refuse to be placed on the shrine of Joyce.” With a grin at her, he moved back to
the sofa.

  Pouting, Katie studied the photos, each one professionally done and holding no real warmth. The people in them were dressed to match each other, right down to their smiles. Joyce was main focus in all of them, whether she was with a tall, handsome man or the tiny, pale figure Katie knew to be Stephanie. Joyce shone.

  “You look so pretty in this one, Stephanie,” Katie said, pointing to the picture of her in a cute, pink dress with ribbons in her hair to match.

  She was never given a chance to respond when the sound of raised voices spilled through the corridor into the room. Kaleb had two seconds to curse when no less than seven people marched through the door. The moment they flocked in, Stephanie bolted out of her seat and scurried out without a single word to anyone.

  Katie moved to stand at Kaleb’s side, curious at all the feathers and gems.

  “You said this was dinner casual,” she mumbled to him, eyeing the silk gowns of brilliant yellow, blue and pink, all sequined with diamonds and glitter. One scary thin lady even had a feather boa thrown around her skeletal shoulders.

  “This is their dinner casual,” he mumbled back.

  “Who are they?” she asked.

  “Joyce’s … friends.”

  “Kaleb!” Skeleton woman sashayed to where Kaleb stood and threw her bony arms around his neck. “Darling, how are you?”

  Katie had to step back as the other two women hurried to take her place and veer for Kaleb’s attention, each taking turns hugging and plastering kisses to his face. Their dates, the four men they’d come in with, remained by the door … studying Katie with a wide range of interest.

  Flustered, she looked away.

  “You’ve kept away too long,” a buxom woman cooed, holding Kaleb’s face between her small hands.

  “It’s been absolutely dreadful here without you,” the tall, broad woman chimed in.

  Kaleb, adorably rumpled and uncomfortable, untangled himself from their grasp and dodged around the sofa, keeping the thing between himself and them as he skirted around to where Katie stood.

  “Ladies, I would like to introduce you to my date.” He shoved Katie forward like a sacrificial lamb. “This is Katie Claremont.”

  “Date?” The second woman pouted. “Joyce said nothing about you having a date.”

  “Yet here I am.” Katie offered them each a smile.

  “Katie.” Kaleb squeezed her shoulders gently. “This is Isabella, Celine and Jace.”

  Katie inclined her head politely. “Hello.”

  “She’s too small,” the one called Celine decided.

  “Too thin,” said the skeleton/Isabella.

  “Not very good looking,” added the final one.

  Katie’s jaw dropped. “Hey—”

  “Sorry, love,” Isabella crooned, puckering her plump bottom lip. “It’s not your fault.”

  “I’m afraid you’re all wrong.” Kaleb moved to stand at Katie’s shoulder and slip his arm around her waist. “I think she’s absolutely perfect.”

  As pleased as Katie was to hear it, the other three weren’t. They hummed and chattered and clicked their tongues in annoyance. But they made no further mention of Katie’s short comings.

  The calm ended when Joyce walked into the room, champagne flute in one hand, a handsome man in the other; he wasn’t technically in her hand, but the way she was clutching his arm, he may as well have been.

  He was an older version of Kaleb, tall and lean with the same poetic mouth and warm eyes. His dark hair was cut short around the sides and left spiky on top. He also had a goatee, which Katie thought gave him an air of charm.

  “Your dad?” she asked Kaleb quietly.

  He nodded, but said nothing.

  He and Joyce made their rounds through the room. They got to Katie and Kaleb last. Eyes that were so much like Kaleb’s dropped to her. Crinkles formed on either side as his lips bowed into a kind smile.

  “Hello,” he said, offering Katie a hand. “Shawn O’Reilly.”

  Katie smiled back and slipped her hand into his. “Katie Claremont.”

  Something akin to interest sparked behind his eyes. “Katie.” He darted a glance towards his son. Something passed there that Katie couldn’t decipher. Then she had his attention once more. “Kaleb has told me so much about you,” he said.

  She didn’t know what to say to that. It was strange, knowing he’d talked about her to his family. She couldn’t help wondering what he could have possibly told them.

  “Good things,” Shawn O’Reilly assured her, as though he had the ability to read minds, or maybe it just showed on her face. “He’s quite taken with you.”

  “No one says that anymore,” Kaleb muttered, his cheeks pink.

  Katie laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she said.

  With a final squeeze, he relinquished his grip on her hand and turned to his wife.

  “I thought this was going to be a family dinner, Joyce dear,” he said.

  Joyce shrugged daintily. “They are family, dearest.”

  The four of them looked over to where the three women Katie had decided to call the three Stoogettes stood clucking at each other about some woman who’d had the nerve to wear last month’s fashion at some dinner event. They looked so appalled, one would think the person had done open heart surgery on the banquet table. But it didn’t seem so odd that they were Joyce’s friends. It actually made perfect sense, at least to Katie.

  “Excuse us.” Shawn gave Katie another smile and moved his wife further away.

  “I like him,” Katie decided with an affirming nod. “The jury’s still out on Joyce.”

  Kaleb chuckled. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “I’m sorry for the three crones.”

  Katie sighed dramatically. “My awesomeness intimidates people.”

  His explosion of laughter warmed the side of her face and shook against her shoulder where his chest was pressed into her side. His fingers worked up her spine in a slow glide that had shivers following their wake.

  Katie gasped without thinking. Her eyelids slipped shut.

  It was ridiculous because it had only been a few days since they’d been together, but she had missed his hands on her. It seemed like the more time they spent naked in each other’s arms, the more she wanted. It was saying something when her body crackled with desire just from a single caress.

  “Where is that useless server of yours, Joyce?” Isabella scolded. “I am dying of thirst.”

  Katie’s eyes popped open as she remembered just where she was. Her gaze swept over the room as she prayed no one had noticed.

  Stormy gray eyes met hers from across the room, taking Katie by surprise. The owner was roughly Kaleb’s age, maybe a little older. He stood with his back against the wall next to the doorway, away from the group, a clear onlooker, but not a participator. But he was studying her and only her. His attention seemed to be riveted.

  “Who’s that?” Katie asked Kaleb.

  Kaleb glanced over, gave a slight wave in the other guy’s direction. It was returned with an inconspicuous nod.

  “That’s John Paul. Joyce’s cousin, I think. Or nephew.”

  “And the others?” She gestured at the three men huddled by the fireplace, chattering about something that looked very vital.

  “Husbands of the crones,” he mumbled for her ears only. “Very important, very serious men.”

  Katie giggled at the deep, gruff, greatly exaggerated tone his voice took on.

  It was only then she noticed how close they stood. His entire chest was melded into her side and he had one hand on her lower back, the other was all the way around her, resting on her hip. She was enclosed in his arms. His breath was tickling the side of her face. She could turn her head and kiss him. It was doing nothing to help remind her she needed to keep her head. It was definitely not helping her remember she should push him away.

  “Katie.”

  His voice sent tendrils of heat coursing through her. She loved how he said her name, lo
ved how it formed on his mouth and how it always poured out with just a hint of desperate longing. It took all her strength of will not reach up and trace his lips.

  “Yes?”

  The fingers on her hip tightened. She was drawn around until they were facing. His Adam’s apple was mere inches from brushing her nose. It bobbed. His lips brushed her hairline.

  “I—”

  “Where is that girl?” Joyce demanded, interrupting whatever Kaleb had been about to say.

  “No doubt sleeping on the job,” Celine snipped.

  “I’m sure she’s on her way,” Shawn insisted. “There is quite a lot to do in the kitchen.”

  “Then perhaps more help is required,” Jace decided in a tone that made Katie want to slap her.

  “Can I help?” Katie offered, trying to be polite.

  The instant silence stated very clearly she’d said something wrong even if everyone in the room hadn’t been watching her.

  It was Shawn that saved her.

  He broke away from Joyce and swept over to her. “That’s very kind of you, Katie. Why don’t you join me the dining room instead?”

  He claimed her hand and slipped it through the crock of his elbow. On the way towards the door, Katie snatched up her purse from the sofa and followed him from the room.

  “Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

  “No. Not at all,” Shawn assured her. “It’s just not often words like help get thrown around in this company. I’m not sure it even exists.”

  “I don’t mind helping,” Katie said.

  He patted her hand. “I know you don’t, but the staff has it covered.”

  The dining room was set for exactly eleven people. Everything was cream, gold, and burgundy, even the fine bone china. Crystal dripped from the ceiling, precisely over an elegant bouquet of red roses.

  “It’s beautiful,” Katie said as Shawn led her to the head of the table.

  “Thank you, but I don’t think I can take any real credit for it.” He pulled out her chair, the second from the top, on the left. “Neither can Joyce,” he murmured in a secretive whisper that made her laugh. “Although, I am sure she will try.”

  “Dinner before drinks, highly unusual,” Celine was mumbling as the rest of the group filed in.

  Shawn gave Katie a wink and moved to take his place at the head.