Monica shrugged and forked in another bite. “Who knows if I can cut it,” she said around her food. “I won’t know until I try. Besides, you’ve paid my rent for the whole year so why not?”
They had argued about the rent thing but, in the end, Katie won.
It was as if something bigger than Monica was leading her in the direction of helping others.
“I’ll support you any way I can.”
“Just water the plants,” Monica said laughing. “Oh, and I was thinking today…maybe it’s time you bought a bigger car to drive. Convertibles aren’t the safest cars to be driving out there, especially with kids in the passenger seat.”
Nothing like a little bit of manipulation to make things right in her world.
Dr. Eddy had taught her that earlier.
Chapter Eighteen
“I’m buying a car and I don’t have a clue where to start.”
Dean shook his head and stared at Katie across his desk. “A car?”
“Yeah. I’ve driven plenty. But I realized that I’ve never bought one before. Yeah, my dad picked out the little black number I drove around in high school…but…”
She didn’t have to continue that story. She’d ditched it in a waterless aqueduct while showing off to her friends before her eighteenth birthday. After that, Gaylord paid a driver most of the time. Then she started renting cars. Convertibles, sport cars…anything flashy to get noticed.
Now Dean watched the girl turn into a responsible woman…a mother before his eyes. She waved several brochures at him like a flag. “Safety and reliability are paramount. I can’t have Savannah flying out a window or through a soft top because some asshole pulls out in front of us.”
Dean sat back in his chair, smug in his thoughts. “Where did this come from?”
Katie waved him off as if he hadn’t said a thing. “Monica. She suggested it before she left.”
“Monica left?”
“Yeah, some nurses without borders thing. She’ll be back in a week or so.”
Dean’s smug smile fell. “You’re alone at her apartment?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “I’m not alone. Savannah is there.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Nothing like a dirty diaper to deter unwanted guests.”
“Are you suggesting I can’t take care of myself?”
“No.” Yes.
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I’m not.” Yes, he was. Damn…and Katie saw right through him. The daggers sprang from her eyes with sparks of anger. He diverted her attention. “So Monica’s gone and she suggested you buy a car before leaving, to where exactly?”
“Florida.” Apparently, Katie’s grudge wasn’t going to last long. As was expected when her mind was centered on something else. Dean scooted forward when she moved around the desk and placed the brochures in front of him. “My first thought was one of those big numbers. You know, an old Lincoln or Escalade. They hold up in a crash…right?”
“They do.”
“But I’ve never driven one of those. They’re big.”
“Very big.”
She leaned forward letting her tight silk top gape in just the right place, reminding him of the creamy skin he’d find underneath if given the chance.
“Are they hard to drive?”
He licked his lips. “Not hard.”
“There are smaller cars, more agile.”
Dean pushed lust from his brain and attempted to concentrate on Katie’s words. “You need to test-drive the bigger cars…see if you’re comfortable with them. Did you drive a truck on the ranch?”
“Dusty two lane roads with only one car…yeah, but it’s been years.”
“You’re not old enough for it to have been years.”
“You know exactly how old I am. C’mon, Dean. I need direction here and I’m not afraid to ask for it. I’d ask Jessie, if she knew about Savannah. But she doesn’t, so I’m asking you.”
Dean concentrated on the pamphlets on his desk. “Keep it American,” he said as he tossed two brochures in the trash. “Your daddy would kick your butt if you arrived in anything made outside of Detroit.”
“He never said a thing about the Italian cars I drove home.”
“You rented those. Doesn’t count. Let’s look up crash reports on these models.” He narrowed his search to midsize SUVs, something he though Katie could drive without worry of crashing into guardrails.
“Oh, look…that has a TV in the back. Savannah will love it.”
“Savannah’s what?…Two months old? I don’t think she’s thinking of a TV.”
“But she will, someday.”
Dean smiled and pushed away from his desk. “Let’s go.”
“Go? We have work to do.”
He grabbed his keys and tucked his cell phone into his pocket. “Perks of being the boss. C’mon. Let’s shop.”
“Are you sure?”
It tickled him that Katie contemplated staying at work instead of shopping for a car. He leaned in and surprised her with a kiss. A simple pass of his lips over hers…and it felt entirely too right. “I’m sure.”
He walked through his office and told Jo to call him if there was fire or blood on the site and to take messages for everything else.
Katelyn’s sparkling new Cadillac crossover fully loaded was sleek, sexy, powerful, and American.
For some reason Dean wasn’t quite clear about, Katie sent a picture text to Monica who was apparently in the air en route to Florida.
Katie had grown up somewhere when Dean wasn’t looking.
He liked it.
The hotel loomed in front of him. His gazed settled on the people milling in and out of the hot, moist Texas heat completely oblivious to anyone around them. When called on to act as a witness, no one would be able to give any distinct identification about him at all, which was part of his problem. He’d found no one, not one soul, who’d seen a woman or man walk into the hotel where Katelyn lived, and drop off a baby.
Patrick had sent word to Katelyn about his progress. She was understandably unhappy that he didn’t have a name yet. The mother had done a very good job at hiding who she was. Not that he wouldn’t find her out…but these things did take time.
He’d been unsuccessful at infiltrating the hospital records where Savannah was born. Although he was working on a hack to find the information anyway, he didn’t want to go to jail to determine who the birth mother was. The best option was to get back into the hotel and attempt to access Katelyn’s room without a key to the elevator or her room.
He cased the outside of the hotel like a thief. He watched a pair of window washers with a shrug. A new mother wouldn’t dare that route. But a fire escape wasn’t unthinkable. Twenty-four floors might be a little much for a new mom. But then who said the mother dropped off the baby? It could have been someone hired to do the job.
Patrick’s gut said differently.
This mom, the one who took so much care leaving Savannah outside a door without any chance she’d be left there for long, had been close by when Katelyn and Monica stumbled upon Savannah. This mom wouldn’t have given someone else the chance to fuck that up.
But how?
That was what he struggled with.
There were service workers moving in and out of the hotel without notice. Food service, linen service, florists, and the occasional man or woman that appeared anticipated. The ebb and flow of the hotel was like water flowing through a river, expected and sometimes forceful.
Patrick made a note: Mom could have easily penetrated the building through service entrance if dressed appropriately.
Inside the hotel lobby, he moved to an arrangement of chairs and sat with his cell phone in his hands. No one bothered him, noticed him…spoke to him.
After thirty minutes of sitting, he picked himself up and moved to a coffeehouse inside the hotel and ordered a simple coffee, black.
He noticed a service hallway alongside the restaurant, a passage he’d found the fir
st time he’d spent time wandering the hotel, and walked toward it. The cell phone in his pocket made noise right on time and he lifted it to his ear.
In the receiver was nothing but static. He walked through the service door talking into his phone and acting distracted. The plain tile floors of a back corridor, which none of the hotel guests ever saw, met his feet as he marched down one hall to another. Soon there were extra folding beds lining the halls and carts used to carry any number of things throughout the building.
“I thought you were meeting me here!” he all but hollered into the phone to no one. “I’m at the hotel now.” He twisted down another corridor and found two elevators.
Service elevators.
He turned in a circle and looked around him, acting confused. “What the fuck?” he said aloud in case there were cameras with audio watching. He punched the up button on the elevator and talked into the phone. “Upstairs? Where?”
The deserted hall wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t check in, check out, or mealtime. If there was a quiet time in a hotel, it was now. The service elevator made a noise and opened. He acted as if he were still talking on his phone and stepped inside. He pressed the uppermost floors and took a seamless ride to the top.
He stepped into a similar bare corridor and twisted around until he found a stairwell. The door opened easily and he shuffled up…toward the penthouse.
“Bingo!” he said as he stepped into the short hallway of Katelyn’s hotel home.
He tapped his pockets and put his phone away.
The mother didn’t make it inside the room. Only the corridor. He once again looked at the adjacent door to the vacant penthouse suite.
The mother could have rented it. Yet according to the online files he’d hacked into, it was vacant the night of Jack and Jessie’s wedding.
So where had the mother hid?
In the service hall.
Patrick let himself into Katelyn’s suite for a second time in a month.
Fresh flowers met his nose.
But that wasn’t all.
There, in the middle of the room, was a man wearing a cowboy hat and a frown.
“Who are you?” The stranger all but yelled the question.
Patrick plastered a smile on his lips and met the somewhat familiar man’s hostility with a smile. “A friend of Katelyn’s,” he said, using the same excuse he’d done before.
The man glared beyond him to the door. “She’s not here.”
Patrick thought of removing his jacket, but his service revolver was holstered and visible so he simply smiled. “Yeah, I know. She said I could crash here when I’m in town.”
The other man pushed up his Texas-issued cowboy hat on his brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “She did, did she?”
“She did. Who are you?” Patrick decided to act like a lover.
The man wasn’t dressed as a hotel employee and he acted as if he owned the place. Katelyn had made it clear Patrick wouldn’t encounter anyone in her room.
“Who are you?” The question was a shout.
“Ben Sanderson. Who the hell are you?” Best to act the pissed lover.
“Jack Morrison. Her brother!”
Oh, fuck!
Chapter Nineteen
Dean’s palms itched. Outside of the office or car hunting, he’d not spent a moment alone with Katelyn since the day he’d learned about Savannah.
That was all about to change. Knowing that Monica wasn’t home and he wouldn’t be interrupting “girl time,” he made a quick stop at home for a shower and a change of clothes after work, then headed straight over to Katelyn’s.
He parked his truck in a guest parking spot and walked up the not-so-quiet path to the apartment. Someone in the complex was playing music too loud, and someone else shouted something about taking the trash out.
Apartment living wasn’t something he ever had to endure. His parents lived well, invested in sound stocks that didn’t crash when Wall Street fell. His father’s upbringing was in rural Texas where his grandfather worked on an oil field. Hard work and Prescotts went hand in hand. Somewhere in the chain Dean’s father had moved from blue to white collar and passed that on to his children.
Dean knew how to do most of the jobs he expected of his employees, but he managed his staff better by acting as their mentor in the physical work.
Standing outside the apartment building was as foreign to him as it must have been to Katelyn the first time she’d come here.
Yet this was where she chose to stay…at least for now.
Dean knocked on Katie’s door and rocked back on his heels.
He rubbed his hands on his jeans and thought maybe he should have something with him, something to offer Katie…food…wine…diapers?
Katie opened the door wearing a pair of sweats—designer sweats, but cotton pants nonetheless—with Savannah on her arm. Katie hesitated and offered him a smile.
“I thought you two ladies might like some company,” he said with what he knew was his most boyish smile.
Katie’s cheeks turned pink. She glanced down at her little girl and asked, “What do you think, Savannah? Are we accepting strays tonight?”
Savannah lifted her head a fraction and Katie grinned. “Guess you can come in.”
He followed her through the door, closed, and locked it behind him.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Those are the best kinds of visits, don’t you think?” Dean moved about the apartment while Katie put Savannah down on a blanket in the middle of the floor.
“Depends on if you like the visitor.”
Dean swiveled her way. “I hope I’m in the like category.”
Katie laughed and moved into the small kitchen. “As if you ever worry about that. Want something to drink?”
While Katie moved around the kitchen, pouring them both glasses of iced sweet tea, Dean kept an eye on Savannah as she played. The tiny wisps of hair were brushed back and bright blue eyes watched him intently.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? I know all moms say that about their children…but she really is.”
Dean stretched out and picked up a colorful toy before waving it in front of Savannah’s gaze. “She’s amazing, Katie.”
“You can pick her up. She doesn’t bite.” Katie sat beside him and pressed her back against the couch.
She was so small. His hand took up half her body as he lifted Savannah onto his lap. He propped her on his bent knees and was blessed with a smile.
Dean’s heart kicked in his chest. “You’re gonna break hearts with that smile, darlin’. Just like your mommy.”
Katie brushed alongside him and stared. “I can watch her for hours. I wonder what she’s thinking. Everything around her is so big and she’s so helpless on her own.”
“My sister says babies only think of food, sleep, and diaper changes.”
Katie giggled. “Yeah, there’s a lot of that. But like right now…she’s staring at you. Listening to your deep voice. What’s she thinking?”
Dean kissed the top of Katie’s head as she rested it on his shoulder. “I know what I’m thinking. That she’s one lucky baby to have ended up on your doorstep. Your love for her is obvious.”
“She’s easy to love.”
Just like you.
Dean tried to push aside his thoughts. Did he really want to visit that pain again? He’d barely survived loving Katie the first time, yet here he was inviting himself back into her life again…only this time she had someone else with her. Someone precious and vulnerable.
Katie played with Savannah’s hand, which sat inside Dean’s larger one. She traced their fingers together, appeared mesmerized by the difference in size. The girls watched each other, both of them smiling.
Resistance was futile and Dean knew it. Before he’d asked for Jack’s blessing, Dean knew he was going to work hard to win Katie back. This time, he had two girls to win.
While keeping hold of Savannah, Dean tucked a finger under Katie’s
chin and directed her attention to him.
The tiny lines around her eyes that would manifest when she was deep in thought softened as he looked his fill. Without words, Dean leaned forward and met her lips with his.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
She was soft and welcoming…perfect. When Dean moved away, Katie blinked and ran her tongue over her lips. “What was that for?”
“Do I need a reason?” he asked softly.
Katie swallowed, her eyes never leaving his. A flash of fear passed over her. “Are you sure you want this…me, us?”
Dean traced her lips with his thumb. “I’m willing to try if you are.”
“We didn’t work before.”
“We didn’t give us a chance before.”
Katie dropped her gaze to Savannah and sucked in her bottom lip. Her nod was slow…hesitant. “OK.” She smiled. “OK…”
This time when he kissed her, he put fire into it. Well, as much fire as he could with an infant in his lap. Katie caught his cheek with her hand and pressed into his touch.
Savannah let out a tiny cry and broke them apart. Both of them laughed.
“I’m just kissing your mommy, Savannah. You’re going to have to get used to that.”
Later that night, as he worshiped every inch of Katie’s body, reminding them both of how well they fit together, Dean knew he’d already fallen deep.
As he moved within her, and listened to her call his name when she shattered in his arms, he felt his heart open completely.
He was home.
“What the hell is going on?” Monica yelled the frantic question into the phone. Katie pulled the receiver from her ear.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jessie left a message on my cell. She said to call her back ASAP. Said she needed the inside scoop on you and Dean. Did you two go public with your relationship?”
Katie let go of her purse she’d just placed over her shoulder, dropping it to the floor. The trip to the grocery store would have to wait.
“No we’ve not gone public. You’re the only one who knows we’re seeing each other.”
Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) Page 17