They lived far from the beach, but the warm air carried the faint taste of the salt and enough moisture to keep the bath towels damp all day. She walked across the small lawn, stopping to admire the plumeria but not really smelling the rich scent. Her mind was elsewhere.
She opened the front door to the small two-bedroom cottage expecting an icy greeting from a fuming sibling. Cara was too busy spooning fried rice out of a white container and talking with Eric to notice her wayward sister.
Katie blinked six or seven times but his image didn’t disappear. Didn’t even get smaller. Nope. Eric sat there at the kitchen table wearing his dress shirt and loosened tie, looking as if he’d just stepped out of the office for a minute. While he turned the pages on a soft-cover book for Ashleigh, she showed her appreciation by sucking on the corner.
Seemed the handsome lawyer had charmed all of the women in the Long residence.
Katie thought about sneaking back out but her curiosity wouldn’t let her. “Uh, hello?”
Three heads turned and three sets of eyes focused on her. Only Ashleigh gave a squeal of welcome.
“You’re late,” Cara said.
That’s what happened when someone didn’t want to come home to fifty questions. Of course, Katie now had about a hundred of her own. She glanced at the subject of most of them. “Eric?”
He shot her a sexy little smile. “Were you expecting someone else?”
She wasn’t even expecting him. “What are you doing here?”
“Good to see you, too.”
“Really, Katie,” Cara said.
“What?”
“You could work on your welcome.” This time Cara let her exasperation show, complete with a frown and disappointed tone.
Katie still didn’t understand what she was seeing. “What?”
Eric held up his hand. “Okay. Let’s not start with the ‘what’ thing again.”
“You can see why I might be confused with what’s happening here.”
“You’ll survive.” Eric stood up and walked over to stand in front of her. Before she could snap out of it, he took the keys out of her hand and, with a palm on her lower back, navigated her toward food.
Cara watched every move. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t miss much, either.
Katie plopped down in the open seat across from Ashleigh. “Hey, pretty girl. Isn’t it your bedtime?”
“Look at that smile,” Eric said when Ashleigh pumped her fists in hello.
If the man wanted to win points with Cara, he was going about it the right way. Through her precious baby. Hell, it worked on Katie, too.
She pushed the thought from her mind. He had enough pluses in his column without her adding another one. This was the evening she’d planned to sit down and come up with the best way to get out of the disaster she’d wiggled her way into. The one thing she was not ready for was his face. Seeing him was not part of her plan. Yelling at Cara and working off some steam—yes. Fighting off that kick start to her heart that happened every time Eric walked into a room—no.
She stared at the Chinese food containers rather than focusing on her newest life mess. Seemed they’d moved from coffee and sex to food. Big step for one day. One that made her want to squeal with excitement like Ashleigh, but terrified the crap out of her at the same time.
“You brought dinner,” Katie said, stating the obvious.
“Yes.” He must have sensed her confusion because he smiled again. Not one of the hot-for-sex kind she now treasured. No, this was one of the cute, supportive ones.
Katie knew she had no shield against that type. Instead of looking at him the way she wanted to, she counted four containers. “For everyone?”
Eric slipped his finger out of Ashleigh’s clenched fist. “Well, your niece has her own.”
“Actually, I handle most of hers.” Cara pretended to eat, clanking her fork against the plate a few times.
Katie ignored her. “How did you know where I live?”
“One of the benefits of working for law enforcement,” Eric said.
Katie knew his power should scare her. For some reason it didn’t. “You got someone to look it up and then tell you.”
“Not quite, but close.”
Great. With her luck, he’d get fired. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Sounds like a potential abuse of power.”
“Not at all.” He moved the boxes in front of her as if telling her it was time to eat. “I was explaining to Cara how we met.”
Katie dropped her spoon and watched it bounce on her plate. “What?”
His mouth dropped into a flat line. He also sent an eye bulge her way. “I told her how I saw you at the wedding, made a pass and have been making them ever since.”
So, he lied. Nice. Katie decided she could live with that since his version would save her hours of questions from Cara. Now there would only be three or four instead of the possible seven or eight.
“You’ll be happy to know he says you didn’t do anything to screw up my big catering job,” Cara said, making it clear she didn’t buy Eric’s chivalrous attempt at taking the full blame.
“I’m pretty sure I told you that, too.” Katie made the comment under her breath before turning back to Eric. “So, you came here with dinner and to talk with Cara.”
“Well, I hoped you’d show up at some point.”
Cara snorted. “She was probably afraid to come home.”
“I’m a grown-up,” Katie mumbled even though she doubted anyone heard her.
“So am I, but your sister still scares me a little.” Eric shrugged. “And that’s saying something since I deal with criminals all day.”
Katie reached out and squeezed his fingers. “It makes you a smart man.”
Cara’s gaze shifted from her sister to Eric. “On that note, I will take the impressionable child out of the room and let you two eat dinner in private.”
She made a bit of a scene of getting Ashleigh. Stopped while Katie gave Ashleigh a hug and Eric tickled her toes.
Katie waited until they disappeared down the hall before unloading on Eric.
“What’s going on here?” she said in a low, hissing tone.
His smile faltered a bit. “You’re angry?”
“Confused.”
He pointed at her forehead. “If the pulsing vein and the sting in your voice only mean confusion, remind me never to tick you off.”
Okay. Maybe she needed to amp down a bit, but the whole situation threw her off. Every time she thought she had seen the last of Eric, he popped up again. Pretty soon she’d be expecting him to turn up, and that’s what scared the crap out of her.
“I doubt you’re afraid of me,” she said.
“More than you’d think.”
She laughed then. Couldn’t help it. He sounded so sincere, all while concentrating on shoveling rice onto his fork. “Poor baby.”
“That’s better.”
“Are you ready to answer the question now?”
He swallowed a few bites of food before answering. “Which one?”
“What’s really going on?”
“Thought I’d try to do something to take that angry look off Cara’s face. She didn’t seem all that impressed to meet me the first time around.”
“That was about me, not you.” Katie traced a drip down the side of her glass. “You take a shared history, wrap it up in years of disappointment and sisterly attitude, and that’s what you get.”
“If you say so, but it sure felt like whatever was bugging her was aimed at me.”
Most men would take a slap-down and move on. Not Eric. When he thought a woman was upset with him, he stayed put and tried to win her over. Katie wasn’t sure what that said about him, but it was pretty damn cute. “And you being you, you felt the need to come here and charm her.”
“Rather than pull that sentence apart and analyze it, I’ll just agree.” He leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her mouth.
His mouth on hers never failed to start
the buzzing in her head. “Good call.”
“Think my evil charm plan worked?”
“Surprisingly, yes.” And that was a pretty big coup since Cara didn’t trust many people.
“What about you?” He scooped some rice onto his plate and then onto hers. “You feel charmed yet?”
About two seconds after she’d met him. “I guess that will depend on how this dinner goes.”
Chapter 7
Eric sat across from Katie with her words from two days before still ringing in his head. Is that why you brought coffee instead of asking me to go out?
The nagging comment explained why he’d showed up at her house with food in hand. He refused to believe he’d become the kind of guy who used women for sex but was ashamed to be seen with them in public. Sure, they’d been together without ever going through the potentially painful experience of a first date. That made him a lucky bastard. He just wanted to make sure the emphasis stayed off the bastard part.
“I thought we were overdue for a meal together,” he said as he watched her guard drop and some of the stiffness leave her shoulders.
She dug into the food, peeking in each container and sniffing one before dumping piles on her plate. “Is this food thing part of your no-sex plan?”
He stole a quick glance behind her to make sure Cara wasn’t standing there, ready to kick his ass. “I believe normal people call it a date.”
There, he’d said it. It was official. This was a date.
“Coming to my house without telling me is a date?”
But maybe he was the only one who saw it that way. “I’m going to go with yes.”
She pointed her fork at him. “Using that reasoning, if I hadn’t come home tonight, you would have had a date with Cara.”
Something about the wording caught his attention. They didn’t have an agreement or even an understanding about what they were doing or what the parameters were, but the idea of her seeing another guy sent an icy cold rage washing through him.
If she wanted to sleep with someone, she could damn well sleep with him. “Where would you have gone?”
Her fork scraped against the plate as her head shot up. “What?”
“If you stayed out.” Tension crept up out of nowhere and slapped against him. He had no idea what she was going to say. Nothing in the sudden stillness of her body or her blank expression gave it away.
“For a lawyer, you’re not being too clear.”
That was on purpose. It was a matter of self-protection he’d learned the hard way from Deana. “Meaning?”
“What exactly are you asking, Eric?”
It was as if she wanted to torture him. “I think you know.”
“I’m not seeing anyone but you, if that’s what you’re getting at.” She folded her napkin and put it next to her glass. “Hell, I can’t even figure out if I’m seeing you, but whatever we have is monogamous.”
The churning in his stomach died down to a steady rumble. “Good.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“We agree.” When her I’m-going-to-shoot-him scowl didn’t subside, he tried again. “We’re on the same page.”
“Really?” She folded her arms and leaned against the table. “About which part?”
He was walking into a shit storm. He saw it and ran in anyway. “All of it.”
“You’re telling me that there aren’t any other women in your life.”
“I like to visit my mom now and then.”
Katie’s mouth fell even further. “You know what I mean.”
He did. Looked like he wasn’t the only one who needed some reassurance. She’d probably heard the rumors about Deana. Even though Katie acted cool and confident, not seeing him again wouldn’t matter, he could understand how the garbage about an ex might shake her.
He held up one hand acting like he was taking an oath. “I haven’t been with anyone, dated anyone, had sex with anyone, since meeting you.”
“That’s quite an accomplishment, since it’s only been a week.” Katie shrugged, acted like she didn’t care either way, but her smile came through.
“Feels longer.”
Her hands fell to the table. The fingernail drumming started a second later. “Speaking of your mother….”
Now there was the last topic he’d expected to cover tonight. He was thinking more along the lines of some ground rules to the whole sex and sort-of-dating thing. “Were we?”
“I’m assuming I’m not what she’d expect.”
This was one of those conversations women put out there to trip a man up. Eric recognized the minefield but wasn’t sure how to dodge it. “I have no idea.”
“She probably sees you with someone…different.”
“I’m not following you.”
“I’ve read articles.” The thumping of Katie’s fingers almost drowned out her voice. “You’re the overachieving son of hardworking Japanese parents. They pushed you. You excelled because it was demanded of you.”
They veered right into you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me territory. “Did you read that article in the Big Book of Racial Stereotypes?”
Katie looked stumped. “Is there such a thing?”
A rumbling started low and deep inside him. “Unfortunately most people think this stuff without any help.”
“Wait, are you upset about what I said?”
“You’re picking up on that, are you?” He had to take three deep breaths to keep from exploding.
“It’s not like I asked you to do a math problem for me.”
From anyone else, in any other tone, and he would have launched into a lecture. Yelled and then written them off. “I’m not even sure I know what to say to that.”
“I was trying to make a point.”
He reached over and held one of her hands in his. “I think you’re confused on a few things.”
“Like?”
“First, I’m a Japanese American. I was born in Hawaii, just like my mother. My dad moved here as a kid. I’d show you my passport, but you’ll just have to trust me on the citizenship thing.” When she started to speak, he gave her palm a squeeze. He needed to talk and he feared what she might say. “Second, all Asian people are not the same.”
Her mouth dropped open, leaving her stammering. “That’s not what I meant.”
He knew that on one level. It was the only reason he was sitting there and not out the door. “But this is the most important point, so I really want you to hear me.”
“Okay.”
He waited until an anxious hush fell over the room. “I am a grown man.”
“No kidding.”
He traced his thumb over the back of her hands to remind her of what he could do with his fingers. “An adult.”
“I get that. Trust me.”
“Then you should know my parents don’t pick my dates. They don’t get a say.”
She looked all around the room, everywhere except him. “Did they like Deana Armstrong?”
The question came like a punch. For months the mention of his ex’s name would send him into a downward spiral of anger and frustration. This time the reaction came from a different direction. The sound of Deana’s name on Katie’s lips rubbed him wrong. Made him antsy and uncomfortable. He didn’t want Deana intruding here. Not now.
“They seemed to,” he said, wanting to shrug this off but figuring there was no reason to lie.
“Did they want you to marry her?”
Much more of this uncomfortable questioning and he’d have to stand up and start pacing. “I don’t know. Don’t really care either since it’s a moot point.”
Katie’s head fell to the side and her eyes narrowed in question. “Oh, come on.”
“They were too busy arranging my marriage to a young virgin from a small fishing village outside of Tokyo.” When Katie just stared at him, he blew out a long exhale. “That was a joke.”
“I knew that.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I didn’t know
you’d be so touchy about this subject.”
And here he’d thought he was showing remarkable restraint. “Racial stereotypes get old fast.”
“I didn’t realize I was even using them.”
From the confusion on her face, he knew she was telling the truth. She repeated the stuff she picked up.
He rarely invested time setting people straight on their misconceptions about his background. For her, he made an exception. He needed her to understand the reality. “My parents are normal people and just like any other set of parents. Dad is an accountant. Mom is a secretary—and that’s her word, not mine. They want me to succeed, but that’s more a matter of not wanting to financially support their adult son while he lives in the guest room and tries to get his act together than a statement about my culture.”
He didn’t realize until the words left his mouth that Katie was in a situation like the one he’d flippantly referred to. She lived with her sister. He didn’t know their financial arrangement, but he’d looked up the tax records and found the house they lived in was in Cara’s name alone. Now he wanted to dig a little more.
He dropped her hand and leaned back in the chair. “How did we get on this subject?”
“I was being nosy.”
Her quick response sucked some of the defensiveness out of him. “At least you’re honest.”
If she heard him, she didn’t show it. She was too busy staring at a spot on the table.
This was the part he hated. The leaving. “But I have to go.”
“What?” She looked at the clock and then at him. “Why?”
“I have motions tomorrow and have to prepare tonight.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“Basically?” He stood up and dragged her to her feet beside him. “That you should walk me to the door before I’m tempted to stay longer. In a battle between you and paperwork, you will win every time.”
She curled her arms around his neck. “Then let me lure you to the dark side.”
“I think you already have.”
“We could turn the lights off and sit out there. Be a little naughty.”
Impulsive Page 6