Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Tristan
Kate: Maybe I was wrong to say no.
I reread Kate’s message. Then did the only thing I could. I pulled up her number and hit dial.
“Tristan?” I huffed out a relieved breath when her voice filtered through the line. “Explain.”
“Really?” She sighed, and I pictured her rolling her eyes. “You want me to spell it out?” She lowered her voice. There was rustling in the background then a door clicked shut.
My mind conjured the image of Kate leaving her lover’s bed to talk to me. For reasons I’d never know, the thought had my hackles rising.
“Is this a good time?” The words came out clipped, and dammit, I felt like the asshole she’d accused me of being.
But my tone didn't faze her in the slightest. It never did.
“Since when do you care about my time?” A smile warmed her voice, and shit, if my lips didn’t twitch in response.
“Since when do you text me in the middle of the night?”
There was a long pause. Too long. “I didn’t think. This could’ve probably waited until morning.”
“Don’t hang up.” I sounded desperate. Why did I sound fucking desperate? “Are you reconsidering?”
“Maybe.”
I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. Instead, she fell so quiet, I tugged the phone from my ear to check if the call was still connected. “Kate?”
“Yes.” Her voice had that damn wobble again.
“Switch to video.”
She made a noise—something between a groan and a growl. I’d wanted to tease her about it until her face filled my screen.
Holy shit. My breath whooshed from my lungs without my permission. Kate is beautiful.
I had no idea where the thought came from, but I squelched it as fast as it’d popped up.
“Hi,” I said, my voice sounding strange to my ears. “You look different.”
A good different. Her normal sleek ponytail was replaced with a mess on top of her head. She’d missed a few chocolate strands and they hung loose, curling over her collarbone. There wasn’t a hint of makeup on her face, and whatever shirt she wore had to be too big because it exposed her shoulder.
In response to the stunned expression I must’ve worn, she laughed softly. The sound was so sweet, I was helpless to stop the twinge of something behind my breastbone.
“Well, you look the same.”
Since my last brain cell took a damn hike, all I could do was stare at her. Until I finally remembered the reason for our call in the first place. “So, you maybe changed your mind.”
She nibbled on the corner of her mouth and nodded. “I don’t want to be dishonest, but I can’t lose her. And if this gives me the slightest push in the right direction, I’m willing to try.”
Excitement bubbled through my veins. “Kate, I—”
“But not until you meet Millie.” She toyed with the neck of her shirt.
Of its own accord, my gaze drifted to the spot. How had I never noticed how beautiful her hands were? And why the fuck was I noticing it now?
“...if you two don’t hit it off, I can’t do this.”
The tail end of her sentence snapped me out of my trance.
“Great.” I jumped up. “I’ll come over right away. Text me your address.” I was already in my closet, snatching the first shirt I saw.
“Tristan.” Kate waited until I picked up the phone and looked at her. “You can’t come over. It’s ten; she’s sleeping.” Her gaze darted to the right for a moment before meeting mine again. “At least, I hope she is.”
An unwelcome burst of heat crept into my cheeks. “Right. I knew that.”
That damn laugh filtered through the line. “How ’bout we do dinner? My place, tomorrow night. You and Millie can meet, and if everything goes well, we’ll talk.”
“Dinner sounds good.” Scraping a hand over the nape of my neck, I made my way back to bed. “Any tips on getting Millie to like me?”
“Nope.” Kate shook her head. “I need every interaction between the two of you to be honest. She has to like you for who you are and not someone you pretend to be. But I can tell you, she’s six and loves purple.”
There was a snarky remark on the tip of my tongue about being real in the middle of something fake, but I quickly swallowed it. Worry marred Kate’s features and those damn eyes... There was too much hurt and concern there.
This meant a lot to her.
Because of that I’d treat it with the respect it deserved.
“It’s late,” she breathed. “I should probably...” She pointed at something over her shoulder, and it was only then I realized she was sitting on her bed too.
The entire conversation was oddly intimate. That strange twinge behind my breastbone was back, knocking against my bones.
“Goodnight, Tristan.”
I didn’t have a chance to say anything. My name had barely left her mouth when the screen went black. Staring at the phone clutched in my fist, I tried, and failed miserably, to make sense of what the heck happened.
For five years I’d seen this woman almost daily and never once had there been a stirring of anything. No, that wasn’t entirely true. I’d always hated the way she looked at me whenever a woman would show up at my office.
Then there was the guilt the times she’d come to my penthouse, only to find me in a...compromising position. Come to think of it, that guilt had never been there with Rafe or Liam or anyone else.
As the seconds turned to minutes, I realized I wouldn’t get the answers to the multitude of questions floating around my brain. I needed sleep. The only problem was, when I switched off the lights and closed my eyes, all I fucking saw was Kate.
Those damn sad eyes.
Her murderous expression when I grabbed her on the sidewalk.
The soft curls against her skin.
And those delicate fingers toying with the neckline of her shirt.
“Fuck,” I groaned into my pillow.
I’d solved the puzzle. I knew what was bothering her. So why the hell wouldn’t she leave my mind?
By the time I woke up the following morning, I still didn’t have an answer. Only a whole lot of uneasiness crawling through my veins. It was why I didn’t go into the office. It was also why I wanted to cancel dinner.
But if I canceled, Kate wouldn’t give me another chance. I couldn’t have that. I was on the verge of convincing her to go along with this plan. We just had one more hurdle to cross before we were on our way to getting everything we wanted.
“One more hurdle,” I muttered to myself. “More like a damn mountain.”
How the hell was I supposed to impress a little person? I didn’t speak “kid.” Had no freaking clue what they liked and didn’t like. Then there was the whole sugar thing. Was Millie allowed to eat candy, or would Kate cut off my balls for feeding her kid sugar?
Another groan pushed up my throat as I scraped a palm over my face. Time to call in reinforcements. Pulling out my phone, I dialed the only person who could help.
“This is Everlee.”
“Are you busy? I kinda need your help with something.”
The rustling of papers filtered through the line. “Working on some things for this year’s yearend function, but I can talk. What’s up?”
“I...uh...” A nervous shiver raced down my spine. Doing my best to ignore it, I forced the words from my mouth. “Hypothetically speaking, if I came to dinner at your place and I brought your six-year-old candy, on a scale of one to ten, how pissed would you be?”
“Oh my gosh…” she squealed. “Do you have a date with a single mom?”
I sighed. “I shouldn’t have called.”
“No, no, no,” Evie said quickly. “Don’t go. I want to help. So you said something about dinner and candy?”
My only response was a grunt.
“I think to keep it on the safe side maybe avoid anything edible. With all the food allergies nowadays, you never know what the kid can or can’t tolerate.”
“Okay.” I poked my tongue against my cheek. “No food. That leaves me with...toys?”
“Sure, depending on their age—”
“She’s six.”
I swear, if smiles could be heard, Evie was fucking beaming on the other end. “So it’s a girl. Hmm.” There was a short pause, then, “Most girls that age like stuffed animals. You could maybe get her a bear?”
My feet moved to the toy section of the store before she was done talking. “Thanks for the help, Evie.”
“You’re not gonna tell me what this is about, are you?”
There was shuffling in the background then the sharp sound of a smacking kiss filled my ears. Great. The last thing I needed was for her to tell my friend I was going on a date with a single mom.
This was a business dinner.
Then why am I so nervous?
“Goodbye,” I mumbled.
I didn’t know if she was still listening. She and Liam had the tendency to space out and ignore their surroundings when they were together. Nevertheless, hanging up without a proper greeting was rude.
With my phone tucked in my pocket, I stared at the selection in front of me. It should have been easy. Grab the first purple toy, and I was done. But I didn’t want to give her just anything.
And I didn’t want to get her something purple. It felt like cheating.
That was why it took me thirty minutes to finally pick the plush toy that looked like two pancakes stacked on top of each other.
I was happy with my choice until I climbed the stairs to Kate’s third-floor apartment. Maybe I should have gone with something purple after all?
Too late now. I stopped in front of Kate’s door.
I lifted my hand to knock but paused when music and singing came from inside. It wasn’t Kate’s voice, and from what I could tell, the music wasn’t English. Or at least it didn’t sound like it.
“A little bold to be creeping in the middle of the day.”
I jerked. It took everything I had in me not to slap my hand over my racing heart.
“Bold and deaf, huh?” A tiny old lady stood a few feet from me, pinning me with a mighty glare.
“Ma’am?”
“Hmf.” She looked me up and down. “You don’t look like a rapist, but then again what do I know?”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “A...a... I’m sorry, what now?”
“You’re standing there ogling that door like there’s something delicious on the other side.” She crossed her bony arms in front of her chest. “So either you’re too chicken to knock or maybe you’re planning something sinister.”
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, heat crept into my cheeks. “It might be the first one.”
The huge smile that spread across her face freaked me the hell out. And when she unfolded her arms and stalked toward me, I had to fight the urge to run. Who knew sweet little old ladies were actually scary as fuck?
“It’s about damn time,” she said when she reached me. “Katie has been alone for far too long.” She patted my upper arm then curled her fingers around my bicep. Since I stared at where she felt me up, I missed it when she lifted her free hand and knocked on Kate’s door.
“Big and strong,” the old lady cooed. “Exactly what these two girls need.”
I opened my mouth but before a single sound could escape, the door flew open.
My jaw hit the floor.
Gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. Those were the words flashing through my brain but none of them accurately described the woman in front of me.
The silky strands I’d been fixated on the previous night hung loose over one shoulder. She’d traded in her normal office attire—usually some sort of dress—for faded jeans and a white sweater. And like the previous night, the neckline was wide enough to slide off a shoulder.
“This one was too scared to knock, so I helped him out.”
The old lady’s voice knocked me out of my stupor.
I gave her a quick sideways glance then shifted my attention to where it belonged. On Kate.
Lifting my shoulder in a shrug, I confessed, “I heard music.”
“Ah.” Kate smiled then looked at my manhandler. “Mrs. Ross. It’s been a while. How have you been?”
Mrs. Ross finally let go of my arm. “Oh, you know me, I keep on keeping on.” There was a pause. Her gaze burned a hole in the side of my head. “I was having a chat with your fella. He seems nice.” She leaned toward Kate and whisper-shouted, “Strong muscles and big, big capable hands.”
Kate’s cheeks flushed. “I’m sure they are.”
I’ll show you exactly how capable.
What? Fuck, no... That was the last thought my mind should’ve been conjuring up. Maybe this dinner—this whole damn arrangement—with Kate wasn’t such a great idea after all.