Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
“Damn, my phone is dying.” Shana grimaced as Marley took the seat next to Kate’s. She wouldn’t look at him. And he couldn’t look at her either.
He was angry. And he didn’t have a right to be. He took a deep breath to get his annoyance under control.
Kate had every right to date. She’d been alone for two years after all.
And now he was regretting stopping here after leaving the station. He’d only come to pick up the damn picture, or at least that’s what he was telling himself.
Because the alternative – that he’d come over because he couldn’t keep away from her – felt unpalatable.
“You two stay here,” Shana told them. “I’m just going in to get my charger and battery pack.”
“You take a battery pack wherever you go?” Marley asked her.
Shana shrugged. “I’m a woman. The phone is my security. I always keep it charged up.”
She hopped out of her chair and walked through the kitchen door. Marley turned to look at Kate. “So…”
Her cheeks were bright pink. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe Shana got you involved in this. I’m sure there’s some place else you’d rather be on a Friday night than here, talking about dating apps.”
Right now he’d rather be stabbing his eyes with knives. “Nope, it’s good I’m here,” he said gruffly. Mostly because if she was going on a date he wanted to know with who.
Because he was Paul’s friend, that was all. He just needed to make sure she did this safely.
Nothing more, nothing less.
So why wasn’t the annoyance disappearing?
Kate had her hair in a simple ponytail, revealing the sculpted features of her face. If she was wearing any makeup, he couldn’t see it.
“I didn’t download the app,” Kate told him. “Shana did. I’m not even that interested. I don’t want you to think I’m disrespecting Paul.”
He kept his face expressionless. “Of course I don’t.”
“Or that I’m moving on too quickly.”
“It’s none of my business, Kate.” It really wasn’t. He just needed to get that through his thick skull. “And nobody would blame you for moving on. It’s been two years.”
Her eyes caught his. “So do you think I should go on a date?” she asked softly.
Fuck, no he didn’t.
“I think you should do what’s best for you.”
She pulled her gaze from his, a frown playing at her lips. “I don’t know. It’s all so weird. And I don’t know if it’s a good idea to go on a date with a stranger.”
Of course it wasn’t. It was the first sensible thing she’d said. He opened his mouth to agree and then regretted the thought immediately.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, the words coming out before he could stop them. “I’ll come with and sit in the corner if you’d like. Wherever you go. Just as some support.”
The backdoor opened and Shana walked back out, carrying her phone that was now attached to her battery pack with an umbilical cord-like charging lead.
“Who’s going to sit in the corner?” Shana asked.
“Marley. He says he’ll be my bodyguard if I go on a date.” She glanced at him and he shrugged. Because there was no way he was going to let her know that the thought of her dating another guy felt like some kind of painful purgatory.
She should be dating. She should be getting out there.
But with me.
He pushed that thought out of his head. Because he couldn’t do that. Not to her, not to Paul.
What kind of sick fucker would go after Paul’s widow, anyway?
Shana’s eyes widened. “Oh no, that’s not happening,” she told Marley. “Look at you.” She put her hand on his chest. “You’re huge and gorgeous. You’d put any guy off. The date would be doomed before it started.”
“Why would I put somebody off?” Though, yeah, the thought had occurred to him. “I’ll just be the muscle in the corner in case of any problems.”
“That,” Shana said, jabbing her finger into his pectoral muscle. “Ow. But yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. If you hang around they’ll think you have some kind of claim on her. Look at you with those steel clad biceps. You’d send him running.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Kate muttered. For some reason she looked annoyed.
Shana lifted a brow. “No it isn’t.”
“What if I don’t want to go on the date alone? The first one at least?” Kate asked her friend.
“Then I’ll come too,” Shana said, sighing. “I’m good at blending into the background. Unlike some.”
He took that to mean him. Which was kind of laughable, considering he’d been blending into the background for the last two years when it came to Kate and her family.
“I need you to babysit,” Kate pointed out.
And that’s when a grin spread over Shana’s lips. “That’s okay, Marley can babysit. I’ll sit in the corner wherever you go. Simple.”
Kate caught his eye.
“Would you be willing to do that?” she asked him.
He blinked. Hell no. “Yeah, I guess.” The words just came out. Because somebody needed to be there. And he wanted to make sure she got home safely. That’s all it was. Not because it was killing him to think about her with somebody else.
She looked at him for a moment. Like she was trying to work him out. And then she pulled her gaze away.
“Okay then. I guess this is really happening.”
“So let me get this straight.” Pres smirked at him as the two of them sat on a wall at the construction site they were working on. “You’re babysitting three kids on a Saturday night so that the woman you have the hots for can go on a date with another guy.”
Marley lifted his bottle of water to his lips, swallowing half of it in one go. The weather was hot today. No clouds in the sky, the sun beating down relentlessly. He’d taken his shirt off an hour ago but he still felt overheated.
“I don’t have the hots for her.”
“Of course you fucking do.” Pres shook his head. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that a friend needs some help and I can provide it. It’s not like watching the kids is gonna be hard. James is fifteen. The other two will be in bed. I’ll just watch a movie and wait for her to come home.”
Pres narrowed his eyes. Like Marley’s, his pants were covered in dust. They were putting up the drywall today, and no matter how much you tried, you couldn’t avoid getting dust covered yourself. “I’m not even gonna go into what an idiot statement that is. Because kids are not easy. You know that from watching me wrangle mine whenever we’re together. But answer me this: what are you gonna do if she gets along with this guy?”
“What do you mean?” A rivulet of sweat was making its way down his brow. He reached up to wipe it away. They’d taken their hard hats off for the break, but as soon as they started work again they’d have to put them back on. He wasn’t looking forward to that.
“I mean what if she likes this guy? What if she brings him home for coffee? You gonna be okay with that?”
“Kate won’t bring him home for coffee on a first date. Her kids are there.”
Pres shook his head. “You don’t get it. She might not bring him home this time. But she will at some point. With some guy. For likely more than coffee, too. Are you ready for that?”
Marley frowned. “It’s not up to me to be ready. It’s on Kate.” And yeah, he didn’t like that thought. Not one bit. But fuck, what was he supposed to do? Tell her she couldn’t date as if he was her father?
Frustration clouded Pres’ eyes. “That’s not what I’m asking and you know it. And you also know that I’m only saying to you the same things you said to me when I found it hard to move on.”
“And I was right,” Marley pointed out. He knew how hard his brother had found dating again after losing his first wife, Delilah’s mom. Pres had fought against his attraction to Cassie every step of the way. Until he finally couldn’t help himself.
And now the two of them were married with two more kids, and neither of them could be happier.
Not that Pres looked happy right now.
“Yes you were,” Pres agreed. “So maybe you can also agree that I might be right about you and Kate.”
“There is no me and Kate.” Marley’s throat felt scratchy. Like he’d swallowed something too big and he couldn’t cough it out. “There can’t be. She was married to Paul. Nothing could ever happen between us. You know what it would be like. The gossip throughout town would kill her.”
“And?” Pres gave him a pointed stare. Sometimes he liked to play the big brother, even though they were born only minutes apart.
“What do you mean ‘And’?” Marley asked him. “There is no and . It’s just a statement of truth. The woman deserves some peace after what she’s been through.”
“So you’re refusing to tell her how you feel because you’re afraid of a little gossip.” Pres shook his head. “I thought better of you.”
Marley frowned. “It’s not about me, it’s about her. And the fact she was married to my buddy.”
“You’re lying to yourself. Yes, this town likes gossip. But it also likes new things. The gossip moves along and we keep moving along. I know everybody gossiped about me and Cass when we first started dating. But I also know that we were yesterday’s news within about a week. So don’t use protecting Kate from gossip as some kind of shield. You won’t put yourself out there because you’re scared. It’s as simple as that.”
“I’m not scared,” Marley scoffed. He climbed houses for a living. He fought fires. Yeah, he had a healthy respect for life, but he wasn’t afraid of putting himself on the line when it counted.
“Yeah, you are. That’s why you’re going to babysit Kate’s kids while she’s out on a date. Because you’d rather lose her than have her reject you.”
“Ah, fuck off with the pop psychology. I’m going to babysit because I’m a friend.” Marley checked his watch. “It’s time to get back to work.”
Pres smirked. “Of course it is.”