Calling Kupid (Kupid's Cove Book 1) (10 page)

“When he was in Snowberry?”

I shook my head and went wide around her, picking up Christine. “In Hawaii.”

“Hawaii?”

I nodded without turning around. I knew the moment she figured out who he was. She sucked in a breath that could only be construed as anger.

“He’s not
that
guy?” she asked. I turned around to face her. Her hands were balled into fists at her side and her nostrils flared as she breathed.

I set Christine down and put my hand on her shoulder. “Yes, but you have to listen to me.”

“No, I don’t! I can’t believe you’re seeing him after what he did to you! I can’t believe that you would kiss him when he said those horrible things about you.”

“Winifred, please calm down. Flynn won’t let me visit if you get yourself all worked up about this.”

She took a calming breath, but continued to give me her librarian stink eye. “I’m not happy right now.”

“You should have been me yesterday when he showed up in my office. There was a lot of yelling.”

“So how did it go from yelling to kissing?”

“He told me a few things about that night I had forgotten. Like how I was beyond falling down drunk. Apparently couldn’t even remember if I was on birth control.”

“You couldn’t remember that?”

I shrugged. “I guess not. Since I couldn’t answer the question he decided I might be too drunk to decide if I really wanted to have sex with him.”

“If he was trying to be a knight in shining armor, why the hell didn’t he just walk you back to your place, instead of being a jerk?”

“I guess I wasn’t taking no for an answer. He did what he had to do at the time to get rid of me, right or wrong.”

“Like insult you and push you out the door, leaving you drunk on the beach in a strange place?”

“He called and sent an escort to take me back to my room. I wasn’t alone. It was all a blur, but I do remember the bartender from earlier showing up to help me back to the hotel. When I sobered up, all I remembered were the words he had said. Everything else was a lot less clear.”

“So he apologizes and you fall all over him again.”

“I did not fall all over him!” I stomped my foot making Christine growl low in her throat. “It just happened, okay? I fell on my knee on the way home from Kiss’s Café and he helped me in. He started telling me about being with his mom in her final days. It changed his life, Winnie. He’s not the same man he was when we last saw each other.”

Winifred shook her head. “I don’t know, Kate. The whole thing sounds like he just wants a second chance to get into your pants and you’re going to let him.”

I hung my head locking onto Christine. Her big brown eyes roamed around the room, looking for the tension she could sense.

“I’m going to go now. I’m glad you’re doing okay. Say hi to Flynn for me.”

I walked around her and grabbed my messenger bag, flicking it over my shoulder. The prescription bag fell out onto the floor before I realized it. Freddie bent over and picked it up, handing it to me.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice timid.

“No, but as usual, Dr. Sawyer is on top of it.”

I took the prescription from her hand, turning on my heel. The long hike to the door was always ridiculous, but it felt extra ridiculous today as I tried to hold back tears all the way there.

“Kate, don’t leave angry. I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to get hurt again. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“I didn’t say I was going to sleep with him. I said I was going to go out for pizza with him. I don’t expect you to agree with how I’m feeling right now, Freddie, but I sure as hell hoped you would at least listen to me without treating me like a child.” I lost the battle with the tears as they escaped, running down my cheeks.

She opened her mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to hear it. I held up my hand as I stepped over the threshold into the cold January air. It was going to snow. I could feel it in my knee.

“Just forget about it, okay? He’s only going to be here until Monday. He’ll be heading back to Chicago after that, which means I’ll never see him again. I’ll manage to keep my pants on over the weekend. I promise.”

I hugged her quickly, because one thing my life has taught me is never leave on bad terms, or without saying ‘I love you.’

“I love you, Freddie. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She hugged me back and nodded, biting her lip. “Please don’t cry. I love you, too.”

I walked to my car, yanking the car door open harder than I needed to before sliding into the cold, unwelcoming seat. I started the car, cranking the defroster on high long enough to heat the windshield. I wiped my face with my scarf, took a steeling breath, and put it in reverse. She was still standing in the door frowning when I looked back. I waved, just to make her feel better.

I pulled onto the winding road back to Snowberry letting out a sound that was partly a sigh and partly a sob. Great, now all I have to do is keep my pants on for the whole weekend. I could do this. I could prove her wrong. The fact that I had to give myself a pep talk about keeping my pants on wasn’t lost on me.

I looked around the quaint room where we sat at a small, but elegant, table for two. I felt completely underdressed in my jeans and sweater for such a high scale restaurant, but at least Gideon was casual as well.

“I can’t believe Gallo’s was that busy tonight,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry for disappointing you about the pizza.”

He reached out grasping my hand. “You didn’t. I’m just as happy to be here, in a quiet place, with you. When I’m in Snowberry, I always eat at The Firebush at least once. They have the best chicken marsala. I can’t get anything close to it in Chicago.”

“I’ve had the kind of day that tells me you’ve been in Snowberry more than you’ve let on. I feel like I’ve been made a fool of. I don’t like that feeling.”

He set his water glass down slowly. “Never a fool, Katie, but I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

Did I want to argue with him about this? My shoulders slumped and I shook my head a little. Just enjoy the dinner, Kate.

I cleared my throat before continuing, “The Firebush was a great idea. I’ve been here a few times with clients, but never a time when I could relax and enjoy the meal with a friend.”

“Good, I’m glad you feel like you can relax, but I would still like to know what you’re referring to.”

I shook my head. “I’ve just had one of those days.”

“You’ve had a rough day? Do you want to talk about it?”

I sipped the sweet red wine he had ordered when we arrived. I was about to answer when a waiter approached, a white towel over his arm.

“Mr. Armstrong, so good to see you,” he said, shaking Gideon’s hand.

“It’s been too long, I know.”

“Understandable, sir. My condolences on the loss of your mother; she was a wonderful lady.”

“Thank you, Jet. She always spoke highly of you. I hope your brother is doing well.”

The waiter smiled. “Very well, Gideon. He’s attending school and making friends, finally, thanks to your family. The manager informed me your meal is on the house tonight.”

Gideon nodded once in acknowledgement and then motioned for me to order.

I looked up at Jet trying to smile confidently, even while feeling very out of my depth. “I’ve heard the chicken marsala here is better than anything. I’ll give that a try.”

Jet nodded. “You won’t be disappointed.” He turned to Gideon. “What will you enjoy this evening?”

“You already know the answer to that, Jet.”

He laughed and rested his arm against his body. “I will hand-deliver your order to the chef. Enjoy the wine.”

I leaned forward over table when he left. “Apparently you’ve been to The Firebush a whole lot more than you’ve let on.”

He grimaced just enough that I knew it was true.

“Not as much as you’re thinking, but Jet was a special friend to my parents. He’s been working here since he was sixteen - first as a dishwasher, then as a host, and now as a waiter by night and a chef by day. He’s raising his younger brother alone. It’s not easy, especially for a young man Jet’s age, because Lucas has cerebral palsy.”

“So you helped make it easier?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“My mom did, actually. Lucas used an old run down wheelchair that was too small for him, but Jet couldn’t afford anything else. My mom found them adequate housing, got Lucas a new chair, and helped Jet get into chef school. It was all my mom’s doing, really.”

He waved his hands in front of him trying to downplay the whole thing. I think he wanted me to believe that he didn’t have a hand in any of it. “

I see, but he seems awfully grateful to you as well.”

“I’m a lawyer, you know,” he said, pausing.

I motioned with my hand for him to finish, “Yes, so…”

“So he needed some legal advice. I helped him out pro bono and made sure the state couldn’t take Lucas from him. In order to do that we had to prove to the court that his brother was being well cared for and that Jet had a stable income, housing, as well as adequate food.”

“So you made sure he had all of that.”

He waved his hand around. “We all do those kinds of pro bono cases. I’m sure you’ve done a few over the past years.”

“I have, but as a family lawyer I’m surprised a corporate lawyer got all of that done.”

He laughed, sipping his wine, a little more relaxed now that he didn’t feel like I was cross-examining him. “I had some help from a friend. Just like you had some help from a friend to get Rosie’s mom compensation after her car accident.”

My wine glass clanked to the table. “How did you find out about that?”

“It wasn’t hard. I just stopped in to Kiss’s Café for breakfast this morning. Rosie was there with her mom, Diane. She saw me and invited me to eat breakfast with them. Snowberry is such a friendly town.”

I rolled my eyes. Sure, that was it. She was being friendly. “I apologize for anything she may have said.”

“No need. Those ladies tooted your horn very loudly. They told me that angels do walk on the earth, and you and Winifred are two of them.”

I brushed my hand at him. “It’s just what we do in Snowberry. We help each other out. It was no big deal.”

“To those two ladies it was. You made sure Diane was taken care of for the rest of her life; that’s no small act.”

I shrugged, not even knowing what to say.

“Then Diane went to the ladies room and Rosie really got down to business.”

I moaned and laid my head in my hand. “Like I said, I’m sorry.” My head snapped up and my heart started pounding in my chest. “What did she tell you?” My voice came out strained and anxious.

He lifted one brow in response. “She told me I’d better be careful with your heart, because it breaks easily.”

Holy hell, that woman was a walking time bomb with my secrets.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what she means by that all day.”

I squirmed in my seat. “Who knows what’s happening in Rosie’s little matchmaking mind. She thinks you’re cute.”

“I don’t think that’s what she was thinking. She was angry at me about the incident in Hawaii, even though you told her the rest of the story. She said, and I quote, ‘I’ll hunt you down and knee you in the privates if you so much as harm a hair on her head.’ End quote.” He was smiling like he found all of this humorous, but I was not finding it humorous at all.

My heart kept pounding, which was a clear sign I had a very serious problem. I held up my finger and bent over to the floor, pretending to dig in my purse. I coughed hard twice, thankful when I felt the rhythm slow again.

“Are you okay down there?” he asked.

I looked up, knocking my head on the table. “Ouch!” I cried, rubbing the spot on my head. When I opened my eyes, he was kneeling next to me.

“You really are having a bad day, aren’t you?” he asked very seriously. I nodded, a few tears brimming at my lashes.

He hugged me and I was thankful we were in a secluded part of the restaurant when he started rubbing the sore spot on my head. “First your knee, now your head. Should I ask Jet for some ice?”

I pulled away from the awkward hug and motioned for him to sit. “I’m okay. I’ll just have more wine.”

I picked up the glass and tossed the contents back, not unhappy when he refilled it immediately.

Gideon

I had my arm around her as we walked toward her apartment. I left my rental car behind the law firm, hurrying her towards the side door to avoid being exposed for too long. I was hoping she would let me hang around for a while again this evening. It would cut down on the amount of time I had to spend in a cold car watching her apartment. The texts were coming almost hourly now and I could think of no other way to keep her safe until Graham figured out whom this nut was, without involving the local police.

“I can’t believe you live in Snowberry and haven’t been inside the new hotel.”

She looked up at me and smiled, the wine relaxing her enough that she wasn’t jumping every time I spoke. Thankfully, she wasn’t crying anymore either.

“I haven’t had a reason to. It’s only been open for a few months, but from what I hear, it’s a fantastic place.”

“If by fantastic you mean state of the art with every amenity, including a balcony overlooking Snowberry Lake, and my own private fireplace, then yes, it’s fantastic.”

“Maybe I’ll have to find a reason to check it out,” she whispered, stopping by the door to dig out her key. I kept my hand on her back and she turned to me. “Did I tell you that Hank wants to meet Monday morning at seven thirty?”

“No, but he did. That’s fine with me. I’ll stay the weekend here.”

She waved her hand at me, “You don’t have to. I mean you have a helicopter, so I’m sure you could come and go as you please.”

I laughed softly. “So Hank told you about the helo, did he?”

“Hank told me a lot of things, Gideon.”

“I expected he would. I was going to ask you how the meeting went, but didn’t want to aggravate you further.”

She laughed snidely at me. “I’m not aggravated.”

“Really? Is that why we’ve been standing here for three minutes trying to unlock the door?”

I held my hand out for the key. She placed it calmly in my palm with no smart aleck comeback like I expected. I unlocked the door and helped her in, pleased when she didn’t insist I leave her at the bottom of the stairs. She took my hand as we walked to her apartment in silence. She let me into the small space, shrugging out of her coat then held her hand out for mine.

I handed it over slowly. “Am I staying?” I asked, the coat hooked on one finger.

“If you want to. I don’t have Netflix, but I have an extensive movie collection.”

I held the coat out as answer and she hung it next to hers. I didn’t mind, that meant when I put it on again it would smell like her, and I was already addicted to that scent. She moved about easily in the small space and I enjoyed the time we were spending together. The longer I stayed here, the less time I had to spend in my car. It was necessary to protect her, and since I got her into this mess, it was my responsibility to keep her safe. At least until Sebastian could get here from Chicago to give me some backup.

“Earth to Gideon.”

I looked up and Kate was standing in of me, frowning.

“Sorry, I was thinking about how great you look in that sweater. I didn’t hear what you said.”

I had to bite back a laugh when she rolled her eyes.

“I’ll have to put this one on my list as ‘hides thick waist well’ then, since that’s what you’re saying,” she said as comment on the way by me to the living room.

I caught her upper arm to hold her in place. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that it hugs you perfectly and has been torturing me all night. I don’t believe I said anything about your waist. But now that you brought it up, you’ve lost weight since I last saw you. Is everything okay?”

She wrenched her arm free and shook her head at me. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. You know your way out. I’m going to bed.”