Finding West (9 page)

Drew turned to the stranger.
“Give us a second?”

The stranger acquiesced and announced he was going to use the restroom, leaving me with Drew and the annoyed look on his face.

“What the hell are you thinking?” he hissed, leaning over the table. “Allowing a strange man to come stay with you?”

“He’s not strange. He’s
about as normal as you,” I said, trying to tamp down my temper. I was getting pretty damn tired of defending my choices. You’d think I was a child instead of a grown-ass woman the way men in my life were treating me.

“Sure, but what if his memory comes back and it turns out he’s a serial killer?”

I crossed my arm over my chest. “Then I’ll fucking kill him and put his body up like a scarecrow in my front yard to scare away any other potential serial killers.”

Drew’s nose flared. “
You’re not taking this seriously.”

“And you’re taking it too seriously,” I shot back.

He was quiet for a few moments then said, “Do you have feelings for him?”

The question shouldn’t have surprised me, but it
did anyway. “You’d better not be jealous. You have a girlfriend and a new kid for fuck’s sake.”

“
No!” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I’m just looking out for you.”

“Well don’t,” I said
, my voice rising. “I know what I’m doing. I can take care of myself.”

“You sure can, can’t you, Kat?” he asked with some bitterness. “You
’re so hellbent on showing us that you don’t need anybody that you’ll be alone for the rest of your life.”

I
watched the stranger make his way back to the table. He smiled and caused a twinge my stomach. “No, Drew. I’m not alone.”

Drew
ground his teeth together but nodded his head. “Fine. Do what you want. You always do anyway.” He got to his feet and threw a five-dollar bill on the table. He planted his hands on the table, leaned close, and said in a low voice, “But don’t blame me if you get hurt in the process.”

“He’
s no threat to me, Drew.”

“Maybe not physically, but there
are other ways to get hurt, Kat,” he said and left.

10

STRANGER

The moment we stepped back inside the mobile home, I felt a strange sensation wash over me. I felt like I was home.

Josie greeted me with a wagging tail and followed me to the recliner.
I sat back and folded my arms behind my head, giddy for my second chance.

I’
d thought I wouldn’t see Kat again, but here I was, back in her home, back to the only place I felt any sense of identity.

Kat stood by the kitchen, watching me quietly from behind the counter. There was something unfathomable about her expression, something I couldn’t
quite read. I sat up and asked, “Are you okay? Are you regretting your decision?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking.”

I got to my feet and crossed the space between us, wanting inside her head to read her thoughts. “What were you thinking just now?”

“You are a nosy son of a bitch, aren’t you?” she asked
, sidestepping around me.

I grinned. It was good to be back. “Yes. I want to know everything about you.”

She walked away, wagging her finger at me. “Don’t make me regret letting you stay here.”

“Is it
wrong to want to get to know you?”

“
Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because. You already know too much.” She walked off towards the back of the house. “I’m going to work on my dress. You can do whatever you want.”

She was running away again, but this time I would let her.
I had time. “Hey, can I borrow the car?” I asked, struck with an idea.

She turned
, her eyes narrowed. “What for?”

“I just want to run to the grocery store. I’d like to cook you a nice dinner as a token of my appreciation.”

“A nice dinner?” she asked skeptically.

“Yes.”

She measured my sincerity for a few beats before motioning towards the counter with her head. “The keys are there. If there’s even a scratch on that Jeep when you get back, I’ll cut off your balls.”

I picked up the keys and grinned. “Your car is safe with me,” I said, walking towards the door. I looked over my shoulder with a wink. “But
leave my balls alone. Unless you plan on doing something else with them.”

I
dodged out the door before she had a chance to throw anything my way.

Laurie’s General Store was not hard to find; it was directly across the street from the diner. For some reason I felt accustomed to the store’s small size, making me wonder if maybe I’d lived in a small town myself. My hands were full by the time I made it to the front of the store, but only then did I realize I had no cash or credit card.

“You lose your wallet?” the older gentleman behind the counter asked.

“I’ve lost more than that, I’m afraid,” I said, staring at the things on the counter with a feeling of impotence. All I wanted was to impress a girl with dinner, and I couldn’t even do that.

“Well, some people have credit with the store.” The old man bent over, looking for something behind the counter, and came up with a blue binder. “I just tally up your bill and write it down and then you pay next time. At least, I think that’s how it works.”

“You’re not sure?”

He started to ring up my purchases.
“No. I’m just filling in for Laurie, my niece. She fell on a patch of ice yesterday and had to go to the hospital.”

In the end,
he let me put my total down on Kat’s account, which I was told was opened a while ago but never used. I drove back and put away the groceries and pulled out ingredients for dinner.

Kat came out of
the back room with a cautious smile on her face. “I thought you’d gotten lost.”

“You thought I wasn’t going to come back, didn’t you?”
I asked, taking the chicken out and finding the cutting board and knife.

She
didn’t need to say a thing; I already knew the answer. Beneath that womanly façade was still a little girl who expected everyone to abandon her at first chance, and even though I had no idea of what the future held, I found myself wanting to stay, to prove she was someone worth sticking around for.

“No
t really. Even if you ran, I would have found you eventually.”

I raised my eyebrow; she gave me a look of reproach in response.

“To get my Jeep back,” she said. “Don’t start thinking you’re anyone special.”

“
But I know I am.”

She put her hands on her hips. “How do you figure?”

“You asked me to stay.”

“For a few days,” she said pointedly. “Just until Drew gets his head out of his ass and figures out what to do with you.”

I gave her the steady gaze that I knew made her squirm. “But you wanted me here. I bet nobody else can say the same.”

“You’re a cocky bastard, did you know that?” But even as she said those caustic words, I spied the playful hint in her eyes. Kat, despite her armor, had let me in.

Kat went back to her work room and didn’t come back out until I knocked on the door and announced that dinner was served. I ran back to the table
, turned the lights off, and waited by her chair, eager to see the surprised reaction on her face.

But it was I
whose mouth hung open in shock when she emerged from the shadows of the hallway wearing a floor-length red dress that clung to her curves, the collar scooped so low I was instantly hard in my pants. She stuck one leg out through a slit that went halfway up her thighs, revealing black stiletto heels. With her hair twisted up into a bun and only a hint makeup on her face, she had never looked more radiant. Just the sight of her called something in me, some primal need to conquer and mate, and God help me, I wanted to answer it.

When I failed to form words, she bit her lower lip and tugged the collar up.
“I’ll go change. It’s too much, or too little. Or whatever.”

“No!” I held my hands out as I approached her, stopping a few feet away. “It’s perfect.”

She folded her arms across her stomach, looking uncomfortable. “I just thought I’d wear something nice to dinner.”

I reached out, wanting nothing more than to run my fingers along her bare arm, but stopped myself. My eyes were no doubt burning with lust already; if I touched her now, I’d definitely scare her away.
“I’m afraid my dinner is not worthy,” I said and walked back to the table, holding her chair out. “And I’m way underdressed for the lady.”

“I’m no la—”
She sucked in a breath when she saw the glowing table, all set up with plates, glasses, and candles. She was quiet for a long while, eerily still as she stood beside me.

“Kat? You okay?”
Even as I asked, I realized what had stolen the breath from her lungs. “Nobody has ever done this for you, have they?”

She turned her head away. “
I haven’t ever asked.”

Dinner was quiet and somewhat awkward. Kat ate her roasted chicken and asparagus without saying much, glancing at me beneath her eyelashes and looking away quickly. She kept tugging at the low collar of her dress, drawing my eye to the exact place she was aiming to hide.

Finally, I reached over and touched her hand. “
Relax. It’s just me.”

She flashed me a tight smile.
“I’m just not used to wearing a dress this constricting,” she said, adjusting the dress again. “I feel like it’s going to rip at any moment.”

Without another word, I stood up and walked to the living room, coming back a few minutes later with her laptop. I placed it on the counter and held my hand out to
her just as a slow song began to play. “Let’s put that dress to the test.”

She didn’t move for a long time. Her eyes just flicked between my hand and my face, no doubt trying to gauge my motives. Eventually, she stood up on her own and said, “
I can’t dance.”

I grinned, taking one step closer. “That’s okay. I’m not so sure I can either.”
She was stiff when I took her wrists and placed her hands around my neck, then took hold of her hips. We began to sway with the music, the gentle waves of the rhythm carrying our bodies along. I slipped my hands around to sit at the small of her back, and with each step, she let me pull her closer until her body was flush against mine. Eventually, she wound her arms around my neck, pressing her cheek against my shoulder.

I could feel her rapid heartbeat against my chest, and knew that she must be feeling mine. She sighed, a
release of her worries and inhibitions.

“Someday we’ll do this again,” I said against her ear.

“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep, Lloyd.”

“Who says I don’t?” I asked
, pulling away so I could look at her face. “I’m going to lay it all out for you, just so there’s no doubt. I care about you, and I’m fairly certain you care about me.”

“There you go again, making
assumptions. You don’t know me well enough to say that.”

“Cut the bullshit, Kat.
I know you well enough to—”

She covered my
mouth with her hand. “You talk too much.”

I smiled into the soft skin of her palm and let my
fingers glide up the curve of her back, my palm coming to rest at the exposed skin of her neck. I waited, trying to convey with my eyes what it was I was waiting for.

Indecision flew across her face until finally
she pulled her hand away. With my hand on her neck, I tipped her head back and touched my lips to hers. She made a sound at the back of her throat and grabbed my hair, deepening the kiss. In response, my hands slipped back down, caressing the firm globes of her ass before pulling her against my erection.

I waited for her protestations, but none
came. Instead, her tongue wrestled with mine as she kissed me with unrestrained need. She hadn’t been kissed like this in a while—maybe ever—and I needed to show her what she was missing.

When she pulled away,
she stared at me with a mixture of fear and desire. With her chest heaving, she shook my hands off and stepped away, covering her reddened lips with a hand.

For my part, I couldn’t do anything other than stand there and gawk. The taste of her
had successfully rendered me silent. I put my hands in my pockets, trying to discreetly adjust the uncomfortable tightness in my jeans.

She smoothed her hands down the front of her legs. “I think I’d better go change,” she said and disappeared into her bedroom, locking the door to let me know I wasn’t invited.