Impulsive (18 page)

A
s welcoming kisses went, this one was a winner. Their mouths crashed together as blinding energy whipped through Katie. Eric's hands pressed against her lower back. Muscles bunched across his shoulders. From his lips to his fingers, everywhere he touched her flashed into flames.

She knew he'd had a terrible day. Special reports had flashed on the news and Gunnery had given a smug interview. She wanted to be beside Eric, to take away some of the pain, as he waded through the mess. He never called.

In her head, she knew that was the right strategy. Her heart saw it differently. And that was the problem. Her heart had engaged. She thought about him, worried about him, and got frustrated with him. During all of that, she'd started to love him. Seeing him now, feeling his arms around her and the waves of desperation pound through him, she wanted every part of him. Not just the fun man who enjoyed sex and confused her with his dry delivery. She craved the other part, the darker, imperfect side he hid.

“I missed you.” He pressed a final kiss against her lips. “I should have come over earlier.”

“You had other stuff on your mind.” There, she forced the words out. She could be mature when she had to be.

“You were on my mind.”

She wound her arms around his neck. Anything to keep him close and prevent him from doing his usual run to the door. “Sweet talker.”

“You see the paper?”

Her forehead fell against his shoulder. “Ugh.”

“You look good.”

She tugged on his hair and shot him her best men-are-so-transparent look. “Not funny.”

His hand covered hers as he rubbed the attack area. “No need to get violent.”

“There is nothing pretty about sex. It's all arms and legs and extra rolls hanging where they shouldn't.” She shuddered at the thought. Looming over a guy, looking down at him, was just asking for trouble. Chin and stomach…not good.

“You don't even have extra skin.” He looked so serious.

“That's your lower half talking. You know if you agree with me the sex ends.”

“I'm not stupid.”

“Which reminds me, no sex videos or photos of us—ever.”

He pretended to think about it. “If you say so.”

“I do.” She fingered his tie, remembering the last time she'd stripped it off him. “Tell me the truth. On a scale of one to ten, how bad has the day been?”

“Fifty-four.” No hesitation.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's tough to be a hard-ass boss when everyone has seen you naked.”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “That was me, not you.”

“Doesn't seem to matter to the crowd at work. I went from the guy who only thought of work, someone to be feared, to the guy who likes to get some on his desk.”

“Chair.”

“Combine that with reporters, ticked-off family members, my campaign manager—who has lost his damn mind—and Deana and Josh bugging me, and you have a long day.”

And like that Katie's budding good mood vanished. “Deana?”

Eric pulled back far enough to stare her down. “Interesting how out of that entire list you latched onto only one name.”

“Gee, I wonder why.”

For some reason he decided that was a good time to kiss her. Probably the same reason Katie let him. She added a press of her thighs against his as an extra incentive to keep the heated moment going.

When they broke apart, he touched his forehead against hers. “Deana and Josh—both of them—showed up on my doorstep this morning.”

Katie didn't know Josh but she was liking his style. No reason to let the wifey go wandering around with the ex. Some might find it controlling but Katie viewed the characteristic as very helpful. “Since I bet Josh doesn't let Deana have sex with other men while he's standing there, I'll assume it was innocent.”

“Hardly. It was a shakedown.”

Katie pulled back to get a good look at Eric. “What does that mean?”

“They came to offer help and pledge money for the campaign.”

“How awful of them,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Eric exhaled. “I know it was very decent. More than that, but I didn't ask for help.”

“Do you ever?”

“What does that mean?” He acted like he really didn't know.

“I've never met anyone more competent than you.” She wanted to agree with Cara that all that calm reassurance was a good thing. It definitely meant inner strength, but Katie feared it stood for something else as well.

He threaded a hand through her hair. “Not to be particular or sound ungrateful, but those aren't exactly the words a guy wants to hear from his girlfriend.”

The word made her heart jump. “Is that what I am?”

He glanced around. “Did I miss something?”

“No.”

His eyes narrowed. “Katie?”

She had no idea how to explain it. In reality, she didn't want to. She thought he should “get” it without being guided. “I'm not really used to my role as the dirty secret.”

“Because you aren't one.” Anger moved into his voice as his shoulders tensed.

“Of course not.” She smoothed her hands over his chest. “Can't imagine why I'd think that.”

“You're upset because the paper didn't name you?”

“No.” Yes. No. Hell, she didn't know. “Cara's brain would burst.”

“But?”

“Nothing.”

“I think it's something.” The easy banter disappeared. He was paying attention now.

“I'm just rambling.”

He stared at her.

“Really. It's okay.” She didn't know why she rushed to make the conversation better for him. If he didn't have a press conference in an hour and half and the Honolulu professional community on his ass, she would have pushed the issue. At least she hoped that was true.

Whatever she said worked because that fast he switched to business mode. The scrunch of his forehead went away and his grip against her skin eased. “I'm going to treat this entire video situation as not a big deal. The more fuel I add, the more out of control the fire will burn. If the response is calm, people will stay calm.”

He didn't even have an impassioned response to this. “Huh.”

“You disagree?”

“This is so far outside my range of normal activities.”

“You're not the only one.”

Who was he kidding? The man was born for politics. Those steady nerves that served him so well in a courtroom would be perfect during an election.

“Get used to it. This is the life you're walking into,” she said.

“Does that scare you?”

He spoke as if he was including her in his future. They'd never talked that far ahead but she'd been dreaming, building a future she feared would never work. “Me?

“Does the idea of being dragged into this stuff make you nuts?”

“I can't imagine anyone would like having a photo of their naked butt in the paper, but it doesn't matter. It's your life. Your choice. You get to figure it out. I'll just watch.” His head fell to the side. She couldn't figure out if he was listening to her or studying her. “What?”

“Speaking of watching, you should come to the press conference.”

There wasn't a scale invented that could weigh how much she hated that idea. “Should I wear a sign saying ‘naked girl right here' and walk in front of you?”

“That seems like overkill.”

She couldn't help but laugh. “You think?”

“My idea was for you to wait behind the scenes with Seth.”

Like that wouldn't be embarrassing. Seth knew all about what had happened in Eric's office the other night. “Why?”

“Because I want you there.”

Her heart did that flip-flopping thing again. Just when she wanted to bonk him in the head for being clueless, he said something sweet enough to melt her bones. “Why didn't you just say that?”

“I thought I did.”

“I guess it got lost in all that lawyer speak of yours.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is that a yes?”

“You need me there, I'll be there.”

 

An hour later Katie wore a simple black dress, one cut high enough to hide her breasts. If she owned a muumuu she would have thrown that on. Anything to cover skin.

Seth stood next to the flat-screen television in the business office of the hotel. Eric was down the hall somewhere. Seth got stuck babysitting her.

The quiet gave her a chance to study him. He wore a conservative suit but his manner suggested a wild man underneath. Since the image on the screen was an empty stage in a room full of reporters, she knew the rapt attention was fake.

“Didn't think you'd be here,” he finally said.

“You know how to make a woman feel welcome.”

He threw her a flirty smile over his shoulder. “Part of my charm.”

“But to answer your question, I didn't think I'd ever be at a political press conference.”

He turned around. “Why did you come?”

“Because Eric asked me.” She leaned against the conference table. If he could pretend to be relaxed, so could she. “But I'm thinking that's not really your question.”

He pressed his lips together. “Just making conversation.”

“For a lawyer, you don't lie very well.”

He put a hand to his heart. “That hurts.”

They could dance around it all day but she wasn't in the mood. Every time she saw Eric, her love and worry increased. He kept holding her away no matter how many times she tried to drag him close. The last thing she needed was a verbal battle with his best friend.

“I didn't set him up.”

Seth didn't pretend to be confused. “He believes you.”

“Do you?”

“Does that matter?”

“Normally I would say no, but I'm thinking it does. You're his friend, probably his closest one, and I'm not looking for a turf war.”

“He trusts you. With most people, he keeps the relationship shallow. With you, he dug in right away. I'm wondering what that means.”

So was she. “You make him sound like a robot.”

“Not at all.”

She wondered how long he'd known Eric. Maybe Seth had been around for the Deana heartache. “Ah, I get it. You're in the Team Deana camp.”

“Haven't heard that phrase before.”

“You think he should have figured out a way to marry her.”

“Josh would love that.”

Talking with Seth was as frustrating as talking with Eric. Neither of them took a serious conversation seriously. Not when they wanted to avoid it. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“So, how about an answer?”

“Fine, I do know what you're saying, but you're wrong.” Seth drew out his answer. Stood there and studied her for a second before saying anything else. “They ran their course.”

“I'm thinking the murders sped things up.”

“Yeah, but it would have fizzled anyway.”

That was the first time Katie had ever heard that theory. It shocked her how happy the idea made her. She practically floated off the ground. “Does Eric know about this inevitable end to his relationship?”

“He's a smart guy. He would have figured it out eventually.”

“Is that an answer?”

“It's the only one you're going to get from me.”

“You're loyal to him.” She admired that. Loved it, really, because Eric needed a confidant. As far as she could tell, he had no one else he could talk with on that level.

“Absolutely,” Seth said.

“And you don't like me much.” The comment came out before she could stop it. It was sitting right there on her tongue as it circled her brain.

Seth smiled at that. “I'm starting to.”

“I'm not his usual type.” Not that she needed to point out that obvious fact.

“I'm not sure that's a bad thing.”

The comment made her stupid with happiness. “For the record, I'm not sure about you yet either.”

She glanced over Seth's shoulder as Eric and his campaign manager came onto the stage. She knew the other man's identity only because he had been quoted extensively in the paper and handled questions on the news.

“One thing you might want to consider,” Seth said.

“What?”

“It wasn't Deana in Eric's office the other night.”

Katie tried to imagine the other woman walking around wearing nothing but an itchy coat, and clamped her eyes shut on the image. “I'm betting Deana wouldn't have done such a thing.”

“You're exactly right.”

Katie had no idea what that comment meant but it made Seth smile.

 

Kevin nodded at a reporter in the back row as he mumbled in Eric's ear. “You didn't actually bring her here, did you?”

“She's down the hall.”

“Jesus, Eric. What were you thinking?”

“Get used to it. I plan to take her a lot of places once the furor dies down.” Eric scanned the room and took some comfort in all the familiar faces.

“Do you want to lose this election?”

What Eric wanted was a new campaign manager, one who understood there were lines and limits to behavior. If his instincts were right, Kevin's version blurred too often.

“We're going to talk later,” Eric said as he checked his notes. Not that he needed them. He gave closing arguments from memory and those went on significantly longer than this would.

“I'm doing what I need to do to keep your election on track.”

Eric dropped the pretense then. Let the whole room see his anger for all he cared at this point. “Call Josh and Deana, or anyone else, to talk with me again without my permission, and I will fire your ass. Understood?”

Kevin hitched his chin in the direction of the microphone. “You're on.”

Eric blocked Kevin out. Pushed every thought out of his mind except getting through the next fifteen minutes. He talked in front of juries and the press all the time and never got a shot of nerves, but this was different. That was work. This was personal.