Obsession (Southern Comfort) (28 page)

“It’s understandable,” he assured her.  “I have a younger brother toward whom I’ve always felt protective, and that’s despite the fact that there are five of us, and both my parents are still alive and very involved in all of our lives.  I know it’s just the two of you, and you’ve been through a lot with your sister.”

Her dark eyes lit with question.  “I sense that you’ve been talking with Natasha about her childhood.”

“She told me she had a lot of health problems.  That had to be stressful for you.”

She stirred the remains of her coffee.  “I was nineteen.  Living it up at college.  Then all of a sudden I was a parent to a chronically sick child.”  She smiled a little.  “Somehow, the stress of final exams or wondering which frat boy I should invite to my sorority’s secret crush party just didn’t compare.”

“I bet.”

Her expression turned pensive.  “Did Natasha talk to you?  About… this idea she has.  That someone tried to k-kill her?”

“She did.”

“Do you think she’s crazy? Or covering up an addiction? Or could there be some validity to her theory?  And I’m going to be honest, I don’t know which of those thoughts frightens me more.”     
 

“I’m not her physician, and I’m not a psychiatrist.  But off the record?”  Justin carefully parsed his words.  “I think the situation… bears looking into.  I told your sister that I would speak with a detective I know regarding her allegations.”

Anne was silent for several moments, staring into her coffee.  “I’m scared,” she finally whispered.

“Of?”

She lifted her eyes to his, and in them were fresh tears.  “That I won’t be able to protect her. She’s not a little girl anymore, and I…” her bottom lip trembled, and she bit it. “I’m afraid that she’s gotten involved with something, and is in over her head.  Shelley…”

When she trailed off again, Justin hesitated, then patted her on the shoulder. 

She turned into him, all but burrowed in his neck.

After a few awkward moments in which he wasn’t sure what to do, she finally pulled herself together.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“No.”  He took a fresh napkin from the table and handed it to her so she could dab her eyes.  “Don’t apologize. I can only imagine how difficult this is for you.  You’re worried about Shelley,” he prodded, because this seemed to be a recurring theme.

“She’s… I hate to seem like I’m talking out of sorts, but, well, I’m afraid she’s dangerous.  Unstable.  If she’s using again, and she’s involved with this gang, maybe Natasha’s allegations aren’t as crazy as they seem.”

Justin frowned.  “I’ll mention that to the detective.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Anne said, and this time the smile reached her very pretty brown eyes.  “Literally and figuratively.”

Two women walked by the table, bumping into Justin’s chair, saving him from having to
come up with a response to the praise.  His coffee spilled on his pants, and he turned an exasperated look on the women.

When he saw the scrubs, and realized that the nurses were two of Mandy’s friends, he scowled.
  One of them raised a brow, while the other surreptitiously flipped him the bird.

“Problem?” Anne asked.

“Just… workplace dynamics,” Justin said.  “Never date a co-worker,” he advised.  “It can never end well.”

Anne smiled.  “Well, since I work for myself, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
  She pressed some extra napkins into his hand.  “That was just petty.”

“You have no idea,” he muttered.

“You’ve been such a good listener while I blubbered about my problems. I’d be happy to return the favor.”

Talking about Mandy was the last thing he wanted to do.  “Actually, I have to get back to work.”

“Oh.”  She quickly masked her disappointment, and Justin made a mental note to keep any future conversations as professional as possible.  Anne seemed to be a nice woman, and he didn’t want her getting the wrong idea.  “Well, thanks for the ear.  And the shoulder.”

“No problem.  You take care.”

Pushing in his chair, Justin ignored the daggers Mandy’s friends visually thrust into his back as he walked out the door.   

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“GIVE
me that.”  Kathleen pulled the buffalo chicken dip back toward her before Sadie ate it all.  “Good grief.  Are you sure you’re not carrying a baby goat or something? Because you’re eating everything that’s not nailed down.”

“I know,” Sadie agreed, not the least bit chagrinned. 
“Everything just seems to
taste
better when you’re pregnant.  Well, at least it does to me.  Maureen and Tate were really put off certain things, especially in the first trimester.”  She leaned over, scooped a celery stick through the rapidly disappearing dip.  “I haven’t found anything that doesn’t sound appealing.”

Kathleen narrowed her eyes across the expanse of her kitchen counter.  “You’re having a boy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because
Maureen and Tate had remarkably similar experiences, and they had, or are having, girls.”

Sadie waved a hand.  “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It’s a boy,” Kathleen sighed in resignation.  “I can feel it.  On the bright side,” she said as she picked up a celery stick. “At least you’re not having twins.”

Sadie’s hand paused midair.

“Oh my God.” Kathleen dropped the celery stick in the dip.  “You’re having twins.”

When she saw the look in her best friend’s blue eyes, Kathleen
straightened.  “Sadie?”

“I had my checkup today.  There
are two heartbeats.”

“I…” Momentarily speechless, Kathleen opened her mouth, closed it.  Then simply enfolded Sadie in her arms.

“You’re not… upset?”

“Upset?” Kathleen gave her a squeeze before releasing her.  “I’m elated. 
You’re having twins.
Twins.” 
She did a little dance. “Which means the karma train will soon be pulling into Declan’s station.”

Sadie’s laugh was a
bit wobbly.  “We don’t know the gender, remember?”

“Oh, they’re boys.”
Feeling surprisingly satisfied by this turn of events, Kathleen opened the fridge, pulled out some sparkling grape juice.  “This calls for a toast.” She filled two glasses. “To the health and wellbeing of my nephews and their beautiful mother.  And may they visit upon their father all of the torments for which he himself was responsible as a child.”

“Thanks.” Sadie took a sip of bubbly.  “I think.”

Kathleen settled onto the stool beside her sister-in-law.  “I had sex with Justin.”

Sadie choked.  “You…” she made a fist, pounded herself on the chest.  “I swear, you do that on purpose.  How was it?”

Kathleen smiled, remembering.  “Hot.  Fun.  He’s very creative in small spaces.”

“Hmmm.” Sadie eyed her over the rim of her glass.  “Sounds like shower sex.”

But the mention of the shower had the smile fading from Kathleen’s face.  She hadn’t told Sadie about the cameras, because that seemed like a further invasion of Justin’s privacy, but her friend knew the basics of his situation.  “I’m having a tough time,” she admitted “not butting in on this whole psycho ex-girlfriend thing.  There’s a fine line between being supportive, as a friend, and being a cop.  I’m trying to put the friendship first, because, you know, there’s a male ego involved, but let me tell you, the cop in me is itching to get involved. And quite frankly, to bust that bitch’s ass.”

“Doesn’t the Isle of Palms police department have enough evidence to arrest her?”

“I don’t know.” Kathleen circled a finger around the rim of her glass. “I could probably use my connections to find out, but that smacks of going behind Justin’s back.  I suggested, a while ago, that he needed to bring the police in.  He wasn’t happy about it, but he did it.  And now I need to let him handle it.”

“Tough for you,” Sadie said around a mouthful of chicken. “Seeing as how you’re so fond of sticking your nose in the middle of whatever is going on.”

  “Hey, I’m a detective.  Sticking my nose in is my job.  But in this case, I’m afraid that it will seem like I don’t trust him.  What?” she said when Sadie smiled.

“I find it telling that you’re putting his needs ahead of your own.”

“No, I’m not.”  Was she?  “And anyway
, that doesn’t mean anything. That’s what friends do.”

“If you say so.”  Sadie’s phone beeped, and she opened her text message.  “Declan’s ready to leave. 
He wants to get home before the snow starts.”

“Snow?  You’re kidding, right.”

“Haven’t you been watching the weather? There’s a forty percent chance.”

Kathleen snorted.  “Which means the odds are against it.  I swear, just the threat of a flurry and everyone in this city loses their minds.”

“You have to admit it’s kind of exciting, though.  I never thought I’d miss anything about living in Colorado, least of all the winters, but there’s something… magical about the world after a snowfall.”

Magical.  Kathleen shook her head. 
“Well, don’t get your hopes up.”

“Killjoy.”  Her phone beeped again.  “
I better get down there before he comes up and insists upon carrying me down the stairs.  It was bad enough before, but now that we found out we’re having twins, he’s completely unbearable.  I keep trying to tell him I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

Muttering
something about overbearing husbands under her breath, Sadie took one more sip of grape juice before she hopped down from the stool.  “Thanks for the snacks.”

“Snacks?” Kathleen followed her to the door.  “That was dinner.”

“Not if you’re eating for three.”

She pulled open the door, stifling a screech when she saw Justin standing on the other side of it, his hand poised to knock.
  

“Sorry,” he said, smiling down at Sadie.  “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh, no worries.”  Sadie waved that away, then stretched up
to give him a quick hug.  “That looks painful,” she said about his black eye. “Kathleen playing rough again?”

“Ahhh…”

“Don’t mind Sadie.  She was just leaving.”

“I was just leaving
.  Y’all have… fun.”

Justin watched her
sail past him and down the stairs.  “How is it,” he asked philosophically “that one little pause can carry such an enormous amount of innuendo?”

“Well, they don’t call it a pregnant pause for nothing.”

“Literally, in this case.”

“She’s having twins.
Boys.”

Justin scratched the back of his neck. “Should I offer congratulations or condolences?”

Grinning, because he knew her so well, and was too damned cute to boot, Kathleen pulled him inside and closed the door.

Then pushed him against it.

His eyes flashed with surprise a moment before she brought her mouth to his, hot and hungry.  An inarticulate sound vibrated in his throat, and then his hands slid around to grip her butt.  He squeezed, lifting her against him, and she nipped his bottom lip.

“Hi,” she said when they finally came up for breath.

Justin blinked, his eyes slightly unfocused.  “What?”

Laughing – how adorable was he? – she pushed against his chest
until he released her.  If she let this go any further, they’d wind up in the bedroom without passing GO or collecting two hundred dollars.

“You said you needed to talk to me.”

“I did?” he said as he watched her walk back toward the kitchen, his blurry gaze refocusing with laser-like intensity on her rear end. 

“You did,” she reminded him, then she gestured him to a stool.  “I even bought some buffalo chicken dip on my way home so that I could feed you while we conversed, but I’m afraid Sadie ate most of it.  I can offer you a drink, though.  I’ve got sparkling grape juice, water and beer.
Or I could brew a pot of coffee.”

“Ah, water’s fine.” Justin finally managed to pull himself away from the door. The look he gave her was rueful.  “It’s a little hot in here.”

“That darn furnace.” Kathleen slid a glass toward him.  “Always acting up.”

Their gazes locked
as he lifted the glass.  “Hi.”

Kathleen’s toes curled in her slippers.  “So.”  Feeling a little overwarm herself, she picked up the flute of grape juice. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to avoid the obvious double entendre, and assume you’re asking about my earlier text.” 

“
Well, if it were a question of anatomy, I think we answered that at the door.”

“I’m not sure I remember.  Maybe you could pin me against it again.”

“Be happy to.  I’ll even pat you down. 
After,”
she clarified, when his eyes narrowed with hot intent “you tell me what you wanted to discuss.  It sounded important.”