Taking Care of Business (26 page)

'About what happens after the conference.' He hesitated and just then his phone rang. 'Shit. Don't move.' Rolling over, he peered at the caller ID window and recognised Eve's cell.

'Oh just answer it already. She's with the girls,' Kate mumbled and he groaned.

'Hello?'

Kate congratulated herself for being such an adult. She'd known who it would be but, hell, the damned woman was with his kids and it could be something important. He couldn't drive two hours to the lake house to open a jar of something. Not without a limp anyway.

He sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. 'OK, calm down, Eve.'

The tone of his voice scared her. She snapped to attention and sat up, turning to look. He wrote something quickly on a pad as he listened carefully.

'I'm on my way. I'll be there as fast as I can. I'll have my cell on so call me if anything changes.' He listened for a bit longer and hesitated. 'Yes, of course. Me too.'

Kate quickly grabbed her discarded clothing and began to get dressed. Something was obviously up.

He turned to her after hanging up.

'What's happening?'

'It's Kendall . . . there's an old tyre rope swing at the lake.

She was using it, standing up, swinging out back and forth, but the rope must have frayed. It broke and she fell and hit her head. She's at the hospital now.'

'OK. Go. I'll call a cab to get back to the hotel. If you like I can wait at that little cafédown the road. It's not so late they'll be closed.'

'I'll drive you to the hotel.'

He looked so pale and nervous she nearly forgot he must have told his ex he loved her too or some such just moments before. She hugged him instead of slapping him.

'Don't worry about me. Is she all right? Can I pack you a bag or help with anything?'

He stopped and looked down at her, smiling. 'You're something else. She's got a concussion and some stitches. I don't know much more. Eve was upset. I'm sorry to run out on you.'

She grabbed her things and called for a cab as he quickly packed a bag.

'I have to go. I can't be there tomorrow but all the major legal stuff is over now anyway.' He hesitated and she shoved them both out of the door.

'The cab is on its way. I'll wait out here on this lovely bench. Go to your daughter, Dix.'

'Cab? Damn it, I told you I'd drop you at the hotel. I don't want you waiting out here like, well, like what you aren't.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Get moving. Your daughter needs you and you're wasting time. Go on. The cab company said ten minutes. It's really not that long to wait and five have already passed.'

He nodded, his mind clearly on his daughter as he kissed her, hugging her against him. 'At least wait inside. The door locks on its own when you close it.'

Before she could say anything else the cab pulled up and she breathed a sigh of relief. 'See, nothing to worry about. Go.'

A bit of his tension eased from his muscles. 'All right. I'll talk to you soon.'

The drive back was quiet, lonely after the way things had ended so abruptly. She was concerned for him and his daughter but she couldn't get that pause and the 'Me too' he'd given back to his ex out of her head.

Did he still love her? Kate doubted it and was inclined to believe his assertions he hadn't loved his ex in a long time. But he was still so attached to her. Attached in ways she hadn't really examined openly until they'd begun to discuss it when she saw the picture on his wall.

Kate wasn't sure she was being fair about it. She had no frame of reference at all. It was new. Not the annoyance at the ex-wife, admittedly Kate had thought her a useless waste of skin after the pickle-jar incident. No, she had concerns about how she'd balance having an actual working relationship with a man like Dix when he was still so entrenched in Eve's life.

At the hotel, she walked past Leah's room but, though there was nothing but silence, she didn't knock. An ache crept into her gut as she dropped her bag just inside her hotel-room door. She wanted someone to help her get over her crappy day too. Wanted that sense of completeness she'd had in those moments just after they'd come. Despite her fears at whether or not things would work between them in the long run, as he'd held her and they joked back and forth so lazily, she'd been satisfied.

And now that she'd experienced it? Accepted it and knew how well it fitted? Now that was gone? The absence of such a fine thing hurt more than not having it at all.

Exhausted, Kate headed down to the restaurant to have breakfast with Leah. She'd tossed and turned all night. A few times she'd picked up her phone, wanting to call and check in on Dix to make sure he was all right. But he was with his family and there wasn't a place where she fitted. Not yet and maybe not at all.

As usual, she over thought herself into a horrible stomach ache and had to take medicine for it. Then she was wide awake and surfed the internet, checking Live Journal fourteen times. She didn't bother turning on her instant message program. Leah would be asleep or getting laid so she wouldn't be online wanting to talk about
Nip/Tuck.

By the time she caught sight of Leah, Kate had moved past wanting to talk about anything. She had to hold it together to finish up the morning session. She could lose it when she got back to her new condo. She'd spill when there weren't any bystanders but a bottle of Jameson and her best friend.

'Yo. Sorry I'm late.' She sipped the coffee already waiting at the table. 'Thank God.'

Leah raised a brow as she took Kate in. 'Rough night?'

Kate snorted and raised a brow right back. 'You're looking a bit blurry at the edges there too. Not to mention the noises I heard from your room when I walked past yesterday on my way out.'

Leah made an excuse about just being tired and wanting to get back to her own bed. Kate raised her concerns about that loser she'd been living with but Leah had given a funny little smile and assured her it was fine.

'Buffet?'

Leah nodded.

After they'd filled their plates, they ate for a while in silence. Both hoarding secrets. It was easy to see Leah had something on her mind but Kate knew Leah would tell her when she was ready.

'I'm so tired. Fuck, what a mess with Bitch face the psycho assistant yesterday, huh?'

Leah snickered and then sobered quickly. 'Yes. I tried to connect with Dix this morning but got his voicemail.'

'That little twit called the senior partner who supervises me yesterday. She told her Dix and I were having sex in a public place.'

Leah's brows flew up. 'What a bitch!' Leah lowered her voice and Kate leaned in close so she wouldn't be overheard. 'Were you?'

'Not when she came up. And you know it wasn't actually sex sex. Just sort of. It was so stupid. Soooooo stupid I can't believe I did it. I could have lost my job and everything I've spent years working for, Leah.'

'Wow, he's really got something with you, huh? To send your common sense right out your panties?' Leah shrugged, not judging, just as Kate knew she wouldn't.

'Thankfully, Chandra heard the crazy in Bitchface's voice and didn't take anything she said seriously. But,' Kate sighed, 'I don't know about anything else right now.'

Leah soothed her worry a bit and then tried to redirect the blame for the whole Carlina fiasco on to herself.

Kate wasn't having a bit of it and reminded her friend why she'd been hired and brought to the conference to begin with.

Of course, then Leah teased her about Dix. Kate so wasn't ready to go there, so she teased about Band Boy but Leah's cold reaction and brush off of the subject led Kate to believe her friend wasn't ready to discuss matters of the heart either.

'All right then, let's get this over with.' Kate stood and Leah quickly tossed some money on the table. Kate sent her the stink eye but Leah dared her to really argue and she backed down.

'You still need a ride to the train station later?' Leah asked.

Kate needed the time alone. Time to think and, judging from Leah's voice, she needed it too.

'I've got it covered. A cab will do just fine.'

'Really?'

Kate laughed a moment. 'Really. Look, don't ask, don't tell, right? We'll both spill when the dust settles. I'm just two hours away now. From the looks of both of us, we have a lot to talk about.'

Leah paused and then squeezed her arm without saying anything else.

'I'm going to pack the last of my things. I'll see you in there in a few minutes.' Kate quickly walked away before she burst into tears right there in the lobby.

Right. Leah watched her friend go, then squared her shoulders. She had things to do too. First, conference room. Make sure everything was set, that everyone had what they needed for the final morning session. Sign off on the final billing. Then she could go.

Brandon was already there when she arrived.

Leah's heart, which had already been beating faster than usual, flew into her throat. She stopped in the doorway, her suitcase clutched in one hand since she hadn't wanted to leave it downstairs at the desk. He was on one knee, bending to plug the overhead projector into the outlet on the wall. She wanted to kneel behind him and curl her body around the curve of his back.

Brandon turned and stood. His expression was not impassive. She had to look away from his face so she didn't have to see his honesty. Leah set her suitcase on the table along the back wall and fussed with the handle to give herself a reason not to face him.

Her palms were sweating and, though her half-eaten breakfast sat in her stomach like lead, she reached for the plate of pastries and bagels she'd ordered. She took a napkin instead of food and crumpled it in her fists to dry them. She couldn't do much for the heat pooling in her armpits and rising up her throat and face. She swallowed heavily, wishing she'd had water instead of hot coffee that morning.

'Everything's all set.' His face might have shown his feelings, but his voice betrayed nothing.

Leah risked a look. 'Thank you.'

Brandon nodded. Today he wore a pale-pink shirt with grey trousers and a maroon tie. Black shoes, polished to a gleam. Her gaze went unerringly to his waist.

No belt.

He was looking at her when she looked at him. He'd seen where her eyes had gone. His chin lifted, that strong jaw clenched a little. But he didn't look away.

'Everything looks fine,' she said.

They weren't going to be alone for very long. The meeting was due to start in less than ten minutes and there were always a few who showed up early, especially when there was free breakfast. She only had to get through this next few minutes with him. She could do that.

'I have your paperwork in my office,' Brandon said. 'You'll need to sign off on it.'

Shit. She searched his face for any sign he was doing this to be difficult but realised it was more than likely he simply hadn't wanted to shuffle the papers along with him while he set up the room. She nodded.

'I'll be down in about fifteen minutes, then, OK? Once I get everything started here.'

Something shone briefly in his eyes. 'I'll be there. If you're sure everything here is set to your satisfaction.'

Leah refused to acknowledge that she noticed the way his voice got lower, or the way he was trying to pin her with his gaze. Or how good he smelled today. She refused to notice that too. With a sharp nod, she turned to fuss with her suitcase again.

'Would you like me to take that down for you?'

He wasn't standing too close. He wasn't offering something special. He was only doing his job, she thought. His tone polite, his manner sedate. Except she knew it wasn't like that.

She'd thought it would be easier today to deal with seeing him. She'd assumed he'd be snappish and angry or distant and cold. And there was distance there, no question, but he wasn't being an ass to her about any of this, though she knew she well deserved it.

She kept herself from swaying towards him only by clenching her fingers tightly around the suitcase handles. Truth was, she did want him to take the bag, not because it was too heavy or inconvenient for her to carry, but because she wanted to know he was doing it for her. Just because. She wanted to know he was making sure she was taken care of, and not only because she was a guest of the hotel.

'No. I'll take it down myself.'

She'd let a thousand strangers carry her bags for her. Open doors, park her car, mow her lawn, carry her groceries, plough her driveway. She'd never had a problem with allowing someone to serve her needs, had, in fact, as Kate had so aptly pointed out, been accustomed to snapping her fingers and having someone jump. So why now?

He stepped back from her with a small nod. 'Fine.'

It wasn't anything close to fine, but Leah kept her gaze poised slightly to the left of his face. 'I'll be down.'

She didn't watch him walk away.

Eighteen minutes later Ðshe'd deliberately counted out three extra minutes ÐLeah knocked on Brandon's half-open office door. At his muffled reply, she pushed it open and went inside. And stopped, surprised.

'Wow. You've been hard at work.'

She wrinkled her nose against the scent of furniture polish and ammonia as she stepped through the door. He'd cleared off the stacks of folders and files she remembered had been scattered over every flat surface. A small lamp with a decorative shade that looked as though it had come from one of the rooms upstairs had replaced the flickering, industrial overhead lighting and, though none of the furniture looked new, he'd rearranged it to make better use of the small space.