“When do you need an answer?”
Ana looked sheepish. “I need to start taping tomorrow or Saturday at the latest.” She touched her computer screen. “I’ve got a proposal for you here to look at. But I do need an answer by tonight.”
“Ana! Why did you wait so long to ask?”
“For one thing, I’ve been working on it and I didn’t want you to see it until it was right. And I didn’t want you to think too long and talk yourself out of it. Sometimes you just need to take a leap.”
The bell rang, indicating a new customer coming through the door.
Rising, Ana said, “I’ll make Sugar Dancer and you shine. You have nothing to lose here—if you don’t like the final product, you can refuse to allow me to do anything with it other than turn it in for a grade.” She headed out to help the customer.
Kat pulled the iPad onto her lap and began reading Ana’s proposal. Her chest squeezed. Where Kat usually didn’t talk about her leg or the mugging publicly, Ana wanted to use all that as part of Kat’s backstory, along with leaving the family business to follow her dream.
The idea made her anxious. But she also understood what Ana was doing—giving Kat a story of triumph over tragedy. Having her life exposed after years of hiding gave her a lightheaded sensation. Could she do this?
Well she’d never know if she didn’t try, now would she? A month ago, she’d have sworn having a relationship with a man was impossible. She was doing that. Maybe it was sex only, but that was still progress. Excitement and nerves fizzed in her veins, energizing her. Rising, she stored Ana’s iPad then picked up the tray of the pretty raspberry hearts. In the front, she expertly slid the rack of fresh cookies into the glass case.
She looked around Sugar Dancer, taking in the round chrome tables with the fire-red seats. Half the tables had customers eating treats and chatting. A few kids hung out at the high bar with stools that stretched along the back wall. Pecan walls set off the canvasses of brightly colored dancer forms. Kat loved the way the artist had made it appear that each dancer was made from sugar crystals.
Natural light flooded the bakery from the floor-to-ceiling windows on Kat’s right.
“Thinking about it?” Ana handed her a cup of coffee that was already sweetened and lightened.
“You’re persuasive.” Kat sipped the drink. She still had a long evening in front of her, including two cake tastings for prospective brides.
“So you’ll do it?”
Kat set her coffee down. “I dreamed of owning my own bakery since my brother gave me an Easy-Bake Oven.” Marshall. Her stomach rippled with the memory. While her parents had thought her baking a waste of time, he’d supported her.
“Oh! See, that’s a great anecdote for your bio piece.”
Ana’s enthusiasm was contagious. “But now I want more. Sugar Dancer is just the beginning.”
The other girl’s grin lit up her face.
“Let’s try it. I’ll be your marketing project. If we like the tape, submit it, and if I get a callback—then we’ll see if I can manage my panic attacks enough to do it.”
And while she was taking risks, Kat pulled out her cellphone and called her brother. She had to try.
* * *
“Smells great in here. What’s for breakfast?”
Closing and relocking her bakery door since she didn’t officially open for almost an hour, Kat eyed her brother. He looked good. She was still a little surprised that he’d agreed to meet her for breakfast less than twenty-four hours after she’d called him. “Hello to you too.”
Marshall flashed a grin. “Lila makes me eat healthy. I can’t sleep nights from the noise of blood whooshing through my disgustingly clear arteries. I need some fat to clog those suckers up.”
Shaking her head, Kat headed to the coffeepot. “Go in the kitchen. I’ve got several kinds of muffins and a coffee cake on the cooling racks.”
“Sweet.” He breezed past her.
That was Marshall. He held a PhD in immunology, worked ridiculous hours researching and developing better medications and protocols for connective-tissue disorders, but when something caught his attention, he bubbled with little-boy enthusiasm. Just as he’d done for her baking disasters when she was a kid.
He carried a plate filled with muffins, cake and cookies.
“If Lila finds out,” Kat scolded as she followed him to a table, “you’ll be in trouble.”
He took a monster bite out of a chocolate chip muffin. “Worth it.” After devouring another bite, he added, “So worth it.”
“Trying to clog up your arteries in record time, I see.” Warmth filled her chest. Marshall used to choke down her mistakes and say that she was getting better. He’d been there for her the only way he knew how. Now she was going to bring up something that could ruin their relationship.
“How is business going?”
Okay, niceties first. “Good. What about you? You have two drugs in the pipeline? How’s the research protocols going?” It was a very complex, intensive process to run the test groups.
“The Lupus test is super promising.” His eyes glowed. “When we have more time, I’ll tell you about it.” He chose a banana nut muffin. “But I came here to find out how you’re doing.”
A little pang hit her chest. She’d hated her job at SiriX, but she loved hearing Marshall talk about his work. He cared deeply about what he was doing, driven to find better medications to help Lupus patients. Why didn’t she call him more often?
Setting the muffin down, Marshall pushed to his feet.
Crap, she’d been daydreaming instead of answering. “What are you doing?” Was he leaving?
“I’m getting more coffee.”
“I’ll—”
He tugged her ponytail. “Sit. I’ll get it.” He returned, topped off their cups. “More cream and sugar?”
“No thanks.” He knew she took cream and sugar. Marshall wasn’t as oblivious as people believed. He saw and catalogued everything around him. That absentminded-professor thing he did—that was a way of avoiding confrontation. Marshall didn’t waste energy arguing, he just quietly did what he wanted to do.
Sitting, he finished off his second muffin. “I care, Katie. You gave up a lot for Sugar Dancer. I want to know it’s worth it.”
Easy to answer. “Yes. I love it.” Leaning forward, she launched into how far the bakery had come and told him about Ana’s marketing project.
His eyes crinkled. “Way to make the parents insane. Expand the bakery, prove them wrong.” He checked the time on his cellphone. “Better tell me why you wanted to see me.”
She bit the insides of her cheeks, part of her not wanting to rock this boat. Would Marshall believe her? Or would this come between them? Hell, she could be making a wild leap based on assumptions about David with no real proof.
Yet the ache in her leg reminded her that what had happened had been real. And it hadn’t been a mugging.
She had to try. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but I think David might be into something he shouldn’t be. And if I’m right, whatever he’s into caused our attack six years ago.” Please don’t get up and walk out. Kat held her breath, waiting.
Marshall reached across the table and caught her hand. “I don’t know what happened that night you and David were attacked. It’s possible David’s version is true. You have traumatic amnesia and you’ve experienced some personality change whether you want to admit it or not.” Squeezing her hand, he said flatly, “You don’t remember what happened, Katie. Your flashes could be real, or they could be a manifestation of your mind trying to fill in the blanks. You know it’s possible.”
She ground her teeth together, struggling for the logic that might reach him. “Yes. But what if David’s version is a lie? You said you don’t know. You weren’t there.”
He regarded her carefully. “The best thing you ever did was leave David and SiriX.”
Whoa, that was a conversational shift she hadn’t expected. “What does that
mean?”
Marshall glanced at the table, then back up. “Do you know why you’re not in my wedding?”
That was like poking a sore spot she didn’t want to admit she had. She needed to stay unemotional and focused if she had any hope of getting him to hear her. “Because David’s your best man.”
His mouth whitened as he compressed his lips. “No. It’s because I want you safe. You’re not the only one seeing changes in David. Right now, you’re off the radar. If David is into something dangerous, you’re not in his life, not as his fiancée or at work. You’re safe and you’re going to remain that way. Stay away from David and from SiriX.”
Confusion blanketed her mind, then slowly evaporated. “You’re…” What? She didn’t know.
“Protecting my sister. I don’t know what David is or isn’t doing. I really don’t, so swallow your questions. But I know this—he didn’t do shit to protect you that night. I’d rather see you with a man like Sloane who has the guts to stand up for you. Don’t misunderstand me. Sloane hurts you and I have access to drugs that will render him permanently impotent.”
This whole conversation was incredulous, but she laughed. “That’s evil.”
“Geniuses are like that, haven’t you heard?”
Relief mixed with concern. “What do we do? How do we find out if David’s into something? It could affect SiriX and all of you.” Kat may not be a part of that world any longer, but she cared what happened to her brother, her parents and all the employees.
Resolve hardened his eyes. “You do nothing. Stay away from him.”
“But I’m worried about you. What if—?”
He shook his head, cutting her off. “Katie, if it’s true, you’ve paid enough of a price. You let me worry about it. Now I have to go.”
Kat got up and headed to the door. Following her big brother just as she had when they were kids. Only now, the stakes were high and potentially dangerous. “What are you doing?” He had layers few people suspected.
“Waking up and using my vastly superior intelligence.” He took her by the shoulders. “Focus on your bakery. Expand it. When you’re ready, I have some money I can invest, and I’ll cosign a loan for you if you need it.”
Her throat tightened. “You would do that?”
“Invest in my sister? Yes.”
The realization that she hadn’t lost her brother swamped her with emotion. She gripped his arm. “I know David’s your friend, but be careful.”
His eyes took on a solemn weight. “We haven’t been friends in years. David’s in my wedding because I never got around to mentioning that fact to him. Or Mom and Dad. Or anyone else except Lila.”
That was exactly the kind of layers she was talking about. He was keeping David close and watching him, but not confronting him. “Damn. You are devious.”
“That’s evil genius to you, baby sister.”
Chapter Five
It took Sloane a second to recover when Kellen answered the condo door. He’d been expecting Kat. Swallowing his sharp impatience, he strode in. “She ready?”
Kellen lifted an eyebrow. “Flew in here late and hit the shower. She’s been taping nonstop and—”
“Taping what?” His words came out harsh and cold. He had to force himself to stay calm. Was Kat talking to the media? She’d said she wouldn’t. Goddammit. He glanced at the hallway. He’d go ask the little baker himself.
Kellen blocked him. “What crawled up your ass?”
Sloane checked himself. Kellen had been stabbed just weeks ago. But damn, that move surprised him. The other man was in good shape, but Sloane knew how to kill. “Is Kat talking to the media?” They were done if she was. Two reasons—first he couldn’t trust her, second…
A cold chill dripped down his spine.
He didn’t want Kat to draw Lee Foster’s attention. The man had brutally raped and killed Sara. Even worse, Sloane had kept tabs on Foster while he’d been in prison. The bastard had trained to fight and kill, and he had a grudge against Sloane for putting him in prison. The idea of him getting his hands on Kat made his blood freeze.
Kellen’s hazel eyes lit with understanding. “No, and the media hasn’t bothered her. Ana, one of her employees, is using Kat and Sugar Dancer as the subject of a marketing project.”
Relief eased through him. Eyeing Kellen—his stance as he stood up to him—Sloane said, “You and Diego are still staying here, right? For how long?” Kat had assured him that the two men insisted on staying at the condo after David pulled the stunt at her bakery.
“Three more weeks until our house is ready.” Kellen dropped down on a barstool at the granite island. “Kat’s refusing to get another roommate. I’m worried about her living alone.”
Hell, now Sloane was worried too. The best thing he could do for her was to walk out of her life.
Not happening. He wanted her, needed her.
Fucking craved her.
Glancing over at her keypad for her alarm, he thought about the options. “I’ll get her security system upgraded to top of the line.” What else? Damn it, Kat’s leg made her too damn vulnerable. She couldn’t run fast and far enough. “Would she consider a gun?”
“Not a chance.”
“Dog?”
“She says she’s gone too much. She can’t take a dog to the bakery due to health codes.”
Frustration clawed at him. “I’ll get her a dog sitter.”
“She can’t afford that kind of thing, Sloane. Don’t even suggest it. She’ll be paying the mortgage without my rental income as it is.”
“She wouldn’t have to pay for it.” That was ridiculous. If Kat had any idea how much money he spent seeing to his bitch of a mother’s protection, she’d realize he didn’t care about the expense of something like a dog sitter. But of course, then he’d have to tell her why his mother needed protection and then their deal would end.
“Suggest it and you’ll be glad she doesn’t have a gun. But more to the point, you two are only temporary. She’d have to assume the costs once you move on.”
Move on. Sloane didn’t like hearing it. Didn’t want to lose her. He’d known Kat was trouble when he’d laid eyes on her in that ballroom. “I—”
The bedroom door opened, and Sloane forgot Kellen.
Forgot everything but the woman coming down the hallway. A champagne-colored dress slashed across her body in a way that had to be illegal. It rode over her left shoulder, leaving her creamy right side exposed. The dress greedily hugged her curves and had an uneven hem, with the right side longer, covering her to mid calf. Clever way to hide the scars that bothered her. She’d paired the dress with some kind of satiny ballet slippers that had ties that wrapped around her slim ankles.
He had to touch her. Unable to stand it, he lifted a lock of her silky hair off her bared shoulder. She’d done her eyes up so they looked more blue and sexy as hell. All he wanted was to get her alone and peel that dress from her by inches. “Kitten, you look sensational.”
“Thanks.”
Her breathless voice clued him in to her nerves. He stroked his thumb over the fluttering pulse at her throat. She had done this for him. For years she hadn’t worn a dress, and tonight she’d put one on for him. Her bravery humbled him.
“Kat,” Kellen broke in. “That dress is incredible. You look hot and elegant. It totally works on you.”
She smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Kel. But I’m still not showing you the cake design.”
Her mouth tempted Sloane too damn much, her full lips glistening with some kind of gloss. Forcing his gaze up, he asked, “What design?”
Kellen grunted. “Kat’s doing a cake for our housewarming party. But she won’t show us what she’s planning. That’s just wrong. It’s our party.”
Sloane had the feeling this was an ongoing argument between the two of them. Especially since Kat’s eyes twinkled.
“Kellen is an incurable snoop. He tried to figure out how to open the box to see my dress when it was delivered.”
“Did not,” Kellen announced primly. “Because Diego was here when it came and he’d totally rat me out to score Kat’s cookies.”
Kat laughed, a full-bodied sound that trembled in Sloane’s stomach. Kellen was purposely teasing her so she’d relax.
Fingering the slice of pink in her hair, he asked, “Are you going to ask me to be your plus-one for the housewarming party?”
She tilted her chin up. “Oh, no. You don’t have to do that.”
With other women, he’d suspect them of playing coy. Not Kat. She didn’t play those games. He stroked a finger lightly over her cheek. “I want to. Ask me.”
She leaned her face into his touch. “We’re blurring the lines.”
“Yes.”
“Dangerous territory.”
“Treacherous.” And full of emotional land mines he didn’t know how to navigate.
Her breath hitched. “You could say no.”
Did she think so? Slipping his fingers to her nape, he tugged her close enough to drown in the pool of her blue-green eyes. “Not to you. Ask me.”
“Would you like to be my plus-one for Kellen and Diego’s housewarming party?”
“Very much.” Blurring lines? More like blowing the fuck out of his boundaries. But the need to see her, be with her—and inside her—was becoming a compulsion second only to his need to avenge his sister.
Kellen cleared his throat. “You two planning on going to the winery thing, or do I need to drag in the garden hose and spray you down?”
Sloane wanted to sweep Kat into his arms, take her in the bedroom and lose himself in her. But tonight was important. “You ready to leave?”
“Yep.”
Kel put his hand on her arm. “I’m going to assume you won’t be here alone tonight, so we’re staying at Diego’s. If that changes, you text or call me. Swear?”
Kat rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Swear.” Then she grinned. “But I’m onto your scheme. Trying to get rid of us so you can snoop around for the cake plans.”
Once they said their goodbyes, Sloane got her settled in the limo, and they were on their way. “Tell me about this project you and Ana are doing.” He wanted to keep her distracted from thinking about wearing the dress. And himself from what was under that dress.
Possession (The Plus One Chronicles) Page 5
