From Your Heart

by Shannyn Schroeder

  “Fair enough.” She plopped down on the couch and flipped up the lid on the box. “Now tell me all about your new job.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Kevin sat in his underwear on Kathy’s couch, and they shared pizza while he told her about his new job. He didn’t have too much to tell, but he was excited to have someone to share it with. All in all, it was a damn good date.

  “Mayor Park told me to let you know that there will be many social engagements in our future, so be prepared.”

  “Oh really? So now I’m supposed to take orders from you in the bedroom and orders from him in my free time?”

  Kevin’s eyes darkened. “Sweetheart, as much as I love the idea of you taking orders from me, I’ll never ask you to do anything you don’t already want to do. As for Park, I think that was his friendly way of saying that if I want to have any time to spend with you, it’s probably going to be at work-related functions.”

  “That kind of sucks.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll take whatever I can get. And if you get to network and grow your business out of it, it’s a win-win, right?”

  “I suppose, but don’t count on me for everything. I’m excited and happy for you, but I can’t commit to being at your beck and call for every social engagement you’re expected to attend.” Her face filled with worry.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just picturing Moira’s social calendar and that would make me sick. I’m more of a homebody, you know?”

  “Okay.” He watched her face carefully, unsure of where she was going with this.

  As soon as he said okay, her entire body relaxed. Did she think this would be a fight?

  “You’ll come to some parties, though, right?”

  “Of course. I’m not saying I won’t ever join you, just that . . .”

  “Don’t automatically assume you’re available.”

  Her face softened with the knowledge that he understood. And he did. He would never assume she would be available to be with him all the time. But they were a couple now and in every relationship, there was some give-and-take.

  She settled back on the couch with a glass of champagne and continued to pepper him with questions. They talked and laughed and after a while they turned on the TV.

  He took the remote from her hand. Clicking through the shows on her DVR, he groaned. “Really? Sappy movies and bad reality TV?”

  “I have FBI shows too. Keep scrolling.”

  “I grew up with a cop and now my brother is one. I avoid all cop shows.”

  “You’re no fun. What do you like to watch?”

  “Sci-fi. Sometimes the History channel.”

  “Huh.” She stared at him.

  “What?”

  “Weird choices for you.”

  “What did you expect?”

  “Comedy all the way.”

  “Of course I watch comedies. Who doesn’t?”

  “Most comedies on TV aren’t all that funny.”

  “Maybe you’re watching the wrong ones.” He clicked over to Netflix, found some of his favorite shows, and added them to her watch list. “Trust me.”

  “Famous last words,” she said, but then she cuddled next to him and turned to watch TV.

  They didn’t even get through the first episode, and Kathy was sound asleep against him, her still-damp curls cool against his skin. Kevin knew he should wake her, send her to bed, and go home, but he enjoyed having her in his arms. And he was in no hurry to leave.

  He pulled a yellow quilted blanket from the back of the couch, laid it over her, and turned to the news. What he hadn’t said to Kathy when they were discussing TV viewing habits was that as of late, he’d had little time to watch anything for pleasure. He’d been watching every bit of city-related news he could find, afraid he might miss something crucial that would impact his new position.

  His new position.

  He liked the sound of that. Even though the job was now officially his, he knew he couldn’t be any less vigilant. Tomorrow would be his first day as the official liaison and he needed to meet Park and come up with an agenda. Then he needed to meet with City Connections, the business with which they’d decided to partner.

  While the news droned on in the background, Kevin opened his phone and made a list of what he had to get done tomorrow. It would’ve been easier with his laptop, but he hadn’t brought it. At work he’d always used the crappy desktop and left his laptop at home. He might have to start traveling with it, especially if he was going to be spending more time at Kathy’s apartment like this.

  He glanced down at her. He definitely wanted to spend a lot more time like this. He stroked a hand over her curls and she turned into his touch.

  “Damn,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was that tired.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “You should have. Not much of a celebratory date.” She pushed away from him to sit up. Her hair was rumpled and she was sleepy soft.

  Kevin could imagine waking up to that every morning. The thought struck him hard, and for the first time in his life he didn’t feel a second of panic. Everything with Kathy felt right, just the way it had five years ago, but this time he was ready for it.

  “This was a perfect way to spend my celebration.” He tucked a wild curl behind her ear. “Can I spend the night?”

  She brushed her hand over her hair self-consciously. “If you want. I have to get up early though.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll have to get up to go home for clean clothes.”

  He realized that asking to spend the night might be pushing things between them. He’d agreed to take it slow, and it seemed like overnight everything had jumped to warp speed.

  “If you’d prefer for me not to stay, that’s okay too. I know we said we were going to go slow.”

  She smiled sweetly. “That kind of went out the window at lunch.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t know if that meant you were ready to throw your whole plan out.”

  “I don’t have a plan. But this feels right.” She paused and looked into his eyes questioningly. “Doesn’t it?”

  “Hell, yeah it does.” He was just glad that she felt the same as he did. “Let’s go to bed.”

  He stood and while she folded the blanket for the back of the couch, he cleaned up their dinner.

  In the bathroom, she handed him a fresh toothbrush. “You can just keep this here, for whenever.”

  They got ready and as they climbed into bed, he asked, “What’s the likelihood of me convincing you to sleep naked?”

  “Hmmm . . . I guess it all depends on how convincing you are.”

  And before they fell asleep he completely convinced her of all the benefits of sleeping naked.

  * * *

  At seven o’clock a few nights later, Kevin’s phone rang. He considered ignoring it because he wanted to see Kathy, but the ringtone told him it was Jimmy. He knew better than to ignore Jimmy.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, shithead. You got a promotion and didn’t tell us?”

  “How the hell did you find out?”

  “Did you forget I married a woman who does nothing but stick her nose into everyone’s business all over the city?”

  He should’ve known better. Moira had enough connections that she would’ve heard, probably before any other reporter did. “I planned on telling you all this weekend.”

  “Yeah, well, we don’t like to wait. Get your ass down to O’Leary’s Pub now. We’re celebrating.”

  Kevin almost groaned, but he sucked it back. His siblings were happy for him and wanted to celebrate. “Let me call Kathy and see if she’s up for it.”

  “Already done. Moira’s picking her up so you have a designated driver to get home.”

  As usual, Jimmy controlled everyone’s lives. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.”

  He closed up his newly refinished office and headed out. At least with Kathy being his designated driver f
or the night, his brothers couldn’t accuse him of being a pussy for ducking out early. Kathy always had to be at the shop at the ass crack of dawn, so she wouldn’t be up for partying late.

  When he arrived at O’Leary’s, the bar was already busy. It was probably normal for a Friday night. He looked around and didn’t see his family, so he fought through the mob while texting Jimmy. Where are you?

  In the back.

  He walked around people and dodged waitresses to get to the back room. He shouldn’t have needed directions. If he’d waited two minutes, he would’ve heard the sound of the O’Malleys. One thing he could always say about his family was that they were never quiet.

  “Hey, asshole, it’s about time you showed up,” Sean called from the table.

  The family had a few tables shoved together and they took up a good portion of the back room. Jimmy stood and gave him a hug.

  “Congrats, man. You should’ve told us.”

  They separated and Kevin looked at his sister-in-law. “I was going to tell all of you this weekend. I didn’t plan on Mouthy Moira getting in the mix.”

  “You should’ve known better,” she yelled. “I’m in every mix. Now sit down and have a beer.”

  He neared the table, his eyes scanning for the one person he really wanted to see, but she wasn’t there. He sat down and opened his mouth to ask about Kathy, but Moira continued to talk.

  “She ran to the bathroom. She’ll be back in a minute. Her seat is next to you.” The whole time she talked, she poured beer from the pitcher in front of her.

  From the other side of the table, Norah passed a plate of appetizers. “Celebratory food. Congrats. Tell us about the job.”

  “Not much to tell. I’ve moved from being a peon in one department to a peon in another.”

  “Shit. I can’t believe it,” Moira said. “Kevin O’Malley is being modest. He might still be a peon, but he’s a peon with the mayor’s ear.”

  He nodded because that much was true.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Kathy approaching. He stood and slid her chair from its spot for her. She edged to the side, as if avoiding any contact with him. What the hell?

  She sat quickly.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She smiled. “No, why?” Her face gave away nothing.

  “Because you’re acting like you barely know me.”

  Her gaze shifted around the table. Everyone there—his whole family was coupled up. Kevin slid an arm around the back of her chair and leaned closer. “My family obviously knows we’re dating.”

  “I know.”

  “Then what?”

  “They’re kind of overwhelming,” she said quietly.

  He pressed closer still until his lips touched the shell of her ear. “They’re overwhelming, so that means you can’t kiss me hello? I’m not understanding that.” His lips closed on her lobe and her breath hitched.

  “Man, you really are an asshole,” Sean yelled again.

  Kevin looked around the mass of Kathy’s curls with lifted eyebrows. She stiffened next to him.

  “We invite you out to hear about your fancy new job and all you want to do is make out with your girlfriend. And you guys say I’m rude.”

  With that, Sean’s girlfriend, Emma, shoved his shoulder. “Maybe if you didn’t scream across the table and call people names, we wouldn’t say that.”

  Kevin shifted so his arm sat comfortably on Kathy’s shoulders. “I apologize, brother. I haven’t seen my girlfriend in a few days. You have my attention now. What do you want to know?”

  * * *

  Kathy battled back the nerves that tightened every muscle in her body. She knew these people. She’d met them all before. But something felt different this time, and she didn’t know if it was her or them or Kevin or what. When she and Kevin dated before, she’d met them, but they hadn’t really interacted. They said hi or whatever, but that was it.

  Tonight, they were all in her space, starting conversations and asking her questions. It was disconcerting.

  Moira gave her a questioning smile from the other side of the table. Kathy forced her mouth to curve while Kevin offered the scant details he had on his new position.

  “More money?” Tommy asked.

  “Not yet. Maybe in the new budget, but I’m not holding my breath for that either.”

  Sean laughed boisterously. “So you’re working longer hours, you don’t get to see your girlfriend, and you’re not making more money. You’re getting screwed. That’s Chicago politics at its finest.”

  Kevin shook his head at his brother, who was still laughing. “It’s just another stepping-stone. I make this program work, I’ll be able to do anything I want. I can move into the private sector or higher up in the government.”

  Norah spoke up then. “I always wondered if you planned to go into politics. I can totally see it.”

  “See what?”

  “You’d make a perfect politician.”

  His eyes narrowed at his sister. “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

  Kathy thought about the whole conversation. She’d never survive being in the spotlight with him as a politician. All the mudslinging and horrible things that people dredged up and spewed out. She felt sick just thinking about it.

  She shook those thoughts loose. She and Kevin just started dating again. Who knew how far into the future such plans might be. She needed to not worry about things she couldn’t control and focus on what she could. Having a good time and celebrating with Kevin and his family was something she could do.

  “I agree with Norah. You have that smarmy smile that people won’t quite know how to read,” Kathy said.

  Everyone at the table laughed, even Norah’s hulking boyfriend, Kai. Norah pointed at Kevin. “‘Smarmy’ is the perfect word.”

  He looked at Kathy. “Smarmy? Aren’t you supposed to be nice to me? This is a celebration.”

  Kathy patted his thigh. “You’re also charming. You’d have the single female voting population swooning for you.” She batted her eyelashes for extra effect.

  Kevin removed his arm from her shoulder and slid his hand between her legs and squeezed her inner thigh. He lowered his voice and said, “You’ll pay for that later.”

  She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she squirmed in her chair, but he didn’t move his hand. He simply returned his attention to his family and talked about his job prospects. Thankfully, none of which revolved around running for office.

  Hours passed quickly and Kathy found herself having fun. At least once she got used to the fact that the O’Malleys were really loud and their form of communication tended to include sarcasm and insults.

  Chapter Thirteen

  For the next two weeks, life was a blur. Kevin met with Brent, who was his City Connections counterpart. They had met with Mayor Park once, who made it clear to Kevin he wanted to be as hands-off as possible. Other than talking on the phone daily and one all-too-brief lunch date, he hadn’t seen Kathy at all and it was taking its toll on him.

  She wasn’t pressuring him. In fact, she seemed about as cool as one could be, which was almost as irritating as Park’s constant demands. He was beginning to feel like their relationship didn’t matter as much to her as it did to him.

  Every time he called to apologize and say he was working late, she said she understood. She couldn’t wait up for him or meet for a late dinner or drinks because she had to get up so early. He stared at the empty wall of his office, wishing for a window to stare out. He needed to figure out how to make time to spend with Kathy and still make everything happen here.

  Realistically, he knew the beginning of this new partnership was going to be the worst. Once they established everything, it would run a little smoother and it wouldn’t be so time-consuming. He certainly wouldn’t be expected to work sixty- or seventy-hour weeks forever.

  A knock on his door drew his attention. No one came to his office. Most of his work was done by e-mail. If he had a meeting, he used
the conference room. Although he loved the privacy of his office, he was a little embarrassed by the room itself.

  “Come in.”

  Sheila pushed the door open. “You have a visitor.”

  He looked at her for more information, especially since he wasn’t expecting anyone, but then Kathy pushed through the opening with a thanks to Sheila on the way. Kathy carried two plants and a plastic bag that smelled like dinner.

  He stood from his chair. “What are you doing here?”

  She set everything on the chair in front of his desk. “You’ve been working a lot and we haven’t been able to spend any time together.” She came over and kissed him. “I missed you.”

  Every concern he had about her lack of involvement disappeared in that instant. He reached past her and swung the door shut. Then returned his complete attention to kissing her thoroughly. He tasted her like she was the most expensive bottle of whiskey known to man. He savored her because he knew he wouldn’t be spending the night with her no matter how much he wanted to. He’d be working late tonight like he did every night.

  When he pulled away, he said, “Christ, I’ve missed that.”

  “Me too.”

  He stepped farther back because if he didn’t, he would start undressing her and that wasn’t a smart move in his new office. She smiled as if reading his thoughts, and looked around.

  “You weren’t kidding. It’s bare-bones in here.”

  “It’s nothing special, but it’s mine.”

  “Hey, that makes it special. It’s your office. In city hall. That’s pretty cool.”

  He pointed at the stuff she’d carried in. “What’s all this?”

  “Plants, of course. No office is complete without them.” At his grimace, she swatted a hand. “These are easy to care for and they’ll totally brighten the space. And they’re not too girly.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I have zero sunlight. They’ll be dead in a week.”

  “This is a ZZ plant and this is a peace lily. Both are excellent for little to no natural light. I chose them knowing that you were currently living in a closet.” She chuckled as she said it and arranged the pots on his bookshelves. “There’s a handy little card next to each of them with instructions about watering. I kept it simple.”