Falling for the P.I.

by Victoria James

  “C’mon. There’s got to be something I can do.”

  She eyed him as she sipped her coffee. Why did he want to do this for her?

  “Stop thinking of what ulterior motives I could possibly have.”

  Her brows snapped together. “How did you know that?”

  “I told you what I do for a living. I’m also an expert at reading women. And even though you’re a tough one, you’re easier to read than you think.”

  Heat scorched its way up her neck and she placed her coffee down on the table. She didn’t know if she should laugh it off or be upset, because he was right. She crossed her legs. “Fine. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Why on earth would you want to sit in this tiny waiting room and help out with boring paperwork while I wait for my kid to finish her therapy?”

  He leaned forward. Blue eyes darkening, mouth close to hers. She swallowed hard and met that gaze. “Because I liked our night together. Because I like you. Because I like everything I think you stand for.” Just when she thought she wasn’t going to be able to ever breathe normally again, he leaned in closer and this time his gaze went to her mouth. “And because I can’t forget the way your mouth felt against mine.”

  She shut her eyes for a moment and then pulled back abruptly. She folded her hands on top of her stack of papers and forced herself to look at the incredibly hot man who had just spoken in a throaty, deliciously sensual voice about all these things that he liked about her. She tried to speak, but her vocal chords weren’t working. She cleared her throat. “While I think those are all valid reasons—” She paused while he laughed. “It doesn’t exactly mean you and I can go anywhere.”

  “Anywhere as in a relationship? Or out to dinner?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. She should have known he wouldn’t let her off easy. She could have said “ditto” after his statement. She had a feeling she liked him and what he stood for. And she couldn’t forget the way his mouth felt either.

  “Kate?”

  She looked up.

  “I told you a helluva lot of personal stuff about me, crap I don’t share with most people. I’m a guy. Maybe not the best guy out there, but I’m a guy with a mother and a sister and, at the very least, I have to be the type of man I’d approve of either of them dating. I get you’ve been through a lot. Sometimes you have to trust your gut and go with it, and I think if you listened to your instincts, you’d know I’m safe.”

  She blinked once, slowly, letting his words sink in. She couldn’t be afraid her entire life. She needed to move on. And how often had she met a guy like him? She never trusted anyone this soon, and no one had ever managed to stimulate all her senses like Matt. She drew a shaky breath. “Okay, Matt.” She didn’t know what “okay” meant or what they’d do next, but his smile made her clutch her coffee cup tightly.

  “Show me what I can do to help with this stack of work.”

  …

  An hour and a half later, Matt was finishing the last tax receipt for the fundraiser donations, when the door opened and little Janie came running out. Kate swooped her up into a big hug and looked up at the young woman who was standing with her.

  “How did it go?” Kate asked. Janie peered at him over Kate’s shoulder and he gave her a wave and a smile. She immediately smiled back at him.

  “Janie did awesome today. She was so focused, great progress. I’ll see you next week, okay, Janie?”

  Janie stood and turned to look at the woman. “Okay, Miss Katrina.”

  Once Miss Katrina left, Kate turned to Janie. “Do you remember Matt?”

  Janie nodded. “Mr. Zibbits.”

  Kate turned some weird shade of purple and she was shaking her head slightly wildly. That Zibbits character again. He was going to have follow up on that, and he was going to have to curb his own jealous reactions before he scared Kate off. “No, no. This isn’t Mr. Zibbits, sweetie. This is Matt.”

  She frowned at Kate and then turned to smile at him again.

  “So are you ladies hungry?”

  Kate paused while collecting all the papers. “Well…”

  “Yes. So hungry,” Janie said.

  Kate shoved the rest of her papers in the kid’s backpack. “Matt, don’t you have to get back to…something?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Nothing.”

  Janie thought that was funny. She gave him an adorable laugh that made him smile.

  Kate sighed. “I had thought about going to that new sandwich place…”

  “Great. I love sandwiches. Do they have fries?”

  She nodded and then stood, about to swing the backpack over her shoulder when he grabbed it.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to carry the pink Frozen backpack?”

  Janie slapped her hands across her mouth and laughed.

  “I’m comfortable enough with my masculinity to wear this. Besides, I love Elsa,” he said, winking at Janie.

  Kate rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the gorgeous smile on her face. “Really? You watched Frozen?”

  “My sister and mother are Disney buffs. Sometimes they force me to watch that cra—” He shot Janie a look, realizing she was listening raptly. “Crazy, hilarious movie.”

  Kate laughed under her breath and grabbed her purse. She took Janie’s hand in hers and the three of them made their way out the front door. They walked the two blocks to downtown Still Harbor until they reached the Sandwich Hut. Matt held the door open and they walked through, settling at a table close to one of the front picture windows.

  Once their orders were placed, Matt tried to get to know Janie a little better. “So how do you like first grade?”

  Janie was silent for a moment, her brown eyes locked on his. “I like it. It’s fun, and my teacher is really nice.” Her words came out almost clear and he could read the pride in Kate’s expression as she watched her little girl.

  He hadn’t heard Janie speak more than a few words in the two times he’d met her. Her voice was soft, and he could hear the slightly muffled, slurred pronunciation of her words.

  “I liked first grade too,” he said. He took in the mother and daughter in front of him. Not for the first time, he wondered what made Kate tick. She was fiercely protective of Janie, and he knew that a lot of that must come from bullshit she had to deal with when it came to the Down’s syndrome. He didn’t know much about it, and there was no way in hell he’d risk asking Kate until she trusted him more, in case she took it the wrong way.

  Janie was now coloring, her brow furrowed, her brown hair held off her face by some cute cat hair clips. There was no way around it—the little girl was cute. He looked over at Kate. She was studying him, waiting for him to screw up, or show the tiniest hint of annoyance. He leaned back in his chair. Not going to happen.

  As much as he hated to admit it, Derek’s warning about her was playing in the back of his mind, but nothing this woman did or said sent off warning bells. There was nothing dishonest or sketchy about her. And hell, the last thing he wanted to do was mention Derek. For now, he’d rather risk being wrong than having her walk away from him.

  “So, did you tackle a bunch of your grading?”

  She nodded, her expression softening slightly. “I did. Thanks for the help with the tax receipts. You just saved me almost two hours of work tonight.”

  “No problem.”

  Their food arrived and Janie stared down at her grilled cheese, her forehead crinkling. Kate cut the sandwich into four pieces and added a small glob of ketchup on the side of the plate.

  “Your sandwich looks good,” he said once Janie started eating.

  Kate took a bite of hers. “It’s delicious. Grilled vegetables and goat cheese on a ciabatta. Delish. I see you’re not very adventurous when it comes to food?”

  He grinned and took a bite of his BLT with a side of fries. At least his sister wasn’t here and he had half a chance of actually eating the fries today. “Nope. I save adventure for the real stuff. Bacon and fries, I don’t
need more than that.”

  He spotted Janie looking longingly at his fries. He pushed his plate closer to her and she looked up at him, all big eyes and hopeful smile. He nodded. “Go ahead, sweetheart.” Then he looked over at Kate, who he’d have expected to reprimand him. Instead, she was eyeing his fries and eating her vegetable sandwich. Women. He gestured with his hand to the fries. She shook her head and pointed to her sandwich.

  “Oh, thanks. Nope, I’m okay.”

  “I know you missed out on that platter of fried food at the bar that night.” He paused while she choked on her food.

  “It wasn’t all for me, I was planning on sharing.”

  “Have some fries, Kate.”

  He watched her internal battle play across her eyes.

  “They’re soooooo good, Mommy,” Janie said, poking her in the shoulder with one, complete with ketchup on it.

  “All right,” Kate said, taking one, popping it in her mouth, and blotting the ketchup off her sweater. He sat back with his BLT and let them inhale the rest of his fries until they got to the last two and Kate held Janie’s hand back.

  “Omigod, Matt. We ate all your fries. Here, you have the last two,” she said, shoving the plate at him.

  He took a long sip of his ice tea, trying not to laugh. “It’s fine. You two finish them off.”

  Janie nodded. “Thank you.”

  He enjoyed spending time with them, with Janie, more than he would have thought. Sure, he never really had a problem with kids, but he’d never hung around them since his sister had been little. The relationships after his divorce hadn’t really been anything with depth, he hadn’t wanted that. And yet here he was, sitting across from a woman and her kid that had somehow made him crave things he’d long ago dismissed as silly, unrealistic dreams of his youth. Kate was the whole package, and then some. He knew getting involved with her wouldn’t be simple, or easy, and he knew he hadn’t even scratched the surface of what this woman was all about. But right now, he knew he liked the way they made him feel, and he liked making them smile, even if it meant giving up his fries.

  Janie was holding the last fry to her lips when she waved. He turned to see who he was waving at, and every nerve in his body snapped to attention. Two little girls and a mother and father stood in line. The two little girls blatantly ignored Janie’s greeting and made nasty faces at her. He turned to Janie and watched as her innocent little face crumpled. Kate leaned down and smoothed her hair and whispered to her. The parents avoided eye contact with them and turned around, not even bothering to reprimand their kids.

  No freaking way. Maybe it was Janie, or maybe it was just the pure cruelty at what the girls had done, and the mother who’d witnessed it and hadn’t corrected her children’s behavior, but ignorance wasn’t an excuse. And hell if he wasn’t going to stand up and—

  “Matt, what are you doing?” Kate hissed, tugging on his shirt.

  He had been trained to stand up for people, to defend. There was no way in hell he was going to let Janie be a victim of this. “I’m going to talk to those parents.”

  “No, they go to the same school.”

  “Even worse,” he said, walking over there.

  He was vaguely aware of Janie and Kate leaving as he walked up to the dad. He’d make this short and to the point, and then he’d go and chase down Kate. He tapped on the guy’s shoulder, forcing himself to calm down as the man turned to face him.

  “Not sure if you’re aware, but your kids were making faces and rude gestures at a little girl sitting at the table over there.”

  The man didn’t even blink. “I didn’t see anything.”

  Matt rubbed his hand over his jaw. “Yeah, yeah, you did. Both of you did,” he said, looking at the man’s wife. She lifted up her chin and crossed her arms.

  “You know how kids are.”

  “I do. That’s why it’s up to adults to correct inappropriate behavior.”

  The man frowned, his face turning red. “Are you saying my kids are rude?”

  “I’m saying your kids are rude, and it’s up to you to correct their behavior.”

  Kate was going to kill him. What the hell was he doing? He was creating a scene just like Kate hated. But he couldn’t stand it. Janie’s hurt face was stamped in his memory. The man took a step into him and Matt held his ground, aware that they had now drawn the attention of the entire restaurant.

  “Hey, watch it.”

  He took a step into the father space. “You watch it. Make sure you speak with them about showing that little girl the respect she deserves.”

  People were idiots. He had no tolerance for idiots. Now that he wasn’t a cop anymore, he didn’t have to exercise patience around idiots—that had always been one of his weaknesses. He bolted out of the restaurant and caught up with Kate as she marched down the street like a soldier, tugging Janie along with her.

  “Kate!” he yelled out, a few passersby turning to look up at him. Kate ignored him, but Janie turned around to wave. He was relieved to see she didn’t look upset anymore. He jogged and caught up to them. “Hey, stop.”

  Kate halted and frowned up at him. They were standing in front of her car. “Janie, sweetie, say thank you to Matt and let’s get in the car.”

  “Thanks, Matt,” she whispered. Of her own accord, she wrapped her arms around his leg. He leaned down to give her a proper hug, something inside his throat catching as she wrapped her little arms around his neck.

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Next time we’ll share another plate of fries.”

  She pulled back and beamed at him, before Kate ushered her into her booster seat. Once Janie was buckled in, Kate handed her a book, shut the door, and turned to glare at him.

  “You’re pissed at me.”

  She crossed her arms and looked up at the sky. He had a feeling he’d be waiting a helluva long time for her to look down again if he didn’t say something. “Kate, I was only trying to help.”

  She met his gaze, but her eyes weren’t particularly warm. “Thank you, but we’re fine. You don’t need to help us.”

  “Really? ‘Cause from where I was sitting, it looked like you needed help. Your little girl was sitting there confused because Thing One and Thing Two wouldn’t give her the time of day and, sweetheart, you were wearing your heart on your sleeve. So, you know what? I was pissed for you and Janie. Forgive me for teaching some ignorant people something about human decency and common courtesy.”

  Her head looked like it was ready to blast off into space, and she was tapping her foot and probably contemplating using her kick-ass boots to kick his. “No, it doesn’t work like that. I don’t know what you told those people, but all you did was succeed in shaming them into being nice for the moment. People don’t change, their opinions don’t change. Janie will have to deal with that forever.”

  “Yeah, and you should be teaching her how to be strong enough to defend herself.”

  “Excuse me?” She took a step closer to him. “Where do you get off telling me how to raise my daughter?” Her chin gave a slight wobble and he knew he was an asshole.

  He held up his hands. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know nothing about kids, nothing about raising a kid who is different. Nothing about parenting.”

  “I can defend myself. I can defend my daughter,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m not afraid. I was just choosing to walk away.” Her hands were clenched by her sides, her face red, and her eyes filled with tears. There was something else going on here, with her, with her reaction to all this. She was visibly shaking, tension transforming her into a very different person than the one he’d gotten to know.

  He kept his gaze on her, needing her to relax, wanting her to smile. “Kate, I’m sorry.”

  Her shoulders relaxed slightly and she backed up a step. “I should get going.”

  “Hey, Kate? I wanted to see you, to get to know you and your daughter. I’m used to being the guy who steps up and defends. Occupational hazard. I speak my mind and I def
end my friends. I get that you’re used to doing it all on your own. Hell, I admire it.”

  She looked down at her boots, then up at the random people walking by. It was dark now, what was left of the warm fall day gone, replaced by damp, chilly air. After a silent minute, he didn’t think she was going to speak. He stood there, hands in his pockets, wondering why it felt like he was sinking in thick, heavy quicksand. Finally, Kate raised her head and took a step closer to him. He clenched his hands, because he wanted more than anything to pull her into him, kiss her like he had the other night, and fight all her battles for her, but he needed to earn her trust first.

  “My life is complicated, this is why I don’t date. I know you were trying to help, I do. And if this, us, were actually going to go somewhere, I’m sure I’d even appreciate it. But we’re not. I’d drive you crazy, Matt.”

  “You do,” he said, swallowing up the remaining space between them. His back was to the car, and he could see she was periodically checking on Janie. “You drive me crazy in all the damn good ways that keep me up at night,” he whispered. He cupped her jaw, his eyes going to her mouth. He could see her pulse racing at the base of her neck and she didn’t move away when he bent his head. “The best ways, Kate,” he said and then kissed her like he’d wanted to since the moment she’d ran into him that afternoon, since the moment she’d left him the other night. He kissed her, tasted her, wrapped her up in his arms, and tangled his hands in her hair until he couldn’t think.

  Until the sound of knocking made them pull apart. He turned around toward the car and they burst out laughing as Janie pressed her face against the glass.

  Kate jogged away, toward the driver’s side of the car. “I gotta go. Thanks for dinner.”

  He let the cool fall breeze wash over him and then did something he remembered so well from his youth, something he hadn’t thought of or done in years, since his sister had been little. He blew Janie a kiss, smiling as she did the same. He put his thumb at the tip of his nose and did a side wave with his hand, and that earned him an earnest laugh before Kate drove away with a slight smile on her gorgeous face.