Parker stared at the slightly dented spot. A hint of horror dribbled through him. He held himself as still as he could and sucked in a breath. “Sir, we try to help our clients wherever we can in these matters, but—”
“Oh, cut the bullshit, Rieth. Just tell me now if you’re not good enough to handle this case and I’ll find someone else.”
Panic flared. “No. No. We can handle it, sir. I promise you.”
“Find them.”
“We will.”
Tucker leaned in. His expression was fierce. His breath, sour. “You better,” he spat. Then he wheeled and stomped for the door, yanking it open. He paused with his hand on the knob. “I’ll give you a week. If they’re not in my possession in one week, I’m dropping this firm. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Parker nearly collapsed when Tucker stormed off, but he couldn’t. Because, in his wake, Barstow poked his head in the door. He didn’t say anything, just shot Parker a speaking glance, but it was enough.
He sighed and trudged back to his desk to call Gilley. The last ferry left at eight pm. He could only hope he could reach his friend before then. Otherwise, he might not make it this weekend at all.
Damn, some days, he hated his job.
Chapter Eleven
Kaitlin arrived at the beach house late on Friday night. She was excited to see Parker, had really anticipated seeing him tonight, but had received a text that he’d hit a snag at work and wouldn’t be here until tomorrow. While that stifled her mood, she was delighted to have some time with her friends. They didn’t get to see each other nearly enough.
Riotous laughter rang off the walls as she dropped her suitcase by the door. She made her way down the hall, peering into the great room to see what was going on, but she couldn’t see anything. The guys were all on their hands and knees on the floor, hidden by the fat sofa.
Kristi, who was in the kitchen making margaritas with Bella, greeted her with a wave.
Another round of male chuckles rumbled and Kaitlin went up on her toes to see what the guys were doing. They were all perched in a circle around a man lying on the floor, tall and well-muscled with dark skin and a handsome face—with his head on a scale. Her heart leapt. “Patrick is here,” she sighed as Kristi wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back. Kristi had such calm energy. She never minded a hug from her.
“Umm hmm,” Kristi responded. “He just got in.”
Bella sidled up next to her but was careful not to touch. “He’s on leave.”
Kaitlin let out a breath. “Thank God he’s back.” She hated it when Patrick went away. Sure, it was his job to go to Afghanistan or Iraq or Colorado. But she hated when he was gone. He’d always been like a big brother to her…more. Her champion. Her protector. Her confidant.
Patrick hefted himself to his feet and peered at the scale. “Twenty two,” he said.
Drew chortled as Cam lay down in Patrick’s place.
“What are they doing?” Kaitlin asked.
Bella sighed. “They’re weighing their heads.”
“Weighing their heads?” What on earth for?
A shrug. “So far Drew’s winning.”
“He would.” Kristi smirked. “The fathead.”
Patrick glanced up and let out a whoop. “KK!” he cried. “You’re here!” He nearly stepped on Cam as he sprinted across the room. He certainly ignored Cam’s howl. He swept Kaitlin up in a huge bear hug and swung her around. “Baby girl, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”
She put her hand on his cheek and stared up at him. His aura was a little cloudier, but not too bad. And the shadows in his eyes wafted away as he grinned at her. She and Patrick had always been close. Probably because, unlike the rest of their friends, they’d both experienced the prejudices of the world. Patrick because he was a very large and intimidating-looking black man—which was ridiculous because he was the sweetest man on the planet, and Kaitlin because of her gift. When people learned about it, they either recoiled or they came at her with avaricious zeal, wanting to know next week’s winning lottery numbers or to speak to dead relatives.
She adored Patrick. And good heavens, she’d missed him. He’d been the star running back in college and had played pro for a while before he decided to enlist in the Air Force and pursue his dream as a pilot.
“How are you, Patrick?”
“Good. I’m good.”
She ignored the lie and hugged him again, surrounding him in a soothing cloud.
“God, I’ve missed that,” he huffed.
“Me too.”
The other guys came to greet her as well, giving her quick hugs and busses to the forehead. All but Drew. His hug was longer. It always was.
She pulled away and patted him on the chest. “How are you doing, Drew?”
He shrugged. Then frowned at her. “Why haven’t you answered my calls?”
“Oh, it’s been really busy at work.” She made a great show of removing her sweater and arranging it on the back of the chair. She couldn’t meet his eye, or he might sense the lie. Drew was pretty clueless about most things, but he was pretty good at ferreting out a lie.
She really didn’t want to have the conversation she knew was coming, so she sloughed it off with a chipper, “So what’s everyone been up to?”
They all gathered around the table and ate nachos and drank Margaritas as they got caught up. Kristi and Cam sat together, fingers linked, and Bella and Holt were side by side as well. Kaitlin made it a point to sit by Patrick, leaving the only spot open between Cam and Bella, much to Drew’s consternation. He practically pouted.
Kaitlin ignored him.
Before, she would have tried to make an effort to calm him, or send him a smile or something, but that felt wrong to her somehow. As though she’d be giving him encouragement.
It created a tension between them, of course, his pushing in and her pushing back, sizzling where their trails touched.
Fortunately, everyone else was oblivious. They all sipped and crunched and chattered on gleefully. Which was nice. Kaitlin hated drama, and she certainly didn’t have the energy for it now.
Parker had exhausted her—several times this week. But it wasn’t a negative kind of exhaustion, as she’d experienced before after raw physical contact. It was sweet. And satisfying. It surprised her to realize she hadn’t had a chocolate binge all week.
“Why are you grinning like that?” Patrick whispered in her ear.
She shot him a look. Ah, Patrick. He wasn’t oblivious. “I’ll tell you later,” she whispered back.
He nodded and slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a quick little half hug. At which, Drew frowned.
Again, she pushed his annoyance away.
Honestly. Sometimes it was a pain in the butt to feel everything.
She focused instead on the chatter around the table. Bella was excited to report that her sex toy shop had record sales last month since Holt had started referring her to his friends and Cam had upgraded her website.
“Upgraded?” Cam snorted. “I would call it a complete overhaul.”
Kristi smacked him.
“What? Well, it was.”
Bella frowned. “Okay. The website was shit. I admit it.”
“We monetized it, upgraded the cache and, for God’s sake, changed the operating system.”
Kaitlin laughed. “I have no idea what any of that means.”
“It means,” Bella said, rubbing her hands together, “I’m making money.”
Holt tugged her closer. “It means, she won’t lose the store.”
“Were you going to lose the store?” A trickle of chagrin swept through her. How had she missed that?
Bella shrugged without answering. Which meant: Yes.
“How are things at Beanies?” she asked Kristi. Kristi and their friend Lucy owned a coffee shop in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle.
Before Kristi could answer, Bella snorted. “It’s Montlake. It’s coffee.”
And everyone laughed. Between the University of Washington and all the tech companies located nearby, there was always a need for a jolt of caffeine.
“And how about you Patrick? How was your tour?” She patted his knee.
She did not expect his flinch. A scorching tendril flowed up her arm and into her heart and mind, filling her with a jumble of visions. None of them pleasant.
Firefights. Flames. Explosions.
A crash.
Patrick holding the hand of a young airman…as the boy died.
Immediately, she regretted the question.
Why had she not seen that too?
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“It’s okay. He squeezed her hand and turned to the rest of the group. “I’ll be honest. It was a rough tour. One of the worst. I’m, ah, thinking about retiring.”
A chorus rounded the table, but Patrick lifted his hand and they all silenced. “It was a good run. I accomplished what I thought I needed to do. But now… Now I think I’m ready for some peace and quiet.”
Probably mostly peace.
“What will you do?” Cam asked.
“Football?” This from Holt.
Patrick cracked a smile. “I’m too old for football.”
“Hardly…”
“Too beat up then. I was thinking about maybe flying for a commercial carrier or something.”
Yes, he would be good at that. And Kaitlin would appreciate having him closer. She would appreciate knowing he was safe. She nodded. “You could still fly, travel—”
“Pick up stewardesses.” Everyone threw their balled up napkins at Drew. “What? Don’t tell me it didn’t cross your mind.”
Patrick chuckled. “Okay. Yeah. It did.”
“Hah! I knew it.”
“I think that’s a good idea, Patrick,” Kaitlin said. She nibbled her lip. “But not the stewardess part.”
Laughter rocked the room.
A blanket of darkness cloaked the view of the ocean, but Kaitlin could still hear it as she sat on the deck with her eyes closed. She’d needed to come out here, for a moment alone.
That is to say, away from Drew.
She loved him, but his approaches were becoming uncomfortably insistent. Almost desperate. So, when the guys went downstairs to play a game of pool and Bella and Kristi went to take a soak in the hot tub, she came out to the deck to sit in the shadows.
The rustle of the wind in the trees tangled with the croaking bullfrogs. The shush of the waves and the scent of brine danced on the breeze.
She allowed her mind to wander.
It wandered to Parker.
This was not a surprise.
She’d been replaying all their dates, all their interactions, especially their sexual interactions, over and over in her mind. She’d been reviewing her feelings for him. Incessantly.
In all that she just simply knew some things without even trying, no matter how she looked at this or meditated on this or prayed about this, the answers were muddled.
Oh, her feelings for him were clear.
She was head over heels. That part was easy. But she didn’t know how he felt—really felt—and she didn’t have a clue if being with him was the right choice.
It seemed right. But lots of things seemed right, when they weren’t.
If only the universe would be more clear. Send her a lightning bolt or a neon sign or a carrier pigeon with the message, yes! Parker is the one. Your soul mate. The man for you.
But other than that flutter of her heart when she thought of him, that pang of longing when they were apart, and the absolute delight when he touched her—nothing.
She didn’t like being clueless, she found.
Perhaps she should be more sympathetic to her clueless friends in the future.
The slider opened and she stiffened.
“Hey there KK,” Patrick’s low voice enrobed her and she relaxed. “Are you hiding?”
She laughed. “Maybe a little.”
“May I join you?” He held up two steaming mugs. “I brought cocoa.”
“Oh. Cocoa!” She reached for one of the mugs but he held it back. “Not this one,” he winked. “This one is laced with whiskey. This one’s mine.”
She took the drink he offered and took a sip. Delicious. “Thanks.”
How Patrick knew she needed this, right now, was a mystery.
He slipped into a chair and settled his gaze on her. “Something’s different about you,” he said.
“Mmm.” She took another sip. “I met someone.”
He shot her a surprised glance. “As in, a man?”
She nodded, biting back her grin at his surprised tone.
Patrick was the only one, of all of her friends, who knew the truth about what had happened that night so long ago in college. He’d been home when she and Emily had returned, clothes ripped, eyes wild. He’d comforted them. And then, of course, he’d vowed to exact revenge. Both Emily and Kaitlin had insisted he let it drop.
Patrick was the only one who knew how deeply the incident had wounded Kaitlin. Only Patrick knew she’d responded by locking herself away.
He took a snort of his cocoa-whiskey and cleared his throat. “Is it serious?”
“I think so.”
“Does Drew know?”
Kaitlin frowned at him. “Drew knows I met him.”
“Does Drew know.”
Kaitlin sighed.
Patrick scrubbed his face. “Baby girl, you gotta tell him.”
“I know.”
“You gotta tell him he doesn’t stand a chance. That guy is tail over arse in love with you.”
She sighed again. He was right. Really right. Drew deserved to know. But, good gravy, she didn’t want to have that conversation.
“So, tell me about this guy.”
“What guy?” Kristi padded up behind Patrick with a towel around her waist, picked up his mug and took a sip. She grimaced. “Shit, Patrick. Is there any cocoa in there?”
He grinned. “Not much.”
“I guess. So what guy are we talking about?”
Patrick glanced at Kaitlin with a question in his eyes. Tell her or prevaricate? It said.
Kaitlin shrugged. They’d all know soon enough. She was spending the rest of the weekend at his place…if he ever made it. “I met a guy.”
Kristi thudded into a chair and stared at Kaitlin in shock.
“A man?”
Kaitlin shot a frown at Patrick. “Why does everyone ask if it’s a man?”
“Because you never date.”
“You never dated. Like not once. We all thought…” Kristi let the sentence trail away.
“You thought, what?”
Patrick and Kristi exchanged a look. A telling look. The universe whispered in her ear. It was laughing.
“You thought I was a lesbian?”
“Kinda?”
“Oh my.” Kaitlin huffed a chortle. “No. No. But you know men…touching…is difficult for me.”
“Right. I just never realized it was that difficult. I mean…” Kristi leaned in. “No sex?”
“None.”
“Not once?”
Kaitlin shook her head. Then stilled. Not true. Not anymore. A smile curled her lips.
“So who is this guy?” Patrick asked. He had that tone, that protective rumble.
“His name is Parker.”
“Parker?” Kristi nearly screeched. “The guy who’s friends with Ash…the guy who dumped Emily?”
“Wait. Some guy dumped Emily?” Patrick’s fingers curled.
“It’s okay.” Kaitlin patted his bulging forearm. “They’re okay. And they’re seeing each other now.” She shot a frown at Kristi. Patrick did tend to go into caveman mode when anybody dissed his girls. It occurred to her they needed to find him a woman of his own to fret over. “And yes. Parker is Ash’s friend.”
Patrick’s fierce expression did not ease. “I don’t think I like this guy.”
“You will like him.” Not
a hope or a suggestion. A command. “He’s coming this weekend, so you’ll get to meet him.” She sent him a serious look. “Be nice.”
“I’m always nice.”
Both Kaitlin and Kristi snorted.
“I am.”
“So, tell me about him,” Kristi said.
Kaitlin sighed. “Well, he’s tall and handsome.”
“Umm hmm.” Patrick was not convinced.
“He’s a lawyer.”
He waggled his head. “Better.”
“And so nice…” She trailed off.
“Baby girl, I am sensing some worry in your tone.”
“Worry?”
“Yep.”
“Well…I’ve never been in a relationship before. I’ve never felt like this before. I suppose I am a little scared.”
Kristi nodded. “It is scary.”
“I mean, what if it…goes sour?”
Patrick stroked his mug with a thumb. “You said it’s serious.”
Kristi gasped. “You said it’s serious?”
“Yes. Very.”
He laughed and shrugged a muscled shoulder. “Then… So?”
“What do you mean?”
“So what if it goes bad. It also goes good. At least for a while. Right?”
“I suppose.”
“Enjoy it while it’s good, baby. My momma always said…” He affected a strong Southern accent. “Don’t go borrowing trouble from tomorrow, honey child.”
Kristi laughed. “Your momma said that?”
“She surely did.”
Kaitlin snorted. “I can’t imagine your momma saying it in that tone of voice.” His mom had gone to Princeton.
“Well, she did.”
“In that tone of voice?”
“In exactly that tone of voice. But the tone of voice doesn’t matter as much as the sentiment. If you like this guy, KK, you gotta snatch him up. Or else some other good woman will.”
“And if it doesn’t last?”
“How do we ever know what’s going to last?” Kristi asked.
Patrick lowered his lashes. “Word.”
The sudden downward spiral of his energy concerned Kaitlin. She put her hand on his, sending him positive vibes, and focused her attention on Kristi. “Do you think you and Cam are going to last?”
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