“You’re being manipulative, Dean Prescott.”
He chuckled and dropped his hand from her hair. “That’s how I get what I want.”
She didn’t say no…in fact, she looked like she might just be considering his proposal. He suppressed a grin and waited for her to say something.
“I’ll think about it.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek and rocked back on his heels. Thinking about it is a start.
“I can accept that.”
“It’s not a yes.”
He grinned. “No, I’ll think about it isn’t a yes. It’s closer to a yes than a no…but it’s not a yes.”
She squeezed her eyes together. “How do you figure?”
Dean looked to the ceiling and thought back on his childhood. “How often did Gaylord say to you, I’ll think about it, Katelyn…and he eventually said no?”
She tilted her chin. “If I buttered him up, he never said no.”
Dean let a slow, evil grin spread over his face.
Let the buttering begin!
The delivery boy from the local florist must have thought her suitor was crazy. First, there were roses…a dozen pink ones with a big red bow. Alongside the flowers was a package of diapers.
Katie couldn’t look at the flowers without laughing. Leave it to Dean to court her with diapers. The next day at work she told him about her strange gifts with a smart-ass comment about someone getting her address mixed up with a nursery.
The next day a bouquet of orchids arrived along with a box of formula.
At work, Dean asked how Savannah was eating. Katie let him know she wouldn’t be hungry for weeks.
Then came star lilies with a teddy bear…then sunflowers with a handmade knit blanket.
By the time Monica arrived home from Florida, the apartment looked like a gift shop.
“My God, this place looks like a flower shop threw up in here,” Monica said when she walked in.
“Dean.”
Monica dropped her duffel bag at the door and sniffed the first bouquet. “Did you fight?”
Katie laughed. “No. He wants me and Savannah to move in with him.”
Monica moved to the second set of flowers and sniffed. “All this to convince you to change your address?”
Smiling, Katie said, “Yeah. He sent stuff for Savannah, too.”
“Wow.” Monica moved into the room and flopped onto the couch. “Hold out for something that won’t die or get used up,” she told her with a laugh.
Katie reached over and hugged Monica. “It’s good to see you. How was it?”
“Amazing. I know it’s only training…but the people were crazy-excited about what they do. It’s an adrenaline rush like nothing else. There was disaster triage training, figuring out who was beyond saving, and working on those who had a chance.”
The thought sickened Katie, but she understood the drama enough through Monica’s eyes to be excited for her friend.
“Could you leave someone who was suffering to take care of someone else?”
“I don’t know. I have to try. In the ER we’re told that one day we might have to make that choice but, as of yet, I’ve always stayed with a patient until there was nothing left. The thought of getting out there in the thick of something and working day after day to help people…I like it, Katie. Helping people is why I wanted to be a nurse.” Monica’s green eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“Thank God there are people like you out there. I couldn’t do it.”
Monica tapped her thigh and moved from the couch to the refrigerator. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’d do what you had to if pushed to the wall. I doubt you’d crumble.”
Katie shrugged. “If pushed, maybe. But I wouldn’t jump in the disaster willingly.”
“According to you, you jumped into some crazy crap earlier in life.” Monica popped the tab on a soda and drank her fill.
Yeah, she had. But with Savannah, that had all changed. Actually, shortly after Jack and Jessie had hooked up, all that had changed.
No…when she and Dean had broken it off! That was when it had all changed. “Life is different now,” she said softly.
“So…ya gonna do it?”
“Do what?”
“Move in with Dean?”
“Should I?”
“Oh, don’t put this on me. This is your decision. You two have a huge history. I couldn’t give you sound advice if I wanted to.”
Fair enough. “I want to. I think I do.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“What if it doesn’t work? How badly will it hurt if I end up leaving?”
Monica drank more soda and smirked. “The easy questions,” she said. “That’s the problems with relationships. You don’t know if they are going to work out. There are no guarantees and tons of heartache along the way.”
“Some work out great, like Jack and Jessie.”
“Some suck, like your parents and mine.”
“That’s cold, Monica.”
Monica looked beyond Katie to a bundle of flowers. “And true, or you’d already be packed.”
She had her there. Fear was what kept her from moving her crap and giving in to the flowers and formula.
“Fear is a shitty way to live life.”
Monica leveled her gaze with Katie’s. “It’s when that fear goes away that you know you’ve found the right person to risk everything for.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Monica’s words spoke to her all night long…even during the three o’clock feeding and diaper changing of Savannah.
Fear. What did she really fear?
She feared Savannah’s biological mom changing her mind.
She feared that her secret would be revealed before Patrick could identify the real mom.
She feared…nothing else. At one point, she’d worried how Dean would react to Savannah. If the last couple of weeks were any indication, Dean was on board the baby express and more than willing to help. The fact that he knew about Savannah helped with the overall hiding of her. None of her family suspected a thing and for that, she was profoundly grateful.
With the lights in her room dimmed and Savannah sucking on her nightly bottle, Katie wrote down the pros and cons of moving in with Dean. Since she’d taken on the job as hotel interior designer, charts and lists had become something she couldn’t live without.
“Let’s start with the bright side, shall we, Savannah?”
Savannah pulled in her cheeks and blinked.
“Pros…we get to see Dean every day,” she whispered. And I can sleep with him every night.
“You can have your own room. It’s a house and not an apartment.” Not that she minded living with Monica, but compared to what she was used to, her current personal space was smaller than her closet back home.
“If Jessie were to drop in to visit Monica, we’d be busted.” Katie put a few pluses next to Jessie’s name on the paper.
“I can work from Dean’s house some days. Oh, and carpool.” Not that she’d ever worried about that in the past.
Now for the cons…“We’ll miss Monica.” Yet even as she jotted Monica’s name on the con side of the paper, she had to write it on the plus side, too. Monica would never complain, but Katie had ambushed her into staying with her in the first place. She was young and single. Taking care of a baby after helping her own sister with her nephew couldn’t be on top of her list of things she wanted to do. Besides, visiting Monica would be easier and more appreciated if they didn’t live together.
“Babysitter?” She wrote the word with a big question mark next to it. Mrs. Hoyt was the only babysitter Savannah knew outside of Monica. Maybe Mrs. Hoyt could be bribed to drive over to sit with Savannah. Katie would have to ask or start her search for a sitter again.
Katie put aside her pen and removed the bottle from Savannah’s lips to burp her midway through her meal. After only a few encouraging taps on her back, Savannah belched better than a fan at a baseball game and then set
tled in to the remainder of her meal.
She tapped her pen on the paper, searching for another con. Everything else she could think of fell under the unknown category.
How would Dean react to being a full-time live-in with an infant? With her? Would they tire of each other? Would their feelings fade?
The question that kept popping up in her head was, would she regret not taking a chance if she didn’t move in with him? The answer was a big, huge yes.
Placing her notepad aside, Katie removed the bottle from Savannah’s slack lips and carefully lifted her into the bassinet. Then Katie settled back in her bed.
As Katie drifted off to sleep, she lost most of the fear she’d been thinking about all night and replaced it with excitement.
Outside of a weekend engagement, she’d never lived with a man she wasn’t related to. There would be challenges, but Dean was right. She confronted life’s tests head-on.
Jo typed away at her desk when Katie strode into the office the next day. She glanced up long enough to say a quick, “Hey, Katie.” And then kept on typing.
“Hi,” she said before glancing beyond Jo and seeing that Dean’s desk was empty.
“Where is—”
“Dean’s at the back of the site by the parking garage.”
“Thanks.”
After placing her Prescott hard hat on, she walked out of the office and across the job site to find her soon-to-be roommate.
“Hello, Miss Morrison,” one of the painters called from his ladder.
Instead of trying to figure out who it was from her angle, she simply waved and greeted the man. “Hey. It looks good.”
“I try,” he said with a wave.
Katie kept walking and greeted no less than four more people in her path. She remembered two names and scolded herself for not knowing the others. She told herself it was easy for them to remember her. She was one of maybe four women who walked around on site. And she was certainly the only one wearing skirts and heels. Although the heels had been less and less as of late.
Her father would be proud. He hated the skintight outfits she’d worn for the greater part of a decade. Oh, she loved her sexy outfits but with a baby, they simply weren’t practical.
The two story parking garage was well under way with its construction. Dean stood with his subcontractor talking. Both their backs were to her as she approached.
Behind them, she waited until their conversation had stalled to make her presence known.
They’d made love all night long on Friday. Talked about absolutely nothing and tickled each other’s toes while eating ice cream in bed. Saturday morning she packed herself and Savannah up and left for Monica’s to think. She’d told Dean she wanted the rest of the weekend to consider his offer. It was now Monday.
She wanted more nights of ice cream and tickling.
More nights…more days.
“Hey, Dean…Lou,” she said over the noise of the heavy equipment in the yard. Lou turned quickly while Dean took his time to swivel his head her way. When he did, his eyes questioned her. She blinked twice, offered a coy smile, and glanced at Lou.
“Katelyn. I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I don’t know why. I work here.”
Lou shook her hand and smiled.
Funny how handshakes were something she’d grown used to. Used to be it was fake pats on the back of her hand or double kisses to both cheeks from near strangers. The world of silicone and Botox was now filled with tool belts and handshakes.
Who knew?
“What are you doing out here?” Dean asked with a smirk.
She paused, met his eyes. “I’m letting you know I’m not going to be around today.”
His smirk flickered. “Oh?”
“Yeah…I’m, uh…” She licked her lips and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment.
He caught her movements and his eyes clouded over.
“I’m moving today. It might take me a couple of days to get settled. Think you can do without me around here?”
Dean’s attention traveled from her lips, and slowly to her eyes. He sat there, deep inside her gaze. The noise around them mellowed into a low hum. “Moving?”
“Across town.”
One edge of his lips drew up. He drew in a deep breath and smiled full-on as the meaning behind her words sank in. “Take all the time you need.”
“Are you sure?” she teased. “The carpet guys are coming here tomorrow to measure.”
“I think we can handle it, Katie.”
“Good,” she said.
“Moving?” Lou asked. “Aren’t you staying at the hotel?”
“I found this great place in the foothills.”
Lou had worked with Dean for years. Like most of the people on the site, he assumed she lived at the hotel.
“Better than a hotel, eh?”
“Yeah…you could say that,” she said.
“Good seeing you again, Katelyn. Tell your brother I said hello next time you see him,” Lou said, as he walked off, giving them a small measure of privacy.
“I will.” She smiled at Dean and turned to leave…then swung around. “Oh, I need the keys.” She reached her hand out and hesitated.
Dean’s gaze never left hers as he reached into his back pocket and he removed a key from the ring. He placed it in her palm and enfolded her hand around it. “Take your time.”
“Thanks,” she said as she turned and left.
The heat of his stare settled on her back as she walked away. She stood taller, kept her head higher…and, yes, she swung her hips more than God intended.
The smile she held on her lips spread all the way to her brain cells. There were more than a few backward glances as she made her way across the job site. At her car, she tossed her hard hat in the front seat and settled behind the wheel.
She’d already packed a few things…and outside of her wardrobe and the baby things she’d accumulated for Savannah, there wasn’t a lot to take over to Dean’s house.
Katie couldn’t help but wonder how long it would before Dean made an excuse and made his way home.
Mrs. Hoyt wasn’t as difficult to convince to babysit across town as Katie had thought. They’d worked out a three day a week schedule. With any luck, Katie wouldn’t need her more than that.
Katie filled her “mommy-bus,” which was what she nicknamed her SUV, with her clothes and essentials for Savannah before packing Savannah up and driving them both to Dean’s. Monica followed with a carload of stuff and helped her unload.
“You’re sure about this?” Monica asked as she removed the clothes-filled hangers from the car…followed by the last box filled with diapers and baby powder.
“I know I won’t be happy if I don’t try. Dean’s one of the good guys, Monica. I’ve known that since I was a kid. Besides…he loves Savannah.”
They stood in the living room of the house with all the boxes and stacks of clothes removed from both cars.
“OK,” Monica sighed. “But if you ever need to move back, you know where I am.”
Katie pulled Monica into a heartwarming hug. “Thank you, Monica. You’ve been a sister and so much more.”
Monica tapped her back a few times and sniffled. “It’s crazy. I went from Jessie being around all the time to you being there. I wonder what it’s going to feel like to be alone for a while?”
Katie hadn’t thought of that. “I’m just a few streets away.”
Monica laughed as she pulled away. “A few streets, one freeway, and an entire airport away…but who’s drawing a map?”
Katie laughed.
Monica’s face grew stoic. “Call me if you need anything!”
“I will. You, too!”
“OK.” Monica leaned over and kissed Savannah. “Be good for your mommy. She’s the best.”
Katie lifted Savannah into her arms, picked up her tiny hand, and waved as Monica drove away.
Alone, she wandered about Dean’s home and moved a few o
f her clothes into his closet. He’d pushed aside some of his clothes as if picturing what it would look like with her clothes in his space.
She smiled at the thought and lined up some of her favorite heels on the floor of the closet next to his shoes.
Dean lived simply. A bachelor in every way. He’d moved to the area shortly after their breakup. Jack had told her it was because work in the area had taken off. She had her doubts. Texas was one of the only states in the union that wasn’t as hard hit by the recession depressing the country. California wasn’t as fortunate.
Pushing aside the thoughts as to why Dean had moved to a suburb of LA, Katie walked around his home and took note of her surroundings. There was a distinct lack of knickknacks and dust collectors. He had the occasional family photo, but for the most part the place felt like a house and not a home. Maybe together they could make it a home.
Katie stepped into the guest room across the hall from Dean’s master bedroom. She pictured a crib where she’d placed a playpen to aid in Savannah’s afternoon nap. The room would be close enough to hear Savannah in the middle of the night, but far enough away so she and Dean wouldn’t wake with every toss and turn Savannah managed during the night.
All the books Katie had read assured her that she was a typical new mom that jumped to help Savannah with every whine. According to the mommy bloggers, that wasn’t always a good thing. Maybe now with a little more space, Savannah would sleep better at night.
And so could she.
A mom could hope.
After putting Savannah down for a nap, Katie set out for the kitchen to take inventory and make shelf room for formula, baby food, plastic bottles, and bowls. Now that Savannah was eating a little solid food, she was growing even bigger. Everything about her was looking less like an infant, and more like a tiny girl.
When most of the unpacking was finished, Katie considered pulling out her spreadsheets and working on the tight budget she’d been given for the hotel, but then decided on a cool drink on the back porch. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed a quiet veranda moment.
Curling her legs under her, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze. It was unseasonably cool for Southern California in late summer. She could picture herself curling up under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate in the fall.
Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) Page 19
