“What’s her name?”
“Kate.”
“She’s a teacher?” Annie had officially launched into the third degree.
“And a writer.”
“She’s hot. That’s what she is.” Cam entered the room and flopped in the big arm chair.
“Shut up, Cam.” Annie laughed as David scowled. “What has she written? Anything I’d know?”
David couldn’t help himself, he smiled and took a sip from his beer. “Uh huh. Her new book is called Past Lives.”
“What?” Annie drew in a deep breath. “You’re talking about Katherine Adams?”
David nodded and rolled the beer between his palms, knowing he’d blown her mind sufficiently.
Annie was actually a little star struck. “I can understand why she intimidates you.”
David never thought of himself as intimidated, but maybe he was… a little.
Jay walked in the room and leaned on the arm of the sofa right near his wife. “So you figure out what’s wrong with our boy?”
Annie smiled and patted David’s leg. “Yup. He’s scared, and it’s almost understandable.”
Jay laughed. “That’s pretty much what I figured.”
“You’re such a girl, Burke.” Cam took a mouthful from the bottle and shook his head. “Man up and go after her.”
They were having a lot of fun at his expense and he’d have been pissed off if Annie was wrong, but she wasn’t. On some level, he was afraid.
“I’m glad you three are enjoying this.”
“David, you had to grow up sometime. You finally realized that the girls you’ve been dating aren’t right for you.” Annie leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
He’d love for Kate to meet Annie. But David had yet to show her he wasn’t a complete ass. Another photo had made the newspaper; a picture of him and Chelsea that was taken months ago, and he kept wondering when he would get himself out of the gossip columnists’ cross hairs. Each time he’d seen Kate since California, he’d managed to piss her off, upset her, or both. He needed time to figure this out, but if he waited too much longer he’d be out of the game—for good.
*
Kate, Julie, and three other teachers emerged from the theater chatting about the play and whether or not the lead had pulled it off. The banter went back and forth with all of them talking at once, hands going, voices rising. It was verbal chaos. Kate and her friends did that often. She didn’t know how they actually had conversations with everyone talking over each other, but they seemed to manage every time they got together. They were all opinionated, as most teachers were, but Kate recognized it was these people, Julie especially, who had gotten her through the past year. Without them, she might not have made it.
“I don’t know,” Julie said. “I saw Angela Lansbury do the part in New York and I think she ruined it for me.”
The others agreed that a comparison with Angela Lansbury was unfair, but understood why Julie thought that way. Angela Lansbury was a theater goddess.
Kate loved these nights in the city. The Forrest Theater ran a wonderful schedule, and she appreciated she could see good theater without having to travel to New York. Several times a year Kate, Julie, and a few of their friends arranged to see a show and have dinner after. They made a quick dash between the theater and the nearby pub, and were lucky to get a table, considering it was a Saturday night and the bar was famous for its karaoke.
They settled in and ordered drinks and appetizers. Taking in her surroundings, Kate reveled in the atmosphere. Everyone was happy. A drunk bachelorette stood at the microphone being cheered on by her equally drunk friends. Men were surveying the crowd to see who was an easy target, and she and her friends were still arguing about the play. Looking down at her menu, Kate couldn’t decide what to order. In England, she became a fan of good pub fare. One thing she was grateful to her parents for was the opportunity they gave her to study abroad before she married Richard. She spent a summer at Oxford and it was one of the best memories of her adult life. One year later she was married, and the nightmare was just beginning.
The first round came and Kate was the first to drain her wine. Great. That should be good for a buzz, especially when she was planning to follow it with another one, or two, or three…
She gazed around the bar and started cataloging ideas in her head. She never knew when she might need this image or one of these people to fill out a story. Looking toward the end of the bar, she thought she saw someone… no, it couldn’t be him. Just her imagination. The wine and the heat in the bar had made her a little fuzzy in the head and that was just fine, but it bothered her she couldn’t go anywhere without thinking David was there. He was always in her head and she wished he would just get the hell out.
When the waitress came by with their food, Kate ordered another glass of wine. She figured since she wasn’t driving, she could indulge. She most definitely deserved it.
Chapter 9
‡
Kate was on her third glass of Merlot in less than an hour and that necessitated a trip to the ladies’ room. Julie was putting her name on the list to sing, which Kate was almost tipsy enough to do herself, but right at that moment, as she made her way to the bathroom, all she could think about was relief.
That was when she saw David sitting at the end of the bar with another man she recognized as a teammate. He was hunched over a glass of beer and made eye contact with her as she got closer. It wasn’t her imagination. He was actually there. Damn. He watched her walk past, raking her with his eyes, but he didn’t speak to her—he didn’t even nod in her direction, he just stared. Asshole. So much for being a nice guy.
But, oh boy, she really hated how she felt. Just seeing him made her insides warm up and go soft. He was wearing jeans and a soft, gray sweater that looked absolutely touchable. She wasn’t sure if it was the wine she’d had or something else, but she wanted him. Even with all he’d done and the way he’d blown her off, the way he’d blindsided her in her classroom, she couldn’t deny she was attracted to him. It was unfair that he could do this to her without even uttering a word. Where David was concerned, she was the easiest woman on the east coast. It was a good thing he didn’t talk to her; if he did, she’d be a goner.
Her luck didn’t hold out. As Kate was putting her lipstick in her bag, and not watching where she was going as she left the ladies’ room, she ran smack into David. She stumbled and in a split second his arms were around her.
“Hey,” he said gently. “You should watch where you’re walking.” Kate didn’t answer him immediately.
Her words vanished and, apparently, so did all her common sense. Her body responded, warming from the center, tingling in all the right spots, and leaning into him. It was like she was hard-wired to respond to him—no one had this effect on her except David. The feel of his hands on her back and the press of his body against hers made her a little crazy. It was all she could do to say something, anything, which would get her out of this situation.
“You can let go now.” Her voice was a whisper and she wondered if he heard her.
She placed her hands on his hard chest, and the truth of it, she didn’t really want him to let her go. His arms were wrapped around her like bands of steel. Finally, Kate did what she had been avoiding. She tilted her head back and gazed up at him. She looked deep into his dark eyes and knew she was in big, big trouble.
“David, I need to get back to my friends.” Okay that was good. Polite. Firm.
He ignored what she said.
“You look beautiful.” He let his hands run up and down her sides.
God, his hands were magic. The gentle force on her body where he touched her made her nearly delirious.
“This dress should be illegal.”
“Thank you. I think.” It was a simple black dress, and covered with a cardigan it was nothing special.