Even as those silly thoughts invaded her brain, the dancing pumpkin carriages rolled before her eyes again. She closed both her eyes and grabbed the hand of the imaginary footman. She boarded one of the carriages, waved at her invisible admirers like the princess of Crazytown, and drifted off into unconsciousness.
Chapter Seven
Near daybreak, Liam showed Dr. Chan to the door, thanking him for his assistance. Kate had put some proper clothes on, thank God, because if he had to see her on the couch in that fuzzy robe it would do him in.
To think that bastard had seen her the same way, and hurt her…
Now dressed in khaki shorts and a pink T-shirt, she seemed no less vulnerable. Staring out the window, curled up with her knees tucked up under her, she reminded him of a little girl. Her hair was still down from when he’d removed her elastic.
She made for a sweet image, except for the circles of fatigue under her eyes and the darkening shiner.
No wonder she was tired. He’d accompanied her to the police station where she’d poured through countless mug shots and had ID’d her attacker, a local loan shark named Hugo Vaughan. He’d managed to stay under the radar for years, but was known to police for roughing up his customers and getting a little too friendly with the ladies.
Liam had confirmed the picture of Vaughan resembled the man he’d chased out of the apartment, although the loser had a shorter haircut than the one he sported in his mug shot. He’d held Kate’s hand while she’d recounted the incident several times and answered their questions, all of which just seemed to make her retreat into herself.
Afterward, he’d brought her back to her apartment and had his physician give her a once-over. Nothing serious, thank God, but disturbing all the same.
Now it was time for him to go and leave her alone for the night. Hell, it had already been morning for some time. Only he couldn’t seem to make his feet head out the door. He’d already walked away once, and that had made his stomach turn over with queasiness.
After his time with her earlier, after seeing how her orgasm transformed his world, he couldn’t turn his back on her now. He still wanted her, even though she wasn’t sure what she wanted.
Kate glanced at the clock. “Liam, thank you. For everything. It’s way past late. You should go home. You’ve done enough.”
Had he? It didn’t feel that way. He never should have left her alone. He should have stayed, pride be damned. “How are you feeling?”
“Numb.”
He joined her on the couch, taking a moment to look around her living room, noting the lack of secure locks and cracked old window frames. “We need to get you to a more secure location.”
She let out a giggle. “You sound like the dude on Hawaii 5-0.” She ran a finger over one of the red blooms on the chintz couch fabric.
“I’m serious, Kate. You’re not safe here.”
Once again, quiet fell over the room, long as a church service on Christmas Eve. Twice she was about to speak, but each time she said nothing. She simply took turns staring at her lap and staring at him, and he’d never felt more anxious.
What the hell was happening here? This woman was destroying all his resolve. After her slip of the tongue, he’d decided to walk out the door and not turn back. Give her time to decide what she wanted. But he’d only managed to pace up and down her street for the better part of an hour, wondering if he could fix things between them. Sure, he’d come on really strong, but they’d both been caught up in the moment. He’d walk away, forgetting that he felt at home with her.
Home.
Hell, any sense of home he’d ever known had been skewed, but in being with Kate, in breathing the air around her, he’d finally felt it.
He acknowledged he could have, should have, handled things better, but his desire had overwhelmed him. The moment he’d declared his intentions, he’d abandoned common sense, and became oblivious to the gentle rules of courtship. He’d only known red hot need. He’d returned, hoping to make things better, only to find that bastard Vaughan in Kate’s unit. He’d wanted to tear the big ape to pieces. But right now it was more important to help her.
“Kate, you told the police your dad owes that man five thousand dollars.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll give you the money.”
“No, you won’t. It’s my problem, not yours. And it’s not your fault my family tree is a diseased one.”
“It’s a drop in the bucket for me. I want to.”
“I said, no.” She narrowed her good eye and her warm hazel gaze frosted over, hardening her face.
“But I want…”
“You want, you want! Is that how you operate? By browbeating people to accept what you want? Well, I don’t work for you and I don’t have to listen to you. And I certainly don’t want you to give me money to pay off a crook.”
“And if that shit tries to hurt you again?”
“Look, Liam. I appreciate the gesture but all my life I’ve failed in distancing myself from my father’s addiction. I’ve fucked everything up and I need to be strong now. He’ll come up with the money. He always does. He may be down right now, but before you know it, he’ll be flashing the cash around again. I’ve seen it all before. And that man tonight was not the first person to demand money from me.”
Liam had to close his gaping mouth. “You’ve had creditors come after you before?”
“It’s not a big deal. They’ve shown up at my door many times. This was the first one to hit me, but others have made threats. They come to nothing. This guy will disappear like the rest once my father pays him back.”
“And if he doesn’t?” He knew he sounded angry but he couldn’t help it.
She didn’t reply.
“Kate, talk to me.”
She stared into the distance, as if recalling unhappy memories. When she spoke again, her voice was almost a whisper. “I don’t like going there. All my life, I’ve known my dad was no better than a thief and a cheat. But he’s never left me holding the ball. Sure, he’s played the blame game and begged for cash, but he’d never put me in real jeopardy.” Now she really did look like a little girl, one who still believed her dad would keep her safe, if only in this one, small way.
It made Liam sick to think about that kind of pain. “He put you in jeopardy tonight.”
“I’ve dealt with disappointment before,” she replied, still in that sad, quiet voice. “I’ll deal with it again.”
He reached for her hand, but the phone rang and stopped him short. She vaulted off the couch like a gymnast.
Thank God someone chose to call because he was on the verge of doing something stupid, like claiming her lips again. He could just envision his tongue coaxing her mouth open once more, tasting her. Dismissing his ridiculous fantasy, he watched as she answered the phone.
“Hello?” She paused and frowned. “Hello?” Liam could almost see the chills skittering down Kate’s spine now.
“Who’s there?” she cried, and then dropped the phone.
Liam jumped to his feet grabbed the handset. He shouted at the person on the other end. “You even think of terrorizing her again, Vaughan, and I’ll have you killed, you hear me, you sadistic asshole?”
As he slammed the phone back into its cradle he heard a man’s dark laughter. He turned to Kate, shocked his reaction would be so violent. It made no sense. They barely knew each other. But the shattered expression on her face was one he didn’t want to see ever again. For the first time that horrendous evening, she began to cry. And seeing those tears made his stomach pitch.