Everything She Wanted (11 page)

“It’s nothing. You need to call the clinic.”

“You need some food. You need to take care of yourself.”

She leaned back into his hand. He rubbed harder and she groaned.

“You’re doing a good job of taking care of me right now.” Her gaze shot up
to his. “That came out wrong.”

“No. It didn’t. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Ben left his office, walked to the kitchenette, and rummaged through the refrigerator and cupboards. He made Kate lunch and took it back to his office along with a bottle of water.

“Here you go.”

“You made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

“I keep some staples here in the office for those days
and nights I work right through lunch and dinner.”

Kate popped a grape into her mouth. “Fresh fruit too.”

“The grocery store delivers once a week for me and the staff.”

“Lucky staff.”

“It pays to keep them happy. They work harder and barely complain about the long hours.” Ben took his seat and grabbed the papers Kate brought. “You eat. Let me take care of this.” He picked up the
phone, dialed the number on the clinic’s form, and said the only thing he needed to say to get to the person who could help him. “This is Ben Knight. I’m filing a lawsuit against your clinic for impregnating my client with the wrong sperm. Who should I speak to . . . ?”

The person who answered transferred him, and he spent the next ten minutes explaining what he knew, what Kate and Donald
had set up at the clinic, and the DNA test he held in his hands. He hung up and stared across at Kate. The fatigue and sadness in her eyes killed him.

“They’ll review their records. I’ll take you down there on the way to the morgue. They’ll run a DNA test on Alex and compare it to our lab report.”

“You asked them to verify it against the DNA test the police are running on the bloody knife
that they’ll compare to Donald also.”

“Never hurts to cover all our bases.”

Kate dumped her empty plate in the trash bin beside the desk. “Thanks for lunch.”

“I’ll do better than a sandwich next time.”

“Don’t worry about it. Raspberry jelly is my favorite.”

He smiled. “Mine too.”

“Shall we go?” she asked. The weariness in her voice matched the look in her eyes.

“Any
chance I can send you to Tahiti for a few weeks until I sort this all out and Evan is behind bars?”

“Nope. But if he comes near me or Alex again, will you at least bail me out?”

Ben bobbed his head sideways. “Of course.”

“Let’s get this done.”

They drove in near silence to the fertility clinic. Alex slept in the backseat of his Audi RS 7.

“I can’t believe you put a car seat
in the back of this sports car.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right.”

“I drive clients around in this all the time.”

“I bet the speed and other bells and whistles impress, but let’s face it, this isn’t exactly a family car.”

“Sure it is. This is a dad’s kind of family car.” That didn’t earn him even the hint of a fake smile.

“When we conceived Alex, we all went
to the clinic together. Margo and Donald disappeared into a room together. I don’t know what they did in there, but a few minutes later, Donald came out with the sperm.”

Ben laughed at her choice of words. Came. Hey, he was a guy, he couldn’t help himself.

“Margo and I went into another room. I dropped my pants and they . . . you know.” She cocked her head. “I teased Margo that she got
all the fun, and I got all the work.” She went quiet again. “I don’t know how they could have messed it up.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it. No matter what, Alex is your son. Margo left you the house and everything else. You’ve got more than enough to take care of him. You give him the only thing he really needs.”

She rolled her head to look at him.

“You love him, Kate. It doesn’t
matter who his father is.”

“It does matter. Evan and Christina don’t deserve to take everything Donald left behind. Not after what they’ve done to him.”

“Maybe that’s exactly how he felt when he named Alex in his will. Maybe it didn’t matter to him at all that Alex wasn’t his biological son. He planned to leave him everything. He wanted to take care of him. You saw Donald and your sister
with Alex. Did you ever get the feeling they didn’t want him?”

“Never. They loved him so much.”

“If I’ve learned anything from being around Jenna and her huge family, it isn’t the blood you share but the bonds you create with the ­people who are closest to you.”

“I liked them.”

“They liked you.”

“Why were they there? Seems strange they’d visit you at your office.”

“They
came to meet you.”

“They did? Why?”

“Because of something Morgan said last night at dinner.”

“Who’s Morgan? What did Morgan say?”

“Another friend. It’s not important.”

“If it has to do with me, I want to know. I mean, they don’t even know me.”

Ben didn’t want to sound like a lunatic. “Listen, Morgan is special. She isn’t like other ­people.”

“How do you mean?”

“She has a gift. Several actually.”

“Are you trying not to tell me she’s psychic?”

“Yes.”

“Reeeally.” Kate drew out the word with every ounce of skepticism he’d once had.

“She’s the real deal. She works with her husband, Tyler, for the FBI. She’s solved a lot of cases.”

“Okay. You have my attention. So, what did she say about me?”

“Nothing. She just said I’d meet you last
night.”

“You met me a long time ago. What did she really say?”

Ben parked the car and shut off the engine. He stared out the window at the building, trying to decide what to say. Certainly not the truth. She’d think him crazy. He still didn’t know if he believed it.

Liar
, a voice in his head yelled out.

Kate’s hand settled over his. “Ben, whatever she said, you can tell me.”

“She made a prediction. I’ll tell you exactly what she said when I’m certain it’s come true.”

“That’s it. That’s what you’re leaving me with?”

He smiled at her incredulity. “Yes.” With that, he slipped from the car and took Alex out of the backseat. Kate met him at the front of the car.

It didn’t take long for the director of the facility to make a dozen assurances that everything about
the procedure had been standard practice and there couldn’t possibly be a mistake. They didn’t want to say or do anything that could be used against them in court. Ben assured them that at this point they only wanted the truth. A technician swabbed Alex’s mouth and Ben escorted Kate back to his car. Inside, he took her hand and linked his fingers with hers.

“We’ll have our answer in a ­couple
of days.”

Kate didn’t say anything. She stared out the window as he drove to the morgue. She never let go of his hand. He settled into the drive, content to have her by his side.

The morgue attendant tried to make things smooth and easy for them, but Kate still fell into his car pale and exhausted, a plastic bag of her sister’s personal items in her lap. He secured Alex in the back, making
sure he had his pacifier and puppy for the ride to Haven House.

“You can make the final arrangements with the funeral home tomorrow.”

“It shouldn’t take long. I’ll have her cremated. I don’t know what Christina will have planned for Donald’s body. I wish I could scatter their ashes together. They’d want that.”

“I’ll talk to Donald’s lawyer and see if I can make that happen.”

Kate
took his offered hand again. “Thank you for doing all of this.”

“I want to, Kate. Anything you need, I’m here for you.”

She squeezed his hand, then pulled free and opened the plastic bag. She took out her sister’s diamond engagement ring and slipped it on her right ring finger.

“That ring has got to be worth a small fortune.”

“She’d want me to keep it to remember that dreams do
come true. She kept trying to get me to believe. The thing is, I did believe because I saw how happy she was to be marrying the man she loved. A good man, despite the circumstances. She’d want me to remember the past doesn’t have to be my future. I’m not that same little girl locked away in a closet.” Kate held her hand up and stared at the sparkling solitaire. “She loved me. I’m worth loving.”

The last words came out on a whisper, but he heard her. He’d felt the same way when he was a young boy, terrified, watching his father beat his mother while he stood by helpless. He felt that way every time he got beat. Maybe a part of him still felt that way.

He took her hand again and squeezed. “It’s beautiful. You two shared a close bond. I’ve never had anyone in my life like you’ve
had Margo.” He’d been pushing ­people away the same way Kate did to him. She’d let Margo behind her walls. She’d opened the door for him to step through. Now all he needed to do was find a way to make her want him to stay, because for the first time in his life, he wanted to pull someone close. He wanted to let Kate into his life and share it with him.

“What about Jenna and the others?”

“I’m closer to Jenna than anyone, but I still hold her at a distance.”

“You should stop doing that. It’s so obvious those ladies love you. They came to your office to check on you.”

Ben laughed. “Yeah, they did.” He needed to stop pushing them away. Their invitations to be a part of the group could taper off until they stopped altogether if he made them feel like he didn’t want to belong—­even
though that’s not really what he wanted. He hated that he might make them feel that way and vowed to be a better friend. The kind they’d been to him.

“Does Jenna’s husband mind that she’s so close to you?”

Ben shrugged. “Not really. Jack and I were college roommates. We’re still good friends. When Jenna needed a place to hide from her ex-­husband, I sent her to Jack, hoping he could keep
her safe. He did, then he just kept her. He owes me. They are very happy together.”

“And you’re happy for them. You love her, but you’re not in love with her.”

Ben took his eyes off the road and looked at her. “I’m glad you see the difference. Though when you meet the whole crew, you’ll see there’s a running gag that Jack stole Jenna from me.”

“I’m meeting your family?” Surprise and
trepidation filled her soft voice.

This time he didn’t take his eyes from the road and said very softly, “I hope so.”

“I’d like to meet them.” An uncharacteristic shyness laced those softly spoken words.

Unable to speak, he brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers. Neither of them found it easy to share their feelings, or commit to a relationship. This thing
between them—­it seemed so easy to just go along and see where it took them. Neither of them resisted. Why would he? He wanted to be with her. Even as he drove toward San Francisco and Haven House, he regretted having to leave her there. He wanted to take her to his place. But then what? Uncharted territory. He’d take things slow and steady, knowing that when he did bring her to see his “family”
she’d belong. She’d be a part of him. Hell, she already was a part of him.

He’d spent his whole day thinking about her, anticipating when he’d get to see her again. He’d felt something similar with other women, but not like this. Not this deep. Not this all-­consuming. He waited for the need to distance himself to grow inside of him. It didn’t. In fact, he wanted to pull her out of her seat
and into his lap so he could kiss her.

“Ben.”

His name on her lips did something to him. His gut went tight. His mind conjured one dirty dream after another, all of them including Kate naked in his bed.

“Ben.”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t that Haven House back there on the other corner?”

He took the next right and went around the block. “Yeah, we’ll park in back.”

Nice cover, idiot.

He chanced a glance at her when he killed the engine. She gave him a soft smile. Yeah, she knew he’d blown that.

He reached for the door handle, but didn’t open the door. “I’ll get Alex.”

“We didn’t stop at your office to get my car. I’ll need our bags.”

“I already took care of it. Your car will stay at my office, but I had my assistant bring over your bags.”

“You did?”

“I told you I’d take care of things. You’ll be safe here. If Evan comes looking for you, he won’t find your car. If he tries to get inside, well, I’ve got state of the art security on the building.”

“Keeping ­people safe is what you do.” The confidence in her voice touched him.

“Keeping you safe is my top priority. I won’t let that asshole hurt you again.” He reached over and traced the
bruises on her neck with his fingertips in a light caress. She sucked in a surprised gasp, then exhaled and settled into his touch. Their eyes met. Hers dipped to stare at his mouth before they shot back up to meet his gaze again. His hand slipped around her neck and pulled her closer. Did she lean in first? Did he? Didn’t matter. All he cared about was the way his body sighed with relief when his
lips met hers. The way his pulse quickened, his heart jumped, then settled like it finally found the right rhythm. The one that matched hers.

He kept the kiss soft, light, an exploration of her full lips, the taste of her, the way his mouth fit perfectly to hers. She pulled back first, but only a few inches. Her hand came up and cupped his jaw. Her thumb pressed to his bottom lip, then swept
away as she leaned in and kissed him again. Her tongue smoothed along his in a long sweep that remained slow and sultry.

Everything about her drew him in, from her sweet taste to her rosy scent. He became aware of so many things at once. The softness of her hair sliding beneath his fingers at the back of her neck. The way she took her time kissing him, finding just the right angle to deepen
the kiss and bring him closer to her. The way she breathed him in.

She ended the kiss, softly pulling away until their lips parted and her hands slid over his face and cupped his jaw in both her hands. He stared into her desire-­filled eyes. She didn’t hide how much she wanted him in that look.