Kisses After Dark (35 page)

“Over my dead body.” Laura squeezed her arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll get rid of her.”

“I think he wanted to talk to her.”

“I don’t care what he wanted. No way is that woman getting her claws back into him. Not while I’m around.” She patted Katie’s shoulder. “Go on up. I’ll find you after I get rid of her.”

Because she didn’t know what else to do, Katie did as Laura suggested and went up to her room. When she recalled the way he’d dropped her hand as if he felt guilty for having been caught with another woman, her heart ached and so did her stomach. So this was what it felt like to have your heart broken, she thought as she stretched out on her bed. Her entire body hurt.

What would happen now? Courtney had said she’d come for him. Was he happy to hear that? Had he been killing time with her while hoping Courtney would come back to him?

In bad need of advice, she wiped up her tears and placed a call to Julia.

“Can you talk?” she asked when her sister answered.

“I’m on a break. What’s up?”

Katie’s throat closed, making it impossible to speak.

“Katie? What’s wrong?”

“I went out with Shane.”

“Finally! Yes! And was it awesome?”

“It was. All of it was awesome.”

“
All?
What else happened?”

“Everything happened.”

“Oh, Katie, I’m so happy for you!”

Katie broke down all over again.

“Why’re you crying? He didn’t
hurt
you, did he?”

“Not like you think.” Hating herself for giving in to the emotional breakdown, Katie wiped her eyes. “We’ve been having a really great time, and I thought, you know… It was going to be something. Special.”

“And it’s not?”

“His ex-wife showed up. We were holding hands, and he let me go like a bad habit when he saw her.”

“Oh God. I heard about his wife. Mom told me a little of it.”

“She treated him like crap, Jule, and he takes one look at her and forgets all about me?”

“I’m sure he didn’t forget about you. He was probably shocked.”

“He was shocked. I could tell.”

“So it’s not like he got in touch with her, invited her over for a visit and then acted like you were a big secret when she showed up.”

“No, but still…”

“Katie, listen to me. Are you listening?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s a good guy. I could tell that in the short amount of time I spent with him. He’s got history with this woman, and he might be better off working things out with her so he can put the past where it belongs.”

“He made me feel like I don’t matter.”

“He was shocked, Katie. Give him a chance to explain.”

“I was starting to really like him.”

“That happened fast.”

“I know it did, but when a guy saves your life and then he turns out to be sweet and charming and sexy, he’s hard to resist.”

“He’s apt to be telling her to get on the ferry and go back to wherever she came from.”

“What if he’s kissing her and dragging her up to his room so they can pick up where they left off?”

“From what I heard about their breakup, I’d be very surprised if he was doing that.”

“But what if he wants to? What if he took one look at her and all he could see was how much he loved her?”

“You’re going to drive yourself crazy with that kind of thinking.”

“Too late. I’m already crazy—about him. This is exactly why I’ve avoided this stuff.”

“This isn’t why. You avoided it because you were afraid you’d end up with a guy like our father. Shane McCarthy is
nothing
like our father. He has a past just like you do, and the past has a way of rearing its ugly head. That might be all this is, and maybe he can get some closure.”

“He said he had no idea why she divorced him the way she did.”

“He’ll probably get some answers, Katie. Is there something else you can do until he’s able to talk to you?”

“I’m supposed to be going out with Laura and her friends tonight.”

“Then that’s what you’re going to do.”

“I’m a wreck, Julia.”

“Go make yourself gorgeous and have a good time with Laura. Make it so he has to come looking for you if he wants to see you.”

A soft tap on her door had Katie running to open it and trying to hide her disappointment when she saw Laura and not Shane—and Laura looked annoyed. “Hey, Jule, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Don’t sit around crying over him, Katie.”

“I won’t.”

“So he’s talking to her in the sitting room,” Laura said, her mouth straight with tension. “We’re going out.”

Katie had never seen Laura look so furious.

“He’s actually talking to her.”

“Yes. He asked me to leave them alone, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Katie’s heart sank at that news, and Julia’s words rang loudly in her mind. “Girls’ night out. Still on?”

“Damn straight it is.”

“Give me ten minutes to get changed.”

“I’ll be right back.” She started to walk away but then turned back. “I promised Owen that my brother wouldn’t hurt you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to keep that promise.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still, I’m sorry about this. Her timing always was exquisite.”

“I’ll see you shortly.” Katie closed the door and went to the closet to choose something to wear, determined to think about anything other than the fact that Shane was downstairs, behind closed doors with his ex-wife.

“I don’t freaking believe it,” Laura said as she stormed into the apartment.

Owen looked up from the floor, where he was playing with Holden, who began to cry. “It’s okay, buddy.”

Holden crawled into Owen’s arms, seeming to hide from her.

“What brought that on?” Owen asked.

“My brother is an
ass
. He’s downstairs right now talking to Courtney—the wife who nearly bankrupted him with her pill habit and then dumped him after he paid for rehab.
He’s talking to her!
”

“She’s
here
?”

“Yes! And the worst part? He was with Katie when she found him, and he left your sister twisting in the wind after he asked for ‘a minute’ with Courtney. I’m so mad at him, I could… Well, I don’t know what I could do, but it’d be bad.”

“Calm down, hon. You’re scaring Holden.”

“I’m sorry.” Laura dropped down to the floor and reached for her son, who clung to Owen. She tickled the baby until he relented and let her hold him. “I can’t stop thinking about what a mess he was when she left him and how hard he’s worked to climb out of that hole. If she undoes all that progress by coming here…”

“He’s a lot stronger than he was. He won’t let her walk all over him.”

“I don’t know, O. She’s crafty. I wouldn’t put it past her to charm her way back into his life and then pull the rug out from under him again. And poor Katie… I could tell she’d been crying when I went to check on her.”

“Crying over Shane? Has it gone that far? They haven’t known each other that long.”

“Um, I’m not sure how I should answer that…”

He stared at her, eyes bugging. “What are you not saying?”

“Nothing.”

“Laura…”

“I’ve got to get ready for girls’ night out.”

“Is he sleeping with her?”

“I know nothing.”

“Don’t lie to your new husband. That’s grounds for annulment.”

“You can’t annul when you’ve already consummated multiple times.” She patted her round belly. “And I can prove it.”

“Just tell me. I can take it, and I won’t hurt him.”

“Swear to God?”

“Swear to God,” he said with a sigh.

“I think they’re sleeping together, but I don’t know if they’re sleeping or you know…
not
sleeping.”

Owen grimaced.

“But if I had to guess… Not sleeping.”

“I don’t think she’s ever had so much as a date let alone a… a…”

“Lover?” Laura asked, her brow raised in amusement.

“Don’t be disgusting.”

Though she was upset about Shane talking to Courtney, Laura had to laugh at Owen’s distress. “She is a grown woman, you know.”

“She’s my little sister.”

“Who’s sleeping—or
not
sleeping, in this case—with my little brother.”

“I take back my promise not to hurt him.”

“You swore to God! You can’t take it back.”

“She’s really upset?”

“She was, but I’m taking her out, and I’m not going to let her wallow. If he screws things up with Katie… I’ll hurt him for both of us.”

“I can live with that.”

Shane felt like he was being skinned alive as he paced the sitting room listening to Courtney “explain” why she’d divorced him after he’d paid for her to go to rehab. “Let me get this straight. You’re trying to tell me you did it to
protect
me?”

“Yes! That’s it exactly. I was given the opportunity to testify against the dealers in exchange for them dropping all charges against me.” Her dark curly hair was longer, her skin clearer and her brown eyes brighter than he’d ever seen them. In all the time he’d spent with her, he’d never seen her totally sober—until now.

“What charges? You were never arrested!”

“I was going to be. After rehab. They were going to charge me with possession and intent to deliver narcotics.”

“Intent to
deliver
?”

“I was dealing, Shane. Toward the end, I was desperate for money and, well… They had me totally nailed. But I wasn’t the big fish, and I helped them nail the three guys who were running a huge operation in Providence. They were convicted yesterday, which means I’m now free to speak to you about this.”

“You
divorced
me, Courtney. After everything we’d been through, do you know what it felt like to get those papers on the day I thought you were coming home?”

“I had no choice. It was that or face charges. I couldn’t tell anyone what I was doing, and the only way I could keep you out of it was to leave you.” She stood and came over to him.

When she tried to lay her hands on his chest, he stepped back, out of her reach.

Her hands fell to her waist. “Please try to understand. I was trying to clean up my mess so I could come back to you free and clear.”

“
Come back to me?
You think you’re going to waltz back into my life like the last two years of fucking
hell
never happened? Do you
know
what you did to me? Do you have any idea?”

“If the pain I felt at not seeing you for all this time is any indication, then, yes, I do have an idea of what you’ve been through.”

“You can’t possibly know. All this time, you were fully aware of what was going on and why, while I was left in the dark. Instead of talking to me and telling me what was happening, you pulled the plug and tossed me aside like I meant nothing to you.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth. Leaving you nearly killed me.”