No Reservations - Megan Hart [39]
She crawled towards him on all fours. Up the bed, just the way he liked it. All to please him and he loved it.
'Greedy. Pffft. Dix, it was three days. You're like a toddler who's had his candy taken away. I was coming back to you well in time for New Year's Eve.'
You left because of Eve. I missed you. You promised me this time. And I didn't want you to go away mad. This bed . . . Christ, Katherine, I slept on a plastic-cove red cootie mat last night with Bingo. You were here with Egyptian cotton sheets?'
'I was. It's a rather superior hotd bed, I will say that.' She smiled up at him as she snuggled into his side. 'I'm very relaxed right now, Charles. Don't fuck with my mood. I wasn't mad at you, still not. Don't make me change my mind.'
His phone rang — the girls' tone. Kate sighed and rolled over, digging through his pants to hand it to him.
'Hdlo?'
'Oh, Charles, I'm so glad you're safe. You didn't call and I worried.' Eve.
'Is there a problem with the girls?'
'No. But you didn't call back after I left a message last night and I was worried.'
Kate growled and moved to stomp away in a huff so he stopped her with his leg over her body, ignoring the slap she delivered to his belly.
'Don't use Kendall's phone if it's not an emergency. For fuck's sake, Eve, I'm here with Katherine. I told the girls I'd arrived safely.' 'But you didn't tell me.'
'Eve, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you need a CAT scan? Did you hit your head? Stop this. You're embarrassing yourself and me too. Just. Stop.' He flipped the phone shut and met Kate's gaze.
'Now I'm getting mad. Again with this woman. Let me guess, she put the make on you the moment you returned from taking me to the airport.'
'Doesn't matter. I'm with you. You know that. She knows that. Let's order in, I'm starved. Then we will have sex again.'
Leah and I have tickets to a . . . thing. A show. I don't know what her situation is with Brandon just now and I don't want to run off. In the meantime, we can definitely order up some snacks. I'm sure the room service at the Tenny Pincher was less than fabulous.'
A machine at the end of the hall with a three-inch-thick sticky film over the entire surface. Whatever was inside you couldn't see it through the glass. What kind of show?'
She picked up the phone and ordered some food and turned back to him. 'Now, what are you going to do about Pickles?'
'When are you going to move in with me?'
'In two years when your daughters are out of school and they won't need you as much.' 'I can be their father and live with you. Come on, Kate, this can be managed.'
And I can be the girlfriend who takes Dad away. Special. I don't want that. I don't want to be your underline and I don't want to be the reason your children feel you're abandoning them. It's not fair. Not to me and not to them. Certainly not to you. It's two years. I'm not going anywhere. Why are you so pushy about it right now?'
'Because.' Before he could explain, the food arrived and she pulled on a robe. He snorted, took the robe and went out to take care of it.
He shoved a few of the little sandwiches into his mouth and put the tray down and moved back to the bed where she looked pissed off.
'Back to Eve for a moment. She is up your ass all the time which means she'll be up mine if we live together. I don't like her. In fact, after this little series of stunts she's pulled, I can safely say I hate her. Hate. I only hate like three people. I'm not having anyholiday dinners where she's invited. I don't want her in my home. This is a big reason not to move in together since you all seem incapable of celebrating holidays without her. I'm not Mrs Brady and she totally hit on you and not for the first time.' She sat up, crouching and looking at him closely.
'What does it matter? She's not a threat to you. And we don't have to have her at our house for holiday dinners. I expect there will be times when we'll all have to mix. When the girls graduate, weddings, that sort of thing. Well, not our wedding of course,'