CHAPTER Nineteen
Dean’s palms itched. Outside of the office or car hunting, he’d not spent a moment alone with Katelyn since the day he’d learned about Savannah.
That was all about to change. Knowing that Monica wasn’t home and he wouldn’t be interrupting “girl time,” he made a quick stop at home for a shower and a change of clothes after work, then headed straight over to Katelyn’s.
He parked his truck in a guest parking spot and walked up the not-so-quiet path to the apartment. Someone in the complex was playing music too loud, and someone else shouted something about taking the trash out.
Apartment living wasn’t something he ever had to endure. His parents lived well, invested in sound stocks that didn’t crash when Wall Street fell. His father’s upbringing was in rural Texas where his grandfather worked on an oil field. Hard work and Prescotts went hand in hand. Somewhere in the chain Dean’s father had moved from blue to white collar and passed that on to his children.
Dean knew how to do most of the jobs he expected of his employees, but he managed his staff better by acting as their mentor in the physical work.
Standing outside the apartment building was as foreign to him as it must have been to Katelyn the first time she’d come here.
Yet this was where she chose to stay…at least for now.
Dean knocked on Katie’s door and rocked back on his heels.
He rubbed his hands on his jeans and thought maybe he should have something with him, something to offer Katie…food…wine…diapers?
Katie opened the door wearing a pair of sweats—designer sweats, but cotton pants nonetheless—with Savannah on her arm. Katie hesitated and offered him a smile.
“I thought you two ladies might like some company,” he said with what he knew was his most boyish smile.
Katie’s cheeks turned pink. She glanced down at her little girl and asked, “What do you think, Savannah? Are we accepting strays tonight?”
Savannah lifted her head a fraction and Katie grinned. “Guess you can come in.”
He followed her through the door, closed, and locked it behind him.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Those are the best kinds of visits, don’t you think?” Dean moved about the apartment while Katie put Savannah down on a blanket in the middle of the floor.
“Depends on if you like the visitor.”
Dean swiveled her way. “I hope I’m in the like category.”
Katie laughed and moved into the small kitchen. “As if you ever worry about that. Want something to drink?”
While Katie moved around the kitchen, pouring them both glasses of iced sweet tea, Dean kept an eye on Savannah as she played. The tiny wisps of hair were brushed back and bright blue eyes watched him intently.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? I know all moms say that about their children…but she really is.”
Dean stretched out and picked up a colorful toy before waving it in front of Savannah’s gaze. “She’s amazing, Katie.”
“You can pick her up. She doesn’t bite.” Katie sat beside him and pressed her back against the couch.
She was so small. His hand took up half her body as he lifted Savannah onto his lap. He propped her on his bent knees and was blessed with a smile.
Dean’s heart kicked in his chest. “You’re gonna break hearts with that smile, darlin’. Just like your mommy.”
Katie brushed alongside him and stared. “I can watch her for hours. I wonder what she’s thinking. Everything around her is so big and she’s so helpless on her own.”
“My sister says babies only think of food, sleep, and diaper changes.”
Katie giggled. “Yeah, there’s a lot of that. But like right now…she’s staring at you. Listening to your deep voice. What’s she thinking?”
Dean kissed the top of Katie’s head as she rested it on his shoulder. “I know what I’m thinking. That she’s one lucky baby to have ended up on your doorstep. Your love for her is obvious.”
“She’s easy to love.”
Just like you.
Dean tried to push aside his thoughts. Did he really want to visit that pain again? He’d barely survived loving Katie the first time, yet here he was inviting himself back into her life again…only this time she had someone else with her. Someone precious and vulnerable.
Katie played with Savannah’s hand, which sat inside Dean’s larger one. She traced their fingers together, appeared mesmerized by the difference in size. The girls watched each other, both of them smiling.
Resistance was futile and Dean knew it. Before he’d asked for Jack’s blessing, Dean knew he was going to work hard to win Katie back. This time, he had two girls to win.
While keeping hold of Savannah, Dean tucked a finger under Katie’s chin and directed her attention to him.
The tiny lines around her eyes that would manifest when she was deep in thought softened as he looked his fill. Without words, Dean leaned forward and met her lips with his.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
She was soft and welcoming…perfect. When Dean moved away, Katie blinked and ran her tongue over her lips. “What was that for?”
“Do I need a reason?” he asked softly.
Katie swallowed, her eyes never leaving his. A flash of fear passed over her. “Are you sure you want this…me, us?”
Dean traced her lips with his thumb. “I’m willing to try if you are.”
“We didn’t work before.”
“We didn’t give us a chance before.”
Katie dropped her gaze to Savannah and sucked in her bottom lip. Her nod was slow…hesitant. “OK.” She smiled. “OK…”
This time when he kissed her, he put fire into it. Well, as much fire as he could with an infant in his lap. Katie caught his cheek with her hand and pressed into his touch.
Savannah let out a tiny cry and broke them apart. Both of them laughed.
“I’m just kissing your mommy, Savannah. You’re going to have to get used to that.”
Later that night, as he worshiped every inch of Katie’s body, reminding them both of how well they fit together, Dean knew he’d already fallen deep.
As he moved within her, and listened to her call his name when she shattered in his arms, he felt his heart open completely.
He was home.
“What the hell is going on?” Monica yelled the frantic question into the phone. Katie pulled the receiver from her ear.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jessie left a message on my cell. She said to call her back ASAP. Said she needed the inside scoop on you and Dean. Did you two go public with your relationship?”
Katie let go of her purse she’d just placed over her shoulder, dropping it to the floor. The trip to the grocery store would have to wait.
“No we’ve not gone public. You’re the only one who knows we’re seeing each other.”
“You might want to check your facts. Jessie acted as if she knew something was going on.”
“How would Jessie know anything?”
“Jack…I think. The message was garbled and, to tell the truth, I don’t want to call her back. Seems Jack is worried about his friend Dean because Jack thinks you’re hanging on to some guy in Texas.”
“There is no one in Texas.” Hadn’t been in a while.
“Well Jessie seemed to think so.”
“There isn’t anyone.”
“Well someone is telling Jack differently.”
Katie rubbed the back of her stiff neck. “Why would Jack care anyway?”
“I don’t know…listen, I’ve got to go. I’m going to pretend the call messed up and I didn’t get it.”
“How is everything there? Enjoying yourself?”
“I love it, Katie. I can see myself doing this for a long time.”
“Be careful.”
“I will. See ya next week.”
Katie hung up the phone and grabbed her purse a second time.
Her phone rang again.
“Did you forget something?” she asked, assuming it was Monica again.
“I don’t think so,” the male voice said. “It’s Patrick. I take it you were expecting another call.”
Katie set her purse down again. “Sorry ’bout that. I’m Miss Popular today.”
“You are that. Listen…I need access to the security tapes or files of the hotel for the days leading up to Savannah being left at your door. I think I know how she got up to your room and where she might have been hiding after she dropped Savannah off.”
“I’ll call and have them available. I looked at some of them the day after and didn’t see anything.”
“Were you looking for a woman carrying a baby?”
Savannah started to fuss in the infant carrier so Katie picked it up with her free hand and swayed her back and forth, calming her.
“Well, yeah.”
“If you were dumping a baby, would you walk in, set the car seat down, and then walk away?”
Katie cringed at the word dumping. Savannah wasn’t dumped. “No. I guess not.”
“Exactly. So, can you get me the files?”
“Yeah…I think so. I’ll call the hotel.”
“OK. The files should be digital so have them e-mail ’em to you and then you can forward them to me.”
“Sure.” She jotted down the information he asked for and put a note on top of her laptop. “Anything else?”
“Yeah…one thing. I met your brother yesterday. He wasn’t happy to see me.”
Katie stopped rocking Savannah and set her down before she dropped her. “My brother?”
“He was at your place. Seemed shocked you had a guy friend visiting. He bought that we were close, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s asked the staff here to look out for me and notify him when I’m around. I’m going to lay low here for a while.”
Jessie! So that explained her frantic call. But it wasn’t uncommon for Katie to have a lover around. Why would Jack start asking about Dean? Unless…
“Lay low. My brother is a direct link to my dad. And we don’t want him onto this…not yet.”
“Whatever you say.”
“That’s what I say…but, Patrick, we’re running out of time. The older Savannah gets, the harder it is to hide her. I need answers.”
“I know you do. And I’m on the edge of a breakthrough. Hang in there a little longer.”
“OK. Good luck.”
She bypassed the grocery store and drove directly to Dean’s. His modest home sat along the foothills and gave a view of the vast expanse of cities that sat below the San Bernardino Mountains, otherwise known as the Inland Empire.
After carefully unbuckling the car seat, Katie swung the diaper bag and her purse over her arm and marched her sleeping child up the steps of his home.
She rang the doorbell and attempted to calm herself before he opened the door.
He must have said something to Jack about them, or Jack wouldn’t be asking about Patrick and butting into her life. The last thing she needed now was her brother poking his nose where it didn’t belong.
Dean opened the door, saw her, and beamed a smile.
She frowned, cutting off his smile.
“What a nice surprise.”
“Shh, she’s asleep.” And he might not think seeing them was so nice once she let him know why she was there. Dean let them in out of the heat. Katie brushed past him, into the living room, and placed Savannah in the middle of the floor. She didn’t bother taking her out of the car seat for fear she’d wake.
Dean walked up behind her and whispered. “What’s wrong?”
She swung around, hushed him again, then marched out of the room, and out of earshot of the baby. Once she made it to the back of the house, she met Dean’s eyes with her hands on her hips. “You told my brother about us. Didn’t you?”
Dean blinked twice and kept his lips shut.
“Dammit, Dean.”
“I told him I wanted to see you…on a personal level.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not sneaking around this time, Katie. If we’re going to give us a shot, and that means seeing each other outside the bedroom.”
“Did you stop and think about what I want? The last thing I need right now is my brother sticking his nose in my business. What if he comes around or finds out about Savannah? Did you think of that?” she said in a ragged whisper, keeping her voice low.
Dean’s jaw clenched and his arms crossed over his chest. “I didn’t know about Savannah when I spoke to Jack. I was only thinking of you and me.”
She hadn’t considered that. She turned away and stared out the glass doors to the backyard.
Dean moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She tried to shrug out of them but he held tight. “What happened, Katie?”
“Jessie called Monica asking about us…you and me. She said Jack was worried about who I was spending time with. Jack hasn’t asked who I’ve been with for years. I knew something wasn’t right. Then Patrick called, said he ran into Jack at the hotel when he was looking for information on Savannah’s real mom. So Jack thinks I’m sleeping with Patrick while his best friend is trying to sleep with me. Great, huh?”
Dean slowly wrapped his arms around her and leaned his chin on the top of her head. “I can call Jack, tell him you’re only sleeping with me.”
She snorted out a small laugh and tried to find the humor. “It’s all becoming so complicated. I just want to find Savannah’s birth mom and make damn sure I can keep this little girl. Is that asking too much?”
“No, it’s not. We’ll find her.”
“If Jack finds out about Savannah, my dad will get involved. I want this all figured out before that happens, Dean. My dad thinks I’m as irresponsible as my mother. I don’t want to confirm that to him.”
She felt Dean stiffen behind her. His words were soft in her ear. “You’re not your mother. Nowhere close, darlin’.”
Her throat clogged with emotion as she spoke. “When the doctor told me I couldn’t have kids…a part of me said, Well, I’ll never have to worry about not wanting them after I have them.”
“You’re not your mother.”
Katie relaxed in his arms, took comfort from his broad frame. “Every day I worry that I’m going to look at that precious little girl and want her gone…out of my life. But then the thought frightens me.” A tear slid off her cheek and she sniffed. “I love her so much, Dean. I know it’s a cliché but I’d move heaven and earth to keep that baby safe. To do right by her.”
Dean turned her around to face him, wiped her tears with his thumbs. “You listen to me, Katelyn Morrison. You are not your mother. If you ever doubt your own gene pool, then look to your dad. He stepped up when your mother walked out on all of you and he’d move the state of Texas with his bare hands to keep you safe. That love, that loyalty, stems from his side. So don’t second-guess your heart.”
“I don’t want to disappoint him…I don’t want to fail Savannah.”
“Wanting to be the perfect daughter, after all the bumps you’ve given that man in his life, is almost comical, but I get it. If he saw you with your baby girl, he’d be so proud of you…of what you’re trying so hard to do. As for being the perfect mother, hon, I haven’t yet met a perfect mom. You’re going to make mistakes but none of them are going to result in Savannah needing a therapist’s couch when she’s an adult.”
Katie gave him a half-baked smile. “Since when did you become so wise?”
“I’ve always been wise. You just weren’t looking.”
She chuckled and let some of the day’s tension drift away.
Dean kissed her, slowly, and circled her with his arms. He tilted her head and deepened their kiss. As his tongue slid over hers, her body tingled and her mind went soft.
Savannah.
She stiffened in his arms and ended their kiss. “That has to wait,” she told him.
“Oh, why?”
“I was running out the door to pick up more formula before Monica called me. Then Patrick called and I ran here. Savannah is going to wake up anytime and I’m out.”
“Want me to go?”
“No. I’ll go. Mind if I leave her with you? I’ll only be a minute.”
Dean winked. “I can handle her. I do have a nephew, you know.”
“I remember.” Katie gave him a peck of a kiss as she dashed out of the room. She gathered her purse and moved to the front door. “You’re sure?”
“Go, worrywart. We’ll be fine.”