Kat’s eyebrows rose. “Did you used to have that much money lying around?”
He shrugged and said, “I did all right for myself when I was fighting. You can make a lot of money if you get good fights that people want to see, and you get bonus purses for things like fight of the night, submission of the night, etcetera. But that was a long time ago.”
Not nearly long enough to burn through the kind of money he’d had in his bank account from fighting, and yet in less than a week after Janey’s death, he’d left himself with only a fraction of what he’d had. The rest he’d anonymously split up between Janey’s mother and a donation to the hospital for a new drug outreach program in her name.
But barely existing didn’t cost much. All he needed was food, water, and a roof over his head. Kind of like the fur ball there.
Aiden watched the kitten lick his chops from the first meal he’d had in who knew how long. Kat moved the tiny animal to the bowl of water and made light splashes with her finger to get his attention. After he’d lapped his fill, she placed him lovingly on the blanket. He kneaded it until it suited him, then he curled up and promptly fell asleep. Funny, Aiden thought. Tiger stripes on leopard print.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” He kept his voice soft. Probably so he wouldn’t disturb the fur ball’s dreams. Maybe so he wouldn’t disturb the moment with a kitten of a more feminine sort.
She looked thoughtful for a minute then whispered, “What’s your middle name?”
“I’m not gonna tell you my middle name. No guy ever tells a girl his middle name.”
“Why not?”
“’Cause they use it against us when they’re mad, that’s why not.” Kat whisper-laughed, if there was such a thing, behind her hand. Seeing the light in her eyes egged him on. “We could be watching the game with our pals and they’ll holler across the house, ‘Anthony Michael Hall, you’re in a lotta fucking trouble!’”
Still laughing, she asked, “Did you just use the dorky guy’s name from Sixteen Candles?”
Aiden couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so big, much less laughed. But it turned out she was more than a little infectious. “He was in a lot more movies than that, but yeah. He was the first guy I could think of with three names.”
“Okay, then I’ll tell you my middle name and we’ll have equal advantage.”
He’d love to know her middle name. He’d love to know everything about her. “All right, but you first.”
“Terese,” she said. “It’s a family name. My mother’s aunt, I think. Okay, now spill it.”
He let out a resigned breath. “Murphy. Family name on my father’s side. Happy now?”
Her bright smile said she was, and damn if he didn’t want to make sure she stayed that way every day of her life. She kissed the pads of her fingers and lightly placed them on the kitten’s head. “Sweet dreams, Murphy.”
Ah, hell, the woman was killing him for sure. Rising from the floor, he helped her up and crossed toward the door so he wouldn’t have to whisper anymore. He cleared his throat and stuck his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t reach out for her.
“I should go. Let you get some sleep.” He opened the apartment door and added, “Make sure you lock up behind me.”
“Irish?”
“Yeah?”
Standing in the middle of the room in that damn uniform again—if he had his way he’d burn that fucking thing and never let her wear anything other than colorful sundresses—she twisted her fingers together and chewed on her lip for a few seconds. Maybe she was nervous about her safety. The only reason he wasn’t was because he knew the assholes were right across the street and they knew she was in her apartment thanks to the metal chunk in her arm. They had no reason to bother her as long as they knew where she was and he held up his end of the bargain.
“You’ll be safe, I promise. Those guys aren’t coming anywhere near you ever again.” Or I’ll personally tear out their insides.
“I know that. I trust you.”
Jesus, twist the knife a little more. “Then what is it?”
“When you said you could only give me one night…”
Just the mention of having her at all had him getting hard in his jeans. “Yeah?”
“Well, we didn’t really get that. So I thought maybe tonight you could, I don’t know…stay?”
The hand on the doorknob tightened. Pressing the metal into his palm until it hurt was the only thing keeping him sane while she nervously asked him for something that both excited and scared her.
“You sure, kitten?”