Not Quite Mine(Not Quite series)

Chapter Nine





Katelyn jolted out of bed at just after two thirty in the morning. Her heart pounded in her chest like that of a marathon runner on the twenty-second mile.

     





Something was wrong.

She’d slept too long.

Savannah!

The quiet room of the hotel suite confused and disoriented her. The memories of the events of the past evening reminded her of where she was.

She fell back on her pillows with a sigh. Savannah was with Monica and, although Katie knew Monica was taking care of the baby, she still worried.

She flipped the pillow over, finding its cool surface, and curled up on her side. But no matter how hard she tried, sleep eluded her. The funny thing was, she wasn’t all that tired. Shortly after Dean had left, she forced herself to shower and crawl into bed. That was before eight. Before Savannah, six hours of sleep wouldn’t have been enough. But apparently that had changed.

After thirty minutes of tossing and turning, Katelyn gave up, showered, and dressed.

As quietly as she could, she let herself into Monica’s apartment at just before four. Inside Monica’s room, Savannah slept in the bassinette. Just seeing her precious face and the rise and fall of her belly as she breathed instantly calmed every ounce of anxiety inside Katelyn’s heart.

She didn’t dare risk moving the baby and waking either of them. Instead, Katie tiptoed away and turned on her laptop to see if she could get some work done.

“You just couldn’t do it.” Monica’s words startled her. She had drifted off to sleep, her head pillowed on her arms.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, but it looks like I woke you. How long have you been here?”

Katelyn glanced at the clock on the stove. “A couple of hours.”

Monica padded toward the coffeemaker. “You lasted longer than I thought you would.”

“What do you mean?”

“Very few new mothers leave their infants with someone else overnight.”

Katie shook the fog from her head. “But I’m not a mother.”

Monica sent her a weary look. “Yeah, yeah you are.”

Savannah’s tiny cry sounded from the other room and brought Katelyn to her feet. Once her arms circled around the back of Savannah’s head and cooing noises spilled from her mouth in an effort to calm her, Katie thought maybe Monica was right.

“I want to be your mommy. Is that OK with you?” Katie whispered. A wave of unexpected tears welled in her eyes. Please, God…let me be her mommy.

Savannah blinked a couple of times and attempted a smile as one tear dropped from Katie’s eye.

She wiped the moisture away, refusing to think about someone, anyone, taking Savannah away from her.

An hour and a half later Katie turned over the care of Savannah to the sitter, gathered her purse, and drove to work.





“Hey, princess.” Steve Bowman waved at Katelyn from his truck. One of the construction workers who barely spoke English had called her princess about a week ago and everyone on the job site took up the nickname and used it.

She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or annoyed.

Princesses were kept women who preened all day long and waited for their princes to give them a purpose in life. Katelyn supposed the title somehow exemplified her before she had taken the job at the hotel, but it didn’t completely fit now. It was hard to ignore that she was one of the only women on the site, and certainly the only one who dressed in high heels and short skirts.

There was one thing going for the nickname that she couldn’t deny. The men on the site treated her like their queen. A testosterone-dominated workplace would normally result in catcalls and unwanted leering. Katie didn’t find that to be the case here. For that, she was grateful.

“Hi, Steve.” She placed the now familiar hard hat on her head and retrieved her purse from her car. She noticed a pacifier on the floor and brushed it under the seat and out of sight.

“I was told you wanted to talk to me,” Steve said, walking up behind her.

“Right.” She shut the door to the car, turned, and smiled at the plumber. “I have an idea for a water feature in the courtyard and wanted to get your opinion.”

“Water feature?”

“A dancing fountain…you know, like the one they have on City Walk? The kind kids run in and out of when it’s hot?”

Recognition filled Steve’s eyes and he nodded. “Where did you have in mind?”

Katelyn motioned toward the construction trailer where an air conditioner ran and they could be more comfortable looking over the plans.

The two of them made their way inside. Jo sat behind her desk and typed feverishly. It appeared that Dean hadn’t arrived yet.

“Hi, Jo.”

Jo barely spared a glance. “Hey.”

Katelyn would have felt slighted if Jo wasn’t known for ignoring most everyone when her head was in her work.

“Hello, Josephine.”

Jo stopped typing and sent Steve a menacing look. “No one calls me that, Steven.”

Steve chuckled and winked.

Katie watched the two of them as obvious sparks snapped between them.

That deserves some thought. Steve and Jo…Jo and Steve? Hmmm…something’s going on there!

In the conference room, Katie opened up the master plans of the site and tapped her finger in the center courtyard. “This looks like a fountain.”

“It is.”

A large fountain circled by plants and meandering paths between the main hotel and the bungalows dominated the page.

“Fountains have bases that fill with water.”

“This one isn’t designed like that. It’s more of a tower with the first pool well above kid level. That way they can’t climb in,” Steve told her.

“Kids love water,” she said. “Why not give them something fun?” The swimming pool was already designed for kid play, complete with slides and shallow ends. Katie wanted more. She’d spent part of her weekend over at Universal City Walk. Pulsating water shot up from jets and kids of all ages squealed and splashed in the fountain. Although Savannah was entirely too young to enjoy the water, it wasn’t difficult picturing her there when she became a toddler.

“There’s a big difference in setting up a fountain and what you have in mind. Have you run this past Dean?”

“Not yet. I wanted to get an idea of cost first.”

“How big are you thinking?”

They talked about the space needed and Steve opened a notebook and jotted down a few things.

He was laughing over her shoulder when the door to the small trailer opened and Jo said hello to Dean.

Katie had hoped that Dean wouldn’t be around during this brief meeting with Steve. She knew he would scrutinize her ideas. Her budget was hers, however, and she wouldn’t let him talk her out of the fountain.

“Hey, Steve.”

The men shook hands and Katelyn glanced at Dean before covering the plans she and Steve were looking over. Although she wasn’t watching him, Dean dominated the small space and the pine scent of his skin floated toward her.

“I’m going to check on the convention rooms before I leave.” She’d only just arrived, but Savannah had her first doctor’s appointment at ten.

     





“I’ll get back to you on the quote,” Steve told her.

Dean squinted. “What quote?”

Katie offered a smile and pushed away from the desk. “A redesign for the courtyard fountain.” More like a redo, but Dean didn’t need to know that until she could figure out a way to work it into her budget. His budget.

“Redesign?”

“Yeah, no biggie.” Katie brushed off the discussion and moved around the men in the small space.

The weight of Dean’s stare followed her as she placed her hard hat on and opened the door to the trailer.

“By the way, Katie, I talked to Jack. He and Jessie will be back next week.”

She stalled. Her heart did a full stop in her chest before she turned toward Dean. “I thought they were going back to Houston.”

“They are…well, Jessie and Danny anyway. Jack will be here for a few days before returning to Texas.”

She refrained from blowing out a breath. Jessie would want to visit Monica, but Jack would probably stay at the hotel. Which would work to her advantage. She would tell her brother that she was staying with a friend and avoid the constant running between both spaces.

“Are they having a good time?”

“He sounded relaxed.”

“Good.” Hopefully he’d be in his own marital bliss and not notice anything out of sorts with her.

“I’ll check in tomorrow. Bye, Dean, Steve…Jo.”

Dean smiled, Steve waved, and Jo grunted behind her computer monitor.

Outside the trailer, the dry heat wrapped around her. The path to the main site had several pieces of plywood covering the ground. A rare thunderstorm had come through the day before, wetting the dirt and making the site a mess. Katelyn was busy shoving papers under her arm and didn’t notice the warp in the wood below her feet. Her heel found the swollen board and caught. Her tight mini kept her from catching herself and before she knew it, she landed flat on her ass, mud all over her skirt, and her ankle screaming in protest.

She sat there for a moment, stunned that she was sitting on the ground. The papers she was attempting to hold were scattered at her feet. Luckily, no one saw her tumble.

With as much dignity as she could muster, she pushed herself up, ignored her throbbing ankle, and picked up her papers.

Dirt rode high on her thigh and ruined the hem of her silk skirt. Even the hard hat sat in a puddle of mud.

“OK, Grace,” she chastised herself.

After wiggling her shoe back on her foot, she attempted to stand. Attempted being the key word.

“Dammit.”

Pain shot up her leg and nearly had her on the ground a second time. She bit her lip and took another step.

Not so bad. Not good…but not bad.

She made it to her car but decided the trip was all she could take in four-inch heels. The convention hall would have to wait.

Dean’s voice and words followed her back to Monica’s apartment. “You’re defying gravity in those shoes…This is a construction site, not a dance floor.” He’d been harping at her daily to get out of her shoes and she had refused.

By the time she managed to pull into the parking spot at Monica’s, her ankle was twice the size it should have been and ibuprofen wasn’t going to cut it for the pain. She gave up on the shoes and carried them with one hand when she walked in the door.

Mrs. Hoyt clicked her tongue the moment she saw Katie limping. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. I’m OK.”

Mrs. Hoyt was the perfect plump grandmother who lived to take care of people. “You need ice.” She was already at the freezer by the time Katie set her purse on the counter. Once she managed to sit, a sigh of relief left her lips.

“Damn, shit…” she cursed under her breath. The last thing she needed was a stupid turned ankle to slow her pace, and God knew she hated being wrong.

It killed her that Dean had known this would happen…eventually.

Mrs. Hoyt returned with the ice and gently placed it on Katie’s swollen ankle.

“Thanks.”

“Hard hats and stilettos don’t mix,” her babysitter chided.

“Don’t remind me.”

Mrs. Hoyt raised an eyebrow, but left the rest of her lecture behind her lips.

“Your daughter is sleeping.”

Katie attempted a smile and glanced toward the hall. They had an hour before the doctor’s appointment.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“I’ll be OK.” She hopped deeper in the room. “Thanks.”

Alone with a sleeping baby in the apartment, Katelyn cursed her ankle again. After a hobble to the bathroom, she found some Motrin and chased it with a glass of milk. It was a good thing Dean hadn’t seen her fall. Chances were he would have insisted on a trip to the doctor. Maybe even picked her up and carried her against her will.

The memory of his arms around her, of how safe he once made her feel, squeezed something inside her chest and started to hurt. He’d always made her feel secure, wanted. With Dean she never had to put on airs.

“Makeup is for ugly women. Your skin is perfect,” he told her, holding her face in his hands and running his thumb over her lower lip.

“A lady never leaves home without her makeup, Dean Prescott. You have sisters, you know this.”

“We’re not going anywhere tonight.”

They didn’t leave that night. And wearing makeup when it was only the two of them became a thing of the past.

But that was well over a year ago, and best forgotten.