The Seduction Game

“But he’s only worked for you for two years.”

“I know that.”

“You’d already built everything by then.”

“I know.”

Silence reigned for a moment and Jen closed her eyes, no doubt trying to deal with the news he had just dumped on her. He should have had more finesse, explained slowly, but he was frantic, wanting to get to Kate, wanting to protect Jen. He let out a shuddery breath and pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry, sis.”

“I need to go, Will,” she whispered, “and so do you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You didn’t call the police?”

“No, of course not. He’s still the girls’ dad. I told him he had to pay the money back immediately. That he had one hour.”

“Only he probably won’t, will he?” She stepped out of his embrace, giving herself a shake as she did so. “Regardless, he’s out on his ass. I’m going home to pack his things and get the locks changed.”

“You need me to come with you?”

“No. You need to find Kate. I’ll call Mom and Dad.”

“I’m not going to turn my back on my family,” Will said, even as his feet were practically pulling him away to go find Kate.

“Kate’s family, too, now,” Jen said. “She is, isn’t she? You love her?”

“I don’t know. It’s…” He shook his head. “It’s too soon.”

“It’s never too soon. Not if you feel it. Find her, and this you can fix.”

“I don’t even know where she is,” Will growled. “Where the hell to go?”

“She said to send the contract to Meg’s. Maybe she went there?”

Of course. Where else? And though he wanted to go immediately—Will had the address on file—he paused, the need to make sure his sister was okay holding him in place. “And Chris?”

“Is done with,” she stated, and there was no emotion in her voice, just clear, hard fact. “And you know what, Will? I feel relieved. I’m actually glad this has all come to a head. Not this.” She waved a hand around the store. “And not that Kate is so upset. I would never have wanted that to happen. But him. Now that I know the truth. I think I stopped loving him a long time ago. It had become just habit and I was scared.”

“There’s nothing for you to be scared of.”

“Damn right there isn’t.” She stiffened. “I’m going to rally the family. Fi can have the girls over to her house while Mom, Dad, and I gather Chris’s stuff. Uncle Jed can change out the locks. And you, you go find Kate.”

“If she’ll even see me. She probably hates me right now. Is wishing me well past the tiller, all the way to the fucking gates.”

“I have no idea what that means, Will,” Jen said, “but you need a grand gesture here. That much I can promise. Something that leaves her in no doubt of your feelings. And none of this ‘too soon’ nonsense,” she added as he made to speak. “You have to pull out all the stops.”

“I—”

“Dudes…”

They both turned to see three teenagers standing in the outline of the broken window. Will was almost certain they were the same ones as the last time he’d been in the store, eyeing Meg’s cleavage and Wonder Woman panties.

“We were just passing by,” one said. “Damn….”

The teen trio…and then a switch clicked. Computers. Minicon. Kate’s hobby.

There was a way to impress his very own geek, the woman who he loved more than he had thought possible such a short time ago, the woman who was so clearly his, he just needed a little bit of help.

“I know what I’m going to do.”





Chapter Twenty-Four


“You want me to make you some hot chocolate?” Meg stood in the doorway of her kitchen, ready to help.

Kate glanced up and shook her head. The idea of swallowing Meg’s version of hot chocolate made her feel a little queasy. It wasn’t that Meg was bad at making it, she just insisted on it being so thick that it was almost impossible to swallow, and right now, with a lump the size of a rock in her throat? Just a bad idea all round. “I’m not thirsty.”

“You sure?” Meg continued, making her way into the sitting room and taking the spot next to Kate. “It’ll only take a moment.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okie dokie.” Meg patted her hand and the simple gesture was so sweet and so comforting that Kate had to clamp her jaw shut to stop the lump in her throat from welling up. The lump seemed to have expanded in size since Meg had pulled out all the BFF kindness stops, but Kate knew that she’d start sobbing the moment she relaxed the rigid hold she had on herself. Sobbing would so not be a good idea because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop.

She shifted position slightly and fixed her gaze on the silent flat screen. It was playing a movie. Kate wasn’t sure what, but the moment she’d arrived, hours ago, Meg had taken one look at her face, muted the TV, and hustled her straight into the bedroom to get changed.

She hadn’t realized why, at first, but when she’d looked at her clothes in a pile on Meg’s chair she could see all the dust and grime all over them. The last dying breaths of her K.I.T. and she’d clenched her fists to stop the tears from starting all over again.

They were sitting on Meg’s couch now, Kate dressed in Meg’s too-big sweats and tee, wrapped in a thick blanket that smelled ever so slightly of strawberries.

“Do you want to talk?” Meg asked softly. “It’s okay if you don’t. We can just sit here and hug, but if you want to tell me what happened, it might make you feel a little better. You know, share the pain. After all, how many times have you held my hand when my latest lover has let me down?”

“Too many,” Kate whispered. “They didn’t deserve you.”

Meg forced a laugh, for her benefit, Kate suspected. “They didn’t.”

“I can’t talk right now,” Kate said after a moment. “Let me just be still. I need to ignore it. Pretend it’s not happening. It’s too…”

“I know. I know. I’m here,” Meg said, “whenever you’re ready.”

“I know that.”

“Then we’ll watch a movie,” Meg said. “Just lie down and relax. Have a good cry even. It’ll all look better in the morning.”

“Will it?” she whispered and Meg sighed.

“Well, no, not the morning, not that quickly, and honestly not even the morning after that, or the one after that. But at some point, I promise, it’ll begin to feel better. The end of a great love affair is never easy,” she added. “It takes a long time to ever feel right again, and it won’t be the same as it was before, but it will be a kind of right, and that’s all that matters.”

“A great love affair?” Kate whispered. “It was hardly that, was it?”

“It was to you. It felt that way while it was happening and so the scars it leaves will be that way.”

“Meg…”

“But I’m gonna help you patch them up, just like you’ve done for me so many times. This is all going to work out, Katie, don’t you worry.”

“It won’t.”