“You should take another pain killer.” I rise to get her one from the bottle, calculating in my head the number of hours since her last dose. “You can take two if you want.”
She shakes her head, and I deposit one into her outstretched hand.
“Maybe you should go to bed . . . if you’re tired.”
She looks up at me, clear blue eyes studying my face. She’s makeup-free and still stunning.
Finally, she mumbles, “I’m fine.”
It’s like the oxygen is evaporating around us because I’m finding it difficult to breathe. Judging by the rise and fall of her chest, she is too.
“I don’t know how Tommy will ever take your absence after this.”
She smiles, looking down at the half-finished baby chick and mountain lion. “He’s so sweet. I could draw his stories all night.”
I’m desperate to speak to her but simultaneously at war within myself about allowing my heart to get so wrapped up in Kate. She’s been subtly reeling me in all day, and I’m exhausted with the effort of resisting her.
You could give in, just for tonight. Take up the investigation tomorrow.
As soon as the thought runs through my head, I recall Walter’s statement this morning about how distracting it is to let sex get involved.
“I need to ask you something,” she says, her voice quiet.
“Okay.”
She shifts on the porch swing, chewing on her lip. “Look...I’ve been thinking. Something weird is going on. First, you thought I knew Chinese.”
“Korean.”
“Okay, sorry, Korean. Then, the whole...wedding thing with Garrison and whatever it is that you hate him for. I know it’s none of my business, but it seems like maybe it’s a pretty big deal because I know you care about Fallon. Honestly, he seems like a really nice guy.”
I grit my teeth at her words, resisting the urge to interrupt her again. Instead, I let my head drop down with my elbows braced on my spread knees.
“Next, the guy breaking into Mel’s apartment and trying to kill me right after my weekend away with you—which you very conveniently saved me from—makes no sense. I’ve never done anything deserving of that kind of violence. Also, I gotstabbed, and instead of calling an ambulance, you brought me to your deserted farm. Aside from all of that...your hot-and-cold act is super annoying. In Tahiti, it was like we were...like I wasn’t your assistant. Right before that, you flat-out rejected me in the office.”
We both turn a little pink at the mention of her striptease.
“I know you’re at leastsomewhatattracted to me, considering how we met.”
I look up at her, sitting straight and opening my mouth to explain. “I?—”
“I’m not done.” She huffs out a breath, crossing her arms. “Since I’m already laying it all out there, I might as well ask, why the hell did youpretendnot to know who I was or even that my name was Kate for, like, the entire first week I was working for you?”
She blinks at me, seemingly ready for my answers. Some of which I’m not willing to give her yet.
Namely, what my issue with Garrison is.
“First off, you should never doubt my attraction to you. That’s...ridiculous.”
She licks her lips, and my eyes follow the movement.
“I thought you knew Korean because I had told Georginne I wanted an assistant fluent in Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Those are the languages spoken in the countries I do business with, and I prefer avoiding translators because things tend to get lost in translation...as you can imagine.”
“Well, I never told her that I knew any language other than English! It definitely wasn’t on my résumé either, and she’s the one who called me.”
“I know that, and I believe you. I was on my way to figure out why that was when I got Jackson’s text. Me showing up at your apartment truly was a coincidence—a very lucky one at that...if you really didn’t know that guy.”
I shouldn’t have said it, and I know that.
