Impulsive (10 page)

E
ric walked into his office shortly after lunch the next day. He'd been in court all morning and was barely functioning on two hours of sleep. The nightmare of the evening kept playing in his head. It had gone from a rotten dinner to a battle in his dining room.

He still wasn't clear on what he'd done wrong. Giving Katie his key sounded like a commitment to him. To her it amounted to an insult. Just when he decided he knew something about women, the universe woke him up with a big slap of reality.

“Heard you had a rough night.” Josh's voice broke through the quiet room.

Eric groaned. Didn't try to cover it, either. “And here I thought this day couldn't get worse.”

Josh pushed away from the wall and extended his hand. “Good to see you, too.”

Eric juggled some files and shook Josh's hand. “I'm not exactly comfortable with everyone knowing about my personal life.”

“It's just me and Deana.”

“Oh, yeah, that's better.” Eric gave up on the stack of folders in his arms and let them drop to his desk. Then he slipped into his chair because he figured he'd need to be sitting down for this conversation.

Josh threw up his hands. “Hey, at least I didn't read it in the paper.”

“Not yet.”

“Good point.”

“I take it Deana told you she came to my house.” For some reason that fact didn't surprise Eric. Josh and Deana had a connection. It was one of those things that arced between them.

Josh took the chair across from Eric. “You shook her up.”

“Me?”

“The fight.” Josh shook his head and smiled. “She didn't expect a woman to be there.”

“That's flattering.”

Josh laughed. “She had that shell-shocked look on her face when she came home. And it's not often my wife is struck speechless.”

“She did seem quieter than usual.” And more profound than Eric could ever remember. While most of the evening was a headache-inducing black hole, he did remember Deana's words. He wouldn't soon forget them. “I guess you two don't have many secrets.”

“I'd like to think none.”

Despite the time Eric had spent with Deana, he couldn't claim the same closeness. She'd hidden her past from him under the guise of protecting him and his political career. The way Eric saw it, Katie was trying to do the same thing.

“So—” Josh picked a piece of nonexistent lint off his pants. “Katie Long?”

Eric held up his hand even though he knew the gesture wouldn't help. “Don't start.”

“I'm just asking how that happened.”

“Deana sent you out on recon.” The idea of being the topic of conversation in the Windsor household did not sit well with Eric.

“Let's just say you piqued her curiosity.”

“Kind of like an animal in the zoo?”

Josh slipped a pen out of his suit jacket and tapped it against his open palm. “You know what you're getting into there?”

“With Katie?”

“Who else are we talking about?”

“I didn't realize you knew Katie.” Didn't really like the thought of that either.

“Of course.”

“Can I ask how?” The idea that he and Josh had dated two of the same women instead of just one was a bit more than Eric could take on so little sleep.

“I checked out everyone who was going to work my wedding. Knew all I could about the caterer before she got near Deana.”

Sounded like the lawman in Josh never let up. “That's a healthy dose of paranoia right there.”

“Can't be too careful.”

“Guess not.” Since Josh was talking, Eric took advantage of the opportunity to do some investigating of his own. “Why did you use Cara's company? Thought you would have gone with a larger, more prestigious outfit.”

“Deana picked her. She heard about her through some charity thing and insisted we use her.”

“The food was good.” Eric had no idea if that was true. The menu had been the last thing on his mind that afternoon. Hell, he couldn't even enjoy the incredible view out over the Pacific.

“You met Katie at my wedding, right?”

“Yeah.” The only highlight of the entire wedding, as far as Eric could tell.

Josh barked out a laugh. “Did you even get a taste of the food?”

It's not as if his sex life was a secret now, so Eric didn't bother to hide it. “No, I'm just assuming.”

“Well, it was great, but that's not why Deana picked the catering outfit.” Josh tapped the pen faster in his usual display of constant motion. He'd been that way for the years since he stopped smoking. “She heard about Cara having a rough time as a single mother with a crap husband and an out-of-control baby sister and Deana figured, why not throw some work the lady's way?”

Eric wasn't surprised. Many people looked at Deana and saw a stunning but chilly member of the ladies-who-dabble-in-charity set, but he knew better. “Not many people would risk their wedding day like that.”

“Deana insisted and I just wanted the deed done, so I agreed.”

“And then you investigated everyone even remotely associated with the catering company.” Eric could almost see Josh sitting at a desk doing background searches on the florist and everyone else who came near Deana.

“That's about right.”

Eric remembered what it was like to want to please Deana. It wasn't a surprise Josh was stuck in the same trap. He'd likely do a better job of maneuvering through it than Eric ever did.

He stared out the window at the busy street below and thought about this moment. He sat there talking with Josh about being married to Deana. Eric never would have imagined being able to handle this.

“Speaking of weddings, why are you back in town?” he asked.

Josh shrugged. “Where do you go for a honeymoon if you already live in Hawaii?”

Since Eric never thought about things like honeymoons, he had no idea. “Good point. Somewhere cold, I guess.”

“I'll pass.”

“Aren't you from somewhere cold?”

“I live here now. Have for years.”

Eric loved to tweak people on this point. Insinuate they were outsiders and watch them get all defensive. “That doesn't really count though, does it?”

“You know, it never fails to amuse me how people who were born in Hawaii view everyone who moved here as an outsider.”

Josh had fallen right into the trap. It was almost too easy for Eric. “That's how it works.”

“Anyway, we cut the honeymoon short because I had to start my new job.”

“Congratulations.” Eric meant it. Josh had lived on Kauai for years and been a huge asset in drug cases. He'd shut down a significant trafficking operation and never got the credit he deserved. A crooked boss saw to that. But now that the boss was gone and Josh was in charge, Eric knew his drug cases would run smoother.

Yeah, that meant Josh was on Oahu and that Eric would see Josh and Deana all the time. Since the adjustment would make Eric's job easier, he ignored the personal toll it might take.

“I was getting too old for drug raids. Sitting behind a desk is more my style now,” Josh said.

Eric wasn't convinced but it wasn't his business. “If you say so.”

Josh tapped his pen against his mouth. “Now that you've tried to stall, let's get back to Katie Long.”

Well, damn
. “No offense, Josh, but it's not your business, nor is it ever going to be.”

“Agreed.” Josh nodded, then kept right on talking. “I just want to make sure you know what you're doing there.”

That was the problem. Eric had no fucking idea what to do about Katie. “Yes.”

“She's young.”

“I know.” When he'd looked up her records, their age difference stunned him. He saw her as older and more experienced than someone twenty-five.

“She has a record.” Josh slowed his words as if he was waiting to see whether Eric knew the information.

“She wasn't convicted of anything.”

Josh's eyebrows raised. “So, you checked.”

“Of course.” A drug offense that went nowhere. From what Eric could see, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She seemed to be one of those people who fell into trouble. Losing her parents so young and so unexpectedly probably explained that. All he cared about was where she planned to take her life now. “I know how I found out about Katie's background. I looked it up. With you, I'm guessing it came up as part of your catering background check.”

“I would have looked into her anyway.”

“Because?”

“I recognized the name. It triggered a memory from a case. Kauai is not a big place. It was my job to watch over drug arrests and make sure the small stuff wasn't really an indication of a bigger sales operation. Fact is, at one time Katie Long was on my radar.”

Eric didn't want her past to matter. Repeated over and over that it didn't. Still, he needed to know. “Did she sell drugs?”

“Not that I could tell. She didn't strike me as a user, either.”

Eric let go of the breath he was holding. “That's good news.”

“Politically speaking, she's still trouble.”

Eric didn't need that reminder. He'd struggled with the problem from the moment he'd walked into the catering kitchen. The kick of lust continued to nail him in the ass even now. “It's not as if I've proposed.”

“Interesting word.” Between the knowing smile and constant head nod it wasn't hard to see where Josh's mind had wandered.

Eric held up a hand. “Don't.”

Josh tried to look innocent and failed. “What?”

“That thing where you're a married guy and think everyone else should be, too.”

“I'm just listening to you talk.” That pen started twirling again. “You know, as a concerned voter.”

“Right.”

“Which brings me to the second reason for my visit—Deana.”

The subject that would not die. “You don't believe the rumors—”

Josh snorted. “Of course not, but I do know about the role you played in her nephew's conviction.”

Eric hated it when people phrased it that way. Made it sound as if he took some satisfaction in locking away his ex-girlfriend's nephew. Like he was the one who turned the key or something. “I wasn't the attorney of record.”

“You made a compromise. I know because I'm the one who asked you to do it.”

“That came long after. Ryan had already been convicted. It was about closure and nothing else.”

“People are going to say it was a favor for Deana.”

In part, it was. She'd believed Ryan was innocent even though he was convicted. When Josh had found Ryan's accomplice, the kid who'd buried the forensic evidence that allowed Ryan's denial to linger, Eric had had two choices. He could dive back into the case and look for a second conviction even though he had evidence against the accomplice and probably not enough for a conviction, or he could give the accomplice immunity and end the grumbling doubts about Ryan's guilt once and for all. For Deana, her mother, and the community, Eric went with the latter.

“I did it because it was the right thing to do.” To this day, despite the potential ramifications, Eric still believed that to be true.

Josh leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “You did it because I asked you to and because you're one of the good guys. Some folks aren't going to see it that way. They'll believe you shirked your duty.”

“I can deal with them.”

“I just want you to know if you get heat on this, I've got your back.”

Two times in two days people had stepped up for him. Eric wasn't sure what to do with that type of support. He appreciated it but it made him uncomfortable. “Thanks.”

Josh sat up again. The tension winding around him dissipated. “But you're on your own with Katie.”

“It will work out.”

Josh gave a smile that was less than reassuring. “You poor bastard.”

“What?”

“You're about to get your ass kicked in the female department and you don't even know it.”

 

Eric realized the ass kicking was about to start when he saw Cara later that evening. Standing on her front porch with the trade winds pushing against his back, seeing the way her eyebrows formed a thin line of fury, he knew he was in deep shit. He'd offended not only Katie but the entire Long clan. That could not be a good thing.

Cara held onto the edge of the door. She didn't open it the whole way or leave any room for him to squeeze by and get inside. “I don't have anything here that you need, Eric Kimura.”

“Where's Ashleigh?” Maybe the question would throw her off. Who could think of that adorable girl and still steam with fury?

“Asleep.”

Apparently Cara could do both things. Good to know. “I need to talk with Katie.”

“You forget to leave cash on the dresser?”

The words ripped into him. “Cara.”

“What were you thinking?”

He couldn't win, so he didn't try. “I obviously wasn't.”

“I've never seen her like that.”

“I don't—”

“She was hurt and angry.”

Guilt crashed over him. “She took it the wrong way. I swear I wasn't sending a message or trying to hide her.”

“What is a woman supposed to assume when a man gives her a key but won't take her out for dinner?”

Damn, nothing was private anymore. “That he wants to see her somewhere other than in a catering kitchen or at her sister's house where a kid lives.”

“You have an answer for everything.” The smug tone suggested how Cara felt about that. Not good.

“Sometimes.”

Cara's death grip on the edge of the door eased. “Guess that makes you a good lawyer.”

“This isn't about that. If I'd had any idea she'd react that way…” Hell, he didn't know what he would have done differently. He still didn't quite comprehend the supposed sin of his action, but he was smart enough to know he had to deal with how Katie saw it.