Like Arrows (Cedar Tree #6) (12 page)

"I'm so incredibly sorry, I didn't think..."

"Well that's clear," she snaps, while wiping furiously at her cheeks. "Because I got here, and to my astonishment, you showed up ten minutes later with the guy I recognized from your description as the douchebag who called you fat—twice! Am I right?"

"Well yes, but..."

"There are no buts when it comes to men like that, Kim. Like I said before; he's an idiot if he can't see how gorgeous you are. Yet here you are galavanting around town with him."

"But you don't understand," I try once more.

"Worse," she interrupts me again, "You're ditching me to do it."

"If you'd quit browbeating her for one second, she could explain things to you." I swing around at the sound of Mal's voice behind me. Fuck. How long has he been standing there?

"I thought you were walking Boo," I say stupidly. "How long have you..."

His eyes bore into mine. "Long enough, and your friend's right, I'm an idiot, but as to why, that is something I'll save for you."

"You've got some nerve," Kerry jumps in. "What are you doing here? Cutting this woman down twice not enough? You wanna embarrass her some more?"

"Please Kerry, if you’ll just let me explain—"

"You know what? Guys like you are all the same, too shallow and dumb to be able to
handle
a real woman." Kerry just continues as if I never spoke and now Mal is right beside me wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me tight.

"I'm thinking it's three times now that you've either missed what Kimeo said or you just plain ignore her. Now you tell me? How are
you
not a douchebag? For fuck's sake she's right here, let her explain." With that he presses a kiss to my head and walks out of the kitchen. Kerry’s looks at me with her mouth hanging open and I'm frozen in the spot. Seriously, I can't move or think.

Kerry leans over the counter and stage-whispers,

"He calls you Kimeo? You don't let anyone call you that."

My only answer to that is a shrug of my shoulders. I
don't
let anyone call me that. My father was the only one to ever use my full name and I loved it when he did. Made me feel special.

"Kim?" Kerry pulls me out of my head. "Wanna tell me what's going on?" she asks softly. I pull out a stool, sit down, and tell her everything that’s happened over the last twenty-four hours. I never notice Mal rummaging around my house, gathering all my stuff and my dog's.

Kerry does, her eyes never miss a beat.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Mal

"I can't believe you went through my things."

Kim is moping beside me as we head back to Cedar Tree. Boo is hanging over my shoulder, his tongue lolling from his mouth, surrounding me with his doggie breath. Lovely.

We'd stopped at Safeway to get some supplies, most of which I added to the cart since if I'd left it to her, we'd have had a bag of dog food, the makings for salad and a bottle of fizzy water. Christ that woman can be stubborn. She tried to pay at the cash register and got in my face when I pushed her wallet back in her purse.

"That's the second time you've done that. Third time is gonna cost you your hand," she hissed at me.

Now she's on my case about getting some of her shit together so we could get out of her house. She hadn't even noticed me grabbing things until Kerry left, after finally hearing Kim out. She made both her and me promise to keep her informed and wasn't satisfied until I exchanged numbers with her. I didn't mind. Good friends are hard to come by and despite a shaky start, I could see Kerry was looking out for her friend. The moment she left, Kim went to her bedroom to 'pack a bag,' apparently not appreciating the fact that I'd already unearthed a duffel from the bottom of her closet and had tossed some stuff from her dresser and bathroom counter in there.

"You need stuff and I packed it. Quit turning it into a big deal. At least we got out of there in no time, despite Kerry's interruption."

"Yes, but you went through my underwear drawer—that's just not right," she complains, making me chuckle. "It's not funny!"

"It's not a big deal. Stop obsessing."

I can see her pressing her lips together from the corner of my eye. Stubborn girl. I used the time to put a quick call in to Beth, whose house we're moving into, to let her know we're on our way.

"I'm gonna need a new job," she mumbles under her breath, and I realize she may well be picking arguments to avoid thinking about the state her life is in. That kind of turmoil is something I can understand, as well as needing to find a new direction as fast as possible, before slipping into dark apathy. Much harder to claw your way out of that. Keep moving is what she needs to do to be able to roll with the punches.

"I'm sure you'll find one, no problem. You're intelligent, capable, caring and loyal. In the meantime, you still have some work ahead of you in closing down the office, so you won't exactly be bored."

"Shit!" She suddenly blurts out. "That's right—what time do I have to meet the sheriff at the office on Monday? I forgot I have an appointment at the clinic at two."

"First of all, there's no way you're going anywhere near your office or Drew by yourself."

"I can handle him on my own."

"Actually no. He's the one who worries me most. I want you to stay away from him unless I'm with you."

"I can't believe you. First you pack my stuff without asking and now you think you can dictate what I do and who I'm with?" I notice how her hands tend to fly around when she is animated. Or just angry, which is the case here.

"Drew is interested in you."

"I don't care. I've been handling myself just fine before you came along and I'll continue doing so when you're long gone."

I roll my eyes to the ceiling, praying for the patience that is eluding me right at this moment.

"Drew is a player, Kim. He throws his badge around and plays the big protector and women fall at his feet.  He has a new flavor almost weekly and for some reason he's decided you are next in line. He cannot be trusted."

"You are so full of shit, Mal!" she yells at me as she throws her arms up and turns away. Instead of blood rising to my head, it seems to pool in my cock, making me harder than steel with the taste of her temper. "I heard you. Both times, the first time when you were warning Drew off and the second time when you were talking to that Joe guy. What is it you want? You obviously are repulsed by me so what does it matter to you? Besides, it's ironic how each of you tries to warn me about the other."

My head swivels to face her. "Warn you about me? Drew did that? What did that prick have to say?"

"He said you were a dark horse and had some kind of criminal history. Said a 'sweet girl' like me shouldn't get wrapped up with you. For your information, I told him what I thought of him, and that I didn't appreciate it."

"Fucking asshole." I can't stop the growl rolling up from my chest. "He's not lying, but he has no right to say that to you.  I'll have to remind him of the meaning of sealed files." I'm furious with him now. Information surrounding my not-so-law-abiding history is supposed to be sealed up tight and for him to use the information against me to make himself look good is below even him. I might've shared my past with Kim at some point, but I would've liked to have had that choice.

"Look, I don't mean to cause trouble," her timid voice sounds beside me. "I'm not even sure I like him much. He's too pushy."

All at once I feel myself having to hide a chuckle. She thinks he's too pushy? Has she not noticed me moving into her life? I won't bring it up, though. I'm just gonna file that interesting tidbit for future reference—along with the fact she seems to allow me to call her by her full name, yet corrects everyone else who does it. Interesting to say the least.

"Right. Now there are two more things to address," I tell her as I pull  into Beth’s old driveway and shut off the engine. I turn in my seat to face her. "One being what you heard me say—twice. In both cases I said it to ward off unwanted attention. Drew's attention on you and Joe's attention on me. It doesn't excuse what I said, and trust me, if I could take it back I would. That would be so much easier than trying to convince you I don't think that. At all." I reach over to grab one of her hands on her lap. “Babe, I was way out of line. It was a knee-jerk response that I never had a chance to pass through my brain before it left my mouth. I’m so sorry.” I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss the back of her hand.

She immediately pulls away and faces me full on, her brows  drawn together. "Why? I mean, it's the truth, right? It just so happens the truth hurts for me, but I know I'm fat." The sheen of tears in her eyes is killing me. Fuck. Her mood swings are hard to keep up with but if I'd known this ran so deep, I'd have never... Ah, who the hell am I kidding. I'm an asshole. I was so intent on keeping my distance I tossed her under the bus. Last laugh is on me—since there is no way for me to deny my attraction now.

"I know you'll likely not believe me when I say I don't think you're fat." She keeps her eyes downcast, but I see her head shift in my direction, so I know I have her attention. "I'm not done. I prefer the term plus-sized, which is far less harsh and unattractive sounding than 'fat.' And I'm finding neither you nor your body unattractive in the least."

The little snort coming from her is a sure tell sign she's not buying it, but I also don't miss the little flush creeping up her cheeks.

"You may not believe me now, but trust me, you will."

She offers me an almost imperceptible nod, which I would’ve missed had I not been studying her cues with rapt attention. I figure it’s as much as I am going to get for now, so I’ll take it. 

"Now, I said there were two things," I continue. "I noticed you seemed to know Naomi. Is it her you have an appointment with on Monday?"

"Why do you need to know," she tries to evade, but I'm not having it.

"Because if it is with Naomi, I'm glad. She's a fabulous doctor and an even better person. I also want to know what's wrong that you'd need to see a doctor. Are you ill?"

She turns her head away and mumbles as she stares out the window. "I don't really want to talk about it."

I figure I could probably push it, but I'd rather she tell me of her own accord. "Fair enough. Just know the subject is not dropped, only postponed. And as to your earlier question; we meet up with Drew at noon, so we'll have plenty of time to get you back here for your appointment," I say, watching the door to the house open and Beth walk out, keys in hand.

K
im

It's cute, Beth's house. It's very cute. More like a back split than a two-story house with an unfinished basement, where the laundry is housed. The front door is set to the side of the house but it has a little porch that goes halfway around the front. A wooden porch swing hangs from chains right at the corner where the porch wraps around to the front. Perfect spot for morning coffee. Coming into the house there is a powder room to the right and then a few steps to the two bedrooms right beside it. On the left is an L-shaped living/dining room facing the front and the kitchen fits right in the crook of the L, complete with a small table and chairs. Off the kitchen is the stairway going down another few steps to the basement. Compact and cozy. It doesn't have quite the views or the secluded feel of my little house, but it's not a bad place to hang out for a little bit.

There's one thing that has me a little nervous, though. There is only one full bathroom, and it so happens it is wedged between the two bedrooms upstairs. Both with access doors. Yeah, that's a little unnerving.

Mal greeted Beth with a hug and a kiss on her cheek and she turned to me immediately with a warm smile on her face. I liked her instantly. Especially since she took her time to give Boo a good ear scratch, before putting her arm around my shoulder and walking me straight through the front door.

"Let's have a look at your new digs, shall we?" Which we did, with Boo and Mal trailing behind us quietly.

-

I
'm in the kitchen holding on to the counter, suddenly swaying on my feet, feeling unbalanced with the speed at which my normally predictable life seems to be spinning out of control. Beth left a short while ago and I don't know where Mal went. I'm clearing away the bags of groceries he carried in.

"You all right?" Mal's voice comes from behind me as I feel two big hands landing on my shoulder. It's not helping. If anything, I feel even more shaky with the heat of his body behind me.

"I'm okay," I lie. "My head's just spinning a little."

"Why don't you sit and let me finish putting away the groceries."

Before I can answer, he's already moving me firmly over to the kitchen table where he pulls out a chair.

"Sit," he dictates, "before you fall down."

Throwing him a dirty look, I grudgingly sink down in the chair. As usual, stress seems to leave me tired and sore. I watch him store our supplies into the fridge and cupboards, eyeing the ripple of his muscles underneath his long-sleeved shirt and the firm twin globes of his ass in those washed out jeans.
Damn
. Tearing my eyes away from his mid-section, they slowly move back up his torso to his broad shoulders, only to find his eyes catching mine over his shoulder. Busted. The small pull at the corner of his lips only intensifies the flush I feel creeping up my face.