Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) (12 page)

Dean let Manny back in a short time later and tipped the kid before he left.

“I haven’t had a good steak since Texas. This smells amazing.”

Katie pushed in, sat at the small dinette, and uncovered her plate. “I thought you liked to grill.”

“When I’m camping. Haven’t done that in a while.” Dean sat across from her and removed the other lids over their food. A crush of pepper, garlic, and herbs arrested his senses as the aroma of the beef met his nose. His stomach rumbled and his mouth watered.

“Why not?”

“Why not what?”

“Why haven’t you camped? You like camping.”

Dean shrugged and placed a large dollop of butter on Katie’s potato before doing the same to his. “No time.”

Katie cocked her head to the side.

He picked up his fork and knife and started to dig into his steak. Katie sat motionless, poised as if waiting for him to say something.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

She didn’t buy his “no time” excuse but he didn’t want to make her privy to his thoughts.

He waited until she filled her mouth with the first chunk of pure Angus beef before he asked. “So, who is Ben?”

Her jaw hesitated midchew but she continued and swallowed before she picked up another bite on her fork.

“A friend.”

She didn’t meet his eyes. Her left eye twitched.

“A lover?” Dammit! Why had those words escaped his tongue? He shouldn’t care, and wished he didn’t.

Her cheeks grew red. Dean wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or anger that fueled her reaction.

Instead of answering, Katie played with the butter on the edge of her fork before popping a bite of potato into her mouth.

“What makes you think I owe you any explanation about who you find in my suite?”

Now it was his time to squirm. He bit into his food, barely tasting the smoky flavor of the beef. She didn’t owe him anything. Not anymore. But damn, it killed him thinking of her with anyone other than him.

“I’d like to think we’re still friends,” Dean said.

Which was true.

“Friends?” she asked. The question was innocent enough.

“Yeah. We’ve known each other since we were both kids. Regardless of what has happened between us, we should be friends.”

A corner of her mouth lifted as she chewed on another bite of her steak.

A fine film of heat pearled into small beads of sweat on the back of Dean’s neck.

“Girlfriends like details, Dean. Do you want details about Ben? Private details?” She drew out the word
private
and made him regret he’d asked.

He dropped his fork and pulled hard from his beer.

“Do you want to give me details about Maggie?”

He lifted the beer again and finished it. The hell he would give her anything about Maggie. Maggie had called off their wedding and Dean thought at the time he wouldn’t survive. Now he knew their union would have been a disaster. He’d met Maggie shortly after he and Katie had gone their separate ways. His emotions at the time were a jumbled, hot mess. He had been ready to move to the next phase in his life. A wife, children…a house with a white fucking picket fence.

But then Katie called it off…wait, no, Maggie had called it off.

Dean shook his head and opened the second beer.

Although not knowing who Ben was to Katie burned a hole in his gut, Dean steered the conversation into safer waters. “I have your budget.”

Katie sucked in her lower lip and dropped her gaze. “Which is?”

He told her a number, knowing it was probably lower than what she expected. In reality, he knew budgets had a ten percent margin of error, usually ending up higher than expected. Considering she hadn’t done this type of work before, she would probably push that percentage close to twenty.

Dean lifted his eyes to hers, expecting to see her temper.

“Fine.”

“No argument?”

“I agreed not to argue.”

“That never stopped you before.”

“What can I say? It’s the new me.” She finished the last of her steak and placed her napkin on the table.

Dean sat there and stared.
New me?
He supposed there was something new about her. The desire to work, which God knew was cutting edge in Katelyn’s world. He attributed her casual clothes to a product of their time together…their intimate time together. Knowing she felt at ease enough to dress down for him brought on a swell of warm comfort. The pretense of being perfectly polished all the time was what she did for others. Yet she hadn’t dressed down for Ben.

He smiled. Working out in his mind that even if she and Ben were close, they weren’t as comfortable with each other as the two of them were.

Dean finished his second beer and pushed his chair back. “I’m having the walls redone tomorrow morning. You might want to be around to consult with if you want it done your way.”

“What time should I be there?”

“Eight.”

She rolled her head on her shoulders and tried to hide a yawn.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” he said.

“I don’t remember asking you to stay,” she quipped.

He chuckled. “You didn’t insist I leave either, darlin’.” He wondered why that was.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m tired. Fighting with you would have taken more energy than I have to spend. Now that you know I’m fed and obviously ready for bed.” She glanced at her outfit and tossed her hands to her sides. “You can leave.”

He passed her en route to the front door. She didn’t see him out. “G’night, Katie. See you in the morning.”

She waved him off. “Yeah, yeah…eight o’clock.”

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.