Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) (16 page)

A slow Southern smile spread over his lips and he wiggled his eyebrows. “Red plaid mini, black boots, and that skintight tank top with the spaghetti straps. Oh, yeah. I remember.”

Katie sucked in her bottom lip and made a mental note to see if she could find that skirt when she went home. “You’d just started dating that girl from the Catholic school and I wanted to compete.” And when Dean hadn’t made a move, Katie decided to keep wearing short skirts and provocative clothing to make him.

He never did…well, not until much later.

“I don’t even remember what the girl’s name was.”

“Nina.”

“Nina,” he sighed as he said her name.

She tossed a napkin in his general direction. “You, Dean Prescott, were a player back then. Hell, you all were.”

“You did a fair amount of playin’.”

“More show than go.”

“Gaylord yelled at Jack constantly to find you and drag your skinny ass back home.”

She was wild back then. It didn’t help that the media followed her around to the point where she couldn’t burp without someone writing a story about it. A fabricated bullshit story. After her mother had walked away from them…all of them…Katie searched out attention.

Katie didn’t need two-hundred-dollar sessions on a psychiatric couch to understand why she acted out. Her mother had left her when she needed her the most. “Daddy was clueless about raising a teenage daughter.”

“You had your aunt.”

“Not the same.”

Dean’s fingertips brushed over the back of her hand. “Do you think of her…your mom?”

It was surreal how Dean knew her thoughts. “Sometimes.” More since Savannah had entered her life. How her mother could
birth her children, raise them for so many years, then walk away, Katie couldn’t fathom.

“You were a great kid and a beautiful woman. She’s the one who’s missing out.”

Thinking about her mother hadn’t made her want to cry since she was a teen, but Dean’s calm, understanding words knotted the back of her throat and made her miss a woman who gave her up. Would Savannah think like this one day? Would she wonder why or even blame herself?

Katie pulled her hand away from Dean and lifted her napkin to her lips. She hoped he couldn’t see the pain behind her eyes. She attempted a smile and dropped her napkin. Instead of hitting her lap, it fell to the floor. As she bent over to pick it up, Dean did the same.

They both stopped midway and looked at each other. His eyes searched hers and time simply stopped. No, it went in reverse. He placed his palm on the side of her face and drew her in. His lips brushed over hers in soft, even sweeps.

“Oh,” she murmured as she reached and glided her hands over his chest. The thick feel of him under her palms felt right, familiar. He teased her lips open and pushed inside. His taste and scent flooded her, bringing back every wonderful memory of their brief, passionate time together. Unlike the fire and impulse they had before, this kiss was one of calm warmth and desire.

Warning bells screamed inside her mind. She’d barely survived him the first time. Playing emotional roulette with him now was dangerous. Even if it felt damn good to be in his arms again.

Dean must have read her thoughts and slowly ended their kiss. He left her light-headed and dizzy. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Katie.” He dropped his forehead to hers and spoke in hushed tones.

“This isn’t smart,” she said. She had a baby at home. One who needed to stay hidden until she located Savannah’s mother. Diving
back into Dean’s arms, no matter how warm they were, could jeopardize everything. “We shouldn’t do this…for so many reasons.”

“Like what?”

“We work together.”

He kissed her again, briefly. “You’re fired,” he teased.

“You can’t fire me. You don’t pay me.”

He reached for her lips again, and she pulled away.

He dropped his arms from her shoulders and let her go. “I won’t push,” he told her.

She looked past him and drew in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

As he picked up their lunch mess, he said, “If you want to kiss me again, my office is right in there…and the door is always open.”

He could always make her laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that.”

Dean kept out of her way for the rest of the day. The task was easy when he could still taste her on his lips. She’d responded to his kiss. Kissed him back, even. The act thrust him into the past to the first time he’d ever touched her. Like this time, she’d met his lips and didn’t pull away. They were all limbs and flying clothes back then. Years of pent-up want exploded until they were both spent and staring at the ceiling. It had been glorious.

Although Dean wanted glorious again, this time things were going to be different. Slower.

“Dean!” He heard a familiar voice yelling from across the shell of the hotel lobby and turned to greet his best friend.

“Jack, you son of a bitch.”

“No denying that,” Jack said. They shook hands and followed it up with a man-hug.

“You look good.” Tanned, rested, and Dean needed to add, sexed.

“
Good
doesn’t cut it.”

“How’s the ole ball and chain?”

“Jessie’s bound to tie you to your chair with duct tape if she hears you calling her that.”

Dean wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, bondage. Didn’t think you did the kink, cowboy.”

Jack punched Dean’s arm. “Jessie’s good. She missed Danny, though. Next time he comes with us.”

“Honeymoons aren’t supposed to include kids.”

“I hear ya.” Jack turned full circle and took in the room. It had changed a lot in the weeks he’d been enjoying his bride. “Looks like everything is coming along.”

“Only a few small setbacks. The roof isn’t complete and that’s holding up some of the construction on the west end. Most of the exterior walls are going up. I think we’re about a week, maybe two, away from all the plumbing and electrical to finish up. On the inside at least.”

“Good, good.” Jack’s vision of a more family friendly hotel to add to the empire his father had already built was brilliant. Where The Morrison was a five star vision of opulence, Jack’s hotel would be a five star vision of family affordable opulence.

The project had been in the early planning stages and ground breaking about the time Maggie had left him, which gave him what he needed to get over her. He’d thrust himself into his work and quickly through his messed up personal life.

“I noticed a convertible in the lot. Katie’s?”

“Yeah. She’s been in the office all day.”

“How’s she doing?”

Dean licked his lips, tasted her again. “Good. She’s had some innovative ideas, ones I think you’re going to like.”

Jack stood closer and lowered his voice. “How is she really? I mean, she wasn’t acting herself before the wedding.”

Dean rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure what’s going on, and I understand why you’re worried, but she seems fine to me.”

“You know her better than most so I’ll take your word for it.” Jack started to walk toward the door. Dean stopped him.

“Jack, wait up.” If things were going to be different with Katie this time, then it started here…with her brother.

“Yeah?”

“About Katie…”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “What about her?”

Oh, hell!
This would be so much easier with beer. He glanced around the room and decided they didn’t need an audience. “Let’s go in and say hi, then go grab a beer.”

Jack tilted his head to the side. “There something you need to tell me?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, but trust me. We need beer.”

In Jack’s defense, he waited until the both of them were sitting behind a booth in a bar and halfway through a beer before he asked. “Are you going to tell me what’s up with Katie, or are you going to make me guess?”

Dean followed the condensation along the side of his glass with his finger. “You and I have been friends a long time.”

“Yes, we have.”

“I’d never do anything to jeopardize our friendship.” Yet even as Dean uttered these words, he knew that wasn’t completely true.

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to say the word ‘but’?”

Dean debated how much he should tell Jack, how much Katie’s brother needed to know to understand where he was coming from. The truth was, he was tired of hiding…of lying to his best friend about something as important as Katie.

“I’m going to date your sister,” he said. His voice firm.

Jack’s jaw dropped.

“Again,” Dean added.

Jack picked up his beer, finished it, and signaled for the waiter. “Another round and bring me a shot of whiskey.”

“Did you want—”

Jack’s eyes never left Dean’s. “Doesn’t matter. Whatever’s on the top shelf is fine.”

The waiter left the table and Dean opened his mouth. “I need to—”

Jack held up his hand. “Wait.”

Dean took another swig of his drink and contemplated what was going on in Jack’s head. How would Dean have reacted if Tom or Mikey wanted to date one of his sisters? Syrie was married, but Ella was twenty-four and beautiful.

After replenishing their drinks, Jack tipped back the shot glass and closed his eyes. “OK…I’m ready.”

“You sure you don’t want another one?” Dean teased.

“Do I
need
another one?”

“You might.”

“You’re stalling.”

Yes, he was. “I have feelings for your sister. And I think she has them for me, too.”

“You think?”

“I know she does. She might not want to, but she does.” He thought of their kiss, the way she melted in his arms. “I need to see if we have a chance, Jack. Only this time I need you to know about it.”

“This time?”

It was Dean’s turn to finish his beer. “Yeah. You see, a year ago…over a year ago actually, Katie and I…we, uh…”

“Do I want to hear this?”

“Probably not. Let’s just say we figured out that we were attracted to each other. We both decided to keep our relationship under wraps. No need to involve you or our friends. We snuck around, which was fun for a while.” Dean smiled at the memory but Jack was frowning into his beer.

Dean stopped grinning.

“What happened?”

Dean knew he was blowing his agreement with Katie talking to Jack about their past, but he figured if everything worked out, Jack
would eventually find out. Telling his best friend the extent of what had happened between him and Katie, however, wasn’t necessary.

“Katie wasn’t willing to move forward.” Which wasn’t a lie. Dean had suggested after they learned of her inability to have a baby that they stop hiding and let their families know they were seeing each other. Her response to that was to get close and personal with someone other than him, and to say he was “off the hook” when it came to her.

“What makes you think she’s any more ready now?”

That was a good question. “You saw her today. She’s settling into a job she loves. We both know she doesn’t have to work but she’s doing it anyway. She’s grounded in a way I’ve not seen before.” She wasn’t with the same group of friends, wasn’t playing at night in the clubs…at least not that he knew. Her face hadn’t been in a tabloid in months.

Jack nodded and sat back in the booth. “Maybe Katie is growing up.”

“She’s all grown up, Jack. It’s not like we’re kids.”

“She’s still my kid sister.”

“And I’m your best friend.”

“My best friend who seven months ago was ready to marry someone else. I remember the bachelor party, Dean. All the nauseating
Maggie is the best thing that ever happened to me
crap! Then I nursed your sorry ass after a weekend binge when she left you. If you cared about my sister so much, why were you ready to commit to someone else?”

Dean glanced at the TV across the bar showing the local baseball game. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about that.”

“And?”

“I met Maggie after Katie all but dumped me. I hate to say she was a rebound chick, but there’s no other way to put it. I cared about Maggie, don’t get me wrong. When she broke off our engagement…I
don’t know, it was a blow to my ego, my manhood. I’m a class A asshole for saying that, but it’s true. I didn’t want her back after that.”

“But that’s changed with Katie. You want her back?”