Chapter 16
Katana
As I drove up the hill toward the address Nix had given me, my GPS told me the next house was my destination. Someone was coming out the front door, a tall, lithe, pretty blonde—and she didn’t look too happy as she got into her car and sped off in the opposite direction.
Pulling into the driveway she’d just left, I found a bit of jealousy piercing my heart. Maybe she’s just the maid.
Shrugging off the bit of negative emotion, I readied myself to go into what would be my home for the next little while. I didn’t have high hopes of staying forever in Nixon’s home. While his intentions were good, I assumed that sometime in the future he’d find a woman who was good for him—someone clearly in his league, a thing I wasn’t.
Getting out of the car, I grabbed my purse and the overnight bag I’d packed for my brief stay at a motel in Portland, which I’d gone to after making sure the movers got everything from my old place. They’d taken off right away, aiming to get my things to Nixon’s ahead of my arrival. Now I’d have to get inside and try to get things put away so my crap wouldn’t be looming in boxes, taking up space.
When I got to the door, I went to punch in the code to disarm the security system before I used the key to open the door, just as Nix had told me to. But I thought it might be best to ring the bell instead, just in case he was home, which I couldn’t tell from out here as his garage was closed.
When the door opened, I saw Nix’s handsome face. “Hey, why’d you ring the bell? I told you to come on in.” He wasted no time pulling me inside and hugging me. “I’ve missed you.”
His arms around me did what they always seemed to do—made me wet and aching for him. When he closed the door and pinned me to it, I got the feeling his body reacted much as mine did.
He looked at me with hungry eyes, and I ran my hands over his bearded face. “It’s grown even more. You look so dangerous.”
Leaning down, he kissed me softly. “Good, that’s exactly what I was going for. Did you miss me at all?”
Only every waking moment.
I didn’t want to go that far. It was never my intention to make him feel like I wanted more than he was willing to give me. “I might’ve.”
His hands moved down my arms as he pressed his bulge against me. “You have this crazy effect on me.”
I laughed but stopped short when I heard someone in the kitchen. “Someone’s here?”
“Yeah, the maid.” He kissed me again. “Damn, I guess I should introduce you to her.”
So the woman I saw wasn’t the maid … then who was she?
I kept my thoughts to myself. “Yes, you should introduce us. After that, I really need to get to work putting my things away.”
“No need, I had that all taken care of,” he said, moving to one side and draping his arm across my shoulders.
“You had everything unpacked and put away? Already?” I was shocked and amazed and thankful.
“Yeah, I had the movers do some, and my maid and her son did the rest. I hope you don’t mind.” He stopped and pointed at a rocking chair that sat near the glass doors, which led outside to a gorgeous wooden deck. “I bought that yesterday for us to rock our baby in. Do you like it?”
The wooden rocker had been whitewashed, making it look rustic. “It’s nice. I do like it. How thoughtful you are.”
He shrugged and moved on, pulling me with him. “I don’t know what’s getting into me.” When we stepped into the kitchen, my eyes landed on a middle-aged woman who was a little red in the face from cleaning the inside of a cabinet. “Mona Black, I’d like you to meet the lady of the house, Katana Reeves.”
Wiping her hands on her white apron, she made her way to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” I shook her hand and took in her friendly smile. “Mr. Slaughter has told me your good news. Congratulations.”
I looked at Nix and wondered why on earth he’d have this woman, who was clearly older than him, calling him such a formal name. Whatever his preference was, I wasn’t about to be called ma’am or Miss Reeves. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you. And please call me Katana.”
“I’ll do that.” She went back to what she was doing before, still talking. “I’ve planned roasted chicken with asparagus and wild rice for dinner this evening. Will that be okay with you, Katana?”
I looked at Nix, who smiled at me then winked. “She works for you too, Katana.”
Not sure I liked that at all, I answered, “Anything you make will be fine with me. Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing for Nix. I don’t need any special treatment.”
“You don’t hesitate to let me know if you want anything special, Katana. That is what I’m paid to do, after all—look after you guys.” She got back to work as Nixon pulled me away from the kitchen.
“Let me show you around.” He pointed out the glass doors. “That’s the deck. There’s a set of stairs that lead down to the beach.” He had my hand in his and led me across the large living room. “On the other side of the kitchen is a formal dining room that I rarely use.” He pointed to a door under the stairs. “That’s a closet where things are stored. Next to this is the room we’ll leave as the guestroom.” Then up the stairs we went, and he pointed to the room at the end of the long hallway. “That’s my bedroom back there. The door on the left is the baby’s, and the one on the right is yours. You have access to a balcony through a set of French doors. You and I share that balcony; my room has another set of French doors that lead out to it as well.”
“This place is gorgeous, Nix. I can’t believe I get to call it home for a while,” I gushed. Then I thought about the maid we’d left back in the kitchen, and looked at him as I put my hand on his chest. “Since I’m here, I can help with the daily chores. I can wash our clothes and keep things clean up here in our rooms and bathrooms. If you won’t let me pay you anything, then I want to help out around the house.”
He chuckled. “No way. I’m paying the maid to do that work. You wouldn’t want to put Mona out of a paying job, now would you?” He pulled me along with him and opened the door to my new bedroom. “What do you think? We can change it up any way you want.”
“It’s perfect just the way that it is,” I said as I looked at the gorgeous furnishings. The bed, a small desk, and the bedside tables were all made of cherry wood. A very large flat screen television hung on the wall, making it easy to lie in bed and watch it—which I might do whenever I wasn’t gazing out the windows or doors at the perfect view of the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. “This is more than I ever expected.”
Nix’s hand went into his pocket and came back with what looked to be a credit card. “This is for you. I want you to buy whatever you want or need.”
I shook my head as I held up my hands in protest. “Nix, I can’t take that. I have my own money.”
He took my right hand and placed the card in my palm. “You will take this. I know you have your own money, but I want you to have access to more than just that. Just take it and don’t fight me on it. Please.”
I’d take it, but I wasn’t planning to ever use it.
I laid it and my bag and purse on the bed. “Thank you, Nix. Thank you for everything.”
He took both my hands in his and kissed them. “Thank you, Katana Reeves. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt more at home than I feel with you here. You and I will make a happy home for our child, I can tell that already.”
“What kid wouldn’t be happy here?” I asked as I glanced around the room again.
“I mean happy with us. You and me,” he clarified, then kissed me and pulled me in close. His hands moved over my back then down to my ass, pulling me to him.
I moaned and melted into him. This wasn’t what I’d expected, but I was happy he wanted me sexually. I wanted him that way too. But with the sex, we ran the risk that feelings might get in our way of making this work for our baby.
When he released my lips, I asked, “Nix, is what we’re doing really smart? I mean, I love having sex with you—you know I do. No one could fake that. But should we be doing this?”
His sigh was long, and his eyes drooped a bit. “You don’t want to anymore?”
I did want to. I wanted to very badly. But I didn’t know how smart it was to keep doing the things that other couples would do. I bit my lip then finally said, “I don’t want to force a relationship on you. Having sex will have some effects—on me at least. I can’t stop my feelings for you from developing if we continue as we have been.”
He let me go and turned away from me, rubbing his head. “I want you, Katana.” He turned back around. “Do you want me?”
I nodded. “But I don’t think it’s smart.”
“Then sex is off the table?”
Is it?