CHAPTER TEN
GRAY
Kate was clearly loaded, and she hit like a damn girl. But that didn’t stop my head from pounding, and that didn’t stop the glare I gave her as she stared at me incredulously.
Torn between irritation and shock, I blurted out the first words that came to mind.
“Jesus, Kate, what the hell is wrong with you?”
She blinked. She stared some more. Then she took a step forward and started to point a finger at me, her expression accusing.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked, right before she hiccupped. “You were following me like some maniac stalker!”
I blinked, not quite expecting that. I stared in shock when her hand pushed at my chest repeatedly.
“I thought you were my ex-boyfriend!”
“I—”
“I was about to beat you up! You scared me half to death!”
“I’m sor—”
“I’m really, really dizzy!”
The last statement was followed by her swaying on her feet. With another curse, I dove for her and wrapped my hands around her waist, steadying her. She groaned and clutched on my shoulder, then closed her eyes.
“Hey, snap out of it,” I admonished. “We still have to walk home.”
Her eyes snapped open, and she frowned. “Where’s your car?”
“I left it parked. I was looking for you.”
For some reason, that made her frown all the more. I waited her out, just holding her there in that quiet night and scolding myself for not checking up on her earlier—and for scaring her like that. She was right. I should have announced my presence instead of following her, but listening to her mutter away to herself had me amused. Now I was more irritated than amused, but I banked it down and waited her out until she was able to stand by herself.
“We should get my car,” I began, changing my mind about the walking thing. But she was already shaking her head.
“The sea breeze will clear my head,” she said stubbornly.
“No,” I said.
“Yes,” she shot back. Then she started walking, but paused again and turned to give me a challenging look—at least, as much a challenging look a person who had too much to drink could give. “Come on, hotshot. The exercise will be good for your bod.”
I stared at her incredulously as she continued walking down the side street like she owned it, even humming a little tune. Then I chuckled and followed her, figuring that leaving her alone right now would probably end in disaster.
*****
Surprisingly enough, the sea breeze did clear her head as we kept walking—enough for her to form coherent sentences and stop yelling out every other word she said.
I remembered the look of panic on her face earlier and decided again how wrong I’d been to sneak up on her like that. I found myself apologizing, something that surprised even me as she seemed to be one of the few people who could get me to do so.
Kate shook her head in response. “You don’t have to. I’m in Florida now, not in Los Angeles. I shouldn’t be fearful of something that I purposely left behind. Old habits die hard.”
Her words made sense, but I knew that was easier said than done. Remembering everything Paul told me about what her ex had done, along with her own confession in the bar, I could feel anger surge in me at how a man she trusted could treat her so callously.
Kate seemed to be having the same train of thought, with her head staring down on the ground and her hands wrapped around herself in an almost defensive posture—that was, until I watched her shiver and realized she was just feeling cold. With a sigh, I removed my jacket, got her attention, and then tossed it in her direction. Her drunken reflexes weren’t up to par as the jacket landed on her head, but she yanked down and muttered her thanks. She wrapped it around herself and tossed me a look, one that was curious and wary at the same time.
“I’ll be fine. You should go back to that woman and…you know.”
There was something off with her tone, and I watched as her cheeks turned pink. I began to understand exactly what she meant and the amusement was back. But there was also the irritation at the thought of her walking alone, which I felt I needed to address first.
“You shouldn’t walk alone at night, especially when you’ve drunk so much. Why didn’t you wait for me? I told you I’d be back.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Maybe.” I frowned. “But had I really been some serial killer you would be in a lot of trouble right now.”
Kate mumbled something, and it took me a while to hear the words.
“I didn’t want to interrupt you and…your date.”
“Interrupt what?” I ground out, disliking her way of evading words.
“I don’t have to spell it out for you,” she muttered.
Unable to help it, I chuckled. “Are you referring to Valerie?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
We kept walking the few blocks to my apartment, and she tightened her arms around the jacket. Kate kept inhaling the air, then stealing glances at me until I finally raised a brow.
“What? Might as well speak your mind since this is your only chance.”
She debated it for all but two seconds. Then she walked a little closer beside me so as not to shout, giving me her drunk version of a guilty look.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt your time with her. I’m sorry if I did.”
I nodded, putting my hands in my pants pocket. “You didn’t interrupt anything.”
“Oh, great.” Her cheeks turned pink again.
Unable to help myself, I chuckled. “Nothing happened.”
“I wasn’t asking,” she shot back. “And that’s a little hard to believe.”
I shot her a puzzled glance. “Why is it a little hard to believe?”
“I just…never mind.” She sighed. She walked faster. Then she whirled around again. “I didn’t realize you’d finish sex so fast.”
I stared at her. Then I burst out laughing, shaking my head at how confused she looked. “I told you, nothing happened.”
“But the ladies in the bar said—” she hiccupped. “They said you were going to have sex with Valerie. In your car. Because you like it that way.”
“You really shouldn’t believe everything people say,” I warned. “Some rumors can be vicious and pointless, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” We got to the building and into the elevator, where Kate bit her lip and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. And I’ll take a taxi next time.”
I shook my head. “No, we go home together next time. I promised your brother I’d protect you.”
“I can protect myself,” she murmured. “I’m an adult, and I’m in Florida. No one knows me here. You don’t have to worry. Do your business and I’ll do mine.”
I watched her as she kept her eyes closed and leaned against the elevator, looking more sleepy than drunk now. I knew she still was the latter, but the walk had done her good, and she was doing a lot better now.
Something in me wanted to protect her—probably an after-effect of Paul’s concern. It was odd how we’d gotten to know each other in a short amount of time, and I realized I wanted to know more about her. I never had a female friend, but it didn’t seem so bad. Plus Kate had no malice when it came to me, nor any tact, for that matter, which I kind of liked.
We reached the top floor, and the elevator door opened. I leaned on the other side of the elevator wall, keeping my watch on Kate until she finally became aware of it. Her lashes fluttered, then her eyes opened, gaze zoning in on me.
Instead of blushing like most women did, Kate yawned. The action had me trying to hold back a smile.
“We’re here,” she said, stating the obvious.
I nodded. “Yeah. You should get some sleep.”
“I will. Thank you for the lovely walk,” she chirped, then yawned again. We both walked towards the suite, where she stumbled for a bit and I readied my hands at her back just in case she would actually fall.
Instead, she leaned against the suite doorway and turned to me. Then she smiled sleepily.
“Gray?”
“Hmm?”
“You really should try the bed next time.”
I stared as Kate slowly made her way to her bedroom, humming the same tune she hummed earlier. I chuckled as her words repeated in my mind.
Christ.
If only she knew.