From Your Heart by Shannyn Schroeder (18)

Chapter Seventeen

Kathy needed a quiet night at home. After everything that had happened with Kevin the other night, her head had been spinning. She’d wanted to just blurt out that she loved him too, but she wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable. She couldn’t quite figure out why she was still holding back, though. Kevin was a changed man. He’d done nothing to make her think he’d cheat.

She sat on her couch with a glass of wine and a Lifetime TV movie where she was guaranteed a happy ending. Unfortunately, while she’d hoped for a light, fluffy movie, she’d gotten stalker-of-the-week thriller. Just as the bad guy lurked outside the heroine’s window, Kathy’s doorbell rang.

She jumped and yelped. Laughing at herself, she went to the door. Kevin stood on her doorstep.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I know we didn’t have any plans, but I need to talk.”

“Come on in.”

He followed her through the door and locked up as she returned to her spot on the couch. He eyed the TV, so she muted it. “What’s up?”

“I have something for you.”

“Ooo . . . I like presents.” She smiled and held out her hand.

“I hope you stay that excited.” He set a key ring and a piece of paper on the table.

“What’s that?”

“It’s not what you think.” He rubbed the back of his neck in the way he always did when he was nervous. “Well, it is, but for a different reason.”

She sat back and waited for the reason because this was beginning to feel like pushy O’Malley syndrome.

“Those are keys to my apartment. I’m not trying to make you nervous. I want to prove I have nothing to hide. You can come over day or night, with or without warning, whether or not I’m there. I’ll never be upset. You would be a welcome surprise at any time. I have nothing to hide. Snoop through my underwear drawer, dig through my closet, look under my bed. Whatever you need.”

“Aren’t you worried I might find your porn stash?”

He laughed. “Anyone with half a brain knows you watch porn online.” He reached for the paper on the table. “Speaking of which,” he said, as he handed the slip to her. “This is the password to my laptop and my phone. If you want access to my social media accounts, too, say the word. I couldn’t remember the passwords off the top of my head.”

Kathy sat in stunned silence.

“Say something.”

“I . . . I don’t know what to say.” Suddenly she was overwhelmed with emotion and tears filled her eyes.

“Ah, fuck. How’d I mess this up again?”

“No, no, you didn’t.” She blinked back the tears.

“I don’t know what else to do to show you that you can trust me. I’m in this, Kathy, whatever it takes, however long it takes.”

“Oh, God. Shut up and kiss me already.”

He took her face in his hands and brought her close. His lips were soft against hers but his tongue was insistent. His taste was heady. Kathy got lost in the moment and the emotion behind the kiss and Kevin’s gesture.

He loved her.

She pushed him back on the couch and rose over him until she could straddle his thighs. She rocked her hips and felt him harden beneath her.

He tugged the band out of her hair to set it free. Her curls created a curtain around them as they kissed.

Kevin flexed his fingers on her hips, holding her tightly to him. He pulled his mouth from hers and rained kisses down her neck. “You feel so good.”

“You too,” she managed, rubbing against him, making herself wet.

He growled and bit down on her neck. “Fuck. I need to be inside you now.”

Kevin flipped them over so he was on top of her and her legs wrapped around his waist. He pushed her T-shirt up and mumbled praise for her lack of bra. He continued the thrust and grind against her as his mouth latched on to her nipple.

She arched against him, nails scraping and yanking at his shirt. She reached between them and unsnapped his jeans. “Thought you need to be inside me.”

“I do.” He grabbed her sleep pants and yanked them off in one quick move, tossing them over his shoulder. Before stripping off his jeans, he fished a condom from his wallet and set it on the couch beside her leg.

While he pulled his shirt over his head, Kathy rolled the condom on him. The muscles of his thighs and abdomen flexed and he hissed at her touch. Once he was sheathed, she stroked him again.

“Nuh-uh.” He pushed her back into position. He stroked her with his fingers a couple of times, spreading her moisture, making sure she was ready. Then he sank in. He drove into her hard and fast, not allowing her to control anything.

And she didn’t care.

He’d been doing what he could to regain her trust, give her what she needed. She could give back.

Her orgasm built, and he picked up the pace, rising above her instinctively. One hand restrained her arms over her head, his other hand played her clit like a fine-tuned instrument until she was panting and then screaming his name. When he released her arms, he settled close to her again and pumped into her slowly, she knew because he enjoyed the pulsations of her body pulling at him, drawing him in.

He nuzzled her neck and she stroked his hair. His muscles tensed as his own release was imminent.

She whispered, “I’m in too. Whatever it takes.”

She hoped those words would be enough for now.

* * *

Kevin’s job was finally looking up. While he’d planned to talk to City Connections about Brent, as it turned out, he didn’t have to. They figured it out on their own and fired him. They’d promoted from within so training Brent’s replacement would go quickly.

Kevin’s days and nights had been busy as he covered for the hole Brent left. He hadn’t spent much time with Kathy at all, but they had plans to go away for the weekend together. He loved the idea of having her to himself for an entire weekend. They booked a bed and breakfast in Lake Geneva. If he needed to work around the clock to make sure everything ran smoothly so he could have the weekend, he would.

Brent’s replacement was Marnie, and Kevin had spoken to her multiple times over the last few days. She was supposed to spend the afternoon with him at city hall to get the lay of the land here and learn the calendar system and meet his contacts.

He managed to get most of his desk cleared of pressing matters just after lunch. Then he took time to text Kathy to see how her day was going.

She texted him a picture of a chocolate shake. Too bad you didn’t meet me for lunch.

Sheila knocked on his door. “Marnie Wilcox is here. I put her in the conference room.”

“Thanks, Sheila.”

Kevin grabbed his notepad filled with ideas and notes for Marnie and headed to the conference room, hoping he wouldn’t look like a love-struck teenager who’d just been texting his girlfriend.

“Hi, Marnie. Kevin O’Malley.” He entered the conference room and extended his hand.

The woman stood and walked to meet him and shake his hand. She was small, barely five feet, with short blond hair and wide blue eyes. She looked a little like a fairy, which was nothing like he’d pictured her based on her voice.

“Kevin, nice to finally put a face to the voice.”

Yeah, the deep whiskey voice definitely didn’t match the rest of the package.

“Let’s have a seat and get to work. We have a lot of notes to go over and then I’ll take you around to meet some people.”

“Sounds good,” Marnie answered. “We’ve been working really hard to fix the miscommunication and mess on our end. Brent really did a number on us. We’re embarrassed about that. And when I say ‘we,’ I do include myself. I was part of the committee that put Brent in place. He talked a hell of a good game.”

They sat at the table. Kevin set his papers down, glad he wasn’t the only one fooled by Brent and his empty promises. “Yeah, he did, and I’m glad he’s gone.”

“I can guarantee those mistakes won’t happen again. I’m not perfect and I have a lot to learn, but I’m going to work my butt off to make up for it.”

“I’m just glad the problems were all caught early enough. Really, less than a month in. That can all be attributed to normal growing pains. Anyone looking in from the outside wouldn’t think any different.”

“City Connections definitely appreciates your discretion.”

“We’re all in this together.”

Kevin knew better than to burn bridges in a city like Chicago. You never knew when you might want to call in a favor. And City Connections had literal connections all over the country.

Kevin and Marnie worked for hours, ordered dinner in to work through, and made a ton of headway in streamlining the processes they had in place. Then they moved on to planning the media and communications for the winter.

Marnie was easy to talk to and bounce ideas off, definitely easier to work with than Brent. She came prepared to work. As he took her through city hall, she took notes on every single person he introduced her to. After working with Brent, it wasn’t hard to impress Kevin, but from everything he saw, Marnie was hitting it out of the park.

Her ideas for bringing more tourism to the city this winter sounded great. She planned to spend the rest of the week working with her social media people to create slogans and graphics. Kevin would be completely free for the weekend. He wouldn’t have to worry about anything but enjoying himself with Kathy.

* * *

After closing up the shop, Kathy went home and took a shower. She wanted to go through her closet to plan what to pack for her weekend. Although she was getting ahead of herself, she had to work extra hours until the weekend to make up for asking Anna to do it all while she was gone. With her suitcase on the bed, she had begun to sift through her underwear drawer when her phone rang.

She answered without checking, assuming it was Kevin. He was the only person who called her this late.

“Hello.”

“Kathy.” Her mom’s cold, clipped voice zipped across the line.

Crap. She should’ve checked. She always needed to brace herself to talk to her mom. She dropped the nightie she was holding and sank to the edge of the bed. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“I wanted to remind you that your cousin Christy’s engagement party is Saturday and I need you to pick me up at three. And I told her mother you would bring ten table centerpieces.”

Kathy clenched her jaw. Nothing like being volunteered to work. For free. “I can arrange the centerpieces, but I can’t go.”

“What? I told you about the party weeks ago.”

Kathy took a slow, deep breath. “You told me about it without giving me any other information, like the exact time and date. I’m sorry, but I never committed to going. I have a business to run and I have plans.”

“You can’t just decide not to go. I accepted the invitation.”

Kathy’s stomach churned. She’d never, ever told her mother no, but she wasn’t about to give up her first weekend away with Kevin for a cousin she didn’t even like. “I’m an adult, Mom. If they wanted to invite me, they should’ve sent me an invitation, and then I could’ve either accepted or declined.”

“Fine then.” Her mother hung up.

Kathy’s heart raced. Her mother hung up on her. That was not a good sign. She stared at the phone and considered calling her back to apologize. Instinct told her to, but if she did, it would be the equivalent of accepting the invitation. And she couldn’t do that.

She hadn’t felt like this since she was a small child, and she watched her parents argue over whether she should be able to take ballet classes. She’d asked if she could and while her mother agreed, her dad thought it was a waste of money. They’d yelled and bickered and then stopped talking to each other for days.

After that, Kathy made sure she never did anything to cause another fight. That horrible memory was enough to last a lifetime. She’d been sure their marriage was over, that they would divorce. Looking back now, she knew she wasn’t at fault and that her parents didn’t belong together, but that feeling never left.

Now it was back.

She dropped her phone to prevent herself from calling her mother, picked up her keys, and drove into downtown. Kevin said he was working late. He said he wanted to be her person. If someone could talk her down and remind her why this weekend was important, it was him. That was what they were supposed to do for each other.

Her hands were still shaking as she pulled into the after-hours parking lot and grabbed a ticket. She didn’t even bother to look at the prices. Never in her life had she felt the need to see another human being as much as she did right now. She felt like she was going to fall apart even though she knew it was impossible.

The security guard checked her in as she passed through the metal detector and she went upstairs. When the doors swished open, she walked to Kevin’s office, but it was empty. Her chest felt hollow as it tightened again. She should’ve called first. She must’ve missed him. And she hadn’t even brought her phone to call him.

She struggled to breathe. A sound behind her caught her attention. She walked a few steps down the hall and then she heard his voice. Kevin. She almost bolted toward him, but he wasn’t alone. Through the glass of the conference room, she saw them together.

He was sitting with a blond woman, sharing a drink, laughing. The woman leaned forward and laid a hand on his arm.

Kathy flashed to a memory of five years ago. Her surprising Kevin when he said he had to work late. Him coming home with a blonde on his arm. Seemed as though Kevin had a type.

And it wasn’t her.

Kathy forced air into her lungs, past the tennis ball–sized lump lodged in her throat. She swallowed, despite the lack of spit in her mouth. Neither of them noticed her, so she did what she did best: she turned and left.