In the Eye of the Storm (12 page)

“Chances are,” she agreed quietly.

He remained silent, not sure what else to say to her. Clearly, she was done discussing the subject.

They both sat there mutely, listening to the coffee machine drip and burble.

“I heard you talking to Trey earlier,” she said, eventually lifting her head and meeting his gaze. “Is he upset?”

“He’s okay with things,” was all he said.

“It didn’t sound that way to me.”

He sighed, wishing he had followed his instincts the night before and just left. “It’s like I told you last night, Kate. You’re Kylie’s friend. That complicates this.”

“You have noth of Victoria’s Secret.up bing to do with my friendship with Kylie. I wish you would stop bringing that up.”

She wasn’t going to admit it complicated things so he just let it go. “Listen, I need to get home and change. I have some stuff to do today.” He stood and carried his mug over to the sink. After rinsing it out, he turned back to her. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Stop asking me that. I’m fine,” she snapped.

His own teeth on edge, he shrugged. “Whatever you say. I’ll call you later.”

She didn’t answer.

Grabbing his keys, he headed for the front door. He knew he shouldn’t leave things the way they were, but at that moment he just wanted to get away.

After Beau had gone, Kate locked the door behind him and climbed back into her bed. She burrowed into her covers and tried to block his scent out of her brain. She felt the tears seeping from her eyes and they irritated her. Damn it! How could she have let him get under her skin this way? She hardly knew him. And now she could end up pregnant. That little realization ate at her and she swore.

He was right. Chances were they were okay. She didn’t keep track of ovulation and that sort of thing but she was pretty sure the timing was off. So why was she so upset about it? Why was she being such an emotional basket case? He’d warned her the night before that he wasn’t a forever kind of guy, as he’d so eloquently put it. She’d jumped into things anyway—with both feet and no paddle.

Richard was right when he said she was her own worst enemy. All of this could have been very easily avoided if she had just kept her distance—if she had let Beau leave the way he’d wanted to the night before.

Hearing her phone ring, she grimaced. She really wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Reaching over, she grabbed the cordless receiver and answered it.

“Hi,” Kylie’s voice said.

“Oh, hi.” Kate forced her voice to even out.

“What’s wrong?” Kylie asked, obviously far more in tune with Kate’s moods than Kate was giving her credit for.

“Nothing’s wrong. I was sleeping.”

“Oh. Beau just got home. I thought…” Kylie’s voice broke off.

“It’s okay, Kylie. You can say what you want to say.”

“I don’t have anything to say, Kate. I love Beau. He’s a great guy.”

Kate raised a brow. “But?” But he was going to love her and leave her hanging, she thought. She knew that’s what Trey was concerned about as well. She’d heard Beau’s half of their conversation that morning, loud and clear.

“But nothing. You’re a big girl. If you need to talk about things you can. I mean don’t think it’s weird because Beau’s involved.”

“I don’t.” Kate shut her eyes, wishing she felt as in control of things as she had a week ago. Now her life was spinning out of its happy zone. First Wick, then Beau.

“So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Kylie asked, evidently deciding a change in subject was best.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard from my mother.” Not that this was a shocker. She rarely heard from her mother une raised a browthBAless the woman needed money. It had been nearly two years since the last call. “I’ll probably just eat here. Why?” She knew what was coming and still she winced when Kylie said the words.

“I want you to eat with us. #8217;t think

10

For the next few days, Beau made a point of steering clear of Kate. He knew he was being a coward. He just didn’t know what to say to her at this point. They had no future. He knew that. So what was the point of pursuing something that was never going to go anywhere?

There was no point, he told himself.

The fact that his family was coming into town the next day was doing nothing to calm his nerves. As much as he wanted to see them, he had too many other things going on in his life right now. His family could read him like a book and he wasn’t in the mood to be analyzed.

He had half a mind to take off and head for New York. He knew he had the go ahead to shoot a couple of commercials. He could do them now, just as easily as he could do them after the holiday. And it would be a whole lot eare talking about just 5">sier not to be here to deal with his family. But he had missed them. It had been too long since he’d spent any real time with them. Dusty would probably disown him if he bailed before he got to meet Lucas.

Sitting down on the front porch, he breathed in some cold air. Winter was coming, that was for sure. Even bundled in a heavy coat, the air was still crisp and cool and caused him to shiver.

For some reason, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end again. He’d felt that way off and on all morning, though he wasn’t quite sure why. He’d even called Detective Mumford, worried that maybe something had happened to his house. All was quiet in Texas. Maybe that was what was bothering him. Usually when all was quiet in Texas, trouble was brewing somewhere else. It was possible his unknown tormentor was on the move again.

Beau blew some warm breath into his cold hands. He knew it was unlikely that anyone could know he was here. He’d been careful about making himself seen anywhere in public. The only thing he’d been a little careless about was hanging out with Kate’s kids at the school. Even then, he hadn’t been there in an official capacity. Of course the principal had probably found out and so had every parent in the school most likely. Word could have gotten around.

Hearing the front door open, he turned and saw his brother step out onto the porch.

“It’s freezing out here. What are you doing?”

“Just hanging out.”

Trey zipped his police issued parka up and walked toward the steps. He was likely on his way to work. He paused and looked down at Beau curiously. “Something’s bothering you. Is it something I should be aware of?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Personal or stalker related? Nothing’s happened to your house again, has it?”

Beau shook his head after a moment. “I just talked to Mumford. All’s quiet in Texas.”

Trey was silent and Beau knew he was probably thinking the same thing Beau was.

“No one knows I’m here.”

“That you
know
of. We should keep our heads up, just in case.”

“My head’s always up. Go to work. I’ll keep an eye on things here.”

“What about Kate?”

That
he didn’t want to talk about. “What about her?”

“Beau, I warned you about this. It took you what, ten seconds to piss her off so she won’t come around here anymore? Damn it, she’s Kylie’s friend.” Trey glared at him. “Why’d you have to nail her, of all people?”

Beau glared back. “I didn’t plan it, Trey. Lay off.”

“Well, what the hell happened that has her avoiding us like the plague? Did you two have a fight?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what?” Trey asked, clearly frustrated.

“I just thought about what you said, I guess.” Beau shrugged. “I’m leaving soon. What’s the point of getting in over my head?”

“You already slept with her, asshole.”

Beau knew he deserved the insult. He didn. The minute onhe was’t have a comeback.

“Shit, you irritate me. I don’t understand why you have to think with your dick all the time.”

“Just go to work, will you?” The insults were already getting old. If anyone but Trey were tossing them at him, he probably would have punched them in the mouth by now—even though he knew he deserved them.

“Look, Beau, Kylie’s real bummed that Kate’s not coming for Thanksgiving. I think we all know why she’s not coming—so fix this.”

Fix this.
Like it was that simple. Beau shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do. Besides, she’s probably got family she’s spending the holidays with. Just let it be.”

“She doesn’t have family, asshat. Her dad took off when she was a kid and her mother is a druggie who lives in Fresno somewhere. She only comes around looking for money once in a while. Kate’s on her own. She has been since she was a teenager.”

Beau winced. He hadn’t had a clue about her background. He guessed he’d never taken the time to ask. Come to think of it, he did remember them having a discussion about why she was such a ball buster, back when he’d first arrived at his brother’s house. Guilt set in again and he frowned. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Quit being a dick. Just talk to her. Whatever you two argued about can’t be that bad. You’ve only spent one night together. How bad can it be?”

Beau didn’t touch that one. “Never mind. I’ll see what I can do. She’s stubborn though. If she’s made up her mind I doubt I’ll be able to change it.”

“Well try.” Trey headed for his truck and climbed inside. A moment later, he was gone.

Beau sat on the steps a few minutes longer and then sighed in resignation. He supposed Trey was right; he needed to fix things with Kate. The idea of anyone spending a holiday alone made him feel bad. Especially when he was the cause of their loneliness.

Kate climbed out of her SUV and frowned. Beau’s truck was parked in front of her house. He wasn’t in it. He was sitting on her front steps, eyeing her uneasily as she walked up the driveway. She hadn’t heard from him since the morning they’d argued. That had been several days ago. Of course, she hadn’t called him either.

“Hey,” he said when she reached the steps.

“Hey.” She stepped around him and unlocked her front door. It was freezing out and she wasn’t about to stand there and talk to him on the front porch while they both froze to death.

“Are you going to bite me if I try to come inside?”

She could hear the amusement in his voice, and her heart softened a little. “You wish. Don’t flatter yourself.”

She heard him chuckle as he walked in the front door.

“So how are you?” he asked, after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

“I’m fine,” she told him, avoiding his gaze. She set her keys and purse down before removing her jacket. “I’ve been busy with school. Holiday and all.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Kylie’s a little upset that you aren’t coming for Thanksgiving.”, but didn’t comment.

“I already told her, I have other plans,” Kate answered. He couldn’t possibly want her there either. Not with his whole family showing up.

“What plans?” He folded his arms over his chest and watched her carefully.

“Never mind what plans. I can’t make it.”

“Because of me.” It wasn’t a question.

“No. Because of your family.”

He appeared to think that over. “But if you and I hadn’t slept together it would have been fine.”

She didn’t deny it.

“I told you sex would screw things up, Kate. You said it wouldn’t.”

“So I was wrong,” she snapped.

“I don’t want Kylie getting hurt because of me. Trey’s pretty pissed at me right now.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Beau. It was just sex. I’m not worried about it.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right. By the way, you can quit worrying about me being pregnant. I got my period.” She watched the look of relief cross his face and her anger almost boiled over. It was that easy for him. Now everything was okay in his world. He could leave and go back to being a baseball star and she could sit here alone and figure out her problems by herself.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because you didn’t call me,” she snapped again. “Besides, it just happened this morning.”

He was trying to read her and she nearly squirmed.
Damn him.
He made it hard for her to lie. All the same, she didn’t want him hovering over her for the next two weeks. Besides, she was pretty sure her period was on the way anyway. The telltale signs were all there.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

She narrowed her eyes in surprise. “I don’t care what you believe. That’s not my problem.”

“Damn it, Kate, don’t be such a bitch.” He glowered at her and for the first time she saw serious anger in his eyes. Not just irritation, real fury.

“I’m not trying to be a bitch,” she said softly. “I’m telling you you’re off the hook. Aren’t you relieved?”

He swore. “Not if it’s not true! Are you crazy or something?”

“What makes you think it’s not true?”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Because of the way you’re blinking and the fact that you won’t look me in the eye.”

“I don’t need you here, Beau,” she said, resigned. “I’ve got a pretty good case of PMS so I don’t think you need to worry about the pregnancy thing anymore.” Backing up, she leaned against the couch.

“You listen to me, Kate.” He stepped toward her again and she stiffened. He was even angrier now. His dark eyes were black and narrowed. She’d pushed him too far, she realized immediately. Somehow she’d figured he’d just accept that she wasn’t pregnant and go away. Apparently Beau Callahan had a little more moral value than that.

di">“Are you listening to me?” he demanded, in a voice she hadn’t heard from him before.

“I’m listening,” she replied uneasily.

“Don’t ever lie to me about something as important as this. I’m not one of those men who think women have more choice in the matter of a child than men do. Do you get me? This is my problem and if it turns out you’re pregnant, it’s my kid too. I won’t be walking away from that and writing you a check. Do you get my drift?”

The words were ugly and she almost flinched. She knew she deserved them though.

“Do you?” he asked again, this time reaching forward and tipping her chin up so she met his gaze. “I’m not kidding here.”

“I hear you,” she answered, emotionally drained. “I don’t think I’m pregnant anyway. I already told you that.”

“Well, until you know for sure, don’t bullshit me. I mean it.”