Out of Turn (26 page)

“You’re soaking wet.”

My cheeks burned. “Got caught in the rain,” I said with a shrug.

Blane seemed to let that go, thank God. He turned to Kade. “I’ve been worried about you, both of you. I tried calling a dozen times. I was just heading out to find you when I heard you at the door.”

“I said I’d get her and I did,” Kade retorted. “No need to check up on me, brother. Or was it something other than her safety you were concerned about?” He gave Blane a cold smile, turned, and walked up the stairs. I heard a door open and close, then Blane and I were alone.

Blane pushed a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh. The muscles of his shoulders and neck looked tight and I suddenly felt bad. He had enough on his mind.

“Listen,” I said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were waiting up for us.”

“You didn’t think I’d notice you sneaking out of here?”

Crap. Busted. “I didn’t want to bother you,” I hedged.

“Didn’t want to be alone with me, you mean,” he corrected.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

The look on his face was so pained, I couldn’t stop myself from going to him. I rested a hand on his arm.

“I’m here now,” I said. “What can I do to help? Did the police agree to come here?”

He nodded. “Tomorrow morning.”

The anxiety that had lifted while I’d stood in the rain came roaring back. “Are you all right?”

Blane didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced down to where my hand rested on his arm. Self-consciousness kicked in and I pulled back, but he caught my fingers in his and held them.

“I don’t want you in the room tomorrow when they come,” he said, his eyes catching mine.

“But I don’t want you to be alone—”

“I won’t be,” he said. “Charlotte will be here.”

My heart seemed to skip a beat. “Oh?”
Coming to hold your hand, is she?
My cattiness and instinctive desire to claw her eyes out surprised me.

Blane didn’t seem fooled by my oh-so-nonchalant response. “She’s my lawyer, Kat, that’s all,” he said.

“I see.” Uh-huh, sure she was.

Blane’s lips twitched like he was thinking about smiling. “That’s not jealousy I hear in your voice, is it?”

“Of course not—don’t be ridiculous,” I sputtered, trying to tug my hand from his, but he held on, inching closer to me until I had to tip my head back to look him in the eye.

“Because if you were jealous, that would mean I still have a shot.” His voice was a gentle rasp that seemed to run right through me.

“I’m not,” I lied. “I just want this to be over, that’s all.”

“When it’s over, will you still be around?”

His hand slid down my arm to cup my elbow. The backs of the knuckles of his other hand ran in a gentle path up and down my stomach, softly brushing my skin. He stood much too close and I realized my back was against the wall. He loomed over me, his gaze holding mine.

Blane’s touch made it hard for me to breathe. It was too familiar, had too many memories associated with it. I couldn’t think, could only feel his skin against mine, gradually moving up to the edge of my top, then ever so slowly down my ribs, across my stomach, dropping beneath my navel to where the wet denim of my shorts clung to me.

I swallowed. “I’ve already come between you and Kade,” I said. “I think it’s best that, once this is over, we all go our separate ways.”

Blane’s hand paused fractionally, then resumed its seductive path, now tracing the top edge of my shorts. The brush of his fingers made me tremble, and it wasn’t from the cold.

“Tell me you don’t mean that,” he said. “There’s still something between us. I can feel it and I know you can, too.”

“It doesn’t matter what’s between us,” I managed to say, grabbing his hand to stop him touching me. “The bottom line is you broke my trust, Blane, and that’s not something you can just get back.”

I slid out from between him and the wall and hightailed it to my room before I did something I’d regret.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. My mind was in turmoil as anxiety for Blane ate at me, and behind all that there was an overwhelming sadness. But I didn’t want to think about the future. Right now I was with both Blane and Kade, and I didn’t want to squander any of my remaining time with either of them.

Blane’s question and behavior made it obvious that he wanted to get back together. I’d been honest with Blane—I didn’t trust him. He’d burned me too many times for me to consider getting back together. But getting my heart and emotions on the same page as my brain and common sense was impossible.

And then there was Kade.

Alone in the dark silence of my bed, I closed my eyes and relived that night in Vegas. All day every day, I had to keep the memories at bay, but at night they crept back in. Being with him tonight, having him kiss me, touch me—it made every one of those memories replay inside my head. It wasn’t something I should indulge in, but I couldn’t help it.

He’d opened up to me tonight, told me something about his past and what he was feeling now. Those moments with him were rare and I couldn’t bring myself to regret them.

My head was spinning and I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. Blane kept bourbon in the library. Maybe a shot or two would help.

I climbed out of bed, my bare feet padding on the floor as I crept downstairs. I didn’t hear a thing as I passed by Kade’s room, and no light showed from under the door to Blane’s room at the end of the hallway.

Guilt and a little embarrassment washed over me. Was I really going to sneak booze in the middle of the night? Blane’s chastisement last week about my drinking still echoed in my head. But I was a grown woman. I could have a drink if I wanted one. It’s not like I needed permission.

A dim glow splashed into the hallway from the library door, open a scant few inches. The light wasn’t unusual. Blane often forgot to turn off all the lights when he went to bed.

But I didn’t expect the voices. I froze in place outside the door, listening.

“… cops will be here in the morning,” Blane was saying.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Kade replied. “Why are you a suspect?”

The clink of ice in a glass. Blane was drinking. “A neighbor saw me go in that night. And they don’t know it yet, but they have something even more incriminating.”

“What?”

A long pause. “Semen.”

The breath left my lungs in a rush and the room seemed to tilt. Blane had slept with Kandi on the night of her murder.

“They don’t know it’s yours.”

“No. Not yet. They don’t have my DNA and won’t get it without a court order or arresting me, neither of which they’re prepared to do. Yet.”

“Tell me you didn’t bareback with Kandi.”

Blane snorted. “I’m not that stupid. I always use a condom. The only time I haven’t was with—”

He cut himself off and there was silence for a moment. It seemed Kade knew what he’d been going to say, because he didn’t ask Blane to finish his sentence.

“But the condom’s still there. I’m sure they grabbed the trash. I’m guessing it’s already in evidence.”

“Was this just an incredibly badly timed reunion?” Kade asked.

“We weren’t back together again, if that’s what you’re asking,” Blane said. “We fucked a few times. It didn’t mean anything.” More ice clinked.

My eyes squeezed shut. This couldn’t be happening.

Kade snorted. “How long had that been going on?”

“I wasn’t cheating on Kat,” Blane bit out. “This was after we… broke up. Kandi must have found out about Kat and
me—who knows?—but she came by one night. I was angry. She was available and willing. End of story.”

“Apparently not, if you kept fucking her,” Kade retorted.

Silence.

“Did you kill her?”

My legs gave out and I sank soundlessly to my knees on the floor. The fact that Kade was even asking the question had me reeling, as apparently it did Blane, too.

“You’d think that of me?” he asked in a pained but angry rasp.

“No, but shit happens. And if you did do it, then I need to know. You’re not going to jail—I don’t care what I have to do. That’s not going to happen.”

“Wouldn’t my being out of the picture solve a big problem for you?” Blane was angry now.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You think I don’t know you’re in love with Kathleen?”

There was a long silence and I covered my mouth with my hands so they wouldn’t hear my ragged breathing. My knees ached from being pressed against the hardwood floor.

“She picked you, brother,” Kade said quietly. “Long before she knew me. That doesn’t just go away because you fucked things up.”

“She’s better off without either of us.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen and you know it.”

A pause. “Did you sleep with her?”

“What do you care, Blane? You tossed her aside and fucked Kandi. Who else have you fucked the past few months? Yet you expect her to be a nun, waiting for you to come to your senses?”

Glass shattered and I started. My hands trembled, still covering my mouth.

“Can we get back to what the fuck you’re going to do about this?” Kade’s irritated voice cut through the sudden silence.

“What do you think I’m going to do? I’ll do everything in my power to fight it, call up every favor anyone has ever owed me.”

“Will that be enough?”

“I don’t know.”

They were quiet then and somehow I managed to get off the floor and creep back to my bedroom. I crawled underneath the covers, wishing I hadn’t heard everything I had. Images in my head of Blane and Kandi making love wouldn’t go away, though it sounded like it hadn’t really been making love, at least not from his perspective. And I didn’t know if that was better, or worse.

Two things became clear as I finally drifted to sleep. One, Kade hadn’t answered Blane’s question about whether or not we’d slept together, and two, Blane hadn’t said whether or not he’d killed Kandi.

I was awake, dressed, and downstairs before 7:00
A.M.,
but even that early start wasn’t enough for me to beat Charlotte’s arrival.

Both Charlotte and Blane were sitting at the kitchen table when I walked in. They looked up and I halted for a moment. Charlotte looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. She recovered first.

“Kathleen,” she said in her come-fuck-me accent that put my teeth on edge. “I—it’s good to see you again.” She smiled and the smile I returned was just as fake.

“Same here,” I lied, heading for the fresh pot of coffee Mona had brewed. I poured myself a cup and took my time fixing it the way I liked. When I turned around to face them, Blane and Charlotte still hadn’t resumed their conversation.

“Kathleen is staying with me for a while,” Blane explained. His eyes devoured me from head to foot, and although it was vain of me, I was glad I’d taken pains to look good this morning. I’d figured the younger and more innocent I looked sitting at Blane’s side—because that’s where I was going to be regardless of what he said—the better it would look for him with the police. If I wasn’t afraid of him, then how could he possibly have done something like that to Kandi?

To that end, I’d chosen a navy sundress with a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. The bodice was fitted and hugged my waist and hips, then flared out into a flirty skirt that stopped a couple of inches above my knees. I’d blown my hair dry, then added some curls so it lay in soft waves down my back. I’d painted my toes I’m Not Really a Waitress red and slipped on a pair of white sandals with three-inch heels.

“When will the police be here?” I asked, taking a sip of coffee.

“Shortly,” Charlotte replied.

Blane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have class today?”

I smiled and said, “Not today. I thought I might be able to help.”

“I said I don’t want you here for this,” he said, his words clipped.

I looked at Charlotte. “Would it help if I was there?”

She hesitated, then said, “Well, yes, and maybe more so if you and Blane were back together.” A pained expression had flitted across her face as she said this, then was gone, leaving me to wonder if I’d imagined it. “Are you?”

Blane’s gaze was steady on mine as I processed this information, then he turned to Charlotte.