Page 55 of Pelvic Flaws

“Good girl. Now I’ll let you get back to work and Katie.”

“Yes.”

“Quit overthinking things. We are where we are and I’m just fine with that.”

As I floated back to my desk on a cloud of happiness, Amy and Ellie looked up at me.

“Was that your boyfriend?” Amy asked with a grin that said ‘you wish you had a boyfriend’.

“No,” I replied, grinning widely. “That was my man. There’s nothing boyish about him whatsoever.”

Ellie squealed and clapped her hands like a seal, while Amy looked at me a little perplexed, evidently wondering if old people still had sex.

Well, this old person hadn’t in a while, but my hopes were high for the future.

Dex

I picked Katie up, as promised, at the end of the drive, and a lesser man might have blown off the meeting with the ex and taken her back to his apartment; she looked so freaking hot. She was wearing brown and white striped pants that ended at her ankles, brown, high shoes, and a sage green t-shirt that hung off one shoulder, with her gorgeous, blonde hair down and wavy.

How the hell hadn’t this woman been taken before now, I’d never know. I had a big enough ego to consider that how she was looking may well have been down to me. The first time I’d met her she wasn’t exactly put together, and then there’d been the crazy tee she’d been wearing at the gym – but I liked that side of her; the messy ‘I just threw this on’, Katie. The polished Katie was pretty special too, it had to be said, and she smelled amazing. The light, flowery, yet sexy smell of her perfume invaded my air as she got into the car and made me feel all sorts of things I probably shouldn’t on a second date. If you could call it a date when I was going to be officially meeting her ex-husband.

“Hi,” Katie said, eyeing me warily. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but to be honest I’m disappointed,” I replied, pouting a little.

“You are? Why?” She looked down at her clothes. “Is it what I’m wearing?”

“What? No way.” I shook my head and took Katie’s hand in mine. “You look beautiful, why would you think I’d be disappointed in what you’re wearing?”

Katie shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s just been a long time since I dressed for anyone but myself. I’ve kind of got out of the habit of it.”

“You should only ever dress for you, because if a man is disappointed in what you’re wearing then he’s a douche if you ask me.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “It’s you I’m interested in Katie, not the contents of your closet.”

She frowned, narrowing her eyes at me. “You would tell me if something didn’t suit me though, wouldn’t you? I mean there’s nothing worse than someone wearing something that everyone except them can see looks awful.”

“Okay,” I replied with a laugh. “If something doesn’t suit you, I’ll tell you, but only then. Anyways, I reckon you’re pretty good at knowing what you look good in.”

“Hmm, I think I have to disagree,” she said, snapping her seatbelt closed. “I mean that bloody awful t-shirt I wore to the gym, if I came out wearing that I think you’d have something to say about it.”

I pondered her response and grinned. “Gotta be honest darlin’, I fucking love that t-shirt and can’t wait to find out if it’s true.”

* * *

“Okay,” Katie said, blowing out a breath. “If he starts being a knob either of us can give the code word and the other will make up an excuse to leave.”

“And what’s the code word?” I asked, taking her hand as we walked across the cobbled parking lot.

Katie faltered slightly and looked down at our hands before continuing. “Erm, I suppose the easiest thing is to say…‘Carl’s being a knob, let’s go’.”

I let my head drop back and laughed. “Shit, you’re funny.”

“I’m not, I’m nervous,” she muttered, placing a hand on her stomach.

I stopped walking and pulled Katie in front of me. “Why? It’s your ex, he has no hold over you.”

She looked up at me with big eyes and sighed. “I like you Dex. I don’t want him to scare you off and this bloody meeting seems ridiculous seeing as we’re just about to have a second date. Plus, apart from all that, I have no idea how to be with you, how to act. It’s been almost thirty years since I started a new relationship, and while I liked Ryan, it started off as a rebound thing when Carl and I split up for a while. You’ve made me feel more attractive in a few days than Carl ever did in the last six years of our bloody marriage, and I don’t want that feeling to stop, but I’m petrified it’s all going so fast. Plus, I’m scared that my telling you all of this might just have scared you off even more than my controlling ex-husband and three gorgeous but demanding kids already have.”

Katie’s shoulders sagged and she closed her eyes as she finished her little speech, and I took the moment to look at her. I watched the frown lines on her head straighten themselves momentarily, before creasing up again. I saw her bottom lip get sucked into her mouth, and I took in her shaky hand as it went to her throat that had a crimson hue spreading upward.

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