Page 44 of Fate

“If you say it’s a good job for me, I trust you. You’re the man of the house. You take care of what’s yours, isn’t that right?”

“Well…uh, yeah, but Misty, you’re notmi—”

“And it will give me a better opportunity to get to know Cora’s grandfather.” She claps her hands in front of her chest. “Goodie goodie gumdrop. This is going to be so great! Me working for your dad, helping out the Davis family.” Misty stands up holding her hands like a trophy in front of her chest. “You are too good to be true, Carson Davis. More than we ever could have dreamed!” She places her hands on both sides of my cheeks and smashes her lips onmine.

Before I can pull away, she’s licking and kissing my lips. Her mouth comes at mine like a face-sucking hoover. While trying to hold Cora and not fall out of my chair, I attempt to push her back. She takes the gesture as a move to pull closer. I try to push my head back and tell her to stop, but the second I get an inch of space and open my mouth to tell her to stop, her tongue is inside my mouth and she’s kissing the daylights out ofme.

Just as I get my bearings, she pulls off, jumps up and down. “This is so exciting! I can’t wait. I’ll have to get new work clothes. But I’ll pay you back out of my first check!” She’s running her mouth a mile a minute. I can’t get a word in edgewise.

“That’s not necessary. Of course, I’m happy to provide foryou—”

“Because you’re the best man a girl could ever have. You hear that, Cora? Daddy got Mommy a big new job. Now we’ll both be contributing to the family!” She spins on her toe in a circle, her robe coming open again, flashing me a lot more cleavage than I needed tosee.

I close my eyes. “Maybe you should get dressednow.”

She stops in her tracks and smirks. “Oh, I see how it is. You don’t want anyone else seeing what’s yours. I get it.” She closes her robe tight and beats feet to the sliderdoor.

“No, that’s not it at all…” But it’s too late. She’s in the house and down the hall to herroom.

“What just happened with your mommy, babygirl?”

“Ma-ma!” she says. She shoves a handful of bacon and eggs into her mouth.

“Shit! Are you allowed to have bacon?”

I watch carefully as she chews her big bite. Fear slithers from the base of my spine and up my back as I watch my child swallow. Sweat prickles against my forehead, and I hold my breath. Finally, Cora smiles and grabs for another handful ofeggs.

“Oh, no, you don’t, you little sneaky sneak! How’s about we hit the ocean? I feel the need to connect to the elements and wash off this strange morning. You withme?”

“Wa wa!” She points at the ocean.

“Water is right.” I smile. She’s so smart already. I wonder if her vocabulary is further along than the average kid. I’ll have to do some research or ask Chase about it. The man seems to be a damn know-it-all when it comes to all things kid related. Punk.

I stand up and take the stairs down past the pool and to our private beach. The second I get to the sand, Cora wants down. I let her down but stay really close, keeping an eye on the water and how quickly the waves come in andout.

She plants her butt in the wet sand far enough back she shouldn’t get hit by any waves and shoves her hands right into the earth.

“Good idea, baby girl. Let’s build a sandcastle.” If anything is going to get my mind off what I have to do tonight with Kat and the weird things Misty said today, it’s building a sandcastle for the first time with my daughter.

Kathleen isa vision when she opens the door. Her golden hair shines in the track lighting over her foyer, and she bites into her lip seductively. Jesus Christ, those plump pink lips. I lose it right then and there. Before she can even speak, I push my way into her apartment, kick the door shut with my heel, and pull her into my arms. My mouth is on hers, and all I can think about right then is home. She is home. Her sunshine-and-coconut scent soothes the raging nerves I’ve been carrying around with me all week. She dips her head to the side and opens her mouth enough so I can playfully lick at her tongue and teeth. The little groan of frustration she gives me when I don’t deepen the kiss makes me smile against her mouth. I pull away just enough to sink my nose against her shoulder and neck to inhale her goodness and light for several seconds. This. It’s everything. She is my peace, my serenity. The calm after the storm. I hadn’t realized how stressed and ravaged my soul felt until just now. Being in her arms, having her essence surround me, soothes all that ails the beast within.

“God, I’ve missed you.” I let out all the air in my lungs, holding her close, molding my form tohers.

Her hands run up and down my back in a loving caress. “I missed youmore.”

I smile and nibble on the smooth skin of her shoulder and neck. It’s not the usual side I go for, but I’m trying to connect with the side of her she’s comfortable with. When I get too close to the scars, she freezes up, and I don’t want that for her or me. Right now, having her freeze up on me would destroy me. As it is, a week has been too long after what happened between us last Friday.

Kat runs her hands up my back once more until she tunnels her fingers through my hair, scraping her nails lightly against my scalp. She pulls far enough back she can make eye contact. “What’s the matter, Carson? This isn’t likeyou.”

Without meaning to, the smart-ass remark flies out of my mouth unchecked. “And how would you know? It’s been years, Kat.”

Her entire body stiffens briefly, but she holds on. She doesn’t let go, push back, or run away. Now that is a first and entirely unlikeher.

She closes her eyes and sighs. “I guess I deservedthat.”

Hating I’ve hurt her—again—and knowing I’m about to hurt her more has put me on edge. “No, baby. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. There’s just a lot going on. Things have happened in the years we’ve been apart. Some of those things are not going to be easy to talk about.”

Finally, I push back and move away from her first. I turn around and see the table already set, candles lit, fresh flowers adorning the table. A bottle of wine and glasses are already set out, the wine uncorked and breathing.

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