Page 12 of Black Bay Enforcer
So much for being friends, she thought grumpily.
Maybe it was for the best though, since at the moment, she wouldn’t be good company. She felt like she’d been put through a wringer. Whatever Lark had done to her had not been pleasant. She’d felt like a vice had been tightened around her skull while they’d asked their questions.
Someone let out a loud bark of laughter and she flinched. During the questioning, all other sounds had faded away, and now that they were back, the noise was a bit overwhelming.
She frowned, unsure how she felt about the whole thing. The lack of choice. It was an invasion of her privacy but she wasn’t sure if she had the energy at the moment to get mad. Later, after she’d gone over it in her head a few hundred times and thought of all the things she should have said or done, she’d probably work herself up into a fine temper, but right now, all she wanted to do was drop her head onto the table and groan. Her head hurt, her eyes were dry and gritty, and her mouth felt like it was lined with cotton.
She eyed her cup and wondered if she had enough energy to get up and refill it.
“Pie!”
Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin, her heart thumping madly. Putting her hand to her chest, she looked up at Kong who was holding three whole pies.
He shot her a sheepish look. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He extended the pies. “But this should make up for it.”
Dropping into a chair, he set the pies down on the table. “I didn’t know which kind you like best, so I brought a variety. Chocolate cream, lemon meringue, and apple.”
There was a metallic clatter as he dumped a bunch of forks in front of her. “Which one do you want?”
“Er…”
“I know. It’s a tough choice. Right? But if you can’t make up your mind, you can always do what I do and just have some of each.”
Pie wasn’t what was confusing her right now. “I didn’t think you’d come back,” she suddenly blurted.
Her cheeks heated. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Whatever Lark had done to her had turned her brain to mush. Was she going to just say everything that popped into her head? And if so, how long would it last? She tucked her lips between her teeth just in case.
“I said I would. You and I are kicking off a new friendship.” With a grin, he raised his fork between them.
Katherine just stared, so he nudged another fork toward her. “Come on, raise it.”
When she did, he clinked them together. “Cheers. Now dig in.”
“Ooh, lemon meringue,” Lark said as she made another appearance and sat down. Her husband, Grady, was with her this time and he nodded at Katherine. “Miss Knox.” Then he sat down as well, and both of them grabbed some forks.
“You didn’t get plates, Kong?”
“Had my hands full.” Raising one of his big shoulders in a shrug, he added, “Besides, who needs plates? Just dig in.”
“Barbarian,” Lark fondly muttered and quickly went to rectify his oversight. As soon as she returned, she began plating the slices.
Lark’s gaze met Katherine’s and she had the urge to quickly close her eyes to protect herself, but the other woman only asked, “Did you want some of this?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
As the couple dug in, Kong asked around a big forkful of apple pie, “So how’s it going? Are you settling in okay?”
Katherine nodded weakly. “You accept my apology then?”
“Of course. We’re friends now.”
“Just like that?” It seemed too good to be true.
“Well, you did have to endure an interrogation to get here, so...” He nodded. “We’re starting over, you and I.” He wiped his hands on a napkin. “Speaking of which…”
He stood and motioned for her to do the same. Her knees felt a bit weak and wobbly, but she managed. He smiled, a big, toothy grin that showed off those fangs that had once scared her senseless. “Hello, little human. Nice to meet you.”
Katherine wasn’t scared anymore. When he extended his big hand across the table, she grinned back and, playing along, took it. “Hello, Kong. It’s nice to meet you too.”
