Page 37 of Masked Indulgence
But when his lips left mine, he pulled the dome off his plate and smiled. “Wow, she really outdid herself. Roasted game hens, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, peas with pearl onions.Yum.”
I pulled the dome off mine and enjoyed the aromas that drifted up to me. “It smells wonderful, doesn’tit?”
“It does.” He dug right in, and I followedsuit.
The moment had passed, and now it would be awkward to say the words to him. How did one say something like that—especially for the first time—when the recipient of the sentiment was feasting on delicious food and savoring everybite?
Maybe I’d tell him on Christmas. Maybe that would be the perfect time to let him know that I lovedhim.
Chapter23
Nixon
After the deliciousdinner on Christmas Eve, Katana refused to just leave the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. She cleaned up the dining room and did all the dishes, and even went so far as to put them allaway.
While she did that, I took a glass of wine out to the deck to look at the stars. The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs had me turning my eyes from the sky to find my neighbor, John, trotting up to visit me. “Hey, John. MerryChristmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, Nixon.” He took a seat on one of the deck chairs and pulled a bottle of beer out of his jacket pocket. “I saw you out here and thought I’d join you for a littledrink.”
I raised my glass of wine in a toast to him, and he did the same with his beer. “To new beginnings,” Isaid.
“Here, here,” he said then popped the bottle’s top and took a drink. “Did Katana tell you I met her the otherday?”
“She did,” I told him then set my glassdown.
His expression turned sheepish. “Did she rat meout?”
I froze for a second as I wondered what the hell he meant. What had he done? She hadn’t said a word about him saying anything that would have him asking me a question like that. “No. But I’d love it if you told onyourself.”
“Yeah, well,” he seemed hesitant. “After I got back home, I thought about what I’d said and it sunk in that I might have said things that might’ve put her off aboutyou.”
“Well, if Katana’s put off about me, she’s not showing it.” I laughed and picked up my glass, taking a drink. At least whatever he’d said hadn’t affectedher.
“Good. I can be a motormouth sometimes and talking to her proved to be one of those times.” He took a long drink of his beer before he went on. “You see, I pointed out how you are, or were, anyway. I told her that you could be very neglectful of people. Especiallywomen.”
“Oh, that.” I was well aware of that major downfall. “Well, I’m not that person when I’m with her. She makes me a better person. I don’t know how she does it. She doesn’t ask me to be any certain way. I just want to be around her—with her—or at least talking to her throughout the day when I can’t be with her. She’s what I think about most of thetime.”
“And there’s the baby now too. She told me about that. And how that’s why she’s here with you, so you guys can raise it together.” He took another drink. “You know about my divorce and how I’d never get married again. Plus, if I could have a do-over, I’d leave the kids out ofit.”
“Now, come on, John. You’ve whined a lot about the divorce and how your wife cheated, but how can you second guess your children? That’s just going too far. There are no mistakes in bringing a child into this world. I believe that with everything in me.” I knew I’d gotten up on my soapbox a bit as I was talking a little louder than normal, but he had to stop beating himself up over thisthing.
“They have some issues because of what they went through, Nixon. I don’t always let that be known. Sandy has trouble trusting people. And Brady is a womanizer. Both drink too much.” John shook his head. “If I would’ve known they would end up with problems, then I might’ve left sooner and just taken them withme.”
“As if you could’ve done that,” I said as I ran my hand through my hair. The wind had kicked up and mussed it up a bit. “In this day and age, you could’ve never gotten complete custody ofthem.”
“I didn’t mean like legitimately take them. I meant run off with them. Escape from the woman who ruined all of our lives. Rescue them.” He took another drink, looking like a man who had too manyregrets.
“I doubt your kids are that messed up—I’ve seen them. As a matter of fact, are they going to be stopping by to visit you tomorrow for Christmas?” I asked to try to get him off his pity party and on to somethingbetter.
“Yeah,” he said then finished his beer. “After they stop by their mother’s place. She’s got a new man—poor son of a bitch. They’re having a real old-fashioned Christmas with his three kids as well. I guess she’s pretending she has a big happy family with love just flowing in the air now that she’s rid ofme.”
It was wrong of me to do, and I knew it even as the chuckle left my mouth. “Sorry. I really am. I know you’ve had it rough, but listen to yourself. She didn’t get rid of you. You left her. And you did what you thought you needed to do for your kids—and that’s admirable. You did the best you could with what you ended up with. Now don’t you think it’s time to moveon?”
John looked at me with a frown. “No. I don’t want to move on. And I didn’t come over to talk about me, anyways. I wanted to come over here to talk to you about your upcoming bundle of joy. Don’t make Katana think you’ll be there for her through the raising of this child. We both know you’ll get busy with some new and exciting project and she and this kid will be left alone, waiting for your attention to return to them. Which it won’t. It won’t because men like you aredriven.”
I was slightly incensed that the man thought he knew me better than I knew myself. “Driven isn’t a bad thing to be—look at where it’s gotten me,” I said, gesturing around my deck. “And as far as how I was, that doesn’t matter. I want Katana and this baby. I’ve already put her and this baby ahead of everything else. And I happen to have a project on the table right now. We’re going to open the nightclub, Swank, on New Year’s Eve. And I haven’t lost sight of her as I’ve been moving forward with thatproject.”
“Maybe that’s because she and this baby have become your new project. You were already working on that nightclub when you met her.” His words sent my heart into aspiral.
