Page 53 of Hers to Hold
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“—saying she’s an investigative reporter withyourpermission to sit in on the meeting?”
“I don’t think they said a word to each other,” Kat remarked. She moved from the dining area where the meeting was held to the kitchen and fired up the espresso machine. “How long have the two of you been…working together?” Her tight expression told Wes she was struggling with what to believe, but giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“Wes, you’re my best friend, bro. There’s got to be a reason why you didn’t tell me.”
Wes ran a hand through his loose hair, shoving it back over and over until it stayed. “I just found out about it this morning. Honest.”
“She’s been working at my bakery,” Kat breathed.
Drew set a questioning gaze on Wes. “She played us. She played you, Wes.”
Wes sat mute, still unable to come to terms with it. The meeting with the FBI gave him a respite, but now he had no choice but to face the situation. Half of him felt played and the other half didn’t want to relinquish the hope that perhaps what he’d had with Kady was real.
“We saw the two of you on the porch the other evening,” Kat stated. “All over each other like teenagers. Ducking because you thought we could see you, which we could.”
Wes squeezed his eyes shut as he sank back into his chair. “Y’all saw that?”
“Yup,” Drew said. “Chas was the first to catch you, and then she told the rest of us.”
Wes’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. “Chas saw?My daughter,Chastity?”
“Is there another daughter we don’t know about?” Kat asked sarcastically.
“She never said anything about it. Just that she really likes Kady.”
“Maybe ’cause she could tell you did. You still like her, don’t you? Even after…all of this?”
After her deception? Was Kat struggling with her own response to the question as well? Wes stared at the woman he knew was Kady’s half-sister. Guilt sprouted in his gut. Keeping Kady’s secret made him a liar. But even so,yes,he liked her, but with his pride still hurt he couldn’t voice it.
“Of course he does. I haven’t seen him look this way about a woman in ages. Even now”—Drew gestured toward him—“he looks heartbroken.”
“He is in the room,” Wes grumbled.
“You look heartbroken,” Drew repeated flatly.
“Of course he’s heartbroken,” Kat said. “I’m a little heartbroken. She worked in my bakery. Everyone has great things to say about her. I suppose she won’t be back.”
“Babe, I’d be really shocked if she ever set foot in your bakery again.”
Kat’s moisture-filled eyes locked with Wes. “What about…you know?”
“I told her what we had was over,” Wes stated with a firm tap of his index finger on the table. “After today, I don’t want to hear from her again. It’s for the best.”
“Uh-uh. I’m not buying that excuse.” Kat sat a cup of espresso before her husband while another was being made. “Something big happened to keep you two from talking.”
“I was civil.”
“Is silence the definition of civility?”
Wes clamped his mouth shut. What could he say? All of it was revealed in the meeting. “How are the two of you not more pissed off that she’s been undercover this whole time? Kat, aren’t you mad she deceived you? Drew, you invited her over for dinner.” He thanked Kat for the cup of espresso and immediately took too big a sip burning his tongue. He set the cup down heavily, it clanging against the saucer. Drew laughed softly. “Well?” Wes asked, holding a napkin to his tongue.
Kat’s mouth angled down to one side. “Yes and no. Sure, I’m not happy she got a job at my bakery to get close to Drew, but she has been a big help. She did her job well.”
“And look at what she provided,” Drew added. “She dug into Carl Rankin’s company and the subcontractors. She found violations and fraudulent claims. We would’ve had to waitweeksfor the police to get warrants and subpoenas. And it would’ve taken time to hire our own investigative firm and wait for them to research Rankin. She promised to publish a story exonerating me.”
“And you believe her?” Wes said with a grunt. This time, he slowly sipped the hot brew. Although the taste was smooth and rich, it only made him hotter and grumpier.
