Page 86 of Second First Kiss

“I can slip out the back.”

“It will be too loud. And you’re naked! Someone might see you. Now don’t say a word.” She shoved him toward the door.

He looked inside. “Kitten, I won’t fit in there.” It would be like trying to shove a shark into a sardine can.

“For me, can you at least try?” she whispered, and she was so close to tears he couldn’t help but try to cram his too-big frame into the child-sized space.

“You bet.” Without so much as a kiss, he felt two hands shoving at his back. If she weren’t so upset, he’d laugh at being manhandled into a closet while half naked. Before he could get the last part of his right leg in, she slammed the door on his shin.

“Ow!” he muttered.

The door swung open. “Not a word. You know what? Don’t even breathe. And here.” She thrust his coffee mug at him, then quietly shut the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Coming,” he heard her call out. A moment later the front door opened. There were muffled voices and greetings.

“I wasn’t expecting you until ten.”

“It’s five till. Would you like me to go wait in my car until ten on the dot?”

“That’s silly. Please, come in. I was just making us coffee and fruit and didn’t get around to changing. Shall I?—?”

He could hear the stress in her voice.

“Don’t worry, this will be a quick meeting. In and out, I promise. Casual and as you’d normally be on an average Saturday morning.”

“Average Saturday, right. Well, I’m in my pj’s, so I bet that counts as casual.”

“It will go down as the most casual home visit to date.”

“Are you writing that down on your form?” Kat asked.

“Just putting the date, dear.”

The way it was said had undertones of judgment, as if she’d expected Kat to screw this up. She had been right all this time and he’d acted as if she was a conspiracy theorist who thought everyone was out to get her. He’d honestly believed that people would give her a fair shot.

That wasn’t what was going on here. And that pissed him off. He made a mental note to look into Ms. Woods and see how many times she recommended guardianship to a sibling over putting the child in the system.

“Is your father back yet?” Ms. Woods asked.

He could feel Kat’s hesitation even through the door. “Is that relevant?”

He had the same question. If Abe were in the picture, then Kat wouldn’t be in this situation.

“It would help your case if he was in touch.”

He winced. Nolan knew Abe was hard to get a hold of and worked weeks on end, but he assumed Abe was helping with the case, not hindering it. So essentially Kat was doing this alone. That was news to him.

“Tessa shouldn’t be punished for my dad’s absence,” Kat said, and he knew she was crossing her arms, calling on her inner ballbuster. Atta girl!

“Is Tessa here?”

“She had a sleepover at a friend of mine’s. She’s working on a photography project for school.”

There was an elongated silence.

“Why are you writing that down?” Kat asked.

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