Page 44 of The Christmas Fix
“What? He doesn’t look like a hell beast. He’s very good-looking. The glasses make him look like an intellectual.”
“Hell beasts don’t have to be ugly. It’s what’s on the inside that’s a rotting smorgasbord of asshole.”
Paige’s eyebrows winged up her forehead, and she sent Angela a meaningful look.
“What?” Cat demanded. “Do youknowwhat he said to me?”
“No,” Angela answered. “The only thing we’ve pried out of you is ‘rotting smorgasbord of asshole.’”
“He comes storming up to the Hai house. I’m sitting outside with April and Sara after April got a little teary-eyed inside. He askedif I like making little girls cry.He acted like I’d just given both girls breakdowns and salaciously filmed it for a salivating audience of soulless sadists.”
“You get really descriptive when you’re mad and sober,” Paige observed. “And your alliteration is spot on.”
“Don’t make me add you to my hit-and-run list,” Cat warned.
“Why was he in your face?” her mother asked.
“He thought I made April cry on camera until I pointed out that there were no cameras outside. Duh. Then he launched into another tirade about me being a shining beacon of everything that’s wrong in this universe. And I finally let him have it. Verbally at least, because I’m a fucking lady.”
The waitress returned with their drinks. “You three ladies are lu-u-ucky. Courtesy of Drake ‘Hottie’ Mackenrowe.”
Cat glanced toward the bar. Drake and Henry waved cheerfully. Noah just stared.
Paige and Angela raised their glasses in a thank you. Cat stared back at Noah, willing him to read her mind.
Fuck. You.
He raised an eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth quirked. Cat’s eyes narrowed.How dare he look so calm, so pleasant.
Paige pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?” Cat hissed.
“I’m texting Drake and telling him not to let Noah come over here or Cat will gut him like a fish in front of all these witnesses and we’re going to have to drive really far in the dead of the night to hide the body.”
Drake held up his phone. Message received.
Cat turned her attention back to the table. “So, anyway, he’s there yelling at me on the sidewalk. And I lost it. It was a long day of filming, and then we walk through a house that barely two years ago we renovated to perfection. And now it’s moldy and muddy and completely unlivable. I wanted to cry with April.”
Angela reached out and squeezed her hand. “Honey. You’re my daughter, and if you want me to go over there and slap the glasses off that incredibly handsome man I will do it.”
Cat considered it briefly. But as entertaining as it would be to see, she preferred to fight her own battles. And do her own slapping.
“Thanks, Mom. If you don’t mind, I’ll keep that offer on the table for now.”
Angela nodded. “You just tell me where and when, and I will be there to slap the crap out of anyone you want.”
“Ah, family,” Paige sighed. “So, what else went down outside? We all heard the yelling.”
“Oh!” Cat gave the table a resounding slap hard enough to rattle the drinks. “Get this! He comparesmeto one of those sleazebag ambulance chasers and accuses me ofkidnappinghis daughter and exposing her to ‘sordid drama’!”
“Well, that’s ridiculous. Sara’s mother handed her over and obviously let him know since he knew where to find you and Sara,” Paige pointed out.
“Thank you,” Cat said, gesturing wildly enough that her mother picked up her drink and cradled it to her chest. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
“Do you think he has something going on up here that would prevent him from recognizing your generosity and brilliance?” Angela asked twirling a finger around her ear.
“You mean like a brain tumor?” Paige asked loyally.
