Page 68 of Imperfections Seduced
“I have an idea—why don’t you share what you have? I’ll take Matt off your hands and play around with him for a little while.”
I open my eyes, and Ava winks at me. She pours on her thick southern accent. “I’ll have him wine me and dine me, ooh la la.”
“Don’t forget the diamonds and the furs,” I add mockingly.
“Of course not. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
“Expensive, very expensive.”
“Damn right! I’m taking everything he has to offer and then some. I refuse nothing.”
The corner of my mouth lifts up. “I almost feel sorry for him.”
“Me too, but not enough not to take anything and everything he’s willing to give me.”
“Boy, my mama taught you well.”
“Yes, she did.”
“You were paying attention to her pearls of wisdom.”
“Why, yes, I was.”
Nick
What time is it? Shit, I’m supposed to meet Kate in forty minutes. She called me on Saturday and told me she scheduled an appointment with her doctor for Monday afternoon at one thirty. I had to push back a few of my appointments so I could make it. I need to know when Kate can safely take this paternity test. The sooner the better, so I can find out how to proceed with Cat. If this isn’t my baby, it would make things so much easier with me and Cat. I can get her to stop running from me. From what we feel for each other every time we’re together in the same room.
On the other hand,if this is my baby, I don’t know if she will want anything to do with me. She’ll keep running from me as fast as she can. And I’m going to go after her.I’m not going to let her turn and run away from us, from what I know we could be together.
Every timeI look into her eyes and she smiles, I want to bury myself deep inside her in a place where there’s no beginning and no end to the beauty that is her. She makes me want to do things I’ve never wanted to do before. I want to be better for her. I want to be the man that will never hurt her, that will stand by her on not only her best days but her worst days.
I’ve never wantedthat so fucking bad with anyone in my life. I’ve never wanted that with any woman! Not even with Paige, and we lived together. It must be love. If it’s not, I don’t know what it is. I know it’s not lust; I’ve had a lot of that in my life. With lust, it’s screw them and leave me. I don’t need to make small talk, and we don’t need to hang out. The only thing we need to do is exchange numbers, because if the sex was good we’re going to do it again.
This is something completely different. We’ve had the sex, and it was amazing; it was more than amazing, it was so good I had to stop and catch my breath. Catherine is not just any girl. She’s Cat, the little girl with the ponytail bouncing every which way. Trying to prove she was tough enough to keep up with me and Chris on the playground.
I cringe every time I think about the time she flew head first off her bike into the concrete. She was so little. She was trying to prove she could keep up with Chris and our friends by doing a bike stunt. She tried to jump a fence with her bike, something she saw us do all the time. Chris was angry at her for following him around. No guy wantstheir little sister hanging around him and his friends all the time.
He told her to go home, that she was just a stupid little girl that wasn’t tough enough to hang with us. That was the wrong thing to say to her. She was so angry. She screamed at him, “I’m going to show you, Chris! I’m tough enough to do what you boys can do!” When she jumped the fence, the takeoff was good, but the landing was bad. Everyone’s heart dropped and hit the pavement with her. When I saw her little body fly off the bike, I was scared shitless and didn’t know what to do. All I remember thinking was I hope she’s not dead, I hope she’s not dead. I’ve never been so scared in my life.
That was the first and only time I saw Chris cry. There was a gash on her head, and he was covered in blood, crying and shaking. We brought her home, and Sophie was the only one home. She saw the blood and freaked out. She rushed her to the hospital and took us with her. We were so relieved when the doctor came out and told us she was going to be fine. She had to get ten stitches. After that day, we became a trio. Chris never told her she wasn’t tough enough hang with us again, and when he did need to get rid of her, he was more sensitive with his approach.
I seeKate sitting in a chair in the waiting area, going through her phone. Nice office. It looks like Kate. Upscale, well-polished, sleek, and modern. It all looks brand new, like you should only look, not touch.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“You didn’t miss anything. All I did was fill out the paperwork.”
“Do you know how long it’s going to be before you see the doctor?”
“Why, do you have somewhere more important to be? Or is it that you don’t want to be seen with me?”
“I’m only asking because I need to know if I should cancel my four o’clock appointment.”
“Oh, that’s not my problem,” she says, still looking down at her phone.
“Look, Kate, I didn’t come here to argue with you. This is not an easy situation for either of us. Drop the attitude and stand down.” I finally get her attention, and she looks at me. “This would be easier for both of us if we’re civil to each other for however long we’re here.” I don’t know if I can keep my temper in check for even an hour with the attitude coming off her.
“Fine.”
