1-Chloe-Kate-Bella Read online

  “Well…not usually…but the height thing kind of reminded me,” she said from inside the large closet, exiting with a pair of navy heels.

  “You’re not a shoe collector.” He watched her hop from foot to foot as she buckled them in place.

  “Pffft…if people are that concerned with what my toes are wearing, they seriously need a life,” Kate headed to the lower level, fingers working on the clasp of the small shoulder bag she carried. “I spend a lot of time on my feet…and keeping them happy is more important than crazy butt styles.”

  “I like your dress,” Dylan commented, waiting at the door, his hands making certain the vest was buttoned. “We need that big box over there?” He gestured to the silver and gold wrapped gift. “And we need directions.”

  “Oh, geeze…yes…computer, print out map to church on calendar,” she glanced from it to him, watching the length in his stride, his hands lifting the box with a careful uncertainty. Kate went to the printer in the other room and met him at the door. “It’s not breakable. I have a friend who makes quilts and bought one for the new couple.” She set the alarm and followed him down the stairs, the door firmly latched behind them. “European cut suit?”

  “I like the style,” he answered, the trunk closed before joining her in the car.

  “It fits you…the vest and all…extremely professional looking.”

  “You got a thing for vests?”

  Kate shifted against the car door, head tipped as she considered his question. “I think I have a thing for you,” she admitted after a quiet pause.

  “Huh…that’s nice to know. I was hoping I wasn’t in this thing on my own,” Dylan shifted and guided them to the highway. He took her palm and carried it to his lips. “This is our first formal thing as a couple.”

  “We were a couple last night at the fundraiser,” she pointed out, smiling when he pulled into a parking lot and held up a hand before going into the coffee shop. “I guess I better get a coffee maker for the house, huh?” She mentioned when he returned, a bottle of water held out to her.

  “We can look for one tomorrow.”

  “Does it scare you, Dylan…being part of a couple,” she set the water into the holder and watched the scenery.

  “I guess I think of it along the same lines as all the school I did…it’s a new something that I want a great deal,” he admitted aloud. “So we learn bits at a time. And the fundraiser didn’t count…separate vehicles.”

  “Oh, that’s lame.”

  “I’m not crazy about leaving my car on the curb, though,” he saw her shrug.

  “Put it in the garage, then,” Kate took a long swallow.

  “We have a garage?” A frown tipped his lips. He tapped in the address to the GPS when they stopped for a light.

  “Hmm…we actually have a very large double to the other side of the dive shop. I own the building and lease to the dive shop. They have the left half and the other is divided with separate garage doors and openers ‘cause I only use one half of it. There are stairs up the back that open into the kitchen.”

  “Huh,” Dylan was glad to see the sun popping out above them as they headed across the bridge over Lake Washington into Bellevue.

  “I’ve been renovating things in bits for the last few years until I had it the way I wanted it. You didn’t notice the two large rooms off to the north side of the house? One has the computer and desk…make shift office. The other has my cross country skier for the winter when it’s too cold or wet to skate safely.”

  “Huh,” he repeated. “It’s been a busy week.”

  “Information overload comes with a new relationship, I think. Drink more coffee,” Kate suggested with a cheeky smile.

  Dylan parked the car, the very large church looming above them in the noon time sun. “Present to the reception?”

  “Right…” Kate accepted the arm he gallantly offered, eyes scanning and a frown forming.

  “You’re not one of the bridesmaids, are you?”

  “Oh, god no…I avoid those roles like the plague,” Kate slowed them on purpose, smiling at people passing them by. “I am a girl…and I truly enjoy being a girl, but I just do not get this whole thing,” she confided with a wave of her free hand. “Menus and flowers and dresses and crazy relatives…give me a juicy trial any day.” She ignored his deep laughter.

  “Bride or groom?”

  “Friends of the bride, please,” Kate said to the usher, selecting a couple seats way in the back.

  “People are staring,” Dylan said through his smile as the church filled up.

  “Yeah…I should have realized you’d attract attention,” Kate sighed, keeping the polite social smile in place as friends and co-workers filed past them.

  “I checked my fly and I don’t have anything in my teeth,” he quipped, enjoying the faint tint of color filling her cheeks. “My, my…Kate Fletcher…”

  “Shhh…the ceremony is beginning,” she growled with an elbow to his side.

  Dylan followed Kate’s lead, standing at the back, watching the couple leave the church with bird seed tossed around them as they ran to the waiting car.

  “Where’s the reception?”

  “Straight up ninety and hang a left at Lake Sammamish. There’s a lodge…I’ll guide you in…it’s very nice…rustic and huge,” Kate told him. She stepped from the car thirty minutes later and stretched, arms high above her head.

  “Present?”

  “Present,” Kate agreed, eyes wide as she snapped open her little bag. “Oh, wait! I need a pen!”

  Not to be ruffled, Dylan reached to an inside pocket and pulled a slim gold pen out. “Pen.”

  Kate set the package on the waist high stone wall, opening the tag and writing in clearly. “and Dylan” beneath her name.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” he said softly, taking the pen back. He felt an unusual heat deep inside him.

  “Of course I did…we’re a couple, remember?” Kate grinned and took his arm to lead him toward the large wood and stone structure.

  “You’re right…this place is massive.”

  “Bella got it in an auction,” Kate was busy scanning the people. “Okay, present here…then we go look for Bella. She’s probably busy, but I want to say hi to her.” Kate caught sight of the bouncing blond curls, a very slender woman in black gesturing and laying out massive platters on the buffet.

  Dylan lowered his voice. “You have a lot of people very curious.”

  Kate waved her hand in the air in dismissal. “Don’t let it fret you. Bella!” Kate dropped his palm and hugged the woman beaming brightly in return. “This looks amazing and smells fantastic!”

  “Thank you, Kate,” she stood back slightly and nodded. “How’ve you been?” Pale blue eyes glanced over at the man standing quietly, hands clasp before him, feet at parade rest. She was too familiar with the stance. Her palm went out toward him. “Bella Jefferies.”

  “Dylan Grant. Kate’s right…and it smells even better,” Dylan glanced over the many platters hungrily.

  “Still setting up, but thank you.”

  “Are you doing okay, Bella?” Kate walked with her away from the hired people arranging silver and plates.

  “I think so…I’ve been working on making this place clean and habitable. I was very surprised when we won and they handed me the keys, but I’m okay,” she glanced over at Dylan, who had drifted toward the entrance. “He’s new.”

  “Yeah…says people have been staring at him,” Kate chuckled and hugged her friend again. “Call me if you need anything, promise? I’d better go join the reception.”

  “I
will…I will, I promise,” Bella watched her go, turning and entering the kitchen.

  “Another friend you worry about,” Dylan said when he felt her fingers on his arm. They began mingling in with the other reception people.

  “She was a parole officer…the guy she was in charge of was in Iraq, military, and had been in a group that was prosecuted because the Captain in charge turned in his men for abuse of power, stealing and various other very unsavory things that happen during war time. He was tried and sentenced to five years. He took a liking to Bella when he got out. He threatened her but took his own life instead.”

  “Something cold?” Dylan kept his palm on hers as they walked.

  “Please…and yes, I worry. She puts up a good front. I’ve seen it so much in woman…girls…” Kate slid onto the stool next to him, foot swinging slowly. “Just water, please…extra ice.”

  “She’s got good amenities for events here. Generous parking, nicely marked trails and it’s peaceful. I’d have large gatherings here, especially if the food is half as good as it smells,” Dylan tasted the coffee tentatively and sighed in apprehension. “And she serves damn good coffee.”

  Kate just laughed and tugged on his lapel. She kissed him soundly. “I’ll be right back.” Heels clicking on the stone floors as she crossed the room toward the restroom signs.

  Perched on a stool, he wasn’t sure what to expect when a man almost his height approached the bar, even though his eyes were on the departing Kate. He was in mid sip when the palm came out toward him.

  “Jason Howard…I work with Kate.”

  “Dylan Grant…I’m sure she’ll be right back,” he said easily.

  “Known her long?”

  “Long enough,” Dylan responded, not sure where the conversation was leading, but taking a wild guess that he was one Kate barely noticed in the dating arena.

  “She’s never brought a date to things like this in five years,” Jason ordered an imported beer.

  “She’s a discerning woman.” Dylan didn’t like the fake laugh that came next.

  “We had bets going that she didn’t like guys,” he confided with a long swallow of the cold beer.

  Dylan watched their topic begin to cross the room, her dark gaze meeting his. She wasn’t even aware of the man standing beside him, he realized, an internal growl at the reaction she had on his body. He stood up and adjusted his trousers.

  “Kate.”

  “Oh, hi, Jason,” Kate reached for her water and perched on the stool beside Dylan. “I see lots of people from the office arriving.”

  “Jason was telling me there were some office bets on you, Kate,” Dylan saw the man gulp and look suddenly frantic.

  “On me? Good grief…you’d think they had enough work to do,” she glanced up at the devilish grin in Dylan’s eyes. “Chris told me about that bet. I’m sure Dylan can reassure you…I am not now nor have I ever been interested in females sexually. Excuse us,” Kate carried her glass and took Dylan’s hand. “You were enjoying that entirely too much.”

  “I don’t like him,” Dylan finished the coffee and placed the cup on a passing tray of empties.

  “Neither do I,” Kate admitted with a shrug. “Fortunately, he works in a different department. He’s all about climbing the ladder…and it doesn’t matter who he squishes on his way up. We had a couple encounters before there was a shuffle and he was relocated.”

  “He made passes at you?”

  “He makes passes at anything with boobs,” Kate said flatly. “Thing is…the idiot is engaged to a really nice girl. People have tried to warn her…I never get why girls ignore good advice when it comes to guys. When there is a past with clear evidence to back it up…I just don’t get it.”

  “My dad always says people have to make their own mistakes. I like the cultures where there are elders people genuinely want to learn from,” Dylan found them a table and pulled out the chair for her. “Be right back,” he bent over and dropped a light kiss to a very fragrant shoulder. Spicy and dark.

  Kate chuckled at the low growl she knew only she could hear from Dylan. She sat back, sighing and watching people mill about, filling plates and chatting. A photographer wandered around the room, snapping memory photos for the bride and groom.

  They made it through the buffet a couple times; clapped and listened to nice speeches and toasted the new couple before moving onto the dance floor.

  “This was a nice way to spend a Saturday,” Kate murmured with a sigh, she raised her head from his cheek. “Hands having a difficult time staying in public places?”

  “Damn difficult,” he agreed gruffly. “How about we sneak out and go home?”

  Home. Kate had to smile and take his hand. She lifted her purse with her free hand and moved them toward the main entrance. She raised one hand with a quick wave to Bella as they stepped onto the sprawling, covered porch.

  Pinks and blues and golds highlighted the western sky. Kate paused and smiled at the sunset before striding with him through the large parking area to where they’d left the car.

  Kate bent to the side, removing one heel and then the other once they were inside the house. A startled yelp left her lips, a wide ‘OH’ when his mouth came down, ravaging and teasing and drinking in the tension that had been building in them both. Her fingers moved to the buttons down the front of his vest, the wall holding her up only until his hands slid heavily down her sides and around behind her, lifting her against him. Kate didn’t hide the sensuous groan, his fingers massaging her behind and pulling her hard against him.

  “Dylan…this is crazy,” she whispered, hot kisses trailing across her shoulder and pushing the slender strap out of his way.

  “Shhh…hold onto my shoulders,” he told her, groaning when her long legs wrapped around his waist. A vague part of him made certain the locks were set before carrying her up the stairs to the loft.

  Thirty minutes later, Kate lay naked on the bed, gazing into the fading light outside. “Wow.”

  “No kidding…and there will be rules against your hand on my thigh when we’re traveling,” Dylan informed her, joining her in the bed, his palm running possessively over the curves.

  “Hmm….well, I guess I do have to take the blame for that one,” she chuckled, remembering how many times he removed her fingernails from trailing too close to his crouch. “But on the upside,” she teased, using his words. “You have amazing endurance and delicious muscle control.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kate wandered around his apartment shortly after noon Sunday, a small collection of things near the door to go into her car and be transported. She looked up expectantly when the phone sounded.

  “Kate! Get that, please?” Dylan called from somewhere.

  “Dylan’s apartment, he’s unavailable at the moment. Can I take a message?” She pressed the speaker button and announced brightly, staring out into the lifting fog and clouds over the lake.

  “I was calling for my son,” came the quiet, uncertain voice.

  “Please hold,” Kate placed her palm over the speaker. “Dylan! It’s your mother.”

  Dylan hooked a suit carrier on the door and joined her on the sofa. “Good afternoon, mother. How’s your day going?”

  “It’s been a lovely weekend so far. Your dad is wanting to BBQ and your brother and sister are here. Do you think you could join us?” Terry Grant easily matched her son’s nonchalance. “With your friend, of course.”

  Dylan glanced at Kate. “Can I give you a call right back? I promise.”

  “I will hold you to that, Dylan,” the line went silent after her chuckle.

  “Okay, my
mother is right now going to my brother and sister, pumping them for information, which, of course, they have none. Feel like BBQ and relatives?” He met the smile on her face, taking her fingers to his lips. “I owe you one,” he accepted her silent answer, tapping his parents’ number in and waiting. Not even one ring, he thought with a chuckle. “We’ll be there in a bit. Can we bring anything?”

  “Oh, we’re pretty well stocked…Drive careful.”

  “I’ll get this stuff stowed in the car,” Dylan stopped when the phone rang again, one shoulder up when she reached to press the speaker button after a puzzled glance.