Suck it up, he told himself as he let his knuckles scrape against the wood.
A few seconds passed without Katie showing up. He knocked again, this time with more urgency. Just as he reached for the doorbell, the door flew open. “What?”
Dean stood back; his eyes ran down the length of Katie and took in her disheveled appearance. She was in a bathrobe, which wasn’t a surprise considering her playgirl lifestyle, but the way her hair was messed on top of her head, and the dark circles under her eyes, made him consider Jack’s words even more.
“Katelyn.”
Instead of opening the door wide, Katie shrank behind it and used it as a barrier between them. “What are you doing here?”
What was he doing there? “Jack wanted me to check in on you.”
Her gaze narrowed, suspicion laced her brow. “You saw me last night.”
“Right. But we couldn’t exactly talk there, could we?”
Katie hid a yawn behind her hand and shook her head. “I’m not sure what we have to talk about, Dean. I’m fine. Jack should mind his own business.” She glanced behind her shoulder and held the door tight as if to keep him from barging in.
“He’s worried about you and so am I. Are you going to let me in or are we going to have this conversation in the hall?” He was starting to wonder what she was hiding.
“Now’s a bad time.” She nearly whispered her words.
Realization dawned on him like a splash of ice-cold water.
“You’re not alone,” he said, feeling something inside him ache. Dammit, he had no business aching.
“No, it’s not…yes, that’s it. So, if you’ll excuse me.”
As Katie started to close the door, Dean stuck his foot out to stop it.
She was lying. Her left eye did this little twitchy thing when she was being untruthful. It was something that he’d noticed early on when they’d flirted with each other. “What are you hiding, Katie?” His voice rose in agitation.
“Shh!” She glanced over her shoulder again then zipped her gaze back to him. “It’s a bad time, Dean. Why don’t we meet up for coffee…later.”
“I could use a cup now.” Without invitation, Dean pushed back against the door, determined to see what she was guarding.
The living room of her penthouse was as he remembered. Nothing seemed out of place. He glanced around and noticed that Katie still stood by the door holding it open.
“What’s going on?”
Katie placed her hands on her hips and pinched her lips together. It was her ticked off look. One he knew too well. “Nothing. Now will you please leave? I haven’t even showered yet and I’m not ready to entertain you.”
She shouldn’t look sexy in the pink, fluffy robe with her hair scattered every way but down, yet she did. Dean despised that his body heated with the memory of him messing up her hair. A memory a year and a half old.
“I’ll wait here while you get ready.”
Dean sat on her sofa and lifted one ankle to rest on his opposite knee.
Katie pounded her foot. “I never realized how dense you were, Dean Prescott. I don’t want you here and if you won’t leave on your own, I’ll have security escort you out.”
Her threat was empty and they both knew it. Dean winked and removed his hat from his head.
“Dammit, Dean!” Her voice rose well above the whisper she’d been using.
As he started to laugh at her agitation, a foreign noise sounded from the direction of her room.
Katie eyes shot to her bedroom door and she went perfectly still, her face lost all color.
When the noise sounded again, her attention shifted back to him. Then she did something Katie never did.
She fidgeted.
Dean saw the moment panic set in and leapt to his feet, over the sofa, and beat her to the door to her room.
Her chest heaved against her robe as she fought for her breath.
Dean’s hand grasped the doorknob and her hand shot out to stop him. The contact sizzled unwanted and unexpected awareness throughout his body.
He stared deep into her eyes and saw the same heat he felt staring back at him.
When an infant’s cry shocked him out of his trance, he loosened his hold on the door and let Katie push him out of the way.
What the hell?
Chapter Three
Left without a choice, Katie pushed around Dean and shot straight to Savannah to pick her up. She’d slept for three hours this time, the longest stint since she’d shown up in the early morning hours. Too bad she couldn’t wait ten more minutes so Dean could have left clueless.
Now Katie was forced to come up with a viable reason why an infant was sprawled out in the middle of her massive king-size bed.
Katie leaned over and lifted the tiny bundle into her arms. The fatigue of moments ago evaporated like steam when Savannah’s cries muffled to only whimpers once she was drawn close to Katie’s chest. “Are you hungry, baby girl?” Katie lifted her little finger to Savannah’s mouth, just like Monica had shown her, watched Savannah bite the tip and give it a hefty suck. “C’mon, let’s get you something to eat.”
Katie fidgeted until she successfully tucked Savannah into the crook of her arm and turned to leave her room. Her eyes collided with Dean, who Katie nearly forgot was there.
“So this was who you were hiding?”
“Not hiding,” Katie said a bit too quickly. “I just didn’t want you to wake her up.” Let him think what he would, she’d keep the information to a minimum to avoid a waterfall of lies that would surely catch up with her.