Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(45)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Sounds like you’ll be going into war zones. Earthquakes, tornados, floods…I don’t know how you handle the things you see locally, let alone something on a disaster scale.”

Monica shrugged and forked in another bite. “Who knows if I can cut it,” she said around her food. “I won’t know until I try. Besides, you’ve paid my rent for the whole year so why not?”

They had argued about the rent thing but, in the end, Katie won.

It was as if something bigger than Monica was leading her in the direction of helping others.

“I’ll support you any way I can.”

“Just water the plants,” Monica said laughing. “Oh, and I was thinking today…maybe it’s time you bought a bigger car to drive. Convertibles aren’t the safest cars to be driving out there, especially with kids in the passenger seat.”

Nothing like a little bit of manipulation to make things right in her world.

Dr. Eddy had taught her that earlier.

Chapter Eighteen

“I’m buying a car and I don’t have a clue where to start.”

Dean shook his head and stared at Katie across his desk. “A car?”

“Yeah. I’ve driven plenty. But I realized that I’ve never bought one before. Yeah, my dad picked out the little black number I drove around in high school…but…”

She didn’t have to continue that story. She’d ditched it in a waterless aqueduct while showing off to her friends before her eighteenth birthday. After that, Gaylord paid a driver most of the time. Then she started renting cars. Convertibles, sport cars…anything flashy to get noticed.

Now Dean watched the girl turn into a responsible woman…a mother before his eyes. She waved several brochures at him like a flag. “Safety and reliability are paramount. I can’t have Savannah flying out a window or through a soft top because some ass**le pulls out in front of us.”

Dean sat back in his chair, smug in his thoughts. “Where did this come from?”

Katie waved him off as if he hadn’t said a thing. “Monica. She suggested it before she left.”

“Monica left?”

“Yeah, some nurses without borders thing. She’ll be back in a week or so.”

Dean’s smug smile fell. “You’re alone at her apartment?”

Katie rolled her eyes. “I’m not alone. Savannah is there.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Nothing like a dirty diaper to deter unwanted guests.”

“Are you suggesting I can’t take care of myself?”

“No.” Yes.

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not.” Yes, he was. Damn…and Katie saw right through him. The daggers sprang from her eyes with sparks of anger. He diverted her attention. “So Monica’s gone and she suggested you buy a car before leaving, to where exactly?”

“Florida.” Apparently, Katie’s grudge wasn’t going to last long. As was expected when her mind was centered on something else. Dean scooted forward when she moved around the desk and placed the brochures in front of him. “My first thought was one of those big numbers. You know, an old Lincoln or Escalade. They hold up in a crash…right?”

“They do.”

“But I’ve never driven one of those. They’re big.”

“Very big.”

She leaned forward letting her tight silk top gape in just the right place, reminding him of the creamy skin he’d find underneath if given the chance.

“Are they hard to drive?”

He licked his lips. “Not hard.”

“There are smaller cars, more agile.”

Dean pushed lust from his brain and attempted to concentrate on Katie’s words. “You need to test-drive the bigger cars…see if you’re comfortable with them. Did you drive a truck on the ranch?”

“Dusty two lane roads with only one car…yeah, but it’s been years.”

“You’re not old enough for it to have been years.”

“You know exactly how old I am. C’mon, Dean. I need direction here and I’m not afraid to ask for it. I’d ask Jessie, if she knew about Savannah. But she doesn’t, so I’m asking you.”

Dean concentrated on the pamphlets on his desk. “Keep it American,” he said as he tossed two brochures in the trash. “Your daddy would kick your butt if you arrived in anything made outside of Detroit.”

“He never said a thing about the Italian cars I drove home.”

“You rented those. Doesn’t count. Let’s look up crash reports on these models.” He narrowed his search to midsize SUVs, something he though Katie could drive without worry of crashing into guardrails.

“Oh, look…that has a TV in the back. Savannah will love it.”

“Savannah’s what?…Two months old? I don’t think she’s thinking of a TV.”

“But she will, someday.”

Dean smiled and pushed away from his desk. “Let’s go.”

“Go? We have work to do.”

He grabbed his keys and tucked his cell phone into his pocket. “Perks of being the boss. C’mon. Let’s shop.”

“Are you sure?”

It tickled him that Katie contemplated staying at work instead of shopping for a car. He leaned in and surprised her with a kiss. A simple pass of his lips over hers…and it felt entirely too right. “I’m sure.”

He walked through his office and told Jo to call him if there was fire or blood on the site and to take messages for everything else.

Katelyn’s sparkling new Cadillac crossover fully loaded was sleek, sexy, powerful, and American.

For some reason Dean wasn’t quite clear about, Katie sent a picture text to Monica who was apparently in the air en route to Florida.

Katie had grown up somewhere when Dean wasn’t looking.

He liked it.

The hotel loomed in front of him. His gazed settled on the people milling in and out of the hot, moist Texas heat completely oblivious to anyone around them. When called on to act as a witness, no one would be able to give any distinct identification about him at all, which was part of his problem. He’d found no one, not one soul, who’d seen a woman or man walk into the hotel where Katelyn lived, and drop off a baby.

Patrick had sent word to Katelyn about his progress. She was understandably unhappy that he didn’t have a name yet. The mother had done a very good job at hiding who she was. Not that he wouldn’t find her out…but these things did take time.