Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(8)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m a little busy, Dean. Dealing with your paranoia isn’t on my list of things to do today.” She marched out of the kitchen and walked to her front door. She shifted the baby in her arms and tossed open the door.

“Fine, I’ll go. But when I come back, if your explanations don’t measure up, I might have to do some of my own investigating to determine the truth.”

“Really, and how do you plan on doing that?” He was really starting to piss her off.

“I’ll start with Monica.” When she smiled, knowing Monica would be much better at keeping her trap shut that Katie had been, Dean added, “Then I’ll move on to your father. My guess is Gaylord would be very interested in his daughter playing house with a Barely out of the womb baby.”

Her jaw tightened. The last thing she needed was her daddy poking around. He’d scrape the truth out of her in a matter of minutes.

Smiling smugly, Dean waltzed past her, stopping only to glance down at her arms, then winked before walking away.

Katie shut the door on his back…hard.

Back in stalker mode, Dean leaned against the outside edge of the hotel Katie called home in order to corner Monica. If there was one thing he’d learned from his friend Jack’s relationship with Jessie, it was that sisters, even newly in-lawed sisters, talked.

He needed answers and the best way for him to obtain them was through manipulation. He knew it wasn’t noble, but he didn’t give a damn.

Seeing Katie holding Savannah, cooing over the infant with an expression Dean could only describe as bliss, evoked pain, anger, and even a bit of hope. Pain and anger he could deal with. Those emotions he understood. The pain at witnessing Katie hold on to something he’d always wanted for the both of them. His anger stemmed from how she’d reacted after her miscarriage, after their baby had slipped from her womb.

But hope? Hope for what?

He’d wanted a family, a life with Katie by his side. In the beginning, he thought she was right there with him.

Sex with Katie had always been spectacular and sinful. Just thinking about how Katie responded to his touch shot unwanted desire through Dean’s body as he waited for Monica to finish her run.

For Dean, his relationship with Katie was founded on friendship, exploded in passion, and evolved into love.

For Katie it was only about the sex.

Where was the hope in that?

Monica’s blonde head bobbed up and down as she rounded the corner, her presence forcing Dean’s attention to his recent goal. He eased from the side of the building and placed himself between her and the entrance to the lobby.

Recognition shifted over Monica’s face like a curtain falling on a stage. It slowly fell over her eyes first, causing her lips to turn into a grin. And when Dean purposely shifted his gaze up the side of the building, then back to her, she slowed her pace, and let her smile fall. Like a switch, her guard went up.

“Hi, Dean. W-what are you doing here?”

He hit her hard with quick questions, to see how fast he could catch a lie. Then he’d know for certain Katie’s story about the child was bogus. “Checking on Katie for Jack. You didn’t tell me you guys had a roommate.”

“A roommate?”

“Savannah.”

“Ah…” Monica looked over her shoulder and back. “Savannah?”

“Don’t be coy, Monica, I’ve already seen Katie.”

“Oh, well.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me last night about your guest.”

Monica shifted on her feet. “It was a last-minute thing.”

“Right, Katie said Savannah has been here since…when was it?”

“Yesterday.”

Dean nodded. “Right. When is the mom coming to pick her up? Katie is supposed to be designing the interior of Jack’s hotel.”

“Why didn’t you ask Katie these things?” Monica was catching on to him, and drying up her information. She’d already confirmed that Katie was lying through her teeth. But why?

“She had her hands full.” Literally.

Monica moved around him, so she was angled close to the door. “I’m sure Katie will tell you all about it when she’s ready.”

“So there is something to tell.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, you did, darlin’. But don’t stress yourself out. I already knew Katie wasn’t telling everything. She’s a lot easier to read than she thinks she is.” Dean figured that, once these two started to talk, he wouldn’t get another chance at any information. He might even find himself barred from Katie’s door.

“Why do you care?”

Good question. “Jack wanted me to check on her. He’s worried about her.”

Monica shook her head back and forth in confusion. “Jack? How could he know anything? Savannah arrived after the wedd…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes shot to his.

After the wedding would have been in the middle of the night. And no matter how you spun that bottle, it landed on trouble. “Listen, Monica, if Katie’s in some kind of trouble, you’ve got to let me help. Jack would kill me if I let his kid sister—”

“Katelyn isn’t a kid, Dean. She’d a grown woman with a mind of her own. If she wanted your help, she’d ask.” It was then that Dean noted the flash of concern embedded deep in Monica’s eyes. The same look that passed over her face and Katie’s when they’d noticed Danny’s concern over the helicopter landing on them at the reception.

Dammit. Katie was in trouble. The question returned. What kind of mother left her infant with someone less two weeks after they were born?

“At least tell me how long the baby is going to be here.”

Monica started for the door.

Dean placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Talk to Katie.”

Which meant Monica didn’t know.

As she walked into the air-conditioned lobby, the knot inside Dean’s chest started to rise in his throat like the Texas heat.

Chapter Four

Katie’s mind ran in so many different directions she didn’t know which way was north. Savannah lay in the center of the big bed again, this time wide awake and sucking on her fist. Katie didn’t know where to start. She needed to leave, they all needed to leave as quickly as they could pack and make excuses. If Dean called her daddy and he blessed her with his presence, keeping Savannah wouldn’t be an option.