“Something like that.”
Exactly like that. Eric turned around in his kitchen with no real destination in mind. The goal was to burn off the energy building in his gut. “Then they’re going to be disappointed. I don’t have anything to hide.”
Kevin hesitated. The silence stretched until he finally spit out his thought. “You can tell me anything. I’d rather know and be able to fight it than have to read it in the paper.”
Eric gripped the counter hard enough to make the granite crumble under his fingertips. “We’re good.”
Kevin didn’t move for a second, then he nodded. “That’s all I need to know.”
Eric hoped like hell that was true because he really didn’t want to go into a drawn-out discussion about his role in Ryan’s case. Or why he’d ended up having sex with a complete stranger ten steps away from a pool of reporters. He was a grown man and his sex life was his own, but his timing was questionable on this one.
There had been enough scandals what with Josh’s boss trying to cover up a botched DEA investigation and Josh replacing him. People didn’t want to read about another government official being more concerned with covering his butt than doing his job. That meant staying as clean as possible and not doing anything to raise questions.
“Well, enough said on that.” Kevin stood, gathering the documents and stacking them in straight piles. “Grab a late dinner?”
“Can’t.” More like didn’t want to. Eric didn’t want to invite another round of questions. Kevin would pretend the meal was informal, but Eric knew everything they did right now was about getting him elected. “I have work to do, but you can check one thing for me.”
“Sure.”
“Find out who catered Deana’s wedding. I’d like to have a professional on call for events and that sort of thing.” It was time to tie up that loose end. If Kevin got flustered by an old rumor about a murder case and airtight convictions, Eric hated to think what he’d do with the truth on this one.
“I have a list of people you can use.”
“No, I want that caterer.”
If Kevin thought it was a strange request, he hid it well. “I’ll have the name and number for you by tomorrow morning.”
Chapter 3
Katie stared at the pans and trays piled in the overflowing sink and wondered what her future would look like if she skipped college and took up life as a professional dishwasher instead. Sounded like a one-way ticket to mind mush to her. Working for her sister and collecting a paycheck, no matter how small, meant moving on. It also meant getting stuck with the crappy jobs like serving food to idiots and handling catering cleanup.
Cara spent her nonwork time with Ashleigh, her blond-haired bundle of wild energy. Six months old, she never stopped moving. So, when Cara cut out early to catch a few extra minutes with her daughter, which rarely was possible, the responsibility for bringing the catering kitchen back to order fell to Katie.
The bright spot was that the insurance catering job had gone well today, as evidenced by her sore feet and the smell of puff pastry in her hair. Even now she hid in the small room at the center of the strip mall where no other human might be forced to see her. That would be a mean thing to do to anyone with decent vision. Good thing her Wednesday evening plans consisted of scrubbing, drying, stacking, and sweeping.
“Hello?”
Katie froze at the sound of the familiar male voice. Then her head whipped around. The main door was open, but the metal security screen was closed and locked. It would be hard for people to see inside and impossible for anyone to break it down, but, oh boy, could she see out.
It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be.
She repeated the refrain as she stared at the outline on the other side of the steel screen. Dark hair, broad shoulders, and relaxed stance. She’d know that body anywhere.
That would teach her to want fresh air. If the stifling heat hadn’t bothered her, she’d be hiding in the storage closet and ignoring him right about now.
“Can you hear me?” He looked right at her as he said it. Clearly he knew she was there. Could see her, despite the promises in the sales brochure about the door providing protection and privacy. It didn’t seem to be doing either at the moment.
With wet hands dripping on the floor beside her sneakers, she stood there. “Uh…”
“Not sure if you can see me.” He waved his hand. “We met at the Armstrong-Windsor wedding.”
Met? Now there was an interesting word for what they did. “Oh, I know who you are.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Eric chuckled in a rich open tone that vibrated down to her feet.
She could hear the amusement in his voice. Figuring out how to take it was the bigger issue. She rubbed her hands on the towel hanging out of the waistband of her khaki shorts and adjusted her white tee to make sure everything that should be covered was. “What are you doing here?”
“I can explain if you’ll let me come inside.”
Talk about a stupid option. “No.”
After a beat of silence, he spoke up. “Really?”
He sounded stunned at the idea of being turned down. Apparently the big, important man didn’t like it when people disagreed with him.
That realization was enough to make her brain reboot. While running held some appeal, it wasn’t very practical. They lived on an island, after all. And she needed to know how he’d tracked her down. “I mean, why do you want to come in?”
She could see his broad shoulders through the thick safety mesh and the way he balanced his hands on his lean hips. He was a man in control of his surroundings, even though this part of town didn’t fit him at all. He wore tailored suits and walked into a fancy high-rise office every day.
Many of the folks in the Kalihi neighborhood never ventured near the expensive restaurants and exclusive communities around the island. This was a working-class area with an increasing crime rate, older and lined with warehouses, a little rough. A place where words like “redevelopment” were thrown around but never brought to fruition. In other words, not the place where one would expect to find Eric Kimura.
“I wanted to talk with you,” he explained.
She’d been afraid he would say that. “Okay.”
He pressed his face close to the screen. “And people are starting to wonder why I’m screaming into a door, so could we take this inside?”
Last thing she needed was for him to be mugged. She tried to imagine explaining that bit of news to the cops…and to Cara.
“I’m coming.” Katie rushed over, jangling the keys in her hand as she tried to find the one for the top dead bolt. “Here we go.”
Eric didn’t hesitate. The second she opened the screen, he pushed his way in and closed the solid door behind him. The controlling move should have made her nervous. Instead, she was strangely intrigued. Hunting her down took some work. Stepping into this neighborhood at five o’clock, which probably qualified as the middle of his workday, created a bit of mystery. Clearly he wanted to find her. Now he had.
He held out his hand. “Eric Kimura.”
She stared at his long fingers before sliding her palm inside his. “Oh.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “But you knew that, right?”
“Pretty much.” The feel of that smooth skin against hers brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. She looked down at their joined hands, wondering at what point long turned to too long and she had to let go. “I watch