Janet Evanovich - Hot Stuff

“And just between you and me, I’m not sure this is such a great time in my life to be falling in love. I still have dreams about finishing school and teaching. And then there’s you . I’m a new dog mommy. I haven’t totally got it down. How am I going to juggle Kellen, you, school, and work all at the same time? What do you think?” Cate asked Beast.

Beast stopped drinking water. He looked up at Cate, water ran from between his lips, and he burped.

“You’re probably right,” Cate said. “A walk might help clear things up. Not to mention I need clean clothes.”

Cate snapped the leash onto Beast’s collar, and they headed out the door into the midday heat. They took it slow, leisurely strolling the route to Cate’s condo, pausing occasionally in the shade to watch couples walk past on their way to Sunday brunch and families returning from church.

Cate had mixed feelings when they reached her building. It was home, but it had never really been home. Not in the same way her parents’ house had been home. Not in the same way Kellen’s house could be home.

“We’re an odd pair,” Cate said to Beast. “Sort of in limbo, but at least we have each other now. And maybe we have Kellen.”

The lobby was empty, and the elevator ride was quiet. Cate rang Marty’s bell and held her breath. No answer. She rang again and punched the code into the lock. She stepped inside with Beast and called out to Marty. She didn’t know a lot about the process when someone confessed to a crime. She supposed they went to jail, but maybe not right away.

“Anybody home?” Cate called a second time.

No answer.

Cate resisted the urge to snoop in Marty’s bedroom and check his closet for telltale signs of a last-ditch flight to Buenos Aires. Instead, she led Beast straight to her little room, where she changed into clean clothes and packed a few more essentials into a bag, just in case Kellen wanted her to stay longer.

Cate locked up after herself and took the stairs to the third floor. She knocked on Julie’s door. No answer. She knocked on Sharon’s door. No answer.

“Nobody home,” Cate said to Beast. “We’ll have to visit some other time.”

Kellen was working at his laptop when Cate and Beast came into the kitchen.

“I have a suite of offices,” he said, “but I like working here, at the table. It’s comfortable.”

There were two sandwiches on the table and one in Beast’s food bowl, complete with chips and a pickle.

“I see you cooked lunch,” Cate said to Kellen, smiling at the Beast bowl.

Kellen grinned back. “I thought he deserved a special treat for being such a good guard dog.”

“How’d it go today?”

“Great. Marty confessed to everything and turned in the pieces he had locked away. I think the prosecutor really felt for him. Plus, the prosecutor was a fan. He said Marty once sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him Marilyn Monroe-style. And here’s the best part. Turns out one of Kitty’s charities is the Police Benevolent Association. And if that isn’t enough, Kitty and Marty have been funding the Crime Stoppers program. Marty’s Robin Hood defense hit close to home. Marty will probably only have to serve six months in jail, a year on probation and a hundred hours of community service. They specifically mentioned performing at seniors’ homes and the annual Policemen’s Ball.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“I know. That means we can plan our wedding for the fall of next year.”

“What?”

“Our wedding. Remember a couple nights ago when we got engaged and had some incredibly hot and passionate gorilla sex?”

Cate was speechless. Surely he was joking.

“I figure by next fall you will have graduated and be ready for your next challenge, namely me. But I don’t think we should wait too long to get you a ring. After last night I’m a little worried about Pugg taking over as your hero.”

Cate tilted her head back and laughed. “He does lead with his heart. But I think, in the end, Pugg’s heart belongs to Julie.”

“And how about your heart? I love you, Cate. I love the way you find something good in everyone. I love the way wherever you are feels like home. I even love your big, goofy dog.” Kellen picked a large box up off the floor and placed it on the counter in front of Cate. It was wrapped in white paper with a green ribbon and a Williams-Sonoma sticker. “And possibly most of all I would love to try one of those fantastic cakes I’ve heard so much about.”

Cate looked at Kellen, and slid the ribbon off the box and then the paper. Inside were two cake tins, a hand mixer, a spatula, and some red oven mitts.

“I’m not sure what else you need,” Kellen said. “But I thought this was a good start.”

“It’s a great start!” Cate said. “It’s so sweet of you. It’s the perfect gift. It’s symbolic and sensitive, and it even has a whisk attachment. I’ve always wanted a mixer like this.”

Kellen hadn’t actually noticed the whisk attachment, but he was glad Cate liked it. For that matter, Kellen hadn’t previously seen the symbolic importance of the gift. Although now that Cate pointed it out to him he was pretty damn impressed. Truth is, Kellen had just wanted a cake. He was hoping it would be chocolate with lots of those colorful sprinkles on top.

A tear slid down Cate’s cheek.

“Is that a good tear or a sad tear?” Kellen asked.

“A good tear. It’s one of those hormonal things.”

Kellen had a bunch of sisters. He knew all about hormonal things, so he hugged Cate to him. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Probably. Yes.”

Kellen snuggled her closer. “Am I rushing you?”

“A little, but it’s okay. We’ll have a long engagement. Give you lots of time to back out.”

“I’m not going to back out.”

“Me either,” Cate said. “I’m almost positive.”

Cate stomped the freshly fallen December snow from her boots and crossed the lobby to the mailboxes. It was starting to feel like the holidays. There were garlands on the streetlights and wreaths on door fronts and twinkle lights everywhere.

Cate stuck the key into the box for 4A and removed a stack of catalogs, a couple of bills and some personal mail addressed to Marty. The catalogs would get tossed. She’d pay the bills from the account Marty had set up for her. The personal letters she would put in a growing pile on the kitchen counter. Marty had preferred this to forwarding them to him. He was scheduled for a February release. He’d be out for Valentine’s Day, and Evian was already advertising his first performance.

Better than Kitty Bergman’s future, Cate thought. Kitty was still embroiled in a messy trial and an even messier divorce.

Cate was alone tonight. No Beast. No Kellen. They were at Kellen’s townhouse, eating their traditional once-a-month guy’s-night-out dinner in front of the television. And Cate was having her traditional once-a-month dinner with “the girls.”

Sharon was hosting. That meant a cosmo when Cate walked through the door, and later a slab of Sharon’s fabulous lasagna.

Cate took the elevator to the third floor and rang Sharon’s bell. The door opened and the cosmo was offered. Cate took the drink and held it high. “Let the monthly meeting of ‘the girls’ begin,” she said to Sharon and Julie.

“To the girls,” they said in unison, and each took a ladylike sip of their cosmo.

“It doesn’t feel right that you’re not in the building anymore,” Julie said to Cate, “but at least we have our monthly.”

“I stop by every day to get Marty’s mail when I walk Beast,” Cate said.

“Yeah, but it’s not the same,” Julie said.