Winter Awakening by Elizabeth Lennox
Chapter 7
Kate woke up and looked around, feeling the stiffness in her muscles. Stiffness that was both familiar and…not. Lifting her head, she tried to reconcile this sensation of…happiness…with the stiffness in her legs as she shifted. And why was she in the pink bed? She hated this bed!
That’s when the events from the previous night came flooding back. She looked around again, but Mack was gone. Peering over the side of the bed, she found her jeans with her cell phone still in the pocket. She checked the time and yelped.
“Oh crap!” she hissed, rushing out of the bed and jumping into the shower. She had less than forty minutes before she was supposed to be in a meeting. The water was freezing initially, of course. Ancient water heaters and old pipes weren’t particularly efficient. But Kate knew that she didn’t have time to wait for the water to warm up. It took a century for that ancient water heater to deliver warm water.
Exactly thirty minutes later, keys and presentation in hand, she headed to her car. If she happened to glance over at Mack’s house, that was normal. She wasn’t looking to see if he was around, if his car was there. Had he left early this morning? Or right after she’d fallen asleep?
No, he’d spent the night with her. She’d rolled over at one point during the night and woken up because there wasn’t enough room in that annoying pink bed.
She was a little hurt that he hadn’t been there when she’d woken up. At least he’d made her coffee! That was something, right? And he’d left a note right next to the coffee pot, letting her know that the coffee was fresh and he’d call later.
But the whole drive over to city hall, she wondered if the “I’ll call you later” message was just a euphemism for “Thanks for the quickie – have a good life!”
Mack stared at the white board where all of the evidence was laid out. He and Dean hadn’t made much, if any, progress in the investigation. Normally, that would piss him off and he’d be in a foul mood until they’d gone back out and figured out at least one more thread to tug, found one more avenue to investigate.
But he’d spent the night with Kate. And it had been better than ever. Kate was a much more confident lover now. She knew what she wanted and told him. It was hot, hearing her beg for him to do this or that. And he’d loved watching her climax in his arms, and he’d loved the sensation of her heat clenching around his shaft and just…hell, he’d loved every moment of last night.
Until he’d had to leave this morning. He’d left her a note and made coffee, but that didn’t mean his body wasn’t aching to climb right back into bed with her.
But he had to keep it cool and under control. He had to make sure that he wasn’t getting in too deep with Kate. Not again. The last time, it had almost killed him. Literally! Joining the Army in that state of mind had been a stupid thing to do. It had eventually straightened his head and had paid for his college education, but he’d been in so much pain, knowing that he’d lost Kate to the world of higher education.
While in the Army, Mack had volunteered for the most dangerous missions, regularly risking his life. Eventually, he’d calmed down enough that he learned how to survive. He’d pulled his head out of his ass and done some actual thinking.
Now, he was back in control. He was better able to cope with Kate and everything she stood for. He no longer centered all of his hopes and dreams around Kate.
Granted, he’d bought “their” house and fixed it up exactly as they’d talked about during those long afternoons and evenings. But now that he had furniture, he could actually live in the house.
“What the hell are you doing here so early?” Dean asked, yawning as he handed Mack a cup of coffee from the corner bakery.
Mack took the offered cup gratefully as he tapped on the map pinned to the wall. “There’s an underground well over there,” Mack said, stepping closer to squint at the drone photograph of the ranch. “I think we should take a look down there for the murder weapon.”
Dean’s eyes looked a bit blurry. Mack would bet that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep either. Mack could relate, thinking about Kate’s soft curves pressed against him. But whereas Dean was more acclimated to being in love with his lovely wife, Mack had only…he wasn’t in love with Kate. Not anymore. But last night’s marathon of sex had certainly invigorated him. It hadn’t slowed down his senses. In fact, just the opposite, he thought. His senses were alive. Alert. He was thinking more clearly than he had in a long time.
“Yeah,” Dean said, squinting at the dark spot on the photograph. Slowly, his features morphed into a smile of triumph. Then he nodded, taking another long sip of his steaming hot coffee. “Yeah, I think one more trip out to the ranch could be an excellent use of our time. If we can find the murder weapon then…!”
Mack finished for him. “Then we can get fingerprints and figure out who held it last.”
They left the conference room, eager to head out for the day.
“How are things with Kate?” Dean asked. “I liked her. Sylvie liked her too. And that’s saying something!”
Mack chuckled. “Kate’s fine.” As far as he knew. As he stepped into his SUV, he wondered what she was doing today. If she was going to visit her mother again, he wanted to be there for her. He wasn’t sure if she could handle another visit if anything else went wrong. He made a mental note to go home early tonight, just in case. She’d been so upset about her mother’s health a few nights ago.
“Hey, isn’t that Kate?” Dean asked, pointing his coffee cup towards a Jeep Wrangler heading in the opposite direction.
Mack’s eyes narrowed. “Yep,” he muttered, then turned the other way. He wasn’t going to let himself get too involved with Kate. Not this time. The nights…yea, they could have great times at night. But not during the day. Not that way.
“You okay?” Dean asked.
Mack glared at his friend. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
Dean shrugged. “No particular reason. But you did just miss the turn off for the interstate,” he said, settling back in the passenger seat to get more comfortable. Obviously, he was preparing for a long trip.
“Ass!” Mack muttered, then did a quick u-turn, heading back towards the interstate.
“She’s in your head, buddy!” Dean said, laughing as he took another sip of his coffee.
Mack didn’t bother to correct his friend. Dean wouldn’t believe him anyway. This was just sex. Just a fling until Kate headed back to Miami. And she would, he thought. Her life was there. Kate was only here long enough to close up the house and get her mother settled in the retirement community. That’s it. End of story.
