Swearing, sucking on his sore fingers, he went to work on the files all over his floor, but he’d gotten exactly nowhere when he looked up at the shadow in his doorway.
Katie stood there, staring down at him with a bemused look on her face. “Did you lose something?”
He was on his hands and knees, surrounded by a mess he had yet to come close to fixing, even after hours of work. Worse, she didn’t look surprised, and that really irritated him. Dammit, he could be neat if he had to. He could!
“No,” he said stiffly, and casually kicked a pile beneath his desk, hoping she didn’t notice. “I know exactly where everything is.”
“Uh-huh.”
He ignored her, and when he looked again, she was gone.
The mess wasn’t.
And he was very tired of cleaning.
Maybe, he figured, it was time to regroup. Shift gears.
Attempting to make himself more like Matt was a really bad idea. He didn’t
And with good reason.
He wanted to show her that risk could be good, certainly better than stability and neat desks. The scary part was, he wasn’t even sure why it all mattered so terribly much.
Why
Damn, this was getting complicated. Normally, he was good at complicated. But despite having so many sisters, he didn’t really do well as it applied to a woman.
“Definitely need a new plan,” he muttered, rubbing a finger along the thick dust on his desk. “A good one.”
He mulled over the facts. One, whether she admitted it or not, Katie felt safe and relaxed with Matt. Two, she did not feel safe and relaxed with Bryan. She felt out of control, hot and itchy.
All he had to do was convince her that out of control, hot and itchy was a good thing.
How hard could that be?
7
MATT CAME BACK to work the week before Christmas.
The day he did, Katie hid out in her office, pretending everything was peachy, when of course it wasn’t. How could it be? In her quest for Mr. Perfect she’d overlooked one minute detail-
It went even deeper than that. She’d thought her needs simple-she wanted a nice, secure, happy life with a nice, secure, happy man. Someone who knew his goals and responsibly went after them, someone who didn’t let fun run his life.
So why then had her dreams been taken over by a man who didn’t fit the criteria, a man who lived his life the same way he flew his airplanes? With wild, reckless, adventurous abandon?
Now Matt was back and she was fairly certain her job was in jeopardy. Her stomach rumbled in spite of having bitten all ten fingernails down to the quick, which was probably a lot more nutritious then her usual breakfast of sugar-coated cereal.
Searching her desk, she came up with three candy bars and happily devoured them all. When she was finished, her skirt felt too tight, but at least the sugar gave her a sense of energy.
Holly poked her head into her office. “My, don’t you look…stressed.”
Suddenly Katie found a silver lining and managed a smile. “Be nice. This is probably our last day working together.” She spared a thought to wonder how much unemployment benefits paid. Or how she’d explain the reason for losing this job.
Now wouldn’t
“Why would this be our last day together?” Holly asked.
“I don’t think giving Matt a bump on the head-” not to mention making him paranoid about mistletoe “-is likely to get me a promotion.”
Holly laughed and perched a slim hip on the corner of Katie’s desk. “You’re making way too much of a little accident.”
“Uh-huh. Oh, and by the way, thanks for tricking me at the party.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But then, I rarely do.”
“I know what you did, and even for you, it was really low.”
Matt walked by her office right then, his arms full of paperwork. He didn’t so much as peek in. Actually, he sped up, nearly running by.
Holly grinned and looked at Katie. “Guess he’s in a hurry.” She rose and moved to the door. “Hello, Matt,” she called, and Katie winced.
“Don’t call him in here!” she whispered in panic, slipping out of her chair and onto her knees behind her desk. She ducked. “I’m not ready for the firing!”
“Well then, don’t let him see you.” Holly pasted a bright smile on her face as Matt reluctantly came back to the doorway.
“Don’t worry,” Katie heard her say to Matt in a soothing voice. “The big, bad accountant is gone.”
“I thought I saw her…”
Katie crouched farther down and decided the heck with getting fired, she was going to end up in prison. For Holly’s murder.
“Oh, she’s long gone,” Holly said sweetly to Matt, in a voice that said
Katie rolled her eyes as they left together, and wished she had more fingernails to bite.
AT LUNCH Katie took her sandwich and soda outside to watch the planes landing and taking off.
Above her came the drone of an approaching Cessna. The wings gleamed in the sun, reflecting the spectacular blue sky. It swooped in close then soared upward again, the pilot apparently having a ball as he yet again dipped close, this time coming in for his final approach.
As she watched, the wind whipped her face, her hair, and still she just stood there, watching, knowing by the inexplicable tingle in her tummy who it was in the aircraft.
No man had ever given her that tingle before. Certainly not Matt, which, if she was being honest, was what had attracted her to him in the first place.
That tingle scared her to death.
But whether she liked it or not, the truth was very simple. Katie didn’t want both Matt and Bryan. She wanted Bryan.
Only Bryan.
She couldn’t even say for sure when she’d stopped fooling herself, when she realized that she and Matt would be truly poorly matched. Yes, he was charming and intelligent. He was security and stability personified. Oh, and let’s not forget the third
The plane came in for a perfect landing.
She sighed, in both appreciation for Bryan’s skill, and with regret for what would never be. From deep within her came an ache, an old one. Her father had been that skilled, and that uncontrollable. Her mother had loved him anyway.
He’d nearly destroyed her.
Katie had witnessed it firsthand and yet here she stood, wondering, fantasizing… Had she not learned a thing?
