Challenging the Center (Santa Fe Bobcats #6)(82)

“You know, I’ve been thinking about getting a house,” Michael said as she tossed several tank tops out of the box.

“Oh yeah?” She knew she sounded less than interested, but seriously, she was going to be late for practice. And there was no time for makeup after, because she had back-to-back-to-back lessons. Gary would kill her for wasting good court time. Her head in the last box her workout shorts could possibly be in, she tossed out a few more tops to make searching room.

“Watch it.”

She glanced over her shoulder and found Michael sitting there, a shelf-supporting tank top dangling from his head as he glared at her.

Kat fought the snicker, she really did. But it made its way out anyway.

Michael growled, grabbed for her, and pulled her against him. Kat shrieked and fought to get away, but he held her down and kissed her senseless until the tank top dropped from his head.

“It was a good look for you,” Kat said as she rubbed the fabric of the tank top between two fingers.

“Don’t even joke.” He let her up, and she walked back to the box and found her shorts—thank God—under the last layer of shirts.

“So, you didn’t say what you thought about the idea.”

“A house?” Shucking her capris, Kat pulled the shorts on and began the hunt for socks. “Sounds nice.”

“I want you to come with me when I start looking.”

“Okay.” Not in this box for sure. Maybe… “Were there any boxes with clothing out in the living room?”

“Kat.” Michael gently circled her wrist and pulled her down to sit in his lap. “Are you reading between the lines here?”

“I… no.” Blowing out a breath, she shook her head. “I’m too stressed about being late.”

“I’m asking you to help me house hunt so we can get a place. Together,” he emphasized.

“Together.” Kat blinked. “Wow.”

“Wow good?” he asked hopefully.

“Wow… wow.” Kat stood, then took in his hurt expression. “Oh no, Michael, I don’t mean that in a bad way. Really, I don’t.” She cupped his face and kissed him. “I just… I’m not ready yet. Not because of you. Definitely not you. I just… I need to get my feet under me. Fully, soundly, without any shaking. I don’t want to use you as a crutch. I need to move to Santa Fe—”

“Check,” Michael said, looking around her room at the boxes.

“I need to live alone for a bit, pay my rent, work my new job with Gary, compete in a few tournaments… on my own. I can’t explain why that’s important, but it is. Even if it’s only for a few months, I need it.”

“As long as you’re not stalling because of us or some concern with what other people will say,” he said grudgingly.

“Ask me again after your season is over.” She kissed his brow and felt the skin smooth out under her lips as he relaxed. “Better yet, ask after I come back from the Australian Open. There’s a lovely lull there between the Australian and French Opens. That would be ideal for moving lots of big boxes.”

“I’m asking,” he warned, kissing her one more time. “Don’t think I’m forgetting.”

“I wouldn’t dream,” she murmured and searched the boxes for her socks.



Kat twirled her racket on one finger, waiting with Thomas on the court. “We could be serving or something.”

“We could be, but he asked for you to wait.”

“I’m being punished for being late.”

“Probably,” Thomas agreed.

Kat just grinned at the reminder of exactly why she was late. “It’s not like he could object to some serving practice. That’s me using my time wisely, not wasting it. This is wasting.”

Thomas merely smiled and shifted weight to the other foot. “When has Gary ever not had a plan even if we didn’t understand it at the time?”

She grumbled in return but knew it was true. Two days after returning from Los Angeles—having watched Michael and the Bobcats kick some serious Rams ass—Gary had produced with certainty the culprit. One of the homeschooling girls Thomas gave private lessons to had been sneaking around the back offices while waiting for their privates to start. Seems she’d been slowly stripping the empty office of items the last few weeks, as a dare from her fellow tennis partner in crime. Something about the thrill or some form of attention-seeking behavior.

When the young teen’s mother had found the stash of framed photos, tennis gear and various small office supplies she’d “borrowed” from the office in the past, she’d marched her daughter back to the tennis center to apologize first to Gary and then to Kat. The girl had been banned from the center, more for the video than anything, though her mother begged both Gary and Kat’s leniency in not pursuing any charges or legal backlash.

Kat had been ready to agree, not wanting to totally ruin a young girl’s future for a juvenile mistake she most certainly would never repeat—if the way she bawled nonstop during the confrontation were any indication. Kat felt positive the lesson had been learned. But Gary had been wise enough to ask the mother for a signed, sworn statement indicating her daughter—unnamed—had been the one to leak the video and said he would be holding it… just in case. They both agreed they would eventually shred the document, but it was comforting to have.