Well Suited (Red Lipstick Coalition #4)(29)

She smiled, those transmutable eyes softening with relief.

“But first, finish your salad.”

When she laughed and scooped up a bite, I was no less than a king among men. Because she’d given me power, given me a modicum of control over a kingdom I’d do anything to rule.

And I wouldn’t waste the chance.





12





Scientific Method





Katherine

9 weeks, 4 days

A week later, I was at Theo’s door, anxiously waiting just like I’d been since I saw him last.

We were just a few short weeks from our cohabitation date, which seemed to be approaching with a speed I wasn’t comfortable with but had no choice but to endure.

The only comfort was Theo.

Our lunch in the park had been another relationship step on a staircase that rivaled a Mayan temple. Agreement to dinner. The idea had struck me like a thunderbolt the second he said flexibility—a word I’d been trying to embrace. I could have him help me make all these decisions with logic and reason since my meter was busted.

Picking out a stroller-car-seat combo was one thing. But being rational about where I lived, how to change, how to assimilate to life with him…well, that was more than I could handle at present.

The truth was, I could use someone stable and rational to help me make decisions, and Theo was the prime candidate.

The downside was that I’d have to be frank with him about everything.

Everything, including my feelings regarding him.

Because I had a lot of feelings about him, and I hadn’t the slightest idea how to handle them.

They were irrational, the whole lot of them, betraying my original plan to remove myself from the situation entirely. Now I had no choice. And that put me in a precarious place, one I was hoping he could save me from.

I only had to tell him.

He answered the door with a smile. The spice and smell of cooking meat hit me in a wave that had me salivating.

Well, it was either that or the sight of Theo.

I always forgot how tall he was until in his presence, the height of him impressive and commanding, casting a shadow that all else fell under. It was a quiet magnetism, the draw of him inexplicable. He wasn’t wearing a suit and tie as he normally did, which was lamentable but for the fact that he still wore a tailored shirt and slacks. But rather than the strict neatness he usually possessed, his shirtsleeves were cuffed at his elbows, and the button at his throat was undone. One revealed wide wrists and broad forearms, corded with muscle. The other exposed the soft hollow of his throat and the angular knot of his Adam’s apple.

Both were undeniably masculine. The impulse to press my lips to that delicate hollow surprised and disarmed me.

“Hello, Theodore.”

His smile widened. “Hi, Kate. Come on in.”

He shifted out of the way, and I entered, passing through the ghost of his scent, which overrode dinner by miles.

“Hope you’re hungry.”

“I am. Thank you for having me.”

“Thanks for indulging me. I told you—it’s my new mission in life to make refueling a pleasure.”

I laughed, but the sound was tight, nervous.

Theo glanced at me, but the look was comforting even though I caught a glimpse of recognition and worry in his eyes.

“My mom’s just in the living room,” he said quietly. “Are you sure you still want to meet her?”

I nodded once, trying to be discreet as I wiped my sweaty palms on my thighs. His eyes flicked to the motion, but he offered me a warm smile.

I both appreciated his perceptiveness and loathed how it exposed me.

“All right,” he said, laying a large, reassuring hand on the small of my back. “You’re lovely, as always, Kate. I really am glad you came.”

“Me too,” I said, which was only partly a lie.

I was glad to be there, and I was glad to be on the threshold of telling him how I felt about him. It was eating me alive to keep the words bottled up. I wasn’t a particularly successful bottler of things. I typically said what I felt, when I felt it, which was its own problem.

It actually hadn’t been until recently that I realized not everyone was interested in my opinion, on top of the realization that I didn’t actually have to say what was in my head the moment a thought entered it.

But I was not glad for the anxious feeling snaking through my guts at the prospect of coming clean with Theo. Or with meeting his mother.

Mostly because I didn’t give a very good first impression.

I was, from my cursory research and observation, generally taken as abrasive, too forward, and cold. My friends were all warm, with soft faces and pleasant smiles, gentle natures and breezy attitudes. Well, Val was closer to running hot than warm, with a penchant for saying what she felt that ran as deep as my own impulses. The difference was that she was funny and charming about it, where I was just blatant and harsh.

The present issue being that I wanted Theo’s mother to like me. I wanted that very much.

The entryway opened up to the living room, and sitting on the modern, low-backed couch was Sarah.

She shifted, picking herself up to stand with far more effort than it would have were she healthy. Theo rushed to her side, cupping her elbow and offering his hand for support, which she took gratefully.