Finding Katie

Chapter 18

We stood there together, our pulses slowing down little by little. "Welcome home," she whispered.

I laughed into the crook of her neck, not easy with no air in my lungs, then rested my forehead against hers. "Welcome home, indeed. I missed you."

Katie's lips kicked up as one hand slid up into my hair. "I missed you, too," she said. "The texts were good, but it wasn't quite the same on my own."

My head jerked back so I meet her gaze. "You used my texts to..."

She nodded, a wicked glint in her eyes. "But my fingers just aren't as good as yours."

Without a doubt, the texts we'd sent back and forth while I'd been away had been decidedly naughty, and the knowledge that she'd used them to pleasure herself, the mental image of that, would have sent all my blood to my cock if it hadn't already been gathered there.

"I'm going to need a few minutes before I can put that knowledge to good use," I said.

Laughing, Katie gave me a quick kiss as I let her down to her feet, then headed for the bathroom.

I washed my hands in the kitchen and righted my clothes. A chuckle escaped when I found my tie was still in a perfect knot, but my hair mussed. I rather liked Katie's penchant for mussing my hair, especially since it usually happened while she was begging me to go faster or crying out my name. I quickly ran it back with my fingers, then wandered over to the sofa.

Her laptop was open on the low table, a glass of water beside it. Glancing at the screen, I called to her, "Were you working?"

There was absolute silence from the bathroom for half a second, then Katie came running out and slammed the laptop closed.

I stared at her as she slowly straightened without meeting my gaze. Two spots of red grew in her cheeks and it had nothing to do with what we'd just done up against the door.

My heart thumped a single painful beat.

Katie smiled at me. At least, her lips curved upwards at the corners. "It's work, yes. It's... nothing. Vincent asked me to look into some things for the centre. He's horrible with numbers."

She still wasn't meeting my eyes. A heavy weight grew in my gut. It was that smile again, the one that didn't reach her eyes. I hadn't seen it in weeks. I'd thought she'd lost it by now, that she'd come to trust me so much that that smile wasn't necessary any longer.

I had no idea what to say. A frown was digging into my forehead, I could feel every crease, but my arms hung limp by my sides. I'd never seen Katie like this before. It wasn't just a false smile, it looked almost forced. If I didn't know it was utterly ridiculous I'd say she was nervous. Frightened even.

"I'm sorry, Ben." Her shoulders dropped on a pained sigh. She rubbed a hand up and down her arm a few times. Her entire expression was pained. "I didn't mean to..." She gestured at the laptop, then pressed her eyes closed.

The silence reverberated in the flat and between us. Then Katie lifted her head and breathed in deeply, and finally looked at me. "I'm sorry. Vincent has been going on about security, but I'm sure he didn't mean you."

I slowly nodded. I wanted to roll my shoulders. To try and dissipate some of the tension that had lodged in them. My frown only deepened. She wasn't telling the truth. I could see it in her face.

Something tightened around my gut. Painfully so.

The brief glimpse I'd had of her screen had looked like an online banking site, but not the bank the BRP used, and a volunteer wouldn't be given access to that. And Katie hadn't wanted me to see it.

The penny dropped half a second later. My lips parted on a gulp, then quickly closed again to keep the expletive inside. It was directed at myself. How could I be so dense?

I turned away before she saw my expression and ran a hand through my hair. Instead glanced round at the miniscule and dismal flat that hadn't improved or become more cosy the more time I spent here. The sofa still sagged in the middle, and the two-person dining table still had gauges in the edges, the linoleum floor in the kitchen was still cracked.

My hands fisted so as not to slap my forehead. I'd noticed the state of her flat before, I knew about Katie's penchant for taking the Tube rather than a taxi, and I knew about her preference for a small, family run restaurant that could be at the top of any list of affordable places to eat out.

Katie and I had never talked about our finances, and before this moment I had only fleetingly wondered how she paid her rent and her bills as a full-time, unpaid volunteer.

She'd never mentioned being short on funds, she insisted she pay for both of us when she chose the restaurant we went to, and her clothing did not look like it came from a cheap, high-street chain store.

Then again, however luxurious and silky it felt, I knew very little about ladies' wear, other than I liked to see Katie's on the floor of my bedroom. Or my terrace. Both worked.

I drew in a deep breath and ran a hand down over my face to smooth out the last of my frown. My guess was that she was living off either her savings or an inheritance from her parents. It was none of my business whichever, nor how long that income would last.

That she'd lied to me didn't sit too well, but I had rather put her on the spot with my nosy question and looking at her screen. I understood why she would feel uncomfortable with me seeing her bank account.

I walked back over to her and clasped her hands, lifted them to my lips one at the time. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to pry."

She studied me for a long moment before a careful smile appeared on her lips. "I know."

"Come home with me? We can order dinner and eat on the terrace."

The last bit of tension seemed to drain away and she leaned up to place a kiss on my lips. "I'd love to. This place is too hot to think in, anyway, and my shower isn't big enough for the both of us."