Her Unexpected Admirer Page 0,16
with trembling fingers, she looked back over her shoulder, afraid that the noise had woken him up. She didn’t bother putting anything back into its proper place, just dumped it all into her bag and stood up, almost running down the hallway. Her hair, normally in a twist behind her head, was going everywhere, almost blinding her as she searched for the exit. Where was she? Those watermelon martinis had been more potent than she’d realized.
She finally found the door and stepped out, wishing that she’d had more sense the previous night. Kate blushed at all that she’d done with that man, but would she have changed anything? It had been a wonderful interlude and she’d never reacted to a man like that before. She should simply accept last night as a perfect ending to a truly horrible day and assure herself that she would never do it again.
Leaving the suite, she started walking as smoothly as possible, trying to pretend that she did this sort of thing all the time. But when she turned the corner, she sprinted down the hallway to the elevator, desperate now to get home, shower and back to the office. Not only had she spent the night in a strange man’s arms, but she knew almost nothing about him and she was going to be dreadfully late for work. Her father had screamed at her last night because of her poor performance and here she was, giving him more ammunition.
She paced the small confines of the elevator, bursting out as soon as the doors opened up on the lobby level. Tucking her head down, Kate moved smoothly in between the other guests in the hotel lobby, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew. But who could possibly know her?
Thankfully, she was able to get out of the lobby and onto the street without a hassle. But once there, she had a hard time getting her bearings. Looking around, she realized that the duck pond was in front of her, which meant that her apartment was right down the street. Only nine blocks to go, she told herself.
Unfortunately, the wind was starting to pick up and the cold seeped through her polyester jacket. Yesterday, it had been a bit warmer so she hadn’t pulled on a coat but today definitely had the hint of winter to the air. The bite to the air reminded her of sitting around the fire last night, talking with Davis. It had been so sweet, so romantic to just be with him, learn more about the man, although she realized that she’d answered more of his questions than he had of hers.
The next thought really struck her as awful. She didn’t know his last name! She knew that he’d grown up in central Virginia, had gone to school at Stanford University and had several brothers, one sister, two nieces and a nephew. It was a big family, she thought. And as she pushed the door to the lobby open, not meeting the doorman’s gaze because of her shame, she wondered what it would be like to have such a big family. He hadn’t said so, but Kate suspected that Davis really loved his family. The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes when he spoke about his siblings and the kids was heart-warming.
It had always been a bit lonely during Christmas and summer vacations as an only child. Even more so after her mother had died. Her father wasn’t a warm person and rarely gave out hugs. It suddenly occurred to her that he hadn’t touched her in any way since….she thought back, trying to remember the last time he’d hugged her or even wished her good luck. He hadn’t ever done that. Her mother had always been the one to give out the hugs and wished her well as she walked out to the school bus. Her father had always worked a lot of hours so he’d been gone by the time she’d walked out for school and, normally, he didn’t get home at night until she was in bed.
She lowered her head and walked as fast as she could, her mind pushing away that revelation. Kate loved her father and he loved her. She was sure of it. Wasn’t she? Surely a father couldn’t dislike his own daughter. He only acted the way he did to make her better, stronger.
Kate suddenly wondered how Davis ran his business. Was he the stern, demanding and harsh