tip toenails peeking out from open-toed heels and nothing else aside from the low muttering complaints Cat made.
“Someone there?” she said, sliding her hands between two of the bouquets to push them apart. “Kai.” Her light brown skin brightened when she glanced at him, her cheeks turning pink when he smiled at her. He got her reaction. The last time she saw him he was face down between her boss’s legs.
“Cat,” he greeted, pointing between the large containers of flowers that had taken over her desk. “You got a problem.”
“Yeah…no shit…I mean…” She cleared her throat, standing to get an unobstructed view of his face. “It appears so.” Cat flared her nostrils, grabbing one of the bouquets, then seeming to think better of it before she held the stems in one hand and chunked them in the trash.
“You know, it’s not my business.” Kai moved his chin, frowning at the sheer wastefulness. Those flowers were annoying, he was sure because he knew the man that sent them, but they looked damn expensive. “Seems like a shame to get rid of these…” she opened her mouth, looking as though she might argue with him, but shut it when he held up a hand to quiet her. “When there are so many cancer and children’s’ wards that might benefit from the little bit of color those could add.”
The fading pink color on her cheeks brightened again and Cat instantly reached for the flowers she’d discarded, pushing them back into the glass vase before she moved all three arrangements on top of the file cabinets behind her.
“You’re right,” she told him, grabbing a Kleenex from her drawer before she straightened her skirt and plastered a professional smile on her face. “Now. Mr. Pukui, what can I do for you?” She glanced over his shoulder, toward the elevators before she lowered her voice, not giving him a chance to answer. “You don’t have to worry about the…thing.” Cat waved the Kleenex, dropping her gaze to the trash can when she tossed it inside. “I…uh, didn’t say anything and I won’t.”
“I told her…” Kai went quiet, nodding to one of the assistants he knew worked in Ricks’ office as she moved through the lobby. He waited for the woman to disappear into the elevator before he continued. “I told her you wouldn’t go running your mouth.”
“Of course I won’t. Look, I know that Gia…” Cat watched him, her expression shifting from understanding to worry the longer she watched. When she bit her bottom lip, he understood she was keeping Gia’s confidence. Cat folded her arms, head shaking like none of her reasoning mattered. “It’s…fine, really. She’s…good.”
“Cat,” Kai said, stepping closer to the woman’s desk, feeling his jaw clench as he tried to keep himself calm. “Where the hell is she?”
Again, Cat opened her mouth, like she had a quick answer for him, but couldn’t give it. “Look, Kai, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t possibly…” She pushed her eyebrows together, biting the inside of her cheek when he released a low grunt, his frustration quickening. Cat exhaled, rubbing her hands together, seeming like she understood how he felt. “I’ll get fired,” she told him, her gaze moving around her desk, to the laptop on top of it and the mail that looked like she hadn’t gone through it yet today. “I get that she can be…closed off, and I understand that you’re worried, but I love my job and Gia’s a friend.”
“Come on, Cat…”
She shook her head, forcing a laugh when she said, “Sisters before misters.”
“That’s…bull—” Kai stopped himself and that grunting sound left his throat again.
“I know you’re worried, but you don’t need to be. She’s got a job to do, we all do, and she’s trying to do it.” Cat lowered her shoulders when the elevator opened and another delivery boy headed toward her with an even larger bouquet of flowers. “Son of a…I’m gonna get fired anyway…”
“Another one,” the guy said, his smile lowering when she pointed to the remaining empty space on the filing cabinet. “Can you sign…”
“Don’t you know my signature by now?” Cat recovered her quick temper, something out of character from what Gia had told Kai about her assistant and scribbled her name across the man’s clipboard. She was focused on the flowers, muttering something about “obnoxious assholes” under her breath when Kai saw his opening.
“Wilson is relentless,” he told her, remembering his friend’s drunken tirade about Cat and whatever guy he’d seen her with after the Atlanta game.