“How did you know?”
“I emailed Peri last night. She sent his schedule,” Gabi said. “Thanks for lunch and for that kiss.”
She walked away and he watched her. She wasn’t doing anything to turn him on, just walking away. But he couldn’t tear his eyes from her body. Could barely make himself stay in his chair.
And that was as big a wake-up call as Hunter’s text. Kingsley had come here for answers and for revenge. He needed to remember that.
Soon Conner would start school, and sooner or later it would come out that his father was an accused murderer. And he wanted better than that for his son. He didn’t want him to have to deal with that.
And no matter how good Gabi felt in his arms, he needed peace of mind. He needed to clear his name and put the past to rest before he moved on. He knew that.
Hell, he’d never had any problem doing that until her. What was it about Gabi that shook him that way?
He picked up his phone.
Your timing could be better. How did you know I was with Gabi?
I know you. Is this still a priority for you?
Yes. I’m flying to the East Coast to meet with Daria Miller. She was one of Stacia’s sorority sisters. I read a blog post she wrote about the college drug culture. I want to talk to her about her experience.
Great. I’m going to follow up on Coach. He’s in the hospital.
Sounds good. Talk to you soon.
He put his phone on the table and looked at the empty spot where Gabi had been sitting. He wanted her. He was trying to—hell, he wasn’t going to tell himself that lie. He wasn’t doing anything but waiting for her. And he had to put that aside. Revenge and new relationships really didn’t mix.
* * *
Gabi made sure Conner was sleeping before she retreated to her office. She had a video monitor so she could keep an eye on him, and according to Peri, Conner was good for a forty-five-minute nap. That meant she had just enough time to finish the draft of a speech she was giving next weekend to the Young Women’s Business Association.
So why was she on the internet doing a Google search on Kingsley, Hunter and Stacia? But she knew why. He’d made her curious when he’d brought up college. She’d taken a break from college for a year shortly after Kingsley had been arrested and gone to Spain to visit her cousin Gui.
It had been nice to spend time with Gui and Kara. The escape from her real-life problems had been welcome, and when she’d returned home after spending time with her little niece, her mom had volunteered her to nanny for Mal and his family. She’d been too busy to follow the story except when Hunter and Kingsley had been released from jail. And then Kingsley had been drafted and went to New York to play pro football.
And now he was back. Why?
He’d said he was back because he wanted to raise Conner in the California sun, but Kingsley had grown up in Connecticut. True, given the past few winters it made sense that he’d want to be out here where they weren’t snowed in for weeks. Her gut was saying there was more to it than that.
She read all the past articles on the original incident. She knew from her own memories of the night that the party had been wild. She’d been focused on Kingsley, having made up her mind that they’d finally have sex. So she really hadn’t seen much of Hunter or Stacia.
Kingsley and she had left early. And that had been what she’d wanted.
“Got a minute?”
She minimized her search window and smiled over at Kingsley where he stood in the doorway.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I wanted to remind you that I’m going to be out of town for a week. I’ll leave after Conner wakes up from his nap. I don’t want to go without saying goodbye.”
That was sweet. He was a good father. Was he a good man? That was the question that kept spinning through her mind. Every time she thought she had him figured out he did something else.
Like that lunch. He’d been funny, sort of sweet and oh, so charming. Everything any woman would want from a date...
She was afraid she was waiting for the other shoe to fall. Experience had taught her that things never went smoothly with Kingsley.
“Okay. I will have to work around my schedule. I might need to take Conner to my office in Carmel a few days. I have a play area there. And it would only be for a few hours. But I wasn’t planning to be away this long,” she said.
“That’s fine. I did spring this on you. We can work out a better schedule when I get back,” he said. He handed her a business card with his contact numbers.