Finding Kat (17 page)

I could see the logic in his statement. There was no telling what he would do when confronted with me and I didn’t act the way he expected me to.

“OK. I agree. I haven’t read any letters that were written recently but this is a thick stack so I am sure some of them are in there.”

“I think we need to let Rick take all of this and go through it with people trained to do that kind of thing and we will go out on our date as planned. I don’t want you to spend any more time worrying over this. We will get him the help he needs but you need to take a break. OK?” He looked into my eyes and I could see his need to take care of me in them. His need to keep me from stressing and worrying over something I couldn’t really fix.

“You did make certain promises about this evening. I have been looking forward to it all day.” I started to smile then, already feeling better.

CADE

As Kat got ready for our date, I couldn’t help but think of all that we had learned about her stalker. I felt bad for the guy but I wasn’t going to worry about him when he was the one going after Kat. There was no telling what a guy in his mental state would do. I was really hoping that we would find him before he went out of his way to make contact with Kat. Nothing good would come of that. I knew it instinctively.

I talked to Rick at length about his experiences with other situations like Kat. He warned me that there was usually a trigger that could cause this situation to escalate. It was hard to tell what would agitate the stalker but we needed to be cautious and watch out for situations where he could potentially see a chance to make contact with Kat in person. The whole situation made me twitchy. I couldn’t anticipate what this guy was thinking or what he was going to do.

I had become a bit of a control freak over the years. I had to be the boss in order to get shit done, so when this kind of shit came up that I knew I couldn’t do anything but sit and wait twiddling my fucking thumbs it drove me nuts. I wanted to find this guy and let the police and the law take care of it. I didn’t care what the hell they did with him, I just wanted the threat he represented to go away. Kat seemed sympathetic and I could understand. She was a bit of a bleeding heart. Everything got to her. She tried to act all tough and crack jokes but I knew her secrets. She had a weakness for fluff and people who needed help. She tried to keep her charity stuff quiet but I knew from the way she downplayed it that it meant a lot to her. She didn’t want people to get the idea that she did that kind of stuff for the press and the attention. Anyone who really knew her would know better and anyone else could go fuck themselves if you ask me. But she is more sensitive than I am. She cared about her image and what people thought. I cared so much and then if it interfered with my life, fuck them. They don’t have a say in my life. They could hound me and make shit more complicated but at the end of the day, they don’t have any power over me. Not, where it counts.

But I understood why Kat felt that way. She’d had it drilled into her head by her parents all her life.  Appearances were the most important. She tried to fight it, but years of being told something had an effect, even if you didn’t want it to. That was something she was learning to handle and I was proud of her for realizing that she couldn’t make them happy and that she wasn’t responsible for their happiness. The only person she owed anything to was herself. But thinking and doing are different things and there was going to be a struggle on both sides to get to where they could coexist peacefully. I just hoped that her mom didn’t make a huge deal when she found out about all the changes Kat planned to make. There was going to be a shit storm but maybe they were capable of being more reasonable than Kat thought.

I heard Kat coming down the stairs and grinned in anticipation. This girl did something to me. She was beautiful, and smart and hilarious. I always hoped I would find someone that fit me. I wanted someone that would understand the crazy world I lived in. I may have got a little more than I bargained for with Kat, but damn she was worth it. I just hoped that seeing her in whatever sexy thing she was bound to be wearing wouldn’t fuck up my plans to seduce her slowly and with care. She deserved care, but my dick had a mind of its own. Fuck, tonight was going to be torture. Shit, why do I always come up with these plans? I could have had her in my bed by now, but I didn’t want to rush, I won’t rush. Much.

Chapter Nine

KAT

I ran upstairs to my room to get ready while Cade talked to Rick and walked him out. I put on a pretty form fitting dress that was royal blue and covered in lace. I put on my nude pumps and put up my hair in a messy bun. I dabbed a tiny bit of perfume behind my ears and on my wrists and I was ready to go. I walked down the steps and saw that Cade was outside resting his arms on my deck and looking intently out at the sea.

“Hey there, boy toy.” I called to let him know I was approaching.

“Wow. You look beautiful Kat.” He pulled me to lean against him and kissed my cheek.

He sighed and tightened his hold on me. I got the feeling he was brooding a bit over my stalker problem.

“What’s on your mind, sugar buns?” I asked him in an effort to coax him into talking.

“I can’t get those letters out of my head. The way he wrote to you as an escape from his life. I can’t imagine how hard his life must have been that the only way to get away from it was to create this elaborate fantasy. I don’t think he is really dangerous. He just sounded like a lost child even in the letters when he was older. He never seemed to mature throughout the years while writing the letters.” He frowned and ran his hands through his hair.

“I know. It’s heartbreaking to read about his abuse. His own father and bullying made him that way. It makes me sick.” I shuddered at the idea of so much pain.

“I want you to keep an eye out for him, when you go back to work tomorrow. I know you have a routine and I won’t tell you to not do any of it. But I want you to be careful. We don’t know where his mind is. But tonight we are going to let it go. We are going to close our eyes and take a deep breath and let it go at least for tonight. I don’t want anything to ruin our date. I can’t protect you from everything but I can damn sure try.” He ran his fingers across my cheek and smiled softly at me.

A few minutes later, we were in his fancy sports car and on the way to dinner. We hadn’t really talked much about the paparazzi who were sure to be at whatever restaurant we went to.

“We are going to be all over the tabloids tomorrow. Are you ready for that, rock star?” I asked him with a wink.

“Sweetheart, as far as I’m concerned we’ve been together since we met at my concert and I couldn’t get you out of my head. You have this lightness that follows you wherever you go. You’re beautiful and funny. You’ve got a great ass. Basically, you’re perfect and I plan to keep you around for as long as you let me, and if anyone has a problem with that they can talk to me.” He grinned.

“You are such a charmer. How could anyone resist you? I know I can’t, you sexy beast, you.” I laughed.

His words set my heart beating faster. This man saw all of that in me. I saw even more than that in him.

“Don’t forget it, sugar tits. Let’s go get our picture taken while we pretend they don’t exist.” He pulled up at the valet stand and got out.

He must have told the valet not to open my door because he came around and opened it for me. I smiled up at him as he helped me get gracefully out of his car. The guys with cameras were yelling at us trying to get us to make some kind of statement about our relationship but we didn’t say anything, and didn’t acknowledge them at all.

Our hostess was tongue tied around Cade and couldn’t stop staring. I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m sure she saw famous people all the time but Cade had that something extra. A freaking hot something extra.

We had a great meal where we laughed nonstop about the funniest fans and pranks we were involved in. He was so easy to be around. Our relationship had such an easy flow and banter. We got each other on some other level that couldn’t be explained or described. The whole time we ate and laughed, he touched me and kissed me. He always maintained eye contact and focused on my wants and my needs, anticipating things before I ever had to say them. He was such a caring and thoughtful man.

By the time, we left the restaurant there was a ridiculous amount of photographers waiting outside. We knew there would be though. The plan was to lead them around for a while and lose them in traffic on the highway. I knew Cade was a good driver and trusted him to handle it. I had heard stories about car chases and I hoped these photographers didn’t escalate things to that level. Things could get dangerous fast when cars were involved and I hoped they thought of their lives before their pictures.

We got into the car and Cade had a hard time getting away from the restaurant. Guys with camera’s smashed up against the car and walked along beside us in an effort to get more pictures. He honked the horn and revved the engine to get them to take him seriously. They eventually got out of the way but as we drove, there was a line of paps who decided to follow us.

Cade looked over at me and reached down to make sure my seat belt was buckled. I’m not sure how many car chase scenes he had been involved in, but he seemed to be more concerned about our situation than I was. Cade seemed to be a naturally cautious person but I sat up a little straighter and paid more attention to the people behind us. There were a couple of paps who seemed to be driving a little more recklessly than they should have been. A sporty looking car was swerving in and out of traffic in an effort to catch up.

In response, Cade began to weave around trying to lose the guys following us. I wasn’t sure if they knew where I lived, but I didn’t want to show them if they didn’t already know.

I gripped my hands together in my lap feeling more and more nervous by the minute. I could hear the engines revving behind us as the cars continued to chase us. I looked at Cade and watched the muscle in his jaw tic as he navigated the road and tried to find a place to lose them. He was tense but totally in control.