I couldn’t help but notice the amused expression on Thatch’s face as we all returned to eating. Once she was done with her spaghetti, Cat looked up at me and asked, “Can I go play?”
“Yes, sweetie. Just carry your plate over to the sink.”
“Okay.”
Thatch and I watched as she picked up her empty plate and took it to the counter. She immediately turned and raced out of the kitchen. As soon as she started upstairs, I turned to Thatch and said, “Thank you for bringing dinner. It was very sweet of you.”
“To be honest, I had an ulterior motive.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“I wanted to see you.”
He gave me a sexy wink, then stood and carried our plates to the sink. When he opened the dishwasher, I hopped up and rushed over to nudge him out of the way. “Oh no, you don’t. You brought dinner. The least I can do is clean it up.”
“Then I’ll help.”
He grabbed the rest of the dishes from the table and stacked them up next to me. After I rinsed them off, I put them in the dishwasher, and it wasn’t long before everything was cleaned up.
I went upstairs and got Cat in the shower. Once I’d gotten her ready for bed, I returned and joined Thatcher in the living room. “She good?”
“Yeah, she just put on her PJs and is playing for a bit before bed.”
“So, how’s she been handling everything after the visit with her father?”
“She had a rough go of it those first few days. That first night, Cat barely slept a wink, and when she did, she was haunted by one nightmare after the next.” A knot formed in my throat. “She’d never been to a prison, never even seen one on TV, so the whole thing was pretty overwhelming.”
“I imagine so.”
“Yeah, and it didn’t help matters that she hadn’t seen Trevor since the night of the attack. She was so rattled by the whole thing she couldn’t even remember what all he said to her.”
“You get that restraining order taken care of?”
“My lawyer is working on it. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer.”
“Has there been any word from Trevor or the mother-in-law?”
“Not since the day Joyce took her.” I inhaled a deep breath. “Hopefully, it’ll stay that way.”
Thatch’s voice was low and almost menacing as he mumbled, “It better.”
We continued to talk for a while when I noticed that I hadn’t heard Cat for several minutes. I listened for a bit more, then stood and told Thatch, “I’m going to run up and check in on Cat. I’ll be right back.”
I slipped up the stairs, and when I got to Cat’s room, I was pleased to see she was already in bed and sleeping soundly with her Barbies lying at her side. I quickly gathered them up and placed them in her toy basket, then leaned down and gave her a kiss. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
I turned out her light, then quietly made my way back downstairs.
As I started down the steps, I thought back to dinner when Cat asked Thatch if I was his girlfriend. I’m not sure how I expected him to answer her, but I never dreamed he’d tell her that I was—not after the conversation we’d had when we first started seeing each other.
We had an understanding, and I had every intention of sticking to that. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. After just a few encounters with Thatch, I started to have feelings for him, real feelings, and over the past few months, those feelings had grown into something more.
Now, I wasn’t so worried about keeping things simple.
I no longer cared if there were strings attached.
In fact, I wanted the strings. I wanted it all.
And after hearing his response to Cat, I couldn’t help but wonder if Thatch felt the same. When I got downstairs, I walked over to the sofa and placed my hand on my hip. “You told Cat I was your girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“When did that happen?” I cocked my eyebrow as I sassed, “’Cause I totally missed it.”
“You got a problem with my answer?”
“No, it’s not that,” I stammered. “It’s just, uh ... we never really talked about it.”
“I’m gonna ask you again.” He stood and stepped over to me. “You got a problem with my answer?”
“I just don’t understand. What changed?” I started involuntarily spewing questions. “Did you forget about the woman who burned you? Are you not busy with the club anymore? Are you not worried about complicating things? Are you okay with strings being attached? I mean, did you even think about it before you told Cat I was your girlfriend?”
No response. He just stood there staring at me with one of his blank expressions, but his eyes were filled with angst. It was clear that he had something to say, but he held on to his words and left me there to wonder what he was thinking. When I’d had enough of his silent treatment, I turned and started towards the kitchen. “Just forget I asked.”