The longer he was connected to her, the more he started to connect with her literally. He didn’t think that was terribly healthy, but, hey, it was what it was, so he had no choice but to take whatever he got and carry on. As soon as he returned to his apartment building, he walked inside, and, sure enough, there was Harry again. “Hey, how are you doing, Harry?”
“I’m good, but how are you? That was a hell of a run you had the other day.”
“Yep, like the devil was after me.” He gave Harry a big grin.
“Hey, I don’t—I don’t joke about the devil,” Harry said. “A little too scary for my liking.”
Simon chuckled at that. “Isn’t that the truth? Sometimes it makes you wonder if the devil isn’t in us.”
“I know it is,” Harry said. “I’ve seen some bad shit in my life, and trying to be a good person doesn’t always work out.”
“No, it doesn’t. And sometimes we have really shitty starts, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to earn forgiveness.”
At that, Harry looked at him in surprise. “We always tend to think of the people in this building as born with a silver spoon in their mouths and having perfect lives.”
“And you would be wrong,” Simon said quietly. “Some of us came from the bottom and worked our way up.”
“See? I knew I liked you for all the good reasons,” Harry said. “I’d much rather know a man who did that than somebody who stepped out of his daddy’s home into a fancy car his daddy bought for him to hang with the beautiful people, and everything else was just handed to him.”
“That’s definitely not my story.” Simon grinned and waved, as he headed to the elevator.
Harry called out, “By the way, the wife loved the wine. Thanks again.”
“You are welcome,” Simon called back. As he entered the elevator car alone, that weird sense of smell showed up again. He froze; then he realized it smelled like curry. As the door shut, he asked the mystery woman in his head, “Did you ride to get curry? You want to pick me up some?” he joked. “I didn’t bring any food home.”
He didn’t think he’d grocery-shopped at all this week. Then he remembered Kate had said she was still out of groceries too and probably still was. Hell, she always was. He pulled out his phone and typed a text message and sent it off.I’m home, about to have a shower, get changed, and then maybe go grocery shopping. Dinner?
He could only hope she’d say yes. But he also knew the current case she was working on was driving her a little bit bonkers. But he couldn’t imagine any case not doing that. She wasn’t the kind to sit back and to let the world go by; she wanted to do something and to make an effective change. He just wasn’t sure that was always possible in her line of work. Hell, in his line of work too. By the time he hopped into and out of the shower and got changed, he found a text message from Kate.
Pick me up. I need groceries too, and it’s a deal.
In response, he called her. “I’ll meet you outside your place, unless you are still at work. Or, if you’ve got any idea what you need, I’ll go shop for both of us.”
“Coffee for one thing.”
When she yawned, that made him happy that he had offered.
“Other than that, groceries. Something fast and easy to pick up and eat on the run.”
“One of these days, you’ll have to get real food.”
“I’ll see what I can come up with,” she said.
“I’ll see you in about an hour.” And he hung up.
He didn’t really give her a chance to back out. He also knew that, if he gave her an inch, she’d take a mile, and she’d probably find a way to avoid meeting him. And that was something he wasn’t prepared to let happen. There were so many good things about her that he couldn’t walk away from her. Hence the state of their relationship as it stood right now—her fighting it every step of the way, and him not giving an inch and ignoring all her efforts at sabotage.
One of these days she would say that he mattered. He wouldn’t wait for it, but he knew it would happen. He might have to wait a hell of a long time for it, but, if there was one thing he had, it was patience. At least where Kate was concerned.
Good things came to those who wait. And even better things came to those who made it happen. He’d be damned if he would let her walk away from this. One of these days she had to give in and had to realize just how important she was to him.
And how important he was to her.
Chapter 17
When Kate gothome, exhausted after her workout, Simon stood in front of her apartment, juggling multiple bags, as he tried to open the door.
“I’ll get that.” She walked rapidly toward him.