Page 38 of Anti-Hero (Kensingtons: The Next Generation #2)

A t eight fifteen, she finally shows up.

I don’t move from my current spot, watching her say something to the cab driver before closing the door and turning this way. She sees me two steps later, lips pressing tight together as she continues toward the stairs I’m sitting on.

“Those are filthy,” she states when she reaches me. “You’ll ruin your suit.”

Still, I don’t move.

Collins heaves out a sigh before she climbs and sits next to me, setting her bag between her feet. As per usual, it’s stuffed full. “How long have you been here?”

“A while.”

“I had an engagement party to go to after work.”

“Whose party?”

“Aimee.” Collins shifts, tightening the strip of wool holding her coat together. “She’s part of the legal department. She has quite the crush on you actually. She’d probably leave her fiancé if you asked.”

I say nothing.

I’ve had two and a half hours to decide what to tell her, but I’m still struggling for the right words.

I exhale, resting my elbows on my knees. “I hate fighting with you, Collins. I’ve always liked arguing with you, but fighting? For real? I hate it.”

“I do too.” She bites her bottom lip. “I’m sorry about the paternity test. I really—it never occurred to me that you’d be upset about it.”

“I know.” I reach for her hand, lacing our chilly fingers together. I think it’s above freezing out, but not by much.

Collins releases a surprised breath at the contact, but doesn’t pull away, which I take as an encouraging sign.

“I chased you because I wanted to be around you, Collins, not because it was a game. You are the one person I’ve ever met who doesn’t want anything from me.

Who doesn’t expect me to be … Kit Kensington.

My friends want me to party with them, and my family wants me to grow the hell up.

Strangers think they know me because we were at the same club once.

This baby is the first thing in my life that’s been …

a fresh start—almost. Pomegranate doesn’t know how much money I have or that I was almost arrested in Monaco once. ”

She smiles reluctantly .

“I got used to the baby being separate from the rest of my life. From it being in this special, protected bubble. You said you got the test because you know how my world works. And you were right; a paternity test is probably going to come up at some point. But I didn’t want it to.

It caught me off guard—that things weren’t staying separate anymore.

I was mad you’d felt like you needed to get one, not mad at you . I’m sorry I overreacted.”

“Why-why didn’t you ask me for one?” she asks tentatively. “Were you worried about … offending me? Because I want us to be honest?—”

I shake my head. “You want honest? I didn’t ask you for a test because, if you were pregnant, I wanted it to be mine. No one gets handed a present they really fucking want and asks for a gift receipt, Monty.”

She glances down at our joined hands, hiding her expression from me. I wait, holding my breath, terrified the next words out of her mouth are going to include boundaries or line .

Instead, she tells the ground, “I’m not dating Perry.”

A spark of hope flares to life in my chest. “You’re not?”

“I’m not. Because I don’t want to date him …

not because I’m going to be working at the same law firm he does, starting in January.

” Collins reaches into her bag with her free hand and extracts a folded sheet that she smooths and sets on my lap.

“One of the paralegals in Perry’s department is leaving at the beginning of next year.

He recommended me for the position. They offered it to me yesterday. ”

I stare at her creased resignation letter.

“I can print a clean copy,” Collins adds hurriedly. “I was going to give it to you at the office earlier. When things … derailed, I decided to wait until tomorrow.”

“Congratulations,” I say .

Her forehead furrows. “Really? That’s it?”

“I told you, I’m sick of fighting. As long as this is what you want, I’ll support it.”

She exhales in obvious relief, and I hate the sound of it. Hate that she was so worried about telling me.

“Thanks,” Collins whispers.

“Anything for my favorite baby mama.”

She laughs, then winces. “Sorry I, uh, brought that up.”

“It was a fair shot. I was acting like an ass.”

I glance at her.

“Oh, sorry, were you waiting for me to disagree?”

I laugh.

I like Collins Tate. I like her a lot . I might even love her.

“For the record, you’re also my only baby mama. I’ve always been … careful.”

Collins hesitates before saying, “We were careful too.”

“Three times increases the odds.”

Once again, she pauses before speaking. “So, you don’t usually …”

I wait, but she doesn’t finish. Just blushes.

We haven’t discussed that night in any detail since it happened. Her fishing for information, paired with the revelations she’s not dating Perry and will no longer be working at Kensington Consolidated in a month, has me in an excellent mood all of a sudden.

“That wasn’t a normal night for me, Collins,” I state.

Something I would have said sooner had she stuck around the next morning.

She’s avoiding my gaze, but I don’t think she’s uncomfortable. The corners of her lips are curved up, and she’s still flushed. I think she’s flustered .

Maybe Fran and Sadie were right, and I should spell the whole truth out.

“I hope you’re ready for January,” I tell her.

She glances at me in response to the rapid subject change. “Uh, yeah. I should be. The responsibilities they went over during the interview sounded pretty similar to what I was doing at?—”

“I’m not talking about your new job,” I clarify. “I’m talking about how, starting in January, you won’t be working for me.”

Her head tilts. “What does that mean?”

“You know that’s the only reason I haven’t chased you since August, right?”

Shock spreads across her face, like ink spilling in water. Then gets hastily wiped away.

Collins’s fingers fidget, like she’s contemplating pulling her hand away. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she says softly.

“Why?” I challenge, undeterred.

She opens her mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. “It would complicate co-parenting if we were … involved.”

I nod in agreement. “That must be why couples never have kids together. Can you imagine? The hassle of not having two houses and a custody agreement and separate finances?—”

“It would complicate our co-parenting. There was nothing to separate. We were never a couple to begin with, Kit.”

“That was your choice. Not mine. You knew I was interested.”

She scoffs. “So interested that I never heard from you after that night? It took me walking into your office as your assistant for us to have a post-sex conversation.”

I exhale. “I know. And I’d change that if I could—and not just because you’re pregnant.

I’d flirted with you for years, and you shot me down every time, except once.

I figured you wanted a one-night stand, and waking up alone pretty much confirmed that.

Monday, I started at Kensington Consolidated, work got crazy, and then the next thing I knew, you were accepting the job.

I never lost interest , and there’s no chance I wouldn’t have begged for another night the next time I saw you if it were under different circumstances. ”

A reluctant smile plays across Collins’s lips. “Begged, huh? I would pay to see that.”

“For you? I’d do it for free.”

“For sex, you mean.”

“Do I want to have sex with you again? Fuck yes. But I’m talking about a relationship, Monty. Exclusive, monogamous, committed. The real deal.”

“Have you ever been in a relationship?”

She already knows the answer, and I’m sure it’s contributing to her uncertainty. “No. If I had been in a relationship, I wouldn’t have been free to flirt with you.”

Collins rolls her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m also completely serious. If I’d met a woman I wanted more than you, I’d have dated her. Never happened.”

“You’re serious,” she realizes, almost to herself.

“I’m serious,” I confirm.

“Can I think—I just need to think.” She squeezes my palm. “Not because I don’t—I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

“You can think about it as much as you want,” I reassure her. “But fair warning: I’m taking you out on a date the first weekend you don’t work for me. We never properly celebrated the pregnancy, and we’re going to. After that, you can decide if you want this to go anywhere.”

“Like a trial run?”

“Sure,” I agree. “If a trial run ruins you for all other runs.”

She laughs. “Okay. ”

“Okay,” I echo.

I’ve said everything I needed to. I should stand. Leave. Let her head inside and get warm. But despite the fact that my butt went numb a couple of hours ago and my stomach’s rumbling, I’m hesitant to leave.

“I was thinking …” Collins starts.

“Yeah?” I prompt.

She glances at the ground, then meets my waiting gaze. “I was thinking that since I won’t be working for you, starting next year, it might be a good time to give the living together thing a try. That way, if it doesn’t go well, we’ll have time to figure something else out before the baby arrives.”

I blink at her.

Collins misreads my stunned silence. “If you’ve changed your mind, that’s totally fi?—”

“I haven’t changed my mind,” I tell her hastily. “In fact, when your landlord came home an hour ago, I pretended I was interested in living here. He said he had thirty applicants for a unit that changed tenants a couple of weeks ago. Doesn’t sound like you’d have any trouble breaking your lease.”

And if you do, I’ll take care of it .

She shakes her head in exasperation, but she’s smiling. “Okay. I’ll talk to him. One other thing …” She bites her bottom lip. “My, uh, parents want to meet you. R emeet you, I mean. It’s not urgent; I’ve just been meaning to mention it.”

“What about next weekend? Does that work?”

She blinks rapidly, clearly taken aback. “Uh, it should. I’ll check with them, but it should.”

I nod, squeeze her hand one final time, and stand. “Great. Set it up.”