Page 8 of Black Bay Enforcer (Beasts of Black Bay #3)

Katherine felt a tiny bit lightheaded and queasy as Kong and Lark both rose from their seats and without another word, left her alone. Again.

So much for being friends , she thought grumpily.

Maybe it was for the best though, since at the moment, she wouldn’t be good company. She felt like she’d been put through a wringer. Whatever Lark had done to her had not been pleasant. She’d felt like a vice had been tightened around her skull while they’d asked their questions.

Someone let out a loud bark of laughter and she flinched. During the questioning, all other sounds had faded away, and now that they were back, the noise was a bit overwhelming.

She frowned, unsure how she felt about the whole thing.

The lack of choice. It was an invasion of her privacy but she wasn’t sure if she had the energy at the moment to get mad.

Later, after she’d gone over it in her head a few hundred times and thought of all the things she should have said or done, she’d probably work herself up into a fine temper, but right now, all she wanted to do was drop her head onto the table and groan.

Her head hurt, her eyes were dry and gritty, and her mouth felt like it was lined with cotton.

She eyed her cup and wondered if she had enough energy to get up and refill it.

“Pie!”

Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin, her heart thumping madly. Putting her hand to her chest, she looked up at Kong who was holding three whole pies.

He shot her a sheepish look. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He extended the pies. “But this should make up for it.”

Dropping into a chair, he set the pies down on the table. “I didn’t know which kind you like best, so I brought a variety. Chocolate cream, lemon meringue, and apple.”

There was a metallic clatter as he dumped a bunch of forks in front of her. “Which one do you want?”

“Er…”

“I know. It’s a tough choice. Right? But if you can’t make up your mind, you can always do what I do and just have some of each.”

Pie wasn’t what was confusing her right now. “I didn’t think you’d come back,” she suddenly blurted.

Her cheeks heated. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Whatever Lark had done to her had turned her brain to mush. Was she going to just say everything that popped into her head? And if so, how long would it last? She tucked her lips between her teeth just in case.

“I said I would. You and I are kicking off a new friendship.” With a grin, he raised his fork between them.

Katherine just stared, so he nudged another fork toward her. “Come on, raise it.”

When she did, he clinked them together. “Cheers. Now dig in.”

“Ooh, lemon meringue,” Lark said as she made another appearance and sat down. Her husband, Grady, was with her this time and he nodded at Katherine. “Miss Knox.” Then he sat down as well, and both of them grabbed some forks.

“You didn’t get plates, Kong?”

“Had my hands full.” Raising one of his big shoulders in a shrug, he added, “Besides, who needs plates? Just dig in.”

“Barbarian,” Lark fondly muttered and quickly went to rectify his oversight. As soon as she returned, she began plating the slices.

Lark’s gaze met Katherine’s and she had the urge to quickly close her eyes to protect herself, but the other woman only asked, “Did you want some of this?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks.”

As the couple dug in, Kong asked around a big forkful of apple pie, “So how’s it going? Are you settling in okay?”

Katherine nodded weakly. “You accept my apology then?”

“Of course. We’re friends now.”

“Just like that?” It seemed too good to be true.

“Well, you did have to endure an interrogation to get here, so...” He nodded. “We’re starting over, you and I.” He wiped his hands on a napkin. “Speaking of which…”

He stood and motioned for her to do the same. Her knees felt a bit weak and wobbly, but she managed. He smiled, a big, toothy grin that showed off those fangs that had once scared her senseless. “Hello, little human. Nice to meet you.”

Katherine wasn’t scared anymore. When he extended his big hand across the table, she grinned back and, playing along, took it. “Hello, Kong. It’s nice to meet you too.”

His hand was warm and strong as it swallowed hers. That weight she’d expected to lift after she made her apology finally left her shoulders. A fresh start.

When they sat again, Kong pushed a slice of apple pie her way. “This is great. Have some.”

Still feeling somewhat dazed, she forked up a small bite.

Just a taste . When the soft, cinnamon-sweet apples hit her tongue, she closed her eyes for a moment and let out a little mm of appreciation.

Heaven . She grabbed a bigger forkful. Tomorrow she would go back on her diet. Tonight, she was going to have pie.

Kong looked on with approval. “Good, right?”

With her mouth full, all she could do was nod.

More people trickled over, settled in, and helped themselves to pie.

When all three were demolished, more food appeared.

Someone opened a bottle of wine, and someone else passed out some beers.

Before Katherine knew it, the table was full, people were even dragging chairs over to join them.

Everyone was laughing and talking. Katherine suddenly found herself at the cool table.

And not just that. People were talking to her.

She was being included. It was almost surreal.

It was getting late. On a normal night, she would have already been in bed sleeping by now, but she’d enjoyed having company and conversation too much to leave.

While the others around her didn’t look like they were in any hurry to wrap things up, Katherine was exhausted.

That questioning they’d put her through had taken a lot out of her.

Her eyelids felt heavy and it seemed like she was trying to stifle a yawn every few seconds.

“I’ll walk you home.”

Katherine’s eyes snapped open though she couldn’t remember closing them. It took a few seconds and a couple of blinks before Kong, who had spoken, came into focus. She was so tired she felt drunk. She’d only had one glass of wine, yet it had gone straight to her head.

Manners dictated that she refuse his offer so she didn’t inconvenience him. Besides, it wasn’t like she needed an escort, her building was close, but she kind of liked the thought of having someone walk her home. Shooting him a slightly loopy smile, she nodded and stood.

The mess hall tilted drunkenly and Katherine shot out an arm to steady herself. Her uncoordinated movements had some of the others ribbing her good-naturedly, declaring her a lightweight. She grinned in response.

Somebody – Lark, Katherine was pretty sure – spoke up, asking, “Kong? You got this?”

Katherine didn’t hear what he said if he replied, but she felt the warmth of his arm as he looped it through hers.

With a giddy smile, she looked up at him. “Such a gentleman.”

Kong let out a low chuckle. “Come on. Let’s get you home and tucked into bed.”

They were moving, her feet not quite heading in a straight line, but thanks to Kong’s supportive arm, she didn’t fall on her face.

“You’re so strong.” There went her mouth again, spewing thoughts that were supposed to stay in the privacy of her mind, but she couldn’t muster enough energy at the moment to care.

She couldn’t resist letting her fingers do a little walking over the corded strength of his forearm. Very strong. “And warm.”

He let out another one of those low laughs and she leaned in a little closer, almost toppling over. Kong caught her, righting her. “You okay, there?”

“Never better.”

He smelled good. Soap and cinnamon.

Outside, the crisp, cool sea breeze woke her up a bit.

Summer was ending, so while the days were still quite warm, the nights held a distinct chill.

Her sweater wasn’t quite enough and she shivered.

Her companion didn’t seem at all affected.

He was only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, but there wasn’t a single goosebump on his hair-dusted forearm.

All that muscle must keep him well insulated.

“Tonight was nice.”

Kong let out an inarticulate murmur.

“I’ve missed spending time with people.” She hadn’t minded relocating for this job. She’d even been a bit excited at the prospect, but she’d also assumed she’d make new friends. She’d had no problem when she relocated for her previous job. There, they’d welcomed her with open arms.

“Is that what you normally do?”

“I had a great group of friends. Just four of us, but we were tight. Sometimes we do happy hour or go to the movies. We go out to dinner. We have a weekly game night.”

“Poker?”

“Host’s choice, but we were more about board games than cards. Sometimes it’s Monopoly, other times it’s Trivia Pursuit or Scrabble.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It was.” Katherine let out a wistful sigh. “I miss having friends.”

Kong emitted a gruff sound. “I’m sorry we’ve all been kind of shitty to you.”

“I get it. It takes time to warm up to the new girl in town.” Dryly she added, “Especially when she makes such an awesome first impression.”

“I’ll walk you up.”

Katherine startled a bit and looked up at the administrative building. Home not-so-sweet home. She hadn’t realized they’d arrived.

“How’s your room?” Kong asked as he opened the door for her and ushered her inside.

“It’s okay. I kind of wish I had a kitchen though.” Katherine was a stress baker. Well, a stress cleaner, then a baker, then cleaning again because she always made a huge mess when she baked. She hadn’t been able to do that here. She hadn’t had much of an outlet at all.

“Isn’t there a kitchen in the break room?”

Before she could answer, Kong asked, “You up for the stairs or would you rather take the elevator?”

Normally, she would take the stairs for the exercise, but she was too tired tonight. “Elevator.”

As he pushed the call button and the elevator doors slid open for them to enter, she answered his original question. “There’s a kitchenette with a refrigerator and microwave, but no oven. I like to bake.”

The elevator moved upward and Kong turned to face her, an almost boyishly eager look on his face. “What do you like to bake?”

Katherine let out a little self-deprecating laugh. “Nothing healthy, that’s for sure.”

She almost – almost – grabbed her middle to show him her jelly roll as proof, but her mind wasn’t quite that befuddled. Kong looked like he followed a strict health regimen and she didn’t want him judging her for her choices.

“Brownies?” His face held a look of longing that surprised her. But now that she thought about it, he’d eaten almost three-quarters of that apple pie, so maybe she needed to rethink her assumptions of him being a hardcore health nut.

“From scratch,” she declared proudly. “Best brownies you’ll ever taste.”

He looked at her shrewdly for a moment. The elevator doors opened with a ding, but he didn’t make a move to exit. Finally, he said, “Challenge accepted. Give me a list of the ingredients you need. You can use my kitchen.”

Wait. What?

He towed her out of the elevator. “Tomorrow night? After you get off work? I’ll pick you up.”

“Er… okay?”

Stopping at her door, he waited for her to clumsily fish out her keys and unlock things before he opened the way for her. “Do you need help?” he asked.

Help? With what? He didn’t really think she needed to be tucked in, did he? Katherine was tempted to say yes, just to see what he’d do, but she managed to pull back on the reins before she blurted it out. “I’ve got it from here. Thank you for walking me over.”

He nodded and then shot her that wide friendly grin of his. “Not a problem. Especially since you’re paying me back with the best brownies I’ve ever tasted.”

With that, he headed down the hallway toward the stair access. Raising his arm over his head, he waved. “Sleep well. See you tomorrow night, Katherine.”