Page 7 of Infatuation (The Josh & Kat Trilogy #1)

Four

Kat

There’s a raging storm outside Sarah’s hospital window, but the rain is no match for my tears.

Oh my God, this is the worst day of my life.

Sarah’s my best friend. My partner in crime.

My rock. We finish each other’s sentences.

We laugh ’til we pee. She’s more than my best friend—she’s my sister .

We tell each other everything—or, at least, I tell Sarah everything.

I’m not sure it works the other way around.

But I’ve never cared about that because that’s just Sarah.

She’s this weird mixture of shy and reserved and confident and insecure and hilarious and crazy all at once.

There’s just nobody like Sarah Cruz. She’s the absolute best.

And some bastard out there purposefully hurt my girl?

Just the thought is making me bawl all over again.

How could anyone even think of hurting Sarah of all people?

The girl wouldn’t hurt a fly. And someone tried to kill her just because she figured out their stupid sex club is actually a prostitution ring?

Who the fuck cares? That’s worth killing the best girl in the world over?

I look across the hospital room at Sarah, asleep in her hospital bed. She’s bandaged and hooked up to tubes and wires and monitors. She looks tiny and pale.

I just can’t believe this is happening.

Sarah’s mom is seated next to Sarah’s bed, asleep and draped over her daughter’s bed.

And in the corner of the room, there’s Jonas Faraday, the so-called “boyfriend” himself, sitting in a chair that looks way too small for his large body, his muscled arms crossed over his Seattle Seahawks T-shirt.

The poor guy looks horribly pained, even in his sleep—distraught, I’d even say.

Gazing at him right now, it’s suddenly perfectly clear I’ve completely misjudged him.

I had my doubts about his intentions toward Sarah, and I told him so, but looking at him now, he sure looks every bit the devoted and loyal boyfriend.

Shit. I wish I’d been nicer to him at his house yesterday morning.

The guy gave me a computer and I acted like a total bitch. Classic Kat.

I look at Sarah again and tears squirt from my eyes for the millionth time today.

Sarah always says I’ve got a heart of gold, but she’s wrong.

She’s the one who cares so deeply about making the world a better place, not me.

She’s the one who’s always thinking about helping people, not me.

Compared to Sarah, I’m a downright bitch.

And not just a bitch, a horribly reckless bitch.

What the fuck was I thinking, trying to seduce my bodyguard ?

Jonas hired Derek to protect me, not fuck me.

Jonas was right all along—the bad guys really were out to get Sarah and maybe me, too, and what did I do?

I made the whole thing about me getting my rocks off.

I’m so freaking predictable—and so freaking ashamed of myself, I feel physically ill.

But wait a minute. It takes two to tango.

Derek was the one who was supposed to be a professional , right?

How the hell did he plan to protect me while pounding me?

My life was quite possibly at stake and he was macking down on me!

Oh my God. Is my life at stake now? I feel like I’m gonna barf.

I throw my hands over my face. This whole situation is crashing into me like a ton of bricks.

My phone buzzes in my purse with a text and I pull it out. Josh Faraday. I wipe my eyes. I feel oddly comforted seeing his name on my screen.

“Are you at the hospital?” Josh writes.

“Yeah, I’m in Sarah’s room now,” I reply. “The doc says Sarah lost a ton of blood and she’s definitely in a lot of pain, but she’s gonna be okay, thank God. She’ll probably go home tomorrow. She got really lucky. The blade didn’t hit anything critical.”

“SO AWESOME. Huge relief. OMG. Is my brother there? He hasn’t answered any of my texts or calls. I’m worried.”

I look across the room at Jonas again. His face is twitching in his sleep like he’s having a nightmare. Just as I’m about to look away from him, his entire body jolts like someone just leaped out from behind a bush and yelled “Boo!” Aw, poor guy. He’s actually kind of breaking my heart right now.

“Yeah, he’s here,” I write. “He’s asleep. ”

“When he wakes up, could you tell him I couldn’t get to Seattle tonight? All flights are grounded due to weather.”

As if on cue, thunder crashes outside the hospital window. “Yeah, if he wakes up while I’m still here, I’ll be sure to tell him,” I write.

“Thanks.”

There’s a long beat. Is that the end of our text-conversation? I drop my phone in my lap and stare at Sarah for another long moment, listening to the driving rain outside the window, my thoughts drifting to the thousands of times Sarah’s been the best friend a girl could ever hope for.

I’ve just decided something. I’m done being Classic Kat.

From this day forward, I’m New Kat—a responsible and levelheaded girl.

A girl like Sarah. Smart. Careful . A look-before-leaping kind of girl, especially when it comes to men.

New Kat takes things slow. New Kat has her head on straight.

New Kat doesn’t just jump into the sack or throw her heart away willy-nilly.

New Kat isn’t tempestuous and crazy. Nope.

She’s just like Sarah. Well, pre-Jonas Sarah, that is.

I don’t know what the heck’s happened to Sarah since she met Jonas—nowadays, she’s acting like me. But that’s beside the point.

My phone buzzes with another text. “How are you holding up, Party Girl?” Josh asks.

I take a deep breath and tap out an honest answer to the question, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Not good. The Party Girl doesn’t feel at all like partying right now.”

“I know what you mean. The Playboy doesn’t feel at all like playing right now, either.” He adds a sad face to the end of his message.

Well, as long as I’m being honest, I might as well go all in. “I’ve never cried so many tears in all my life, Josh,” I write. And, of course, the act of writing that message makes me cry even harder. “This is the worst day of my life.”

I’ve no sooner pressed send on that message than my phone buzzes with an incoming call from Josh.

I bolt out of my chair and into the hallway to answer. “Hi,” I say softly into my phone, my cheeks suddenly hot. I don’t like crying in front of men, even over the telephone. It always ignites their superhero instincts—and I’m not a girl who needs to be saved .

“When I get there,” Josh says softly, his voice low and masculine, “you can cry on my shoulder all you like, Party Girl.”

There’s a long pause. I’m having a physical reaction to that statement, not to mention the masculine tone of his voice.

“Thanks,” I finally say. “I’d like that.”

There’s another long pause. “So how’s that bodyguard working out for you?” he finally asks. “Do you like him?”

“Do I like him?” I repeat, my pulse suddenly pounding in my ears. Does he suspect I was trying to get into my bodyguard’s pants when he called earlier today?

Josh exhales. “I mean does he make you feel safe ? Is he doing a good job of protecting you?”

“Oh.” I exhale. “Well, actually,” I say, “I’ve got two bodyguards—one for day, one for night. The nighttime guy is here at the hospital now—in the waiting room. I feel pretty safe with him. But I’m gonna ask for a replacement for the daytime guy.”

“You don’t feel safe with the daytime guy?”

“No.”

“Why not?” There’s a strange edge to his voice. He inhales sharply. “Did he make a pass at you, Kat?”

Holy Jealous Boyfriend, Batman—except, of course, that Josh Faraday isn’t my boyfriend. We’ve never even been on a flippin’ date.

“Shit,” Josh breathes before I can reply to his initial question. “What’s the bastard’s name?”

“Josh,” I manage to say. “No, he didn’t make a pass at me.

” I think that’s technically true—I’m the one who made a pass at Derek.

“But if he had,” I continue, “it wouldn’t be any of your business.

” I let that sink in for a minute. “Derek just didn’t take things seriously enough for my taste, that’s all,” I say evenly.

“ Derek , huh?” Josh says, his voice edged with testosterone.

“What the hell, Josh?” I say. “You sound like a caveman. Don’t worry about it. I’m asking for a new guy. Problem solved.” I’m suddenly pissed. He has no claim on me. I can do what I want. “I’d better get back into the room,” I say stiffly. “I came out into the hallway to take your call.”

He exhales. “Listen, Kat. I don’t want you being alone ’til we figure this shit out. Not for a minute. Okay? Jonas obviously had a sixth sense here—he was totally right. We’ve got to take this seriously.”

“Yeah. Okay. Got it. Thanks. But like I said, Rodney’s out in the waiting room, and I’ll get a new guy tomorrow.”

“You promise?”

I exhale with exasperation. I’m not sure I like this caveman crap from a guy I’m not even dating. “I’m getting a new guy because it’s what I wanna do, not because you told me to do it.”

“Jeez. Touchy. I’m just looking out for you.”

Tears flood my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m a wreck right now. Ignore me. I didn’t mean to be bitchy. It’s been a really hard day, Josh.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I know,” he coos. “Of course, it has.”

I sniffle into the phone. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries.”

We’re silent for a long moment.

“Okay, well, I gotta go,” I say. “I came into the hallway to take your call. If Sarah wakes up, I wanna be there.”

Josh exhales. “Kat, listen . . .” But he doesn’t finish the thought.

“Yeah, I gotta go, too. Don’t forget to tell my brother I’m stuck down in LA, but I’ll get there as soon as I can.

Please tell him, okay? I’m really worried about him.

” His voice breaks. “He’s been through a lot, Kat—something like this was the last thing he needed. ”

“It’s okay, Josh,” I say softly. “Hang in there, okay?”

I hear him breathing, but he doesn’t reply.

“I’m sure this is rough on you—being down there when your brother’s wigging out up here.”

He doesn’t reply for a long beat. “Kat, you have no idea.”

“Hang in there.”

There’s another long beat.

Josh clears his throat. “It sounds like Sarah’s gonna be good as new, so crisis averted.

Jonas will take her to his house tomorrow and nurse her back to health and he’ll be happy as a clam.

I’m sure the minute I walk through his door tomorrow, he’ll kick me the fuck out again, just like he did last night. ”

I chuckle. “He kicked you out last night?”

“Yeah. I guess he wanted some privacy , if you know what I mean.”

I can hear him rolling his eyes across the phone line .

“Well, from what I heard before you got to Jonas’ house the other day, consider yourself lucky you didn’t hear them. Yeesh.”

“Really?”

“Oh my God. They sounded like they were dying in there.”

He laughs. “Don’t tell me any more. I make it a point not to think about my brother having sex.”

I laugh, wiping the tears out of my eyes as I do.

“I’ve never seen Jonas like this about a girl. Ever,” he says. “I actually think this might be the real thing for him.”

“Really? Wow. Sarah said the same thing.”

“Awesome. I’d hate for Jonas to get his heart broken. He doesn’t put it out there very often. Looks like he’s fallen hard for this girl.”

I never thought for a minute about Jonas getting his heart broken—I’ve been too concerned about Sarah getting hers smashed to smithereens.

“Trust me, if anyone’s heart’s gonna get broken here, it won’t be Jonas’,” I say. “Sarah’s all in.”

“Well, good. I hope it works out for them. They’re awesome together.”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Okay, well . . .” he says. “Hopefully, I’ll get my ass back up there tomorrow on the first flight out, just in time for him to kick me out of his house again.” He chuckles. “So when I’m up there with nothing to do, maybe we’ll have a chance to hang out—maybe grab some dinner or drinks?”

“Maybe,” I say casually, but my heart’s racing. I’m sure he can hear me smiling over the phone line.

“Mmm hmm,” he says. “Okay, Party Girl with a Hyphen. I forgot we’re playing it cool. That’s fine. We both know how this ends—but, sure, we can play it that way.”

“I have no idea how this ends,” I say, my crotch tingling at the flirtatious tone of his voice.

“Oh, well, then, far be it for me to spoil the ending for you.” He pauses. “Well, I better go. Hang in there, Party Girl. I’ll be there soon and you can cry on my shoulder all you like.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll see you soon, Playboy.”

“Oh, you can count on it.”