That left the girls. She was going to skip the two with babies, and Olivia's men were too tight with the traitors. That left Jesenia. She didn't answer the first two times she called. Kara hoped Jess's phone wasn't on vibrate. On the third attempt, Jess picked up.
"Kara? Are you all right?" Jesenia's voice was groggy with sleep.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I need a ride. Can you come pick me up?"
"Sure. Are you still at the gallery?"
"I'm sitting outside Hart's Diner."
"What are you-nope, never mind. I can be there in thirty minutes." The phone went dead and Kara smiled. She loved that about Jesenia. Smart as a whip and straight to the point. She started scrolling through the pictures in her phone. She smiled at the one with her parents standing in front of the helix sculpture. She still couldn't believe the amount of money that the gallery had asked for it and the fact that someone paid that amount. That commission was going to keep Butch and Sundance in filet mignon for the rest of the year.
Though she was still smiling, looking at the picture made her sad. How could anyone say that her parents' relationship was morally wrong and icky? She might have been outraged with Jim in the car, but now that she was sitting here, she was sad. In reality, it had been a long time since she had been confronted with that type of bigotry. She'd forgotten about it. It made her sad for her parents, who still had to deal with it. Theirs was the best and healthiest relationship she knew of, and she wasn't being biased. Maybe one of the reasons she was so impressed is that she had seen firsthand how they had worked through the hard times, and been so loving and caring with one another. They had something that she had always wanted, but had now given up on ever having. So, to hear someone like Jim, or anyone for that matter, saying it was morally wrong, made her sad. She wished she could hold on to anger and outrage instead. Maybe she would be back to those emotions tomorrow, when she wasn't so tired and overwhelmed. She really shouldn't have had those three glasses of champagne. She'd hardly been sleeping or eating much lately, so she knew better. Oh, well, what's done is done.
She heard a car pull up and was surprised. It had only been five or ten minutes. Jesenia couldn't be here that quickly. She looked up. Well, great, if that didn't look like a rental car, she didn't know what did. The only people around here who would be driving a rental would be the Alaskan tourist trade. She reached into her purse for her keys, detached her house key from the ring, and held it in her fist.
Kara watched as they both came striding over to her. Ben was wearing a gray suit with a black silk shirt and black tie, his hair a little longer than his shoulders. No matter how empty her heart may have been, her girl parts were in fine working order. She had begun to wonder, since she hadn't been able to muster any kind of desire for any of the eighteen men she'd had first dates with, but apparently she still had working hormones.
The suit fit Ben to perfection. He must have had it tailored to get it to fit through his broad shoulders while hugging his lean torso. What she wouldn't pay to see his ass in those gray slacks! When she looked back up she saw that familiar wicked gleam in his eye and his dimples flash. She grinned back, and then immediately schooled her features back into an impassive expression. She ignored the pain that she saw on Ben's face and turned to look at Quinn.
He had worn a black suit with a blindingly white shirt. He looked like a character that had walked out of a James Bond movie, and he had the predatory demeanor to go with it. Kara never dreamed that he could move so sensuously and powerfully in fashionable clothes. She had always thought of him as an outdoorsman. But he could make people in any corporate setting sit up and take notice. God knew there were parts of her that were taking notice. As he moved closer, he looked around the street. When he saw no one but her, she could see that he was angry.
"Where is he?"
"That's none of your business, Quinn."
"What the hell kind of man would leave you in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?" Quinn demanded as he stopped in front of her.
Tipping her head back, she looked him dead in the eye and repeated slowly, "Not. Your. Business."
"Tell me what happened."
"Not. Going. To. Happen."
Ben sat down next to her and put his hand on the same leg that Jim had been holding in the car. The feeling was night-and-day different. "Are you okay, Kara? Something must have happened to make you get out of the car here." Damn, Ben could always see her emotional upset. She turned to him, ready to tell him the same thing, but when she saw his warm, chocolate-brown eyes, saw the concern and understanding, she found herself unable to be as harsh.
"Ben, it was nothing. I'm fine."
"It had to be a whole hell of a lot more than nothing, to leave you stranded out here at one in the morning," Quinn bit out. He was clearly frustrated with her lack of communication. "This is dangerous."
Kara laughed. "This is Fate Harbor."
"Kara, you know just because this is the small town you grew up in doesn't mean it's totally safe," Ben said in a soft and reasonable tone.
"You're both giving me a headache. If I wasn't wearing high heels, and I didn't want my brothers to be called, I would have walked the three blocks over to the firehouse where Rick is working tonight. I don't even need to call 9-1-1. I have the police station's number in my phone because I'm friends with the dispatcher. I'm fine! I'm waiting for a friend! Now here's the key to my house." She thrust out her hand at Quinn. "There are clean sheets on the guest bed. There is bedding in the hall closet for the couch. Please be gone when I get there in the afternoon, and never come back." Quinn made no move to take the key from her hand.
"Not. Going. To. Happen," Quinn said softly, echoing her words from before. Kara shut her eyes. That was a mistake.
Her world narrowed down to Ben's warm hand resting on her leg. She could feel the heat, the heart, the man himself through the silk of her hose. She must have stayed in that position for a while because her arm began to tremble with the effort of being held out for so long. She didn't care. She had decided to just wait for Jesenia. Quinn's touch was soft as he cupped her hand and gently closed it and placed it back onto her lap. She felt him sit down next to her. She jumped when he placed his hand on other her leg.
"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Kara. You're in control." She settled down and relaxed, her eyes not quite as tightly closed. Both men began to trace circles on her legs with their thumbs, easing just slightly past the top of her stocking. She heard Ben's breath hiss inward the first time he touched the skin of her thigh.
"Will you talk to us, Kachawli?" Ben finally asked.
"I'm not your sweetheart, Ben. I'm not your anything. I'm not anybody's anything," she said sadly, thinking about the fiasco with Jim. She was relieved when he said nothing to dispute her. She was too damned tired for a fight.
"We're not going to chase you out of your home," Quinn said in a quiet voice. "Let us drive you home. You need to rest. We'll talk tomorrow."
Kara opened her eyes and looked at Ben first. She knew he needed the connection the most. "Jesenia will be here in a couple of minutes. I'm going to her house." Ben gave her a warm look and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"She sounds like a good friend, Kara. I'm glad you have her." She searched his face and found nothing but sincerity. She turned to Quinn.
"Please, take the key. I need some time with my friend, and I'd appreciate if you could feed the dogs." She couldn't quite meet his eyes, so she spoke to the pulse in his neck.
"You're wrong, you know," he said in his raspy voice. She waited. "You are something. You mean the world to us, Kara." She watched as he swallowed, and his pulse sped up. God, she was tired.
"Will you take the key?" His hand covered hers, and she transferred it to him, careful not to look anyplace but his neck. She didn't need the visuals. "Thank you."
"Kara?" Kara looked up at her friend's voice.
"Hi, Jess, I didn't hear you drive up." Jessenia looked at both men, and then back at Kara and held out her hand.
"Come on, Kara, let's get you to my house, okay?" she asked, sounding a little like Kara's mother.
"Yeah, that sounds really good," Kara said in a tired and dazed voice. She started to get off the bench and stumbled a bit on one of her heels. Both men stood with her and easily steadied her.
"My car's over here," Jesenia said, indicating an SUV with a nursery logo on it. When Kara continued to stand on the sidewalk just staring at the vehicle, Quinn bent and picked her up and carried her to the passenger door. When Jesenia hit the key fob to unlock the door, he placed Kara inside.