Page 12 of Forever King

“Kel, I think you’re overworked. We already talked about us meeting Monday night at seven. Now it’s Friday when you want to meet?”

“Oh, did we say Monday? God, I really am losing it. This whole school thing is kicking my ass lately. Sorry about being so absentminded. What do you think about The Library this Friday? It’s pretty quiet, and to be honest, the last thing I want after this week is a lot of noise and a bunch of guys with hard-ons hitting on us left and right.”

My sister’s interest in men appears to have hit an all-time low, and that’s saying something since after she left her ex-husband, she was nothing short of a man hater. Literally. I’m fine with avoiding places that are nothing more than a datingmeat market, though. I have no interest in dealing with men hitting on me either.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you at seven there.”

“Will it be only you, or are you bringing along Mr. Wonderful?” she asks with a chuckle.

I know she’s teasing me, but I’m not above giving her the same treatment right back. “Why would I bring Marius King to our dinner? Or is it that you want to get to know my future brother-in-law better? He’s with someone and has a daughter, you know.”

Why the mere mention of Marius King’s name bothers my sister so much is a mystery to this moment, but her reaction doesn’t disappoint my expectations. “Why the hell would you bringhim?” she asks with special disgust clinging to the word him.

“You asked if I was bringing Mr. Wonderful. I know you can’t mean Ronan since he’s never been anything but sweet to you.”

Kelly sighs heavily and answers, “Fair enough. I was just trying to be cute. Why did you have to dump his brother into our conversation?”

I’m beginning to suspect something happened between those two in the past. Maybe I’ll ask her about it when we get together.

“I don’t know. Marius isn’t that bad. Not anymore, at least. Eden’s had a good effect on him.”

That gets me a loud harrumph. “I’m sure. I’ll give her this. She certainly likes a challenge. But enough about him. The Library at seven Friday night?”

“I’ll be there. I better go. I need to get to work,” I lie, even though I’m not sure why.

“Same. Have a good one! I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Enjoy all the kids, Kate!” my sister says before ending the conversation.

I sit on the balcony mulling over the distinct possibility that my sister and Marius ended up together at one point in highschool. It would explain her disgust whenever she hears his name. They seem like an unlikely pairing, but at parties back in school, lots of people hooked up who nobody would have bet on even liking one another.

The idea of them getting together one night begs the question of why she dislikes him so much, though. Did he do something to upset her? Knowing his penchant for teasing others makes that absolutely possible, if not probable.

Then another idea creeps into my mind. Did she want their time together to last and all he wanted was one night? That would definitely explain her feelings toward him.

I’ll bring it up at dinner Friday night and get the answer from her once and for all. If she reacts badly to my even mentioning it, I’m going to assume she liked him and wanted more. If she doesn’t, then maybe it was something else. Whatever happened, I’m going to find out.

Ronan drapeshis arm over my back, waking me up. I roll over to check the time on my phone and see it’s almost six a.m. Immediately, my mind starts making plans since I can’t let him know I’m not going to work again. On Thursday, he had meetings, so I didn’t have to worry about him finding out. Then on Friday, he seemed to have nothing to do until the afternoon, so I had to go hang out at my sister’s apartment. I knew I’d be fine there since she basically has so much to do with medical school that she only sleeps there.

I had two days off from lying to my work and to him, but now that it’s Monday again, I have to return to pretending I’m off to work in the city. I’ll also have to deal with my lead teacher since one or two days can be explained away or even three, but todaywill be my fourth day away because of some sickness. I suspect she’s going to tell me I need to get a doctor’s excuse, which I won’t be able to get since I’m not sick.

It’s just that I don’t want to go back to the city. Not yet, at least.

“Time to wake up?” Ronan asks sleepily.

I force myself to smile and look over at him. “Back to the salt mines. I better get this day going.”

He slides his hand down my body until it’s between my legs. I lean over and kiss him before twisting away from him. “Sorry, honey. I’ve got a ton of work to do before the kids get to the classroom, so I need to leave early today. Can I take a raincheck?”

Ronan opens his eyes and looks up at me already standing next to the bed. Hurt fills them, which tugs at my heart, but I silently promise to make it up to him once I’m back to being myself.

“Sure. You know, they’re lucky to have you as a teacher there, Kate. You go above and beyond for those kids.”

I feel my smile fall and force the corners of my mouth up again. “I’m just me. You know how it is. I better get moving. Go back to sleep. Take it easy, and I’ll see you after school. Remember, I’m meeting my sister tonight at the dress shop, so I won’t be home for dinner.”

“Oh, okay,” he says, disappointment filling his answer.

Leaning over the bed, I kiss him on the lips. “I’ll see you tonight after my time with Kelly. Love you.”

That makes him smile. “I love you too, Kate.”