With Vengeance (23 page)

***

Kat sat on her bed, practicing the set list
for Thrashfest when her phone rang. Her breath caught as she looked
at the screen. Klement was calling her as IT Guy again. Had he
figured out what he was going to do about his personal/
professional situation?

“Hey IT Guy,” she answered with a tremulous
voice.

“Hey. Um…” Klement sounded even more nervous
than she was. “I’m in Denver right now. Is there a chance we could
meet in person? There’s something I’d like to talk to you
about.”

Kat choked on a gasp. He’d just slipped up
big-time. She’d never told him she was in Denver. However, that
didn’t matter anymore she supposed. If he wanted to meet her in
person, obviously he was ready to reveal his identity.

She took a deep shuddering breath. “Okay.
Where do you want to meet?”

“I was thinking we could go to The Palace
Arms, in the Brown Palace Hotel, and have dinner.”

“You mean, like a date? I told you I was…”
How had she worded it? “Um, involved with someone else.”

“I don’t intend to interfere with that.”

She covered her mouth as laughter bubbled up
in her throat. It was a good bet, what with him and Klement being
the same person. “The Palace Arms, huh? That sounds expensive.”

“Don’t worry, I’m buying.”

This time, she did laugh. “I didn’t know that
tech support was so lucrative.”

“It can be, but I have other things going
on.”

She couldn’t help but tease. “Like what?”

“I’ll tell you tonight.” His voice sounded
solemn. “How about seven?”

She glanced over at the clock. They’d had an
early day at the studio, and it was only three. Plenty of time to
get dressed up. “Sounds good. I look forward to meeting you.”

“I hope you still think so afterward. The
reservation will be under K.B,” he said softly and hung up.

K.B.?
Klement Burke.

Kat wondered if he was intentionally leaving
clues.

Kat left her room and glanced down the hall.
Klement’s office door was open, but when she checked he wasn’t in
there. Maybe he’d called her from his grow room? But she hadn’t
heard the ventilation fans in the background.

She found Roderick in the living room. “Have
you seen Klement?”

“He took off a bit ago for some meetings and
errands. He said he won’t be back until late.”

Kat bit back a smile. He was already getting
ready to meet her. It was time for her to do the same.

“Anything I can do for you, love?” the
drummer asked.

“No, I had a computer question, but it can
wait.” Indeed, it could wait until dinner at the Palace Arms, along
with a thousand other questions. Kat strode off, wondering what she
was going to wear.

After hours of searching, she settled on a
royal blue slip dress and strappy silver heels. While showering and
then applying her makeup, she agonized over how she was going to
react when she came face to face with Klement. To pretend surprise
or confess that she’d known for the past week? To be dishonest, or
to confess her previous dishonesty? Her thoughts churned as the
clock ticked with agonizing slowness. Unable to wait any longer,
she took a Xanax and headed out at six.

“Hey, where are you going all dressed up like
that?” Cliff called behind her.

“I’m, um, meeting someone,” she said over her
shoulder and quickened her pace, hoping she wouldn’t trip on the
three-inch heels.

Klement’s Suburban remained in the driveway.
He must have taken one of his other vehicles.

Despite her anxiety, Kat couldn’t hold back a
smile as her Subaru’s engine roared to life. No matter how tonight
went, she’d love Klement forever for fixing her baby.

She was so nervous that she made two wrong
turns before she found the Brown Palace Hotel. Her jaw dropped as
she stared at the giant brownstone building that looked more like a
Disney castle than a hotel. Not wanting the valets to turn up their
noses at her car, she parked in the lot across the street.

Wiping sweaty hands on her skirt, she lifted
her chin and tried to look like she belonged as she walked inside.
The decor screamed wealth and looked like it came from
Beauty
and the Beast
. Kat couldn’t help her relief that Klement was
paying.

On quaking legs, she approached the maître
d’. “Reservation for K.B.,” she pronounced.

The immaculately starched host nodded. “Your
party has already arrived. Right this way.”

Klement sat at a table drinking an iced tea.
Kat’s heart stopped at the sight of him in a light blue dress shirt
that brought out his eyes. His hair was pulled back, accentuating
his fine-boned features, and Kat’s fists clenched in an effort to
resist reaching across the table to stroke his cheek.

“Hi, IT Guy,” she said, as she slid into the
seat across from him.

His eyebrow rose. “You don’t sound
surprised.”

Kat pulled a napkin from the table and
twisted it in her lap. “I, um, found out about a week ago.”

His frown deepened. “Then why didn’t you say
anything?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth in the
first place?”

The words came out sharper than she intended,
and he inclined his head. “Point. But still, why—?”

“No, you first,” she said firmly. Kinley
would be proud of her for once refusing to back down.

At first Klem looked like he was going to
argue. Then he sighed. “All right. I’m one of those people who
compartmentalizes everything. I’ve always been that way. I keep my
tech work separate from my music, and my personal life—not that
there’s been much of one—apart from those. I’d planned to keep it
that way…” His blue eyes roved over her, bright and penetrating.
“But now you’ve gotten into all three compartments.”

“That’s about the nerdiest thing I’ve ever
heard.” Though the last part had made her heart turn over. “Still,
I suppose that makes sense. But I wish you’d told me when you
auditioned me for the band.”

A server approached the table, and Klement
waved him away. “I know. I really should have, but…” He moved to
run a hand through his hair, but since it was pulled back he
dropped it to fiddle with his fork. “Some of my reason was habit,
and some of it was because I wanted you to approach the job fresh
and new with no preconceived bias. I’m not sure if you would have
worked as hard if you’d known I was already familiar with your
talent and that we already had a good rapport.”

Kat glared at him. “I
so
would
have.”

“You can’t know that.” He fixed her with a
narrow stare that made her squirm in her seat. “And maybe you would
have, but what if you’d felt insecure about the bias? Face it, we
really were friends before. What if you didn’t believe in your own
talent because of that?”

As usual, his logic was irrefutable. And it
implied something else. “You agreed to hire me because you knew
about my experience before Quinn even asked you to give me a
chance.”

He nodded. “I still would have auditioned
you, but I admit that I wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic about
it.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me after you
decided to keep me?” Kat spread her hands. Her original suspicion
returned. “You weren’t using your IT Guy identity to spy on me,
were you?”

“Aside from seeing how you were doing, no,”
Klement said sincerely. “As for not telling, you…I don’t know. It
just seemed like it would be too awkward.” He paused and his head
cocked to the side. “When exactly did you find out?”

“My phone was dead and so I used Google
Dialer. I heard you answer down the hall.” She couldn’t hold back a
smile at the memory of that insane day.

A surprised laugh escaped his lips. “That was
you? The number looked so weird that I almost didn’t answer. I
thought it was a telemarketer. Especially when there was silence on
the line.”

Kat nodded. “It shocked the hell out of me. I
dropped my pills all over the floor when you knocked on my door.”
Her shoulders shook with laughter. The situation was funny now.

Klem grinned and leaned forward. “I can
imagine. So, why didn’t you confront me? Call me a two-faced son of
a bitch?”

“For a while I was too shocked to know what
to think, much less what to say to you. I needed some time to
think.” She didn’t tell him about her brief suspicion that he’d
been her stalker. There was no point to upset him with something so
wrong. “And I was going to confront you, but before I did I just
wanted to…” She trailed off with a blush.

“Wanted to what?” he prodded. He was so close
that she could smell his aftershave. Subtle and delicious.

The confession tore from her throat. “I was
afraid you’d be angry at being caught out, and”—her face burned as
she looked down at her lap—“I wanted a night with you first.”

He laughed harder and shook his head. “That’s
exactly why I waited until today to make my big confession. In case
you got angry and I never got to hold you again.” His hands slid
across the table, reaching for her. “
Are
you angry?”

“I should be, but no.” Her fingers entwined
with his. “Like Kinley said, it’s kinda like having both Bruce
Wayne and Batman.”

Klement’s eyes widened. “Kinley knows?”

“Well, I had to talk to
some
body. And
you and Kinley are my only friends.” Her lips curved into a teasing
smile. “I suppose I could have talked to my mom.” Honestly, she had
wanted to, but she was always reluctant to pour her troubles on her
mother.

The threat of a parent silenced Klement for a
moment. Then he recovered himself. “What did Kinley say?” He
gestured to himself and his surroundings. “About all this?”

Kat laughed. “At first she was all ‘what the
fuck?’ but once she heard about Cliff’s and my creepy stalker, she
was too freaked out to care much about your secret identity.”

Klement’s smile dimmed. “After what she went
through with Phil last year, I can understand that.”

“Yeah, but she’s still going to give you all
sorts of shit at Thrashfest. You know that, right?” A thought
occurred to Kat. “And what was up with you flirting with me as IT
Guy the other day? Were you trying to see if I’d cheat on you
with…you?”

“Kinda. Some women would only date me because
I’m the bassist of Bleeding Vengeance, though it’s not as glamorous
a concept as being with Cliff, who is the face of the band. They
made me feel like a consolation prize. And I knew you liked
Cliff.”

Kat’s stomach churned. Oh God, he’d been
maintaining Metalness since its creation. He’d definitely seen all
her posts squealing about Cliff. No wonder he was insecure.

“I got over
that
the instant I met
him,” she pointed out.

Palpable relief filled Klem’s eyes. “I also
wanted to know if you felt the same connection to me during our
tech calls as I did with you. I…I’d never felt like that with a
client, and I know it isn’t ethical, but there was something about
you.”

She took his hand again. “You have no idea
how many times I was tempted to ask where you lived and if you were
single.” Reaching out, she took his other hand and squeezed. “I
love
you,
Klement, as a hot bass player, a sexy IT Guy, and
the kindest, most intelligent man I’ve ever known.”

Klement squeezed her hands back and gave her
a heart-melting smile.

The silence stretched long and taut as Kat
waited for him to say the same thing back. His eyes seemed to say
it, and he stood and leaned over the table to kiss her. She blinked
in surprise, as it was the first time he’d kissed her in
public.

His lips dragged away, and he sat back down.
“I can’t believe you’re taking this so well.”

Kat’s heart wailed.
He didn’t say it
back!
Her mind tamped down the voice.
We haven’t known each
other that long.
So Kat took a shaky breath. “Where do we go
from here?”

“I don’t know.” Klement was back to
fidgeting. “I make a terrible boyfriend.”

She couldn’t help but gape at him in
astonishment. “For not being one, you’ve been the best I’ve ever
had.” He’d been there and done everything for her.

His eyes widened, and he looked genuinely
surprised. “Really?” He picked up his napkin and twisted it as he
stared at her. “I guess we can take it one day at a time.”

The solemn tone evaporated as he gave her a
tremulous smile. “We can start by ordering dinner. I’m starving.”
With a low, seductive voice he added, “Then, afterward, maybe we
can get a room for dessert.”

Heat unfurled in Kat’s belly and lower. She
cast him a flirtatious look. “I could get on board with that.”

The server came, and they ordered their
dinners. Kat’s stomach growled when the plate of broiled salmon was
set before her. With all of her anxiety about their confrontation,
she’d been unable to eat since he’d called.

As if to chase off the tension of their talk,
Klement seemed to pretend that it hadn’t happened and acted like
they were on a normal date, wooing her with funny stories about how
he’d first gotten into computers.

“My first job was webmaster for a site that
made custom ladies’ underwear. They allegedly promoted feminism,
though I never understood how. Then I had a stint in monitoring the
toilets in the giant trucks of a mining company. That was the
shit.”

“Why do you have so many jobs, anyway?” she
dared to ask.

Klement shrugged. “At first it was because I
was bored when I had nothing else to do. My sisters had each other
to play with but didn’t include me much. After awhile, I think I
just kept trying different things to impress my parents. Like, if I
could get good with cars, maybe my dad and I could spend time in
the garage. Or if I got good with music, my parents would come to
the school band concerts. Or maybe if I learned the computer
programs they used, I could help them with their business. None of
that worked. They never cared, no matter what I did. Even becoming
famous didn’t register more than a blip on their radar. Dad thinks
music is frivolous. They don’t even bother calling me now.” He
laughed, short and bitter. “But I still seem to be at it, trying to
prove myself to them. As you can see, I’m kind of a piece of
work.”