Chapter 26

Now that she's here he doesn't quite know where to start; he stalling and she's starting to look impatient.

"For goodness sake Rick, just spit it out."

"The other night at the museum dinner … there was a woman …" he hesitates again, not sure how to continue.

"Oh my god, are you breaking up with me?" she's still insecure enough about their relationship that it's the first thing that springs to mind. Kate doesn't think that he'd cheat, but he might move on; with two failed marriages behind him Rick isn't the poster boy for long-term commitment.

"No!" he's shocked that she would think that. "It's not that at all. You've got me for as long as you want me, and even if you don't I'll still be hanging on," he assured her. "No, this woman, Kimmy, was flirting with me and she didn't take it very well when I turned her down. Now she's claiming that I sexually harrassed her but I swear that I didn't do anything like that at all." He's holding onto her shoulders as he stares at her face, desperate that she believes him.

"What did she say you did?" Kate seems exceptionally calm, she's got her cop face on at the moment and he feels like a suspect that she's interrogating.

"That I touch her inappropriately. Here …" he shows her the newspaper article.

It doesn't take her long to scan the column.

"Ok, tell me exactly what happened then."

"I was standing by myself looking at one of the exhibits when she joined me. She introduced herself and made some lame come-on. Then she invited me to go somewhere so that I could sign my autograph on a private part of her body. I turned her down of course, but she grabbed my hand and put it on her breast and that's when Ryan turned up."

"What? What was Ryan doing there?" Kate interrupted him.

"Oh …" Rick had promised Ryan that he wouldn't say anything about his moonlighting job, but under the circumstances he's going to have to break that promise. "Ryan was working security at the event."

Kate just hums at that fact, and he hopes that he hasn't managed to get Ryan into trouble as well.

"Anyway, after that I made sure that I stuck by Alexis so that Kimmy couldn't corner me by myself again. And that was fine until Alexis went to the bathroom and Kimmy pounced. I turned her down again and then she made a scene. She was saying 'get your hands off me' as if I'd been feeling her up. I didn't know what else to do, so I got Alexis and we left soon after that."

Kate's just nodding now as she processes the story in her mind, she doesn't say anything and he's not sure if that's a good sign or not. She's not like him, Kate doesn't verbalise every thought that runs through her head and he knows that she likes silence when she's trying to work something out.

"So … what are you thinking?" he finally asks when he can't stand the silence any longer.

"I'm thinking that this woman has made a big mistake messing with us."

She said us not you, it's a deliberate choice of words and it makes him feel immediately better. Kate not only trusts him but she's also on his side. He's grateful for that because this may get even nastier and she risks being put in the limelight, which he knows that she'll hate.

Rick wouldn't blame her if she wanted to take a step back from him, other people in her situation would be tempted to do that. As far as most of the world is concerned she's just his muse, they don't know that the two of them are much more than that. And if their relationship does go public over this then she could end up looking like the naïve, downtrodden woman standing by her cheating man.

"Thank you Kate. Thank you." Rick pulls her in for a hug, the gesture isn't enough to express how truly grateful he is. After a few minutes he pulls back slightly so that he can rest his forehead against hers and give her a gentle kiss. "I don't know what I did to deserve you but thank you nevertheless."

"You don't deserve me," she tells him in a mock serious voice. "So I can only surmise that you are my punishment for being bad in a previous life."

He smiles at that, which is what she intended, and for a moment the world seems back to normal. Unfortunately Kate has to disturb the idyll with her next question.

"Have you spoken to your lawyer yet?"

"No. Casey, my PR manager, doesn't think that suing this woman is going to help. She thought that the best way to deal with it is to ignore it and let the story die down.

"That's not what I meant," Kate's shaking her head, sometimes it surprises her how he can still be so naïve. She loves that child-like innocence he has, it allows him to still believe in psychics or buy real estate on the moon, but it also means that sometimes he doesn't spot the hidden dangers. "I think that it's a wise precaution to talk to your lawyer just in case she presses charges."

He's stunned because it had never occurred to him that Kimmy would take it so far as to lie in court, he could potentially go to jail for that.

"Do …do you think she'd do that?" he stammers.

"I think that she's lied already, so I wouldn't put it past her to repeat that lie again in front of a judge." She can tell that his imagination is starting to go into overdrive, he's got that wild look in his eyes. "Listen to me Rick. She doesn't stand a chance of proving it in court, especially because it's not true, but it's better if we prepare for the worst, just in case."

As far as Kate is concerned the accusations are ridiculous. Anyone who really knows Rick would laugh at the suggestion that he'd do anything like that. It's not that he's a saint because he's not. Rick can be immature and frustrating – she knows that side well – and often there's no filter between his thoughts and what comes out of his mouth. But when it comes to women he's respectful, maybe it was the result of being surrounded predominantly by women all his life. It's odd given his playboy reputation but it's true.

"It would be her word against yours. Without any proof or credible witnesses she doesn't have a case."

"Yeah, but the other side of the coin is that I can't prove that she's lying."

"Yes, but the people who know you, and love you, will know the truth. We'll stand by you."

He thinks again about how lucky he is to have her; in any situation he can trust her to watch his back. The thought of her looking after him reminds him of why he called her in the first place. In all the rush of emotions he'd forgotten that he was meant to warn her to be careful as well.

"Kate this could get ugly, and not just for me. I already know of one talk-show that is planning on using it and Casey thinks that the tabloids might try to target my friends and family to get some kind of statement. I'll do as much as I can to shield you from this but you might get caught up in this farce as well. Casey's going to put out a statement but if the press comes after you then just say 'no comment'. They'll get sick of it after a while."

"Why would the press do that? It seems a bit excessive to me." Kate can't quite understand why this could get so big. Sure, Rick's well known in New York circles and amongst crime fiction fans but it's not like he's an A-list actor or rock star.

"It's more about her, than it is about me. The woman who's making these accusations is Kimmy Roberts."

Even for someone like Kate, who never reads the magazines and watches very little television, the name is familiar.

"Oh. I always hated her reality TV show anyway," Kate deadpans it.

He lets out a bark of laughter; partly because it's funny and partly because he's relieved that she's handling it so well.

"I think I might skip coming into the station for the next week or so," he finally says once the laughing peters out. "If I'm not there then the press is less likely to harass you."

"I hate this, it just seems so unfair," she knows that lying low is the best thing to do but it seems like he's – no, actually they are - already being punished (because she's going to miss having him around for the next week). "Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"The presumption of innocence only applies in the law. When it comes to the court of public opinion, people are always willing to believe the worst of others. Sex and lies sells," he told her sadly. "Look, hopefully it will only take a week for all of this to die down and some new scandal will have taken it's place. Some politician is bound to have sent naked email pictures of himself by them."

Her lips don't even twitch at his joke which is a bad sign; even when she doesn't want to he can normally prise a smile out of her.

"Staying at home will be good for me, I really need to work on my next novel anyway," he tried to put a positive spin on it because he can see that she's starting to get angry about it again and he doesn't want his problems to burden her any further. "And just because I'm hiding from the world doesn't mean that we can't see each other, you just have to visit me in jail."

"Well it certainly is the fanciest cell that I've ever seen," she said as she looked around his loft.

"You could bake me a cake with a file in it, while I spend my time tying my sheets together so I can make my escape," he's hamming it up now for her benefit. "Maybe you could even pay me a conjugal visit so that I don't get lonely."

Kate can't resist the urge to roll her eyes at that last bit, even now Rick's still coming up with sexual innuendo.

"I don't think so somehow. Firstly I'm pretty sure that prisons only allow conjugal visits for married couples and secondly how can you get lonely when you have a cell mate like 'Crusher'?"

Rick shudders and pulls a pouty face. "Aww, come on Kate. You just ruined a perfectly good role play for me." The tone of his voice leaves her in no doubt as to exactly what kind of role playing he had in mind, even before he elaborates further.

"In my dreams you have this pair of fur lined handcuffs …. Hmmm," he closes his eyes and pretends to visualize it.

She pokes him in the arm to show him what she thinks of that idea. "That is never going to happen."

"Ow," he pulls her into a hug so that he can trap her arms by her sides, blocking any further poking efforts. "Don't say never, because never is a very long time." With her curves flush up against him, his body starts getting ideas about things that they could be doing other than talking.

Kate must be thinking the same things because she kisses him first. There's a sense of urgency as he thrusts his tongue into her mouth. She welcomes it; she wants to forget everything else, just be overwhelmed by the feel, smell and touch of him . They both know that they're using sex as a distraction but for now at least they want to enjoy the calm before the storm.