She winks just as the elevator closes, and I’m tempted to say Fuck Chase and follow her upstairs, but decide to work on my patience instead and go meet my brother.
“You’re late,” he says ten minutes later when I find him on the basketball court at our gym.
“Only by five minutes,” I reply, and catch the ball when he throws it at me. For the next thirty minutes, we play a pretty rough game, working ourselves up into a sweat.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asks as he steals the ball and lays it up easily in the basket. “Your head’s not in this.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re thinking about the girl,” he guesses correctly. “Admit it.”
“I’m not actively thinking about her right now.” It’s a lie. I’m thinking of her every minute of every day.
“Right.”
“Just shoot the fucking ball.”
“I’ve been shooting on you. It’s not fun when your opponent doesn’t even try.”
I smirk, steal the ball, and shoot, sinking a three-pointer. “See? I’m fine.”
“Have you seen her?” he asks, and we resume playing.
“Several times. Turns out she lives in my building.”
“No kidding,” Chase says with a smile. “That’s convenient.”
“Maybe.” I shrug and try to block his shot, but he makes the point anyway. “Good shot.”
“Why would it not be convenient?”
“If this ends badly, it could get awkward.”
“You mean if you screw it up and she hates you.”
“Hey.” He’s right. I could totally screw this up. “Actually, you’re right.”
“I know.” He shoots and misses the basket.
“We’re having dinner tonight,” I say. “I can’t wait. I want to get my hands on her.”
Chase smiles. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I don’t have anything,” I reply. “I’m not a kid.”
“You don’t have to be a kid to have a crush,” Chase replies easily. “And you, my friend, have a crush.”
“It’s just dinner.”
“I bet you don’t even make it through dinner before you fuck her.”
“Again, not a kid. I can have dinner with a woman without attacking her.”
At least, I’ve been able to in the past. Kat is a whole new thing, though, so he might be right.
Not that I’ll admit that.
Boing!
“What the fuck?” I glare at my brother and rub the side of my head where the ball just hit me.
“You’re not paying attention,” he says with a smile.
“You’re going to pay for that.”
“In your dreams,” he taunts, just the way he did when we were kids. So I roll up my proverbial sleeves, move Kat to the back of my mind for now, and settle in to kick my baby brother’s ass.
This has been the longest day of my life. I ring Kat’s bell and wait, flowers in hand, for her to answer. She’s always dressed so colorfully, I can’t help but wonder what she’ll be wearing tonight.
But when she answers, she’s not at all what I was expecting.
Rather than her usual rockabilly style, she’s in short cutoff denim shorts, showing off her legs. Her black tank top is a bit big, so she has a gray sports bra on under it. Her hair is in a knot on top of her head, with pieces that escaped framing her face.
Her clean, void-of-makeup face.
“You’re beautiful,” I murmur as she steps back to let me through the door.
“I’m a mess,” she says, and blows a piece of hair off her forehead. “Dinner was a bit of a disaster, so I had to order in.”
She blushes adorably and bites her lip.
“I’m just happy to spend some time with you, Kat. I don’t care where the food came from.”
“Well, I tried my hand at a recipe that I’ve never made before, and it didn’t work out well. There might have been casualties.” She closes her eyes, as if she’s seeing the horrors in her head all over again, and I pull her in for a hug. “That poor pork loin didn’t know what hit it.”
“I trust it was dead to begin with,” I reply, and pat her back soothingly.
“We can hope,” she replies, making me smile. Damn, she feels incredible pressed against me. Too good.
I have to make it through dinner.
So I pull back and offer her a smile. “What do you need?”
She frowns. “I don’t need anything.”
“Are you sure?”
She blinks up at me, as if she’s confused, and then her eyes soften and she smiles. “Thank you for offering, but I’m fine. As long as you don’t mind that I’m dressed like this.”
“I told you, you’re beautiful. You can be dressed in anything at all, and still be beautiful.”
“You’re a charmer.” She winks and walks ahead to the kitchen, gesturing for me to follow her.
“Your place is nice.”
“Thanks.” She smiles at me from across the island. “Do you like your place?”
“Love it.” I nod and accept the glass of wine she offers me. “I liked this one when we were in California.”
“I know,” she says, turning the tables on me from Friday when I brought her the bottle she enjoyed.
She pays attention, and I’m not too proud to admit that I like that about her. I like that a lot.
Suddenly her smile fades and we’re just staring at each other. I can’t stop taking in her red hair, her freckle-covered shoulders, the way she bites that lower lip. Finally, she’s the one to look away. She pulls containers out of plastic bags.
“This was just delivered,” she says. “I hope you like Mexican food.”
“My favorite,” I reply, and jump in to help her dish up our meals, then join her at her table. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I promised you dinner,” she says with a shrug. “The girls didn’t think it was smart of me to offer to cook, and it turns out they were right.”
“One failed attempt at a pork loin doesn’t make you a bad cook.”
“Well, it was pretty bad,” she admits, and finally starts to laugh. “You should have seen me. I was panicked.” She shakes her head and takes a sip of wine.
“You could have called me.”
“Can you cook?”
“I’m not too bad,” I reply. “I’ll return the favor soon.”
She dips a chip in salsa, takes a bite, and sighs in happiness.
Exactly the same way she does when I’m inside her.
Without giving it another thought, I grip the back of her neck and bring her to me for a kiss. Her lips are soft, gently moving beneath mine, giving in to me, letting me set the pace.
I want to lift her onto this table and fuck her blind.
But instead, I pull back, just a bit. My lips are still touching hers. We’re both panting.
“I want you,” I murmur. “I’ve been wanting you for weeks.”
“Okay,” she says, making me grin.
“But we have to wait until after dinner.”
And with that, I pull away, leaving her with a frown on her pretty face.
“Why?” she asks, and reaches for another chip.
I sigh and shove my fingers through my hair. “I’d really rather not say.”
“Well, now you have to say,” she says with a smile.
“My brother, Chase, doesn’t think I can keep my hands off of you long enough for us to finish our meal.”
Her eyes sparkle with interest. “Is that so?”
I nod.
“You know, I have quite the competitive streak.”
“Is that so?”
She smiles and nods slowly. “So I’m going to stay over here, and you’re going to stay over there, and we’re going to eat this whole meal.”
“Please tell me you didn’t make dessert.”
She laughs. “If we make it through dinner, I am dessert.”
I inhale sharply, watching her carefully. But she doesn�
��t blink, or blush. She just takes another bite of a chip and drags her toes up my calf.
“If you keep touching me like that,” I begin, “I will fuck you on this table, and Chase can suck it.”
“You can fuck me on this table,” she says. “But not right now.”
“No?”
She shakes her head. “Maybe that can wait for breakfast.”
I groan and eat faster, not even tasting the food, desperate to have her. My skin is on fire, I want her so badly. I’ve never been this hard.
Finally, she takes the last bite on her plate and we carry the dishes to the sink.
“Finished?” I ask.
“I think so. I can do these dishes later.”
I don’t give her a chance to complete the thought before I pick her up, heading toward the bedroom. She wraps her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, and kisses me frantically, as if she’s been starving for me.
I don’t make it to the bedroom. I pin her to the wall next to the doorway, grind my cock against her center, and pull her hair out of its knot so I can weave my fingers through it. I tug her shirt over her head, toss it on the floor, and moan when she buries her face in my neck and bites.
Hard.
“You want this,” I breathe into her ear.
“We really need to discuss how you phrase questions, but fuck yes, I want this.”
“You said you liked it when I take charge in the bedroom.”
“We’re not in the bedroom yet.”
I grin down at her. “Technicality.”
I carry her into the bedroom, lower her to the bed, and finish relieving her of her clothes.
“You’re way overdressed,” she says, panting hard, watching me with bright brown eyes.
“I’ll get there,” I reply, and immediately hit my knees to taste her. “I’ve missed this.”
“Holy Christ on a crutch,” she groans, gripping onto the bedding with all her might as I lick and nibble her lips, up to her clit, and back down again. She’s so fucking wet. I bury two fingers deep inside her, making a come-here motion and hitting the spot that I know drives her wild.
She doesn’t disappoint me when she begins to thrash her head from side to side. Her feet are planted on my shoulders, and she’s lifting her pelvis, as if she’s offering herself to me.
And I’ll gladly take her.
I shed my clothes, grab a condom from my pocket, and climb over her, kissing her belly, her side, her breasts, on my way to her mouth.
I love that she’ll let me kiss her after I’ve gone down on her. It’s the sexiest fucking thing.
“In me,” she pleads, cupping my ass in her hands and pulling me to her. She’s much stronger than she looks.
“You’re in a bit of a hurry this evening, Red.”
“Hell yes, it’s been weeks,” she says.
Is it wrong that I’m slightly relieved that she hasn’t had sex since the last time we saw each other?
Not wanting to explore that line of thought, I kiss her until she’s melted into the mattress, then reach between us and guide myself slowly inside her. She gasps, grips onto my shoulders, and rotates her hips, rubbing her clit on my pubis and making my eyes cross.
“Fucking hell, Kat.”
“You feel so good,” she moans, and opens those eyes to stare up at me. “I want to ride you.”
“I’ll never complain about that,” I reply, and roll us, supporting her ass in my hands as she steadies herself, and then it’s all I can do to hold on to her hips as she rides me hard and fast, chasing her orgasm.
She’s fucking amazing to watch, and I’m thankful for this well-lit room as I watch her face. She bites her lip and her cheeks flush.
“You blush beautifully for me,” I murmur, and cup her breasts, gently pinching her nipples. “Your whole body blushes.”
“Redhead side effect,” she gasps. “You can squeeze harder.”
I grab her hands and pull her down flush against me, pinning her to me.
“You can be as sassy as you want out of the bedroom, but you don’t get to call all the shots in here, sweetheart.”
Her lips part in surprise.
“That’s right.” I roll us again, turning her onto her stomach, and slap her ass. “I’ll squeeze, bite, and slap as hard as I want, unless it hurts you or makes you uncomfortable.”
“Want my safe word?”
I stop what I’m doing and brush the hair out of her face so I can look into her eyes.
“You have a safe word?”
She nods. “‘Popcorn.’”
I smile. “Why ‘popcorn’?”
“I hate it.” She smiles back. “And I’m not afraid to use it.”
Jesus Christ, she’s amazing. She constantly surprises me. I can’t get enough of her.
“Good,” I reply, and lick my way down her spine to her ass. I bite the plumpest part of her cheek, making her gasp. “I don’t want to leave marks on you.”
“I don’t mind.”
I slap her ass harder. “I don’t want to leave marks on you. It doesn’t sit well with me. But there will be times that I want to be a little rougher.”
“I like it rough,” she says, and gasps again when I plunge two fingers inside her from behind.
“I think we’re going to like it every way,” I reply, and leave wet kisses on her back as I ease back inside her.
But I don’t want to fuck her hard. Not tonight. I want to revel in every contraction of her pussy, every moan.
So I take my time, pushing in and out, making us both completely nuts.
“I’m going to come,” she says, and bites the pillow. I speed up now, and reach under her so I can press my fingertip to her clit, and watch as she explodes.
“Yes, baby,” I croon to her. When the convulsions of her pussy begin to lighten, I push in as hard as I can and ride out my own orgasm, then collapse next to her.
“Holy hell,” she murmurs.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Chapter Nine
~Kat~
I haven’t slept this well since . . . California. I rub my eyes and roll over to find Mac sprawled next to me, sleeping soundly on his back.
Even when he’s asleep, with a five o’clock shadow, he’s a fine specimen of a man. I think scientists should study him.
Maybe I should have been a scientist after all.
I glance over at the clock and feel my eyes widen in surprise. I slept eight straight hours. Sure, it’s only five in the morning, but I slept for eight hours.
I gently kiss Mac’s cheek and slip from the bed, escaping to the bathroom to do my thing. I feel amazing. Well, aside from some sore, unused muscles that got a workout last night. But even that feels good.
I wash my hands and stare at myself. No makeup, hair a mess, in a tank top and yoga shorts that I nabbed on my way to the restroom.
I think I’m glowing. I bite my lip and grin. Yes, there’s definitely a glow there. I lean in to look closer, frowning when I see the beginnings of crow’s-feet around my eyes.
Despite the wrinkles, I look fantastic. Rested and well sexed, which is exactly as it should be for a woman in her midtwenties.
I just need to get an eye cream for the wrinkles. I mentally add that to my to-do list.
“Just don’t get attached,” I whisper to myself. “This is still a sexcation. Be the mature adult you are, and don’t get used to him, Kat. This isn’t fiction. Just because he looks and acts like those men in your romance novels doesn’t mean that really exists.”
I glare at myself, as if I really mean what I’m saying. Because I do. I’ve been involved with a man once or twice before. One I even considered staying with for a long time, before he admitted to sleeping around behind my back. I’m married to my job. Men are there to scratch an itch.
Cami and Addie just got lucky.
“Keep it together.”
And with one final stern look, I pad out to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and curl up in my chair with my
Kindle. It’s not often that I see this time of day after sleeping. I’m usually going to bed about now.
Interesting.
I finished my sexy New Orleans story yesterday, so I open one of my favorite books, one that I read every year, and dig in. Before long I’m transported to another place, submerged in other people’s lives, woven by the magic of words, strung together in the perfect way.
“Good morning.”
I jump about a foot in the air, my Kindle falling to the floor, and look up into sleepy green eyes.
“Good morning.”
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Mac says with a small smile, and picks up my coffee to take a sip, then scowls. “This is cold.” He walks away, clad only in his little black boxer briefs, to the kitchen.
“You didn’t startle me.” I retrieve my Kindle and set it aside. I can’t take my eyes off him. He moves effortlessly, completely comfortable in his own skin. And he should be, his skin is fucking amazing. He makes another cup of coffee, adds a little more sugar than I would, walks back to me, staring at me with those bright green eyes over the rim of the mug, and suddenly I’m lifted out of my chair. Mac takes my seat and settles me in his lap.
“Liar,” he murmurs, and kisses my cheek.
“What are we talking about?” I whisper, reaching for the mug of java and taking a sip.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says with a smile. “How are you this morning?”
“I’m great.” I shrug and look out the window to the West Hills of Portland. The sun is shining on them, making the green extra bright, like Mac’s eyes. “I slept eight whole hours,” I inform him, settling against his chest. He’s a tall and broad man, and I feel surprisingly comfortable here.
“Good. You needed it.”
“I guess so. You wore me out last night.”
I grin up at him.
“Are you complaining?”
“No way.” I smile and take another sip of his coffee. “How did you sleep?”
“Not bad. I woke up in the night to check the locks on the door and answer a text from Chase, then came back to bed and slept until just a little while ago.”
“You and Chase are close?”
He nods and kisses my temple. “He’s only two years younger than me. Sometimes he’s a pain in the ass, but we’re pretty tight.”
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