On the way home, he swung into the parking lot at Harry’s and dashed inside to check with the bartender.
“Anyone turn in Celia’s purse? She lost it in the parking lot,” he said. Then he took a few more minutes to explain what happened.
The bartender shook his head. “Celia isn’t too fussy about who she goes home with. She’s a good sport, but not always aware of collateral damage.”
Exactly as Taye suspected. “You told me you had a good bunch of regulars here, that Celia would be fine.”
“She was fine when she walked out. It wasn’t the first time she left with the guy. He’s married, got a couple kids. That’s a lot to lose for a woman like Celia. Can’t say as I blame him for leaving her to her own devices.”
Taye nodded. “She wants her purse back, so call if anyone turns it in.”
“Sure thing.” The bartender went back to serving.
“Your purse wasn’t turned in,” he said when he climbed back in behind the wheel. Both women were in the backseat to allow Celia to lean on Kat.
Kat spoke. “You’ll stay with me tonight,” she offered with a glance at Taye in the rearview mirror.
He nodded and focused on getting everyone home. “She may need to be woken at regular intervals,” he said to Kat.
“No,” Celia interjected. “There’s no concussion. I didn’t black out, not for a moment. This is just a gash. If it weren’t on my scalp it would hardly count.”
“Scalp wounds are ferocious bleeders,” he conceded. She must have looked god-awful when she walked into the hospital.
Kat fussed some more, but when Taye left her at her front door, she fumed at him. “You shouldn’t think the worst of people, Taye.”
“Right.”
Next morning Celia, sporting two black eyes, slid into the kitchen chair across from Kat. “You look horrible,” she said after assessing the discoloration.
“Thanks, sugar. I wanted to faint when I looked in the mirror and saw my face. The doctor warned me I’d probably wake up like this, but still, it’s a shock.”
“I was thinking maybe the guy you were with knows where your purse is.”
She shrugged. “It’s possible that it fell into the car instead of outside when I planted my face.”
“Can you call him?”
“And say what to his wife? I was thinking of doing your husband last night, but I fell on the way into your car. Have you seen my purse?” Celia rolled her eyes. “That’s almost as bad as asking if she found my panties.”
Kat tried not to sound like the prude Celia thought she was, but it was damned difficult. “You said he was giving you a lift home, that’s all.” To hell with worrying how she sounded. “You wouldn’t have actually…?”
“Wouldn’t I? I haven’t slept with a married man yet, at least not to my knowledge, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. I was still pretty angry about Jason. So I’m not sure what would have happened.” She shifted in her seat, but her gaze was bold and unflinchingly honest.
“So you’re not sure if being angry with Jason would drive you to sleep with a married man.” There were issues here that went beyond her experience. She reconsidered. “Were you angry with Jason or yourself?”
Celia rolled her eyes. “Here we go with the analysis.” She sipped her coffee, defiance in her gaze. “Look, I shouldn’t have fallen for a guy with kids. He wants a different woman. His kids need a different woman.” Finally, a crack in the tough-girl front. Celia cared deeply for this Jason.
“Why do you feel like you’re not the kind of woman he and his children need?” Insecurity could play out in a million ways. For Kat, it meant awkward shyness with Taye, a man she wanted more than anything. A man she was so desperate to have she even pretended to be someone she wasn’t just to have him for a short time.
“I’m not nice in the way you are, Kat. I’m different. We’re not destined for the same things.” Her hand trembled as she lifted her coffee mug. She set it back down.
“You think you’re not good enough for Jason. Or good enough to mother his children.” That’s why she’d reacted the way she had. Why she’d carried on so wildly in the bar. To prove she wasn’t worthy.
“At least I know who I really am,” Celia said. “I’m not fooling anyone, or pretending to be something I’m not.”
The flare of accusation and anger in her friend’s gaze made Kat back off. “What are you going to do when you see Jason at the shelter on Wednesday?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’ll see the bruises around your eyes and you’ll still have stitches.”
“So? If he sees the truth, maybe he’ll back off and understand I’m not the Goody Two-shoes he thinks I am.” She rested her head in her hands. “Remind me not to meet guys anywhere but in bars. The men elsewhere are dangerous.”
Kat chuckled. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay home with you today? I’d want company if I were you.” She had deliveries to make, but she’d left her friend alone last night and look what happened.
“That’s another way we’re different,” Celia said. “If you were in my situation, I wouldn’t offer to help you. I’d be selfish with my Saturday.” Celia patted her hand. She grinned and shook her head without wincing, which was an improvement.
They were different, and the idea of trying to be more like Celia, more freewheeling with her heart and body, suddenly seemed stupid.
“As much as I appreciate your offer, I have a lot to do. You’d just get in the way with your fussing.” Celia finished her coffee. “I need the landlord to get me into my place and get a new lock. I also have to call in about my lost credit cards and identification. I’ll spend all day either on the phone or waiting for someone.”
“Well”—Kat still hesitated—“if you’re sure. I feel awful that I left you last night. I feel as if I’ve broken the code by putting a man before my girlfriend’s safety.”
Celia frowned and gave her a derisive look. “Oh puhleeze, I’d have left you in a New York minute if Taye Connors had come into Harry’s looking for me.”
She believed it. Now.
“I’d have trampled over you to get to him, but he’s never given me a second look. He’s yours, Kat. All you need to do is reel him in.”
“You think?”
“I’ve never had a chance with Taye. He made that clear right after he moved in and got a good look at you. He’s been lovestruck for weeks.”
Her heart rate kicked up a notch. Hope grew. “Last night we were really talking for the first time, and when you called, it interrupted things.”
11
Taye wasn’t home when Kat got back from delivering her party orders. Nor did he come home all evening. It was close to midnight by the time she heard him arrive. Too late to go to her door to catch him on the way in. Instead, she rolled over to her side, pulled the sheet over her head and tried to sleep.
She heard the muted sounds of water running while he prepared for bed. He wasn’t usually gone all day Saturday, so she couldn’t help wondering where he’d been. Or who he’d been with. She wanted it to be her.
All the time.
The expression on his face when he’d thought Celia was planning to sleep with a married guy shouldn’t have surprised Kat as much as it did. With his father’s infidelity so fresh on his mind, his expression had said he couldn’t stand the sight of Celia.
Last night, she’d believed that Celia had only accepted a lift home, but now she knew different. Even Celia wasn’t sure how far things would have gone with the married man. Kat’s stomach twisted at the thought and she wanted to talk to Taye. To tell him he’d been right to be suspicious of Celia’s behavior.
Who was she kidding? She just wanted Taye. To talk to, to sleep with, to have. Celia’s comment about Taye being lovestruck and his own admission about being tongue-tied around her made her think Taye felt the same way she did.
Hmm. What to do, what to do.
After climbing out of bed, she put her ear to
the wall and listened until the water stopped running. He’d be about ready to climb into bed now, she thought.
She’d fantasized deliciously about being the mysterious stranger who climbed in his window.
One more wild escapade called to her. Then she was through with wild. Really.
She went to her bedroom window, opened it and stepped out onto the shingled overhang that projected across the front stoops. Taye’s window was only five feet away. She clung to the window ledge as she inched her way across the scratchy shingles.
Cool air gusted up to her ass under her filmy nightie, while the shingles tingled under her bare feet. Her fingers turned to claws as she held on for dear life.
But she felt more alive, more daring than she’d ever felt in her life. Her heart thudded in her ears, moisture pooled inside her, slick and needy.
The shy woman she used to be would never actually do this. But the Kat she was today was brave enough, adventurous enough to try anything to get to Taye.
She tried to lift his window from the outside, but the landlord had been security conscious on the second floor as well. She had no choice but to tap on the glass, holding her breath that he’d hear her.
A dark shadow loomed in the room. “Kat! What the hell?” He opened the window and clasped both her wrists. He pulled and shifted and tried to get her inside any which way he could.
His worried concern was not part of her fantasy.
The window was supposed to open silently to allow her to creep in. “Shhh!” she hushed. “I’m a mysterious stranger bent on seduction.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No. Well, maybe. A little.” Her heart. She’d lost her heart but couldn’t tell him that. It was crazy!
Her foot caught on the window frame and she tumbled into him. His hands grabbed her forearms. Then he dragged her into his chest and kissed her hard.
“Good God, what were you thinking climbing around out there?”
“I’ve wanted to climb in your window for months. Climb in and have my way with you.”
“You want to have your way with me?” He sounded amused but it was dark so she couldn’t see his expression. It was kind of hot to imagine his eyes filling with male focus. “You could have knocked on my door or called me on the phone.”
“That’s not nearly as much fun. You probably think I’m quite the adventuress but I’m not.” Her eyes were adjusted now and she could make out his mouth and the dark gleam in his eyes.
“Adventuress?”
“That’s right. You think I’m sexy and bold, but in reality, I’m quiet.” It was such a relief to admit the truth.
“Shy?”
“That too.”
He held her close. “Okay, Kat, what’s going on? Did Celia put you up to this?” He peered out the window, suspicion clouding his words.
“Of course not. It’s time we cleared the air.”
“About what?”
She bit her lip and plunged in, worries be damned. “About what you think of me, who I am, and who and what I’ve been pretending to be.”
“Okay.” He looked bemused again, but willing to listen.
“I’m not a wild woman.” She blinked. “In spite of climbing through your window.” He was still listening. “I’m not promiscuous and I don’t engage in casual sex. In fact, you’re the first casual encounter I’ve ever had.”
He tilted his head, and his lips twitched. “Why do you say it was casual?”
That took her aback. “Well, wasn’t it? For you, I mean.”
He reached for her shoulders. The heat of his wide palms filled her. “No, sex is never casual for me. I like commitment, Kat. In fact, that’s what I’m looking for.”
“I was afraid to let you see how much I liked you and wanted a relationship because I made that mistake before, with my ex. I put too much emphasis on marriage and ended up divorced. If I’d only just gone with the flow, enjoyed the sex, and then moved on the way most first loves do, I wouldn’t be divorced today. I pushed for more than he was willing to give because I didn’t want sex to be a—a—bodily function!”
“Where did you get that idea?”
“From Celia. That’s what she calls sex. A bodily function.”
“Come here.” He dragged her into his arms and kissed her deeply. “Sex with you is serious, Kat. And that’s exactly what I love about you.”
She sighed against his lips. “Stop talking now and kiss me again.”
He did. For a long luscious moment their mouths touched, tongues tangled, lips sought. His hand cupped her breast and she moaned for more.
His cock rose hard against the flat plane of her belly and she pressed to feel more of him against her. “You love this about me?”
“I love that you believe sex belongs in a relationship. That it’s important to you that you share your body with a man you care for, who cares for you. I feel the same way.”
“You looked so upset with Celia when you heard it was a married guy who took her into the hospital.”
“My father treated my mother like a convenience while he ran around on her. I want more from relationships than sex, Kat. But I wanted you so bad I was willing to bury my doubts and let lust take over.”
“That’s how I felt too. Willing to set aside my better judgment just to be with you.”
He frowned and growled. “Climbing out onto the roof certainly constitutes lack of judgment.”
“I won’t do it again. Promise. Still, there was something exciting about it.”
He tilted his head back to search her gaze. His eyes lit with desire. “Now that I’ve got you safe in my arms, I’ll admit you looked damned cute tapping on the glass. Your hair was being tossed in the wind and your nightie was fluttering around your thighs. Tell me more about this fantasy of yours.”
“Okay.” She heated. “I climb in the window silently and find you asleep on the bed.”
“Like this?” He climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin.
“Silly, you’re not supposed to be facedown. You have to be faceup for this to work.” While he rolled to his back, she moved to the foot of the bed. Her lowest belly tingled with need.
The sheet tented at his crotch. Her mouth watered.
“Now what?” he asked, his voice low and intimate with sexual need.
“I start at your toes and work my way up to your knees with my tongue. Eventually, I’ll get to your cock. Take it in my mouth—”
He sat up, cutting her off. “That won’t work.”
She sighed, exasperated. “Why not?”
“My feet are so ticklish I’ll probably kick you in the face.”
“Check! No tickling.” She grabbed both his feet and gave them a strong squeeze. He jerked. “This is my fantasy and I want it,” she demanded.
“Far be it from me to ruin a good fantasy.”
“When we’re done with mine, you can have one of yours.”
“The only one I have is of you, marrying me.”
Her breath caught, but she held onto his feet and squeezed again. “Like I said, I get my fantasy, you get yours.” She whooped when he slid to the end of the bed and grabbed her. Rolling her to her back, he settled between her thighs.
His cock nudged into her wet warmth. “Let me love you, Kat, the way I want to. Forever.”
PARLOR GAMES
To Ann Roth, whose kindness and generosity helped find
the setting for Perdition House.
My deepest appreciation.
1
The line of cabs moved slowly toward the mansion’s wrought iron gates. Matt Crewe tapped his knee in impatience as each car ahead of his inched along in turn as, one by one, they disappeared up a driveway covered over by pine boughs. Without warning the cab ahead of his stopped three cars back from the gates and the rear passenger door opened to allow a woman to exit.
She paid her fare at her driver’s open window. Highlighted in the headlights, she was fine featured and dressed for comfort. He
r movements were briskly efficient as she handed over some bills and waved away the change. Walking shoes and blue jeans topped by a bright red fleece surprised him. He’d expected to see women dressed in silk and satin designed to tease and entice.
But then it wasn’t the women who would be on the auction block, now was it, he noted with a bitter smile. It would be men. And Matt was one of them.
He tapped his driver on the shoulder. “She’s got the right idea. It’ll be faster if I walk,” he said. The woman picked up a laptop case and an overnight bag and made for the gates on foot. If he was lucky he’d catch up to her before she reached the mansion. Whoever she was, he wanted to talk to her.
As he cleared the gates and took his first step onto the grounds of Perdition House, the enormity of what he planned grabbed him by the cock.
Selling himself. A sex-filled weekend with a woman he’d never met. Would never see again. Desire rose at the thought, hot and insistent. A slight breeze kicked up, snatching at his hair, pressing his jeans against his legs.
The woman he trailed stopped about twenty feet ahead, then dropped her overnight bag to the ground at her feet. The laptop case went next, but she was more careful of it. Then she stretched her arms out in front of her and shook her hands as if to get the blood flowing again. She rubbed her arms from shoulders to wrists, even stamped her feet into the soft pine needles that cushioned the driveway.
She was foot-stomping cold while he was fine. More than fine if his hardening cock was any indication. He hurried to catch up to her.
More cabs arrived, inching along beside him toward the house. If not for the headlights the driveway would be pitch black.
Ten feet to go and the breeze turned cold, drove hard right through his leather jacket and jeans, leaving him numb but strangely alive. As if every sense he had was on high alert. The woman suddenly wrapped her arms around her waist in the age-old gesture that signaled a need for warmth. God he wanted to wrap her up and hold her. The thought came from nowhere, and everywhere.
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