by Talty, Jen
But instead, she wound up in a private, intimate setting where it became impossible to ignore JW and his damn good looks.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Dorinda said as she crossed her legs and picked at her pretty pink nail polish.
“I’m wondering what I’m doing here.”
“You’re having a grand old time with—”
Kitty raised her hand. “It was a rhetorical question.”
“Maybe you should be asking why JW is hanging around because have you noticed the way he looks at you?”
“He’s a guy, and men always look.”
“Maybe so.” Dorinda leaned forward. “But that sexy cowboy has the hots for you, and I don’t understand why you won’t have a wild and crazy fling with the man.”
Kitty couldn’t deny JW’s sex appeal. Nor could she ignore his kind personality. But he had a gruffness about him that gave her pause. While he appeared to be open about his life, he remained guarded on many subjects. She couldn’t blame him as she certainly wasn’t an open book. Kitty waggled her finger. “He lives in Idaho, and that’s only the beginning.”
“What the hell does that have to do with sleeping with him? It’s not like I think you should jump into a relationship with him. Just his hotel bed.”
“Right. Because having sex is the answer to everything.”
“It might put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.”
Kitty tilted her head and grinned. “So will a little thing called the G-spot vibrator.”
“I give up.” Dorinda dropped back in her chair with a dramatic sigh. “But I bet you’re missing out on the best you’d ever have.”
Plane lights flickered in the sky. She focused on the movement instead of her pounding heart or the butterflies floating about in her stomach. She hadn’t even looked at a man since she left Preston.
“The problem is I like him, but he lives so far away, and I can’t invest in casual sex with a man like JW,” Kitty said so softly she hoped her friend hadn’t heard.
Dorinda bolted to a sitting position. “Shit, girlfriend. It’s always better when you like them.”
“It might make the sex better, but it’s not going to help my heart when he leaves, and that’s only going to mess with the next year of my life, and I can’t afford any distractions.”
“And yet, here you are,” Dorinda said, and she had a point.
Kitty could have clocked out of the bar and gone home. Dorinda and Kirk would have pushed, but they would have backed down after about five minutes like they always did. JW would have insisted on walking her home, and she would have let him. However, now she was about to share a bottle of wine under a blanket of stars with a couple who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves and a very sexy cowboy whose hands she wouldn’t mind on her body.
“Which is why after tonight, I’m going to stop spending time with JW,” Kitty said with as much confidence as she could gather.
“But you’ve got an entire week off of work starting in a few days before summer semester starts. Why not get lost in the arms—”
“Stop. Just stop, okay?” Kitty could rattle off a million reasons why she shouldn’t get tangled up with JW.
And she could name a few dozen reasons why a fling might do her body some good. However, it would only serve to hurt her mind and soul.
Dorinda held her hands in the air. “You’re impossible.”
“I mean it. Not one more word about a fling with JW or any other man for that matter. I’ve got too much on my plate as it is.” Kitty took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I’ll let it go.” Dorinda let out an exaggerated puff of air.
The sound of a cricket’s song filled the night air. A cool breeze kicked up and tickled Kitty’s skin. She stared into the kitchen. JW and Kirk seemed to be immersed in conversation. Kirk might be a good ten years younger, but he had an old soul, and he could get along with anyone. He’d proven that when he’d spent years pretending to like Preston.
“So, when are you and Kirk going to get married?” Kitty asked.
Dorinda’s face lit up like it was the Fourth of July. “We’re talking about eloping this fall.”
“Seriously?” Kitty tapped her chest with her forefinger, keeping the same beat as her pulse. “You don’t want a big wedding with the white dress and all the frills?”
“I want the white dress, but I want to be barefoot on the beach and maybe just you and Kirk’s brother there as our witnesses. We’re talking about doing it at Virginia Beach.”
“Name the time and the place, and I’ll be there for you.”
“I know you will be,” Dorinda said, pointing toward the house. “Here come the boys.”
JW smiled and waved as he pulled back the sliding glass door. “What have you lovely ladies been discussing?”
Kirk followed, holding up a bottle of red wine.
JW set four glasses on the table before pushing his lounge chair a little too close to Kitty’s while Kirk poured everyone a hefty dose of the good stuff.
“Just how lucky you are to have me.” Dorinda snagged one of the wine glasses and took a hefty gulp. She hadn’t been much of a wine connoisseur.
Neither had Kitty. That was until she’d met and married Preston. He turned her into a wine snob for a few short years. However, after the divorce, Kitty decided that a fifteen-dollar bottle of wine had the same effect as a hundred-dollar bottle.
“I’d be lost without you, babe.” Kirk bent over and gave Dorinda a sloppy, wet kiss, tongue and all.
Meanwhile, JW swirled his wine glass, bringing it to his nose. He took a long sniff before taking a tiny sip. “Not bad.”
“You’re a wine guy?” Kitty asked.
“It’s not my go-to drink, but I enjoy a good glass of Cab every now and again,” JW said. “This is pretty good for what my sister would refer to as a normal person’s bottle of wine.”
“I find it shocking that you even like wine, but I think I like your sister.”
JW laughed. “Everyone likes Georgia Moon.” He raised his glass toward the couple still sucking face. “Are they always like that?”
“Pretty much.” She tapped her glass against JW’s. “It’s disgusting.”
“Sorry.” Kirk settled behind Dorinda in the lounge chair, pulling her back to his chest. “I can’t help myself sometimes.”
“Cheers to the happy couple.” JW raised his glass once again. “If you can find that kind of love, hold on to it forever because it doesn’t happen to most people.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Dorinda said.
Kitty sipped her wine, hoping no one noticed her trembling hand.
Love.
She once thought Preston was the love of her life, that he would be all she ever needed. Wanted.
But that had turned out to be one big fat lie.
What kind of lie was JW?
The next hour went by in a haze of good conversation and another bottle of wine. Kitty resented how easy it was to be around JW. It was if he were an old afghan that she wrapped around her body on a cool evening in front of a fire under a blanket of stars after a long day.
JW took her by the hand and guided her through Kirk’s house and to the front door. “I’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound.”
“I can handle an Uber.” Kitty glanced down at her fingers, intertwined in JW’s big, steady hand.
“But they can do those multiple destination points, and I’ll need one too, so we might as well share.” JW tugged her down the front steps.
“I like the way you think,” Dorinda said as she waved from the porch. “You two enjoy your date tomorrow.”
“It’s not a date,” Kitty mumbled.
JW let out a chuckle. It rumbled deep in his chest and rolled across her ears like warm honey. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
She patted his biceps as he pulled open the Uber car door. “It’s not that at all. Dorinda is always trying to fix me up, and it gets old
.”
“I’ll understand if you change your mind, but I do appreciate the company.” He slid in the back seat beside her, resting his arm around her shoulders. “And while I accept it’s not a date, if I lived in Baltimore, or in Idaho, I would be pulling out all my best moves to get you to agree to go out on an official date.”
If they lived in the same area, she feared she wouldn’t have the strength to turn him down.
Chapter Five
JW chugged another bottle of water as he stood outside the entrance of the National Aquarium, waiting for the lovely Kitty. He fought a killer hangover that even a greasy bacon and egg sandwich hadn’t cured. The hot sun beat down on his face. He squinted under the protection of his hat and a pair of expensive sunglasses that hadn’t performed quite as well as the salesperson had promised as the brightness of the sun doused his irises.
He hadn’t a clue how he managed to talk Kitty into meeting him on this insanely hot morning or why he agreed to go to an aquarium, but it was better than the zoo, which on a day like today would smell worse than the inside of an outhouse with no ventilation.
He glanced at his phone. Only five after ten, so she wasn’t late. Texting her right now would probably come off as needy and over the top.
Lifting his hat, he raked a hand through his hair. He’d tried on a couple of baseball caps in the hotel gift shop, but he’d rather have people walk by and stare rather than being insanely uncomfortable.
A bus stopped in front of the aquarium, and a set of bronzed legs graced his vision. He lowered his chin, pushing his hat up a little, peering over the rim of his shades. Kitty wore a pair of sexy jean shorts that hung loose on her hips. A black tank top was tucked neatly into her jeans. It showed off her small, but perfectly round breasts. She had wrapped a dark sweater around her waist, which accentuated her curvy hips. Her feet sported a pair of sparkly flippy things, and her toenails were doused in pink polish. Her long, red hair that had been in a braid the night before bounced over her shoulders, the strands brushing against her tiny waistline.
“Good morning,” he said, shoving his glasses back up his nose, adjusting his hat, and swallowing his thirst to scoop her up in his arms and kiss her cute, plump lips until the sun set.
She waved a piece of paper in front of him. “Found a couple of coupons. Half off.”
He shook his head. While he never squandered his money, he didn’t go out of his way to find coupons. That said, he grew his own vegetables partly because it cost less and partly because it was easier than driving thirty miles to the nearest store. Not to mention, he had abundant access to chickens, turkeys, cows, and the occasional game he shot himself. He could sustain life on the ranch for weeks without going anywhere, except for beer runs.
“Now you’re going to have to have dinner with me.”
She tilted her head, pursing her lips, giving him an odd look. “How do you get that from me saving us twenty bucks?”
“To thank you for that kind savings,” he said, looping his arm over her shoulders. Her body tucked neatly against his tall frame. His mind kept telling him to back off. To ignore the pull she had over him. But his body couldn’t disregard the physical effects of desire.
“I’m not having dinner with you,” she said as they walked through the main gate. She pushed the paper at the young man at the ticket booth.
Before she could dig out her money, he tossed his credit card on the counter. “My mother raised me to be a gentleman.”
She tilted her head, staring him in the eye. “Being a gentleman and me paying my own way have nothing to do with each other, but I’m not going to argue with you. Something tells me you are more stubborn than a mule.”
“My grandmother told me I have a mule-like stupidity.” He signed the slip and guided her toward the shark exhibit. He’d mapped out the entire aquarium over breakfast and didn’t intend on veering from his plan.
“I bet your grandmother is a smart woman.”
“She was the brightest, sweetest lady I’ve ever known.”
“Was?” Kitty had slipped her sweater on as they entered the shark building and tunnel.
The cool air stung his perspiration-drenched skin like someone hurled tiny pieces of ice cubes that stuck to him like a tongue on a frozen pole.
“She passed a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kitty glided her hand across the railing as a couple of colorful fishes and a giant turtle swam by the glass.
“Thank you.” In all his travels, he’d only been to the ocean once, with Bella. That had been a total nightmare with her constant need to be the center of attention, and really, that he could have dealt with had she just once tried to do something adventurous. He hadn’t asked for much, but she wouldn’t even get on the back of a jet ski, much less, God forbid, get her hair wet.
A massive shark with its mouth partially open slinked by a little too close for comfort.
He coiled his fingers around her hips and pulled her from the glass.
She let out a short laugh, glancing up at him with those killer green eyes. “That’s a pretty thick piece of glass.”
“Doesn’t make that shark any less dangerous.” He flicked the rim of his hat. “And thanks to that shark, I got to put my arm around you.”
“This is starting to feel like a date.” Her smile was going to be the death of him.
“Nope. Just two friends hanging out, like when we go to dinner tonight.”
“You’re not going to give that up, are you?” As they continued to walk through the tunnel that weaved its way under the shark-infested water, her hip swayed, gently smacking against his in a dance his body could never ignore, and his mind didn’t seem to care to protect his heart because he wanted to spend as much time as he could with the sweet Kitty.
“My grandmother taught me to be persistent when I want something.”
“And you want to have dinner with me that bad?”
She stepped away from him as they strolled out of the building. As she pulled her sweater over her head, her red locks cascaded down her back.
“I don’t know anyone else in this city, and I’m honestly enjoying your company, but I do understand if you’re busy.”
“I’m not busy,” she said with a smile. “I’ll go to dinner on a couple of conditions.”
“Name them.”
She rested her fingers on his biceps, and instinctively, he bent his elbow as his grandmother had taught him.
“I pick the place, and I pay for myself.”
“The second condition might be hard,” he teased. Right now, if she wanted to pay for him, he wouldn’t argue if it meant he got to spend a few more stolen moments in her presence. “The dolphin show is going to start soon. Shall we go to that next?”
“Absolutely.”
He rested his palm over her hand as they wandered down a windy path and through a sea of people bustling about the various exhibits.
“Can I ask you a question?” He always hated it when anyone started a conversation with that, but he felt as though he needed her permission.
“Sure, but I reserve the right not to answer.”
“I like your style,” he mused, stopping at a penguin station. As a kid, he’d been fascinated by the funny-looking creatures. He’d beg his parents to take him to Alaska so he could see them up close and personal. His parents had little to no money, and the best they could offer had been a stuffed penguin. “Why’d you get divorced?”
“Oh boy, do you come out with the big guns.” She leaned against the fence, staring out at blue water where the penguins played. “Long story short, Preston lied to me about some of his business dealings and put me in a very uncomfortable situation, and when the shit hit the fan, I bugged out.”
“Did you love him?”
She turned, leaning her back against the railing, resting her foot on the bottom rung. Tucking a few strands of her royal-red hair behind her ear, she tilted her face. Her green eyes glistened in the sunlight. “I did.�
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“He’s crazy to have let you go.”
“I didn’t give him much of choice,” she said with a serious tone. “And it’s me who everyone thinks is crazy, considering I walked away from that marriage with not a single dime of his money, not that he could have given me any at the time.”
“What does that mean?”
A warm breeze caught her hair, rustling it over her face.
He brushed it aside, letting his fingers glide along her cheek in an intimate dance he had no control over.
“I’d rather not get into that.”
He rubbed his thumb under her eye for a brief moment before looping his arm over her shoulders and guiding her along the path once again. “I can respect that.”
“My turn to ask a question.”
“Same rules you stipulated apply for me.”
She nodded. “Have you ever been married?”
“Nope. But I was engaged,” he answered honestly. He told himself that he did so because, after this week, he’d never see this woman again and not because he cared enough to be honest.
“What happened?”
“She slept with one of my closest friends.”
She gasped, covering her mouth and pausing mid-step. “I think that’s worse than fraud.”
“What kind of fraud?” He arched a brow as he nudged her along, not wanting to be late for the dolphin show, which was the only reason he’d agreed to go to the aquarium over finding a place to hike or at least go for a very long walk.
“My ex was busted for corporate colluding and embezzlement.” She took his hand as he helped her along a bench on the very last row of the front section, right in the middle, but just above the splash zone.
“You should have taken his money,” he said softly. He’d never been the kind of man to be overly judgmental, but after having met her ex, he reserved the right.