Plotting Mr. Perfect

by S. E. Babin

  Katie made the quick drive over to Mel’s work, resisting the urge to boot her out of her car before she fully stopped. Mel took the hint, grabbed her purse and exited the car with alacrity.

  Before she closed the door, she leaned down and said, “May the force be with you. And friction, too!” Mel waggled her fingers, laughing hysterically, and slammed the door behind her.

  Katie shook her head and tried not to squeal out of the parking lot in her rush to get home. It wasn’t even nine p.m. yet. Plenty of time for nookie and a good night’s sleep! Katie groaned at herself. She was still in her twenties, but sleep was sometimes up there with all the other good stuff life had to offer. She shook her head at her elderly moment and tried to still her pounding heart.

  Will’s house was lit up when she pulled into her driveway. And another car was there. Holly’s, no doubt. Katie ignored the sick feeling she got when imagining what was going on in there. She bounded up her steps, unlocked her door, and entered the house to see Leo lounging on the couch in nothing but a pair of loose-fitting sweat pants.

  Her mouth opened, but she quickly shut it to avoid drooling. She wasn’t sure what those two areas were by a man’s hips that caved out and trailed down to his happy place. What she did know was that she wanted to taste them. She dropped her purse and keys on the floor, shrugged out of her jacket and stalked over to Leo, who was now staring at her with a look of surprise and caution. She tugged off her shirt on the way, leaving her in nothing but a pair of jeans and a bra that had seen better days.

  The look of surprise fell off his face to reveal predatory interest. But he didn’t move toward her. His posture was alert, but he was still lazily sprawled across the couch watching her. Katie reached Leo and straddled him. She pulled his face up to hers, not caring what he thought about her, and covered his mouth with her own. Leo responded immediately, one hand tangling in her hair and the other reaching up to unfasten her bra. Cool air hit her skin, but the warmth of Leo’s body was enough to keep her from shivering with anything but pleasure. He pulled her closer, molding her to his body and plundering her mouth with his own.

  Katie moaned in pleasure, and Leo’s mouth left hers to explore other areas. His hands roamed across her body, his thumb flicking open the button to her jeans. She shifted, allowing him to slide them down until she lay almost bare, pinned by his appraising gaze. Amber eyes studied her, liquid pools of heat swirling with unnamed emotions.

  Leo didn’t waste any time. He picked her up, wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her legs around his waist. He carried her to the bedroom, slamming the door open with a well-placed kick, and deposited her on the bed. He shut the door with a click and turned off the overhead light, leaving the room pooled in soft light from the salt lamp beside her nightstand. He lay down beside her, quiet for a moment as he picked up a messy wave of her hair and curled it around his fingers.

  “I don’t care why you’ve changed your mind. I just care that you’re here with me right now.”

  Katie said nothing, only pulled his face closer to hers. With one limber foot, she pushed down his sweats, revealing a secret she hadn’t known before.

  Leo didn’t wear underwear.

  Katie groaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving herself on top of him. Leo rested his body weight on his elbows, his mouth trailing heat across her collarbone and down her breasts. The only thing separating her and Leo was the thin scrap of lace underwear she was still wearing. With one thumb, he removed them and threw them over his shoulder.

  Katie laughed breathily, but Leo silenced her when his thumb touched her center. She bucked, trying to stifle her moan with her arm. Leo pulled it away from her mouth.

  “Cry out for me, Katie.”

  And so she did.

  * * * *

  Anger flushed Will’s entire body. The flash of light skin and blonde hair through the quick glance in the window told him all he needed to know. He blew it. And blew it in an irreparable, no going back sort of way. He tugged the curtains closed viciously, knocking down the curtain rod in the process.

  Holly, his vacuous blind date, squeaked in surprise from her perch on the couch. Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she was friendly. No, she wasn’t all that smart. Or weird. Or hilariously awkward like the woman he just saw being carried away. He dug his palms into his eyes, trying to rub out the image of Katie wrapped around Leo. His teeth clenched with the urge to destroy everything in his house.

  “Are you okay?” Holly tipped her pretty face up and crossed her long pale legs, unmarred by the slightest freckle. He couldn’t care less about her or the delights she was about to offer him. And he knew she would offer. From the breathy sound of her laugh (which he knew no one really ever laughed like that when something was funny), to the low-cut tank top she kept adjusting, to the seductive flip of her curly hair over one shoulder, she was only warming him up for the big show.

  “Fine,” he said shortly. He wanted her to leave. And he wanted to drown his sorrows in a bottle of Jack, sit on the couch and try to bleach the images of Katie and Leo from his brain.

  “Good.” She patted the area beside her and smiled. Will didn’t have the patience right now.

  “Look,” he said, running his fingers through his hair, “why don’t you go on home? I’m tired and have a big day tomorrow.”

  The smile on Holly’s face dropped off, replaced with surprise. “You want me to leave? Seriously?” She huffed and stood, adjusting the denim skirt that had slid up her pale thighs. He stared at her, detached. He could appreciate a good pair of legs, but if they weren’t attached to the strange blonde next door he didn’t give a shit about them.

  “Seriously.” He reached over and picked up her sparkled purse with two fingers. Katie would never carry something so obvious. He walked over to the door so she wouldn’t try to change his mind, and opened it. She stomped over, the sound of her stilettos against the wooden floor making him cringe.

  Holly stopped in front of him and gave Will an appraising look. “You’re hung up on that blonde. I could tell it from the moment she wandered over to our table.”

  He didn’t confirm or deny it. Only stood there wishing Holly would get the hell out of his house.

  She grinned, all pretense of friendliness dropped from her face as she reached a long finger up to stroke his cheek. “Such a waste of a pretty face. She’s average, Will. Nothing exciting about her or sexy. She’s nothing like me.”

  Will laughed long and hard. “You’re right. She’s nothing like you. And that’s a good thing, sweetheart. Now take your bottle-colored hair and get the hell out of my house.” He tossed her bedazzled purse onto his front lawn and pushed her gently out the door. Holly screeched with outrage, but Will shut the door with a gentle click and turned the lock with finality.

  He strode over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass tumbler from his cabinet. On his way back to the living room, he snagged a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He poured himself a healthy serving and sat in silence for a while, trying to halt the storm of thoughts running through his head.

  He was a low-class, first-rate asshole. Seeing Katie walking toward him in the restaurant, her eyes wide and face flushed, he’d panicked. It was obvious he was on a date. And it was obvious to anyone with a set of eyes and a brain that Holly planned to put out. He knew Katie was a smart cookie and she’d put two and two together. But he’d never planned to sleep with Holly. And now, Katie slipped right out of his fingers into the arms of the man who waited patiently for her.

  He cursed the friend who put him up to the date, cursed the do-gooders who were tired of seeing him single, and cursed himself for not knowing how to act whenever Katie came around. Hindsight was always 20/20. He should have gotten up from that booth, taken Katie by the elbow, escorted her to the bathroom and made sure she walked out of there knowing she was his.

  Instead, he allowed her to think the worst about him. He’d unwittingly made her think she was just another piece of tail to him. And what did K
atie do? She reacted accordingly and chose the man she thought was best for her.

  Although he knew Leo wasn’t the best, Will certainly couldn’t say he was right now, either. He was the lonely jerk sitting on the couch by himself with a cup full of hard liquor and self-pity. He gripped the glass tumbler so hard his knuckles went white. After a long hard swallow, he turned the tumbler up and swirled it against the dim light of the lamp, watching the glass twinkle under his unfocused gaze.

  He threw it against the wall as hard as he could, shattering the glass and denting the sheetrock. After staring at it for a second, Will got up, grabbed another glass and poured himself another healthy swig of Jack.

  “That goddamn T-shirt,” he muttered. “Nerd Life. God damn me for ever thinking of that. And God damn Katie for ever wearing that godforsaken shirt.” The image of another one of his creations stretched across Katie’s breasts plagued his brain.

  He tilted the glass up, finished it and leaned forward to pour another. With the mood he was in tonight, he had a feeling he would repeat those motions numerous times over the course of the evening, all the while torturing himself with images of Katie loving Leo and not him.

  Chapter 11

  The morning after always amused Katie. The night prior, you shared everything with someone, including all the moist parts. Waking up the next morning and feeling an arm slung across your naked waist was the equivalent of a cold shower to most people. Not to Katie, though. This was her favorite part. Seeing someone you’d just bared your soul (and your naughty bits) to and knowing they cared about you enough to still be there and hold you while you drifted off to sleep, warmed her. She pulled that golden arm a little tighter around her waist and snuggled against the man it belonged to. Katie felt him smile against her hair.

  She smiled, too, and squeezed his hand. He moved his arm, patted her on the rear end and leaned over her. Leo kissed her lightly on her nose.

  “I feel more human this morning,” he said, and laughed when he saw Katie’s expression.

  “I’m not sure you really know the right subjects to bring up the morning after, Leo.” She softened her words with a smile and rolled over on her other side until she was facing him. “How so?”

  “My heart feels lighter. I don’t feel so…electric.” He thumped his chest. ‘It’s hard to explain. There was this weight in the middle of my chest, heavy and solid. Now it feels more like part of me, like it should be there and not like a spare part.”

  Katie placed her hand over Leo’s heart and felt the steady thumping. “Feels okay to me.”

  “Well, I think you’re the one who made it okay.” He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for coming to me last night.”

  Katie sighed deeply. “It was the right thing to do. I mean, I wanted to. I wanted you.” She stopped, realizing she was rambling. “What I’m trying to say is I should have let you in right away and—”

  Leo silenced her by placing a finger over her lips. “No, you shouldn’t have. You would have regretted it. Did you regret this?”

  Katie thought about it for a second and felt her heart lighten. She didn’t regret it. Will had shown his true character last night, and she was foolish for thinking they had anything other than a physical attraction to each other. She kissed his finger. “No. I don’t, Leo, but I do need to tell you that I want to take this slow. I haven’t been in a relationship in so long that it’s foreign to me.”

  Leo frowned and was silent for a moment. “I understand. It is a human thing.”

  Katie snorted and laughed. “Yes, it’s a human thing. But so is coffee. Let’s get up and get some.”

  “I like coffee. It tastes like energy.”

  “Amen, Leo. Amen.”

  * * * *

  Life always intrudes on those special little moments, even when a couple’s relationship is brand new. Considering it was only Wednesday, Leo had to go to work. With lots of kissing on his way out the door, Leo finally made it into his vehicle and pulled out of the driveway with a wave and an air kiss. She couldn’t help but laugh at him even though he made her heart lighter. She closed the door, pulled her robe tighter around her waist, and then poured herself a second cup of coffee. She stood at the kitchen sink, staring out at her backyard and thinking about last night.

  It was wonderful, heavenly…everything. Leo was attentive, loving and an all-around warm person. Did she love him? No. Not yet. Could she love him? She could. Would it be an all-consuming, torrid love? She didn’t think so. But he would love her. He’d keep her safe. And above all, he’d respect her. Katie knew this with her entire being. Women all over the world lived with far less. She was lucky and she knew it.

  Katie took one last swig of her coffee, set her mug in the sink, and stretched the soreness out of her muscles. It was going to be a good day. She could feel it.

  * * * *

  The story took a turn for the steamy and Katie had to fan herself with a paper napkin while sitting in the coffee shop in front of her computer. She took some major liberties with their sexy little foray into the bedroom last night, mainly because she felt a little too weird sharing everything that happened between them even under the guise of fiction, and no one wants to hear about normal sex. People wanted to read about throw ’em against the wall, head-banging rides. Vanilla sex be damned.

  So Leo was now a total stud, and Katherine his willing vixen. Will spent the night banging an entirely too willing Holly, and Katie had to strongly reconsider giving him a case of gonorrhea. Real life is always much crazier than fiction, but unfortunately no one wanted to read about Will’s itchy balls. So she refrained, but she let that scene run wild in her head with rampant glee.

  After a long day of writing, Katie packed it in and drove home to cook Leo dinner. She wasn’t all that domesticated, but Katie knew how to fry some chicken thanks to her Southern roots and a loud-mouthed grandmother. She tied on a frilly apron and went to work gathering things out of the cabinet. Once everything was situated, she plugged in her iPhone and turned up 90s jams as loud as she could without offending the neighbors. She didn’t give a crap about Will’s ears, but she liked the rest of her neighbors just fine.

  The strains of Heart’s All I want to do is make love to you screamed out through the speakers. Katie danced around her living room, belting out the song at the top of her lungs. She eventually made her way back to the kitchen, where she started cooking.

  An hour or so later, she checked the clock and realized Leo should be home in just a few minutes. She rushed into the bathroom, pulled on a pair of leggings, an emerald green tunic and gold sandals. Easy enough to get off, she thought. She twisted her hair into an easy chignon, slapped on a coat of mascara, and pinched her cheeks for some color.

  She rushed back out and set the table for two. For the final touch, Katie put two silver candlesticks with white tapered candles in the middle of the table. She lit both of them and turned down the lights in the house. Satisfied with how everything looked, Katie poured herself a glass of wine and sat down to wait for Leo.

  When he opened the door about twenty minutes later, Katie smiled at him from her perch on the couch. A slow, lazy grin lit up his face. “Hey you,” he said. “Got any more of that?”

  Katie poured him a glass of wine and watched as he walked over to her. He accepted it and leaned down for a steamy kiss. Katie immediately thought about how hard she’d worked to make dinner, then discarded it as soon as Leo’s deft tongue slid past her lips into her mouth. She shakily sat her glass down and twined her arms around his neck. His throaty laugh filled her until he pulled away and took her hand.

  “What is all this?” he asked as he pulled her up.

  “I made dinner,” she announced. “Have a seat.”

  Leo stared in awe at the table as he sat and placed a napkin over his lap. “All for me?”

  Katie brought over the chicken and put two pieces on his plate. She served up the mashed potatoes she’d put together and the green beans she
’d thawed and cooked with a little oil and bacon. “All for you,” she confirmed.

  Katie served herself and sat down to enjoy the meal. Leo was a delightful dinner companion, charming and open. And she realized she’d missed him. She wanted a man who worked, so she got a man who worked. But she missed those few short days when he was all hers. After their meal, Katie reached over and covered his hand with hers.

  “Dessert?” She winked at him, hoping he would understand the nuance. There was no dessert in the fridge, but Katie had a good idea of something sweet to offer him.

  Leo’s eyes glimmered in the low light. He stood up and walked over to the window between her and Will’s house. He pulled the sheer curtains closed and motioned for her to stand. She willingly went to him. The dishes were left on the table, the rest of the food growing cold. But Katie didn’t care. She could only care about the man in her arms right now. The living, breathing, golden god of a man a little bit of science and magic gave to her.

  * * * *

  Will’s sister sat in his living room, one high-heeled foot tapping incessantly against his floor. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re losing weight. You act like a grizzly bear when someone gets within two feet of you. And you’ve been like this for weeks!” His sister’s face flushed red, her blue eyes sparkling angrily.

  He clenched his jaw. “There’s nothing wrong, for God’s sake. Stop treating me like a China doll.” His gaze drifted unwillingly over to Katie’s window, now fitted with darker, heavier curtains, which were closed the majority of the time. She was gone and there was nothing he could do about it but throw himself into his T-shirt design. Since Katie, his T-shirts had taken a turn for the crabby, but those ended up being a winner for the business. Apparently, lots of crabby broken-hearted nerds liked to wear their angst all over their chests.

  “Will, business is excellent. Better than ever. But you are being a real asshole. Spill it. Tell me what’s going on so I can help you.” His sister obviously wasn’t buying his story. As soon as he told his sister there was a woman involved she’d go running to tell his mother and then his other sisters. It was a vicious cycle. They wanted him settled down, married and popping out Black Irish babies. It was maddening. They meant well, but there was a reason he kept his issues to himself. And that reason was sitting there pouting prettily in his living room.