MissKitty

by Laci Leigh

  100 Points For Miss Kitty

  Laci Leigh

  SASSY!

  kNight Romance Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  kNight Romance Publishing

  Port Richey, Florida

  Copyright © 2011 by Laci Leigh

  ISBN-13: 9780983129783

  http://www.knightromancepublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  Cover Artist Fantasia Frog Designs

  Editor Tess MacKall

  100 Points For Miss Kitty

  Chapter One

  Hoses and the Half-Naked Neighbor

  It had been one of those days where I’d wanted to scream, scratch my boss’s eyes out, kick him in the nuts, and quit my job. At one minute after five, I shot out of the parking lot in my little, red sports car, its tires burning rubber and leaving black marks on the pavement.

  Men say they don’t get PMS. Yeah, right. That’s the biggest lie of them all! My boss had PMS on a monthly basis, and to make matters worse, we were on the same schedule. He had charged in to my office like a bull seeing red, complaining about a headache, so I graciously handed him two of my Pamprin PMS Formula, extra-strength tablets. An hour later was when I discovered men really did have cycles, or at least go through the emotions. If men had cramps like women, the world would stop turning on its axis until they found a permanent cure.

  And castration wouldn’t be at the top of the cure list.

  Stereo blaring, car speeding down the road, I put the day’s events behind me. All I wanted to do was soak in a hot tub of water, eat Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin, and watch old movies.

  Pulling into my driveway, I happened to glance next door and noticed my neighbor, Todd, washing his new convertible Mustang, a manly type of vehicle that suited him perfectly. I peered over my sunglasses to get a better look. His sun-kissed skin shimmered from the reflecting water.

  Damn, he was hot. Those broad shoulders and trim waist alone were enough to make a girl’s kitty twitter. His short blond hair dripped with sweat or water. I didn’t know which. Giving him the once-over while he had his back to me, I homed in on the way his khaki knee-length shorts clung to his tight ass, sending naughty thoughts through my mind. Next, I took full notice of his muscular thighs and long legs. Were those shorts clinging to the front of him as well?

  Quickly, I glanced in the rearview mirror for a makeup check and wiped away the smudged mascara from beneath my brown eyes. My long, dark hair was flat and lifeless, so I tossed the strands until they looked wild, but sexy, and then applied a little lip-gloss to make my pink lips shine. I grinned at the mirror for a fast inspection of my teeth, licking away a smear of lip-gloss before opening the door and getting out.

  Almost on cue, he turned and flashed me a toothy smile, which I returned as my gaze trailed south. Oh, shit! Those khakis did cling to his front. That thing couldn’t be real! He was definitely a commando type of guy. My jaw dropped.

  “Hey, Katrina!” he called, breaking my gaze and jarring me from my thoughts.

  Closing my mouth, I adjusted my sunglasses. “Hey, Todd. Um, did you wash the car or did the car wash you?”

  “Yeah, about that.” Raising a hand, he combed his fingers through those golden strands. “I had a little accident with the water hose.”

  A little? Wet from head to toe, he looked like a shining god. I wanted to rake my fingers over his broad, muscular, hairless chest right down to the curves of each ripple in his eight-pack. Yes, I was in that PMS horny stage. That time of month when a man will get the best sex he’s ever had, or at least think so.

  Todd McAllister had moved in next door a little over a month ago. I didn’t really know that much about him, other than he lived alone and there didn’t seem to be a girlfriend. Okay, so I did notice him mowing his back yard every two weeks. The way he put his back into it made Miss Kitty go meow. Todd’s body had a way of making me drool in all the right places.

  “Those water hoses are a bitch, aren’t they?” I laughed and secretly considered what I would like to do with his hose. I bet he likes a girl on top.

  He chuckled. “Yeah they are. When they get old they explode under pressure.”

  Did he really say that? Surely, he didn’t know the day I just had. Talk about a bitch under pressure.

  I lifted my right eyebrow and flaunted a wicked grin. “Don’t you just hate it when they get old and saggy?”

  He shot me a confused look. Story of my life. I put it out there for them, and no one ever took the bait.

  “Well, I’ve had a rough day, so I’m going to soak in the tub. See you later, Todd.” I gave him a friendly wave and let myself in my front door. At least seeing him half-naked and wet had brought a smile to my face. Not to mention brightened my otherwise dreary day.

  An hour-long soak couldn’t shake the thoughts I was having about Todd. Even when I closed my eyes, I could still see the water glistening on his sexy body. From there, my mind drifted to whether he knew how to use that huge thing in his shorts. Damn, he had to be packing a real load in there.

  Heat rushed through my body, reminding me it had been too long since I’d had sex with someone, or rather something other than BOB. My battery-operated boyfriend was pretty boring these days. Maybe he needed some fresh batteries. I’d thought about writing a letter to the Energizer Corporation and letting them know the bunny had officially died. But I figured they would probably write back explaining that under normal use the batteries have a longer life.

  I’d become a pathetic workaholic with no social life. Ridiculous! Where had my life gone? I knew it hadn’t been that long since my friends and I stayed out all night at the local clubs. I guess I’d gotten old. Is twenty-six that old? Climbing out of the tub, I reached for a towel. Once I’d dried off, I slipped into my pink silk robe just as I heard the doorbell ring.

  Who in the world? Probably some damned carpet cleaning salesperson.

  Padding through the living room and over to the front door, I swung it open, prepared to get rid of whoever it was. Breath gushed from my mouth at the sight of Todd standing there with huge grin on his face.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  His steel-blue gaze roamed from the top of my head all the way down to my toes. A black Lycra shirt clung tightly to his muscular chest, and his jeans even tighter to his powerful thighs. Stirring from behind him, a breeze blew the intoxicating scent of his cologne across my face. Could a man smell any better than he did?

  Slowly, his gaze lifted, and his lips curled. There was no way he could’ve missed my hardening nipples.

  He cleared his throat. “I um…wondered if you wanted to have dinner with me. I really don’t feel like cooking tonight. ”

  He cooks? Of course, I didn’t know much about him. Our conversations had always been pretty casual. Nothing important other than the fact he wasn’t married, didn’t have a girlfriend, and that he worked at a local bank as a loan officer. Well, maybe I knew a little more than I thought, but a girl can’t be too careful especially when something that delicious moves in next door.

  “Well…okay. Could you give me about thirty minutes?”

  “Sure. I’ll come back to pick you up.”

  I closed the door and did a little happy dance before the rug slid from under my feet and sent me into the coffee table. Recovering quickly, I rushed to find something nice to wear that wouldn’t scream I’m a horny bitch.
After rummaging through my closet for what seemed like forever, I finally chose jeans, high heels, and a clingy brown top. Nothing too fancy, but if he was a boob man, he’d sure as hell get an eyeful.

  Carefully, I applied my makeup, making sure my eyes looked seductive without over doing it. Lip gloss, a few fluffs of my hair, a spritz of perfume, and I was ready.

  The doorbell rang. I glanced down at my watch. He was five minutes early. Not wanting to appear eager, I paced myself, taking my time to open the door.

  His face lit up. “Hey, you look great.”

  “Thanks.”

  Todd looked totally delicious. He wore a white shirt tucked neatly into a pair of dark jeans. The rolled up cuffs on the shirt showed off his muscular forearms―which were just the type of arms I wanted around my waist. I peered up into those blue eyes, and felt Miss Kitty’s engine kicking up another gear. His face was clean shaven, and I couldn’t help but notice his well-chiseled jaw line. Oh God, and when he smiled, those adorable dimples jumped out at me. Yep, Miss Kitty was really purring now.

  “Ready?”

  “Sure, let me grab my purse and we can be on our way.” It didn’t surprise me that he opened the car door for me. I believed Todd to be a nice man. Each gentlemanly gesture earned him kitty points. And he had to meet the required number before he could actually tag the damn thing. So far, his sexy body had earned him ten. The car door thing got him another ten. He had to reach that magical one hundred mark―that was the goal or no kitty.

  On the way to dinner, we talked about what types of food and drinks we enjoyed, generally just getting to know one another while keeping the conversation light. At the restaurant, a local grill called Zeke’s, Neighbor Todd earned ten more points for opening the door for me. Once we were seated in a booth near the back, he ordered my drink―another ten points for paying attention to the fact I liked fruity concoctions. Just for placing my order with the waitress and the part where he said, “She will have…” earned him some well-deserved bonus points. He was halfway there. Most men generally didn’t hit the bull’s eye on the first date, so I didn’t contemplate Todd would either. It was very doubtful he would be meeting Miss Kitty tonight.

  His light humor and the way he made me laugh earned him another ten. Charming and sexy, he got closer to the cat by the minute. I found myself totally intrigued with him.

  “So, how long has it been since you were in a serious relationship?”

  Oops! I almost spewed my drink. He was definitely interested in me. I wavered with the thought of lying. If I told him that it had been three years since I’d dated, he might think I’d been hurt and not want to waste his time. Or if I lied and said something more recent, he might think I was a slut. Worse yet, he could just think I was easy pickings because of loneliness.

  “Not that long.” My final answer.

  “How long? What? Three? Six months?” He pursued a more solid answer, leaning forward over his plate.

  If it hadn’t been for him batting those beautiful blue eyes at me, I could have probably come up with a better story.

  “Three years,” shot out before I could control it. Did he just glamour me like the vampires in True Blood?

  Todd’s eyebrows quirked with what I guessed to be surprise, and he sat back.

  “Oh. That long?” He sounded sad, and the frown on his face didn’t recoil.

  Did he have to say that? Miss Kitty and I both knew it had been three long, lonely years, but did he have to make it sound like an eternity had passed and I was headed straight for the Spinster’s Hall of Fame? Did he think that just because no man had fed Miss Kitty in three years, she had withered up and died? I took care of the cat like anyone else. She was fed, cleaned, groomed, and taken for a health check on a regular basis. I wanted to come up with something venomous to say, but I also wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Why think he was a jerk right out of the gate?

  “What do you mean that long?”

  His head tipped to the side then straightened again as if he’d digested something terrible. He didn’t burp or pass gas that I was aware of, so I assumed the worse.

  “Nothing really. I …” He appeared to be fighting the urge to say what he thought.

  “No, it wasn’t because of a bad last relationship. I really wanted to take some time and find myself after my mother’s death. Moving here and throwing myself into a career seemed like the right thing to do. Time just slipped away from me.” I presented a mixed-up version of the truth with a smile.

  His look of disbelief said Neighbor Todd didn’t buy my bullshit. I had to think quickly, say something clever to turn this all around.

  “So when was the last time you were in a long relationship?” I said with another polite smile.

  It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my life. The color drained from his face. A-ha! Wait for it….wait for it!

  His gaze lowered to the table then lifted back to me as he seemingly forced a smile. “Actually, I was engaged for three years. It didn’t work out. I found out she was cheating on me with my best friend.” His smile faded, and he turned on the puppy dog eyes.

  Liar! You just lost 60 kitty points.

  I twisted my lips to the side. In my book, when men lied, most turned everything around. They wanted to impress women, so they hid the truth. No woman would leave him and what he packed between his legs to fuck his best friend. He’d probably cheated on her. But I could have been wrong, too. It was very hard not to give in to this almost-Ryan Reynolds look-alike. More benefit of the doubt. I was cutting him a lot of slack. Maybe it was because I was simply horny. Yet there was something about him…

  Regardless, the only thing left to do was check my watch for the time, signaling the end of the date. With all the penalty points, Neighbor Todd had ended up with a firm ten. Well, he still looked good, and I couldn’t take that away from him, could I?

  It was like I always said—most men don’t rate touching the kitty the first night.

  He caught the hint and flagged down the waitress. Pulling out his wallet, he took out a Gold American Express card. Okay, so he had good credit, and reluctantly, I had to give him another ten points. After he paid the bill, we left and he picked up another twenty before we made it to his driveway, thus giving him a total of forty.

  I opened my own door, but he managed to meet me at the back of the car and walk me to the front door. Funny thing, but he paused, allowing me to step in front of him then caught up with me, placing a hand at the small of my back. Ten points for effort, and another ten for checking out my ass.

  “Todd, thank you for a nice evening. You really brightened my terrible day.” I flashed him a warm smile and fumbled with my house keys. Hint.

  “I had a great evening, too, Katrina. Let’s get together tomorrow. I heard about this great little candle shop on the beach. Jandles in Gulf Breeze?”

  “That sounds good. I love Jandles. “I put on a nice toothy smile for him.

  My friends and I suspected that most men had a point system all their own. A penis points system. If Todd were indeed keeping a running tally, I wasn’t at all sure of where I’d landed on his scoreboard. And for some reason, that bothered me. Todd stood there, waiting. Since the evening had lost most of its momentum, I reached out and gave him a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek for some extra points―just in case he was counting.

  Hot tingles rocketed through my body. There was something electric between us. His hand moved to caress my cheek. It was impossible not to look at him, to gaze into those gorgeous eyes.

  The moment our eyes met, it was as if the world stopped, or maybe it was just my heart that skipped time. His fingers lingered on the side of my face, and I felt my heart flutter. His eyes lowered to my lips and then met my gaze again. Slowly he moved, pausing a second, I guess to make sure I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t, not then.

  When his lips met mine, they were so soft I melted into his arms. I closed my eyes, seeing those little white sparks light up lik
e fireworks. The bitch of it all, the kiss was just a soft kiss goodnight. I was sure Todd did that on purpose, as if giving me a taste of things to come.

  He lifted his head and smiled down at me. The satisfied expression on his face told me he thought he’d done his job properly. Yep, he left me wanting more.

  “Thank you again, Todd,” I said softly as I released him.

  Apparently, that gave me some extra penis points. He gave me a smile and stepped away from the door as I turned the key and walked inside.

  Chapter Two

  Candles, Incense, and Smoke

  Thank goodness for Saturday mornings. I needed a break from my job. The excitement over Todd’s invitation to go to Jandles on the beach in Gulf Breeze had given me a well-deserved lift.

  Jandles was a family-owned business. My coworker had turned me on to them a few months before. They made their own candles and carried many exotic fragrances I truly loved.

  Checking the clock, I rolled out of bed and made my way to the kitchen for my morning coffee. It was nine o’clock. I had no idea what time Todd wanted to pick me up, so I didn’t risk the chance he would catch me in my nightly attire. Worse yet, catch me with the early morning smug look.

  As I looked beyond the kitchen window, I noticed my yard needed some attention. The summer months in Florida played havoc on a lawn. The grass had a mind of its own, growing at a rate of what appeared to be a foot overnight when watered on a regular basis. I admired the pink and purple blooms spread across the yard. Yes, it was time to bring out the weed and feed. Those weeds would have to go. I released a long sigh and decided to put off the manual labor for another day.

  With coffee cup in hand, I turned on the television, followed by my laptop. The morning racket consisted of cartoons, some of which I still enjoyed. Others were just plain annoying.