HellKat

by Roze, Robyn

  “We can argue all night about me not comin’ clean on who I was. But the truth, for me, is once I knew you didn’t recognize my name, didn’t know I was the one you were waiting for, I decided then and there to be Tucker Williams—the man, not the pompous venture capitalist.” He paused, searched for recognition. She rewarded him with the hint of a grin at the echo of her own words. “I wanted a chance, Kat. I wanted you. I wanted you to flirt with me the way you did that pretty boy behind the bar.”

  He chewed at the inside of his cheek and waited. Kat glanced down at her lap, attempted to hide her smile.

  “I’m not the sorta guy you usually go for, am I?”

  “Not even close.”

  “So why did you, Kat?”

  He seemed to need an answer as much as she did.

  “I’m not sure, other than,” she glanced away, back in time, “I just wanted to ... I wanted you.

  “I haven’t done anything like that since I was in college—a lifetime ago. I’m a grown woman now with rules. I exercise good judgment, and I certainly don’t have one-night stands with strangers. I can’t even blame it on alcohol. It was all me, sober, lucid ...” She looked away, a hint of anguish in her expression.

  “I’m glad it was all you, Kat, and nothin’ else.” His hand stretched closer to hers, near enough to touch her, but he didn’t. “And I’m damn glad you broke your rules with me. Makes me think you need to change your rules, about who your type is and all. I’m sure you have one of those lists, don’t you?” She tried to hold her grip on the veil he’d begun to lift away. “I was pretty sure I didn’t make the cut from the get-go. And after what happened, you probably decided you were right about me all along. I’d like the chance to prove otherwise, Kat.” His confidence now boosted, optimism shimmered in his eyes.

  She tried her best to come up with reasons why it would be a terrible idea. Kat had Googled him after the meltdown at her office; she knew a lot more about him now. Like his investments in and commitment to alternative energies and the environment, and his philanthropy in Helena and the communities surrounding it. The horse ranch he lived on in Montana, and how he’d come to run Diamond Industries. After her Internet snooping, she’d felt like a pretentious shit. She’d behaved no better than the rest of her snooty family, with her condescending misjudgments based on his appearance and pronunciations.

  This man had real depth, heart.

  However, she still stood by the conclusion she’d drawn.

  “Tucker, like I already said, there’s nowhere to go—”

  He cut in, his impatience clear. “Who says, Kat? Some book? Some magazine you read? Who? Because that just doesn’t fit my way of thinking. Why can’t we start from right here?” His finger tapped the table. “Right now. I know we didn’t have an ideal start, but we can change that. We can make whatever we want out of this.”

  He settled back against his seat while she tossed around his proposal in her head. Time to cut to the chase. “I don’t think you love that guy you were with tonight.”

  Her demeanor stiffened.

  “You don’t know anything about him, Tucker,” she said, her words barbed.

  “I know you didn’t invite him up the last three nights.”

  “You’ve been following me?” Her mouth fell open in shock.

  His admission came without hesitation or remorse. “Wanted to make sure you didn’t have a boyfriend before I talked to you, that’s all.”

  “And if I had invited him up tonight, what then?”

  He stared at her for a few seconds, obviously mulling the possibility over.

  “I’m not exactly sure. I’m just glad you didn’t.”

  A befuddled puff of air blew past Kat’s lips. “Okay, this is just nuts, Tucker. You don’t even live here. What you’re suggesting isn’t even a remote possibility.” She angled closer. “If your conscience demanded you come back to apologize for what happened, to make yourself or me feel better, then fine, mission accomplished. Okay? You can go back to Montana with a clear conscience now.” She sat back, arms crossed, chin lifted in a challenge. “I’ll even take the pins out of your voodoo doll when I get home tonight.”

  His eyes ignited with awareness, a newly stoked fire apparent in them. A slow grin pulled across his face, then he eased across the table.

  “Got a voodoo doll of me, huh? You been thinkin’ about me too, darlin’?”

  Kat’s mouth opened in a mute reply. Her pulse quickened, blood sizzled, from that one damned word uttered from his made-for-sin lips.

  “Good to know.” He retreated to his side of the table, picked up his mug, and took a slow drink, his lids creasing further over the top of the ceramic cup.

  She pushed aside the rush of hormones in an attempt to refocus on his earlier comment about Grant. “You don’t have a clue what’s going on with the man I was with tonight, Tucker. I’ve been seeing him for a while now. It’s serious.”

  She didn’t even sound convincing to herself.

  “Then why are you sittin’ here with me?”

  Kat huffed. “You asked to talk. I obliged. My mistake—again.”

  He seemed to ignore her dig and instead plowed further into his fantasy world.

  “Let’s do things right this time. Go out with me, Kat. We’ll do whatever you all do here in New York. Can’t be all that different from back home. I can stick around here in your neck of the woods for a while and then,” he shrugged, “you can come back to Montana with me for a while. We’ll get to know each other that way. How’s that sound?”

  “You cannot be that thickheaded. Did you not just hear me say I’m already in a relationship? We’re serious, Tucker.”

  He appeared not to hear her, or believe her.

  “And I’m sure there’ll be rules. You’ll no doubt set those and make them as challenging as possible.” His lips twisted in a hard-to-control grin.

  “Oh, there’s going to be rules, all right. For starters: no sex. Period. I don’t even want to hold your hand.” Oh, hell no, she did not just say those things! What was it about this man that made her lose all good sense?

  And what about Grant?

  There was the bucket of cold water she’d needed.

  Kat’s stomach tightened as images of Grant flashed in her mind. They really were a picture-perfect couple. Her family and friends loved him, insisted he was the ideal man for her. She hadn’t yet found a reason to disagree with their assessment. However, as picture perfect as Grant appeared, Kat couldn’t shake the feeling they lacked a certain vibe in the chemistry department. But lack of sizzle with Grant was no excuse to make the same mistake twice with the mountain man who now sat across from her.

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to shake off the Tucker Williams curse.

  Her hands sliced through the air with her decision. “Forget it. Forget I said any of that. It’s not happening.”

  Tucker shook his head, the hint of victory written on his face. “Can’t take it back now. It’s a done deal, sweetheart. I’m in it to win it.” He angled his chin down, his broad smile and dimples highlighting the determination in his blue eyes. “There’s nothin’ I like more than a challenge. So you can either tell this guy you were with tonight he’s out, or I can do it for you. I’d like it to just be you and me. That’s how I’m leanin’. How ’bout you?”

  She gawked at him, then snorted with indignation. “That’s how you’re leanin’.” The nerve of this man! Kat shook her head in annoyance and scanned the bustle in the café before her troubled eyes roamed out to the busy street beyond.

  Why? Why did her heart race, her body explode with desire at the mere thought of acting on Tucker’s suggestion? The possibilities thrilled her. She must be certifiable, right? This could only be about sex, though there wasn’t going to be any, she reminded herself, even as raw lust nibbled and teased at her flesh. Sometimes in life a person had an undeniable, primal, chemical reaction to another—lust, pure and simple; it didn’t mean there was anything
else, anything to keep them warm once the fire lost its oxygen.

  Kat settled her wary eyes on the rugged man before her, replayed their encounter from all those months ago. His provocative words. His blond hair, loose and wild. His eyes with their promise of satisfaction, and maybe something more. His scruffy jaw as it had scraped along every inch of her body. His hands. The hands of a man accustomed to hard work. The feel of them against her skin …

  Life was short, too short to go without answers to the most important question: what if? She allowed the memories to wash over her. Then clarity gripped hold of her conscience, refocused her mind, and presented another possibility. One she hoped she could live with, one she hoped she wouldn’t soon regret. But if she did, she would at least have her answer.

  And that she could live with.

  “Despite the impression I undoubtedly left you with, I do have impulse control, and I intend on exercising it—rigorously.” Her words served a stern warning. She did not want him to mistake her concession as anything casual. “So, if you’re really here for a repeat performance, then just get up and leave now. It’s not happening, Tucker. And I don’t want to waste my time, especially when I have a good man in my life right now.”

  Tucker considered her words. Then he eased across the table again, his expression serious. “You won’t be wasting your time, Kat. Scout’s honor. And considering how things ended last time, I don’t want a repeat performance myself, just so we’re clear.”

  He rested his hand next to hers. “Just you and me, right? So we can get a fix on this.” He gestured between them.

  She stared like a love-struck schoolgirl.

  “Until we get a fix,” she whispered, as butterflies took flight in her belly.

  His expression triumphant, he winked. “Oh, this is gonna be fun, sweetheart. How do you want to start? Can I take you to lunch tomorrow and then dinner after work?”

  She cleared her throat, back straightened, at the reminder of what lay ahead tomorrow.

  “I already have lunch plans.”

  “With your ex-boyfriend?”

  Kat scowled. “Yes, Tucker. I’m at least going to have the decency to talk to him in person.”

  “Oh. Thought maybe you could just text him or somethin’.” He tucked his lips together in a grin.

  “How long are you even going to be here?” she asked, holding her breath. She recognized the faraway look, the dreamy state, his eyes lingering on her lips. He’d gone back to that night, their night. The powerful vibe from him was unmistakable. He wanted to kiss her, to touch her. He appeared stuck, at war with himself. Kat flushed with intense heat at her own memories melding with his, drawing her nearer. Then she shoved the thoughts aside, determined her brain would rule this time, not the impatient throbbing between her legs.

  “Snap out of it, Williams. Your memories are going to have to keep you warm tonight.”

  His eyes traveled the short distance to hers, oblivious to the question she’d asked.

  “How long are you going to be in New York?”

  He waited a few beats, held her stare. “As long as it takes.”

  She cleared away the lump of desire in her throat, and refocused. “For ...?”

  “For you to feel comfortable enough to come back to Montana with me for a spell.”

  He seemed to have returned to the present.

  “A spell? What does that translate to?”

  “Oh, a couple weeks or so. I’m hopin’ longer. Just depends on how things go from here on out. But I’m gonna be on my best behavior. You can count on it, Kathryn James.”

  There went the tickle up her spine again from the rumble of her given name rolling off his tongue. His lids narrowed slightly. Did he know that had an effect on her? God, she hoped not.

  “I’m not gonna make it easy for you to say no.” A sexy grin lit his dimpled cheeks.

  Kat tried to suppress her own smile but failed miserably.

  “So what are you going to do while you’re here? Surely you have to work, have places you need to be.”

  “You just let me worry about that.” He shrugged. “I can work from anywhere.”

  She outlined the hard angles of his face. A rush of excitement flooded her with images and sensations of the nights possible in her future. She cleared them out of her head and looked away, replaced the pictures of Tucker with Grant’s face at their lunch date tomorrow, the one where she’d blindside him, the way she’d been blindsided tonight.

  She and Grant had had a good evening, a good time since the first day they’d met in the park. No fuss. No fights. No pestering.

  So, why did he, they, seem so damned boring now?

  Why hadn’t sitting across from Grant ever aroused the same intense thrill sitting across from Tucker spurred in her?

  Whatever the difference, when the passion faded with Tucker, Grant would already be with someone else, leaving her back at square one to contemplate Dan, again. Without doubt, plenty of women in the city would happily trade places with Kat, push her out of the way, in fact, for the opportunity to accompany Grant, soak up his easy charm and share his bed.

  Kat sighed in doubt and shifted focus to the worn varnished tabletop. Warm fingers fluttered underneath her chin, gently lifted it.

  “It’s gonna be all right, Kat. He’s a big boy. Better he finds out now, not later.” His expression was shaded in hues of understanding and patience. “We need to see what this is between us. I know you feel it too, and I can’t walk away without finding out. Can you?”

  A freaking mind reader too? How the hell could he be so confident about this?

  “I’m tired, Tucker. I have an early day tomorrow, and I really need to go home. I need to think about this. It’s not as easy as you want it to be—not for me.” Indecision poked at her, pushed her outside her comfort zone, and made her mad. She slid out of the booth, no goodbye.

  Tucker quickly followed, blocked her path before she could escape him.

  “You’re not running away from me, Kat. I am walking you home.”

  His implacable don’t-fight-me look shut down her instinct to argue. Just as well, the fight had left her anyway, for now.

  His damn victory grin hovered above her, crowded out the line of lunch-goers at the sushi bar across from her table. Jesus, he was exasperating. Because of Tucker, she’d had to use concealer this morning to hide the dark circles under her eyes from the complete lack of sleep last night. She’d been helpless to turn off his voice in her head, everything he’d said outside her apartment, at the diner, and the first time they’d met. Not to mention their never-to-be-forgotten one-nighter.

  She’d thought of nothing else after she’d waved goodnight to him from her living room window three flights up. He’d insisted on waiting below after walking her home. Wanted to make sure she made it in safely before he would leave. And to top it off, he’d asked to see her cell phone after she’d taken a quick call from Grant on the walk back to her place, at which time he added his number and summarily deleted Grant’s.

  “So, you’re a confirmed stalker now, huh? Followed me here and even had the nerve to sit right over there,” Kat pointed without looking away from him, “where you knew I could see you, so you could make sure I’d go through with it. Or pressure me to go through with it, is more like it.”

  Tucker pulled out a chair and sat across from his feisty hellcat.

  “Oh, I couldn’t pressure you to do anything you didn’t already want to do, sweetheart.” His eyes were full of devilment. “Have any time left on the clock? Or do you need to get back to work?”

  “You don’t waste a second, do you? I literally just broke up with a great guy—minutes ago—and here you are ready to step right in like it never happened—like you didn’t watch it happen.”

  The edges of Tucker’s rugged features softened.

  “I’m sure he didn’t like hearin’ it, and I wouldn’t want to trade places with him. But I can’t lie; I’m damn glad he’s outta my way.” He cocked
his head and leaned across the table. “And I’m not interested in wasting any more time. I’ve already waited six months. I’m ready to see where this goes.”

  “You’ve waited six months?”

  “Yeah. I was hopin’ that’d be enough time for you to be able to listen, talk. Not want to shoot me on sight. Now I just want to get started, spend time with you, get to know you.”

  She flopped back against her seat and reviewed the muddled game plan in her head.

  What if this did work out …?

  She scrutinized him, tried to reconcile him sitting across from her in the flesh, not in a fantasy. Tried her best not to think about the black T-shirt hugging his body, the faded jeans incapable of hiding his perfect ass. Or the rebellious blond strand of hair curved along his square jaw, hair she remembered seeing, feeling on her skin, wild and free …

  Tucker’s chin dipped in recognition, and he gently bumped her knee with the inside of his.

  “You all right, sweetheart?” The knowing expression on his face said he’d read her.

  She refocused on the decision she’d struggled with last night. Despite the reality of their differences and their bad start, she’d chosen to give him a do-over. However, she wasn’t about to make penance easy for the man.

  Tucker was right. This would be fun.

  She’d make sure of it.

  “Do you like the opera, Tucker?” His mouth dropped open, but he didn’t speak. Oh, he wanted to, she could tell. Kat chewed at the inside of her cheek, did her best to hold back the grin wanting to break across her face. “Ever been to the Met?” He shook his head, slowly. “What a shame. We need to fix that as soon as possible.” She teased him with a wink.