by Gina Kincade
Perfect.
Placing the pencil between her teeth as if it were a long stemmed rose, Kate held her arms out stiff, embracing her invisible partner. The primal sexiness of the music entranced her and she let go of her surroundings. Eyes closed, she allowed the natural rhythm of the Argentinian pulse to envelope her. Unbidden, the memory of Grant Anderson’s gorgeous hands popped into her brain and she imagined he was her dance partner. Random errant thoughts of him had been crashing through her brain waves with alarming frequency ever since she’d encountered him in the ER last week.
Mr. Anderson with his cold demeanor and oh so sexy mouth made for pleasure. It wasn’t hard to imagine that pleasure now as she danced. His hands roving down her sides, cupping her ass, squeezing and kneading while he trailed hot wet kisses from her ear to between the valley of her breasts... Panties damp, she shivered with need.
Half way through the song, a coldly familiar voice barked, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Chapter Four
Kate's eyes snapped open and she nearly stumbled. She gasped and the pencil fell to the carpet. “Mr. Anderson!”
“I repeat. What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he said, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
Kate fought to control her scrambled thoughts through the sensual haze of the Latin beat that never failed to fire up her libido, but it was extremely difficult to accomplish with the fine male specimen who’d suddenly jumped out of the fantasy of her mind becoming reality.
“I...ah...um, well.” She began cursing herself for her innate curiosity. She cleared her throat. “I’m dancing,” she said lamely.
“I can see that,” he said rolling his eyes. “Why are you doing it here?”
“I’m so sorry,” she began. “I was just taking out my trash and saw your door open. I knocked and called out, but no one answered and...well, obviously I came in and snooped. I wasn’t going to steal anything. I was just curious and...” her voice trailed off. She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, embarrassment flaming her face. “God, I’ve got diarrhea of the mouth,” she said with a grimace.
He just stared at her, an incredulous expression lit his face. Obviously, his man of few words persona wasn’t due to his visit to the emergency room. She straightened her shoulders and sighed.
“I’m Kate by the way. Kate Sumner. We met last week in the ER.” She held out her hand and gave him a sheepish smile. “Your obsessive compulsive busy body neighbor. How’s your hand?” Without waiting for an answer, Kate closed the distance between them and lifted up the palm he’d injured the week before, studying the neatly healing edges of the scab with a critical eye. “Looks good,” she murmured. “You got the stitches out.” She lifted her gaze to his and smiled.
“Look, lady I—”
“Kate,” she said. His jaw ticked and she knew he was pissed off. For some inexplicable reason she wanted to get underneath that cold prickly veneer he wore.
He blinked, removed his battered baseball cap and scratched his head, tousling his unruly chestnut curls in the process. Her fingers itched to run her fingers through the errant strands. Were they as soft as they looked?
“What?” he asked seemingly a bit taken aback.
“My name is Kate,” she repeated slowly as if speaking to a toddler. “Since we are going to be neighbors, you might as well remember it. Do you need any help unpacking or bringing up any more boxes?” As she spoke, she moved toward a fresh stack that he’d brought in while she’d been dancing. These were all marked Office in bold letters across the side. “I’m a great organizer.”
“No, Kate,” he said in those arctic tones she was way too familiar with. “I do not need help unpacking.” He grasped her upper arm, and led her toward the front door of his apartment.
Kate’s temper flared. Why was he being such an asshole? So she’d been caught acting like a complete jackass in his personal space. So what? It wasn’t like she was burglarizing his condo and selling his possessions on EBay. She spun around and faced him, yanking her arm from his firm grip in the process. “What is your problem? Every since we first met, you’ve been rude and nearly intolerable.”
“Nearly?” he scoffed. “Then I’m not doing it properly.”
She searched his face. Thick dark brows covered cold blue eyes held her steady gaze. His jaw tightened. “So you set out to be a complete ass on purpose? But then there was that moment when you actually seemed a tiny bit human when you asked me to stay with you in the exam room,” she reminded him. “A moment of weakness, perhaps?”
His brows drew together and he frowned before advancing on her. Kate stepped back until her shoulders hit the solid wood of the front door and could go no further. He flattened a palm against the solid oak on either side of her face. She tilted her head up and gazed at him, remembering from his ER intake form that he was six foot two and 220 pounds. A shiver shimmied through her that had little to do with fear and a lot with her overactive and sorely under utilized libido.
“Just because you’re bigger than me doesn’t mean you intimidate me,” she said, defiance coursing through her veins. Her heart beat a staccato rhythm against her rib cage.
He leaned down so that they were nose to nose. The scent of sweat, man, and Irish Spring soap enveloped her. Heat radiated off him in waves. Kate sighed. Leaning in just a bit closer, she inhaled his deliciousness. God help her, but the man simply fascinated her. She wanted to know everything about him. Why was he so cold? What had happened in his life to shape his personality into a wall of obsidian? And more importantly, what would happen if she could get him to melt just a little? She licked her lips, wondering what his next move would be.
“Not intimidated, huh?” he said. “Little busy bodies like you need to be taught a lesson.”
As he spoke, his gaze moved to her mouth and her pulse skipped a beat. He wouldn’t dare kiss her. Would he? Kate’s breath caught. Anticipation skittered along her spine. Slowly, she shook her head. Please, please, please put that hot, gorgeous mouth on mine.
Nerves jangled and her lips twitched.
Oh, no! Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.
Laughter burst from her mouth and she covered her lips. “I-I’m s-sorry.” She gasped between fits of giggles. “I laugh when I get nervous and you got this whole I’m totally bad ass thing going on...”
“I make you nervous?” he asked, brow arched. He grasped a strand of her hair and twined it around his finger. “Good. You shouldn’t be here, you now.”
“Why not?” she asked, her curiosity spiking once more. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. He had such a lost look on his face and an inerrant sadness in those dark blue eyes of his. “Are you a serial killer?”
His eyes widened. “No,” he said.
“One of those neighbors who starts a war and goes psycho, then murders the happy go lucky neighbor? AKA that would be me, by the way.”
“No,” he repeated.
Kate smiled. “Do you play loud music at all hours of the night and day? Have a dog that barks incessantly?
“Absolutely not,” he said. His tone conveyed he thought her words insulting.
“Then we will get along famously,” she said. “Just so there are no hard feelings for my little B&E—”
“B&E?” he asked, confusion creasing his forehead.
“Breaking and entering,” Kate said. “Don’t you watch Cops? Because if you don’t watch Cops then maybe we can’t be friends after all, but you did totally miss my Matrix impression in the ER,” she teased.
A baffled expression lit his face and Kate chose to have a little bit of mercy. There was no help for it. He just looked so damn cute. It was then that she decided to take matters into her own hands. Tossing the dice, she deemed the gamble would be worth the price to pay if he was determined to throw her out on her ass.
“This is me...” she said. Heart thundering in her ears, she lifted up on her tiptoes and slid her palms along his firm ch
est to rest upon his shoulders. “...apologizing for my un-neighborly behavior.”
Before she lost her nerve, she captured Grant’s lips. A growl let loose from his throat and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue between her parted lips, tasting her deep and hard. It wasn’t like other first kisses. There was no uncertainty or patient searching. This was a total leap off the ledge straight down into the Grand Canyon. And she loved every fucking second of it!
A distant voice reminded Kate that she’d just met this man, knew absolutely nothing about him other than his height, weight, and he was up to date on his tetanus shot. But she ignored that voice. It had been so long since she’d kissed a guy, Kate felt everything as if it were the first time. Or maybe it wasn’t just kissing a random guy that made her feel this way, but kissing Grant Anderson. Butterflies filled her belly and electricity zinged straight to her toes. She reveled in the weight of his body as he leaned into her, trapping her between the cool smooth wood of the door and the firmness of his chest. Her fingers slid along his neck to tangle in the soft curls at the nape of his neck. Swirling her tongue around his. He tasted of coffee and cinnamon. God, help her, she wanted more.
“This is insane,” he rasped, lifting his head from hers, breaking the kiss all too soon.
“Probably,” she agreed, pleased he was breathing as hard as she was. “And just to be clear, I’m not some fatal attraction stalker and I don’t exactly go around kissing perfect strangers.”
A slow sexy smile broke out on his face and Kate could’ve sworn her panties melted clean off her body. Wow, he was lethal enough without having that smile in his arsenal. So unfair.
“I’ll remember that,” he said taking several steps back and giving her some room. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a shaky breath. “Er...”
“Nope,” Kate interrupted. “I refuse to let any awkwardness to set in. I kissed you because I wanted to. Let’s just leave it at that. Okay?” Retrieving the abandoned pencil from the carpet, she walked over to one of the cardboard boxes he’d recently brought in and scribbled her cell phone number. “My cell number. In case you cut your hand again and need a little bit of medical attention.”
At his nod, she turned and opened the front door. She risked a glance over her shoulder and took in his baffled expression with a smile. “Mine is the only other condo on this floor. Stop by anytime you want to borrow a cup of sugar or something.”
Chapter Five
Grant stared after the bold woman as she left his apartment. After her audacious attention at the window earlier, he hadn’t been surprised to find her in his apartment. What had surprised him was that she’d been the very same nurse from the emergency room a week ago. Idly, he wondered if he’d told her she’d haunted his every waking moment and given him more wet dreams in the last eight days then he’d had as a teenager if she’d finally be rendered speechless. He swiped the baseball cap off with one hand and adjusted his jeans with the other. Christ almighty, the woman was like a wind eddy swirling around, picking up speed until you were caught in the middle.
Slowly, he closed the door and bolted the latch. She hadn’t exactly seen him at his worst, he mused. When she’d first called his name in the waiting room and taken him back to triage he’d been awash in old memories of the fateful car crash that had changed his life, his parent’s last breaths as they’d been dying in front of him, the sirens. It was as if he’d been transported back in time. He could hear the howl of the wind and rain, the smell of gasoline and oil and the shouts of the emergency workers as they extricated his small body. And the pain... His six-year old self hadn’t understood. He’d hurt so fucking bad...
The fear had all but taken over when through the haze Kate had called his name. He hadn’t meant to be a cold bastard snapping answers to her questions at her like he was a Neanderthal, but he’d been about to completely lose his shit. All he could think about was home. Home was safety. Home was security. Home was where the monsters and demons of his damaged mind couldn’t touch him.
Blood rushed between his ears and sweat broke out along his brow. Grant slid to the floor and covered his face with his hands. Breathe, you dumb fuck, breathe. The air trapped in his chest exploded on a loud exhalation. He clenched his fists together in an effort to stop their shaking. He spoke to himself as if he were one of his patients. Calm. He needed calm.
Grant, you have ways of dealing with your past and the anxieties that stem from them. What did you do after you left the emergency room?
You know that the old house on Litchefield Road is just stucco, wood, and paint. Right? There’s nothing within those walls that could save you from a fire or a gas explosion.
Try as he might, he hadn’t been able to break the cycle once the fear had gotten hold of him and he’d backslid, cancelling his patient appointments and postponing this move until he could get his shit together.
Ironically, what would the scrumptious nurse Kate say if she knew she’d had a lot to do with his therapy? Back in the exam room when she was going to leave him alone and the panic was about to overwhelm him, he’d grabbed her arm. None too gently, he remembered with a slight wince. He’d all but commanded her to stay with a pathetic tremble in his voice. Hating himself but unable to let go of her even had she refused to stay, he’d held his breath, his very existence hinging on her answer.
It hadn’t been just her idle chatter that had distracted him. When he’d hit his home gym later that night careful not to break open the new stitches on his palm, he not only suffered from the horrendous memories of the past, but also from a raging hard-on. In college he’d learned that working out helped him stay focused and battle his inner fears. Usually snuffed out any raw waking wet dreams, too. As he’d put his body through the grueling paces there was no room to think. The ache of muscles, his heart pounding against his ribcage, forced him to stay in the moment. He remained a rational human being. But lately, trapped in his old house, unable to take the leap into the future he’d so carefully laid out before him, something else had helped him work off the tension and anger he’d carried all these years. Even though he’d added extra reps to his routine and ran a few miles longer than necessary, he hadn’t been able to banish thoughts of the sexy brunette who’d held his hand and spoke soothing nonsense while the doctor stitched him up his laceration.
Actually, he mused, his breathing under control once more, the distraction of nurse Kate had been a welcome one. The disturbing thoughts of smoke, fire, and being trapped staring into the unseeing eyes of his dead parents were replaced with pleasant images of her. While he’d pushed his body past the limits of his normal endurance he’d thought of her body beneath his. Her hands on his back kneading the tense muscles. Her lips falling open to accept his searching tongue as he plunged deep inside in rhythm to his cock. He thought of those rich dark brown eyes closing as he pumped into her over and over. Her soft sighs of pleasure as she whispered his name in his ear, pulling him in deeper.
“Fuck my life.” He groaned, stood, and headed to the shower, discarding his sweat stained clothes on the way.
With the warm spray running down his body, he invited those thoughts of Kate pressing her velvet lips on his. He took his hard cock into his hand and squeezed. Jerking off was one way he’d been able to stay mindful of the moment thanks to his lust-filled thoughts of her. Her scent had been the same as when she’d tended to him in the ER. She’d smelled of wild exotic berries, he mused. He tightened his fingers around his shaft and stroked himself with long, hard pulls. Steam billowed around him, fogging the glass of the shower stall.
What would it feel like to be inside Kate? To feel her arch beneath him taking his cock deep inside all the way to the hilt. Could he make her come just by hitting the spot? Would she be quiet? Scream his name when she finally surrendered? Would she ride him on top or bend over and take him from behind? Could he tie her up? Pull her hair? Let him bury his tongue deep within her pussy?
His hand worked harder...faster... “Fuck!” he whispered
over and over again as he pumped his cock and the hard length turned rock solid and throbbed beneath his stroking fingers. The tension heightened as thoughts of Kate buzzed within his tortured mind. He groaned as the pressure released in thick hot spurts, his leg muscles tight and trembling.
Breathing hard, Grant leaned against the cool tiled walls of the shower. With the sexy nurse Kate in the condo across the hall, he knew his solo flights would be a lot more frequent than they had been over the last couple of weeks. Well, unless he had the nerve to ask her out.
On a date? Get real, you can’t even go out to get a meal by yourself.
“Shut the fuck up!” he roared at the voice. With a vicious yank, he twisted the tap and left the shower stall. He toweled the rivulets of water clinging to his skin off vigorously, wishing for the zillionth time that he was the only one who lived in his head.
“The whole purpose of moving was to change your life,” he told his fogged up reflection sternly. “Why not ask an intelligent, sexy woman out on a date? It’s on your to do list in your journal, isn’t it? Along with getting out of the house and exploring the world beyond the safety net of these walls.”
Grant reminded himself that the change in his surroundings wasn’t only about taking the Litchefild House out of the equation as a safety net for him. The change was supposed to encompass day trips complete with crowds of people. He closed his eyes and moaned, heart pounding within his rib cage.
Kate Sumner’s face appeared before his closed lids. The merriment in her soft brown doe eyes as she teased him. The encouragement of her voice while she’d chatted and held his hand. Her sweet curves pressed against his chest as he’d leaned in and tasted her cherry-flavored lips and the exotic berry scent of her hair and skin. The staccato beat of his heart steadied and he knew in that moment that she’d be a crucial piece to his recovery. He needed to apologize and try to explain his behavior. Could he do that without dying of embarrassment? Somehow, he doubted it.
