“I don’t know, maybe.” She turned in his arms and placed her hand on his chest. “I’m going to tell you, but I don’t need you going all Riverton brothers on me, okay? I won’t be a prisoner here, in your house, or on the ranch. We need to work through this together.”
Thomas cocked his eyebrow. “I don’t like the way this is starting out, Cat.”
She wiggled out of her skirt and slipped out of her blouse before she went into the closet. Thomas was leaning against the doorjamb as she came out dressed in shorts, and a tank top. “I know, but can we talk while we eat because I’m starving.” She hoped her smile would calm him.
Thomas’s eyes dropped to her chest. Her nipples puckered when the air conditioning came on, so he was getting a show since she didn’t put on a bra. When she snagged her wine, he swung his arm in a gesture for her to lead the way.
As they sat to enjoy the chicken dish Thomas had prepared, she suddenly became nervous about how this was going to go. She must have had fear written on her face because Thomas stated, “Cat, take your time. We can discuss whatever you want. I’m not angry, but I’m extremely concerned by your actions.”
She nodded. “What did you do today?”
“Exercised, grocery shopped, took a nap, and cooked dinner.” He shrugged. “Nothing special. Oh, I went to see my folks as usual.”
Cat was able to eat as they discussed mundane things. She was stalling, she knew it, and Thomas knew it too. She cut her chicken trying to make this conversation less volatile.
“Thomas, I think I can help Evan, Ben, and the secret service agent, and I want to. This is important. Not to mention, if I don’t report what I find, I could get into trouble with the law.” She pushed her plate away from her. “I need you to understand and support me in this, please.”
“I’m trying, but all I see is you getting hurt. How can I go to work and worry if you’re going to be the next patient that’s carted through those doors? And what do you mean you could get into trouble if you don’t report stuff?”
“By law, if there’s something suspicious, I have to fill out a report, and give it to Mr. Jones.” She took a deep breath. “Last week, before Evan’s proposal, I stumbled across some information and filled out a report. Tonight, Mr. Jones stopped by to discuss it just before I left. Then I heard him on the phone, and I’m pretty sure he was talking about me. Now, I’m nervous.”
“This is what I was talking about Saturday night.”
“I did it before Saturday night because I don’t have a choice, Thomas.” Her voice rose, so she took a calming breath. “I’m telling you because I didn’t like the way Mr. Jones looked at me. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I don’t think so. I’ve got good instincts.”
He pushed his plate toward the center of the table beside hers. Resting his elbows on the table, he massaged his forehead and took a controlled breath. “What happened?”
Cat moved away from the table and retrieved her notebook to explain what she saw. She told him about what happened with Mr. Jones, the part of the phone conversation she heard, and about him watching her from the third story window. When she looked at Thomas, she couldn’t explain the emotions she saw in his eyes. “What do you think?”
Thomas pushed back from the table and paced the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed the back of his head before he pulled his hair. If there was ever a man at war with himself, Thomas was that man right now. She watched him without saying a word. Finally, he looked at her.
“Catherine Livingston, I love you with everything in me. I don’t want you doing something that’s going to put you in harm’s way, but I know you. You’ve always been curious and headstrong. So it doesn’t really matter what I say, you’re going to do it anyway. Even if you aren’t helping Evan, you’re going to poke around until you find out what’s going on.” He knelt in front of her. “At least with Evan and those guys, you’d have someone to guide you. I wish you wouldn’t do it, but just like how you helped Kayla in high school, you just can’t help yourself. But for the record, I don’t like it.”
“Oh, Thomas, thank you for understanding. These guys are using my bank, and I just can’t stand by and watch this happen.” She cupped his face and kissed him with everything in her. “I’m nervous, but I can do this. I just don’t want to drag you into it. I don’t want anyone to hurt you because of me.”
He furrowed his brows as if questioning her last statement. “No one is going to hurt me. When are you supposed to give Evan your answer?”
“Thursday afternoon when they get back.”
“When he calls, tell him Friday night. I want to be there when you talk to him because he’s going to hear my conditions of this arrangement.”
Cat raised her eyebrows at Thomas, waiting for an explanation. All he did was pull her close and hold her tight. “Thomas, I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me. You’re an important doctor to this town. People need you. Being with me may not be a good thing right now.”
Thomas pulled back from her. “What’s going on in that mind of yours, Cat? I don’t like the words coming out of your mouth right now.”
Cat took a deep breath. She’d thought about this all day and how to suggest it. “Hear me out okay?”
Thomas nodded but kept his eyes locked on hers.
“I don’t know who these people are, and the comments Mr. Jones said makes me nervous. Everyone in this town knows we’re together, and if anyone threatened you, I’d fold. I’d stop snooping around. They’d win.”
“Cat, we’re a team. They don’t get you without me.”
She placed her hands on his chest and felt how hard his heart was beating. “I know that, but maybe we should give the illusion of not being together.”
“What? You want to break up? Are you fucking kidding me? Cat, that’s not going to happen!”
“Not officially, no. Just in the public eye. My garage is almost finished. You can park in there on your nights off but leaving may be difficult.” She narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “We can’t be seen in public together. Maybe you need to be seen with someone else.”
Thomas stood and put his hands on his hips then leveled her with a hard stare. “Are you trying to tell me something? Is this an excuse?”
“Absolutely not! I’m just trying to come up with a plan.”
“Well, don’t do that until we talk with Evan because I don’t like your plan at all.”
Cat let out a sigh of resignation. “Okay, I’ll wait.”
They cleaned the kitchen and went to the living room to calm down a bit before bed. While they sat cuddled on the sofa, her thoughts wandered to the fact that this may be their last night together for a while—maybe forever. As she finished her wine, she couldn’t help the tear that slid down her face and landed on Thomas’s chest.
“Whoa, why are you crying?”
Cat shook her head not wanting to tell him where her mind was. She was afraid he’d try to stop her from helping Evan.
Thomas moved her onto his lap and held her face so she was forced to look at him. “Cat, I don’t jump to a lot of conclusions, but based on our conversations this evening this can’t be good. I’m going along with this for now, but if we’re doing this, we’re doing it with complete openness, got it?”
Cat closed her eyes. “What if tonight is the last time we’re ever together?”
He stood with her in his arms. “Don’t say that again,” he said before he carried her to the bedroom.
8
What in the hell is going on with her? She thinks this could end us? Before tonight is over, she’s going to know we’re forever. There may not be a ring on her hand, but dammit, she’s going to know because I’m telling her what I’ve never told anyone.
When he had her naked before him, he pulled off his shirt. “Get on the bed, Cat.”
She shook her head as her hands flew to the sides of his face as soon as his shirt cleared it. She pulled him to her as she rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. His arm
s wrapped around her and pulled her tight as he deepened the kiss until she pulled back breathless.
“I don’t want to miss any part of this. I want to remove your pants, please.”
He held her stare and nodded as he loosened his hold on her. When he let go of her, she went to her knees before him. He watched as she deftly unfastened the button of his jeans and slid the zipper down. She ran her hands inside, and her eyes popped up to his.
“Commando?”
Thomas nodded as a mischievous grin crept across his face. She pushed his jeans down and took his cock into her hand. Licking the head caused him to moan and close his eyes, but just like her he didn’t want to miss a thing, so he opened them and found her watching him as she took him into her mouth.
“Cat,” he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head with one hand. He didn’t push her forward but didn’t let her back too far away either. She took him as deep as she could, and he hissed as she gently grazed him with her teeth on her retreat.
“Fuck,” he murmured. “Cat, honey, let’s take this to the bed,” he pleaded because he didn’t want to come in her mouth. He gripped her hair and pulled for her to release him. She cut her eyes to his and held them as she slowly let him slip out of her mouth. As soon as his cock was clear, he pulled her to her feet.
“You drive me crazy.”
He ravaged her lips then picked her up and deposited her on the bed. She whimpered when their connection broke, and he walked to the foot of the bed and climbed on.
“I need to taste you, and this is the best angle to get what I want.” Thomas laid between her legs as he opened her folds with his thumbs and stared at the most intimate part of her body. It had been his for months, and it was going to continue to be his forever. She just needed to get on the same page. Her legs tried to close, and he looked up to see tears in her eyes.
“Cat?”
“Why are you just looking at me?” Her voice trembled. “Is there something wrong?”
“God no. I was just admiring my beautiful pussy.” He smiled. “Lie back and enjoy, honey. I know I will.”
“You’d tell me if something was wrong, right? I think that’s one of the perks of dating a doctor.”
“Cat, stop it.” He took two fingers and firmly tapped her clit. She gasped then moaned before he went to work with his mouth. He kept his eyes on her until she relaxed. That’s better.
He slid a finger inside her and found her G-spot. As soon as his finger glided over the sensitive area, she arched. The moan that left her mouth spoke to him on a primal level to claim his woman for all eternity.
“Come for me, honey. I need to taste you.”
He bit her clit and tasted her juices flowing into his mouth, so he licked her with a flat tongue to calm her after the explosion she just had. “That’s my girl.”
He kissed her pussy and crawled up her body. He didn’t even bother wiping her excess from his mouth before he kissed her. “See how good you taste? My honey is as sweet as honey.” His eyes twinkled. “Now you know why I started calling you that after our first night at the ranch.”
Her mouth fell slightly open. “What?”
“You tasted like honey to me, so the next morning it just felt natural to call you that. It reminds me of what happened that night. Now it’s a reminder we both can share.”
He kissed his way from her mouth to her jaw to her neck and back to where he started. Poised at her entrance, he moved his hips for the head of his cock to enter her. He stayed right on the edge to drive her as crazy as she drove him. When she moved her hips to get him deeper, he grinned.
“What’s wrong, Cat? What do you need?”
“I need you, Thomas. I need you deeper. Please move.”
Thomas lifted up on his hands so he could see her breasts. “Watch, Cat. Watch my cock go into my sweet pussy. Take your hand and push down on your belly between your navel and pubic bone.” He breathed in even slower when he felt the pressure from her hand.
“Now you can feel me outside and inside. Holy shit that feels good.” Thomas picked up the pace. “Come on, Cat. I’m right behind you, honey. I don’t know how long I can hold off.”
Cat tilted her head to look into his eyes as she fisted the sheet. She was shaking with pleasure. He knew she was close, and he knew what she needed to go over the edge, so he lowered to his forearm and rubbed her clit as he bit her earlobe.
“Ahhh,” she cried. Her orgasm hadn’t waned before he went over the edge.
“Oh, hell,” he said between breaths as his hips slowed their motion. He brought his hand from between them and rested on his forearms as he peppered kisses on her face. “Let’s get cleaned up. There’s something I need to tell you that I should’ve told you before now.”
He rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to get a washcloth. When he returned, her eyes were wide and her knees pressed together.
“Open your legs and let me clean you,” he said.
She took the cloth from him and went to the bathroom. “I can do it.”
What the hell? He knew that tone. She was pulling away, expecting the worst.
When she came back to the bedroom, he was reclining against the headboard. Her eyes were narrowed with an unsure look. He held his arms open for her to crawl into, but she hesitated. “Come on, Cat. Why do you look so worried?”
She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll stay over here.” Her eyes were opened wide, and fear shone in them.
“Cat, you know me better than that. Get your ass over here so I can hold you.” His tone didn’t leave room for argument.
He held the covers back with wide open arms and waited for her to get close enough he could wrap her in them. He let her get comfortable then kissed her head. “Cat, you know I don’t take relationships lightly. That’s why I’ve only ever had one before you.”
“The girl you dated in college,” Cat said matter-of-factly.
“Yes. Long story short is that she needed her dad off her back. She was sent to college, not to really make anything of herself, but to marry a doctor or lawyer. Her dad wanted her to major is some liberal arts degree,” he said as he waved his hand in the air, “but she was smart. She went behind his back to become a lawyer. If he’d found out, he would’ve been furious, so she chickened out and didn’t tell him. In addition to that, she’d be more attracted to you than me.”
“What? She was a lesbian?” Her voice was full of surprise.
He nodded. “Publicly we were a couple, but she wasn’t with me behind closed doors.” He rubbed her back. “It helped us both. It gave me the freedom to concentrate on my pre-med classes, and it kept her dad off her back. He didn’t find out until she went to law school at Harvard, and I went to medical school here.”
Cat tilted her head so she could look into his eyes. “Are you serious? I thought you really loved her. That’s why I was surprised when Kayla asked me if we’d ever gone out.”
“Kayla had seen us together at a football game. She just assumed it was serious, and I never told her differently. She was a little pissed because she knew I had feelings for you but wasn’t acting on them. I guess she thought it was because I was going to medical school and didn’t want any complications.”
“What? Since when did you have feelings for me?”
Thomas chuckled and pulled her close again. “Since the night we shared our first kiss.” He paused and cocked his head. “If I’m being honest, I was attracted before then but thought it would be awkward since you and Kayla were such good friends. That night after we kissed, I couldn’t get you out of my head.”
“How did Kayla know?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because every time she mentioned your name around me, I’d stop and listen to what she had to say. If she said you’d gone out with some guy, I got pissed. She’s smart. I guess she picked up on things.” He nonchalantly shrugged.
Cat moved to straddle him so they were eye to eye. “Thomas Gregory, I’ve loved you since I wa
s sixteen. I thought it was just a crush on my best friend’s older brother, but it’s been one hell of a long crush.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m admitting this.” She chuckled. “You were the only guy that ever measured up to what I was looking for…”
Thomas quickly sat up and cupped her face. “And you saved yourself for me. That night at the ranch when Kayla had first come home, I can’t tell you how shocked, relieved, and pleased I was to find you were a virgin.” He kissed her quick and hard. “God, Cat, and then for you to be willing to venture down the tantric path with me. Honey, I’ve told you this before, but I’ll tell you again, you are made for me.”
“And you for me,” she whispered between kisses. “Thomas, you and Kayla are the closest thing to family I have. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to either of you. That’s the only reason I mentioned distancing myself from you.” She rubbed her hands up and down his pecs then peeked under her lashes at him. “Please know that you’re the only man to hold my heart.”
“I’m the only man who’s ever going to hold any part of you, Cat. I hear what you’re saying, I just don’t agree with it. We’ll figure it all out when we talk to Evan.” He softly kissed her again.
She agreed. “We’ve both got to work tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”
9
The next morning, Thomas woke early because he wanted to make sure he had time with Cat before she left for work. Just like the day before, he had coffee and breakfast waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom. The only difference was he was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt because he’d be leaving before her, and this would be the last time he’d see her until Friday. Three long days.
As soon as she walked into the kitchen, he pulled her close. “I want to get you off before you go to work,” he softly said into her ear.
She looked at him with wide eyes. “But I’m ready to go.”
“I won’t mess up your hair or makeup, and I’ll try not to wrinkle your dress.”
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