by Lori Foster
She thought about reminding him, despite her very lenient attitude, that he worked for her. But in truth, she enjoyed the protective anger. It reminded her of her brother.
Scott, too, had often worried for her.
But he’d also taught her to be strong and smart and independent. Tomorrow she’d meet with Leese and they’d work out details.
“Until then,” she told Leese, “you should worry about Catalina, and let me worry about me.” She disconnected on his protest, smiled at Justice and asked, “How would you like to spend the night?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LEESE’S MEETING WITH Sahara didn’t happen.
Shortly after he’d gone to the store for more protection, the snowstorm worsened and they ended up with the second largest snowfall to ever hit Ohio. From Toledo to Portsmouth, record cold, snow and ice shut down cities. Road crews couldn’t keep up and the mayor declared a snow emergency, recommending that everyone stay home for safety reasons.
Sahara got through to him twice, but the landline connection was iffy and speaking over the cell phone was too dangerous. Only a few people had made it into the agency, and Sahara wasn’t one of them. Given how many wrecks were reported, Leese was glad she didn’t try.
He figured Tesh and his cohorts were equally disabled by the weather, so it was probably a wash; he and Sahara couldn’t make plans, and the people after Cat couldn’t cause problems.
Through the next two days, the power went off, came on and went out again. There were plenty of candles in the penthouse, they had enough food and the propane fireplace in the center of the room radiated heat everywhere. The switch, of course, didn’t work, but Leese was able to manually turn it on.
The building was still secure; even when the power blipped, the auxiliary power, run by a generator, kept everything locked up right and tight.
It didn’t make sense, even to him, but he didn’t mind being snowed in with Cat. In fact, it felt like a forced respite, an ensured time period with her. He couldn’t research, couldn’t go out, and that meant no one else could either.
All he could do was enjoy her.
And he enjoyed her a lot. “You know, Cat, I could get used to this.”
Glancing over her shoulder at him, she asked, “What? Posing?”
Leese smiled. He rested in bed, naked, his shoulders propped against the headboard, one corner of the sheet barely covering his lap.
Catalina, equally naked, stood in front of a makeshift easel sketching him. She’d pinned up her fawn-colored hair in a loose, tousled bun that threatened to drop free at any minute.
“Actually, I meant watching you work naked.”
“It seemed fair,” she said in a distracted way, leaning close to use the side of her baby finger to add smudges to the charcoal drawing. She blew softly on the paper, then leaned back to get a different perspective. “And I don’t mind you looking.” She flashed him a quick smile. “I’m not super modest or anything.”
“No reason you should be.” She had a cute, sexy little body, all soft curves and satiny skin. Her breasts were moderate, her waist tiny and that heart-shaped ass... He loved holding on to those firm cheeks while driving into her.
And if he didn’t curb those thoughts, he’d get a boner and ruin the picture. “I wish I had your talent.”
Absently, she asked, “Why’s that?”
“I’d draw you too. Just as you are right now.” Her body bare, expression focused, looking like the perfect wet dream. “With the candlelight on your skin and that particular concentrated expression on your face.” He saw her smile and added, “You’re beautiful, Cat.”
She paused in her sketching. Bit her lip. Then turned to him. “You really think so?”
God. How could she not know? He took in the sight of her soft nipples, her smooth belly, the neat patch of downy pubic hair. “Yeah,” he promised, his voice brusque. “I look at you and I want you.”
“Even though we just had sex?”
“That was...” He glanced at the clock. “An hour and a half ago.”
The smile played with her lips before she turned away again. “Thank you. I’ve never really minded how I look. I mean, for the most part, I don’t think about it that much. I have what I have and there’s no changing it. I know I’m short and far from stacked, but it’s not like I can somehow make myself taller. I’m not an ogre, and I have my health, so...” Her shoulders lifted. “It’s nice to hear that you’re not disappointed.”
“Far from disappointed.” She finished up and, with coal-blackened fingers held out to her sides, stepped back from the sketch. “What do you think?”
Leese sat up to see the large drawing. Bemused, he draped his forearms over his knees and couldn’t resist smiling. He felt a little self-conscious, a lot complimented and pretty damned turned on.
They were both naked, after all.
Cat had drawn him in the bed, a smirk on his face as he stared right at her. She’d caught the sexual interest in his gaze, the tolerant amusement on his mouth. It was a novel thing to be with a woman who saw him so much better than he saw himself. “I think you’re too talented to just teach art.”
Casual as you please, she strode to the dresser and picked up a damp cloth to clean her hands. “You’re sweet, but I’m not good enough to make a living off my art, and I like eating too much to go the starving artist route. So I teach, and that’s okay, because I love kids.”
With her hands now free of charcoal, she returned to him. On hands and knees, she crawled over the bed and sat on his abs. “Drawing you seems like a good reason to keep you naked.”
Laughing, Leese automatically put his hands on her thighs, coasted them up to her hips, then around to that lush bottom he appreciated so much. “Ever thought about having kids of your own?”
“Sure. Someday I’d love that.” She continually touched him, occasionally pressed a kiss to his chest or throat. “I’ve just never met the right guy.” Her gaze strayed away. “You?”
“Met the right guy? No.” He jumped when she tweaked his chest hair. “Ouch, hey.” Laughing, he caught her wrist and freed her fingers before she got him again. “Take it easy.”
Eyes narrowed, she said, “I will—if you don’t dodge my question.”
She looked so serious, Leese knew she asked out of more than idle conversation. So did she care? He thought so. Cat didn’t try to hide her feelings. But was the caring based on gratitude, lust...or more?
She scowled. “You’re taking an awful long time to think about it.” In a huff, she tried to move off him. “Forget I asked.”
“I thought I was in love once.”
That stilled her. “Really?” Slowly she settled back onto him, that sweet ass snuggling his groin, her beautiful breasts right there for him to see. To touch.
Taste again...
As if to soothe, she stroked his shoulder. “It didn’t work out?”
Leese had to laugh at himself. He’d gotten quickly mired in sexual need, and she wanted to chat about past relationships. “For good reason, it never really got started.”
“She was a horrible person?”
There was no way to hold in his humor. Catalina’s faith in him was both humbling and amusing. It forced him to own up to his own disreputable past. “Why do you assume it was an issue with her?”
Stretching out over him, Cat tucked her face under his chin and stated, “Because you’re so perfect.”
She’d said that too many times; he had to set her straight. “You’re delusional, honey.”
“I don’t think so.”
Damn, he hated making confessions, but Cat deserved to know. He couldn’t let her go on thinking he was some damned paragon of virtue, when the reality was nowhere near that.
He folded his arms around her, breathed in the sce
nt of her hair and admitted, “I used to be a real ass.”
“I know Miles jokingly accused you, but—”
“It wasn’t a joke. I was totally obnoxious.”
Disbelieving, she said, “Yeah, right. When you were ten?”
Yes, he’d probably been a jerk back then too. “Not that long ago, really.” One stroke of his fingers and the bun tumbled down. He adored her hair, the soft shade of brown, the silky feel.
Cat waited, so he started to talk, all of it shaming him. “You’re partially right that I was a dick when I was a kid. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, and I resented that.”
“Why? What was it you missed?”
“I didn’t miss anything.”
She looked up at him. “Of course you did. If the budget was tight, there had to be things you wanted that you couldn’t have.”
Hell, he’d wanted everything—and gotten none of it. Talking about his childhood still made him uncomfortable, but maybe if he opened up more, she would too.
“Until I turned fifteen and got my own job, all I’d ever worn were hand-me-downs.”
She stared at him a moment, then ducked her face and went back to hugging him. “Hand-me-downs from who?”
Fuck. Trying to sound as if it didn’t matter, Leese said, “They were donated by the community.”
“Were they at least nice?”
Not always. “I don’t think it would’ve mattered.” But he knew it did. Wearing clothes that didn’t fit, with stains and tears, had made him stand out, and not in a good way. “I always wanted a dog.” There were times he’d beg, and while his dad wasn’t mean about it, the answer was always the same. “We couldn’t afford one though.”
“I always wanted a dog too! But when I lived in Webb’s house, he wasn’t keen about animal messes, as he put it. He’d tell me to get a horse, mostly because horses lived in stables.”
Leese smiled. “Can’t let a horse sleep at the foot of your bed.”
“No.” She tipped her head. “And that’s what I wanted. You?”
“Yeah.”
“Now,” she said, “I don’t know. I’m just not sure I’m home enough.”
“Same here. And you know, after I got that job and started getting paid, I didn’t want to spend it on a dog either. Not when there were other things I needed too.”
“Like clothes?”
“That, and I started saving for a car.” Memories made his chest tight. “I knew my folks were always broke, but it never occurred to me to see if they needed any financial help.”
“They had jobs?” she asked, without censure.
“Yeah. Dad worked in a factory, Mom at a convenience store.” He thought of the long hours they put in...without ever getting ahead. “They never seemed to want more and I couldn’t understand that.” Because he’d wanted everything. Possessions. A savings account.
Pride and respect.
“Hard jobs,” she said.
“Definitely.” His father now suffered joint problems from so many years on his feet. His mother looked a decade older than she was.
Now that he made good money, Leese tried to help them out when he could, but they usually refused his efforts. For them, having a roof over their heads and food on the table was more than enough. “Through the years, Dad got offered promotions. But it would have meant a different sector of the factory, working with new people, and he wasn’t interested.”
“He liked the familiar?”
“I guess.” For Leese, poverty could never be familiar. “He was happy with the little run-down house he rented, but I wanted a house of our own. He and Mom shared a rusted old sedan, and I wanted a decent running car that didn’t look like it belonged in the junkyard.”
Cat came up to her elbows, her gaze soft and serious and understanding. “You have a nice car now?”
“Yeah, and a house of my own.” With her looking at him, he traced her eyebrows, feathered a fingertip over her thick lashes, then along the narrow bridge of her nose. Finally he outlined the shape of her lips.
He loved each individual feature; together they made the most gorgeous woman.
“You resented their attitudes.”
“When I shouldn’t have.”
“Not true.” She brushed her nose against his. “People are individuals. They wanted one lifestyle, you wanted another. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“If you say so.”
She lightly kissed him, her teeth nibbling, her tongue teasing. When he started to deepen the kiss, she cupped his face and smiled down at him. “If you don’t mind me saying so, I think it’s unfair of parents to try to force a lifestyle on kids, especially if they’re uncomfortable with it.”
Was she thinking of her own conflicts? She hadn’t fit in with the status of her family, but unlike him, she hadn’t resented anyone. She’d just gone out and forged her own way.
Eventually Leese had done the same, but it had taken a close call to make him see things clearly.
Having Cat nose to nose with him, he couldn’t avoid her gaze. There was no way to hide from his discomfort, so he gave in and admitted, “Making a good appearance matters to me.”
One side of her mouth curled and she squirmed atop him. “You could just stay naked. I promise you, that would always be a good appearance.”
From the moment he met her, Cat had lightened his mood and often made him smile. “You have sex on the brain, woman.”
“How could I not when I have you under me?” After one sweet, very emotional kiss, she added, “How does all that relate to you and this woman you cared about?”
Yeah, he still had to go there, didn’t he? With a disgusted sigh, Leese said, “College wasn’t on the agenda, but I was athletic, so I started working out in a gym, training.”
“As a fighter?”
“Yeah. And I thought I was good, until I got around guys with real talent. I had a shitty attitude about it all and I carried a massive chip on my shoulder.”
“You’re saying you weren’t a nice guy?”
He’d been a real asshole, but no reason to spell it out that plainly. “I was always trying to prove something. To myself, but to others too. Then I met this girl...” She was everything Cat wasn’t. Stacked, definitely. Bubbly, yes. A blonde bombshell and the life of the party, whereas Cat was petite, serious and preferred quiet time in front of a canvas.
The biggest difference, though, was how Cat affected him. He’d admitted defeat with the other girl, but for Cat he’d take on the world. From the get-go, she’d stirred an innate need to protect, shelter—and claim.
“How did you meet her?”
Never before had he known a woman who wanted to hear about past crushes. Cat didn’t look offended or snarky, just curious. “I did the local circuit fighting, and she hung out with fighters. Since we were often at the same MMA events, I’d been hitting on her for a while. She was always nice, not really encouraging me, but not kicking me to the curb either. One night we were dancing at an after-party when I found out she was pretty hung up on someone else.”
Cat winced. “You were filler?”
He idly stroked her satiny bottom, thought about it and shrugged. “The other guy was dragging his feet, so she needed a distraction.”
“Ouch.”
He smiled. Yeah, at the time it had stung. But now he realized it was mostly because he’d chosen to misunderstand. “She’d never led me on. We’d dance, talk, but nothing more, and honestly, she danced with a lot of guys. Everyone knew the score, except for me.”
“So you never had sex with her?”
“No.”
“Wow, poor girl doesn’t know what she missed.”
How could he remain maudlin with Cat smothering him in compliments? For far too long, he’d been disappoi
nted in himself. His single goal had been to be a better person.
Cat made him feel like the best man around.
“Since she’s very happily married now, I doubt she sees it that way.”
“To the foot-dragger?”
“Yeah. He’s a good guy. One hell of a fighter.”
“Is he as good-looking as you?”
Grinning, Leese turned her under him and settled between her warm, slender thighs. After feathering kisses along her jaw, he said, “I’m not weighing in on another dude’s looks.”
She moved right past that to ask, “Are you still hung up on her?”
“Definitely not.” And now Leese knew he’d never really been emotionally involved, because what he felt for Cat was far richer, stronger and more real than anything he’d felt with any other woman, period. Every past relationship paled in comparison. “It was physical attraction, that’s all.”
“So...you lusted after her?”
“Yeah.” And Cat didn’t look happy about it. “But I still acted like a dick when she turned me down.” He rested on his forearms over her, enjoying the way her small breasts plumped against his chest. It’d be nice to wrap up this conversation so he could move on to more important matters—like planting himself firmly inside her, hearing her cry out, watching the beautiful way her face contorted as she climaxed.
He had to draw a deep breath to regain his control. Time to condense the story. “Like you, she had some people after her. I was feeling burned, and I didn’t know they wanted to hurt her...” It still pissed him off to remember how stupid he’d been. “They claimed to be related to her, and when they chatted me up, wanting information on her, I stupidly shared.”
Cat went still. “Did she get hurt?”
“Luckily, no. It didn’t take me long to realize they were bastards, so I went to the big guy she liked and told him everything.”
“Wow.” She wrapped her legs around him and locked her ankles at the small of his back. “That took guts.”
“Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do. There were three of them. They spiked my drink, then beat the shit out of me while asking me questions.”
