The Million Dollar Catch Bundle

by Susan Mallery

  She felt the warmth of his mouth and a hint of wanting in his kiss. And that was it. She didn’t tingle or strain or even kiss him back. Honestly, what was the point?

  He straightened. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Which was true, she thought happily. “Absolutely nothing.”

  “I’m saying I want you in my life,” he told her. “You’ve been waiting for that.”

  “Apparently not as much as we both thought,” she told him, trying not to smile. She felt light and free and totally at peace with herself.

  “But…” he began.

  She stepped back. “Chuck, I think it’s terrific that you’ve found everything you want. I’m glad I had some small part in that. But you don’t need me to be successful. Go find someone you can really love and settle down. That will make you happy.”

  “But you’re the one I want,” he said stubbornly.

  “Not really. I’m an old habit. I’ve always rescued you, but here’s the thing. I don’t do that anymore, which is great, because you don’t need rescuing. You’re doing fine on your own.”

  He looked more confused than annoyed. “But I came back for you.”

  “Which was really sweet of you.”

  “You’re supposed to be in love with me.”

  “Not anymore.” Maybe never, she thought. It was a real possibility she’d mistaken her longing for a fantasy for the real thing.

  He swore. “I should have come back sooner.”

  She hated to think that might have made a difference, but it could have. She shuddered to think she might have actually gone off with Chuck at one time. What a nightmare. However would she have found her way home?

  She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I need to get going. I have to be somewhere.”

  He grabbed her arm. “Is it someone else? Is there another guy?”

  If only, she thought, knowing she was completely cured of wanting men who didn’t much want her. “No. It’s a cat. I’m pet-sitting for a friend.”

  “If it’s about the money,” he said, “I’ll pay you back.”

  And pigs would soon be flying across the west side of Los Angeles. “That would be great.”

  She removed his hand from her arm, then gently pushed him toward the front door. She grabbed her purse and keys on the way.

  “Thanks for stopping by. It’s been really great to see you, Chuck. I wish you every happiness.”

  Once they were safely outside, she locked the door behind her and made her way to her car.

  “Good luck,” she called back to him. “I mean that. I know the right woman is out there, waiting for you.”

  He didn’t wave back or say anything. Willow drove off, made a few turns in the neighborhood, then, when she was sure Chuck was gone, returned to her place.

  She ran inside and collected candles and more cookies she’d made. Kane might claim to be comfortable coming home to a dark and empty house, but she knew that wasn’t true. She wanted to make him feel welcome. Plus, she was celebrating the fact that she’d been extra good. In all the times she’d gone over to take care of Jasmine and her babies, Willow had never once looked anywhere she shouldn’t. She hadn’t even flipped through his magazines. For all she knew, she was going to be crowned Miss Privacy Minder of the month.

  She drove over to Kane’s house and went inside. Jasmine greeted her with a little meow and lots of purring. Willow crouched down and petted her, then gently stroked the kittens. Two of them already had their eyes open.

  “Hi, babies,” she said softly. “You’re getting so big. Yes, you are. Guess who comes home tonight? Kane. Are you excited? I’m excited.”

  After feeding Jasmine and cleaning out the litter, Willow returned to her car and began collecting her bags. She was on her way back when an unwelcome and familiar sound made her turn.

  Chuck drove his motorcycle down the driveway and pulled up next to her. He took off his helmet and walked toward her.

  “There’s someone else,” he said flatly. “You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t lie. I told you I was cat-sitting. Want to see the cat?”

  He grabbed one of the bags and opened it. “Candles and cookies. I know you, Willow. There’s a guy.”

  “So what if there is? Why are you surprised? I’ve moved on with my life, Chuck. You’ve been gone for months and this isn’t the first time you left. Did you think I’d wait forever?”

  His stunned expression told her that the answer was yes. How pathetic…for both of them, she thought grimly.

  “You always waited,” he told her.

  “Maybe before, but not anymore. I’m not that person you remember. Things are different for me.”

  “Who’s the guy?”

  “We’re just friends.”

  “Like I believe that.” He dropped the bag on the ground and stepped toward her. “Who’s the guy?”

  His face sharpened with anger. She’d never seen Chuck as someone with a temper. He’d always gone with the flow.

  He raised his hand and for a second, she thought he was going to hit her.

  Kane wove through traffic on his way home. He felt a pressing need to be at his house, which he didn’t like. Why did he care where he was? But the desire was there, so he drove a little faster, while telling himself it didn’t matter when he arrived. It wasn’t as if Willow was going to be there.

  Not that he wanted to see her. Or the damn cat. He would admit to some curiosity about the kittens. Maybe they’d grown a little since he’d been gone. Their eyes should be opening. That could be interesting.

  He turned down a side street, then hit the remote control device that opened the large wrought-iron gate that led to his place. It was a shorter route than going down by the main house, and more private. He eased his Mercedes forward and checked to make sure the gate had closed behind him.

  He rounded the corner and saw Willow standing in front of his place with some guy. It took Kane less than two seconds to read the fear in her body language and the intent in the man’s raised hand.

  He parked and got out of his car. His movements were deceptively slow, but inside, he felt tension build. The guy looked ready to take on someone and Kane was more than happy to oblige.

  “Is this him?” the intruder asked Willow as Kane approached. “Is he the reason you won’t come back with me?”

  “I won’t come back with you because I don’t want to,” she told him firmly. “I’m not interested in having a relationship with you, Chuck. Now go away.”

  Chuck laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Willow looked at Kane. “I’m sorry about this. Kane, this is Chuck. Somebody I used to know.”

  Chuck glared at her and swore. Although he’d lowered his hand to his side, he was still standing too close and doing his best to intimidate Willow. But she wasn’t one to be pushed around. Kane saw her square her shoulders and stare right back at the jerk, as if to prove he couldn’t scare her.

  “Willow’s mine,” Chuck said, still glaring at Willow “I’m taking her with me.”

  Kane felt the slow burn build inside. He stood ready to attack, but without knowing if he should. He didn’t mind being annoyed by this ass, what concerned him was the reason—Willow.

  He shouldn’t want to protect her, but he did. He shouldn’t want to claim, yet the need to grab her and brand her with his mouth and his body grew with each passing second. He knew better than to feel anything, ever, yet the emotions would not be denied.

  Kane walked toward Chuck. “Is there any part of you that thinks I’m going to let you take Willow anywhere?”

  Chuck met his gaze and blinked first. “I, ah…”

  “You could try it,” Kane continued. “I think that would be fun. Come on. Try it.”

  Chuck paled and took a step back.

  “You were so eager to force her,” Kane said. “Were you going to hit her? It looked like you were. Are you the kind of girly man who gets his kicks from hitting women? Because where I’m from, that�
��s lower than low. We use guys like you for wiping up the floor. That could be fun, too.”

  Chuck raised both hands in the air. “I didn’t hurt her. Ask her, she’ll tell you.”

  Kane continued to stare at him. “Get on your bike and get out of here. Never see Willow again. In fact, you should avoid L.A. altogether. Is that clear?”

  Chuck nodded several times, then hurried to his bike. Seconds later, he was gone.

  Kane stared after him. There was too much boiling inside of him. He should have fought the guy—it would have burned off energy.

  He turned to Willow, who studied him. “You’re never boring,” he said. “I’ll give you that.”

  She smiled. “Welcome home.”

  Seven

  Kane led the way into the house. Willow followed him and closed the door.

  “I don’t know what happened,” she said, both confused by Chuck’s behavior and relieved that Kane had shown up when he had. “He’s never been the least bit possessive. He was more the needy type and very into himself. Honestly, he’s never been all that interested in me. And let me be clear. I didn’t invite him here. He was waiting at my place earlier. We talked, I told him it was over and then I left. I guess he followed me. It’s just so strange.”

  “It’s not strange,” Kane said, looking at her. “You were always available before. This time, you weren’t. That made him want you more.”

  “Talk about twisted,” she murmured, suddenly caught up in how good Kane looked. He wore a tailored suit that emphasized his muscles, not to mention the breadth of his shoulders. Now if he’d been the one asking her to run off to Tucson, she would have been gone in a flash.

  “It’s human nature. We want what we can’t have.”

  Hmm, so was that why she wanted Kane? Because she couldn’t have him?

  Willow considered the question, then shook her head. No, she had a feeling she would be even more interested in Kane if he were begging her to stay. Not that he ever would. He was a pretty together guy. Now that she knew him better, she had to admit he didn’t need much in the way of rescuing—except maybe emotionally and how likely was that to happen?

  “He’s going to have to get over it,” she said firmly. “I’m done with the loser stage of my life. No more fixing guys up and sending them on their way. I’m my own person and I don’t need to prove my worth by what I do for others.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Read that in a magazine?”

  “Uh-huh. Pretty cool. I was thinking of putting it on a pillow.”

  “Of course you were.”

  She grinned, then grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the window. Well, drag was kind of a strong word. She gave a tug, indicating where she wanted him to go and he did.

  “Look,” she said. “Flowers. Pretty.”

  “You’re mocking me,” he told her.

  “Only a little. Okay, these little pots have herbs in them. Basil and rosemary, because of how they smell. I know you’re not much for the cooking thing. Always keep rosemary in its own container, because it has designs on taking over the world. Then these two are flowers. Miniature roses. They’re surprisingly easy to take care of and I love the colors.”

  “Okay.”

  She waited, hoping for more. She knew he wasn’t excited about the plants, but could he accept them?

  “What?” he asked.

  “You could pretend to be interested.”

  “Would you believe me?”

  “I’d try.”

  He sighed. “They’re great. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She tugged on his hand again. “Come see the kittens. Two of them have their eyes open.”

  He allowed her to lead him to the other side of the room. Jasmine meowed when she saw him, rose, stretched and jumped out of the box.

  Kane bent down and petted her. Willow watched and wished he were petting her instead. Not that she wanted the underside of her chin scratched, but there were other lonely places.

  “So how was your trip?” she asked when he’d straightened.

  “Fine.”

  “Coffee?”

  He hesitated, then said, “Sure.”

  Once they were in the kitchen, she poured in water and reached into the refrigerator for the bag of coffee.

  “I was very good while you were gone,” she said as she measured grounds. “I didn’t look in anything. No drawers, no cupboards, nothing.”

  “Then how did you know where I keep my coffee?”

  She smiled smugly. “I saw you get it when I was here before. On second thought, I wasn’t good, I was perfect.”

  “How hard was it?”

  She flipped on the coffeemaker. “Pretty hard, but I have character and backbone. Plus, I gave my word and I try to respect that.”

  He stared down at her. She felt the intensity of his gaze all the way to her toes. Was there fire flickering there or was that wishful thinking on her part?

  “How many other guys have there been?” he asked. “Guys like Chuck?”

  Not the direction she wanted for this conversation. “A couple.”

  He continued to look at her.

  “A few,” she added. “Maybe more than a few.”

  “You try to fix them all?”

  “Pretty much, but sometimes it works. Look at Chuck. He owns a Jiffy Lube. That’s pretty impressive.”

  “I’m nearly faint with shock,” Kane said dryly. “Are you still planning to rescue me?”

  “You know, I was just thinking about that. The thing is, you don’t really need rescuing. Your life is fairly together. Except for the whole alone thing. That’s unfortunate.”

  “Maybe I like the silence.”

  “No one wants to be alone all the time. Admit it—you kind of liked having me here when you got home.”

  “Sure. Pulling up and seeing some guy prepared to slap you was great fun.”

  “Oh, yeah.” She’d forgotten about that part. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

  “I’m sure he did.” Kane moved closer. “You’re a danger to yourself. You get involved and then you don’t know how to get uninvolved. You need to work on that.”

  She felt the heat from his body. She supposed she could have been intimidated by him—after all he was looming. But this was Kane. He was strong and powerful, but she believed down to her bones all she had to do was say no and he would stop. He was so confident, he could afford to be gracious. Not that he would ever think of himself as gracious and he’d be annoyed to know she did.

  “Are you going to fix me?” she asked, meeting his gaze and catching her breath at the fire she saw burning there. The glorious, hungry need was back.

  “You’re beyond fixing.”

  “You could try.”

  “I have other things in mind.”

  Yeah! She reached over and turned off the coffeepot. “Are you going to give me that speech again? The one about you never calling and how it’s only for tonight and to have no expectations because you’re only going to break my heart?”

  He hesitated so long, she wanted to call the words back. She knew he was violating his rules and maybe pushing him would cause him to have second thoughts. Then he spoke. “No.”

  Her heart jumped, her sides began that melting thing and she wanted to rip off her clothes right there in the kitchen.

  “Really?” Her voice was a squeak.

  “Really.”

  He leaned in, about to kiss her. She put her fingers on his mouth.

  “Would you have beat up Chuck?”

  “If he’d touched you.”

  “You mean if he’d hurt me?”

  He gaze sharpened. “No. If he’d touched you.”

  Then he kissed her.

  His mouth was hot and firm and soft and she wanted to give him everything. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him.

  He was already hard and she squirmed to get closer, to feel all of him, especially his need.

  He cupped her fac
e in both hands, then deepened the kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth, claiming her with an intensity that excited her.

  “What is it about you?” he asked, his voice low and thick. “Why can’t I get you out of my head?”

  “I’m pretty irresistible,” she said with a grin.

  He raised his head and gazed into her eyes, but he wasn’t smiling. “Yes, you are.”

  He bent down, gathered her in his arms and carried her toward the bedroom. Once there, he set her on her feet and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “Tell me if you want this,” he said.

  He had to ask? How cute. “I want you, Kane.”

  He shuddered, then reached for her. She flung herself at him and when their bodies were pressed together from shoulder to knee, she felt as if she’d finally found her way home.

  He touched her everywhere. His fingers explored her back, her hips, before lightly touching her arms. She both longed for the contact and wished he would touch her elsewhere—her breasts, between her legs, the places that ached.

  Instead he drew her sweater over her head and leaned in to press his mouth to her shoulders. He licked and kissed and nipped, leaving goose bumps and tingles in his wake. He moved up her neck, along her jaw, then jumped to her earlobe where he bit down and sucked.

  She had to cling to him to remain standing. Her legs trembled, her thighs nearly caught fire. Hunger consumed her, making her want to be reckless. She tugged at his tie and managed to loosen the knot, then she went to work on the buttons down the front of his shirt.

  Her good intentions faded away when he placed his hands on her breasts. He cupped her curves and used his thumbs to tease her tight, aching nipples. Her eyes sank closed as sensation washed through her. Oh, yeah, that was good.

  Around and around, arousing her until she found it hard to keep breathing. Then he made it more difficult by kissing her.

  While his tongue mated with hers, he dropped one hand to the waistband of her black slacks. Seconds later he’d unfastened the button and lowered the zipper. Then his fingers were between her thighs and all coherent thought fled her brain.