She shakes her head. “I’m on the pill.”
All I can think about is Devon and all of the girls he’s been with. I’m sure Kat is thinking the same thing when she says, “Devon always used a condom. I never let him inside without one.”
Right now I want to be with Kat more than I want air, but a small part of me is still hesitant.
“I’ve been to a doctor,” she whispers in my ear. “I’ve been tested. Because of Devon—and the other women.”
I grab Kat’s ass and lift her as she throws her legs around me. I feel like a caveman as I carry her over to the bed.
I lie her down and lie down next to her.
The fire between us rages as my lips and tongue explore her mouth. And my hands explore every inch of her soft skin.
“I need to feel you inside of me,” she pleads.
Our eyes lock as I push inside of her. This time, her body completely melds to mine, like we were made for each other.
I can’t believe how much different, and better, it feels not to wear a condom. The stimulation is so heightened I have to use all of my will power not to immediately come.
But my desire to please Kat is stronger. When we were together the first time I wanted to make it an experience she would never forget. This time, a little selfishly, I want to make sure she thinks about me whenever she’s with another man. I want this to be the experience by which she compares all others. And I want every other man to fall short.
I grab Kat’s hips so that I can move into her as deep as possible. I push so deep that she actually writhes up and moans. But I don’t relent. I keep at it, thrusting faster and harder until she cries out my name.
I pause for just a split second as she clenches and clutches me. Then I go hard and fast again. I’m a man on a mission with my only goal to score another orgasm.
“Oh, God,” she exclaims as I pound into her.
This time when she clenches I go with her. We both hang onto each other for dear life as the aftershocks roll through our bodies.
“You’re sweaty,” she remarks as she wipes at my brow.
I smile. “You gave me a bit of a workout.”
“How are we ever going to be able to stay so far away from each other?” Her eyes search mine as if she’s looking for the answer to one of life’s great mysteries.
“I don’t know.” It’s hard for me to admit that I don’t have all the answers. Cops are supposed to be problem solvers, but this is one problem that I’m not sure how to solve.
“Move to LA.” She looks as surprised as I do when the words pop out of her mouth.
“You’re still a movie star and I’m still a cop no matter where we live,” I remind her.
She actually looks crestfallen. It’s almost like when we’re together she forgets that she’s Katie Lawrence. She’s just Kat.
“You can’t be Kat forever.”
She heaves a big sigh. “I know.”
We both look at each other when fluid begins to leak onto the sheets.
“I think we just made a mess,” I comment, but make no attempt to remove myself from her.
She laughs. “Yeah, we kind of did.”
I bite back a smile. “Want to make an even bigger one?”
Her smile widens and her eyes sparkle with mischief. “What did you have in mind?”
“How about another workout?” I suggest.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
***
Knocking. I’m awakened by the sound of knocking on the door. It takes me a moment to realize that I can’t move because Kat has her arms and legs wrapped around me almost like a vice.
“Kat?” I whisper.
No response.
The knocking continues.
“Kat?” I say a little louder as I try to ease myself from her tight grasp.
“What?” Her voice is still groggy with sleep.
“There’s someone at the door.”
“What time is it?” she asks as she releases her hold on me.
She wipes the sleep from her eyes then glances at the clock. It seems to take a few seconds to register. “Shit!”
She practically jumps out of the bed. “It’s nine o’clock. How did we sleep so late?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Maybe it was all that sex last night?”
We had a lot of sex. Crazy amazing sex. Sex I will never forget for the rest of my life. Sex I know I will crave forever.
Whoever is outside the door is now pounding. Kat grabs a robe that’s hanging over a desk chair and puts it on.
I hop out of the bed and quickly pull on the sweatpants and sweatshirt I was wearing last night.
“You need to do something about your hair,” she grins at me. “It’s a mess.”
I laugh. “Yours is pretty bad too.”
We both look into the mirror together. I can’t help but notice what a great couple we make.
She turns toward me and pushes her fingers through my hair in an effort to fix it up. Since my hair is so short, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make it look decent.
Kat grabs a scrunchie from the dresser and puts her hair into a ponytail.
“I love when you pull your hair back like that,” I remark. “You look more your age.”
“You like it because I look like Kat.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with that?”
She smiles in return. “Absolutely nothing.”
“I need to go, don’t I?” I ask.
She nods. “And it’s daylight so we’ll have to find a way to sneak you out of the room without anyone noticing.”
“I do work security at the resort,” I remind her.
She looks me up and down. “Not in sweatpants and a sweatshirt you don’t.”
“Good point. Let me see what I can do.”
I grab my cell phone from my pocket and take it into the other room while I phone Teko. Luckily he was just getting ready to come to the resort and doesn’t mind bringing me a spare uniform.
As I’m just about to step back into the living area I see Elsie waving an iPad around. “This is bad. Really, really bad. I expect to hear from your manager any minute. And your publicist. And your agent.” Her forehead is lined with concern. “They haven’t called yet, have they?”
Kat shakes her head.
I know I shouldn’t be spying on them, but I’m worried about Kat, and for some reason, I have a feeling she’s not going to tell me how much trouble our night together has caused.
When Elsie turns the iPad toward Kat, she furrows her brow and I can see she’s upset. “That was fast.”
“What did you expect? I was calling you all night. Didn’t you have your phone on? Where did you go? Everyone was looking for you and Devon is furious.”
“I don’t care.”
Elsie goes wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
“I don’t care,” she repeats. “I had the best night of my entire life and I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
Now Elsie’s eyes narrow to small slits. “Who were you with? Were you with that security guard slash bartender slash cop?”
“Hunter. His name is Hunter Wilde.”
I decide I’ve heard enough so I walk back into the room, “Did someone say my name?” I glance at Kat. “Problem solved. Teko is going to drop off a uniform for me and I can just walk out as a security guard. No one will even know the difference.”
Elsie’s eyes are darting back and forth between us.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Kat lies, and it confirms my suspicions. She’s not going to tell me how much trouble she’s in. I’m sure it’s because she doesn’t want me to worry. But that’s impossible. How could I not worry about someone I care so much about?
I place a finger under her chin and tilt her head up so she’s looking into my eyes. “Don’t lie to me, Kat. What’s wrong?”
She gulps. “I’ve got a little bit of a PR mess I need to take care of.”
I grab the iPad from Elsie. My stomach knots as I read the headline: Are Katie and Devon on the Rocks? Katie a No Show at the Black Family Wedding.
“I’m sorry,” is about all I can manage to say.
She shakes her head. “It’s not your fault.”
“What can I do to help?”
“There’s not a lot either of us can do. My publicist is just going to have to deal with it.”
“Devon was looking everywhere for you,” Elsie says.
“I don’t know why,” Kat spits. “I think I made it clear that we’re not together anymore.”
Elsie shrugs. “I guess he thought you’d play nice and pretend to still be together until he got his reality show launched.”
“I don’t care about him or his stupid show,” she fires back.
When there’s a knock on the door all three of us look at each other.
“It’s probably Teko with the clothes,” I say as I open the door.
Devon is standing there and he looks pissed. If it was possible for steam to be coming out of someone’s ears he’d be steaming like a boiling hot kettle.
“What the fuck are you doing in Katie’s room?” He shoots daggers at me.
“A better question is what the fuck are you doing here?” I give the asshole my most intimating glare. “Kat made it clear she doesn’t want to see you anymore.”
“Kat? Who the hell is Kat?” I can’t believe the guy actually tries to shove me. “Let me in.”
I take a firm and tall stand in the center of the doorway. There’s no way in hell this little twerp is getting past me and he’s not getting anywhere near Kat. He was already on my last nerve the last time I saw him.
“I said let me in.” He makes a move to shove me again, but this time I grab his arm.
“You touch me one more time,” I say through gritted teeth. “And I’ll break every bone in your hand. You want to try to snowboard with a shattered hand?”
As if he’s finally cluing in he slowly shakes his head. When I release my grip from his hand I breathe a small sigh of relief when he puts it down at his side.
“Dude, you know this isn’t cool at all.”
The guy really isn’t going to give up, is he? “What’s not cool?”
“You’re supposed to be a security guard. You’re not supposed to be fucking my girlfriend.”
Now I really feel like slugging him, but I keep my cool. “Well, Dude. She’s not your girlfriend anymore. And I’m not fucking her. Just so we’re clear.”
“This is going to completely ruin the release of my new reality show. What am I supposed to say to the producer? He’s expecting Katie Lawrence to be on the show.”
“How about not making promises you can’t keep?” I suggest.
“We’ve been together four years. I didn’t expect her to bail on me now.” He shakes his head. “Especially now.”
I shrug. As if I care anything about his television show. I just want him to stay away from Kat.
When Teko walks up to us carrying my uniform, I give him a high five. He hands me the clothes and then glares at Devon.
“Is there a problem?” Teko asks him.
Devon shakes his head. If he was afraid of me he must be terrified of Teko. The guy can be extremely intimidating when he wants to be.
Devon looks at me. “Tell Katie she needs to deal with her publicist before this thing explodes. Things could get ugly for her too if she’s not careful.”
“I’ll escort you back to your room,” Teko says to Devon. It’s a hint, but not a subtle one. At least the guy isn’t as stupid as he looks. He takes off down the hallway with Teko following behind him.
When I reenter the room Kat is pacing and wringing her hands. “Was Devon mad?”
“He’ll get over it,” I assure her.
“I’ve got a ton of phone calls to make before I get on the plane.” She already sounds exhausted and the day has barely even started.
“Is there anything I can do?” I just want to take her into my arms and make all of her problems disappear, but I know it’s not possible. I feel utterly useless.
She grabs my hand and pulls me back into the bedroom, away from Elsie’s nosy stares.
“None of this is your fault,” Kat says. “I don’t want you to worry about it, okay?”
I take her into my arms and hold her. “How can I not worry about you?”
When she sniffles and I can feel her start to sob it’s all over. My heart completely shatters.
“You need to go, Hunter. You need to forget about me. There’s no reason for you to ruin your life for me. If the media gets one sniff of the fact that you and I were together it’s all over. You’ll never have a normal life again. You’ll be pulled through the mud, followed, torn up and spit back out again. You’ll be under constant surveillance and scrutiny. You don’t want that. No one wants that. I don’t even want that.”
Her deep brown eyes hold so much pain it hurts to look into them. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
She frowns. “How do you know? How can you say that?”
I softly sing the opening lines to “Prove”…
I wish I could tell you that things will be good from now on
When it feels like the good times will soon enough be all but gone
If I could say one thing to you it would be just hold on
I wish there was some way to prove to you we could be strong…
She laughs. “It’s a good thing you’re an awesome drummer. You can’t sing at all.”
I can’t help but smile. “It’s the thought that counts.”
“People always say that when they can’t sing.”
Now I’m the one who’s laughing. “You’re right. I have an awful voice. That’s why I always stay behind the drums where I know what I’m doing.”
She runs her hand down my cheek. “That’s not the only place where you know what you’re doing.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
She slowly nods as she places her hand on my chest. “Want to show me one more time how well you know what you’re doing?”
I motion toward the living room. “What about Elsie?”
“We can be quiet.”
“And what about all of your phone calls?”
She gives me a sexy little crooked grin. “They can wait a little bit longer.”
Ten
Katie
I didn’t want Hunter to leave—ever—but I knew I had to get back to being Katie Lawrence. Especially when I looked at my cell phone and saw that I had fifteen messages. Five from my manager, two from my agent and eight from the publicist. Every one of them claimed to be an emergency and told me to call them back immediately.
Since when does breaking up with an asshole, who has treated me like crap for years constitute an emergency? A meteor getting ready to hit planet Earth is an emergency. An outbreak of the plague is an emergency. Breaking up with Devon is not. At least not anywhere but Hollywood.
My lips are still tingling from where Hunter gave me his best, last kiss. We didn’t make each other any promises because there were no promises to make. I just can’t wrap my head around the notion of never seeing him again. We fit so well together—like ham and cheese or lettuce and tomato—the idea of us not ever being together again just seems wrong.
But I have to be realistic. And start thinking about my career again, which is apparently getting ready to crash and burn if I don’t give my manager and publicist the okay to start damage control.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Elsie asks. Her brow is furrowed with concern.
“Yes, fine.”
She shakes her head. “You don’t look fine. You look like someone who just lost a beloved pet. Remember how you looked when that ugly little Chihuahua of yours died when we were juniors in high school. What was that thing’s name?”
“His name was Alexander the Great. And he was a great little dog.”
“He bit everyone who ever came near you. I think I s
till have a scar on my heel from where he attacked me.”
“Fine. He was a little protective, but he wasn’t ugly.”
She scrunches up her nose more than she normally does when she’s disgusted with something. “He was as ugly as a large rat. If you didn’t know he was a dog, you’d think he was a rat.”
“He wasn’t that bad.”
“I think you’re romanticizing because he’s dead. Anyway, my point is, when that little rat-face died you looked like crap for several weeks. It was obvious you were broken-hearted. It’s obvious now too.”
I heave a sigh. “We can’t be together. Rationally we both know it could never work out, but it doesn’t stop how we feel about each other. I’ve never met anyone like Hunter before and I don’t think I ever will again.”
“What is he like a soul mate or something?”
I shrug. “I never believed in stuff like that. I never thought there was one perfect person who you just clicked with. It always sounded like some Hollywood scheme to sell tickets to romantic comedies. But that was before I got the know Hunter.”
“You could be together. It might not be easy, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to do that to him. He never asked for a life in the public eye. He’s a quiet country guy. He has a simple life. I don’t want to destroy it. And you can’t tell me his life wouldn’t be destroyed if we were together. Mine was destroyed a long time ago.”
“Destroyed is a bit of a harsh term, don’t you think? You definitely have a different life as Katie Lawrence than you did when you were Kat, but your life is not completely ruined.”
“It’s just not my life anymore. I realized that being with Hunter. For the first time, in a long time, I was just being me. Doing what I want to do. Making my own decisions. I can’t do that as Katie Lawrence. The studios own all the rights to Katie Lawrence. To their creation. I’m just stuck playing the part for the rest of my life.”
When my cell phone rings I know I have to answer it. I have to stop hiding and face the consequences of my choices. Choices I’ll never regret, but I’ll have to now account for. I take in a deep breath then answer the call.
***
My house feels so sterile and barren when I enter. I used to appreciate coming home to the quiet but now it feels almost suffocating. Hunter’s house felt so much like a home—a place where you could plant roots and expect to one day see your grandchildren playing in the backyard. My house feels more like a temporary asylum—someplace to park while I wait for my next film role and the next location where I’ll be living in a trailer for a few months.
A Wilde Night (Old Town Country Romance Book 3) Page 9
