by S. E. Babin
Katie felt herself soften. He was trying. And she was being mule-headed about it. “Fine,” she grumbled. “But don’t expect me to have any fun!”
Leo laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it!”
* * * *
The combo of a good breakfast and a hot shower made Katie feel human again and lightened her mood considerably. She gave herself a pep talk as she got dressed.
“So what if he fell out of the sky naked? He’s handsome and, even better, available. You could do worse.”
Okay, so that wasn’t the most positive thing she could come up with. So she tried again. “He’s made for you. Doesn’t that stand for something?”
That was better. “So what if he has to plug himself into the computer to learn new things?” Okay, she was going down the wrong path again. “I bet he’s good with puppies.” Katie snorted at her ridiculousness as she pulled on a pair of suede knee-boots and stood to critique herself in the mirror. Black leggings, black boots and a teal pullover sweater. Casual, yet chic. She would do.
Katie ran a blow dryer through her thick blonde hair and left it slightly damp so it would swirl in loose waves around her face once it dried. One coat of mascara and lip gloss and she was ready to face the world.
Katie stepped out of her bedroom only to have her mouth drop open as she noticed Leo sitting on her couch looking like a movie star. Dark wash blue jeans and a royal blue pullover only enhanced the gold of his skin. He sat casually, one ankle crossed over the other knee and an arm thrown over the top of the couch. He idly flipped through one of her magazines as he waited. He raised his head at the sound of her door opening and stared at her.
“You look—” he started.
“Wow,” Katie said, interrupting him. They both laughed, breaking the awkward moment.
“I guess we both clean up well,” she finally said.
“That we do.” Leo stood from the couch. “It’s still morning, but we can go ahead and head out if you want to.”
Katie shrugged. “Why not?” She grabbed her jacket from the coat tree and shrugged it on. Once she had her purse and car keys in hand, she followed Leo outside.
The frigid air forced Katie to pull her jacket tighter, but Leo’s face was impassive. She wondered if the cold even affected him. He walked her to the driver’s side of the car and opened the door for her. She couldn’t help but steal a glance at Will’s house, but it was silent and dark. He was either not at home or still in early-morning mode. Katie preferred the quiet of the morning time. This was an all-around strange start to the day for her, but sometimes different was good. She wondered about Will’s routine. Did he have to have coffee first thing in the morning? Was he grouchy like her when he first woke up?
The slamming of her vehicle door startled her and she turned her attention toward the car. Thinking about Will wasn’t helping anyone, especially her. She waited until Leo was in the car and safely buckled in, noting with pleasure that he seemed to have grasped the foreign concept of using the seatbelt correctly. She pulled the car out of her driveway and waited for Leo to navigate where they were going.
He wouldn’t tell her where, but kept her in suspense with his quiet commands of “turn right,” or “ease over here.” Soon, Katie stopped wondering where and just let herself enjoy the drive. Leo seemed to know what he was doing. The time spent online last night must have helped his sense of the area.
After awhile, Leo told her to turn onto a small road. She did so and then snuck a quizzical look at Leo, who responded with a smirk. Her little car bounced with each hole and cranny it hit, which amused Leo much more than her. She knew they were somewhere in the mountains, but her sense of direction was screwed up and she couldn’t tell where. After several minutes, the road opened up into a beautiful wide-open space. She slowed her car down and stopped.
North Carolina was always beautiful, especially in the mountains. However, Leo had somehow managed to find a space of untouched beauty, where the grass was still green and flowers still bloomed despite the frigidity of the temperature. It wasn’t snowing, but the chill in the air required jackets and boots. It belied the scene outside.
Katie stared in awe for a few moments before glancing at Leo, who stared at her with a large smile on his face.
“Do you like it?”
Katie stared outside, saying nothing. She clicked her seatbelt and stepped outside, followed by Leo, careful not to step on any of the blooming flowers. “It’s amazing. How in the world did you find this?”
Leo fell into step beside her. “I guess I should mention that when I’m on the internet, private sites are not blocked to me.”
Katie was in such a good mood she didn’t want to over examine that statement. “Are we on private property?”
“Not quite,” Leo said. “It belongs to a nature preserve, but isn’t advertised to the public.”
“So we aren’t going to get shot or anything?”
Leo chuckled and reached for her hand. She let him and noted with satisfaction the warmth and strength in his long fingers. Thank God he didn’t have sweaty hands. The moment would have been ruined. “Probably not today. Let’s just relax and enjoy it, okay?”
Katie nodded, continuing to take in the scene. Wildflowers bloomed everywhere, a riot of colors against the vivid green of the soft grass. Old oak tree branches swept majestically down and rested against the ground, allowing some of the flowers to swoop up and over the branches. It was straight out of a children’s novel, and Katie felt blessed to see it.
She stepped into the middle of the field and noticed Leo walking back to the car. She sat down and touched one of the blades of grass. It was soft, unlike any of the grass she had at home. Will would have a field day with this. He’d be mowing for weeks.
Feeling her mood sour, Katie turned her thoughts away from Will and watched as Leo popped her trunk and pulled out a large basket and a blue blanket, one he must have snagged from her living room chest.
A picnic. Leo was doing a very good job of breaking down her walls. He slammed the trunk down and walked over to her. She watched his liquid glide and noticed the sunlight glint off his tanned skin. He was beauty personified.
So what was he doing with her?
* * * *
The cold couldn’t leech the warmth from Katie’s bones. She lay flat on her back beside Leo, her fingers entwined with his. Having a guy who could plug himself into a computer and download knowledge was pretty awesome. Katie didn’t want to examine too closely where Leo managed to get a hold of a rare wine and the goodies he’d brought in his basket. But she’d happily taken advantage of it.
She was full as a tick and a bit tipsy. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so relaxed around a man. Leo was charming and witty. Katie found herself laughing out loud several times at his wry sense of humor. The stiffness he first had when he woke up on her couch was dissipating to where she almost didn’t notice it anymore.
Instead, right before her eyes he was becoming someone Katie knew she could fall head over heels for. But something wasn’t right because every time she imagined a future with him a pair of topaz eyes intruded into her thoughts. She shut her eyes, trying to banish the sight of Will’s eyes from her mind. She was here and Will was not. That should make all the difference in her mind.
Except it didn’t. And Katie was beginning to doubt her own mind. Go figure. Everything she’d always wanted was lying right beside her and she couldn’t stay happy about it. She squeezed Leo’s fingers lightly and turned on her side to face him. He was staring at her, his face a mixture of confusion and longing.
Katie felt herself blush under his perusal. “Leo?”
He blinked. “Oh, sorry, I phased out there for a moment.” He reached up to snag one of her waves and brushed it away from her face.
She smiled, the warmth of his hand burning a trail across her cheek. “Do you have an ideal woman in mind?”
He frowned. “Katie, I’ve already told you. There is no one else.”
She sighed. “I know, but hear me out. Don’t you ever wonder about anyone else? All that time on the internet is bound to have shown you some things other than a blonde writer who occasionally has too much wine.”
“Not everything is true on the internet, Katie.”
She chuckled, glad she wasn’t the one who had to explain that to him.
“But what if you could have anyone else in the world? Would you still choose to stay with me?”
Leo’s mouth turned downward. He turned to lie on his back, eyes searching the clouds. “Katie, are you interested in someone else? Namely, an annoying and nosy neighbor?”
She felt herself blush crimson. “No,” she protested. Too loudly. She cringed and turned away from him.
“He isn’t the right man for you,” Leo said after a moment of awkward silence.
“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “He doesn’t even like me anyway.”
Leo didn’t respond. He sat up and started packing things away.
Way to go, Katie. A man goes out of his way to make you feel special and you ruin it all with some kind of girlhood crush on someone who couldn’t care less.
She sat up and put her hand over Leo’s to stop him from packing. “I’m sorry,” she said, and meant it. She tugged him down beside her and allowed him to snuggle her against his lithe body. He stayed silent, but buried his face in her hair, his breathing even and slow. Katie could feel his heartbeat against her back and marveled at the magic that had brought her to him. They stayed that way for hours, both of them content in silence until they drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
Katie awoke with a jolt, numbness seeping in to just about every body part she had. Leo stirred beside her, looking none the worse for wear.
“Leo.” She sat up and nudged his shoulder. “We need to go.” Her teeth chattered as she tried to get the words out. Katie fumbled for her cell phone and clicked it on to see the time.
“Crap,” she muttered. It was almost nine at night. The sun had long since fallen behind the horizon, leaving them in almost pitch blackness, the sounds of nature both comforting and creepy. Heaven only knew what kinds of things were looking at them from behind the trees hoping to make them tonight’s dinner.
Leo opened his eyes and jerked. “Am I blind?”
Katie snorted. “No. Maybe dead if we don’t get the hell out of here before the mountain lions come out to play. Come on.” She shoved his shoulder. Leo sat up and ran a hand through his hair.
“Wow. And I don’t even need to sleep. That was fantastic.” His teeth gleamed white in the darkness and Katie couldn’t help but smile at his surprise.
“Good, sleepyhead. Now help me get this stuff into the car.”
Leo and Katie made quick work of the cleanup and were soon settled into her car with the heat up as high as she could get it. Her stomach rumbled in the small confines in the car. She was starving.
“Hungry?” She snuck a glance at Leo’s profile. She didn’t care if he was hungry or not, but she was going to stop as soon as she found a place with something edible.
He grinned at her. “Apparently you are. Stop wherever. I could eat.”
They drove in silence for awhile until Katie found a takeout burger joint. She pulled in, ordered for the both of them, and threw in a few extras because she wasn’t sure how much he could eat. Just a few minutes later, the tantalizing scents of French fries and cheeseburgers filled the car.
Leo plunged into the bags like a kid in a toy store. “Oh my,” he said, the words so old sounding they made Katie chuckle. “This all smells fantastic.”
“My cholesterol is already rising.” Katie paid and pulled the car away from the window. Although she’d slept most of the day away, Katie couldn’t wait to get home and into her pajamas. What a weird, exhilarating weekend. And tomorrow would be even more interesting. Leo had to go to work. A wide grin lit up her face as she imagined Leo walking into a corporate office.
“Wait before you dig into that. We’re just a couple minutes away from the house.” Leo took his hand out of the bag, a pouty look on his face.
“Aww, come on, Leo. You can make it. Besides, I’m pretty sure you don’t actually need to eat, do you?”
He shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “Not now. But as I acclimate more to human life, I will evolve.”
Katie’s heart stuttered. “Evolve?” She stole a glance at him. “What does that mean? You don’t grow a tail or anything, do you? A tail would be a deal breaker.”
“Har har,” he said. “No tail. I’ll start to become human. Maybe not entirely, but I will require food, sleep, things of that nature.” He turned to look at her. “Sex.” A slow grin lit up his face.
She scoffed, but felt her face flushing. “Typical. Men don’t actually need sex, you know. It’s something they say to make us feel sorry for them.”
Leo made a noncommittal noise and turned back to face front. “Maybe not. But it sure is nice.”
Goddddd. Katie felt everything tighten in response. She wasn’t sure she would make it into the house without ripping his clothes off. She took in a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the fact that she was about to enjoy a nice, juicy cheeseburger, but images of Leo’s golden skin kept intruding. “Ass,” she muttered. “Thanks for that.”
Leo laughed and reached over to pat her knee. “My pleasure. Maybe you can think about that when you get into your bed tonight and can’t sleep.”
That was it. Katie jerked the car over to the shoulder, situated it far enough from the road that she felt relatively safe another car wouldn’t plow into her, and jerked her seatbelt off. She launched herself into Leo’s surprised arms and bent her head to kiss him.
Literal sparks flew. Once her mouth seared itself over Leo’s, Katie felt heat, desire and warmth coming from the blue sparks emitting from Leo. Neither of them cared. Leo clenched one arm around her waist and tangled the other hand in her hair, pulling her so close there was no seam between their bodies.
Propriety be damned, Katie thought, and gave into the warmth of Leo’s hands and lips.
* * * *
Several seconds…or minutes passed and all Katie could think about was heaven. One of Leo’s hands made it underneath her shirt somehow and was insistently trying to unhook her bra. Her knee was shoved against the console and aching, yet still Katie stayed kissing Leo like he was the last man on Earth. She vaguely felt the snapping pop of her bra loosening and felt Leo’s hand hover over one of her breasts.
She broke away and ran a shaky hand through her hair. “God, Leo, we are on the side of the road.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” said Leo and pulled her back down to him.
She chuckled as he captured her lips with his, and tried to adjust herself to relieve the pressure on her knee. Leo groaned and pulled her hips closer while using his other hand to try to get her shirt off.
Katie was past the point of caring and fumbled with Leo’s seatbelt, trying to see if they could make it to the back of the car without injuring anything. Once the seatbelt was loosened, she grinned at Leo, only to see shock and surprise on his face as he looked out the driver’s side window.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Katie closed her eyes for one long second. This could not be happening. She turned toward the window, only to be blinded by the flashlight being shone inside the vehicle. Katie flinched and turned her head away. She managed to awkwardly extricate herself from Leo, adjusting her shirt as best she could. She was still braless, but it was better than shirtless, she supposed. Once she was situated back in her seat, she opened the window only to see the bright intelligent eyes of her friendly neighborhood policeman.
“Ma’am, are you aware that you are on the side of a well-traveled highway?”
Katie nodded, flushing from the bottom of her feet to the roots of her hair.
“And are you aware that public nudity just so happens to be a crime?”
Mortification stole her words. She nodded meekly again,
tears filling her eyes.
He moved the flashlight to peer at Leo. “I haven’t seen you around here. Are you new in town?”
Katie covered her face with her hands. Please don’t say anything ridiculous. “Yes, Officer, I am. I came here for a job so I’m staying with Katie here for a little while.” Leo reached over and patted her knee. She felt like screaming.
“It seems like maybe you came for a little more than just a job if what I witnessed was any indication.”
A wide grin split Leo’s face. “Well, have you gotten a good look at her? I am only human.”
Leo and the officer shared a good chuckle at something only men would find funny. Katie wanted to sink into the floorboards and die. And she wanted to put her bra back on. She never realized how bare the hated contraption made her feel when she didn’t have it on.
“Miss, I’m going to issue you a warning this time. Parking on the side of the road for a quick make-out session is foolhardy. From the look on your face, I’m sure you’re aware of that. If I ever catch you out here or anywhere else with your shirt off, I’m going to be taking you in, you understand?”
She nodded again, still unable to form a coherent sentence. The officer then turned to Leo. “And you, too. Don’t think you’ll get off any easier than her.”
Leo gave the officer an eyebrow-raising thumbs-up. Katie choked, wanting nothing more than this to be over. The officer asked for Katie’s license and insurance, and once she handed them over, he wrote her out a warning. As he handed it to her through the window, he grinned. “And, Ms. Walker, one more thing. Your bra is hanging on your rearview mirror. I wouldn’t want to have to cite you for distracted driving.”
Katie snatched the offending piece of lingerie off and threw it in the back seat. The officer tipped his hat, merriment sparkling in his gray eyes, and swaggered back to his police car. She dropped her head to the headrest. She closed her eyes, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight.
Katie sat up a second later, turned the key in the ignition and pulled back out onto the road, avoiding eye contact with Leo. She drove for a few moments, and Leo, wiser than he looked, refrained from speaking. When she felt the embarrassment begin to fade, she chuckled. “I have never, ever, been so embarrassed in my entire life, Leo.”
