However, to their horror, word of their cockup had started doing the rounds and confidence in the firm was dented. They had a few clients rumbling about leaving.
Tyler, the financial wiz of the three of them, had crunched numbers, going through every possible scenario to prepare them for the result of possible fallout. But the biggest problem was that the Villanova Group, another one of their biggest accounts, who was talking about severing ties with them, which would place them in jeopardy.
Chase had pissed Tyler off by sending a smart ass email that contained his complete itinerary for the next three months so that they were aware of his every move. Ric hadn’t let on to Tyler, for fear he’d blow a gasket, but the fact that Chase had put “take a shit” at 6:30 a.m. every day, had amused the hell out of him.
He wouldn’t answer their calls or emails, but the one he’d sent them said that he would attend the Denver office meeting on Monday morning at 8 a.m. Ric wasn’t happy with Chase for not responding to them, but Ric knew it was probably problems with Chase’s sister that sent him off the rails.
Tyler was giving Chase space, but he told Ric that if he didn’t get satisfaction at the board meeting on Monday, he was getting on a plane to L.A. to deal with Chase in person.
As he pulled up in front of Kate’s house, Ric let go of all that, though. He was mentally drained and keyed up at once. Spending time with Kate would be the perfect way to relax for a few hours. He carefully got out of the Subaru and grabbed his crutches. He hobbled to the rear seat and retrieved the six-pack of Bud.
Slowly, so he didn’t shake the beer up, he made his way to Kate’s door, admiring the two-story gray stone house with white shutters. There were a couple of big maple trees in the yard and the property was nicely landscaped. He rang the doorbell and heard dogs bark.
Kate opened the door and three pooches of various sizes swarmed around Ric.
“Hi,” she said. “Come on in.” She grabbed the beer from him, and made the dogs move back and stay down so that Ric could pass through the doorway. “I should’ve put them in their kennels. Sorry about that.”
Ric smiled as he looked at the Scottish terrier, chocolate Lab, and Great Dane. “That big one won’t eat me, will he?”
Kate laughed. “No. Daisy is afraid of her own shadow. I’m surprised that she hasn’t run and hidden by now.”
He pointed to the beer. “I kept my end of the bargain.”
Her luscious mouth curved upwards and Ric was hit by a longing to kiss her and never stop. “I’ll go start the popcorn. Come have a seat in the living room.”
Following her, Ric took notice of the warm earth tones of her furnishings. The décor didn’t follow any one theme, instead being a hodge-podge of various styles. The living room was done in a light green with white trim. A sand colored couch and matching recliners arranged around a large square oak wood coffee table created an inviting seating area.
A couple of pet beds and a cat condo were situated in a far corner next to the large bay window and several large prints depicting various foreign locales hung on the walls.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Kate said, motioning towards the couch.
Ric sat down and looked for a place to put his crutches.
Kate said, “Here, I’ll take those and your jacket.”
He shrugged out of it and handed it to her. “Thanks. Oh, I also held up my other end of the bargain.” He grinned at her as he held out a small box that he’d taken out of his jacket pocket.
She gave him a suspicious look. “What did you do?”
“Open it.”
She lifted the lid and took out the Macy’s gift card.
“You can buy whatever sheets strike your fancy,” he said.
Kate blushed as she laughed and Ric thought she had the best laugh he’d ever heard. It was a rich, slightly throaty sound that made him happy just hearing it. “I don’t believe you. I thought you were just joking.”
“Oh, no. I never joke about bargains. It’s important to always come through on your end,” Ric said.
Kate leaned down to kiss his cheek and the scent of her vanilla and jasmine perfume hit him. He wanted to pull her down on the couch and have her for a snack instead of the popcorn, but he behaved and resisted that urge.
“I’ll be right back.”
Ric watched her walk from the room and thought that jeans would always be the clothing he liked best on her. Next to her birthday suit, that was. “Down, boy,” he said to his libido.
*****
Kate fixed a tray of snacks and beer as she listened to Ric get acquainted with the dogs. She smiled at the way he kept trying to coax Daisy closer. It amused her that he was so persistent and figured that he must be the same way in his business dealings to have become such a success.
Finished, she carried the tray of popcorn, nachos, and cookies into the living room. “I was hungry for a little more than popcorn.”
“What is all that?” Ric asked as she sat the tray on the coffee table. “Nachos? I love nachos. How’d you know?”
Kate handed him a beer. “I don’t know. You just seem like a nachos kind of guy to me.”
Ric twisted the top off the bottle and took a pull from it. “Well, I am. I’m a junk food nut period, which is why I have to limit myself and go to the gym since I don’t do ranch work anymore.”
“I can see that you take very good care of yourself,” Kate said sitting down by him.
“Thanks. I try. You take good care of yourself, too.”
Their eyes met and Kate’s stomach dropped pleasantly as their evening of passion came back to her. Not that it was ever far from her thoughts. “Thanks. What would you like to watch? An action movie? Horror?”
Ric smiled and she wanted to kiss him so badly that she almost attacked him again. “Actually, I’m going to let in on a little secret that no one knows. I’m trusting you with very sensitive material, here.”
His playful comment made her chuckle. “Okay. I won’t tell a soul. Scout’s honor.”
“All right, but if this gets into the wrong hands, I’m going to have to punish you,” he said.
“I promise.”
Ric looked a trifle bashful as he said, “I’m a secret romantic and my favorite movie of all time is Someone Like You. I’ve probably watched it a hundred times, but it never gets old.”
Kate couldn’t hide her smile. “Really? A big, tough guy like you is into romantic movies? I had you pegged for Jason Bourne or James Bond. Vin Diesel, maybe.”
“I like all of them, but I’m a sucker for a happy ending.” He laughed. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”
Kate giggled at his poor word choice. “I knew what you meant. I think it’s sweet that you’re in touch with your softer side.”
“But remember, you can’t tell anyone.”
“So you want to watch Someone Like You?”
“Do you like it?”
Kate gave him a sidelong glance as she put the TV on and brought up Netflix. “I don’t think that there are many women who don’t. Hugh Jackman!”
Ric popped a nacho into his mouth and crunched it. “Mmm. Spicy. Love it. We have an audience.”
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. That little guy is Cinders and the Lab is Rocco. And I already told you about Daisy,” Kate said. “I have a parrot named Manny, too.”
“Yes, you did. How come she’s so shy?”
The brindle Great Dane sat just inside the doorway of the living room, warily watching Ric.
“She was a shelter dog and was abused by her previous owners. I took her and she’s starting to come around, but it’s been hard,” Kate said.
“Aw, poor baby,” Ric said. “Those are the kind of people I’d like to beat the shit out of. Give them a taste of their own medicine.”
“Me, too.”
Ric reached for a bowl, but Kate caught his wrist at the last second. “You don’t want those. They’re dog treats.”
He looked at the bowl and then b
ack at her. “They are? They look like Fritos.”
“Looks can be deceiving. I give them to the dogs when I have snacks so that they don’t feel left out, but so they’re getting something that’s good for them.”
“That’s really nice of you.” Ric picked up one of the treats and sniffed it experimentally. “Smells pretty good. Dare me?”
Kate giggled when he opened his mouth and acted like he was going to eat it. “They’re not bad, actually.”
“You’ve eaten them?”
“I try all of the treats we sell. How else will I know if they’re spicy?” she said, shrugging.
Ric looked at the treat. “Is that a bad thing?”
“If a dog eats or drinks too much or too fast at a time, it can make them sick to their stomach. Spicy treats will make them drink much more than they should at one time, especially because owners sometimes give them too many treats,” Kate said.
“Do they taste good?”
“Those are chicken and they’re not half bad. I don’t sit around eating them, of course, but I did try them when we first got them.”
“If I eat it will you rub my tummy?”
“Absolutely.”
Ric studied the treat and sniffed it again. “Okay.”
He popped the treat into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Slowly, his face registered distaste and Kate dissolved into giggles.
“I thought you said that these weren’t half bad?” he commented around the treat. He took a huge swig of beer to wash the treat down.
Kate laughed so hard that she snorted. Tears gathered in her eyes as Ric shoved a nacho in his mouth and chewed it quickly. He followed it by more beer and then belched, which set Kate off on another laughing jag.
“God, that was the shittiest thing I’ve ever tasted!” He looked at the dogs. “You can have my share. I don’t know how you eat those things.” His hand shot out and he grabbed Kate’s arm. “And you’re going to pay. You never ate any of them did you?” he accused as he dragged her over onto his lap and started tickling her.
Kate squealed. “Yes! Yes, I did! I swear!”
“Hey! Shit!”
Kate suddenly found herself dumped on the floor between the coffee table and the couch as a horrible snarl and growl filled the room, followed by Ric’s shout of pain. Kate scrambled to her feet and saw that Daisy had Ric’s left bicep clamped in her huge jaws.
“Daisy! Drop!” she commanded, her heart pounding.
Ric held up a hand. “Don’t shout. Damn, that hurts.” His voice was soft even though it held fear and pain. “Daisy, it’s okay, honey. I was just playing around. I wasn’t going to hurt Kate, I promise. I would never hurt your mommy.”
Kate couldn’t believe that he was trying to reassure Daisy when he was the one being attacked.
“It’s all right, girl,” he continued. “See? Your mommy’s okay. We were just fooling around.”
Daisy growled when he reached his free hand towards her.
“Ric, don’t.”
“Shh. You’re such a pretty girl, such a good girl. You’re not mean. You just want to protect Kate. That’s your job. But you’re killing my arm. Drop, Daisy. Let me go. I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
Ric kept talking to the huge dog and her tail started to wag. He slowly laid his free hand on her head and scratched behind her ears, making her tail wag faster. Her grip on his arm loosened and she released him, but Ric kept scratching her ears and petting her head. Daisy shocked them both by giving him a big, sloppy kiss and laying down on the floor.
“Oh, my God. Are you all right? Did she break the skin? I’m so sorry,” Kate said as Ric flopped back against the couch.
“No, she didn’t break the skin. Felt like a vise grip on my arm, though. It’s okay. She was just scared that I was going to hurt you. Otherwise, she would’ve never come near me,” Ric said.
“Take off your shirt so I can look at your arm.” She lifted his Dale Earnhardt sweatshirt up and helped him take it off.
Ric leaned towards her and she examined his injured arm. Although there were indentations in it, Daisy’s teeth hadn’t actually punctured his skin. It was starting to bruise already, though.
“That’s going to be sore.” Kate was mortified. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before.”
“It’s all right. I’m a stranger and, to her, it looked like I was hurting you,” Ric said. “I’m not mad. At least now you know that she’d go after anyone who tried to break in here.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Make sure you put ice on that when you get home,” Kate said.
“Perhaps you could get me some now? I can leave it on while we watch the movie.”
Kate stared at him. “You still want to stay?”
Ric rubbed her shoulder consolingly. “Of course. Kate, I’ve been kicked, bitten, and tossed on my ass by horses and bulls. I can handle a little dog bite. She really wasn’t being mean.”
Kate gave him a tremulous smile. “Not many people would realize that.”
“Well, I’ve worked around animals all my life. Even when I came home from college in the summers, I worked on the ranches or farms to make money,” Ric said. “So don’t worry about me. I’ve had a lot worse.”
Kate shook her head. “I still feel terrible.”
Ric leaned over and kissed her. “Don’t. I’m fine. You examined me. What’s your assessment, Doc? Will I live?” He took her hand and put it over his heart. “Does that feel normal to you?”
Kate glanced at Daisy, but she was completely uninterested in what they were doing. “Amazing.”
“I’ve been told that.”
Kate ran her hand over his nipple and he sucked in a breath. “You are amazing, but I was referring to Daisy. She doesn’t care now that you’re touching me.”
Ric looked at the dog. “You’re right. She must know that I’m her friend now. Kate, if you keep doing that, there’s not going to be any movie.”
Kate had kept playing with his chest, enjoying his hard muscles and warm skin. She didn’t want to stop touching him and she loved seeing the desire in his eyes. “We could always go watch something in bed.”
Chapter Ten
Kate’s statement made Ric’s blood pump harder through his veins and her roving hand was driving him crazy. His jeans were getting tighter by the second.
“The only thing I want to watch in bed is you,” he confessed. “Can that be arranged?”
“I think it can. Let me just get rid of all this so that the dogs don’t eat it and I’ll be right back,” Kate said, rising.
When she left the room, Ric took out a roll of breath mints and popped one in his mouth. He didn’t want to kiss her with dog treat and beer breath. Crunching up the mint, he reached down and patted Daisy’s head. She licked his hand and thumped her tail. The other dogs came to be petted, too, now that the drama was over and Ric played with all of them until Kate returned. She ushered the dogs into the big room attached to the laundry, which held their beds and gave them access to the yard. The laundry door locked like a back door, leaving the room she’d had built on with the ability to have a stable door, the bottom half open, for Daisy and the other dogs to get into the quarter acre yard to do their business.
She gave him his crutches and he stood up.
“Follow me,” Kate said.
“Right behind your sweet behind, honey,” he said.
Kate smiled and led the way to the stairs. Ric’s strength made it easy to hop his way up to the second floor. It was as nice as the rest of the house. The hallway was lined with all kinds of pictures, which Ric assumed were family and friends. At the end of the hallway, Kate opened a set of double doors into the master bedroom.
It had a cozy atmosphere with more earth tones and warm colors. He didn’t notice more than that because Kate was turning down the bed. His attention centered on her as she came back to him. Her dark hair gleamed in the low light of the one lamp she’d turned on and her eyes glowed with desire.
Just thinking about what awaited him under her clothes made Ric harder and he was glad that he’d picked up some jeans with a more relaxed fit to accommodate his cast. They accommodated his raging hard-on, too.
“Why don’t you come over here and get comfortable?” She patted the bed.
“Okay.” He complied and pulled her down beside him. “You are so beautiful, Kate. I’ve been thinking about this since last week.”
“Me, too,” she said as he cupped her cheek. “I want you, Ric.”
“I want you, too. I want to touch you, kiss you everywhere.”
Ric took her lips in a kiss filled with raw hunger, delving his tongue into her mouth to tease hers. Closing his arms around her, he ignored the painful dog bite as she embraced him and kissed him back. She tasted so good and felt so right in his arms and he forced himself to slow down.
He wanted to savor Kate this time and give her as much pleasure as possible. She played with his hair and goosebumps broke out over his back. Carefully so he didn’t hit her with his cast, he laid her back and continued kissing her. He slowly caressed her toned midriff over her stomach and brought his hand up to cup one of her breasts.
She moaned into his mouth and kissed him harder. Her nipple grew tight under his palm and he brushed his thumb over it through her T-shirt. The little whimper in the back of her throat sent his body temperature soaring. Grasping the bottom hem of her shirt, he pulled it up and over her head.
The red satin bra she wore was the perfect complement for her creamy skin. His mouth left hers to trail kisses along her jaw to her throat. Kate gasped when he bit her and he chuckled against her skin. He released the front clasp of her bra and parted it.
“God, Kate, you have the most beautiful breasts I’ve ever seen,” he told her. “They’re perfect.”
She smiled. “I doubt that, but I’m glad you like them.”
Kneading one, he said, “I love them. I could play with them for hours.”
“I don’t think I could take waiting for hours, Ric. God that feels so good.”
Ric leaned over and took the nipple of the one he wasn’t playing with in his mouth, running his tongue around the stiff peak. Kate moved restlessly, her breathing coming quicker. He groaned as he lightly pinched her nipple and her back arched.
Heal Me (Coopers Creek Book 2) Page 8
