Cupid Cats

by Katie MacAlister

  Chapter 4

  Jon prided himself on his sense of timing. The way Kate was looking at him right now, he’d be wise to put down the knife and cross the room to where she was standing. And he was no fool.

  She drew in a quick breath as he approached. “I wonder if this is—”

  “It is. It’s a very good idea.” Cradling her face in both hands, he leaned in. “I’ve missed you, Kate.” Then he closed his eyes and allowed himself the pleasure of kissing her.

  Even better, she kissed him back. Silken skin brushed against his neck as she wound both arms around him. Her mouth flowered under his, inviting him inside. The innocence of a young girl had been replaced by the knowledge of a woman.

  And yet there was something achingly familiar about kissing Kate, as if his lips had instant recall of her velvet softness and her unique taste, a combination of sweet and tart that had driven him crazy at eighteen. With great effort he’d resisted making love to her then. He could see no reason to resist now.

  He tunneled his fingers through her hair so he could tilt back her head and deepen the kiss. Her body called to him, and in a moment he’d give in to the temptation to pull her close. His groin tightened as lust heated his blood and pumped it all south. Soon his brain would surrender all control to his cock.

  A crash coming from the floor above them was only a small blip on his sensual radar.

  But Kate pulled away and glanced to the top of the refrigerator, which was now catless. “Darwin.” She was out of Jon’s arms and leaving the kitchen before he’d regained mental functioning. Eventually he realized he should probably go see what the problem was. Luckily, he hadn’t started cooking his chopped ingredients yet and the stove was still off. He walked out of the kitchen.

  Kate’s footsteps thumped rapidly overhead. “Darwin, come back here! Bad kitty! Give me that!”

  A silver and black streak raced down the stairs and turned the corner, headed for the kitchen. The cat had something in his mouth, but Jon couldn’t tell what it was.

  Kate clamored down after him. “I’m sorry, Jon.” She spun around on the newel post at the foot of the stairs and dashed after the cat. “He dumped your shaving kit on the floor.”

  Jon followed her. “So what’s he got in his mouth?”

  “I’m not sure,” she called over her shoulder. “But I’ll get it back.”

  By the time Jon arrived in the kitchen, Darwin had leaped back onto the top of the refrigerator. His paws closed protectively over whatever treasure he’d snatched from Jon’s shaving kit. The cat gazed down at them, sphinxlike. Jon could swear those blue eyes glowed with devilment.

  Kate pulled a wooden step stool over to the refrigerator and hopped on it so she could reach the cat. “That was not nice, Darwin.” She reached under his paws and pulled out a shiny packet.

  The cat tried to grab it back, but she held it out of reach as she climbed down from the stool. Then she turned around and offered the packet to Jon, her expression giving nothing away. “Here it is. You’ll have to check it over to make sure he hasn’t bitten through the package and compromised the contents.”

  From the moment Jon had glimpsed the packet, he’d been scrambling for a graceful way to handle the situation. He always kept condoms in his shaving kit because . . . well, a guy could never predict the future. But he hadn’t purposely brought them on this trip. In point of fact, this was the one trip during the year when he had no intention of using them.

  Kate shook the condom packet so it made a crinkly, flapping sound. “Do you want it back?”

  “Yeah, okay.” He took the package and looked it over. No holes. He shoved it in his pocket. “Look, I know what you must be thinking.”

  She crossed her arms over her breasts. “I doubt it, but I’ll be happy to tell you. I’m thinking that Darwin shouldn’t have dumped your shaving kit, but now that he has, I’m looking upon it as the cat’s doing us both a favor.”

  If she’d been laughing as she said that, he would have taken heart. She could be thankful the cat had saved them a trip upstairs for birth control. But he didn’t think that was her take on the situation.

  He cleared his throat. “And that would be because?”

  “Because it reminds me that in your world a person carries condoms the way in my world a person carries antiseptic cream and bandages. I just spent months canoeing down the Amazon, and I didn’t pack a single condom. But I stocked up on antiseptics and bandages because I was much more likely to get a cut or scrape than to have sex. Obviously for you the situation is reversed.”

  Sometime soon he’d love to ask her about her Amazon trip, but now wasn’t optimal. First he had to do some damage control. “I didn’t come here expecting to have sex.”

  “I’m relieved to hear it since Maggie never mentioned that as part of the hostessing duties.”

  If only she’d uncross her arms and stop looking so . . . so . . . adorably miffed. Damn, he still wanted her. The cat had thrown a spanner into the works, but as far as he was concerned that only meant a delay, not a complete derailment.

  He took a deep breath. “As I said, I had no plans to have sex on this trip.”

  “Which begs the question as to why you arrived armed with—how many condoms do you have?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t keep an exact count. But before you start thinking that I—”

  “Have designs on the women of Bisbee?” She uncrossed her arms and began waving them in the air. “That makes no sense, either. You’re supposed to be avoiding the locals, not trying to lure them into your bed.”

  “For the last time, I don’t come to Bisbee looking for sex, okay? It’s not part of the program.”

  “Then why bring a boatload of condoms?”

  “Apparently you know exactly how many condoms I have—a boatload. Actually, it’s a shipload if you count the extra five hundred tucked into a secret compartment of my specially designed condom-carrying suitcase. A guy can never have too many of those little raincoats.”

  “You’re hysterical, Ramsey. Okay, forget the exact tally. The mere presence of any condoms on this trip has me wondering if you just assumed I would—”

  “Hold it right there, Archer.” Out of patience with this dumb situation, he pointed a finger at her. “You were not the reason I came to Bisbee packing condoms. For your information, they are a permanent part of my shaving kit.”

  She stared at him. “I’m not sure I want to contemplate why that’s the case.”

  “Look, I travel a lot. A lot. And I can’t predict how my romantic life will go, or where I’ll be, and if the local pharmacia will even be open when I need it to be.”

  “I see.”

  He had the distinct feeling he hadn’t helped his cause any with that little speech. “But it’s not as if I jet around the world seducing women.”

  She shrugged. “Couldn’t prove it by me. You’ve been here about”—she paused to glance at the kitchen clock—“an hour, give or take, and you’ve already kissed me. Oh, and earlier you touched my breasts.”

  “Because you asked me to!”

  “I asked you to help with the harness. I didn’t—”

  “I couldn’t help touching your breasts, and you know it.”

  “Okay, forget about the breast nudge and get back to the condom issue. Let’s face it: You are a big star, an Oscar nominee, and I’m sure you could have just about any woman you want by crooking your . . . whatever part of your anatomy you care to crook.”

  He blew out a breath. “You are not just any woman, damn it. We didn’t meet each other for the first time today. We have history. And we’re still attracted to each other. If you take that all into consideration, we could be in bed by now.”

  “Not bloody likely!”

  “Oh, it’s extremely likely, if I’d followed my first instinct after that whole harness incident. I decided not to push, but if I had, we’d be upstairs right now and you’d be thanking me for having the foresight to pack condoms, because obviously yo
u would only be able to come up with bandages and antiseptic salve, which makes for lousy birth control!”

  “You arrogant, egotistical son of a . . . of a movie star! How dare you assume that if you, the great Oscar nominee, had decided we’d have sex right away, we’d have sex right away? I’ll have you know that you are not in charge of that decision.”

  “You’re right.” He gazed at her eyes flashing with dark fire, her cheeks pink with indignation, her mouth slightly open as she gasped for breath. She’d been beautiful as a teenager, but she was stunning now. “So, Kate, want to have sex with me?”

  “No! I can’t believe you even asked!”

  That made him laugh. “You said you wanted to be part of the decision, but if you’d rather be thrown over my shoulder and hauled upstairs without asking, that works, too.” He stepped toward her. She’d reject his advance, but only a wuss would threaten caveman tactics without making a token effort to follow through.

  “You touch me and I’ll sic my cat on you.”

  “Whoa.” He held up both hands in surrender. “Not the cat. Anything but the cat. I guess I’ll have to settle for a meal instead.” With a wink, he turned back to the counter to continue his preparations. “Care to open some wine?”

  When she didn’t answer, he glanced over to find her studying him like a bug under a microscope. “What?”

  “I’m thinking.”

  Typical. He seemed to remember that Kate was always thinking, and he’d like to point out that it wasn’t always a good thing, but she was already mad at him, so he didn’t want to add to her list of gripes.

  He went back to cutting up a carrot. “Hey, if you don’t want to indulge, that’s fine, but this chicken and veggie stir-fry cries out for a good white wine. And somebody, not saying who, has tucked a nice bottle of chardonnay in the refrigerator.”

  “It was me. I brought it with me from Tucson, in case I decided to get an order to go some night.”

  “Want to save it for some other time?”

  “No, of course not. I’ll open it.” Moments later she’d poured the chardonnay into two goblets and handed him one.

  “Thanks.” He touched his glass to hers and looked into her eyes. “To renewing old friendships.”

  She met his gaze. “To honesty.”

  “I’ll drink to that.” He took a sip of his wine and set down the glass. “Kate, I swear I didn’t bring those condoms because I thought we’d end up in bed together.”

  “Sad to say, I believe you.” She tipped her glass and drank. “It was sort of arrogant on my part to assume you’d still be interested in me.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that.” He turned toward the stove and warmed some olive oil in a skillet. “After all, you’re the one who got away.”

  “Ah.” She leaned against the counter. “So you’re curious about what you might have missed out on.”

  “Since we just toasted honesty, yes, I’m curious. Aren’t you?” He added some minced garlic to the oil, and the kitchen began to smell really good.

  “That would be only natural, wouldn’t it?”

  He nudged a piece of garlic into the oil with a wooden spoon and turned down the heat. “So you’re saying you’re curious, too?” He liked the way this conversation was going. It had legs, as they said in Hollywood.

  “Well, yeah, I’ll admit to wondering what it would be like.”

  He took his time adding chopped onions to the pan, blending them in as if the fate of the world depended on how evenly they cooked. The next few moments he’d be picking his way through a minefield. “Looks like we have a golden opportunity to find out.” He glanced up from the skillet to gauge her reaction.

  She was giving him that under-the-microscope look again. “Are you sure you didn’t plan this?”

  “Scout’s honor.”

  “You were never a Scout, Ramsey.”

  “I’m pretty sure my grandfather was.” Picking up a bowl of diced chicken, he scooped it into the skillet. “I think that makes me an honorary Scout. I’ll bet they’d take me if I asked.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they would. I’ll bet the Girl Scouts would take you, too. You could probably get an honorary membership in the DAR if you asked. You’re a hot commodity on the market.”

  He stirred the chicken in with the garlic and onion. “Not this week. This week I’m your average Joe on vacation. And by coincidence, I meet up with the girl I dated in high school, the girl I’ve fantasized about having sex with but never did.”

  “Poor you. Surely you’ve found solace in the arms of some A-List beauties. It’s hard to believe you’ve been pining for me all these years.”

  He scooped the veggies into the skillet. “Granted, I haven’t been saving myself for you, but I doubt you’ve been saving yourself for me, either.”

  “Can’t say I have.”

  He felt a prick of irritation, which was totally unreasonable. Of course she’d had lovers. So had he. That meant they could approach this as two experienced adults, which increased their chances of having a really good time.

  Picking up his goblet, he took a fortifying swallow of the wine. “Anyway, now that I’ve had sex with other people, I—like you, I might add—have entertained a stray thought or two about being in bed with you.”

  “That doesn’t mean we have to act on those thoughts.”

  “No, but it could be fun.” He’d never discussed having sex with this amount of restraint, as if they were debating a change in weather. But his blood pumped a hell of a lot faster than it would have if he’d been talking about the chances of rain.

  “What if we’re disappointed?”

  “That’s the chance we’d take.” He unscrewed the cap on a bottle of tamari sauce and poured a little of that into his stir-fry. “And if it doesn’t turn out, oh, well. We’re both grown-ups. We can handle a little disappointment.”

  “Jon Ramsey, are you propositioning me?”

  “Yes, I do believe I am.” He put the lid on the skillet and moved it off the burner.

  “But you just got here!”

  Despite his jacked-up pulse, he chuckled at that. He turned to her. Thank God the desire flooding through him was mirrored in her dark eyes. This would all sort itself out, and very soon.

  “Seriously, Jon, this is too fast.”

  He shrugged. “Your cat brought me a condom. It seems a shame to waste that kind of effort.”

  “What if he’d brought you dental floss? Would you—”

  “Have felt a strong urge to start flossing? I doubt it. Doesn’t have quite the same appeal.”

  She cleared her throat. “You’ll have to let me think about it.”

  “I don’t think so, Archer.” He took her glass and set it on the counter before she quite realized what he intended. “It’s time to fish or cut bait.”

  She backed up a step. “You’re supposed to be cooking.”

  “It’s simmering.”

  “How long will it do that?”

  He came closer, much closer. “Long enough.”

  Chapter 5

  Kate’s heart beat like a Brazilian jungle drum as she looked at Jon. He was dead serious. Unless she told him no, he would take her to bed. If she told him no, she might regret it for the rest of her life. But the thought of telling him yes was about to give her a heart attack.

  His gaze searched hers. “If we don’t do this, we’ll always wonder.”

  “At least you’re not quoting movie lines. No scriptwriter would come up with anything that unromantic.”

  “Do you want me to quote movie lines?”

  “No, thanks. First of all, that would be cheesy, and second of all, I’m trying to forget you’re a big star who memorizes love scenes for a living.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  She took a deep breath. “You.”

  “Ditto.” A subtle change in his breathing was the only indication that he wasn’t quite as composed as he appeared.

  “Then follow me.” Eagerness made her bl
ood sing as she led him through her sitting room and into her bedroom. She took the time to close the French doors to keep Darwin on the other side of them. She might be a little scared, a little nervous, but she was a lot aroused. And she was at least as curious as he was.

  He stopped next to the king-sized four-poster and faced her. “Listen, if you want a more romantic approach, I can do that.”

  “Too late. You’ve already ruined that possibility with the ‘fish or cut bait’ line.” She might sound like a smart-ass, but inside she was quivering with anticipation.

  His glance traveled from her feet to the top of her head. “Nothing’s ruined, especially if you let me undress you.”

  “Shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops? Where’s the challenge in that?”

  His lazy smile curled her bare toes. “The challenge is to make the ordinary erotic.”

  “Ha.” Her pulse jumped wildly as she sat on the bed and leaned back on her elbows. “This outfit is serviceable, but there ain’t no way it’s erotic.” Prove me wrong.

  “We’ll see about that.” Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he sank to his knees, lifted her foot, and slowly slid off her flip-flop.

  That one gesture drenched her panties. By the time he’d eased off the second flip-flop and leaned down to kiss her toes, she was reconsidering her challenge. When he spread her knees and licked the inside of each one, she was truly lost. She appeared to be in the hands of a master of seduction.

  And she’d never last through this assault. She pictured the embarrassment of having an orgasm while he was caressing her thighs, before he’d even arrived at the main event.

  She sat up and reached for the hem of her T-shirt. “You win. This outfit is freaking erotic, and I want it off.”

  He circled her wrists with strong fingers and looked into her eyes. “Not yet. This moment has been years in the making. We’re not rushing it.”

  “What if I want to rush it?” She glared back at him.

  “Reconsider.” Rising to his feet, he urged her backward until she was lying on the bed, her legs dangling over the edge. Then he followed her down, pinning her there, stretching her arms over her head. “Reconsider, Kate.”