“Not to me there isn’t.” She dried her forehead. “Which is why what you did really ticks me off. Being Dear Cupid is the only thing I’ve ever done on my own. Even if other people don’t take it seriously, it’s important to me. It’s everything to me. If I lose it—If Gwen cancels me—”
“What do you mean? Do you really think she’d cancel your column because of what I did?”
“No, it’s not you. It’s ...”
“What?” He took her hands in his to get her attention. “Talk to me, Kate.”
She hesitated a long moment, then heaved a sigh. “Ever since I started having trouble with my marriage, I’ve found it difficult to be upbeat in my advice to others. That’s something I’m working on, though, and the main reason I—”
“The main reason you what?” He ducked his head to meet her gaze.
“Flirted with you in L.A.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Mike ...” Pulling her hands free, she slicked her hair back, only to have it spring forward again in rebellious wet curls. “You have to understand, flirting is just something I do—something I learned when I was still knee-high. It was the natural, look-at-me ploy of a kid who could never get enough attention.”
He rocked back on his heels to study her from an objective distance. He could picture her clearly as a child, with round cheeks and lively green eyes. “I can’t imagine you having to work to get attention.”
“When you’re the baby of the family, and your older sister and brother are scholastic wonders and social overachievers, trust me, you have to work to remind people you’re even there.” She rose to pace before the windows. “The problem is ... I haven’t been very good at it lately.”
“What do you mean?” He rose as well.
She wrapped her arms about herself and stared out at the lightning and rain. “Since the day I realized my marriage was over, I’ve, well, been a little down on men.”
“Understandable.” He nodded.
“Yes. And entirely acceptable, if I weren’t Dear Cupid.” She sighed. “That day in LA., when we met, I had just come from a meeting with Gwen.”
“And?”
“She threatened to cancel my column if I didn’t turn my attitude around and become my old flirtatious self.”
“I see.” Some of the pieces began to fall together, and he wasn’t sure he liked the picture they formed.
“So you went to the airport, saw me, and decided to refresh your flirting skills.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder as thunder rumbled over the house. “I just wanted to see if I still knew how to do it.”
“Oh, yes. Trust me Kate, you definitely still know how to do it.” He felt like a fool; something she seemed to make him feel on a regular basis. While he’d been blindsided by an instant attraction to an incredibly sexy woman, he’d been nothing more to her than an experiment. “Let me ask you this.” He nailed her with a look. “Would any man have done?”
“No,” she said, but the embarrassed flush of color in her cheeks made him wonder. “I was attracted to you, Mike. Still am, obviously.”
“Are you?”
“Can you doubt that after what happened the other night?”
“Ah, yes. The other night.”
“Speaking of ...” She looked away again. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since then.”
“And?”
“And ...” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I can’t work for you anymore.”
“What?” His heart jolted and he moved around the sofa, started to reach for her, but stopped when she tensed. “What do you mean you can’t work for me?”
“Well, don’t you think it would be just a tiny bit awkward since you hired me to help you find a wife? After what happened ... after we ...” She made a helpless gesture but refused to look at him.
“Kissed?”
“Yes, I think it would be awkward.”
“Why?” With his pulse racing, he laid his hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her. “Talk to me, Kate.”
She turned enough to address the front of his Hawaiian shirt. “Because if we keep spending time together we both know what will happen. And that would be a huge mistake.”
“How could something we both want be a mistake?”
“Because,” she all but growled at him, “we’re looking for entirely different things. You want something serious, something permanent, and all I want is—” She shut her mouth abruptly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Would you please look at me?” He cupped her neck and urged her chin up with his thumb. “Tell me, Kate, what do you want?” When her eyes lifted he finally saw what she’d been trying to hide: not mild attraction, but all-out desire. Strong enough and hot enough to match his own. But he also saw fear: felt both in the rapid pulse against his palm. “You don’t have to be afraid, Kate. Just tell me what you want.”
She shook her head in denial. “I don’t want anything.”
“Liar.” He lowered his head, testing to see which would win, desire or fear. “You want this, don’t you? As much as I do.”
His lips brushed hers. She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. He deepened the contact, testing, tasting. Her body relaxed a fraction, began to lean into him. With a murmur of defeat, she surged against him. He nearly shouted in triumph as they came together in a clash as volatile as the storm outside. Their tongues tangled, giving and taking with equal abandon.
“Yes,” she sighed as her fingers slipped up along his chest. Her head dropped back as he kissed her neck. “I mean, no.” He vaguely realized her touch had changed, that she pushed at his chest rather than clung. “I can’t do this.”
When he didn’t immediately let go, she struggled to break free.
“What?” Fighting for air and reason, he loosened his arms, then tightened them when her legs buckled. She struggled harder. “Would you wait a second?” he said. “I’m not forcing you to do anything. Just talk to me, Kate.”
“Talk?” Her eyes went from panicked to angry as she found her balance. “How can I talk? I can’t even think when I’m near you.”
“And you suppose I can?” He shook his head to clear it, then gave up. “To hell with it. We’ve done too much thinking already.” He ran his hands over her back, felt the shudder that raced through her. “I say we stop thinking altogether.”
“No.” Her hands fisted in his shirt as she dropped her forehead to his chest. “I need to think. I have to, but you keep confusing me.”
“Confusing you? Or scaring you?”
“You don’t scare me.” Her head shot up, revealing wide, frantic eyes.
“Oh, yeah?” He leaned in close. “Prove it. Kiss me, Kate. Stop thinking and kiss me.”
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she breathed as he laid a trail of kisses beside her mouth. She turned her head a fraction, letting their mouths brush. “It’s a terrible idea.”
“Speak for yourself.” He cupped the back of her head. “I happen to think it’s a brilliant idea.” Tired of toying at the edge of the pond, he dove in headfirst, let himself drown in the textures and flavors of her mouth. He felt her go under with him, as her arms wound about his neck.
“Mike, wait.” She struggled up for air. “This isn’t fair to you.”
“How could something I want this badly not be fair to me?”
“Because you want forever, and all I want is this.”
“Then take it, Kate.” He took her hand and teased her palm with a kiss. He saw her eyes go heavy, felt her body tremble. “Seize the moment.”
“As long as you realize”—her voice came out in a husky whisper—“this can’t go anywhere. If we do this, if we wind up in bed together, we both agree it’s just ...”
“Sex?” He moved his mouth to her wrist, delighting in the rapid beat of her pulse.
“Yes.” She met his eyes squarely, even as color rose in her cheeks. “There’ll be no promise of happy-eve
r-after. No false commitment. Just what we have here and now.”
His eyes hardened. “Fine. If that’s what you want.” He swept her into his arms.
“Mike!” she shrieked. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you what you want.” He strode toward the bedroom.
“You don’t have to carry me. Besides, I’m too heavy!”
“The day a Cameron can’t carry a woman to bed is the day I change my name.” When he reached the master suite, he tossed her into the middle of the king-sized waterbed. Her eyes widened as he climbed onto the bed and crawled toward her on all fours until he hovered over her. Beneath her, water sloshed, while lightning and thunder raged beyond the windows. She felt as if she’d been cast into a lifeboat on a storm-tossed sea. “You want mindless, emotionless sex? Then that’s what I’ll give you.”
Her heart slammed into her throat, but before she could answer, his mouth came down over hers. Hard. Demanding. Excitement flared, blinding her in a white-hot rush. Yes, this was what she wanted, needed. Not the polite exchange between two people who shared their bodies because they shared a bed. When love died, sex became just another part of being married, like doing the laundry and paying the mortgage.
This, however, was anything but polite. With savage efficiency, he pulled her top over her head and tossed it across the room. His mouth descended to the swell of her breasts above her lacy peach-colored bra.
Gasping, she arched beneath him, caught by a wild recklessness she’d only dreamed of, read about, written about, but never thought to experience herself. Waves of heat washed through her as his hands moved down her body, caressing every curve until he cupped her bottom and brought her hips firmly against his rigid arousal. “Touch me, Kate. However you want. I’m all yours.”
Emboldened by his husky words, she slipped her hands beneath the shirt and discovered the body that lay beneath. She’d wondered about the feel of it, oh, how she’d wondered, and now she knew. Hard, heated flesh greeted her at every turn from the solid chest to the taut stomach. One of his thighs moved between hers, pressing and rubbing with deadly skill. She writhed within his embrace, thrilled by his strength and his urgency.
She lifted her hips as he removed her shorts. His eyes darkened when he discovered the lacy peach thong that matched her bra. When his gaze traveled back to hers, she saw amusement mix with approval. “I take it ‘passionate peach’ is your favorite color?”
A chuckle escaped her at the reference to the lipstick she’d dropped in L.A. How could any man be so arrogantly aggressive and light-hearted at the same time? The combination proved irresistible. “Absolutely,” she said in her most sultry voice.
With a growl, he kissed her mouth, her neck, worked his way down to her breasts. Rather than remove the bra, he lowered the lace just enough to reveal the coral nipples that waited beneath. “God,” he said, shaking his head. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“Perhaps you could show me.”
And he did. With every touch, every kiss, he took her to places she’d only imagined—wild, wonderful places that left her breathless and greedy for more.
He shed his shirt, kicked free of his shorts and briefs. Her bra and thong quickly followed. Naked at last, they rolled together, a tangle of eager hands and desperate bodies until she pressed him to his back and straddled his hips.
“The nightstand,” he mumbled against her breast as he flung one arm outward, groping over the sheet. “What?” She frowned in confusion as he slowly destroyed her with his clever tongue on her nipples. “I’ve got to ... hang on. Don’t go away.”
Twisting sideways, he reached the nightstand, rummaged through the drawer, then came back with a small foil packet. A condom. Of course! She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it herself and insisted upon it. She, who doled out lectures on safe sex, had completely forgotten the number one rule.
But then, she’d never had cause to use one before, had in fact never made love to a man who wore one. She watched in fascination as he rolled it on. Then he reached for her and her thoughts scattered.
“You want me, Kate?” he asked against her neck as his hands moved her hips into position. She felt his hard shaft press against her moist entrance. “Then take me. I’m all yours.”
How could she have known that surrender from a man would thrill her so? How could he have known? She didn’t care. She laced her fingers with his and carried his hands above his head, holding them there. Sinking over him, she took what he offered. Her head fell back as she gloried in the feel of his long hard length inside her, the power that it gave her. When she rocked against him, he followed her lead. The tension built slowly at first, than faster as she quickened the pace. It wasn’t enough. And then it was too much. Too much feeling. Too much wanting. Too much everything.
In a final surge of energy and passion, they came together like a wave hitting a rocky shore. Thrust upward, airborne, they remained suspended in that perfect time and space, before they fell together back to earth, and into each other’s arms.
Chapter 14
MIKE had lied. While the sex had been mindless, it definitely had not been emotionless. At least not for him. And, he suspected, not for Kate. She lay beside him, utterly boneless, with her leg draped over his thighs as she nestled her head into the crook of his shoulder. Her hair smelled of rain, and some floral-scented shampoo. Smiling, he allowed himself the luxury of running his hand over her soft skin.
This was not a woman who gave her body where she hadn’t already given her heart. The thought warmed him even as it frustrated him—because he knew instinctively that she wasn’t ready to admit it. In spite of what had just happened, too many barriers remained between them. He tightened his embrace a fraction, wanting to cling to the moment a little longer.
She raised her head and blinked at him, as if trying to figure out exactly how she’d come to be naked in his bed. He cupped her chin and stared straight into her eyes. “If you dare say that this was a mistake, or that it shouldn’t have happened, or that it won’t happen again, I may have to strangle you.”
She burst out laughing, which at least took care of her confused expression. “Well, that’s honest.” Her laughter slowly stilled. “All right, I won’t say it was a mistake. I’ll simply say it was ... inevitable.”
“Yes.” He relaxed enough to tuck a coppery curl behind her ear. Such soft hair, yet so vivid and unpredictable. “From the moment I met you, I knew I had to make love to you—not just that I would, but that I had to.”
With a heavy sigh, she sat up, her back to him. “Mike ...” She drew in a breath, preparing to say something more, when the doorbell rang.
They both froze.
Her eyes widened as she glanced at him. “Are you expecting someone?” she whispered, as if whoever stood at the door, in the midst of a thunderstorm, might hear her.
“Only your friend Jim,” he whispered back.
“Ohmygod, I completely forgot.” As if a starter had fired a gun, they both dove for their clothes.
“What am I going to do?” she asked. “I don’t want him to find me here like this.”
“It’s okay. Don’t panic. You were supposed to meet him here, remember?”
“Yes, that’s right. But I told him I’d meet him this afternoon. What’s he doing here so early?” She closed her eyes as color stained her cheeks. “I can’t believe ... It’s not even noon, and we just—”
“Yeah.” He grinned in true male satisfaction. “We certainly did.”
“Don’t you dare gloat.” She scalded him with a look as she pulled shorts over her thong. “Or I swear, I’ll beat you.”
“Promises, promises.” He bent forward and pressed a quick smacking kiss to her mouth. “You’re cute when you blush.”
“I’m embarrassed when I blush.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sat on the bed to pull on his Reeboks. “Which is what’s so cute—the woman who wrote all those articles on how to have a healthy sex life embarrass
ed to be caught in bed before noon.”
“I’m a mother, for heaven’s sake.” She pulled on the T-shirt. “And that’s my best friend’s husband I’m about to face. He’ll take one look at me and know.”
“Kate.” He laughed. “It’s not like it’s written across your forehead.” She gave him an exasperated look as she pulled on her shoes. He had to admit, someone would have to be a blind fool to look at that flushed face and those swollen lips and not know. “All right, but so what? You’re entitled.” Standing, he took her by the shoulders. “As for being a mother, there wouldn’t be very many second and third kids running around if mothers didn’t do this sort of thing.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, wait here while I answer the door.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm. “Are you crazy? He knows I’m here, my car’s out front. If I hide, it’ll just look worse.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
The doorbell rang again. “You go down to your workroom,” she said as they headed across the living room. “I’ll answer the door.”
“On one condition.” He squeezed her hand. “That you don’t run off without coming downstairs.”
“All right. Yes, whatever.” After one more quick kiss, he darted past the glass door and disappeared down the stairs.
Thank God for frosted glass, Kate thought as she took a moment in the foyer to compose herself before she opened the door. “Jim,” she said with a bright smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here so early.”
“With this weather, I couldn’t do any work at the other house, so I figured what the heck.” He came in shaking off rain. “Damn but it’s rainin’ like a son of a bitch out there.” As if suddenly struck by a thought, he looked at her. “So, what are you doing here so early?”
“I, uh ... Mike wanted me to look around and give him some suggestions about ... window treatments for his workroom, which is why we didn’t hear the bell the first time it rang. We were downstairs. Looking at his windows.”
“Uh-huh.” Jim nodded knowingly. “Didn’t hear the bell the first time it rang. You know, Linda and I have had that problem a time or two.”
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