Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series)

by Catherine Bybee

  Dean fixed her with a stare. “You pass out at work and wake up in my bed…you don’t think that would cause you to freak?”

  Well when he put it that way.

  “I—I trust you.”

  He shook his head before getting out of the truck. “That makes one of us.”

  A grin settled over her lips and warmth spread throughout her body as he walked around the front of the truck before opening her door.

  “Steady enough to walk?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” She’d been more tired than drunk. Sure her head still swam a little, but there wasn’t a dense fog over her eyes shading her vision.

  His arm snaked around her waist even though she didn’t need it. Part of her wanted to push him away, but the other part…the woman who enjoyed the deep heat of his hand resting on her hip and the masculine scent of his skin as it reached her nose…that part wanted to snuggle up and enjoy the cocoon of his arms.

  Huddled close, they walked to the lit drive of the hotel. A valet opened the door for them as they walked through and addressed Katie by name.

  “Good evening, Miss Morrison,” the receptionist said as they walked by. “Did you want your messages?”

  She waved the woman off. “In the morning.”

  “Yes, Miss Morrison. Have a nice evening.”

  Dean walked her through the lobby and to the bank of elevators. “Do you have your key?” he asked as his fingers skimmed over her arms. Shivers ran down her skin despite the warm temperature of the California summer evening.

  She dug into her purse and removed the elevator key. They stepped inside, alone, and she waved the card over the lock. The key accessed the penthouse level and bypassed anyone going up along the way. It was a small measure of security she had living in a hotel with often hundreds of strangers.

  They arrived on the top floor without saying anything to each other.

  It wasn’t until they were inside her hotel room that she managed to say, “I don’t even feel tipsy anymore. You don’t have to keep holding me up.”

  Dean didn’t let go.

  She didn’t wiggle out of his arms.

  He did, however, remove her purse from her fingers and toss the bag on a nearby table.

  “Not tipsy?” he asked.

  “No. Tired, but not drunk.”

  He let a grin spread on his lips and he returned his hand to her arm. They were face to face, and his body heat warmed her skin.

  “Good. I don’t want you thinking I’ve taken advantage of you.”

  She narrowed her eyes and stared at his lips. Lips she’d kissed more times than she could possibly count. “Taken advantage of what?”

  “Of this.”

  Those perfect lips slid over hers and the room around them disappeared.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dean held her in his arms and kissed her so completely, hours could have slid by. He’d stared at her lips all night wanting a taste. Katie may have told him she wasn’t ready to see him romantically again, but she hadn’t stopped watching him. In fact, since Jack had returned to Texas, Katie managed to set his blood on fire almost hourly with the nibbling on her lips as she watched him working…or the hunger in her gaze when he roamed the job site with her in tow.

  Katie might have said she wasn’t ready, but her body screamed for him to risk kissing her again.

  She released a tiny hum, one he vividly remembered from their past as she tilted her head back and opened to him.

  Dean held her tight enough to tell her he wanted her, but loose enough so she could escape if she truly wanted to.

  Please don’t want to.

  Her breasts pushed up against his chest and her arms circled the back of his neck. He smiled under her kiss and followed the lovely curve of her hip with his hand. Katie lifted her leg into his touch. The heat of her center made direct contact with his growing erection and he moaned.

  She nipped at his lips and broke their kiss. “This is such a bad idea.” Her breathless words would have alarmed him if Katie’s soft fingers weren’t tugging at his shirt.

  Dean kissed her neck and the sensitive lobe of her ear.

  “God that feels good.”

  “We always feel good together,” he reminded her. He’d never forgotten the feel of her body over his, the taste of her skin. The globe of her butt met his palm and he brought her closer. Her hips buckled along with her knees.

  She wanted him; there was no doubt in Dean’s mind. But he was a Southern gentleman and he’d never seduce an unwilling woman. As much as it would kill him walking away now, he’d force himself to.

  Lifting his lips from her neck, he waited until her hooded gaze met his. Soft, warm desire spoke to him in silence.

  “I want to hold you, make slow sweet love to you until your body is draped over mine like silk, and both of us are too weak to open our eyes.” His words were delivered in a hoarse whisper.

  The pulse in her throat moved faster as she swallowed with his words.

  He lifted a hand to her cheek and stroked her swollen lips with his thumb. “If you’re going to ask that I leave, have mercy, and do it now.”

  Katie drowned in the depth of his gray eyes. He had the perfect amount of Southern drawl lacing his words. She’d never forgotten how in sync they were together, how well they fit. The image of them naked and rolling around on satin sheets was intoxicating. The sad truth was she’d not so much as kissed a man since she and Dean had broken apart. It wasn’t that she’d closed herself off from men, she simply didn’t feel a big enough spark to dive into that pool again.

  With Dean the fireworks were a given.

  Another harsh reality reminded her that, with Dean, she could be herself. There was no pretense or expectations other than what they were both willing to give. She’d not shared that with anyone ever…except with Dean.

  “I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she whispered.

  “That’s never going to happen.”

  He kissed her again, hot indecent kisses that scattered all coherent thought. He lifted her in his strong, capable arms and walked them both to her bedroom.

  They tumbled onto the bed, their lips fused in a way that left them gasping for air.

  She kicked her shoes to the floor and reached under Dean’s shirt. What had started out as somewhat lazy and familiar switched into combustible. The need to feel his naked skin on hers made her push him away. She unbuttoned his shirt, fumbling as she went.

  He quickly became frustrated with her clothing and started pulling it over her head.

  “What happened to slow and sweet?” she asked, chuckling.

  His eyes glossed over as her breasts peeked out from under the lacy pink bra he found beneath her clothing. “Next time. I promise.”

  Dean’s lips found the tender flesh between her breasts and he licked her through her bra. Her nipples pebbled and ached. Katie fell back to the bed and enveloped herself in the feel of him touching her, kissing her. “So good.” It had always been so good.

  He pulled her bra aside and filled his mouth with her breast. Deep inside, her belly tightened.

  His knee wedged between her thighs and she shamelessly pushed against him, her skirt riding high, and her panties moist with desire.

  He kissed a path down her flat stomach. “Anxious, darlin’?” he chuckled.

  More than he could ever possibly know.

  “I want fireworks, Dean.” She’d never refrained from telling him what she wanted in bed. I’m not starting now.

  He tugged at the zipper of her skirt, then tugged again, and removed it from her hips.

  Dean drew in a deep breath through his nose and rolled his eyes back. “You’re killing me, Katie. I’d sit in my office…” He leaned down and dragged his tongue along the dainty fabric that passed for her panties. “And wonder if you still wore lingerie.”

  “Most women wear underwear.”

  “Not like you, Katie. Never like you. It’s like Christmas every time I unwrap you. You’ve mad
e me hard just wondering what color, what shape, was hidden under your clothes.”

  Pure feminine bliss rolled over her. He’d thought about her, wondered about her long before now.

  He kissed the crease between her thigh and her hip. “What color did you wear at the wedding?” he asked.

  Hot air forced from his mouth threatened her ability to speak. “G-gold and white s-satin.”

  Dean growled.

  He pushed her panties aside and placed his lips where the cloth had been. He was there, in exactly the right place, rolling his tongue in delightful swirls as if tasting the perfect ice cream from a tiny cone.

  She couldn’t breathe. Dean found her pleasure and didn’t relent until she called his name and rode out the first orgasm she’d had in what felt like forever.

  “How are those fireworks, darlin’?”

  She smiled, laughed even as she ran her hands over his shoulders. “Bright and shiny,” she said. “Wanna see ’em?”

  Dean crawled up her body and dropped an elbow on each side of her head. He kissed the tip of her nose. “Oh, yeah.”

  She wrapped one limber leg over his hips and shoved on his chest. “Where did your pants go, cowboy? I don’t remember taking them off.” He wore only boxer briefs that were losing the battle of containing his excitement.

  “Too binding,” he said.

  “These need to go, too.” His boxers met the floor and she ran her hands up his legs until she cupped him fully. She leaned forward to taste and Dean stopped her. “One lick and I’m toast. Condom, Katie, back pocket of my pants.”

  “Don’t you want—”

  “Oh, yeah…I want. But first I need you.”

  She believed him. His need for her.

  Katie scrambled off the bed and tossed his pants to him.

  He tore open his wallet, found the condom, and covered himself in seconds.

  “C’mere,” he beckoned.

  Their lips met with wet kisses filled with promises. His arms were everywhere, as if he’d forgotten what she felt like and was starved to rediscover her.

  Dean lifted her easily, guiding her over his impressive length, until she felt him slowly push deep inside. Even with her on top of him, he held the control. And she liked giving it to him here, when they were intimate. Not once had he taken that power to a scary place, and because of that, her trust in him never faltered.

  “So tight,” he hissed between his lips. “Sweet Jesus, Katie, you’re killing me.”

  He opened her slowly and completely, like only a big man could, until they were both holding their breaths and her hips were flush with his. She smiled into his neck and savored the feel of him. She’d missed him, terribly. Never did she think she would be in his arms again when she’d told him good-bye the first time.

  She swiped away the awful memory and thought only of now. Of this moment in his arms. Her hips rolled onto his once…twice. Dean’s fingers squeezed her waist and within a heartbeat she was under him. Skin to skin they found a frantic pace that suited them both. The confession of wanting him, needing him, and missing him sat on the tip of her tongue as her body responded to his.

  She bit her lip, refusing to say anything but meaningless moans that encouraged every move he made. Those confessions would place her heart exactly where her body was now, wrapped around Dean.

  He tilted her hips and plunged even deeper. “Now you’re killing me,” she told him.

  Dean slowed down. “Too much?”

  “God, no. Please.”

  He locked eyes with her and slid in her with delicious friction, keeping the pace until neither of them could hold their eyes open. One second she was warming up to her orgasm and then it exploded over her, long shuddering spasms that wrung her out.

  “Oh, Katie,” Dean muttered as he reached his release. The expression of bliss on his face was one she’d put there and that felt damn good.

  He collapsed on top of her with a sigh. “Oh, baby. I missed you.”

  She stilled. His words hung there, waiting for a response. “We were always good in bed.”

  Dean shifted his weight and pulled her with him onto their sides. “Good is such a paltry word. Magnificent, spectacular.”

  She liked that. The emotions mixed up with missing him drifted away as they enjoyed a little pillow talk. “No one does it better.” Katie had told him that in their past. She meant it then and even more now.

  “Like a Bond film…the music from the movie. Makes me feel bad for the rest.” He stroked the side of her face as they talked.

  “Are you going to serenade me, cowboy?”

  “I might.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to do that before we hit the sheets?” The length of him slid from her body. She regretted the loss.

  “Before, during…after. I’ll sing if your ears can handle it.”

  Katie snuggled into her pillow and curled one arm under her head. “I’ve stood beside you a time or two in church. You have a nice voice.” A rich baritone she hadn’t expected the first time she’d heard it.

  “We just had the most sinfully amazing sex this side of the equator and you had to go and mention church.”

  “I never understood how something so good could be considered so bad,” she told him. “If touching heaven is a sin, then sign me up.”

  “Keep danglin’ that apple, li’l Eve, and I’ll follow.”

  She poked his chest with her index finger. “Don’t even think of not sharing the blame for being here.”

  His coy look was comical. “Oh, I’ll take all the blame…and the credit.”

  Her heavy eyelids started to fall and took longer to look back up. “Good. Glad that’s settled. You take the blame, I take the credit. All is right in my world.”

  His chest rumbled as he laughed. He tucked her under his chin and sighed. “Go to sleep, Katelyn.”

  He did not have to tell her twice.

  Early morning light winked through the curtains that were being blown around by the air-conditioning vent in the wall. Katie blinked open her eyes and sighed. Her limbs were lax and her mind free of worry. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this rested.

  Warm images of the night with Dean put a grin on her face. She’d worried if she’d regret their night by the time morning arrived. She didn’t. She couldn’t. Everything about them felt complete and, even if she needed to be less than honest with him about how she felt, she wouldn’t lie to herself.

  Katie rolled to her side expecting to see him there and found nothing. Her heart lurched. Had he left in the night? Was he upset they were sharing a bed again? Though she didn’t want that, she also knew she couldn’t keep up the pace they’d had before with Savannah in her life. Not with the infant hidden anyway.

  Pushing the covers aside, she padded across the plush carpet to the bathroom. She took care of her needs and ran a brush through her hair. What little makeup she’d worn the day before was smudged on her face, but she left it there. If Dean was somewhere in the massive penthouse suite, he’d appreciate that she didn’t gussy up for him. She covered up with the white terry cloth bathrobe that hung on the back of the bathroom door and made her way into the living room.

  Richly brewed coffee met her nose as she rounded the corner. Dean sat on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. He drank his coffee while reading the paper. When he didn’t notice her walk in, she cleared her throat.

  He dropped the paper and looked up with an instant smile. His gaze traveled her body and his smile fell.

  “What? I don’t look as good in the morning?” she teased.

  “No.” He set his coffee down and walked to her side. “You look even better.”

  It was so easy fishing for compliments with Dean. “You’re full of shit, Dean Prescott. I have mascara smudged under my eyes and eye shadow on my forehead. I look like day old bread.”

  He grasped her slim waist and pulled her into his arms. “I like day old bread. A little hard on the outside with the insides still soft and
tender. Warm it up, and butter melts on it all the same.”

  She couldn’t stop smiling. “That’s one heck of a line. Might need to write it down and blog about it.”

  “You blog?”

  “No.” But she’d thought about it after visiting several in the last month. Between designer blogs and mommy blogs, Katie had opened up an entire world of cyber information she couldn’t find in books. “But I might wanna.”

  Dean brushed his lips over hers. “Good mornin’, darlin’.”

  Katie sighed. “Good morning.”

  He turned toward the service and poured her a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, just the way she liked it.

  “Thanks.”

  “I took the liberty of ordering a few things. I know you’re not big on breakfast, but—”

  “You are,” she finished for him.

  “Right.”

  The first sip of coffee opened her eyes even wider. It felt wonderful to have a morning of relaxation. A tiny bit of guilt pulled at the back of her brain. Monica would expect her there by ten. Which meant Katie would have to find a way to have Dean leave without any questions.

  “You got up early,” Katie said. It was Saturday and neither one of them would go to work.

  “Couldn’t avoid it. My cell phone started chiming thirty minutes ago.”

  “Is everything OK?”

  “Probably. I need to go by the site. The Santa Ana winds started up last night and there’s a mess at the hotel.”

  Katie looked out the window and noticed a haze. Being on the top floor of the hotel, she didn’t see any trees blowing around and the thick windows didn’t allow any wind noise. “Jack said the winds here can be nasty.”

  “The gusts can reach hurricane speeds. They knock down power lines, semitrucks. Out here, they kick up dust and topple trees. Leaves quite a mess most of the time.”

  She sipped her coffee. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to push him out the door.

  Dean topped off his coffee and brought a plate of fruit and toast over to her.

  “You don’t have to wait on me.”

  “It’s my way of assuring you’re going to eat since I can’t stay here and watch.”