Текст книги "Until You"

Автор книги: Jeannie Moon

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

The first round came and Kate was the first to drain her wine. Great. That should be good for a buzz, especially when she was planning to follow it with another one, or two, or three…

She gazed around the bar and started cataloging ideas in her head. She never knew when she might need this image or one of these people to fill out a story. Looking toward the end of the bar, she thought she saw someone… no, it couldn’t be him. Just her imagination. The wine and the heat in the bar had made her a little fuzzy in the head and that was just fine, but it bothered her she couldn’t go anywhere without thinking David was there. He was always in her head and she wished he would just get the hell out.

When the waitress came by with their food, Kate ordered another glass of wine. She figured since she wasn’t driving, she could indulge. She most definitely deserved it.

Chapter 9

‡

Kate was on her third glass of Merlot in less than an hour and that necessitated a trip to the ladies’ room. Julie was putting her name on the list to sing, which Kate was almost tipsy enough to do herself, but right at that moment, as she made her way to the bathroom, all she could think about was relief.

That was when she saw David sitting at the end of the bar with another man she recognized as a teammate. He was hunched over a glass of beer and made eye contact with her as she got closer. It wasn’t her imagination. He was actually there. Damn. He watched her walk past, raking her with his eyes, but he didn’t speak to her—he didn’t even nod in her direction, he just stared. Asshole. So much for being a nice guy.

But, oh boy, she really hated how she felt. Just seeing him made her insides warm up and go soft. He was wearing jeans and a soft, gray sweater that looked absolutely touchable. She wasn’t sure if it was the wine she’d had or something else, but she wanted him. Even with all he’d done and the way he’d blown her off, the way he’d blindsided her in her classroom, she couldn’t deny she was attracted to him. It was unfair that he could do this to her without even uttering a word. Where David was concerned, she was the easiest woman on the east coast. It was a good thing he didn’t talk to her; if he did, she’d be a goner.

Her luck didn’t hold out. As Kate was putting her lipstick in her bag, and not watching where she was going as she left the ladies’ room, she ran smack into David. She stumbled and in a split second his arms were around her.

“Hey,” he said gently. “You should watch where you’re walking.” Kate didn’t answer him immediately.

Her words vanished and, apparently, so did all her common sense. Her body responded, warming from the center, tingling in all the right spots, and leaning into him. It was like she was hard-wired to respond to him—no one had this effect on her except David. The feel of his hands on her back and the press of his body against hers made her a little crazy. It was all she could do to say something, anything, which would get her out of this situation.

“You can let go now.” Her voice was a whisper and she wondered if he heard her.

She placed her hands on his hard chest, and the truth of it, she didn’t really want him to let her go. His arms were wrapped around her like bands of steel. Finally, Kate did what she had been avoiding. She tilted her head back and gazed up at him. She looked deep into his dark eyes and knew she was in big, big trouble.

“David, I need to get back to my friends.” Okay that was good. Polite. Firm.

He ignored what she said.

“You look beautiful.” He let his hands run up and down her sides.

God, his hands were magic. The gentle force on her body where he touched her made her nearly delirious.

“This dress should be illegal.”

“Thank you. I think.” It was a simple black dress, and covered with a cardigan it was nothing special.

However, she’d shed the cardigan and David took advantage of the fact the dress fit her like a second skin. She should have been furious with him, but she wasn’t, she was dying inside. She didn’t want to feel this way. She wanted to be aloof and cool, but with David, Kate was powerless.

He released her for just a moment, took her hand, and led her to a more secluded corner of the bar. A hot light passed between them as he gently pushed her back into a wall. His fingers threaded through her hair and his thumb stroked her cheek. Kate shuddered when he pressed against her and she felt his erection. His other hand settled on the back of her thigh, and then he kissed her with an urgency that went right through her.

Her muscles quivered under his touch and Kate felt a smile tease his mouth. His lips were soft and warm, heaven. She was locked against him… like she was being held captive by a seductive force that was out of her control. His mouth consumed hers, coaxing and playing, while his hand had started to push up the bottom of her dress. His long fingers caressed her thigh and traveled north. His hands slid over her cheeks and fingered the edge of her panties, all while his mouth worked miracles with hers.

His tongue moved over her lips and then swept inside. Kate inhaled sharply, taking his essence into her lungs and losing any common sense the wine hadn’t stolen from her. Why did he do this to her? Why couldn’t he see her for what she was—middle aged, past her prime? She worked hard to look respectable, but she’d never be twenty again.

“David, my friends…”

“Aren’t invited.” His lips grazed her neck and collarbone; his hands kneaded her bottom. “God,” he said into her hair, “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head, Kate. You’re all I think about.”

“David,” she struggled for breath, “People are waiting for me. Oh… God… oh…” But at this point he was kissing her neck and touching her in places no one should be touched in public.

She had so lost control of the situation and she didn’t care. He could have taken her right there against the wall and she wouldn’t have stopped him. Instead, he moved his fingers and touched her center. She moaned, and then with some pressure and a little bit of movement, he brought her to climax. Kate arched and started to cry out, and everyone in the bar would have heard her if David hadn’t pressed her face into his chest to muffle her cries. He held her tight, kept her safe, as the orgasm passed and she shook uncontrollably.

“Let’s leave.” His voice was throaty, raw. “Please.”

“I can’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because,” she said, still gasping for breath, “I hate you.”

He tilted his head back and when Kate looked up at him, she saw his mouth twitch into a grin. “I don’t believe you.”

He was so freaking smug. She looked away and cursed him under her breath. She did hate him, she did. He was shallow and arrogant and obnoxious and… and then Kate felt his lips brush against her temple and she sighed like a schoolgirl. Crap, even she didn’t believe she hated him. Flushed and sweaty, her breasts were aching for him and her girly parts were warm and wet. The air around them smelled like sex. He’d gotten her to such a point that she couldn’t go back to her friends and act like nothing had happened. There was a break in the karaoke and she heard music—Eric Clapton was wailing about not wanting to be lonely. Kate didn’t want to be lonely either, so she gave in.

“Okay,” she finally said meeting his gaze with her own. “Okay. Meet me outside.”

He nodded and dropped one last bone-melting, sense-stealing kiss on her lips before he left her to pull herself together.

She watched him walk away and Kate took a minute to assess the situation as best she could. What the hell had happened? Since when was she the woman who let herself get felt up in a bar? Why didn’t she just go back to her friends and leave him standing there? Kate ducked in the bathroom, breathed out, and touched her neck. She felt the heat and the racing pulse and she knew why. David made her made her feel sexy; he made her take risks, and do things she wouldn’t have done before. After the emotional battering she suffered when she was married, Kate wanted to feel that way. She wanted someone to want her. And even though she knew this wasn’t going to be her love story, David made her feel beautiful.

The next step was to get Julie’s attention, but it was unnecessary since her friend came looking for her. When she walked in, Kate was leaning against the tile, fanning herself, and trying to cool off.

“Holy shit,” Julie said. “What happened to you?”

“David happened.”

“He’s here?”

Kate placed her hands over her chest and tried to slow her racing heart. “He’s waiting for me.”

Julie smiled and leaned her hip into the sink. “Oh, really? Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” Kate’s words came out like a little song. “His place, I guess.”

Julie didn’t say much. She was obviously too stunned to come up with anything witty or even cautionary. But the faint giggle that escaped her throat told Kate she was amused.

“Stop laughing at me, Julie!” Kate stomped her high heel and didn’t care that she probably looked like a spoiled brat.

“Oh, no. This is too much fun.”

“You’re a horrible friend.”

Julie laughed again and nodded. “I can live with that. You’re not too drunk? Should I get your things for you and make your excuses?”

Kate thought about David waiting for her and her heart started thumping in her chest like a drum. “Not too drunk. Just tell everyone I didn’t feel well and that I’m taking a cab home. Okay?”

Julie was still giggling and Kate was too aroused to care. “You are too much.” Taking her by the shoulders, Julie guided her out of the restroom and gave her a little push. “Go. Have fun.”

*

David leaned against a lamp post and waited. God, what that woman did to him. When he touched her there was a roar in his head—he couldn’t make sense out of his thoughts, she was everywhere. When she was close, Kate was all that mattered. No one challenged him like she did. No one made him think about being a better man the way Kate did. No one. And somehow, he had to make sure she knew that.

His eyes were fixed on the door of the restaurant and finally, she came out. She was pulling a soft wrap around her shoulders and her hair was lifted by a gentle breeze. Her cheeks were still flushed, her lips swollen and pink from him kissing her senseless. Kate walked to him and pressed her body into his without a second thought. David settled his hands on her hips and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked.

“You live nearby?” Kate’s eyes rose to meet his.

When David nodded, she did as well, giving him her answer. They walked to his car, hand-in-hand, and David’s only thought was that if he did this right, Kate wouldn’t want to leave him come morning.

His vehicle was right around the corner and it was a short ride to his house, but it felt like an eternity. When he got her past the door, he had to fight the urge to just pick up where they left off in the bar. He was pushing down his needs so he could focus on hers. Only hers.

Her hand trembled in his. If she knew how nervous he was, she would question whether he had enough testosterone to follow through. When he broke it down to basics, David was scared to death he was going to screw this up. They barely knew each other, but when he looked at her, he had the feeling he was messing with the rest of his life. He’d had a lot of women and never before had one made him feel like he had something to lose. He took her wrap and she turned into his arms. Kate rested her head on his chest and the sweet smell of her seeped into his blood. His hands came up and cupped her face, her beautiful face.

“Do you want to go upstairs?”

She nodded and he led her up the stairs and to his room. Once inside, he pulled her close and left kisses over her face and down her neck, while he unzipped the black dress and touched the bare skin on her back. She wiggled and the dress fell to the floor, and it was at that moment, when he stepped back and took her in, that he started to say prayers of thanks.

Kate stood next to his bed looking like every man’s erotic fantasy. Her breasts were enveloped in a frothy bra; peeking over the tops of the lace he could see the shadow of her nipples. Moving down, she had on matching lace panties that were barely there at all, and finishing him off were the stockings and heels. Talk about a contradiction. The woman was a conservative, preppy mom one minute, and then underneath it all she dressed like a centerfold. Maybe that was the missing piece with her. Kate was an extremely controlled woman on the surface. Her wild child was hidden inside.

As he moved toward her, Kate’s breathing grew heavier, and her hoarse whisper broke the silence. “I shouldn’t be here.”

David could see that as much as she had doubts, she wanted him. However, he had to give her the chance to stop it from going any further.

“Do you want me to take you home? I want you to stay, but if you don’t, just say the word…” David stepped back and waited for her answer and once again he said a prayer, this time for her to stay. If she did, he was going to make sure she wouldn’t regret it for one minute.

Her eyes met his and he could see the decision was hard for her. David was sure it was because she probably did dislike him on some level. Being here went against every safe, sensible thing she’d ever done. It took a minute, but her eyes changed, and he saw when she’d made her choice.

“I want to stay.” She reached up and took his face in her hands before touching her lips to his. The kiss was gentle, barely there, but it shocked David’s heart. “I want to be with you, even though I have no idea why you want to be with me.”

He took her hands from his face and held them before she slipped them around his neck and continued kissing him. When they first came in, David was revved up enough to take her on the floor of the foyer. But something had changed and the tenderness, the sweetness that was coming from Kate, deserved no less from him.

When he laid her on the bed, she stretched and probably didn’t realize she’d struck a pose that was worthy of a magazine spread. This woman had no idea how magnificent she was, how beautiful. Years didn’t seem to affect her, and if there were any flaws, David didn’t notice. What kind of idiot divorced her?

David was falling for her, and his biggest fear now wasn’t that Kate would become too clingy, but that he wouldn’t measure up. He had to make sure he did everything right. He had no room for error with a woman who’d been through so much.

He began undressing her. Slowly removing each item, touching every newly exposed jewel as he whispered how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her. The urgency was gone and it was replaced by soft warmth—something that was more enduring than the flash of heat—something that would last.

*

With each touch, words flooded Kate’s brain, but her reaction was to reach out and twine her arms around David’s neck. He responded in kind, pulling her close.

She couldn’t understand why she was there or why he even wanted her, but here she was, naked in his bed, and completely and totally happy.

And at that moment, losing herself in him was enough. She stopped trying to attach a reason to everything. The only thing left to do was kiss him. So she did. Her hands threaded through his hair and her mouth touched his. This was more than a physical kiss; it was a kiss of souls. It took seconds for his weight to settle on her and for his hands to start stroking. In California, David had been about wonderfully patient; now he was so tender she was close to crying.

“David,” she whispered over and over, allowing herself the pleasure of feeling totally possessed.

He was strong and gentle, each touch made her burn. For the first time in a very long while, Kate trusted someone enough to be completely vulnerable. He entered her and each movement was a remedy to the problems of her life. Each time he said her name, Kate’s world mended. Whether it was possible or logical or wise, she felt her heart crack and open and then fall. When he came, the warmth of him penetrated her core and touched her deep within. She held on and this time, when she cried, Kate was happy.

*

At three-thirty in the morning, Kate sat on a stool in David’s kitchen. Wrapped in his blue terrycloth bathrobe, the ends of her hair still wet from their shower, she watched as he made omelets. Sporting a pair of gray knit shorts and nothing else, David moved around the kitchen like he moved on the ice and in the bedroom—with total confidence. It was too bad her head was throbbing and she couldn’t enjoy it.

“Feeling any better?” he asked.

“Eh.” She took a sip of water and waited for the Advil to kick in. “I haven’t had that much to drink, that quickly, in a long time.”

“How many glasses of wine did you have?”

She held up three fingers. “And they were those oversized glasses, so that’s more like five.

David laughed. “No wonder.”

Taking another drink of water, she got her mind off her headache by watching him cook.

“You really know what you’re doing.” she said, astounded.

He was chopping vegetables so quickly she was afraid he’d take off a finger.

“I love to eat. And since I didn’t want to condemn myself to a life of menus and take out, I learned to cook.” He tossed the vegetables into a hot pan and threw on some seasoning.

“It’s a kick watching you, but it’s such a cliché.”

“What? Cooking?”

“The omelet.” He looked confused, so she explained. “Why is it in books or movies whenever the hero cooks for the heroine, he’s always making an omelet?”

He continued to chop vegetables while he thought about what she said. “Well, things become clichés for a reason, but if I had to guess, it’s probably because people almost always have eggs around. Add whatever you have in the fridge and bingo—omelet.”

She considered him for a minute and nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Hasn’t anyone ever cooked for you in the middle of the night?” He grinned at her while he cracked eggs and Kate felt the warmth shoot right through her.

“If you’re asking if Richard ever did, no. Richard had a clear idea of men’s work and women’s work. He never cooked.”

“Neanderthal?”

“He doesn’t seem to have a problem thinking like a modern man regarding divorce settlements,” she murmured.

“At least you have a good career. You didn’t need a settlement.”

“I didn’t get one, I had to buy him out of the house and now he’s looking for money—a lot of it.”

David stopped beating the eggs for a moment to consider what she said. Kate felt a little nauseous just thinking about the way Richard took advantage of her.

“What does he want?”

“Two million, plus child support when he gets custody,” she croaked.

David’s hands gripped the whisk more tightly. “Are you kidding? He cheats, he leaves you, and he wants a couple million bucks?”

Kate sat back. “The thing is, he could get it. If it’s for Laura, I guess I couldn’t really argue. I don’t know where he thinks I have this money right now, but he could get the award based on my contracts.”

Not missing a beat, David put the bowl aside, turned off the burner and went around the counter. He wrapped his large hands around her tiny ones and crouched before her. “I just can’t believe he’d take the money. No man with any self-respect would do that.”

“Richard isn’t just any man, and his self-respect is limited only by his greed. I don’t care about the money for Laura’s support, but I know I should fight the settlement. Unfortunately, I’ve never been very good at standing up for myself.”

“What do you mean?”

Kate dropped her head and thought about the intimidation she suffered for years. Feeling she was never good enough; and believing, when she was young, it was his brilliance that made him act that way. She looked up and David was still there, gazing at her, waiting for an answer. Something about the way he held her gaze made her feel as if she could tell him anything.

“I was just twenty when Richard married me. He was twenty-nine, handsome, and intelligent. He’d come from San Francisco to Cambridge and was working on his PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT. I was young and inexperienced and thought he was sophisticated. I let him run my life and he took away everything I was.” She stopped.

David didn’t say anything, but his eyes asked the questions. His hand came up and stroked her cheek and his silence encouraged her to go on.

“I went to Harvard with a history. I wasn’t just a student, I was an elite athlete.” She drew a deep breath and kept her eyes on him.

This part of herself was lost long ago, and she never talked about it. But if David was going to be with her, he had to know who she’d been and how she got here.

“What sport?” he finally asked.

The look in his eyes betrayed his surprise. Hearing Kate was a competitive athlete was the last thing anyone expected from her. The way her life evolved, she was anything but athletic. He held her hands, and from what she could see, he had no intention of letting go.

“I was a champion figure skater. I was one-one-hundredth of a point from making the Olympics.”

David was just plain stunned at this point, but the look on his face also told her he knew why they understood each other so well. Figure skaters and hockey players were different breeds, but they both grew up on the ice, and that bound them to each other. “That’s amazing. What happened?”

Kate shrugged. “Before I went to college, I crashed during Olympic trials. That’s why I didn’t make the team. I missed a jump I’d landed a thousand times. I should have been given a spot on the Olympic team regardless of the fall, because of my finish at worlds, but it didn’t happen. I don’t know why.” Even now, the unfairness of it still burned. “All those years training and it was over. I walked away from the whole scene because I just couldn’t do it anymore and went to college ready to reinvent myself.”

“So you gave it up? All that work? How’d you do it?”

Kate had asked herself the same question over and over. She had thrown away fifteen years of hard work. Fifteen years of sacrifice. Fifteen years of her identity. But each of those things were part of the reason she quit. Kate wanted to be normal. She’d never had a boyfriend, had never had a normal social life, or a normal family life for that matter, because of skating. Walking away from it was easier than she’d imagined.

“After not making the team, I let the dream die.”

David didn’t say anything but kept hold of her hands. At one point he brought one to his lips for a kiss.

“I enjoyed school, made friends, but I was still pretty broken. I did everything possible to put the fall out of my head. And then one day Richard walked into my life. I was young and inexperienced and vulnerable. Easy picking for a guy like him. I became the center of his universe. Or so I thought.”

“Why you?”

“My parents think money was the prime motivator. My family is very well off. But I don’t know if that’s the only reason he pursued me so relentlessly; there were a lot of girls on campus with more affluent families.” She drew a deep breath. “I think it was about control. He gets off on it. Richard is very charming when he wants to be. He’s also handsome and intelligent, and he read me like a book. I was smitten by our second cup of coffee.

“After a year or so, I started missing my skating, and I thought about going back—even contacted a coach. Richard discouraged me, saying I wouldn’t have time for him, and by that time, he was involved in every part of my life. I did what he wanted. I’ve had skates on maybe a half dozen times since I was twenty.”

“If you went back to skating, he’d lose control over you.”

“I thought I’d made my own choice. He wanted me to believe that. It was his way. Insidious. Manipulative.” She’d never told anyone as much as she was telling David, and as terrified as she was that he’d think she was too damaged, freedom came with every word. “But I loved him. And I wanted to make him happy, so I said yes when he proposed and then we eloped because my parents were so against it.” She chuckled at the irony. “I accused them of trying to control my life. I was so stupid.”

“You were young, not stupid,” David replied.

“No, I was stupid. He was so much older than me, and I figured he knew more about everything. But as time passed and I grew up, I felt caged. I should have seen the warning signs. Red flags should have been popping up when he wanted me to drop out of school and follow him to some job on the west coast. I didn’t go, obviously, but whenever I did new things or tried to take control, Richard put me down. Once we were married, he went from subtle to straight out intimidation.” Kate stopped to compose herself before continuing with the story.

“He landed a job at a college in upstate New York, teaching chemistry, and when I graduated I was admitted to the writing program at Cornell. God, I learned so much. But he taunted me, insulted me in front of his colleagues and friends, so I kept what I was doing to myself. I didn’t finish the program. He got a job here and we moved. When Laura was born, he controlled her, too, getting me help because I was too ‘incompetent’ to care for my own child.” Thinking about Laura brought the tears. “She got older and I was only working part time, so I wrote to give myself something else with meaning. I needed to feel, to have control over something.” Kate looked at the hands that held hers and used the strength he gave her to continue. “I never expected my writing to take off like it did. Richard hated my books, calling what I wrote garbage, making me use my maiden name and swearing me to secrecy.” Kate bit her lower lip. “He hated it until the money came in.”

“And then you couldn’t have done it without him, right?”

“Exactly. That’s what he’ll tell the court again. That I was too busy for Laura then, and that I’m too busy now. He came by the house a few weeks ago and that’s basically what he said.”

“He’s a real son of a bitch,” he said.

“I think that’s too good for him. Do you know he’s still never read one word of anything I’ve written?”

They paused, while the revelations of the past few moments swirled around them. “You know I’ll never treat you like that, don’t you?” he asked.

“It’s so ironic.” She looked in his eyes. “Richard poses as this suave intellectual, who’s nothing more than a thug, and you’re such a physical man, in a violent sport, but you’re so gentle and…”

He didn’t hesitate for a second, pulling her into his arms. She burrowed in, holding him tightly. David felt such contempt for Richard Nicholls he thought he might lose himself in it. Up until now, he’d kept the women in his life at arm’s length, but not her. Kate, he wanted to draw in, keep close. He couldn’t explain it, but as she held onto him, it was like she grabbed onto a piece of his heart and he knew he was never getting it back.