HellKat (3 page)

Kat James had never encountered a more exasperating man, and not because of a lack of experience. She had three brothers, had had her share of men and relationships, and had survived as a single adult woman in a city and profession swirling with testosterone. She’d seen a lot, and when it came to men, not much surprised her anymore.

Tucker Williams, on the other hand, amounted to a frustrating anomaly she struggled to wrap her head around. Common sense told her to get up and walk away. But she remained stuck to her seat, wanting to know what would come out of his mouth next. Plus, she knew all about sexual tension, and for some damned reason, he had her body buzzing.

Her competitive nature factored in too. She liked to win, and, to Kat, walking away meant defeat. Not acceptable. No, she would defeat him.

She decided to change tactics.

Her features softened and her body relaxed. She angled into his personal space, seduction in the air. “I want a clear head too, Tucker.” The sultry purr drew his full attention. Her tongue swept a shine across her lips, caused his cocky grin to fade. “I want to remember the look on your conceited face when I leave your smug ass sitting at this table.”

For a split second, concern crisscrossed his rugged features. But then he laughed, pushed the appetizers closer to her. “Eat up, darlin’, you’re gonna need plenty of fuel for later. Trust me.” His throaty rumble heated the blood in her veins. His chin lowered and he zeroed in on her, daring her to prove him wrong.

She could not believe his overgrown ego and total lack of filter.

“Are you for real? You did not just say that.” He continued to stare at her with the same annoying grin. “Where the hell are you from, Tucker? It must be some place without women.”

His focus on her became more serious, and he leaned across the table until they were almost nose-to-nose. His masculine scent wrapped around her, scrambled her logic. Kat could’ve sworn he sniffed her. He took his time appraising her.

Then he spoke in a husky timbre that skipped and teased along her flesh. “I like you, darlin’. I like you a whole lot.” He brushed the tip of her nose with his and her heart skipped from the soft, charged contact. “We both know all this fightin’ is just foreplay. We’re just sizin’ each other up.” He angled his head as if to kiss her. The idea didn’t repulse her. “It’s gonna be a helluva match.” His hoarse whisper and warm breath raised heated goosebumps on her skin.

He made a slow retreat back to his side. The living, breathing epitome of calm, unflappable confidence staring back at her, undeterred, and up for the challenge.

Kat sat riveted, studying him and his unrepentant maleness. So unapologetically comfortable in his own skin. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know, to feel, the thoughts in his thick head. As a matter of fact, her body hummed from the idea alone of his rough hands all over her, the steamy scene he’d planted in her head seconds ago. The rhythmic pounding of her heart throbbed like a drum in her ears. Kat’s breathing picked up speed as the maddening truth of his provocative comments slammed home.

She wanted him—bad. Why? That girl didn’t exist anymore, the one who’d indulged in casual sex, had tried guys on for size in college. Why did Tucker Williams stir the kind of lust now boiling in her blood?

The bustle around them slowed, quieted, and then she realized she’d scooted closer to him when he’d leaned across the table toward her. Kat’s cheeks flushed with heat and she quickly slid back to her side. She cleared her throat, shook the fog out of her head, and checked the time on her watch. Cassie’s disappointed face popped in her head. Diamond Industries had backed out, a no-show.

“Looks like it’s just gonna be you and me, darlin’.”

His smug expression had been replaced with lust and longing. Jesus, this man didn’t try to hide anything. His directness unnerved her. She needed to get back on track, back in control.

“You didn’t answer my question, Tucker. Where are you from?”

He waited a couple of beats before answering.

“I’m from all over: Texas. Montana. Wyoming. Colorado. You name it. I’ve probably lived there at one time or another.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question, now does it?” Why didn’t he want to narrow it down? “What do you do for a living, Tucker?”

His mouth twitched, lids narrowed. He appeared uncomfortable for the first time, and his attention drifted away from her for a few seconds. He seemed to be making a decision.

“Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that,” he said with a shrug, swinging his eyes back to hers.

Her tight expression indicated displeasure with his answer.

“I see. You’re homeless and unemployed.”

He burst out laughing.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t say that. No, no, no. Far from it.”

“But that’s as close as I’m going to get to an answer, right?”

He swallowed and wet his lips. “Somethin’ like that ... for now.”

Their stare down continued, as each tried to read the unspoken dialogue abundant in the fiery sparks ricocheting between them.

Darren interrupted the contest.

“Can I bring you anything else? Dinner menus, perhaps?”

One corner of Tucker’s mouth lifted in a knowing grin. “Yeah, Darren, why don’t you go grab us some menus. And I think my date’s changed her mind about that drink too.” He tilted his head at the full tumbler. “Doesn’t suit her much.” His eyes locked onto hers. “Too fruity. Why don’t you bring her somethin’ else to go with the dinner we’re gonna have.” Darren nodded and left. Tucker raised his chin in an open challenge, lobbed the ball in her court.

Should she call his bluff? Walk away?

Would he let her?

It pissed her off knowing she’d be disappointed if he did. Damn him! And damn those parts of her that wanted to try him on for size. He definitely brought out the worst in her.

She angled closer to Tucker and answered with a sultry dare of her own. “I certainly hope I can find something that will fill me up. I’d hate to leave here disappointed.”

Tucker’s body rippled in silent laughter. Then he eased his hulking form across the table, an attempt to unsettle her. She didn’t budge, and his smile grew even wider.

“Oh, you won’t leave here disappointed, darlin’.” He edged closer, lowered his voice. “You’ll be filled up. You can count on it.”

****

Tucker had excused himself to take yet another call. Every time he’d left the table, Kat had watched his fine ass swagger away, as had other ogling females. Now, like the interruptions before, he’d managed to find a location in the restaurant where he could keep a watchful eye on her. She wondered if he wanted to block her path, prevent her escape. She sighed in frustration. Why the hell couldn’t his calls go to voicemail? And why did he have to leave to answer them?

She closed her eyes, pinched at the bridge of her nose, and rewound the evening. They’d talked and bickered and laughed over dinner. He’d claimed to be single—no surprise. What woman could put up with his cocky, overly confident ass on a daily basis?

He’d revealed his former status as an army brat, which had shed some light on his comment from earlier. But she still couldn’t get a satisfactory answer as to how he made a living. She’d managed to pin him down on owning a horse ranch in Montana he’d be leaving New York soon to get back to. Nothing substantive. His vagueness had left her exasperated, and even more curious.

Why?

How much information did she need beyond his marital status and the impatient throb between her legs? She only wanted to go off the rails with him for one night anyway. And the fact that he lived so far away seemed like a lucky bonus. She’d never see him again after tonight, if she followed through with the lust fueling her body.

Even if her body didn’t make the trip, her brain would.

Sharp images of them naked, sweaty, and satisfied competed for space in her head. She groaned to herself, shifted in the booth, and squeezed her thighs together to ease the ache. Going without a man for so long had left her at a distinct disadvantage now. Thanks a lot, Dan. She silently cursed him and his
feelings
, his list of demands, and, now cursed herself for cutting him off cold turkey months ago.

The bedside drawer full of toys at home paled in comparison to the hint of sin she’d seen in Tucker’s eyes, had heard in the tease and caress of his deep, rumbling voice. Desire tickled her flesh, but irritation percolated in her belly. How had she let someone like him get under her skin? Kat James did not go for this kind of man—never had, with his tied-back hair, ratty jeans, and old cowboy boots.

Cowboy boots, for crying out loud! She huffed at the absurdity.

She’d graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University and had become a successful businesswoman. She ran in a completely different circle than Tucker Williams.

With fingertips pressed against her temples, Kat grumbled under her breath. The man clearly got a kick out of pissing her off. And his laid-back style and idiomatic penchant for dropping the G off the end of random words bugged her. And his arrogance! Oh my God—
limitless!

So why the hell did she feel so turned on?

His dimpled smile?

His rugged face?

The idea of something different?

Her back straightened. Maybe that’s what this was about. Maybe she just wanted a change …?

She exhaled a long, head-clearing breath and then ticked through the list of why-nots in her head: redneck, cowboy boots, uneducated, long hair, unshaven, cocky, and annoying as hell. Not to mention his irritating use of
darlin’
.

“Sorry about that, darlin’, won’t happen again. Turned the damn thing off this time,” he said as he climbed back into the booth.

Kat stared at him, fingers drumming the table.

“What’s with the toothpick?”

He’d had one in his mouth off and on the entire time. Now he rolled it across his lips, corner to corner, and back again. She couldn’t take her eyes off the fluid, subtle movement, couldn’t stop the reel in her head of his lips and tongue rolling across her, working their magic …

His unnatural silence yanked her from the provocative reverie. The gleam in his eyes and tilt of his head announced he’d be happy to oblige her fantasy.

A bloom of heat colored her cheeks. Oh great, he had her blushing again too.

“Well, Williams?” Those two words escaped with a breathy lilt she hadn’t intended.

He pulled the toothpick out, snapped it in half, and tossed it on his empty plate. She hadn’t missed the trace of his grin.

“I had a nasty habit when I was a kid. Someone back home helped me stop, told me toothpicks wouldn’t send me to an early grave.”

Kat’s face scrunched in disapproval. “You were a smoker?”

“A long time ago. When I was a teenager and some into my twenties. But that’s been at least fifteen years.”

“And you still need those?” She pointed at the broken sliver of wood.

“Yeah, I do.” He scooted his plate out of the way, planted his arms on the table, and leaned toward Kat like he had a dark secret to impart. “I have a very serious oral fixation.”

The air in Kat’s lungs emptied in one puff.

That was it.

Decision made.

“Can I interest either of you in a dessert menu or coffee this evening?”

Kat beat Tucker to the punch, held him in her decisive stare. “No. What I
want
isn’t on the menu.”

Tucker’s face darkened with hunger, warned of the debauchery ahead.

“Um, okay, then. I’ll just bring the check.”

Zeroed in on Kat, Tucker gave his final order. “Make it fast, Darren. Double-time.”

The waiter nodded and rushed away.

“You really have a room in this five-star hotel, Tucker?”

“Sure do, darlin’,” he said, with a sly smile.

She leaned closer. “If you don’t stop calling me
darlin’
, you’re going to that room without me. Got it?”

He appeared to stifle a chuckle, then he nodded in compromise.

As soon as Darren returned with the bill, Tucker stood and pushed a wad of cash into the waiter’s hand without looking at the total, telling him to keep the extra, with a hearty slap on the back. He moved to Kat’s side of the table, towered above her, hand held out. This time she took it. His strong grip and skin-to-skin contact sent a charge of energy zipping through her, landing with precision between her thighs. She stumbled up against his hard wall of a body. When she looked up, he had a victory smile.