Just Good Friends (20 page)

Everything I hoped. See you Wednesday. Koti

“Oooo, new boyfriend?” Brenda had come to stand next to the
desk, and Kate’s hand instinctively closed over the card.

“Lovely,” the other woman continued approvingly, studying
the bouquet of calla lilies and roses in vibrant shades of yellow and orange.
“He has some imagination, anyway. No naff red roses.”

“Who is he?” Heather asked from her seat two desks over.
“Can’t have been going on too long. Or you’re a damn sight more discreet than
the rest of us.”

Kate joined in the laughter around her, tucked the card
firmly into her purse. “Sorry. Keeping this one to myself for now,” she said
lightly. “Too good to share.” She positioned the vase in the corner of her
desk, smiled at Brenda, and turned back to her computer.

It was no use, though. The numbers she stared at meant
nothing to her. Thank goodness it was Monday, and Koti wasn’t on the premises.
She found herself torn between pleasure at his thoughtfulness and distress at
being exposed to her coworkers’ curiosity.

At last, she gave in to her impulse and ducked out of the
office. She found a quiet spot in the lobby and called him.

“Thanks for the flowers,” she began. “They’re beautiful.”

“Did you like them? I worried a bit, after I sent them. Because
of what you told me. I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories.”

She was touched. “Not the same thing. Not at all.”

“That was your color, I thought,” he said. “Same as the jersey
you were wearing the other night. I looked at that jersey long enough to
remember it.”

“I loved them,” she assured him again, struck by the effort
he had taken. On the other hand, he probably sent flowers to every woman he
slept with, she realized with a sudden pang. Maybe she shouldn’t assign too
much importance to the gesture.

“But, Koti,” she went on firmly. “I had to grab that card so
nobody would see it. I’d rather keep this quiet. Don’t come visit me in the
office anymore, OK? I’m afraid it’ll be obvious, if you do.”

“Why is it a secret?” She could imagine his frown at the
other end of the line. “Not doing anything wrong, are we. Nobody’s cheating on
anyone here.”

Kate hesitated. She hadn’t realized until she saw the
flowers how uncomfortable she was with making the change in their relationship
public. But she knew why. Koti had more than his fair share of romantic
history, all of which was public knowledge in the Blues office. She didn’t want
to be envied and questioned. Or dismissed as another woman on his list, she
thought with a shudder.

“I’m not ready to be public about this,” she finally told
him. “Let’s face it, we don’t even know if it’ll last more than a few weeks. We
don’t know what we’re doing yet, and I’d rather not share till we do.”

“Not hard to suss out,” he objected. “We’re dating. Nothing
spectacular about that.”

“Except that there’s too much spectacular about you,” she
pointed out. “Most of which is well known to everyone here, believe me. So
please, keep it quiet for now, OK? At least out of the office. I have to work
here.”

“You’ll find that Auckland’s a small town,” he warned her.
“Hard to keep a secret here.”

“Good thing everyone already knows we’re friends, then,” she
told him firmly. “Because that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”

Kate was shoving the towel into her swim bag when the knock
came at her door Wednesday morning.

“Who is it?” she called cautiously.

“Koti,” she heard.

She opened the door in surprise. “What are you doing here?
I’m not late to meet you, am I? I was just leaving.”

He stepped inside, shut the door. Leaned against it and
pulled her into his arms. “I thought about it. Swimming. And then I thought
about what I really wanted to do this morning. No contest.”

A smile spread slowly over her face as she pulled his head
down for a kiss. “Well, I could skip one day, I guess. If you promise to work
me out.”

He lifted her, felt her legs coming up to wrap around him.
“Oh, I’m going to work you out. Bedroom’s this way, eh.”

 “Not big enough for me to do my best work,” he commented as
he dropped her onto the bed in the tiny room. “But I’ll make shift with it for
now.”

She came up onto her knees beside him. “Oh, no. I don’t
think so. I think I’m in charge now. You’re in my flat, and it’s my turn.
Because I haven’t had nearly enough of a chance to play with you.”

He smiled, rolled to his back, pulled her on top of him. “Is
that right? I reckon we could work with that for a bit, then. I’ll do my best
to be your sex toy.”

“That’s right.” She moved to straddle him, dressed only in
her swimsuit. “You’re wearing way too many clothes, though. I’m going to have
to take care of that right now.”

She pulled off the hoodie and T-shirt, then reached down for
his shorts. “No underwear, huh. Somebody was planning ahead.”

“Always,” he gasped as she ran her hands over him. “Condom
in my shorts pocket too.”

“Good to know,” she agreed solemnly. “I don’t think we’ll
need that for a little while, though. Seems to me I have some torturing to do
first. You have a debt to pay in that department, don’t you think?”

He reached for the straps of her suit, pulled it to her
waist. Sat up to help her out of it. Sighed as he reached up to cup her
breasts, slide his hands down her body as she settled back over him. “I do. And
you’re welcome to collect. I’ll try to endure it.”

“You do that,” she told him with a satisfied smile. “You
just try. You can start by stretching your arms over your head. Just like you
made me do. I’m not tall enough to hold them there, so I’m going to have to
rely on your sportsmanship.”

“You do have sportsmanship, don’t you?” she taunted as he
slowly complied. She lay over him, moved up to kiss the Maori tattoo. Started
at his forearm, kissing the bands of muscle there, then worked her way to his
bicep, around to the smooth skin below. Finally reached his shoulder, covering
it with kisses. Her hands moved over his chest, found the flat nipples and
teased them until he groaned and shifted beneath her.

“I’ll do my best,” he got out. “Can’t promise.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s nearly good enough.” She was lying
over him now, loving the feeling of him underneath her. She kissed his mouth
lingeringly, then moved down to his throat, his neck, bit and licked at him
there. Took her time with him. Finally wriggled down a little lower, put both
palms flat on his chest. Ran them over him slowly, covered his skin with
kisses.

She raised her head to look up at him. “I’ve decided I need
a promise here, before I go any further. A promise to hold still for me. To do
what I say.”

“Promise,” he ground out between gritted teeth as she kissed
her way down his body, her hands moving over the muscles of his abdomen, his
thighs. “For a while. Then it’s going to be my turn.”

“I’m counting on that,” she agreed. “Meanwhile, you can lie still
and feel this. Make your own plans, though. Be my guest. If you think better
under torture than I do, that is.”

He barely heard her. The closer she got, the more he needed
to pull his arms down. Hold her head. Show her where to go, what to do.

She didn’t need his help, he thought dazedly as time went
on. She was doing fine on her own. She was doing too much on her own. He was
burning. And soon he was going to be past help. His arms came down of their own
volition. And then he did hold her head. Held her against him and groaned until
he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“That’s enough,” he gasped, pulling her up to him.
“Playtime’s over.”

He rolled so she was beneath him. Took her mouth, tasted
himself on her. Let his hands move over her body at last. “You’ve had your fun.
My turn now. And you’re going to be sorry you teased me.”

“Oh, yeah?” she smiled up at him. “What are you going to do
to me?”

“Haven’t quite decided yet. Know where I’m going to start,
though.” He slid down her body, kissing and stroking. She was so wet already.
She’d been excited by what she’d done, having him under her control, had she?
He’d have to do something about that.

She’d thought it had felt good, pleasing him, feeling him
beneath her. But that was nothing to the way he was making her burn now. His
hands and mouth moved over her, nothing slow or subtle this time. Driving her
up and over, again and again.

“Koti. Stop,” she gasped. “Slow down. Too much.”

He came up to join her. “I don’t think so. Seems to me we’ve
hardly started. Why don’t you find that condom and put it on me? Because I’ve
decided what happens next.”

She did as he asked. Exclaimed with surprise when he picked
her up and set her down on the floor.

“Thought I was going to keep you in bed this morning,” he
told her as he arranged her the way he wanted. “But you changed my mind. After
what you did to me, I need you on your hands and knees.”

“This is so nasty, though,” she moaned, her body tingling
with the aftershocks, the anticipation of what was coming.

“Very nasty,” he agreed from behind her. “And just what I need
from you today.”

“This is nice,” he told her, rubbing his hand over her
bottom. “Looking at me like this. Showing me what a bad girl you are.”

He gave her a spank that had her jerking back in surprise,
crying out. He swatted twice more, a little harder now, then ran his hand over
her, rubbed the sting away. Then rubbed a little more, just because it was so
smooth, so pretty.

“Sorry, baby. Couldn’t resist. And,” he groaned as he eased
himself inside, “I didn’t want to. It felt so good.”

She moaned as he moved inside her. “It felt good to me too,”
she got out. “But that’s so bad of me. You’re so bad for me.”

“That’s right,” he told her as he began to move faster,
harder. He heard her beginning to pant. Pulled her hips back hard with one
hand, reached with the other to touch her, rub her where she needed him. “I’m
bad for you. And that’s good, because you’re a bad, bad girl yourself. That’s
why you needed that. And why you need this.”

He smiled as he felt the effect he was having on her. Began
to move even faster, to drive into her. Over and over, listening to her,
looking at her head lowered beneath him, her hair hanging down over her face.  

He felt the contractions around him, felt them pulling him
upward. And then he wasn’t smiling any more. He felt himself being gripped by
her, taken up with her, up to the knife-edge of sensation, shouting his own
release aloud.

Afterwards, he lifted her back onto the bed. Moved to kiss
her, stroke her, soothe her where she still trembled against him. “All right?”

She shook her head, eyes closed. “You should ask me while
you’re doing that to me. Because while it’s happening, I don’t feel all right.
It’s so intense, I can’t stand it. But now . . .” She sighed and opened her
eyes. “Somehow, now, I feel great. Embarrassed, but great.”

“Why should you be embarrassed?” he frowned down at her.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re just playing. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I didn’t know I was so . . . so kinky,” she admitted, a
blush rising from her chest to her cheeks. “That I’d enjoy that. Being . . .
you know.”

“Being smacked?” He smiled against her hair. “I knew I’d
enjoy smacking you, though. Been thinking about doing that to you for a while
now.” He pulled her more tightly against him. “We don’t have to put a label on
what we do. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to enjoy you too. And you
have to admit, it felt better than swimming.”

“So much better,” she sighed. Then realized what he had
said. “Oh, no. What time is it?” She craned her neck to look at the alarm
clock. “I can still make it. But I need to get ready.”

He got up obligingly, began to pull on his discarded
clothes.

“I’ll walk you out to your car,” she told him. “Just give me
a second to put something on.”

“Here.” He pulled the hoodie over her head. “There you are.
Dressed.”

She looked down at the oversized garment, reaching nearly to
her knees, and laughed. “Covered, anyway.”

He reached for her hand and pulled her out the door as she
grabbed her keys. “You don’t have to lock up for this, surely,” he protested as
she used the key in the deadbolt.

She shrugged. “Habit. Caution.”

When they reached his car, he wrapped her in his arms and
looked down at her. “Thanks for changing your plans for me. Best swim date I’ve
ever had.”

She looked up at him with a smile. “It worked for me too. As
you may have noticed.”

“I’m still not allowed to come see you in the office, eh,”
he frowned. “How about coming to dinner with me tonight?”

“Sorry. Gym date with Brenda. If I break it, and she finds
out why . . .” She shook her head. “Publicist, remember? Gossip, more like. How
about tomorrow?” At his nod, she added, “Over here, though. More discreet. Text
me, OK? I’ll even let you pick me up at home this time.”

“Good of you,” he agreed. “As your flat is well and truly
tainted by my presence now.” He bent down to kiss her again.

“Sorry, dear,” Kate heard. She stepped back, startled, to
see the elderly lady gesturing to the newspaper slot in the wall next to where
they stood.

She pulled Koti aside in confusion. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Ferguson.
Ummm . . . yeah. Um, this is Koti James.”

“I can see that, dear. Morning, Koti. I’m Kate’s landlady,
Janet Ferguson. It’s nice to meet you. I haven’t seen you playing recently,
have I?”

“No, ma’am. Bit of a hiatus whilst the test matches are
going on. We’ll be starting up again Saturday week.”

“Well, best of luck to you then. Mr. Ferguson and I will be
looking out for you.” She smiled again at the pair of them and turned back to
the house, newspaper in hand.

Kate rested her head against Koti’s chest and groaned. “Oh,
man. Now I’m not just the neighborhood Yank. I’m the
slutty
neighborhood
Yank.”