Rebound (13 page)

“You did not!” Katrine cried.

 “I most certainly did!”

“Then I proceeded to whip it out and piss out of the window. Good thing there were bushes underneath and not hot coeds. But I didn’t care who I peed on. I would have given the Dean himself a golden shower by that point.”

She laughed and wine went up her nose. Which made her cough and then they were both laughing.

“By the way, that is top secret. We are not supposed to divulge any fraternity secrets to non- members. And said story can neither be confirmed nor denied. But I am sure I can trust you.” 

He flashed a smile that made her catch her breath a little. She felt like she was meeting him for the first time, the real him. Xander had an easy way about him. He was so confident, but now the arrogance was gone.  He just seemed comfortable in his own skin. And he was really funny. She knew she was only scratching the surface and she was anxious to get to know more about him. Katrine was glad she had the whole summer to find out. 

The conversation was in no way one-sided. He was very enthusiastic when it came to getting more information about her life, her likes and her dislikes. He wanted to know her and she wanted to know him. Xander seemed to appreciate her sarcastic sense of humor too. That was nice because not everyone did.

Great conversation, dessert and two bottles of wine later, they decided to leave. Neither of them wanted the night to end, but they did have another busy day ahead of them. Katrine decided tonight was not the night, but hoped it would be soon. Their fingers were lightly entwined as the driver took them to her house. They didn’t really speak, however the air was heavy with unspoken anticipation. Katrine was trying to think of a way to tell him tonight was not right. Even though it was a fling, it was the first date. She didn’t want to come off too easy. But she was a grown women after all, did it really matter? But it did matter a little. Maybe it was her upbringing and maybe it was just her conscience. Either way, she needed to put off the dirty deed. If only for a little bit.

What do I say?

If it weren’t so late, I would jump you right here in the car? No, definitely not.

 I really want to sleep with you, but how about a rain check? 

No that’s not right. 

Do guys ever want a sex rain check? 

Probably not...

She was lost in her own thoughts because Xander had to say her name twice to get her attention.

“Where do you go when you get quiet like that? I would love to know,” he said, shaking his head. “I was just letting you know we were in front of your place.”

“Oh, ok sorry. I was just having an inter-cranial conversation. I do that a lot.” She smiled and grabbed her purse as he jumped out of the car to open her door. She was glad to see chivalry was not dead. Both men she had been on dates with had been gentlemen.

Oh god, do not think about the fact that you are about to kiss your second guy in less than two days! Katrine you are a slut!
 

She smiled.

 “See there, you were doing it again,” he teased.

They got to her door and here she was again, for the second time, anticipating a kiss. 

But this time she kissed first. Katrine put her arms around Xander’s neck and pulled him down to meet her waiting mouth. He tensed a bit, just because he wasn’t expecting her to initiate the contact. But that lasted only a split second. He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her into him, so that every  possible square inch of their bodies were pressed together. The kiss ignited immediately, there was no slow build up. 

No. No garlic, just scotch and chocolate. Mmmmm.

She wasn’t worried about hers, because whatever he tasted, he wanted seconds. Xander grabbed the sides of her shirt just at the hips and pulled her closer. Katrine was grabbing his hair. It was so soft. For a moment she forgot that she was outside of her building or that the driver was getting a show. For a moment nothing mattered but the feel of him pressed against her and his tongue inside her mouth. She could have kissed him like this for hours, but she knew it was late and she knew she had to pull away. When she did they both were panting a bit. His lips were a bit puffy. She was pretty sure hers looked the same. 

“I really didn’t want to do that, but it’s late and I have to work tomorrow. My boss can be a real asshole if I’m late.”

“Oh, I think he would be understanding just this once.” He stepped towards her for another round. But she stepped back. 

“Another night. It’s late and I don’t want to rush what we would do next.” She gave him a seductive smile and she hoped he could tell that she meant every word.

“God, your killing me, Katrine. I don’t know if I can wait.”

“You sound like a teenage boy, Mr. Abbot,” she teased.

“I feel like a teenage boy, and now I remember how much it sucked!”

She laughed and said, “Thank you for the wonderful dinner, Xander. I will see you tomorrow, bright and early.” 

She kissed him softly on the cheek and went inside. He looked quite pathetic standing there in front of her building. She felt a little sorry for him, but she continued to her door. She wanted him to come up. She wanted him in her bed right now, with his hands gliding over her bare skin. 

Why do I have to be so goddamned prude about everything? 

Katrine let out an exasperated sigh.

Despite all of the hormonally charged excitement, the minute her head hit the pillow she was sound asleep. 

Chapter 17

Her alarm went off and the snooze button was slammed violently. She snuggled under the covers, not wanting to open her eyes quite yet.

 Assessing wine head situation...not too bad. 

 They drank slowly over the course of the night, and between the good food and good conversation, one bottle became two. Oh well, nothing a huge glass of water wouldn’t cure. But she wanted a real breakfast, no egg whites today. Her stomach was doing some serious grumbling. She figured Xander might be feeling a bit uneasy today too, especially since he had two scotches as well as the wine. She had a great idea. She would go to her favorite taco joint around the corner and pick up some breakfast tacos. 

I bet they don’t eat those on 5th Avenue, or whatever fancy pants street he lives on…

 She was excited to introduce him to one of her favorite things.

She shot him a quick text telling him not to eat breakfast, she was bringing some in to the office. She got ready very fast, but made sure she still looked nice. She slipped on a camel colored sleeveless top with a high round neckline and a pair of dark brown slacks. Katrine didn’t want him taking back everything he said because she showed up post-kiss looking like crap. 

She ordered every kind of taco on the menu because she didn’t know what he would like. The important part of a good breakfast taco was the fresh salsa. They had four different kinds at this particular place: fresh pico de gallo, medium, hot and verde. All four packed some heat. The hot burned both ways, so she always stuck with the medium or verde. She hoped he wasn’t a wuss when it came to spicy food. That might be a deal breaker. 

She got to the office with her bag full of greasy goodness. He was already there by the time she arrived and he came to the front when he heard her come in. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his office. Katrine had to speed walk to keep up with him. Before she could ask him where the fire was, he turned and pulled her into his arms. He laid a kiss on her that almost made her clothes spontaneously combust. Where ever the fire was before, it was now in her pants. Good morning!

“I have been dying to do that since you walked into your building last night!!” Xander growled.

“Well good morning to you too, Mr. Abbot,” she said with a soft chuckle.

“Wow what smells so good? I hope that is what you brought me for breakfast.” 

“It just so happens that it is your breakfast.” 

She walked over to the mahogany table in the corner of his office and dumped out the little foil covered gems onto the glass surface.

“What are those?” he asked.

“These my dear Xander, are the best breakfast tacos in town. I figured in your sheltered Yankee, upper crust life you probably have never eaten one of these. I am about to school you on some serious breakfast.”

“God, could you get any cuter? I love it when you talk food… You’re right, I didn’t know you could eat tacos for breakfast.” 

“Oh you poor, sweet deprived thing. Yes, down here you do. I bought one of each because I wasn’t sure what you liked. All of them have egg and cheese, but this one has bacon, this one has potato, this one has chorizo, and this one has, my personal favorite, brisket.”

“Brisket and egg?” He was obviously skeptical.

“Just try it before you disparage. These are the fresh salsas that you put on them. Don’t give me that look, just trust me!”

He was a good sport and tried each kind. The boy could eat. And she was not at all surprised when he loved them.

“Man, I would have eaten the hell out of these in college! How have I gone my whole life without eating those? Great, now I’ll know what I’m missing when I go back home.” He looked at her when he said that, it made her cheeks burn.

“New York has every kind of food known to man, so I am sure you can find a good taquería. Just don’t expect to get good brisket up there,” she teased.

“I would go anywhere to get one of these.”

“Good, because you might have to go to the Bronx for something like this,” she teased.

It made her very happy that he enjoyed them as much as she did, and he loved the hot salsa. She wouldn’t be around for the aftermath, so she let him enjoy. 

“This is great hang-over food. You can’t eat them all the time. You would gain a hundred pounds. Aren’t they delicious though? Those fresh tortillas make all of the difference.”

“Thank you Katrine, those hit the spot. Now all I need is a nap.” 

She was smiling at him and couldn’t help but stare. He was wearing dark slacks, a white shirt with gray pin stripes, top button open. He looked so good today, she wanted to lick the spice right off of his lips. She was pulled from her naughty day dream by his laugh. 

“What were you just thinking about?” 

 Katrine, get a poker face for the love of god!!

“Uh, sorry. I’ll let you get back to work. You have a meeting at 11:00.”

She went back to her desk and tried her best to focus on the dozen emails she had to go through. She could tell as the deal progressed, the work load was going to increase tenfold. She was glad. She wanted to keep busy. Before she knew it, Xander was leaving for his meeting. 

“I should be back in an hour or so. Would you please go through the revised spreadsheets and make sure all of our information in correct. Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

It was strange to go from making out in his office to business as usual. She needed to get a handle on this or she would be in for a confusing and possibly hurtful situation. She decided she would talk it over with Xander when he got back. Business in the office and whatever they wanted outside of it. That thought made her face heat up. Maybe a few other parts too.

 Her cell phone started to ring some time later and she saw that it was her sister. She hadn’t talked to her since Saturday before the charity event. Katrine had a lot to tell her little sister, that was for sure.

“Hey Mads!”

“Hey Katrine. I wanted to see how everything went Saturday. Sorry I’m just now calling you. I have been crazy over here.”

“That must have been some date, sis?” Katrine joked.

“You have no idea. But I want to hear about your weekend first.”

Katrine dove into the story, starting with everything that happened on Saturday.

“Holy shit! Why the hell didn’t you tell me you saw David!! And even worse,
her
! Are you ok? Oh my god Trine, I am so sorry. That is about the worst thing I can think of. What did she look like?” She barely took a breath.

“She was tall and gorgeous with wavy red hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin…What’s worse was she had this elegant English accent. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a doctor?”

“Fuck me running, a doctor! Damn him…damn her! I could kill them both with my bare hands! How did you not stab her in the eye?” growled Maddie.

“I really wanted to, believe me. Maddie, I totally thought I was going to faint. It was my worst nightmare come true! But you know as horrible as it was, something interesting happened.” She paused for a bit deciding how to word the next part. “My boss sort of rescued me.”

Katrine filled her in on all of the details.

“What? I thought you said he was an asshole?” Maddie asked, obviously confused.

“He was, or at least he acted like one before, but that isn’t how he is at all. We went to dinner last night and it was one of the best dates I have ever had! And before you ask, no, I did not sleep with him. But we had the most amazing kiss ever… Damn, that boy can kiss!!”

“Katrine I am glad you are throwing caution to the wind and all, but do you think this is a good idea? You work for him. He lives across the country and he leaves in less than two months. You aren’t exactly the love 'em and leave 'em type. You are the commitment and falling in love type, sis…I ‘m sorry to put this out there, but I’am afraid you’re going to get hurt.”

“That was the old me. The new me is trying hot sex with a gorgeous guy, no strings attached. I am a grownup, I can handle it.”

“If you’re sure, Trine. Wait a minute, did you say something about running into Ian? He has alway had the hots for you and he is a total fox!”

“Oh, did I mention I had a great date with him on Sunday?” She had a tight grin like she was caught doing something bad, although her sister couldn’t see her face.

“NO!!!! Details, hooker!!!”

Katrine filled her in on that story as well. She usually didn’t have this much news to share.

“He is great and I am really attracted to him. But I feel like I’m not ready for what it might mean if I let myself fall for Ian. I can’t love and leave him, he’s a wonderful guy. Xander is a great guy too, but isn’t into relationships, you know the type. And we both understand what all of this means. Think of it as a summer romance and then we go back to real life.”