That Kind of Special (3 page)

“I own Bauer Enterprise.” He paused, and when she shrugged, he continued. “The largest security firm with the best teams on the West Coast.”

Her brows rose. “Security guards?”

“Not quite.” He chuckled. “On a bigger level. Think corporate, political, and foreign affairs.”

“And it’s all yours?” Her arm came down, and she balanced her empty glass on her leg.

“Yes. Along with owning a few buildings along Sixth Street.” He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “Will you come to my house and share my wine?”

“Why?”

He smiled. “You’re tough.”

“I don’t make a habit of agreeing with a man because he’s bossy.” She raised her glass to take a sip, realized it was empty, and blushed.

He stood and retrieved the bottle from the kitchen and returned to the living room to fill her goblet. The doorbell rang.

“Sit. Enjoy your drink, and I’ll see who that is.” He walked across the room, peeked through the eyehole, which needed cleaning on the outside, and opened the door.

The next five minutes, he spent watching Jared, one of his maintenance men from his company, set up drilling a hole above the doorknob. He gazed at Katina on the other side of the room. She bit her fingernail, caught herself, and shoved her hand under her thigh.

She paid no attention to what was happening in her apartment, but seemed lost in thought. He walked over and squatted beside her chair. Two lines formed between her eyebrows, and he knew none of tonight had been easy for her to accept.

“Installation shouldn’t take more than a few more minutes.” He lowered his head, caught her gaze, and gave her a smile. “I know you’re confused and upset that I pushed my way in, but I’m used to getting my way. It would eat away at me if I left you in an unsecured apartment.”

Her mouth softened.

“Why don’t you let me worry about what is happening between us, and you can look forward to having a night with me, good wine, and even better conversation. We’ll start over.”

“What is happening between us?” she whispered, casting a glance at the door. “I get that you’re stubborn and used to getting your own way…you run your own company. I just don’t know your motive.”

He inhaled deeply. “The truth?”

She nodded.

“I find you absolutely captivating, and I want to get to know you better.” He lowered his voice. “I’m warning you, though. I’m a man who knows what I want, and I don’t let anything get in my way. Going from what I saw of your ex-boyfriend, I know you’re not used to dealing with someone like me, but you should know that all you have to do is say no, and I’ll walk out the door and leave you alone.”

She lifted her hand to her mouth. He snagged her fingers before she could bite her nail. “But you’re not going to tell me no. You’ll come to my house Saturday, and we’ll have a wonderful time.”

Katina sat silently. The door shut and reopened. He stood, lifted his jacket from the couch, and walked across the room. After testing the lock, he shook his employee’s hand and waited for Jared to take his tools and leave.

He remained standing in the open room, until they were once again alone. “Katina, come and lock the dead bolt behind me.”

She jumped from the chair and hurried over. He warmed at her reaction. A couple glasses of wine, time to come to her own conclusions, and she obeyed him. He was right. She was something special.

“I’ll have my driver pick you up.” He stepped into the hallway, and because she was adorable when she grew frustrated, he couldn’t help pushing a little more before he walked away. “And, Katina, when you do come to my house, your panties can be any color you want to wear.”

Chapter Three

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to go on a date with you.” Doreen, Katina’s best friend and assistant, bent her knees and leaned forward, opening the fridge in the limo. “A man who sends a driver with a car this fancy does not expect your errand girl to tag along.”

“You are not my errand girl. You’re an assistant to a demanding interior designer.” Katina pushed the control and rolled up the window dividing the backseat from the front. “Besides, it’ll teach him a lesson. He can’t order me around. He caught me off guard the other night, but I’m ready for Trent this time.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Doreen pulled at her short bangs, separating the strands in the edgy style she preferred after chopping off her shoulder-length hair only last week.

If Katina was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure at all about how she felt toward Trent. But she didn’t want Doreen or Trent to know her irritation over his bossiness came from her attempt to deny her attraction to him. His ordering her around gave her permission to see him again.

Trent’s sudden appearance in her life had upset the rest of her workweek. She’d spent more time Googling him, and finding out about the man who swept into her life and refused to leave, than she did on appointments.

What she found out impressed her. He owned a huge company and succeeded in doing more for the community than most people she knew, and he did it quietly without any big fanfare. She had to admire him for that alone. Everything she read validated what she suspected. He was a good guy. Too good.

Doreen grinned. “It’s okay if you’re scared. I only want you to be happy, and Kirk believes—”

Katina snorted. When he didn’t have his head in a book, Doreen’s brother spent his free time evaluating everyone’s lives. “You’ve told me. Kirk’s full of shit if he thinks he can see deeper inside of me than I can. He might be studying to be a psychologist, but he has yet to diagnose anyone in a professional capacity.”

Doreen smiled in the way that meant she wasn’t listening. “For one thing, you like older men. Even when we were in high school, you were flirting with men already out of college. It comes naturally to you, because—”

“They’re more mature. I didn’t enjoy sneaking a six-pack and hanging out at the end of some dead-end road anticipating having some unskilled boy pawing my breasts.” Katina shrugged. “The older I get, the same is true. I want something more substantial than weekend dates, someone more solid that I can make a life with…which Colby failed at. Hell, even the older men I’ve dated seem…soft and floundering in their life. I’m tired of dating and ending up disappointed. It’s not worth my time if a guy isn’t someone I can spend a lifetime with.”

“No, you want someone who can control the relationship, can handle your strong personality.” Doreen dug out her lip balm and applied it to her lips. “That’s why you fight with every guy that you go out with and break up with them before anything real can start.”

“That’s not true.”
God, it totally is.

No matter how well Katina got along with her dates, once they hit five or six dates, she ended up picking them apart. She’d find some reason to argue, become unavailable, or become a royal bitch. They had no other option than to hit the road, and not look back.

Something was wrong with her. She sabotaged her own life, and for what? She didn’t want to be alone, but she also wanted a man who acted like a man. Maybe being an interior designer made it too hard to find a rugged man who would cherish her. It seemed lately all the men she’d dated were happy to go along with whatever she planned, or wanted all her attention. Nothing ruined the mood quicker than a man who gave her everything she wanted. Or thought she wanted.

So far, Trent filled her requirements. She groaned. “What am I doing?”

“You’re taking a chance. Something you’ve needed to do for a long time.” Doreen reached across the empty space on the seat and squeezed her hand. “Give him a chance. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. All you have to do is let yourself be you. Let all your guards down. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“He only wants to share a bottle of wine.” She sighed.

Doreen laughed. “Oh, girlfriend…”

“I’m an idiot.” Katina sank down in the seat. “That’s not why he asked me to come to his house, is it?”

Doreen’s smile grew. “Nope.”

“My clients see me as a professional.” Katina leaned her head back on the seat. “I need them to think I have my life under control, despite my age, so they trust me with their houses. It’s a huge freaking deal to me. If they saw me now, they’d never hire me. I don’t get how a woman can have a career and a personal life. Around Trent, I’m a mess. I can’t even think.”

“That’s called being young and carefree, girlfriend,” Doreen said. “You have it together more than you think. Remember, I see how you do business. You’re cool and collected. People do trust you.”

The car slowed down. Her heart raced. This was it.

Katina cupped her hand against the window and peered through the window. “Oh, frick. Are we where I think we are?”

“We have crossed the railroad tracks, girlfriend.” Doreen laughed. “I wonder if he’d mind if I take pictures.”

“Don’t you dare,” she said, slapping Doreen’s leg.

Before she lost her nerve, the back door opened, and Doreen tugged her outside. She straightened, pulling down the short black dress. Why had she changed clothes, when the occasion called for jeans and a nice shirt?

“This way, ladies.” Tim led them up the walkway.

Without anyone telling her, she recognized the area as the hill overlooking the Puget Sound. She was scheduled to redesign a children’s recreation room for the Mitchells a few blocks down the road starting next week. Trent lived in a plush community with their million-dollar homes and long waiting list when houses finally did come on the market. Not that she could afford to live here yet.

Low lights lit the path leading up to the house. More lights came on the closer they walked to the front door, and she got her first glimpse of the mansion. She tugged Doreen closer and slowed down.

“One glass. Then we’re going home,” she whispered.

“Two, and I want to check out the inside of the house.” Doreen leaned against her. “Take a look at the freaking rock on the front of the house. It’s real.”

“Sh.” Katina walked the rest of the way keeping her opinion to herself. She hated to admit it, but she was vibrating inside to get a glimpse of Trent’s house.

The front door opened, and there he was. She held her breath and ignored Doreen squeezing her hand. What she saw in front of her was even better than she’d expected.

Trent in worn jeans, ripped on one thigh, and molded to perfection in all the right places. A dark blue T-shirt showed off his broad shoulders and hard chest. His hair, wet from a shower, fought to fall forward, and he ran his fingers over the side of his head. She caught his eye, looked down, thinking she’d stay away from staring at his face, and groaned. He was barefoot.

There was something both intimate and sexy about a man walking barefoot in his own home. As if he wanted to invite her into his cave and claim her for his own.

“Right on time.” His deep voice caressed her nerves. “Come on in.”

She had to take control of the situation, so she walked past him into the foyer without stopping. “This is my friend Doreen. I hope you don’t mind that I invited her. You know, to be safe and all, since I barely know you.”

“Nice to meet you, Doreen.” He shook her hand. “I’m Trent Bauer.”

“Yes, you are.” Doreen, not playing it cool, ogled his home. “This is wonderful. I mean, beautiful. Who did your color design?”

“I’m afraid that was the previous owner. Feel free to look around.” He nodded at Tim. “Why don’t you show the house to Doreen, and later you both can join us for a drink.”

“No problem.” Tim motioned for Doreen to walk in front of him.

Katina watched her only excuse to stay away from Trent make a fast escape out of the foyer. Acutely aware of Trent gauging her reaction, she steeled herself. How big could the house be? It’d take them ten, fifteen minutes, tops.

“I’m glad you came,” he said, his voice dropping more than normal.

She squeezed the life out of the strap of her purse. “Thanks for ordering me to come.”

“Smart move, bringing your friend. The more the merrier.” He walked beside her. “The dead bolt working well?”

“I don’t know. No one has tried to break into my apartment, since you.”

“That’s good to know.” He chuckled. “This way.”

All of her bitch attitude vanished when he led her into the kitchen. She gasped and placed her purse on the counter to run her hands along the top of the island separating the kitchen from the informal dining room. She’d wanted to do a kitchen with dusty-blue granite since she saw the samples at the conference last year. She turned, searching for what would make this night the best freaking moment of the day, and smiled in delight.
Yes.

Stainless-steel appliances with moss-green custom-made cupboards. She soaked in the area. She’d picked out the same design for her own future kitchen someday. No matter if the styles changed, she wanted this exact color scheme. Rich, clean, and yet homey.

“Are you redecorating my house?” His cheek twitched.

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t touch a thing. It’s perfectly”—she twirled in a slow circle, taking it all in—”marvelous.”

“Oh?” His brows rose, and he looked around his own kitchen. “I haven’t given this room a lot of thought, since I don’t cook.”

“If it was my kitchen, I’d sleep in here.” She laughed, relaxing. “Honestly, this is the most beautiful kitchen I’ve seen. Last year, when everyone was going for black granite, dark woods, and accenting with bright tiled colors, I knew they were missing the mark. I put together this exact kitchen. I used different throw rugs, but that’s an easy fix.”

He brought out glasses from the cupboard. “You love what you do.”

“Yeah.” She leaned against the counter. “I started college thinking I’d be an accountant. Wrong choice.”

He opened the cooler inside the island and removed a bottle of wine. “Listening to how excited you become over colors, I can’t imagine you crunching numbers.”

She swallowed. Embarrassment over having taken off the matching panties and bra, and wearing two different styles hit her sideways. She couldn’t explain why she’d done it. She sighed. Yes, she could. He seemed to approve and appreciate the fact that her underwear didn’t conform to the norm the other night.