The Next Move (12 page)

         
"You."

         
He blinked. "What do you mean? I was here."

"I know." She rubbed her lower back gingerly, then looked at him and shrugged. "What? You think I don’t worry

about you?"

         
"I didn’t think you’d lose sleep over it."

         
She leaned towards him and kissed him lightly. "I always do."

         
You’re not helping my conscience, Katrina
. "So I killed your evening out and kept you up all night? Jesus, I’m sorry."

         
She touched his face and grinned. "And when you’re feeling up to it, you can make it up to me."

         
"Oh, I will. Believe me, I will." He kissed her, drawing it out for a moment. Then he paused, running his fingers through her hair. "Well, as long as you’re here, you’re welcome to stay the night."

         
"So even after I threatened to abandon you, you’re not going to throw me out of bed?"

         
He laughed. "No, but I’m not going to throw you
into
bed tonight, either."

         
"You mean, sleep together, but actually…" She scoffed melodramatically. "
Sleep
?"

         
He laughed. "Yes, exactly."

         
Kissing him lightly, she said, "I can live with that."

Eighteen

         
Swimming out of sleep and into reality, Kat became aware of Chris’s body against hers. Wondered how long he’d been right beside her. Her skin still tingled vaguely where they made contact, as if he hadn’t been there long and her nerves were still acknowledging the intrusion.

She was on her stomach and his hand and forearm rested on her back, warming her skin through her T-shirt, so he must have been on his side. He stirred a little, probably just shifting in his sleep, maybe passively responding to a movement she didn’t remember making as she awoke.

When his fingertips trailed down her back, the resultant goose bumps rousing her completely, she knew he was awake. As consciousness set in, she realized it was that gentle, slow touch that had brought her out of the darkness in the first place.

Nuzzling her neck, he whispered, "I didn’t wake you, did I?" The grin in his voice told her he knew the answer.

         
She tried to sound annoyed in spite of the smile tugging at her mouth. "Yes, you did."

         
Against her skin, his lips pulled tight and a soft huff of laughter warmed the back of her neck. He ran his hand down her back. "You’re not mad at me, are you?"

         
"Hmm, it depends on what you’re going to do now that you have me awake."

         
"Well," he said, his hand moving under her shirt. "I wasn’t planning to let you go back to sleep anytime soon."

         
She laughed softly. "Then I hope you’re going to make it worth my while to stay awake."

"Oh, I will." His hand moved up her back, pulling her

shirt with it as he kissed just behind her ear. "You know I will."

         
"You always do."

He pushed his hips against hers, taking her breath away with the heat of his hard cock behind the cool silk of his boxers. She raised herself just enough to let him pull her shirt off. Once it was gone, she started to roll over, but his hand on her back held her still.

         
"No," he whispered. "Stay just like that."

         
"But I want you to kiss me."

         
"I will," he said. "That’s why I don’t want you to move."

Before she could question him, he kissed between her shoulder blades. He kissed his way down her back, pausing on each vertebra to make a tiny circle with the tip of his tongue or simply plant a lingering kiss. The gentle touch of his lips seemed to bring every nerve in her spine to life, igniting each in turn like runway lights. His hand slid down her side, grasping her hip as she arched her back.

         
His lips still touched the small of her back. "Turn over." The vibration of his voice traveled up her spine and her body obeyed him before her own mind could even give the order. He raised himself off of her, giving her room to move, and his lips were against her belly before she’d even settled back onto the bed. Every kiss took him lower, lower, still lower, until his stubbled chin grazed the fabric of her panties, making her breath catch.

         
Grasping her hips gently, he let his thumbs hook under her waistband. Slowly he drew it down, pulling over her hipbones, his lips following the elastic while his hands traveled down the backs of her thighs. Fingers, fabric, and lips worked their way down, pausing long enough to let his fingertips make light, breathtaking circles on the backs of her knees.

         
With a flick of his wrist, her panties slipped off her feet, but his lips never broke away, kissing the inside of her ankle. Working his way back up, inch by exquisite inch, he explored her skin, finding erogenous zones with his tongue, his lips, his fingers. Every place he touched sent electric shivers up the lighted runway that was her spine. Why did he effortlessly understand her body in ways no other man cared

to?

         
His hand slid up her calf to the inside of her knee, parting her thighs with the very lightest suggestion of pressure from his fingertips. Sheets bunched in her hands as his lips traveled up her thigh, each soft kiss lasting longer than the one before.

         
As his tongue dipped into the groove between her hip and thigh, and his fingers slipped inside her, just barely brushing against her G-spot as they took slow, smooth strokes.
Not yet
, his fingertips told her G-spot.
I will, but not yet
. He kissed his way towards her pussy and his fingers drew nearer and nearer to that perfect place, that perfect pressure, but still remained just out of reach.
Not yet
.

         
Her entire world centered on what his tongue and fingers were—and weren’t—doing. She couldn’t even remember to breathe except when a shiver made her gasp.

         
The heat of his tongue met her pussy, but avoided her clit.
Not yet
.

         
Her spine arched off of the bed.

         
Crooking just slightly, his fingers, finally gave her that delicious pleasure she craved, but only for a second.
Not yet
.

         
His tongue inched closer to her clit. His fingers bent a little more with each stroke.
Not yet
.

         
At the exact same instant, his lips closed around her clit and his fingers beckoned against her G-spot.
Right now
.

By the time his tongue made its first slow, delicate circle around her clit, she was drunk off of his touch, reality swirling into a blur of white light and punctuated by the occasional gasp for breath when her lungs reminded her she needed air.

         
Through the delirium, some vague memory of Chris’s migraine flickered through her mind, and she bit back a scream, suddenly worried he might still be sensitive to sound.

         
Can I scream? Can I scream
? Biting her lip, she moaned.

         
His tongue and fingers dared her to even
try
to stay quiet.

         
"Oh God, Chris…" Her fingers tangled in his hair as each gentle flutter of his tongue lifted her hips off the bed. "Oh my God, oh my God…" He didn’t flinch at all at the sound of her voice. In fact, every moan and whimper made him intensify his efforts, circling her clit faster, beckoning against her G-spot, until she couldn’t remember why she’d even thought to hold back.

         
"
Oh, fuck, I’m coming
!"

         
He didn’t stop until she begged him to, and a second later, he was over her, kissing her deeply with the sweetness of her pussy on his tongue. As he kissed her, she pushed his silk boxers over his hips, and he groaned as she stroked his cock.

         
"I want to be inside you
now
," he said. He kicked his boxers off and reached for the bedside table, rifling around in the drawer until he found what he was looking for.

         
"Obviously you’ve recovered?" she said as he rolled the condom on.

         
He laughed, lowering himself over her. "I have." He kissed her. "And now I’m going to make up for last night."

         
She bit her lip as his cock teased her pussy. "I think you already have."

         
"Nope, not yet." He sucked in a breath through his teeth as he pushed into her. "Haven’t even started."

         
Whimpering softly, she said, "Then what was…" Her voice caught. "What was everything you just did?"

         
"That," he said, withdrawing slowly. "Was just because I can’t get enough of the way you taste."

         
She tried to speak, but he thrust into her, knocking the air out of her lungs.

         
"
This
," he whispered through clenched teeth, pulling out and slamming into her again and again. "Is for last night."

Nineteen

         
"Are you waiting for someone?"

         
Kat turned around and instantly recognized Paul from his online photo.
He actually looks like his photo. That’s a plus
. She smiled. "You must be Paul."

         
His uncertain expression immediately shifted to a warm smile as he shook her hand. "Then that answers my next question." He cleared his throat and gestured at the restaurant’s packed lobby. "Listen, I was thinking, this place is awfully crowded tonight, but there’s a Thai restaurant up the street…"

         
Kat’s heart skipped. "I
love
Thai food."

         
"You do?"

         
"Absolutely. Let’s go." As they walked down the street, making small talk along the way, Kat couldn’t help but grin at her good luck. Attractive? On-time? Likes Thai food?

         
Oh yes, tonight looks very promising
.

~ * ~

         
"Emily?"

         
The blonde turned around and smiled. "You must be Chris."

         
He returned the smile. "I am."
And this evening already looks promising
. Before he’d gotten her attention, he’d checked her out. Just as she was in the photos she’d sent him, she was petite but curvy, and very sexy. He liked her smile even better in person than in pictures.

         
She glanced at the hostess’s podium. "There was a wait for tables, so I put us on the list. Should be another fifteen minutes or so."

He gestured dismissively. "No need to worry about

that."

         
She cocked her head.

         
To the hostess, he said, "We have a reservation for two. Under Bailey."

         
The hostess looked at the reservation list and nodded. "Your table is ready, Mr. Bailey. Right this way."

         
He exchanged a quick glance with Emily. The lift of her eyebrows and the way the corner of her mouth pulled up told him he’d just scored a few points for planning ahead.
Good God, am I the last man on the planet that knows how to make reservations
?

~ * ~

         
"Damn, this place is crowded too," Paul said as they walked into the Thai restaurant.

         
Kat scowled, glancing around the dimly lit and ostentatiously decorated place. It looked like a few people were waiting for tables, but the strong smells of curry, peppers, and coconut oil made her mouth water.

         
"I don’t mind waiting," she said.

         
He shrugged. "Works for me. I’m not in a hurry." He put their names on the list as Kat found a seat on one of the bright blue faux leather benches beneath a richly colored painting of a temple. A moment later, Paul joined her, draping his arm across the back of the bench, but not actually touching her.

         
"They said it’ll be ten or fifteen," he said. "You sure you don’t mind waiting?"

         
She glanced around the restaurant, then at his arm behind her on the bench. Thai food with a man who wasn’t afraid to make a subtle, but unmistakable first move, yet wasn’t pushy?

         
"No, I don’t mind waiting."

~ * ~

         
"So you said in your e-mail that you’ve been single for a while?" Emily said, swirling her wine slowly before taking a sip. Her gaze subtly shifted to his hand and he wondered if she was checking for an imprint or tan line on his left ring finger.

         
"I haven’t had a girlfriend in a year or so." Chris closed his menu and put his hands over it, laying his left hand over his right and watching as she, just as he suspected, gave it a surreptitious look. "But I’ve never been married."

         
"I’m surprised," she said, smiling. "I can’t imagine a guy like you staying single this long."

         
He laughed and shrugged. "Just haven’t found the right girl."

         
At that, her posture and expression both relaxed a bit, and her mouth pulled into a smile that suggested approval. "So you’re not one of those guys that’s afraid of commitment?"

         
Danger, Will Robinson, danger
!

         
He cleared his throat. "Afraid of it? No. But, I’m not one to rush into it either." He sipped his wine. "What about you?"

         
Setting her wine glass down, she took a breath. "Oh, I’ve been married. Have I
ever
…"

~ * ~

         
The waitress came up to the table to take their orders, and Kat barely suppressed a sigh of relief at the interruption. From the moment she’d agreed to stay instead of finding a less-crowded restaurant elsewhere, Paul had graced her with endless tales about his thrilling travels to some of the more exotic parts of the world. At first, it was interesting. She always loved hearing about places she’d never been, but Paul, she’d discovered, possessed an extraordinary ability to turn any story into a chest-puffing, feather-ruffling brag about what he had done to single handedly make it the most exciting event
ever
. Somehow she doubted he was the first person in the world to pose in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and make it look like he was holding it up, but he seemed rather proud of it.

         
"Can I take your order?" the waitress asked.

         
"Khao khluk kapi," Paul said. He
might
have impressed her with his ability to flawlessly pronounce the name of a Thai dish except that he shot her a look that said, "Isn’t that impressive?” which immediately cancelled out that effect. What a shame that someone so attractive killed it by being so full of himself.

         
You’re off the menu for boyfriend potential, but you might still get a one night stand out of me if you lick your lips like that again
.

         
"How many stars?" The waitress asked as she scribbled it on her notepad.

         
"One, please." He gave Kat another grin. She had a feeling he was reining back the spice on his meal in case she didn’t like spicy food. Nothing killed an evening faster than kissing someone who’d just eaten something extra spicy.

         
"And you, ma’am?"

         
Kat handed the waitress her menu. "I’ll just have the Pad Thai. Four star, please."

         
"You know, make mine four star, too," Paul said.
Just as I suspected
. Even someone as desperate to show off as Paul wasn’t stupid enough to risk burning his date’s mouth when he kissed her. But now that she’d turned up the heat, so did he. Which meant he was planning to kiss her.

         
You’re still in the game, Paul, just don’t talk me to sleep before my food gets here
.

         
"Four star?" Paul said when the waitress had gone. "Brave woman."

         
"I prefer my Thai food hot."
And as a bonus, it’ll probably be more exciting than my present company
.

         
"Ever tried five star?"

         
She grimaced. "I’m not that brave."

         
He laughed. "You know, when I was in Thailand a few years ago…"

         
As he launched into another soliloquy about his worldly travels, Kat gritted her teeth and forced herself to smile through the boredom.
Maybe I should have ordered five star
…

~ * ~

         
"So that’s why I finally decided to divorce him, and it’s just been messy as hell ever since." Emily gestured with her wine glass—was it her third or fourth?—and nearly hit the waitress as she walked by.

         
Chris swallowed hard. So far, he’d learned that she’d been engaged three times and married once. In between comments about her exes’ immaturity, lack of commitment, and fear of settling down, she cast him pointed looks that suggested that her earlier question about fearing commitment was not entirely in jest.

Why did he always attract the women who were newly single and bitter? Something told him that if he kept seeing Emily, the hints about engagement rings would start before the sun went down on their third date.
She’s not a gold digger, she’s a damned rock hound
.

         
"…and when his mother found out we were divorcing?" Emily rolled her eyes, gesturing wildly with her wine glass again. "Lord, I didn’t think a cell phone could hold that many voice messages. I mean, she went crazy." She shook her head. "But that’s not the worst of it…"

Wouldn’t it be easier to just stay home with Kat and forget all of this bullshit
?

Silently, he pleaded with his phone to vibrate. It would give him an excuse to duck out of
this
conversation for a moment, but with any luck, it would be Kat.
Why do I even bother making plans on Friday nights
?

         
"Unfortunately the judge gave us joint custody, but hey, that means I get every other weekend, so I can go out."

         
Oh God. Kat, please, save me
.

~ * ~

         
"…but fortunately, I knew some guys there from when I was stationed in the area, so they hooked us up. Got us private tours of some of the palaces and temples in the region."

         
"Sounds very nice," Kat said. She took another bite of her pad Thai, but even the four star spice couldn’t quite take the sting out of her boredom. Her cell phone stayed still and silent in her pocket in spite of repeated pleas for it to vibrate.

         
Chris, if you call me right now, I will give you the fuck of your life just for getting me out of this
.

~ * ~

         
On their way out of the restaurant, Emily stumbled. Chris put his arm around her waist to steady her. "You know, maybe I should call you a cab," he said.

         
"No, no, I’m fine. It’s these damned heels." She gestured at her shoes.

         
You also drank three times as much as I did
. "No, really, I don’t think you should drive. Here, I’ll pay for it."

         
"You don’t have to do that," she slurred.

         
"Do you want me to drive you home?" He held onto her a little tighter as another step didn’t land quite as well as she probably thought it would.

"You can drive me home," she said, a playful lilt in her

voice.

         
"Why don’t I do that, then?" he said, smiling as he led her to his car. She wasn’t incoherent, but she was definitely too drunk to drive. She’d sobered up a little since before dinner, when she’d managed to draw the attention of half the restaurant during a long diatribe about her ex-husband’s courtroom antics. Chris wasn’t entirely sure where the alcohol stopped and the crazy started.

         
After he’d eased her into the passenger seat, he went around to the driver’s side, pausing to check his cell phone for missed calls.

         
None.

         
He was tempted to send Kat a text message. It was after nine, but still plenty early enough to get together with her if she was available.

         
If
she was available.

         
And if she is, she’ll call
. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and got in the car.

~ * ~

         
"I really had a good time tonight," Paul said as they stopped beside Kat’s car.

         
"Me too," she said, hoping she didn’t seem too excited about the fact that their date was over.

         
"Maybe we can get together again?"

         
Dream on
. "I, um, my schedule’s a bit packed this week, but I’ll e-mail you."

         
He smiled. "Sounds good." He put his hand on her waist. "I’d definitely like to see you again."

         
"Like I said, shoot me an e-mail."

         
"I will." He tilted his head and leaned in to kiss her.

She returned his kiss, which sent pleasant shudders through her, but she couldn’t be sure if the tingling in her mouth was from the kiss itself, or the fact that they’d both had four-star Thai food. Either way, at least that kiss was one redeeming feature of the evening.