Dave shifted position in his office chair at the Hungry Lion. The sling wasn’t just uncomfortable, it was downright irritating—which matched his mood. Twice he tried to take it off, and both times Kathy’s inner radar sounded and he got scolded. Really? All I want is to be left alone. But Jake insisted on Dave staying with him and Sophie for the duration of his recovery and everyone at the bar kept insisting he should be home healing instead of at work. A perturbed snort escaped Dave’s nose. Sophie wouldn’t let him be. The first night home from the hospital she woke him every two hours “because of the concussion” when all he wanted to do was sleep. In the weeks following his release, she also drove him to all his doctor’s appointments and checked on him constantly and without warning. He wanted to scream; however that would only bring more unwanted attention.
Dave shifted the sling again and as if on cue, Kathy sauntered in. “Time for pain meds,” she announced with cheer.
“I’m not in pain.” Despite his words emphasizing the fact he was tired of being coddled, Dave’s mood lightened from her mere presence. “I like you playing private nurse with me and all but when will you stop shoving these pills down my throat?”
Kathy fluttered her long, thick lashes. “As soon as you don’t need them anymore.”
Dave gazed in her uncertain eyes and realized she was the only person he truly didn’t mind being pampered by. It meant that Kathy would be close to him and he could joke and tease her at will. She always lifted his spirits, even when she wasn’t meaning to. Hurting her feelings was the last thing he would ever want to do but… an agitated breath escaped his lips. “I understand you’re all trying to help but I’m not an invalid.”
“I never suggested you were, did I?”
She looked crestfallen so Dave backpedaled to make it right. “No, no. That’s not what I meant. It’s just forcing me to take pain medicine that I don’t think I need. And everyone forcing me to go ‘home’ when all I want to do is get my mind off the accident by working. I don’t want to go ‘home,’ ” he signaled with air quotes, “a.k.a. my brother’s house. I don’t want to sleep anymore,” he grumbled with what he hoped was a very pitiful look on his face.
“Well…” Kathy huffed with a small lift to the sides of her mouth. “So much for me playing the nice nurse. Guess I’m going to have to change tactics.” She leaned forward, trapping Dave in his chair by putting a hand on each armrest. “Take the damn pills or I’ll call Jake in.”
“HA! I’m not scared of him.” She’s teasing me Dave realized to his surprise. And her face was so close to his, another wonder with how aloof she had been toward him only a few weeks prior. The fruity bath wash she used every morning was still lingering on her skin and playing with his libido. Those full, luscious lips that beckoned him every time he looked at her were merely inches away and lightly painted pink. God, all I have to do is lean in a little more and they’ll be mine. Dave’s eyes flicked from her slightly parted lips to her ever seducing eyes. An abyss of concern showed in them along with the potent attraction swirling between them.
“Fine, then I’ll call your parents,” she told him, breathless.
“Now, Kathy. That’s not very nice,” he purred. “Gosh, you’re the sweetest-sounding woman I’ve ever met, Kathy Mae.”
“That’s what all the boys say,” she flirted, triggering immediate color to creep into her cheeks. Then her cell phone chimed, breaking the playful banter. After making an agitated grunt she hit a button and the jingle silenced.
Oh, he liked it when she got feisty. It turned him into mush and made that night’s dream of her so much more erotic. “I bet under all that sweetness there’s a wild woman waiting to be released.”
“First of all who says I’ve never let her out?” she asked while caging him back in on the chair. “And, second this isn’t about me. It’s about you taking your medicine.”
“I’m fine, Kathy,” he told her while leaning in closer. “You, on the other hand, look as if you’re needing a massage.”
“Mmm. That may be but—”
He couldn’t count the times he wanted to touch her in those soft denim jeans that her legs were currently filling out so well. Gliding his good hand up her thigh, over her hip, to rest on her tiny waist, Dave could honestly say he just crossed something off his bucket list.
“Dave,” she said in a winded voice, “this is—” She pulled back and sat on the edge of his desk. A weak smile formed on her lips while her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong? I thought we were… you know, connecting.” He pulled a hand through his hair. Kathy said nothing, only looked down at her hands while a line of worry crossed her brows. “Kathy?”
“I thought you were going to die, Dave. When that car slammed into your truck I… was so scared,” she whispered. When a tear rolled down her sharp cheekbone, he stood and wiped it away with his thumb.
“No, no. Don’t do that. Please, Kathy. I’ll take the pills. I’ll go home. I’ll sleep.” Nothing had him fall to his knees faster than a woman weeping. And right now he’d give her anything to make it stop.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m trying to help take care of you but you seem so miserable most of the time and I don’t know what to do.”
“I know and I appreciate it. But I need my own bed. Kathy, please help me. My brother and Sophie are driving me nuts and I’m going to lose it on them.”
“Sophie likes to take care of people.”
“So do you.” He gave her red locks a tussle with his good hand. Soft as silk.
“Thank you.”
Dave covered her hand with his and in a leap of courage leaned forward and kissed her lips.
Kathy jumped back and stood quickly. “Dave, you need to take your pills. Here.” She placed them on the desk next to his coffee. “I’ll see what I can do about Jake and Sophie.” With that said she bolted out the door and left him wondering if maybe he should have let her make the first move and if he had just destroyed his only shot at being with her.
* * *
With intense concentration Kathy stared at the Lion’s office wall as she talked to Sophie on the phone. “Did you know Dave serves the homeless every Thanksgiving? Isn’t that so sweet? And a couple years ago he and Jake sent their parents to the Caribbean on a cruise.”
“I heard their mother drank too much and ended up on the captain’s lap.” Sophie laughed.
“I can’t even imagine liking my parents enough to send them on a cruise. Of course that wouldn’t stop them from trying to get me to pay for one.”
“That sucks, Kathy. Have you heard from them?”
Kathy twirled the phone cord around her finger. “No. Hey, did you see the story on those elderly people who were scammed by that couple down in Connecticut? They took those poor folks for twenty thousand.”
“I saw that! Not to mention the break-in down the street from me yesterday. It got Jake so worried he put extra locks on our doors.”
“Dave offered to have Jake come over and do the same for me but I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. Like I can’t take care of myself or something.”
“I doubt he’ll get that out of extra door locks, Kathy.” On the other end of the phone Sophie took a long breath. “I don’t understand. I thought you liked Dave.”
Their kiss bloomed in her mind awakening her body with subtle warmth. She had truly wanted that intimate touch, longed for it, but couldn’t risk leading him into thinking they might have some kind of future together. “I do, I did, but now… I don’t know.”
Longtime childhood friends, Kathy could always rely on Sophie to get right to the point. “What aren’t you telling me, Kathy?”
Sophie’s tone was as irritated as Kathy felt but what could she do? She grew up with neglectful, free-spirited parents who thought nothing of swapping sexual partners, giving their children marijuana contact highs, and letting their only daughter get involved with a man who took her tender innocence, leaving her leery of trusting anyone—including herself. All her life she avoided getting too intimate with men because even her father had never been a source of trustworthiness. Sophie, on the other hand, may not have had the most supportive parents but they were there when she needed them—they were there when Kathy needed them, too, when at the age of fourteen she tried running away.
“Dave kissed me this afternoon,” Kathy confessed.
“What? When! I want all the details.”
Kathy brooded. “You’re not supposed to be excited. You’re supposed to see how confused I am.”
“What’s to be confused over?” Sophie asked. “He kissed you.”
“Believing he doesn’t only want sex from me is so important. I don’t want casual sex. I want trust, heart-wrenching passion, a connection soul mates feel.”
“How did he kiss you?”
“I don’t know. He just kissed me.” What did that have to do with anything? A kiss is a kiss, right?
“Was it slow and sweet? Fast and passionate? What led up to it? Come on, Kathy, don’t make me drag this out of you.”
One hand holding the phone, Kathy covered her face with the other. “He did take a bad bump to the head. Maybe he didn’t know what he was doing. Just forget it. I’m having a lousy day, that’s all.” Kathy started to wonder if maybe she had been the one who got a good clonk on the head. Dave was her charming boss, nothing more, and yet… every time he brought her coffee with a smile and a wink, she melted a bit more. The way his shirtsleeves hugged those muscular arms and broad chest always made her body tingle. And his voice—tough, rugged, deep.
“Kathy?”
“Yeah?”
“What else happened? I know you too well. When you begin a conversation like this and then start thinking a way out of it, something’s really bothering you.”
“Is that what I’m trying to do? Shoot.” Kathy picked at her favorite sweater. “I’m trying to get out of that habit.”
“And have been doing a pretty damn good job. Kathy, don’t let past baggage get in the way of happiness.”
“I’m not, Soph.” With a cleansing breath, Kathy confessed to what she hadn’t realized was actually bothering her. “He told the EMT that I’m his future girlfriend.”
“Whoo. Umm, well… how do you feel about that?”
Never one to jump into anything without thinking it through first, Kathy spoke carefully. “He’s seeing something that isn’t going to happen. Or he’s hoping for it. I’m terrible at relationships. Heck, I ran when he kissed me and that was only a peck. There’s seriously something wrong with me. ” Kathy argued with herself. “I’m dysfunctional when it comes to connecting with people and opening up to anyone besides you. You know what? Forget it. I’m doomed to a life alone. I should get twenty cats, learn to knit, and let my hair grow in gray.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re a beautiful woman who’s had a tough life. He’s a good guy. Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I know you wouldn’t. Maybe him being too good is the problem. What if it’s more of the mind-numbing relationships I’ve had in the past? I want a normal relationship with an ordinary guy but I don’t want it to be so ‘safe’ he becomes boring. I also don’t want a criminal who brings cops, lying, and cheating right along with him. Is that too much to ask for?”
Sophie’s hesitation to answer was loud and deafening to Kathy’s troubled mind. “Is there something you want to tell me, Sophie?”
“Nope.”
“I’ve worked with Dave for five months and all I’ve seen is the straightest most generous man on the planet. Heck, he swore in front of me the other day and apologized.” Kathy picked up her cold coffee and drank. Despite everything she said, the image of Dave’s sexy body bending over in front of her and his tight buns beckoning to be squeezed materialized in her mind. But maybe she shouldn’t mention that to Sophie.
Sophie’s laughter rang through the phone. “I think you might need to get to know him a little better. Yes, he a good guy but he’s—”
“He’s like the best big brother in the world. Look what he’s done for Jake! Dave’s kind-hearted and I don’t want to break that.”
“Kathy, trust me when I say Dave feels he’s paying a debt to Jake and their parents. Besides what the hell are you looking for? Another man to treat you like shit?”
“No!” Kathy startled at the knock at her office door. “Hold on a minute, Sophie. Yup?”
At the sight of Dave in the doorway her body refused to move while her brain began to scramble for something to say other than, “Ahhh… Hi.”
“I’m going home. To my home. Can you give me a ride?”
Did he just ask me something? She had seen his lips move but hadn’t heard a thing he said. No, her eyes were too busy looking at his good arm where the sleeve was rolled up. The boa constrictor winding its way from his elbow to his wrist demanded her attention. Mixing that with his disheveled hair he looked absolutely rugged and downright delicious. When the scent of his cologne snaked its way to her senses, Kathy’s toes curled and her leg muscles tightened. Aggg, this would be so much easier if he didn’t always look and smell so good. She couldn’t quite pin down the right way to describe his scent but it always reminded her of rebels and wild nights.
“Umm, yeah. Just a minute… or two… I think.” Jesus, he must think I’m a total nutcase!
“Great. Thanks.” Dave hesitated briefly then closed the door.
“I’m bringing Dave home. Damn that man confuses me. I don’t want to be attracted to him. Do you hear me, Sophie? I shouldn’t be ogling him and yet here I am talking to him like I left my brain at home this morning when he only asked a simple favor of me. I’ve always been able to talk myself out of being in love, like, and anything in between when it comes to a guy. Why is it not working with Dave? Well?” Kathy could hear the misery in her own voice.
“Because you should give him a chance and open yourself up to the possibility of real love.”
Kathy let a long exhale go before she replied. “I need time and he needs you and Jake to lay off of him. Apparently you’re driving him nuts.”
“I saw it coming this morning when he growled at me. Even Schnitzel is sick of him.”
“Schnitzel is the fattest cat on the planet and has an attitude anyway.” A small chuckle escaped Kathy as a smile turned up the corners of her mouth.
“I rolled over in bed yesterday and my foot touched him. The cat had the audacity to hiss at me. Jake says it’s gonna take time for him to get used to me. I say if the cat keeps it up, he’s finding a new place to sleep.”
“Your first lovers’ quarrel. How sweet.”
Sophie scoffed over the phone. “Our first. Yeah, right. Okay, you have a man waiting for you. And, Kathy?”
“Yeah?”
“Give Dave a chance. He might surprise you. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out.”
“Sophie, this isn’t fair. You can’t leave the conversation after saying something like that.”
“I will.” Then she hung up.
“Damn you,” Kathy ridiculed.
Being in the car alone with Dave was going to be tough because she couldn’t figure out how she was going to convince them both that there was nothing happening between them if he started cracking jokes and melting her heart. After grabbing her jacket and purse, she walked into the bar area dragging her feet. The Lion wasn’t hopping but it wasn’t deserted like a few weeks earlier when a deep freeze had shut most businesses down for the day. New England spring had finally broken through the icy shell of the last storm and raised the temperature to a nice sixty-three degrees. The winter cleanup had now begun with large lumbering trucks fixing pothole-ridden streets while other work vehicles were trimming trees and grinding their fallen friends. The winter had been a long, snowy, cold one and the relief of it being over was evident in the way people were smiling. Well, most people. Dave sure doesn’t look happy at the moment.
“Well, if you think of anything, Mr. Sanders, it would be appreciated. Not that I expect much from you.”
Kathy glanced at the police officer talking to Dave, then to the two Hungry Lion regulars, Louie and Stuart. They were leaning forward on the bar watching with obvious interest the interaction happening before them.
“Sorry, detective. I can’t help you.” Dave appeared more than defensive. He looked downright obstinate, from the way he stood with his legs braced apart, to the arrogant tilt of his head. Kathy found it intriguing to see that her good-guy boss had a temper.
She shot the two men at the bar a warning look, then asked, “Can I help with something?”
“This doesn’t concern you.” Dave’s response brought a raised brow from Kathy.
“Well—”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. The officer was just leaving. Weren’t you?”
Not knowing what to say, Kathy remained quiet as the officer nodded to them both. “I’ll be in touch.”
“I’m sure you will and the answer will still be the same. I can’t help you.”
Anger rolled off him while his body stood rigid and the arm resting in the sling had fingers fisted tight. She placed a hand on his shoulder and Dave shrugged it away.
“Can you just take me home?”
“Fine,” she told him with a scowl.
They walked to her car in silence. What could the cop have said to put him in this bad of a mood? “Did it have to do with the accident? Is the guy getting off?” she asked curtly.
“No. Nothing to do with that.” Dave kept his eyes focused straight ahead on the road.
“Okay… well what did it have to do with?” When Dave opened his mouth, Kathy sneered, “Oh yeah, it ‘doesn’t concern’ me.”
Dave remained silent.
“Well, you don’t have to be a jerk about it.” So much for being a nice guy.
Kathy shifted uncomfortably in her seat while Dave continued to seethe. The silence coexisted between nerve-racking and pleasant. I don’t want to talk to him anyway, she told herself. That was until they arrived at his home and another cop stood there waiting.
“Really? What the heck, Bennett?” Dave yelled as he got out of Kathy’s car and marched toward him.
“I told that detective you weren’t gonna have anything for him,” Bennett said.
“Well, I don’t.” Dave unlocked the door then turned to Kathy. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Fine, thanks. You can go.”
“And miss this?” she snickered. “I don’t think so,” she said, in hopes of breaking the tension and staying with him a little longer.
Dave visually ground his teeth. “I don’t want you here.”
Despite all the self-pep talks Kathy said, “I don’t care. I’m concerned.”
“Bennett, please tell the lady she needs to leave before you remove her from my property.”
Kathy turned a wicked glare at the officer.
The officer looked at Dave then back at Kathy. “Ma’am, I think you should go.”
Dave didn’t turn to look at her, only opened his front door and went inside. “Come on, Bennett.”
Fury swelled up so fast, so potent, Kathy thought she would spit nails at the both of them. He was just like all the others before him who said they cared and then treated her like crap. Well she wasn’t going to take being walked over anymore. “You son of a bitch!” She raged while stomping into his house.
“Look, Kathy, this isn’t the time. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want anything more than friendship with me—that distance is what you want. Now I’m giving it to you and you’re pissed.”
“I care, Dave, and don’t deserve to be treated the way you’re treating me right now.”
Dave visibly took a deep breath. “When I came into your office you hardly talked to me. You acted as if I was just bothering you. Sorry if I inconvenienced you, Kathy, it wasn’t my intention.”
Oh, he hadn’t “inconvenienced” her at all. He had totally surprised her into silence with that tattoo that made her mouth water. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. “And what was your intention?” she finally asked.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter now because I see how wrong I was.”
His hurtful words and insolence caused Kathy to rethink the forwardness of her actions. Was she doing this because she wanted to know what was going on or because she had actually started to care for him? She could only stare at Dave, her mind blank, waiting for someone to write on its canvas so she would know what to say next. His sudden anger was frightfully tantalizing and sent a quiver of desire rushing through her body. Dave wasn’t the dull, normal type of man she usually dated. There wouldn’t be any “Let’s sit and talk about this.” Or “We should meditate so we don’t turn our energy dark.” No, Dave seemed to be equally as sour as he was sweet, and it would have been a refreshing change if insecurity wasn’t roping her back into the box she had fought for years to get out of.
As he popped a beer, Dave looked at Bennett. “This is my new manager slash accountant at the Lion, Kathy Smith. Kathy this is Officer Bennett. Bennett and I have been friends for a really long time. If you need any paperwork, Bennett, my books at the Lion are clean—”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Dave fixed his eyes on Kathy. “Bennett and I have some things to go over. Thanks again for the ride.”
Kathy trumped down her inexplicable disappointment. “Nice to meet you, Officer Bennett.”
“I’ll see you around, Miss—”
“Kathy,” she told him while ringing her hands. “Goodnight, Dave.” She turned and dashed out the door and to her car. Choking back tears, Kathy wondered what she was thinking.
“Kathy?” Dave’s hesitant voice came from behind her just as she reached the car door. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”
She kept her eyes focused on the ground because the last thing she wanted to do was look at him and begin crying. “I don’t know what I was doing. I had no right to be forceful with you.”
His hand cupped her chin and raised it so their eyes met. “I don’t want you involved in this.”
She nodded her head as her heart skipped and her body became keenly aware of how close he was.
“I liked seeing you getting all aggressive with me, Kathy. You’ve got more spunk than you let on. Very, very sexy,” he whispered and brought his face closer to hers.
She pressed her lips together to prevent a smile from fully forming. When the tingle deep inside her body rose up to heat her neck and settle on her cheeks, she knew she was done for. “Well damn, Dave. What am I supposed to say to that?”
It showed in his eyes—the intent before the action. Her mind told her to move, avoid the kiss by putting a restraining hand to his chest, yet her heart allowed her to do nothing. And just a fraction before their lips touched she closed her eyes, tipped her face up in invitation. Yes, she had been dodging his advances but something had changed. Now she wanted Dave to make her feel what no other man ever had. As his lips caressed Kathy’s, a deep craving to be touched shook her soul and propelled her heart into conflict with her mind. Her hands shot into his hair as his body pressed her against the car.
“I don’t want a relationship, Dave,” she said against his impatient lips.
“Then maybe you should stop kissing me.” His challenging eyes stared into hers. “Go ahead, try to stop.”
Her brain told her to push him and his arrogant dare away while her hand fisted the front of his shirt and brought his tempting mouth back to hers. What was she doing? This wasn’t part of the “stay away from Dave” plan.
“I thought you didn’t want this?” he asked before shifting his mouth and fastening it on her neck.
“I don’t.”
“Then maybe we should stop,” he said with a smirk.
Kathy could feel the heat of the humiliation on her cheeks for him to see. “What? Oh my God, you’re a jerk. You did that because you knew you could and I’d… I’d—”
Dave rocked back on his heels with a smile on his face. “Enjoy it? Want to kiss me, too? What’s so wrong with that?”
“Everything!” Kathy jumped into her car and peeled out of his driveway. Getting away from him was the smartest thing she could do for herself. Dave had just proven that he could take advantage of her and she’d go willingly.
“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” she yelled at herself even as the thought of him taking advantage of her body and them laughing in bed afterward became a very real and welcoming vision.
* * *
“Still making a good impression on the ladies, I see,” Bennett announced as Dave walked into his kitchen.
“She says she’s not interested in me.” Dave could see Bennett trying to hold back a chuckle.
“That’s not what I saw.”
“Yeah, well, you’re an old man who needs glasses.”
“And you’re a guy who trouble likes to find, even when you’re on the right side of the law.”
Dave rolled his friend’s words over carefully as Bennett sat down at Dave’s kitchen table. Why did his past always have to sneak back up and remind him of the man he used to be? He should just stay away from Kathy and save them both from wasting their time.
Bennett looked around the kitchen and shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d be able to change your life around, Dave. No offense but there’s very few people in this world who have the kind of strength and determination it takes.”
“None taken.” Dave sat across from him, beer in hand. “What the hell is going on?”
“Trouble. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. They’re only followin’ every lead—old and new. There’s been a series of break-ins lately and you’ll most likely see Detective Owen again. He’s in charge but don’t worry; as long as you’ve been on the up and up there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I can’t get any more normal, Bennett.” Dave studied his drink before taking a sip. “Strange that after all this time I still feel like running when I see you at my steps.”
Bennett laughed loud. “Just as strange as me still thinking you’re gonna.”
It was an hour later, while walking Bennett to his car that Dave thought about how he had run for too long and for all the wrong reasons. Even as Dave watched Bennett drive away, appreciation overcame him. That man had busted the rowdy kid Dave had once been too many times to count. Bennett told him that if he didn’t straighten his act out he would end up in jail—that happened—or he was going to die—that happened—or he could be “the lucky son of a bitch who turned his life around”—that happened, too. But there was still a void in Dave’s life that he couldn’t shake.
And suddenly his thoughts had returned to Kathy. She brightened his world whenever she came around. He found himself searching her out at work to ask silly questions, just to hear her voice, see her smile, hear her laugh. He felt complete when around her. As if nothing in the world mattered except her, him, and what could be. What he felt for her pushed him to do things he would never have done to or for any other woman. And the spell she cast upon him only seemed to get stronger with every intimate touch they shared.
Dave let out a long, low whistle. That kiss in his driveway had been hot and proved to him that despite every excuse she laid out, despite her hesitation toward them being more than friends, she must have felt what he did. He only hoped she still did when she found out about his past.