Kathy was tired and cranky after the sleepless night spent thinking about what happened with Dave. She looked in the Lion’s bathroom mirror and sighed. Really Kathy. You’d think you could’ve done a better job with the makeup this morning. She waved herself off with disgust. Maybe she should see a shrink. Only a crazy woman wouldn’t want a man like Dave. He was funny, dependable, loyal, and obviously had a wilder side she hadn’t seen yet. The image of his tattoo was one Kathy still couldn’t get over, causing her to wonder if there was more to him that she might someday discover.
“Aaggg.” She had been so pushy with him yesterday. What the heck had gotten into her? Never in her life had she been that demanding. If someone said to stay out of it, that it wasn’t any of her business, she walked away. Why couldn’t she do that with Dave? And when he kissed her, her persistence increased to whole new level. WOW. The lingering effects were enough to jumble her thoughts of him. Kathy was slowly realizing the more she discovered about Dave, the more she wanted to get to know him, kiss him, touch him, run her fingers over his—“Stop. Stop. Stop. He’s your boss and, and…” She couldn’t think of anything else to finish the sentence because the image of them naked, sweaty, and panting popped into her mind. “I’m sunk,” she told herself in the mirror.
Kathy exited the ladies’ room and walked smack into a patron. Her hands went instantly to the man’s broad chest while her feet backed her up against the wall.
“Careful,” the man smiled. “You almost ran me over.”
His charming smile and face were pleasant enough but Kathy felt no enticement toward the stranger. Maybe I’m defective. The thought depressed her as it always did whenever her lack of physical attraction to the opposite sex reared its ugly head—in defense she crossed her arms tight.
“Sorry.” She looked down at her feet, not knowing whether to run or flirt with the man.
“No worries. You come here often?”
“Yes… I mean… I work here.” Damn, why do I always have to stutter?
“Oh?” The man backed up a little and Kathy let out the breath she’d been holding. “I’m Ben.” He extended a hand.
“Kathy.” Uncrossing her arms she shook his hand. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, I’m not fragile. So are you a waitress?” He winked.
“No. I’m… umm…”
“Adorably shy?”
Kathy rolled her eyes. “Why do people always say that? Being an introvert isn’t adorable, it’s torture.” She straightened her shoulders and pushed her quiet voice up an octave. “I’m the manager.”
“Neat. I heard the Halloween party last year was a blast. You havin’ another one?”
“I think so.” Not knowing what else to say, Kathy moved around Ben. “I have to… get back to work.”
“See ya around?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Hey Kathy, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dave’s voice vibrated through her body. She hadn’t even seen his approach.
“I’ll be right there, Dave.”
“Boyfriend?” Ben asked.
“Boss.” With a weak smile she said, “See you around.”
My God! How corny can I get? “See you around?” Why can’t I ever come up with something sharp and witty? Even as a child Kathy had been the quietest out of every group. Her parents, “the hippies” as she liked to call them, certainly weren’t mice. Heck, they’d even gone to Woodstock, the hippie fest of the sixties, with their own parents.
“Yes, Dave?” she asked, while walking into his office. Don’t look at him then he might see how much you’ve been thinking about him. Kathy sat in a chair across from his desk and pondered. The man before her was still Dave. Nice, responsible, understanding, dependable Dave. Yet hearing his voice for the first time today, remembering the look in his russet eyes before he kissed her yesterday, proved he affected her more than she wanted to admit.
“About yesterday.” He took the chair next to her and turned it so they would have to face each other. “I have to apologize for being such a jerk.”
“No need. I was being pushy. I don’t know why. I guess curiosity got the best of me.” Kathy clasped her hands together on her lap and Dave covered them with his good one.
“Doesn’t matter. I was wrong and shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”
“Is it possible for you to get any nicer?” She laughed. “It’s okay. I just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.” Kathy bit her lip then moved on. “I’m the one who pushed the issue, Dave. Yes, you were a jerk, a big one, but you did have a good reason.”
“That’s it? I’m forgiven?” Dave sat back in the chair and smiled.
“Only if you forgive me for being so pushy with you.” A painful lump formed in her throat but Kathy pushed on. “I’m sorry about everything.”
“Everything?” He winked at her.
She shifted in her seat while her body heated in response to him referring to their kiss. “Umm… yes. I wish you’d take better care of yourself and not worry so much about the people around you.”
“I was thinking about you last night.”
“Oh. Well, that’s nice but you’re there for everyone but yourself, Dave,” she responded, trying to change the subject. “Who helps you out? Why do you try to push everyone away who wants to help you?”
A crease formed between his brows. “I don’t get you, Muffin.” Kathy watched and said nothing as Dave stood and began to pace the office. “When we first met, it seemed like you liked me. Then you backed off for what reason, I don’t know. Now you seem interested again but when I kissed you, both times, you basically ran away from me. And I’m the one pushing everyone away? It looks to me like you’re doing the same thing,” Dave froze for a moment to turn and look at her. The passion she saw in his eyes melted all the reserve she had left.
“Dave… I—” She rose from her chair and in a flash was wrapped around him, needy and wild. His lips were a delicious flavor, salty yet sweet, and she wanted more of it. Plunging her tongue in, she invited his to dance. Dave answered her fiery craving by pulling her close. The internal blaze combusted into a million tiny fires and caused every nerve in her body to blaze sensitive and hot.
Dave gently drew back. “Kathy, what the hell was that?”
“I’ve never felt this before.” She confessed against his avid lips. He pulled her closer forgetting about his bad arm and grunted in pain.
“I’m so sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you. It’s just…” Her eyes met his. “I have this need to touch you, have you touch me everywhere. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know what to do anymore because it seems like I’m starting to lose control. Damn it, I was just sitting there, Dave, listening to you, and the next thing I know I’m throwing myself at you.” She covered her mouth in shame. “I’m so embarrassed. I’ve never done anything like this.” She felt her face redden at the declaration and Dave’s questioning eyebrow.
“You fooled me. I started thinking you weren’t interested because you kept blowing me off. But then you do something like this and I don’t know what to think.”
Kathy stood quietly trying to figure out what to say. Why couldn’t she be the smooth talker Sophie always was with men?
Dave took a step closer. “What is it? What turned you on? ”
She laughed at him before lowering her eyes and picking at her shirt. “I don’t know what just happened but it never has before.”
“Interesting.” Dave rocked back on his heels.
“ ‘Interesting?’ Are you serious? It’s mortifying. I’m telling you that I’ve never had a man do that to me before, that I’ve never, never…”
“Never what?”
He’d been so good to her, such a gentleman. Damn Todd for pointing out what a failure at sex she was—how turning a man on and keeping him interested weren’t attributes she possessed. Kathy raised her chin and took a deep breath. “I’ve never been with a man who’s given me what I needed.”
“As in?”
“Really? You’re gonna make me say it? Bastard,” she whispered.
“Now that kinda talk is just a turn-on,” Dave joked and Kathy attempted a smile.
She couldn’t believe how easily Dave stimulated her with just a kiss. She could only imagine the things he could do with her body. The thought drew a wave of lust over her.
“I’ve never… you know.” She motioned with a hand for him to finish the thought.
Dave blinked once, then twice. An astonished realization covered his face and Kathy hid her humiliated one.
“You mean you’ve never been aggressive with a man? Just taken what you wanted,” he asked. “Not even with your ex-husband?”
“My marriage to Todd was a huge mistake, Dave. I was so young when we got together and he was so much older that I thought my lack of sexual knowledge was the problem. After him I dated a few men and still had the same problem.” Kathy sank to her seat in palpable shame. It burned hot, acidic, and made her head thump. “The truth is, I’m a miserable failure in the sex department. Defective.”
Dave sat next to her and placed a good-natured arm around her shoulder. “Anytime you want to sexually harass me, I’m more than willing to let you. But—”
“Here it comes.” Kathy closed her eyes tight. “This is mortifying.”
“I’m not the nice guy you think I am. There’s a lot you don’t know and a promise I’m keeping.”
“Like what?” With her interest piqued, Kathy looked at him. “Did you forget to put the toilet seat lid down?”
He laughed hard. “Man, I wish it was that easy.” The corners of his serious eyes crinkled while he stroked a finger down her throat to between her breasts then around each of them in a figure eight. “Let me show you you’re not defective, Kathy. Your inadequate ex couldn’t handle a woman like you. You need a man who will want to please you. Strip your clothes off slowly, and kiss every inch of that incredible body while you beg for more, discover what it takes to drive you wild beyond reason, that’s what I want to do for you if you let me.”
She knew her mouth had dropped. No man had ever touched her like that or suggested doing such erotic things to her body. Kathy wanted more. She yearned for Dave to do it all, every naughty thing he could think of until her body rejoiced, exploded, and became his. But could he, or was he all talk like every other man she’d been with?
With a possessive hand to the small of her back, Dave leaned into her and began to nibble on her neck. Next he moved to her earlobe where he gave it a gentle tug with his teeth.
“Dave, I really want that but I’ve always failed the men I’ve been with and I don’t want to do that to you.”
“Stop thinking, Kathy. Just feel,” he told her while kissing her eyelids.
“Dave, everyone I’ve ever let in has hurt me and giving into this desire for you… I don’t even know what will turn me on. How are you supposed to?” With heat swirling in her most private parts, Kathy closed her legs tight to try and ease the need to be touched.
Dave moved his mouth to her ear. “That’s the most exciting part. Learning your body and watching you go over for the first time after you’ve begged me for relief; being witness to this discovery, as I slide deep inside you.”
Dave’s words had Kathy burning with desire, a thought that was both scary and thrilling. She turned to him knowing the heat in her face, for once, wasn’t from shyness but from passion.
“I want that, Dave.” Courage overcame her and brought with it a sense of freedom. Feeling brave, she began to nibble on his chin as her hand snaked its way up his leg toward his crotch. He stopped her inches away from its desired destination.
“What?” she asked in confusion.
“Not yet. You have to work for it,” he told her.
Stricken by his bravado, Kathy sat rigid in her chair. “Excuse me?”
Dave winked at her then stood. “I’ll see you later.”
She couldn’t believe he had the audacity to walk out on her. The nerve of that man! Storming out to him seemed like the logical thing to do. He’d stirred her up, made her body pulse, and then left. How dare he? And to say she’d have to “work for it”? Challenge accepted, though not in the way he imagined.
It was at that moment she decided to make him beg for her.