Because it was a stupid idea.
Idiotic.
It wasn’t as though he could dance. Or had the body for it. Even if Kim seemed more than a little interested in looking at him. And kissing him.
Blake shifted in his seat and stepped on the gas a bit harder.
Stripping for Kim simply wouldn’t happen.
Ever.
Chapter Five
Kim was not the most patient person in the world. She’d learned how to distract herself so she’d be able to manage the time and not drive herself crazy. But when she knew something was coming, and that something was exactly what she wanted, her mind did mean and nasty things that prevented her from being a normal human being. Like stopping her from being able to work out, or to figure out how to make an egg salad sandwich.
It was egg salad for fuck’s sake. How hard could it be?
She dumped the still runny eggs into a bowl, slapped a hunk of cold butter on top and waited for her bread to toast. Breakfast for supper worked too. She wasn’t about to substitute her glass of wine for a coffee though, knowing the caffeine would do nothing to improve her mood.
Blake hadn’t shown up here at her home yet, nor was he answering his cell phone. It was now past 6:00 p.m., and she doubted he’d be making good on his promise.
Bastard.
Bing Crosby’s voice floated in from her bedroom where White Christmas was playing on one of the local channels. She loved this part of the movie and yet, she couldn’t drag up the energy to move her body to go see it. Bing had a glow to him in that scene, a soft look of sentimental contentment that infused itself into his song. Kim had been fascinated with the movie since she was a kid for that very reason, always wanting to know what it would feel like to be that Zen with the world.
For a brief moment last night when Blake was kissing her, she thought she understood. Her body had electrified, become in tune with his as his mouth covered her own. Her heart pounded, but she could feel his matching hers beat for beat. She’d lost track of time and place, couldn’t hear anything beyond the soft moans he made in the back of his throat as he’d deepened the kiss.
Stunned. That’s what she’d been.
Sarah and the girls had thoroughly enjoyed teasing the snot out of her after Blake’s departure. No matter how many times she’d tried to redirect them back to the evening’s schedule, no one was interested.
Who was that?
He’s hot. Did he use lots of tongue?
Can you get him as the next Naughty Nick?
If you’re not interested, can I have his phone number?
Kim hadn’t thrown that many dirty looks to discourage people since her grad class pub crawl. The bugger of the situation was that she had no claim whatsoever on Blake. Until the moment of the kiss—the first one, not the second—she couldn’t have definitively said he saw her as any more than his reliable little holiday helper and seasonal friend. Lots of wishful thinking on her part and the occasional mixed signal, but nothing she could point to and say, hey look, he wants to have sex again, or dinner, or something. Clearly, there was something else going on in that head of his, something Kim was too scared to think about.
Where the hell was he?
Her mushy eggs and nearly burned toast were consumed with determination as she watched Bing and his buddy Danny Kaye shuffle across her flat screen looking more than happy with the girls. The wine quickly followed, leaving an odd mix of flavors in her mouth. Still, it was better to face the music with a slight buzz than sit around and sulk because she’d been stood up by her boss...who’d had his tongue down her throat the night before...and appeared to have enjoyed things.
Kim groaned and flopped back against her pillows, refusing to watch any more.
“What the hell am I doing?”
Their kiss by the bathroom had been a strange, almost surreal event that she would have questioned if it happened if it hadn’t been for the recurring fantasies she’d furiously masturbated to ever since. She’d gotten the impression that had been more than a little impulsive on his part, something that he’d regretted given his disappearing act.
And last night Blake had been forced into kissing her. There was no way Sarah and the girls would have let him escape without a good showing. He’d always been a good sport when it came to things like that and she wasn’t surprised he’d been willing to play along. His quirky sense of humor and ability to roll with the punches was one of the reasons Naughty Nicks had become so successful in such a short time.
Maybe he simply wanted to see her today to apologize for taking advantage of the situation. That was exactly the type of thing Blake would do. He’d blame himself, writing the evening’s events up to something outside of his control. No wonder he was dragging his feet. He was probably in the office writing a speech, making sure it wouldn’t be offensive to her lest she quit, leaving him high and dry.
The sound of the doorbell echoed through her apartment and set her heart racing. Kim sat bolt upright, her head throbbing in protest from the sudden change in her orientation. Of course he’d show up now. She’d taken the effort to look good, all of which meant nothing after an afternoon of moping. Touching her hair, she could only imagine the state she must look. There was a coffee stain on the thigh of her jeans and her Snoopy Christmas T-shirt now sported an impressive set of wrinkles.
Oh well, he better not say anything if he expected to leave with his jingle balls attached.