When he stood in front of Kate’s door and heard her pretending she wasn’t home, he was surely pissed off. Why in the hell would she leave him standing there? That had never happened to him before. But then he’d seen her in that ridiculous outfit and his anger had morphed into something else.
Seeing her there on the sofa in that hideous cupcake suit and ugly flamingo slippers, he couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. Her glowering eyes took him out of his laughing fit, and her determined tone of voice ignited something else inside of him as well. She impressed him by standing up for herself.
In the past months, when he’d deliberately flirted with others in front of her, Kate chose to walk away from him and closed herself off. He was pleased when she reacted exactly as he’d intended. He wanted to stop his obsession with her and hoped that the growing distance between them would help.
But tonight she strode self-assured on her furry flamingo slippers toward the front door after she’d told him to get out. It made him hard as a rock, and after witnessing this fire inside of her, he desired her even more.
He followed her to the front door. “Don’t be mad, cupcake. Come.”
He took her gently by the elbow and placed her in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway, positioning himself behind her with his hands on her shoulders. He noticed their height difference once more; she was just five foot four against his well over six foot.
He held her gaze in the mirror. “Please tell me you can see the humor in a beautiful woman wearing a cupcake suit and furry flamingo slippers. Tell me you understand that I would never laugh at you and make you feel bad intentionally… I just couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of this ensemble.” Donovan waved his hand over her clothing.
As she scowled at him through the mirror, he began to worry that she was going to stay mad at him, but then her upper lip pulled up ever so slightly.
“What? You mean to tell me you don’t own furry flamingo slippers?” Kate put her hands on her hips and asked, as if he were the one being ridiculous.
He laughed again, and when she raised her brow at him, he lifted both hands in defeat. “Now don’t get angry again because I find you amusing.”
She turned and looked up at him, glaring into his eyes. “Are you done? I would like to end this conversation and go back to what’s left of my ice cream.”
“Can I stay for a while?” Donovan asked, hoping she would appreciate his new approach. Normally he wouldn’t even ask permission. He would’ve just strolled into the living room to make the point clear he was done with the conversation and that he was going to stay. But now he felt like he had to tread lightly because he wanted to get on her good side again.
“Why?”
“Because I want to hang out with you.”
“Why?”
She was attracted to him. She wanted him; Donovan was certain of it. He felt her gaze upon him every time they happened to be in the same room. She would blush the moment he met her lingering eyes.
That she was being difficult and didn’t want him here was something he hadn’t expected. He’d thought they would be in the bedroom by now so he could fuck her out of his system. Normally, he could be very persuasive. But here she was, standing in some sort of comical outfit, demanding to know his reason for staying.
“Because I want to be here,” he said.
Kate sighed in defeat and passed him by as she walked to the sofa and picked up the pint of ice cream from the coffee table before sitting down. “You’re lucky it’s not totally melted, or I’d definitely send you on your merry way,” she grumbled before taking a big spoonful of ice cream. Donovan swallowed while watching the spoon slip into her luscious mouth.
He sat down next to her and instantly commented after glancing at the screen. “So is this your guilty pleasure?” He teased and swore he could hear her growl. Fuck, the sounds she made were making him hard all over again.
“Shut up and let me watch my show in peace.”
The sound of Kate telling him to shut up was astonishing enough, and a total aphrodisiac, as only a few people from his family had ever dared to say those words to him. Donovan had thought that Kate would be the most compliant woman he’d met thus far, but she surprised him with her attitude. The shy and submissive Kate had been driving him stir-crazy all these months. But the stubborn, mouthy Kate? Totally irresistible. Playing with Kate was going to be even more fun than he’d originally thought.
“You know these shows are staged, right?” He glanced at Kate while grabbing the spoon from the pint. He took a spoonful of ice cream as she glared at him with the pint still in her hand.
“Don’t say that. You’re spoiling my guilty pleasure,” she sneered.
“It’s true. That blonde is probably cast from some Hooters bar. Huh, I think she’s from Austin. Yeah… ha, that’s Cheryll. She hung out at the dojo for a while. Oh, I have to tell Ronan about this. Come on, this show is total fake.” He chuckled.
“Of course you would know the woman who boasted on national television about how she could keep a man happy.” Kate rolled her eyes. She shifted a bit, and although he knew she felt him watching her, she kept her eyes fixed on the screen. “You… you’re just like Errin,” Kate huffed.
“Now, please don’t compare me to your sister. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice girl, but I’m nothing like her. If you must compare her to someone, Ronan is a better fit for sure.”
“Well, you’ve both laughed at my onesie, and neither of you can shut up during this TV show.” She quirked her brow, and he needed to count to ten to stop himself for hauling her over his lap and giving her round, perky butt a love bite for sassing him. Oh, he was tempted all right.
He gave her a lopsided grin, and she took a sharp intake of breath before she quickly turned her heated face toward the television. At least she was still affected by him. He smiled in satisfaction. Nudging her shoulder with his, he held the spoon in front of her. “Can I have another bite?”
“Sure….” She shot him an apprehensive look over her shoulder before holding out the pint for him to take some more ice cream. He scooped a spoonful and held it in front of her mouth. Her baby blues went wide, and a cute blush crept from under her cupcake suit over her throat and ultimately reddened her cheeks even more.