Flick just looked at him, horrified. “Oh, shit, I didn’t think of that!” She’d done it again, jumped into a situation feet first without any thought. Pippa, who could take months to make a decision about what toaster to buy, was going to throttle her.
“You are pretty impulsive, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea,” Flick muttered.
Kai just laughed and shook his head, his eyes deepening with humor. Flick saw them drop to her mouth and then to her chest and stepped back before she fell into temptation and hurled herself into his arms.
“That reminds me—what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be gone. I thought we agreed that—” Flick felt a jerk on her hand and felt the leash slide out of her grip as Rufus lunged away.
She cursed and whirled around, wincing as Rufus slapped his two front paws on the shoulders of an immaculately dressed woman about her own age walking out of the bakery, leaving dusty paw prints on her white shirt. Rufus gave her flawlessly made-up face a long lick and the woman yelped and dropped the box she was holding, scattering a selection of pastries all over the pavement. Those being Ru’s prime target, he dropped his paws and proceeded to gobble them up.
Shit.She was going to have to replace the entire box. Damned dog. If Kai hadn’t had that look in his eyes, the one that was all lazy passion, then she wouldn’t have loosened her grip on the leash and she wouldn’t need to apologize to this supermodel in a pencil skirt. It was all his fault. She should make him pay for the box of ruined pastries.
“I’m so sorry,” Flick quickly spoke, flashing her best conciliatory smile. “He’s just a puppy, really and I’m trying to train him.”
Model Girl dusted Rufus’s hair off her skirt and Flick bit the inside of her lip, waiting for a sarcastic comment or an imminent explosion.
The woman placed her hands on her size two hips and grinned, to Flick’s great surprise. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve been jumped on by worse.” She lifted an eyebrow in Kai’s direction. “As you should know. Hello, Boss Man.”
“Reagan.” Kai stepped forward and his lips brushed Reagan’s temple. Flick noticed that she closed her eyes as his lips connected with her skin. Flick narrowed her eyes as Rufus leaned against her toned leg, the mean girl inside her mentally urging Rufus to pee on her shoe. Who was this paragon who Kai kissed with such affection?
“Why are you here? I thought you were in London,” Kai asked, keeping his hand on her shoulder.
Reagan lifted her shoulder. “Was. My contract ended.”
Kai frowned. “Problem?”
Sunlight bounced off her bright blond head as she shook it. “Marriage. The wife objected.”
Kai sighed. “Those wives are hell on business. And how are things?”
Flick frowned. She didn’t like not being in the loop. Who exactly was this Heidi Klum lookalike? What work did she do at Caswallawn and why did Flick wonder whether she’d ever been more than just Kai’s colleague? There was a familiarity, a warmth between them that suggested that they’d known each other for a long time. Had they been under the bedcovers together? Her stomach flipped over at the thought—one afternoon together and she was pea-green.Ridiculous.
“Things are fine.”
Kai sent Reagan a slow smile, full of affection. It was a smile Flick hadn’t seen from him before—not that she’d seen many at all.
“It’s good to see you, Reags. It’s been a while.”
“You too, Kai,” Reagan looked down at the empty box at their feet. “That dog ate the baked goods I was bringing to the office.”
“Flick will replace them. It’s her mutt,” Kai said. Mutt? Who was he calling a mutt? Flick looked down at her dog, who was licking his balls. Hell, yeah, he was a mutt. And an embarrassing one at that.
Kai kept hold of Reagan’s hand and Flick folded her arms, tapping her foot in irritation.
To hell with standing around like a spare wheel. Flick cleared her throat and held out her hand in Reagan’s direction. “Hi, I’ll introduce myself, since Kai has forgotten to do so. I’m Flick. I’m the co-owner of the bakery, so if you give me half a minute, I’ll replace those pastries for you.”
Reagan’s smile was warm and open and Flick was tempted to like her. “Oh, that’s great! Thank you so much.” She looked up and down the street and turned back to Kai. “So back in Mercy, huh?” She smiled up at Kai. “How are you coping?.”
“It’s still my definition of hell,” Kai said.
Jeez, what was his problem with her town? Flick glared at him. “As I keep saying, you’re welcome to leave,” Flick told him, her tone frosty. Why was he still here? Was he trying to torment her? If so, he was doing it well. She extended her thumb and jerked it over her shoulder. “The airport is that way. Just drive down this street, turn right, and keep on going. I thought that was the plan.”
Kai dropped his eyes to her feet and they drifted up her legs, lingered on her hips, her stomach, her breasts, before eventually connecting with hers again. Heat and memories, wet and warm, pulsed through her. His mouth on her breasts, his lips drifting lower.....
Do. Not. Go. There.
Kai spoke again. “Yeah, well, that’s partly why I’m here. I just stopped by to say—”