“Condom,” he growled in her ear, and he watched as a hand dropped into a drawer of the dresser. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled out a strip of foil-covered condoms and off ripped one with her teeth. Allowing the wrapper to flutter to the floor, she passed it to him and he sheathed himself, quickly and efficiently.
“These animals have to go,” he said. He flashed Flick a grin. “Hold that thought.”
Kai gently picked up the kittens and placed them on top of a cushion on the floor before grabbing Rufus’s collar and tugging. He had to look ridiculous, he thought, trying to move a massive dog with a boner. After a tug of war that lasted a minute, Rufus sniffed, pushed himself to his feet, and hopped off the bed.
“About damned time,” Kai growled, sweeping the covers back. He grabbed Flick by the waist and laid her on the cool sheets, her hair fanned out against the white cotton. He pushed her curls back from her face.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, his tone reverent. And it was true—he’d never seen anything more exquisite in his life. Flick allowed her legs to fall open, and grabbing his neck, she pulled him down so that he was lying on top of her. His dick needed no directions—it knew just where to go, and he slid inside her, tight and sweet.
“Ahhh, sweetheart,” Kai rested his forehead against hers as she lifted her hips to pull him deeper. “I want to go slow.”
“Slow is for later.” Flick whispered. “Right now I need you to love me.”
Love her? He almost did. Right now, right here, was the closest he’d ever been to that elusive emotion. Kai slid his arm under her hip and pulled her up and into him so that no space existed between them. “I can do that.”
“Show me.” Flick commanded.
That was one order he was more than happy to obey.
The next morning Flick felt sexy and sleepy but also so, so sad. She pulled a tray of double chocolate muffins from the oven and ran the back of her wrist over her forehead. It was nearly six a.m., and two hours earlier she’d left Kai in her bed, her white sheet tangled in his long legs, a kitten sharing his pillow. She’d dropped a kiss between his shoulder blades, telling him that she was on the early shift and that the croissants and cupcakes wouldn’t make themselves.
He’d mumbled something that she didn’t catch and ran his hand up the inside of her thigh before falling back to sleep.
It had been the best night of her life. Like the muffins, their lovemaking had been rich, explosive, a little dark, and a lot steamy. In Kai’s arms, under his touch, she found her confidence and lost her inhibitions. She found herself.
Flick banged the tray of muffins on the steel table and held the edge of the counter, her top teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She’d found herself? What the hell was she thinking?You can’t do this Flick. You can’t allow yourself to confuse sex with emotion, desire with devotion.
He was a good lover and last night he’d also been a good friend, there when she needed someone. But she had to keep this in perspective and keep her emotional distance. Kai was a here-today-gone-sometime-soon type of guy. His business might be here but he wasn’t, not really. Yeah, he rented a place, but his heart didn't reside in Mercy. He was the ultimate rolling stone.
He was not a small-town guy. At all. He couldn’t imagine living in Mercy and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Not on a long-term basis anyway.
Falling for Kai would be the most moronic thing, man-wise, she could do. It would even top that fling she’d had with that divorced guy with a kid. Falling for Kai would be stupid and she knew stupid, especially when it came to men.
Kai was sex, Kai was pleasure. He was a moment in time she’d look back on when she was eighty and wanted to remember how good sex could be. He was not where she should look for any happy-ever-afters.
Good talk. Head on straight. She had this.
Maybe.
She shouldn’t be worrying about Kai, she should be trying to work out how to repair her relationship with Pippa. But she couldn’t do that without coffee, so she walked into the store and headed straight for the coffee machine. She had, maybe, forty-five minutes before her early bird customers trundled in, looking for their daily sugar and caffeine fix.
Kai was right, Flick thought as she waited for the industrial coffee machine to run through its morning waking-up cycle. There was no way that she would be able to clear Gina’s house without letting the cougar-sized cat out of the bag. She’d need help to move that furniture, an expert to determine what was valuable and what was not. As soon as she employed someone to do that, the word would be out. Gina’s out-of-control spending would be news, in capitals. Newsworthy of a flashing neon sign six feet high.
Who in Mercy could help her and keep their mouth shut? Who had that much self-control? She couldn’t think of anyone who met that criteria.
And what should she do with all the stuff? If Gina’s eye for a bargain and for quality was as good as Kai said it was, then selling her furniture would sort out her financial woes or, at least, make a damn good dent in them. But there was no way she’d be able to sell the contents of the house and keep it a secret. That, no matter how much Gina wanted it, wasn’t going to happen.
Flick grabbed a mug from the shelf above the machine and shoved it under the spout and hit a button. She waited as the liquid streamed into her cup, mentally urging it to hurry the hell up. How would Pippa act today? They’d fought before, but those arguments had been minor in comparison, and, because neither of them held grudges, easily forgiven and forgotten. This time they’d had a blisteringly hurtful fight, and she had nothing to compare it to, so she had no idea how Pippa would act. They were both right and equally at fault.
She was keeping a secret about Pippa’s mother that Pips believed she had a right to know. And she probably did.
And Pippa had shot off some deeply hurtful sentiments of her own. Flick didn’t know if she could easily forgive her cousin for being so damn cruel. It was one thing living with the belief, the knowledge that she hadn’t been loved by her mother, but to have someone else verbalize her deepest fears, the most hurtful truth of her life, made her feel mentally and emotionally whipped.
Dealing with Pippa, with what she’d said, and with Gina’s secret between them, was going to be truly, utterly awful.
Flick picked up her coffee and turned at a tap on the large front window. Through the glass Tally sent her an unsure smile, and Flick walked across the shop floor to flip open the locks on the front door. Tally was wearing a pair of long cycling pants under a huge t-shirt and Flick wondered why she felt the need to cover up her gorgeous body. Then again, Tally, like every other teenage girl in the world, probably thought that her almost-perfect body was totally flawed.
“Hey.” Tally wiped the perspiration off her forehead, trying to catch her breath.