Challenging the Center (Santa Fe Bobcats #6)(28)

He let his hands skim up and under her stiff blouse, crinkling the fabric as they explored the smooth, tight skin of her stomach. She was lean but strong. And with every breath she took, every little twist, he reveled in feeling the muscles and tendons of her body lengthen and move under his hands. But he didn’t dare go higher than the bottom of her ribcage. Not now. Not like this. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—tempt himself further.

Finally, sanity returned, and Michael remembered they weren’t in his apartment with all the privacy in the world but in his lawyer’s conference room, with only a closed—but unlocked—door separating them from the rest of the world. And while Michael wasn’t a prude, he also didn’t consider getting caught making out with the athlete he was supposed to be mentoring a great way to set an example of propriety.

With reluctance, he drew back, taking in Kat’s sleepy, satisfied look and small noise of protest. God, what he wouldn’t give to blink and transport them to his bedroom. Where he could see that look over and over again. In bed. Naked. After an even more satisfying encounter where they’d let more than their mouths meet.

“Shh,” he said, kissing her once more before she came back to her senses and yelled at him. Or tried to lunge for him again. He had no clue which way she would swing, and that only made it all the more damn exciting. “Let’s table this for right now. I have to finish the meeting, clarify a few more things with Martin, and then run some errands. Can you wait on me to finish up this meeting?”

“I…” Kat sat back so she was perched at the edge of his knees. It made him nervous, but her core was strong enough to keep her balanced. “Actually, I think I’ll take a walk.”

A walk? He waited while she stood and fixed her shirt, pulling it down in short, aggravated jerks. “A walk where? We’re downtown. There are no trails or anything nearby.”

“Not a hike. Just… a walk. Clear my head. I’ll be fine.” She gifted him with a sunny smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Kat—”

“I’m good, Michael. Promise.” She reached out and gripped his forearm with a firm hold, squeezing a little as evidence she was steady. “I’ll text you later, okay?”

“Let me know where you are, and I’ll come pick you up.” He led her to the door of the conference room, then paused with his hand on the door handle. “What is it about you and me and conference rooms?”

She laughed quickly, then went up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Lightning fast, she was already pulling away again, as if not wanting to give him the chance to pull her back.

“We’ll talk about it,” he promised. That dimmed some of her joy, which he hated to see. But they had to talk, and he wasn’t going to put it off any longer.





Chapter 8





As she turned left out of the office building that housed Michael’s lawyer’s firm, she did a quick double take. She hadn’t been paying attention before when they’d driven here, or she would have realized it sooner. She knew where she was.

Sin’s Inn was two hundred yards away and probably closed at this early an hour. But she found her feet walking that direction before she could second-guess the choice. As she reached the closed glass doors leading to the bar, she sighed. What the hell was she expecting? A doorman to be there, ready to open the place up so she could go in and have a private moment in her own personal bar?

Something touched her shoulder. She shrieked and jumped a foot.

“Whoa, nice ups.”

Kat turned to find Stacy behind her. Her face was devoid of the dramatic makeup she’d worn the other night when they’d first met, but she wore the same style polo with the bar’s logo on it, same small shorts and sexy heels. Her dark hair was pulled into a sort of beehive hairdo that looked equal parts complex and effortless.

“You…” She gulped in air, fighting to calm the drumbeat in her ears. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“No kidding. Come inside, you look like you’re going to pass out.” Stacy led her around to an alley that sat between the bar and the business next door. They ducked in a side door, and Kat found herself in the back room she’d helped carry boxes into the last time she’d been there. “Sit, and I’ll bring you some water.”

She didn’t feel shaky anymore, but she wasn’t going to argue. It wasn’t as if she had anything else to do with her time. As she sat, Stacy walked back in and grimaced.

“What?” Kat asked as she took the cup of water Stacy handed over.

“You creaked. Did you know that? Did you hurt something when I scared you?” Stacy pulled up a box and sat, crossing her legs and dangling one high heel from the ball of her foot.

“My knees. They do that when they bend. It’s typical,” she added with a shrug when Stacy’s eyes widened. “Years of jumping and running and twisting will do that to the body. I’m getting old.”

“You can’t be more than twenty-five.”

“Twenty-six.”

“Oh, well, never mind then.” Stacy sniffed. “You’re ancient. Over the hill. We should put you on one of those barges and shoot flaming arrows at you.”

“There are some mornings I think that would be appropriate.” Kat laughed. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop to say hi.”