Chapter 14
Rhett
Katie said yes. She freaking said yes. Every damn day I dealt with one emergency or another, and somehow the words of one woman were the one thing to get my heart racing. I spent so much time with my eyes on the rear vision mirror, tracking her car’s path, that I should’ve had an accident. Instead, I made it in one piece, jumping out of the car to meet her at hers, opening her door before she could.
“Oh…” I hated the way she looked surprised every time I did something nice. It lit a fire under me, though. If I could persuade her to date me seriously, I’d make sure she came to take all this stuff for granted. Katie smiled. “Um… thanks. Very gentlemanly.” That smile faded when she saw the restaurant. I turned around, scanning the glossy frontage, looking for signs of what put her off. “Though is it too late to cancel the reservations?”
“Why?”
I was too blunt, just blurting out what I thought, and that’s just what I did right now.
“Ah, well…” She looked down at herself, as if the reason was self-evident.
“I’m not following,” I said.
“This place looks pretty fancy,” she explained, “and I… Oh god, I’ve got a stain on my shirt from lunch.”
“Is that it?” I smiled then and did what I’d been longing to do since the moment I saw her. My hand claimed hers and that feeling of rightness intensified. Her palm was so small I felt like I needed to cradle it like a wounded bird. “Not sure about you, but I don’t give a shit about your shirt.” Her eyes flicked up to meet mine. “I mean, it’s very nice.” Very nice indeed. I wanted to feel that silky fabric under my fingertips, right before I freed the full breasts that heaved beneath it. “But tonight isn’t about getting dressed up all fancy. I just wanted to eat some good food in some good company. Can you do that for me?”
I was coming on too strong, I was sure of it, but her lips twitched despite herself.
“OK, if you want to eat dinner with a girl that had to wipe dog vomit off her pants…” she warned, taking a step towards the front door.
Get her talking about herself and be a good listener, that’s what Garrett had said, and he was always one for the ladies.
“Dog vomit?” I held open the restaurant door for her and waited for her to walk in. “Is that a bit of an occupational hazard?”
Apparently it was. Over a glass of wine and some nibbly things we ordered, I found out about a Maltese terrier that had an unfortunate habit of eating things he shouldn’t, hence the vomit, a neurotic Samoyed that hid under the chair the entire time, as if that made the twenty kilo dog less obvious, and a couple of Maine Coon cats who were struggling with pissing outside their litter boxes.
“You love animals, don’t you?”
Fuck, that was such an obvious question, but I just wanted her to keep talking. Not sure if she knew this, but her whole face lit up as she discussed the patients that had come through the door today.
“More than people, really.” She took a guilty sip of her wine, realising how that sounded. “I mean, you know where you stand with a cat or a dog.”
“Tail wagging means happy to see you or mad.” I shrugged. “Depending on the species. Kinda be easier if people did the same.”
“Yes!” She leaned across the table to snag one of these little spicy meatball things. I pushed the plate closer. “Like if clients came in with perked ears or ones flattened against their skull, then I’d know how to deal with them. Talk quietly, gently and maybe offer them some snacks.” I pushed another plate towards her filled with mini sliders she seemed to like. She took one while shooting me a suspicious look, but rather than eat it, it got waved through the air as she spoke. “Or tell them they’re being a very good girl or boy.”
I shifted restlessly in my chair, almost able to imagine the scenario she was describing.
“And what would you do if they were being a good boy?”
Shit, that came out way more intense than I meant it to. Her slider stopped halfway to her mouth, then she dropped it onto her plate. One eyebrow cocked up, making clear she was picking up what I was laying down.
“Well, how good are we talking?”
Were we flirting? I always found women so damn hard to read. Like were her eyes shining, her smile spreading slowly because she was imagining the people bringing their pets to the vets, or…?
Was she thinking about a very different scenario? One where I was a very good boy or a very bad one, depending on how you viewed it. Only one way to find out. I leaned forward, placing my elbows onto the table. Her pupils blew out at that, but she didn’t retreat backwards. That was promising.
I wasn’t good at longing. I either wanted something and tried to get it, or I walked away and resigned myself to the fact it was never going to happen. Part of me knew I should’ve done that with Katie the moment I saw she was intent on staying with Dave.
But I didn’t.
The bittersweet sensation of staring at her, tracing the shapes of her curves with my eyes and wondering, wondering at the sounds she’d make when I stripped away every inch of her clothing… It hurt too much to continue, but felt too good to stop.
“Good.” I barely croaked out my answer. “Better. The very best you’ve had.”
Because I would be if, when, we took things to the next level. I’d make damn sure of that.
“The best client to walk in the door of the vets?” She was deliberately misunderstanding me, but I could play along. “Well, I’d save the best treat of all for them. I’d?—”
“How are we doing here?” The waiter paled when I looked up, a barely contained snarl on my lips. “Ah… are we ready for another drink?”
Katie let out a little giggle, helping defuse the tension, if not alleviate the waiter’s confusion.
“Um… I think I’ll have a rum and Coke,” she said, swilling her wine in her glass. “The wine is very good but?—”
“Thank god,” I groaned. “Can’t stand the stuff myself.” The waiter looked personally offended. Perhaps because the bottle was his selection. “A rum and Coke and a beer, thanks, mate.”
The waiter nodded stiffly, removing the wine and the glasses before turning to get our orders.
“So why did you order wine if you didn’t like it?” Katie asked me in a low hiss, as if the other diners might overhear.
I could tell her some story, some lie, but that wasn’t me.
“My housemate told me to order wine, not beer, like a Neanderthal,” I replied. “I said I wanted to impress you and that was his advice.” My fingers played with the tablecloth. “So that’s what I did.”
She blinked at that, taking a second to process before shooting me an impish smile.
“Wine is just grape juice that’s gone off.”
“Tastes like it too.” Now we had stopped pretending to be civilised, I ran a thumb through the barbeque sauce left from the meatballs and licked it off, cleansing my palate. Of course, that was when the waiter appeared with our drinks. They were placed on the table with a barely contained sniff before he removed the small plates before us in readiness for the main meal. I took a big sip of beer, relishing the bitter, hoppy taste. “Here’s to being honest about what we actually want.”
I had a plan in my head about how this was going to go. I’d spent half the night tossing it around in my head, amending that plan when Garrett gave me his feedback. I couldn’t remember a single bit of it right now. It was going to my head, Katie was. The fact she was here and not with fucking Dave had me doing something really stupid.
My hand shot out and grabbed her chair leg and she was forced to put her drink down as I dragged it close. People turned to look, but I didn’t care, not when I finally had her sitting close enough to me that I could smell her floral perfume, the sweet scent of Coke, the burn of rum, and her. She stared up at me, a question on her lips, but it died there.
“I hated that you were with Dave. He wasn’t fit to touch the ground you walked on, let alone you. I wanted to break every single one of the fingers that touched you, punch his teeth down the throat that dared to speak your name.”
I shook my head, the icy condensation of the beer the only cool thing in the room right now, because even I knew I was fucking things up. It was like everything I felt about her was a bucket filled to the brim, suddenly too heavy to carry another step, and so I doused her with it, killing whatever fire I’d managed to spark within her. I had more to say, so much more, but right as I tried to gauge her response, the bloody waiter returned.
“Steak for the gentleman,” the guy said, as if I didn’t remember what I’d ordered. “And the lamb for the lady.”
He wanted to say something, about our drink choices, the change in our seating arrangement, but I just met the guy’s gaze head on and said thanks, dismissing him. He wasn’t my focus, Katie was.
“OK, that was…” Her voice was a low murmur, her hands grasping her cutlery in a death grip as she cut into her meat. She chanced a sidelong look at me, but whatever she saw there had her looking away just as fast. “Hot. Unexpected, but hot.”
“I thought you could see it written all over my face.” My steak went ignored because I had no appetite at all. “Every bloke in the station knew.”
“Every…?” How the hell was this a surprise to her? The way she studied her plate made clear it was. “You hid that better than you thought. I wish you’d said something.” My hand rose from where it rested on the back of her chair, ready to tease that little tendril of hair that sprung free from her ponytail. “Hell, if you had, I don’t know if I’d ever gone out with Dave.” Her eyes met mine now, steady and unblinking. “I knew what he was like, that he wasn’t treating me right.”
I wouldn’t make that mistake, that I swore, but I stayed quiet and let her finish.
“But you didn’t, and I did.” It felt like I lost something as she turned back to her plate. “I did and I need to start putting myself first. I’m not sure if I’m ready for anything else right now.”
“Then I’ll wait.” My heart screamed at me, declaring that a very bad idea, but I was the one in control. “I’ll be a very good boy and wait until you feel ready.”
That little snort of a laugh was all I needed to keep hope alive. That and the way she shivered as I ran my fingers down the back of her neck, only to pull away. I grabbed my knife and fork and dug into this overpriced steak.
“Thank god you’re home!” Rhys groaned as I walked into the living room. “Garrett is on another one of his benders.”
“Garrett’s doing what now?” The man himself appeared, still dressed in his scrubs as he carried around a bucket of cleaning supplies. “How’d the date go? Did you take my advice? Did you shut up and listen?”
“She’s not ready.” That should’ve been a death sentence, but something in me couldn’t take it that way. “Not yet. She just got out of a thing with Dave and she wants to find herself a bit before she starts dating seriously.”
“So why are you smiling?” Garrett asked with a little frown.
“Because I made clear that I’ll be there when she is. She didn’t screw up her face or run out of the restaurant screaming in horror.”
“Probably should’ve,” Rhys muttered. “Has she seen you when you first wake up? Scary.”
“Instead, she seemed…”
Soft, sweet, pliant when I pushed her up against her car, supporting my weight on the arm propped above her head. I’d watched her eyes widen, her breathing pick up, right before I darted closer. Just a brief little kiss, little more than brushing my lips over hers, but they still tingled from that moment of contact.
“She seemed…” Rhys circled his finger through the air frantically.
“Open to the idea, at least I think she was. Better than watching her date that fucking idiot. He never treated her right, but I will.” I nodded. “I’ll make that clear when she’s ready to see it.”
“Seems like we’re all hung up on unavailable women.” Rhys sat down hard on the couch. “My gym hottie ran away from me.”
“So she’s not completely insane,” Garrett drawled. “Noted.”
“The idiot she was with saw her curves and turned his fucking nose up at her so he could chase after some skinny bitch.” He shook his head. “Just wanna punch that guy so fucking hard.” I watched Rhys leap to his feet. “I need to head back to the gym, go and do some real heavy lifts to get me out of my head.”
“I’ll—”
I was about to volunteer to do the same. Having a fairly easy day at work, coupled with the nerves I was battling during the date, that adrenaline needed to go somewhere.
“Help me clean up the house first.” Garrett shoved bottles of cleaning chemicals at us. “You two have had dates with Miss Right? Well…” He sprayed the glass coffee table, then started cleaning it aggressively. “I met someone too. She’s the reason why we’re getting a dog, not a cat.”
“I knew it!” Rhys said, stabbing his finger in the air. “I knew you didn’t get a cat for a reason.”
“This girl…” I knew exactly what Garrett was feeling as he shook his head. That same rush of excitement, surprise and fascination I felt when I first met Katie, I was sure of it. “She was with this poor, busted up looking dog and was looking so damn cute. Just started telling me the dog’s entire story and I’m not hearing a word.” He looked up then. “I just stared into her eyes and knew I would do whatever the hell she wanted, y’know? We’d have a house full of pets if that’s what she needed. Which is why you need to help me clean up.” Cleaning rags were thrown our way. “The shelter called and no one else could do the inspection but her, so she’s coming by after work tomorrow night.”