Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Kat didn’t realize how hungry she was until she was reclining on the couch with the aftermath of the greasy burger and fries on the coffee table in front of her. She put her hand on her belly and laughed at herself.
“I have to say, Kat. I’ve never seen a woman put a burger away like you before.”
She struggled to sit up and stare at Andy. Maybe she should have been embarrassed by the way she’d inhaled her dinner and with any other man, she might have been. But this was Andy. It was different with Andy.
And after what they’d done in the car, it was very different.
Not that she was complaining.
“What can I say.” She winked at him before flopping back onto the cushion. “I worked up an appetite earlier.”
“That was pretty crazy. I’ve never done anything like that. ”
Was he talking about the bungee jumping or the sex in the car? Kat was desperate to know but before she could ask, Andy added, “In case you’re wondering, I meant both the jumping off the bridge and hooking up in the front seat of my car.”
Kat couldn’t help herself; she rolled over so she was facing him and propped her head up on her hand. “So you’ve hooked up in the back seat of your car before?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He chuckled.
“Actually, no.” She rolled onto her back again so he couldn’t see the conflict on her face. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”
The couch sagged under Andy’s weight as he moved closer to her. “Are we going to talk about it?”
“It?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” He reached out and traced a finger down her bare arm, sending shivers through her. “I know you way too well for that. And we do need to talk about it.”
“Do we?” She already knew the answer. Of course they did. It was one thing to pretend that there was nothing going on between them before. But now that they’d crossed the line, pretending all of a sudden got a whole lot harder.
Especially because Kat had full intentions on crossing that line again.
And again.
“Okay, fine.” She pulled herself up to a sitting position and pulled a throw cushion onto her lap. “We had sex.”
“We sure did. ”
She inhaled deeply. “I enjoyed it.”
Andy chuckled. “So did I. Very much.”
She blew out her breath and took a chance. “I’d like to do it again.”
He was silent for a moment, and Kat worried maybe that he didn’t feel the same way. Which shouldn’t have been a problem, but for more reasons than she wanted to admit, it mattered. A lot.
It felt like forever before Andy reached for her hand. “So would I.” His voice was low, and full of promise. “And I think that’s a problem.”
He wasn’t wrong.
She’d fantasized for so long about what it would be like to be with Andy, but the reality had been so much better than anything she could have ever imagined. And now that she’d had a taste of how it could be with him, she knew with perfect certainty, she’d want more.
Andy was right. It was a problem.
“I agree.” She held his gaze. “But it’s not an insurmountable one.”
He tilted his head in question. “How so? You know as well as I do that your brother will murder me if he found out we…” Andy waved his hand between them. “You know.”
She laughed. “I do know. And you’re right, Craig would lose his shit if he found out, which is why he can never know.”
“Agreed.” Andy dropped her hand, and she immediately felt the loss of his touch. “And it’s also why we can’t do it again.”
Kat sat back sharply, as if she’d been slapped. “That’s bullshit.”
“Kat, I?—”
“No.” She pulled away as he tried to reach for her again. “I don’t accept that, Andy. We’re grown-ups. And yes, Craig would be upset. They probably all would be. But you just told me you wanted to do it again.”
“I do.”
“So do I.” Exasperated, she almost yelled. Instead, she tried to make her point a different way. Kat reached for him and pulled him toward her so she could kiss him.
He groaned against her mouth the second their lips touched. She knew he felt the same spark she did. How could he not? It was fire between them. And it was so much more than just a quickie in the car.
So. Much. More.
He was fucked.
Well and truly fucked.
Andy scrubbed a hand over his face. He knew he’d been playing with fire when it came to Kat. He never should have agreed to the bungee jumping. He knew better than to put himself in a situation where he’d lose control.
But there was no way he could have done anything else .
Not when it came to Kat. She’d always had some kind of spell over him, and that was before . Now, he was completely bewitched by her. And it went a whole lot deeper than just the amazing sex they’d shared earlier.
How could it not?
This was Kat. She wasn’t just any woman.
She was…she was Kat .
He moved his kisses to her neck. She tasted sweet and salty and absolutely delicious. “You’re right,” he said between kisses. “It is bullshit. I need more of this.” He sucked her delicate skin between his teeth until she moaned. “I need you .”
She wriggled beneath him and dropped her head to the side, giving him easier access. “You did promise to carry me up to my bed and?—”
“That’s right.” Screw talking. It was overrated. Andy stood and scooped Kat up into his arms easily. “And that’s just what I’m going to do.”
Suddenly the idea of having her spread out on her bed, naked for him to feast his eyes and mouth upon, seemed like a much more pressing issue than finishing their conversation. Especially considering neither of them was going to like the outcome from such a conversation.
He moved quickly up the stairs, and they each made short work of their clothes, leaving them in piles on the ground. “You’re so damn gorgeous.” He let his gaze move slowly over every inch of her.
How did he think even for a moment that he could deprive himself of this sight ?
“You’re pretty impressive yourself.”
Kat’s eyes lingered on his dick, and when her pink tongue slipped from between her lips before she looked up to lock eyes with his, Andy thought he might combust.
He closed the distance between them and put his hands on the gentle swell of her hips, splaying his fingers over the curve of her ass. “You know what I think?” He lowered his mouth to her perfect tits, sucking first one nipple and then the other into his mouth.
Kat moaned in response.
“I think that you’re right. We’re grown-ups and we can do whatever we want as long as no one gets hurt.” Again, he bent and suckled her breasts until she gasped. “Do you agree?”
“Um hum.”
He lifted his head. Her eyelids fluttered open, and he read hesitation there. “Kat? We don’t have to?—”
“No.” She put a hand flat on his chest. “It’s not that. I just…it’s probably for the best that this can’t go anywhere, right? I mean…with my family and…”
Andy swallowed hard. More than anything, he wanted to object and stop her from putting more limits on them. Instead, he let her finish.
“I mean, you live so far away. It could never go anywhere anyway. We’re just friends. No one’s going to get hurt.”
Was she trying to convince herself? Or him?
“What did you say?” He pretended to think about it despite the fact that her words had been seared into his mind from the moment she spoke them in his apartment two years earlier. “Happy for right now?” Was it his imagination, or did she flinch when he said that? “This can be temporary. Something fun.”
She took a moment to think about it, but then a smile curled her lips. “Right.” She nodded, and he pretended not to notice the way her breasts jiggled. “You said you’d help me with my list.”
He didn’t hesitate. “And I meant it. Whatever you need.”
“That’s perfect. It’s kind of a built-in time limit for…well, whatever this is.”
What it was, was perfection. But he swallowed hard to keep from interrupting her.
“When my list is done, then we…”
“Go back to being just friends,” he finished for her. “No more benefits.”
She giggled. “I mean, it kind of makes sense.”
Did it? He wasn’t convinced. But he also wasn’t stupid. And he’d take what he could get when it came to Kat.
“So, six months?”
She nodded. “I mean, I guess whenever you’re in town. I know you have a whole life and career and everything in Vancouver. So, I don’t expect?—”
“I’ll be here,” he interrupted her. “I told you I’d be there for you, and I meant it. You have six months to complete your list, right?”
She nodded .
“So, six months it is.” He said it as if it were a done deal. And as far as he was concerned, it was. It was also a sharp reminder that he hadn’t told her yet that he was moving back to Trickle Creek and had taken a job locally. But he couldn’t tell her now. The only way she was going to agree to this situationship was if it had a time limit.
He knew that.
And he also knew that more than anything, he wanted her to agree. He needed her to agree.
In that moment, he needed her like he needed oxygen. And he was desperately close to choking.
“But your job? Your?—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He pulled her close again, unable to stand even the smallest distance between them. “All you need to worry about is the Dad’s Do-It list.”
She laughed. “I don’t think that name is going to work out. It sounds creepy.”
“You’re right.” Andy shook his head and kissed her neck again. “It does,” he said between kisses. “You need to come up with a new name. Later.”
He slowly lowered himself to his knees as he moved his kisses down her body. Kat wrapped her fingers through his hair and tugged when he dipped his tongue into her belly button. She squealed a little bit.
“You’re going to have to stay here, with me.” Her words came in short little gasps as he used his hands to nudge her legs apart.
He glanced up. “I wouldn’t stay anywhere else.” Andy dropped his head to his task and kissed his way up first one sweet thigh, and then, the next before finally kissing her inviting, wet center.
She was just as delicious as he remembered. His dick throbbed between his legs while he took his time licking and lapping up her sweet nectar. Kat’s thighs quivered beneath his grip; he could feel her edging closer to her release. But he wasn’t ready for that yet.
She groaned when he got to his feet and gently led her back to the bed, where he pushed her softly to the fluffy duvet.
“I think this could work out quite well.”
“I think you might be right.” As long as it meant having Kat in his bed, in his arms and just like this for the next six months, Andy couldn’t see any flaw with their arrangement.
At least none he was willing to entertain at that particular moment.
Andy reached for the condom he’d remembered to bring upstairs with him and made short work of sheathing himself before he pushed her legs apart and moved between them.
“One more thing.” She stopped him moments before he sank into her sweet heat.
With his arms braced, holding him up, he waited.
“We have to promise…” Kat bit her bottom lip and tried again. “We can never…well, it can’t ever be anything more than this, Andy.”
Her words speared him in the chest, but he swallowed hard.
“Promise? ”
He couldn’t answer. It was an impossible request, because he already knew it was a promise he couldn’t keep. Instead, he kissed her until she was once more moaning into his mouth, as he buried himself deeply inside her.
Exactly where he needed to be.