Chapter 7
Ethan found it hard to breathe, to think, to do anything but stare at the woman glaring up at him. If it weren’t for the severe bun and boxy pants suit, she’d be drop dead gorgeous. As it was, she looked like a school marm trying to hide her exotic features beneath a fem-dom shield of armor.
And the expression in her slightly tilted green eyes practically screamed control freak. He’d bet money she’d never done anything slightly out of order in her entire life.
What would it be like to unpin that bun and watch her hair fall around her shoulders?
Shit, it had to be the house and Noni making him straight up crazy. She wasn’t for him and he wasn’t here for a hook up – especially one with thorns. “Figured you’d get lost out here.”
Kate stiffened even more, if that were possible, and he was tempted to tell her to relax before she cracked her spine.
“Of course I found it. My job is to find things.” Her voice went shrill, the last word almost piercing.
“No offense, but you seem like a city girl. You know, Starbucks and Whole Foods.” She’d probably never even seen a gravel road. As she got within a foot of him, he caught the whiff of coffee. “Starbucks for sure.”
Her eyes widened and she unwrapped her tight hold around her waist, slamming her hands onto her hips. “My life is none of your concern, just like my ability to read a map.”
Her jacket parted and he immediately saw the large brown stains and put two and two together. “Have a little accident?”
He could practically hear her teeth grinding together. Damn she was cute when she was pissed.
“Are you trying to insult me or does rudeness just come naturally to you?”
If he was a gentlemen he would stop now, but no one had ever called him that. Embracing the perverse need to push her a little further and see what else she’d do, Ethan grinned. “I guess it’s natural.” He let his gaze travel from the top of her head to her toes. “Plus, you make it easy.”
Giving in to the temptation to touch her, he fingered the one dried chunk of hair that had escaped her bun. She slapped his hand away, her eyes flashing. “Don’t touch me.”
Oh I’m gonna touch you alright.
Damn, he had to get himself under control. He was here to train her, not have wet dreams about her. He had to get some distance, no matter how badly he didn’t want to. “That’s going to be hard since I’ll be training you.”
Kate’s lush lips parted.
Nope, not what he should have said.
Did she like to bite during sex? Fuck, where had that thought come from? Kate Richards was everything he didn’t want or need. Uptight. Closed off. Pushy.
No, he liked his women soft and willing and quiet…
She licked her plump lips and he flushed hot, his whole body tense with a stomach tight desire to taste her.
Maybe – No, not going there.
“If you think for one second I’m going to put up with a – a male chauvinist trying to pull the man card all week you’re out of your mind, buddy.” Kate took a threatening step forward and jammed her finger into his chest. “I don’t take orders from someone like you. Ever.”
She tilted up her chin and looked down her nose at him. Ethan’s temper flared like a struck match.
He hadn’t pictured her as a snob, a goody-two-shoes maybe, but not someone who looked down on people.
He must have been wrong. He hadn’t put up with anyone thinking they were better than him since he left his last foster home, he wasn’t about to start now.
Ethan glared down at her finger until she pulled it away.
“I’m your trainer. For the next two weeks, you will do what I say, when I say it. Otherwise, I’ll tell Grey you’re not up for the job and you can say bye-bye to your little paycheck.”
“I’ll do what you say when Hell freezes over,” Kate spit the words out through gritted teeth.
He could just imagine the set of scissors she carried around to cut a man’s balls straight off his body.
Ethan pasted on a cold smile and shoved the lust back under the rock it slithered out of.
“Then I guess you won’t be learning what you need for the mission.
We should call Grey now, let him know he needs to find someone else. ”
“What’s your problem? From the moment we met, you’ve been baiting me.” Most girls he knew would have tossed in a whine, but Kate’s tone turned serious. Analytical. Shit.
“Princess, I don’t have a problem. I’m here to do a job and I don’t do missions half-assed.
So if you’re gonna complain about my tone of voice this isn’t going to work.
I’ll save us both the waste of time right now.
” And with some distance, he could stop thinking about pulling down that bun and running his fingers through her silky black hair.
Why had Grey singled him out for training her? Any one of the other men could get the job done and do it without a hard on.
She held his gaze without blinking and he got the distinct impression she was studying him like some kind of code that needed cracked.
She blanked her expression, but not the fire burning in her gaze.
“You’re right. We got off to the wrong start.
I want this job and I want to be the best I can. If you’re the ticket – I can deal.”
“Deal? Women don’t deal with me.” They fall at his feet and beg for dates and long nights of sex. And he couldn’t wait to get away from them. But Kate called to him, made him want to spend time with her. Not run for his bike and the next hop overseas.
She smirked, as if realizing she’d pricked a nerve. “Fine. I can work with you. I’ll be civil if you can do the same. It’s only two weeks.”
Her calm response set his teeth on edge. She thought she had the upper hand here, still. It was time to bring her back down to his level. “Fine, but leave the man act at the door.”
“Man act?”
“Yeah, the pants suit, the cocky walk. You’re supposed to be here as Caroline’s stylist.” That bright red stain rushed back to her cheeks and Ethan found himself smiling in response.
Better, much better.
Kate sputtered but didn’t get a word out before the door opened behind him and Grey strode out onto the front porch.
"Ethan, sorry I was in the shower when you got here, so glad you could make it,” Grey said and then turned to Kate. “Just get here? Need me to carry something inside for you?”
“Did you just indicate that I’m trying to be a man?
Grey paused and Ethan couldn't stop a small chuckle from escaping his lips. He’d struck a nerve, just as he’d meant to. “I don’t discriminate. Your orientation is none of my concern.”
“I am not a lesbian!”
Grey cleared his throat and cast a questioning glance Ethan’s way. “Kate, no one here implied that.”
The angry flush spread over her entire face, turning her smooth perfect skin a deep shade of red and damn if Ethan wasn’t enjoying himself more than he had since he could remember. This might be a lot more fun than he thought.
“Yeah, I didn’t say that at all,” Ethan chimed in.
“Why don’t we go inside and talk about what you two need to do to get ready?” Grey edged toward the door.
“You didn’t have to say it exactly. I’ve had plenty of boyfriends, none of whom had any issue with the way I dressed or talked or walked.”
Damn she was cute all riled up. “Did you always meet in the dark, then?”
Kate opened her lips and then slammed them shut.
Grey shot him another questioning look, but Ethan had no answer, he couldn’t really figure out why he’d poked at her so much himself.
Maybe it was her strung tight as a whip nature.
Or the cocky tilt to her chin. Or maybe he wanted her and didn’t know how to deal with the bone jarring emotional punch she dealt.
The front door squeaked open and Aaron and Noni stepped out. The old lady's gaze shifted from Ethan to Kate, a knowing gleam in her eyes, and Ethan felt the noose tighten around his neck.
He needed to keep his distance. Kate was planting some crazy ideas in his head like dating and feeling her hair, a lot like the kind of woman Noni described.
Two weeks. He had to keep his shit locked down for two weeks when he could get back to what he was meant for: The Special Forces. Not a suit-wearing agent with exotic green eyes.
Damn, he was so screwed.
“I've got cookies in the oven right now.” Noni pulled the door open.
“Great,” Ethan said.
Kate took a step back. “I need to grab my bag.”
“I can get it,” Grey offered.
“No!” Kate cleared her throat. “Um, I’ll get it, you guys go on inside.”
Grey waited until Kate was out of earshot. “Am I going to have a problem here?”
Ethan straightened and kept his face blank of the heat rushing through his body. “No, sir.”
“Okay,” Grey went inside, leaving Ethan alone on the porch to watch Kate bent over inside her passenger door.
Ah hell, he was a glutton for punishment.
Ethan headed out across the gravel parking lot to her, rounded the open door and stopped in his tracks.
Kate was bent over at the waist, her pants pulled snug across a perfectly shaped ass.
His good intentions flew out the window.
He scrubbed a hand over his beard and tried to clear his throat. “Need some help?”
She jumped and bumped her head on the door. “Ow.”
“Sorry.” He leaned over her, trying to see what had been taking her so long, and get a little bit closer. The smell of coffee hit him hard. As did the spilled bag and stained shirt. “What happened in here?”
She tossed him a frown over her shoulder and tried to shove her wet clothes into her bag. “Deer.”
“Ah, makes sense. They’re pretty thick out here, have to keep an eye out for them.” He’d passed a few on his bike on the side of the road on his way in to Noni’s a little while ago and not given it another thought. “You okay?”
She held up a pair of wet trousers that looked just like the ones she was wearing now. Her delicate features tilted with dismay. “I am but my clothes are not.”
“I bet Noni’s got a washing machine.” And he really hoped she’d brought something besides pants suits. He wanted to see more of her.