“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
He completely agreed, but asked the question anyway. “Why not?”
“I’m involved with someone,” she said, then cleared her throat. “Sort of involved. I don’t want any complications in my life right now.”
“The man you told your parents about,” he guessed. “The one who is supposed to see you in that skirt.”
She nodded. “I think he’s the one.”
Brock wanted to change her mind. And he knew a dozen ways to do it. Ways that could bring them both to the pinnacle of satisfaction. Ways that could induce her to tell him anything he wanted to know. But something made him pull back. A nagging sense of integrity that he’d never let affect his work before.
He straightened and stepped away from the bed. “Then I’ll say good night.”
“Good night, Brock.”
He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He wanted the skirt. He wanted Kate. But he didn’t have his hands on the former and couldn’t have his hands on the latter. This mission was becoming more complicated by the moment.
He headed into the bathroom for a second cold shower.
4
THE NEXT DAY, Kate sat in the back seat of the taxi, her appointment calendar open on her lap. She’d just come from the Sweet Tooth Bakery, where she’d selected a six-layer cake for her parents’ anniversary party. She crossed that item off the list, then swallowed a groan at the endless errands she had left to do.
The taxi turned a sharp corner and Kate swayed in her seat, along with the black skirt hanging in the dry cleaner’s bag on the window opposite her. Her stomach churned when she thought of the next time she’d wear it. Her date with Todd. The man who might very well be the father of her children.
She reached into her purse for a roll of antacids, wishing she hadn’t eaten quite so many cake samples at the bakery. She’d finally chosen the raspberry chocolate flavor with white chocolate cream frosting. It was both delicious and decadent.
While she was there, she couldn’t help but look at their wedding cake catalog. The bakery needed at least two weeks’ notice on all wedding cake orders, so she’d have to take that into consideration when she and Todd set the date for their wedding. She hoped he was one of those people who liked short engagements. Kate wanted the deed done before either one of them had time for second thoughts.
The taxi squealed to a stop in front of the hotel.
“Five dollars even,” the cabbie said, tipping up his worn denim cap.
A knock on the taxi window made her look up from her purse. Brock Gannon stood right outside. He wore dark sunglasses in deference to the bright, Seattle sky. When he smiled at her, a dimple flashing in his cheek, every rational thought fled from her head.
He opened her car door. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Brock.” She swallowed, tasting the minty flavor of the antacid on her dry tongue. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to take you out for lunch.”
She reached for her appointment calendar. “Did we have a date?” Heat crawled up her cheeks at the slip of the tongue. She would have remembered if Brock had asked her for a date. “I mean, an appointment?”
“Five dollars,” the cabbie reminded her, a tinge of irritation in his voice.
“Oh, right,” Kate said, peeling off a tip from the pile of crumpled dollar bills in her hand. Her purse fell off her lap, the contents spilling onto the dirty cab floor.
As she scrambled to stuff everything back inside, Brock slid his wallet out of his back pocket and handed the cabbie a five, along with a two dollar tip, which was much more generous than she’d intended to be, given the unnecessarily bumpy cab ride. In her job, she’d learned to value good customer service.
She climbed out of the cab, her heart beating wildly in her chest. It was the surprise of seeing Brock again, she told herself, as the cab peeled away from the curb. And the fact that he’d changed so much. Today he was wearing snug denim jeans and a black polo shirt that made a woman think of pleasure instead of business. She still wasn’t used to the way his lanky teenage body had evolved into bulging muscles that kept drawing her attention to his arms, chest and shoulders. Her gaze moved lower. He filled out those jeans quite nicely, too.
“Kate?”
She jerked up her head, realizing she’d been admiring that region a little too long. The half grin on his face told her he’d noticed her attention. Not that she was about to admit it. “Yes?”
“Are you hungry?”
For some reason, those three innocent words took on a whole new meaning. She’d been attracted to men before, but never experienced anything quite like this. There had to be a reasonable explanation for it.
“I thought we could go to the deli across the street,” Brock said, when she didn’t reply to his question. “Unless you have a better suggestion.”
Kate met his gaze, telling herself to snap out of it. “I already had some cake.”
He smiled. “That sounds nutritious.”
The way he looked at her made her breath catch in her throat. “It had raspberries in it. Fruit is good for you. Very healthy.”
“You do look healthy,” he agreed, his gaze lingering down the length of her body. “Incredible, in fact.”
She could see the flare of desire in his eyes and marveled at it. Especially since she wasn’t even wearing the skirt.
The skirt.
Kate looked down at her hands, which held only her purse and leather-bound appointment book, then whirled around hoping to see the dry cleaner bag on the sidewalk behind her. “Oh, no!”
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