Be My Temptation (Temptation #2) (5 page)

Kate looked down at her hands in her lap and said, “I feel like we’ve been on fast-forward since we met. I haven’t had time to catch my breath. Being with you is exciting, but part of it still feels unreal. Maybe because we’re always playing games or pretending to be other people. I don’t know. Can we tone it down a bit? Just be you and me for a little while and see how that goes?”

“Come here, Kate.”

Kate crossed the space to sit beside him. He took her hands in his. “We can tone it down as much as you want. I rushed you, and I shouldn’t have. I’m happy you feel comfortable enough to tell me this.”

Kate met his eyes. “Honesty is important to me. So is trust. I need more time, Brock. I gave my heart to a man once, and he trampled on it. I’m not eager to do that again.”

“I’m not your ex. I’d never cheat on you.”

“Or lie to me?”

Brock faltered on that one. He wanted to say he’d never lie to her, but was keeping his dual identity a secret really a lie? “I would never intentionally hurt you.”

“I want to believe that.”

“You will, but like you said, trust takes time. Luckily, we have that, Kate. We have all the time you need.”

“Speaking of time, is it too late to cancel our place at the Cape? Angie needs a babysitter this weekend, and I told her we could do it.”

“We?” Brock remembered the last time he and Kate had visited their friends’ home. They had twins, if he remembered right. Watching them was not exactly the romantic weekend he’d planned, but he wasn’t about to say no. “Sure.”

“You’re really fine with it?”

He gave her what he hoped was his most charming grin. “You’ll be there. That’s enough for me.”

She studied his expression for a long moment, then said, “Okay. I’ll tell her. Thanks.”

They sat there, looking into each other’s eyes, until Brock finally broke the silence. “Have you eaten?”

Kate shook her head.

“Want to make something together?” he asked. “I am gifted at boiling water. And the way I place the pasta into it—well, I don’t want to brag, but it’s inspired.”

Kate chuckled. “I studied gourmet cooking at Le Cordon Bleu. If you make the pasta, I’ll make the sauce.”

Brock stood and held out his hand to Kate. “That’s a deal I’ll take.”

Kate decided against contacting Mr. Elf the next day or during the weekend that followed. She eventually had to admit she was enjoying herself so much she’d almost forgotten this was a game.

After cooking together, Brock had stayed over at her place. They had watched a movie and snuggled on the couch, then talked until well past midnight. He told her stories of what it had been like growing up with Linda and all of her friends, many of whom had spent so much time at his house it had felt like he’d been born into a large family instead of a small one. She asked him about his friends and loved that so many of them had been close to him since grade school. Tyler. Chris. Even Mike. They had all played sports together and stayed in the same area for college. His stories had a small-town feel to them, even though Misty Falls was more of a city.

While holding her in his arms, Brock had asked Kate about her friends and family. At first she had been reluctant to share. Her experiences didn’t mirror his. But Brock waited patiently, and finally Kate opened up and told him about her mother and how she’d wanted Kate to have a better life than she’d had. She explained that her mother had kept her separate from the kids in Misty Falls because she’d thought Kate would be happier if she entered into the world of the wealthy. It was why Kate had studied languages, played a variety of instruments, and could recite poetry. Her mother had wanted her not only to break into that world, but also to appreciate everything it had to offer. And to create that opportunity for her daughter, Kate’s mother had worked long hours in Boston, and commuted back and forth to Misty Falls.

“So you weren’t from a wealthy family? Everyone always assumed you were. Even I did,” Brock had admitted.

Lost in her memories, Kate had looked past him. “Appearances were important to my mother. That sounds worse than I mean. From what I remember about my extended family, they were into some dangerous lifestyles. My mother wanted to make sure I knew there was more to life than how she’d been raised. She went to school, tried to make a better life for herself, but she kept getting pulled back into—well, a life she wouldn’t discuss with me. She protected me from it as much as she could, but ultimately she decided only a clean break would work. My mother thought people with money were different. That life with them would somehow be better.”

Brock hugged Kate and kissed her temple. “That’s not true in my experience.”

Kate felt so close to Brock that she shared her inner fears. “Mine, either. Wayne, my ex, was perfect on paper, but he didn’t love me, not by any definition I could accept. He wanted a beautiful wife he could show off at events. I thought I had friends where I lived in Boston, but their idea of loyalty and mine seriously differed when it came to having sex with my ex. It has shaken my faith in trusting most people. Life would be easier if people came with labels.”

Brock hadn’t answered at first, but finally he said, “My father would say you have to dig deeper than a label to discover the value of something. To know the stability of any building, you have to spend time studying it, getting to know its structural strengths and weaknesses. Only then can you decide if it’s worth saving.”

“You test it?”

“Sometimes. But I don’t require perfection in projects I take on. I care more about potential. Some projects are worth whatever it takes to save them.”

Like us?
Kate had been tempted right then and there to spill everything and ask him if they could start fresh, but she needed him to confess to her. He didn’t, though. Not even when they slowly and tenderly made love that night. And not the next day, when they woke in each other’s arms and started their day with warm, leisurely sex that left a glow on their faces all day.

No, Brock didn’t appear to be anywhere near admitting to being Mr. Elf, and that was why she didn’t feel badly at all when she and Brock watched Angie’s twins instead of going away to the Cape. She made sure Brock did his share of feeding and diaper duty that weekend, and had to hide a laugh when one of the boys spit up all over Brock’s shirt, forcing him to change into one of Mike’s.

Kate had to admit Brock handled being around children better than she had expected. He spoke to the boys as if they could understand him, and Tim and Tom responded by laughing and grabbing at him, crying only when he put them down. By Sunday Brock was sitting on the couch watching football with a twin boy plastered to either side of him as he cheered on his team. Kate took a picture of them together, needing to capture that moment, although not fully understanding why.

On Sunday night, after Angie and Mike returned, Kate claimed she wasn’t feeling well and wanted some time alone. Brock gave her a gentle kiss and promised to call her the next day. Her plan to make him squirm a little before admitting she knew everything was getting jumbled in her head. She should have felt better after spending so much time with him, but instead she was getting angrier with him and more confused. She went to bed early but barely slept.

The next morning she padded down to her kitchen in her pajamas. She’d thought it would be fun talking to her naughty elf again, thought this game would be as wild as their last, but it wasn’t. She looked at the photo of Brock with the boys watching football together and said, “Why can’t you just be this man? Why do you have to be Mr. Elf, too?”

She was in that state of mind when she sent a text via her prepaid phone:
Vanilla sex was not the answer.

He wrote back almost immediately.
Vanilla?

You know, nice. Normal.

Isn’t that what you said you wanted?

I did, but I didn’t know it would be so—boring.
Kate cringed when she read the words she’d sent. Nothing about being with Brock, in or out of bed, had been boring. She’d said it to hurt him, and that confused her even more. Her game was about finding out if he loved her, not getting back at him.

Right?

Brock had done everything she’d asked him to. She thought that would make her happy. Instead, she wanted to reach through the phone and slap him.

Did you tell him that?

No. Shouldn’t he know me well enough to sense how I feel?
Like now, Brock. Shouldn’t you know I’m waiting for you to be eaten up with guilt?
How far does this game have to go before you decide I’m worth the truth?

He probably thought you were happy.

Well, I’m not.

What was lacking?

An idea came to Kate that she dismissed at first. It was a little mean-spirited and not mature at all. Still, she was talking to a man who called himself an elf, who had left sex toys on her doorstep and called them presents. He deserved to get a present of his own.
Fun. You sent me some amazing gifts. Maybe I should send Brock a few.

What kind of gifts?

I have an idea, but I don’t want to discuss it yet. I’ll tell you about them later if they work.

Kate turned off the phone and reached for her laptop. She had some online shopping to do.

***

Brock threw himself into work for the rest of day. When he received a text from Kate telling him she couldn’t see him that night, he forced himself to sound casual as he wrote back that he would see her later in the week. He didn’t want to rush Kate, but he was slowly going out of his mind. At least they were back together and, thanks to her texts with Mr. Elf, he had an added insight into where her head was. He didn’t like that she reached out to a man she didn’t actually know instead of coming to him with her concerns, but, since the other man was really him, he told himself it was practically the same thing.

The next day, when he returned home after a stress-relieving two hours at the gym, he found a gift from Kate outside his apartment door. The small, white box wrapped in red velvet ribbon had a card attached that read:
I saw this and thought of you.   Kate

The thought of the gifts he’d given her had him impatiently tearing the paper off. Disappointingly, it was only
Be My Valentine
perfume.

He took out his phone to call Kate and thank her, then realized he had Mr. Elf’s prepaid phone in his hand and cursed, dropped it back into his coat pocket, and hunted through his pockets for his other phone.
That would not have been good. The last thing Kate needs now is another reason to break up with me.

She answered on the second ring. “Hi.”

Brock walked through his apartment, shedding clothes as he did. “You realize Valentine’s Day is still weeks away.”

Her voice was heaven in his ear. “You found my gift? I’m glad. I hope you like it.”

Standing in his bedroom in just his boxer briefs, Brock said, “The perfect gift would be you here in my bed tonight, but I’ll take what I can get.”

She laughed nervously. “We agreed to slow it down a bit. Being with you every day has been wonderful, but I need to get my life in order, and to do that I need a little space.”

“Space?” He hated that word. Every man should. He usually heard it right before a woman announced she was calling it off or sleeping with another man.

“Yes. I can’t keep going as I have been. Doing nothing. Putting off making decisions about what I want to do. I’ve started applying for jobs at local places. I need to get out of this house. Hopefully I’ll find something I enjoy doing.”

“That’s really good, Kate.”
Local. Thank God.

“Thank you for being so understanding, Brock.”

“I want you to be happy. You know that.”

“Speaking of happy, what do you think of the perfume?”

Brock took off the cover and sprayed it in the air, then gagged a bit on the nauseatingly sweet smell of it. “It’s unique.”

“Then you’ll wear it?”

Brock took another whiff and shuddered. “Me? I thought it was for you.”

“It’s unisex and one of my favorites.” Her voice became low and husky. “I’ve always found it really sexy.”

Brock placed the small bottle on his bedside table and made a face at it. If Kate liked it enough to buy it for him, he would wear it. He turned his back to it for now.

“I have another gift for you. I thought I’d give it to you tomorrow night when you come here for dinner.” She paused, then added, “If you’d like to come over.”

Hell, yes.
“I’ll be there. But, you don’t have to give me anything, Kate.”

“I already bought it, and I’m actually pretty excited to see you in it.”

In it?

Shit.

“Can you do something for me?” Kate asked in a near whisper, sending his blood rushing to his already half-erect cock.

“Anything.”

“Will you wear the perfume all day tomorrow? I’ll be running around filling out applications and feeling nervous. It’d make me happy, imagining you wearing it and thinking about me throughout the day.”

Oh, I’ll be thinking about you all right. Thinking how soon I can get in the shower at your house to wash off that smell.
“Of course I will. Then I’ll come over for dinner. How does five-thirty sound?”

“Perfect. See you tomorrow, Brock.”

Brock stripped off his boxer briefs and took a long, hot shower. He let the water beat against his back while he jacked off to the possibilities of how he and Kate would spend the next night together. Wild and crazy, or slow and tender—he didn’t care. Kate didn’t want vanilla sex. Well, tomorrow night he was going to bring his best. He would make Kate come so many times she would be too exhausted to text Mr. Elf.

And I’ll do it wearing whatever the hell she bought me.
He closed his eyes.
Edible underwear? Some costume? What would a woman want a man to wear?

Hopefully nothing that matches that perfume.