Blind Ice (Razors Ice Book 5) (4 page)

If he didn’t show, at least Kate would have a delicious meal to eat. See, always one to find the positive in any situation, Kate had no problem looking on the bright side.

When her phone rang, Kate thought it might be Logan calling to cancel, but she quickly remembered she hadn’t given him her cell number. And he would probably text to cancel rather than call anyway.

That only left one other person.

“Are we still on for yoga tomorrow?” Julia’s voice boomed over the line and Kate pulled a knife from the drawer for the bread.

“Yes.”

“Is that jazz music playing in the background?”

Damn you
, Kate thought. Her sister had the ears of a barn owl. “
Yes
.”

“
Okay
.”

“I’m having someone over for dinner,” Kate elaborated.

“Well, you wouldn’t be playing jazz for Janis, so… You invited a
man
over to your
house
?” Julia screeched.

“Yes,” Kate answered simply. She didn’t relay the scene in her office to her sister. Julia would laugh and say how much it sounded like the scene in
Top Gun
when Kelly McGillis did something similar with Tom Cruise. And Tom Cruise’s character had shown up late because he’d been playing shirtless volleyball.

Oh Jeez.
That
mental picture didn’t help matters at all. It was best not to think about Logan playing shirtless, sweaty volleyball on the beach. It was best not to think about Logan at all.

“I’m getting Shamus so we can go looking for my sister.”

“
Julia
,” Kate said on an exhale. “I’m trying something new. I had an idea and I’m carrying it out on instinct.”

“Well, good for you, Katie Kat. I’m glad you’re putting yourself out there again. Do you want to borrow Shamus?”

“What for?”

“So he can be your guard dog in case this guy turns out to be a major creepo—not that you’d invite a major creepo over to your house, but—”

“No,” Kate replied sternly. “I don’t need Shamus to play chaperone.”

“Fair enough.”

“Look, Julia, I don’t have time to chat. And yes, we’re still on for yoga tomorrow.”

“Okay. I hope he appreciates how good your cooking is!”

Kate ended the call and leaned a hip against the stove. She didn’t like keeping things from Julia; they usually shared most everything with each other. But this wasn’t something she could share just yet. And by tomorrow there might not even be anything to share.

Kate set her phone on the counter and sighed. Did she really invite a patient to her home? Maybe she’d chosen him because she was looking for some post-divorce, no-strings attached action. Because if she paid her instincts any heed, she knew Logan Murray probably wasn’t the settle-down type of guy.

Either way, when he pinned her to the wall with those blue eyes of his, she couldn’t ignore the sizzle of excitement that raced through her veins and the flutter between her legs. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, along with a look she couldn’t quite read. She liked that she couldn’t tell what he was thinking right away. He was as far away from inflexible, plan-ahead Carl as she could get. And that was exactly what she was looking for.

Whether it was for one night or a few strung together, she’d just have to wait and let it play out naturally.

If he even showed up.

Nervous butterflies knocked together inside Kate’s stomach and she wrote them off to inexperience. Julia was the risk-taker. Julia was the one who leapt first and thought about the consequences later—if at all. Maybe the fact that Julia couldn’t see people’s reactions allowed her to be that much more fearless in her life. It wasn’t realistic to give a damn about what people thought of her when she couldn’t see the looks on their faces anyway.

Kate, the one with perfect vision and the not-so-perfect track record with men, was the sensible one.

Not tonight.

And what was so foolish about enjoying an evening with a very eligible man who sent very real goose bumps all over her body when he looked at her?

Before she could answer her own question there was a knock at the door. A quick glance at the clock on the microwave told her he was precisely on time. Good. She didn’t know if she could wait much longer.

She turned down the burner on the stove and went into the living room to lower the volume on the music. After making one last sweep through the room—hey, old habits died hard—she fluffed her hair and strode confidently to the door.

She swung open the door to find Logan standing on her porch. Her belly tingled and her breath caught. He was even better looking out from under the artificial lighting of her office. He had showered and changed his clothes and was wearing dark jeans and a blue T-shirt that matched his eyes.

With the way his muscles were rippling, he might have just come from the gym. Visions of him shirtless and sweating beneath a bench press had Kate swallowing hard. Maybe he’d been playing shirtless volleyball after all…

Damn. The confidence she’d worked so hard to bolster flew right out the door.

What in the Sam Hill was she doing? She didn’t invite people who were practically strangers into her home in hopes of seducing them with pasta, wine, and more toe-curling kissing. She set up practical dates through trusted friends and always let the men do the calling and the planning and the paying. Just like a nice, obedient woman was supposed to do.

But she wasn’t that same woman anymore, she reminded herself. Five years with Mr. Controlling and she had shed that submissive persona once and for all.

Because she couldn’t trust herself to speak, she waved Logan inside.

Like any warm-blooded woman would, Kate watched his backside as he walked into the living room. One look at his ass in those jeans and her confidence returned full force along with a few strategically placed tingles.

While he studied the photos on her mantle she studied his backside. Man, he could fill out a pair of jeans like nobody’s business.

Kate’s cozy bungalow didn’t have high ceilings and Logan stood next to her sofa looking much too big and much too masculine for the space. But she wasn’t going to let proportions stand in her way tonight. Bigger wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Would you like some wine?” she asked finally.

Logan looked over at her, his gaze sizzling. When he looked her up and down, his eyes darkened with lust and she took that as a promising sign. “Sure.”

Spine straight and head held high, she went into the kitchen to pour him a glass and to start the pasta boiling.

* * *

The doctor’s house was tastefully decorated without any annoying frou-frou items and there wasn’t a stuffed animal in sight. Logan immediately decided he liked the place.

While Kate was in the kitchen retrieving the wine, he made himself at home and looked around the room. It was light and airy and showed no signs of what the woman did for a living. The jazz music playing softly on the stereo surprised him.

Then again, the doctor was full of surprises. He hadn’t expected her to be so bold as to invite him over in the first place. And the way she’d surrendered to him in her office was another added bonus and even more of a surprise.

She carried herself with the kind of sexy confidence he admired in a woman. But one look at her shaky hands tonight and he knew she was having second thoughts about why she’d asked him here.

Throughout the past several years, Logan had had a colorful assortment of women pass though his life and there was something refreshingly different about Ms., err,
Dr
. Kapowski. She had no idea the kind of raw sexuality she kept beneath the surface and he had no qualms about helping her discover it.

She had a maturity he wasn’t used to seeing in a woman her age. The puck bunnies he usually “dated” weren’t known so much for their intellectuality, but for the good time they could deliver. It didn’t seem to bother guys like Trik and Sebby, but the hollowness was starting to wear on Logan.

Passing a few hours with a bubbly, big-breasted blonde who didn’t know the difference between icing on a cupcake and icing on a hockey rink didn’t hold a candle to spending the evening with a smart, beautiful woman who ran her own successful practice and didn’t need to use her physical attributes to make her way in life. Not that there was anything wrong with indulging in a friendly roll in the hay with a girl who was named after a spice, but after several aforementioned rolls, Logan was more than a little intrigued to have dinner with a woman who knew the ins and outs of ocular anatomy better than he did.

With interest, he looked at the framed photos on her mantle. They were all of her and a young woman. Her sister? Probably. The woman had Kate’s same features and coloring. He couldn’t tell if they had the same eyes because in every photo the other woman was looking slightly away from the camera.

After a trip around the living room, Logan joined Kate in the kitchen and she handed him a glass of wine. She looked like she was determined to keep her nerves at bay and Logan silently commended her bravery.

After taking a drink, he set the glass on the table. He hadn’t come here to drink wine.

Chapter Four

Simmer to Boiling

The minute Logan stepped into the kitchen Kate could sense his presence in the small space. Any doubts she had had about tonight were forgotten. You didn’t feel this kind of electricity in the air if you didn’t have chemistry with someone, did you?

The electric currents she was experiencing right now zinged from him to her and bounced off the walls and back again.

So, her instincts hadn’t been completely off when she’d chosen him to embark on this out-of-character quest with. That was comforting. And that sizzling kiss he’d planted on her in her office hadn’t been too shabby either.

Kate had the sudden urge to fill the silence with small talk. Anything was better than the sexual tension that had her gripping a spoon so tight she feared it might snap in two. But she didn’t want to drive him away with mindless babble. That’s not what he’d come here for.

She took a few more sips of wine before realizing she didn’t need the liquid courage. She was more than capable of treating this man to a lovely evening and a delicious dinner—with or without getting physical and adding sex into the mix.

“I made penne and I even made salad dressing for the salad,” she told him, setting her wine glass down next to his before turning toward the stove to stir the sauce.

Logan came up behind her. His chest was hard and warm against her back. She felt his erection press against her bottom. When his hand snaked around her waist and his palm pressed against her belly, she sucked in a shaky breath. He leaned down and took her earlobe into his mouth, his breath hot in her ear. She shivered at his closeness.

“You didn’t invite me over here for dinner.”

Nerves made her drop the spoon and red sauce splattered onto her thumb.

He grabbed her wrist, spun her around to face him and licked the sauce from her finger. He pinned her against the cabinet, the edge of the counter biting into her lower back. She swallowed hard as her fingers dipped into the moist recess of his mouth. He licked them clean and she felt the floor tilt beneath her.

He flicked the burner off, his dark eyes never leaving hers.

Kate pushed away her thoughts. Forced out concerns about how wrong this was. How irrational and unethical. Instead, she focused on how right it felt. How wonderfully delicious he tasted in her office. And how glorious his hands felt as they roamed over her aching body now.

She reached up with her free hand, cupped his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. His hair was soft in her fingers and she tugged a handful to let him know she meant business.

Without breaking the kiss, he put his hands on her hips and lifted her onto the counter. He settled between her legs and slid his big hands up her thighs and under her dress. She threw her head back when he peppered kisses down her neck and throat. Her nipples hardened into fine points, jabbing at her bra.

His lips traveled down the column of her throat and lingered at her cleavage. He yanked the neckline of the dress aside and groaned when it revealed a lacy black bra. His tongue darted out and moistened her nipple through the delicate lace. She tightened her grip on his hair and ground her bottom into the countertop.

Cupping her breast, Logan traced circles over her pebbled flesh with his thumb. He shoved her dress up around her waist and she shimmied to accommodate him. He breathed in her feminine musk and leaned forward to place a kiss on her thigh.

She scooted to the edge of the counter and he held her in place with strong arms. He placed her ankle on his shoulder, opening her up to him.

Kate had never given herself so freely to a man, especially one she’d only known for a matter of hours. Nevertheless, he took control and she willingly followed him into the abyss.

The pasta was forgotten, everything was forgotten, as he feasted on her skin like she was the first course of the meal and gave new meaning to the term eat-in kitchen. He lapped at her folds and wriggled his tongue expertly against her clit until her whole body became so tight she thought she might combust right there on her countertop.

He plunged two fingers inside and kept rhythm with his tongue. When he stroked that special spot deep inside her, she clenched and released as climax quickly claimed her.

Logan pressed one last kiss just above her mound, rose, and rested his forehead against hers. They stayed there like that—foreheads touching, his fingers still inside her—until she caught her breath. And then he gave her forehead a chaste kiss.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” she whispered back. More than okay.

When he slid his hand from between her legs, she shivered and her body convulsed, ready for more.

He helped her down from the counter and she straightened her dress and mustered up enough dignity to walk away from him. “I’ll be right back,” she told him. “I’m going to use the restroom.”

Logan nodded and leaned against the sink.

The scent of her lingered on his fingers and he inhaled her fragrant musk. Damn, she had come fast. All it took was a few quick strokes of his tongue and fingers and she had jerked up off the counter, writhing in bliss. The fact that she was so responsive made her that much more alluring and instantly had him wondering how things would proceed once he got her horizontal in the bedroom.

Suddenly hungry—for
food
—Logan washed his hands and continued preparing dinner where Kate had left off. He could find his way around a kitchen well enough and this night was just getting started.

* * *

Kate clung to the bathroom sink in much the same way as she had in her office that morning. What was it about this particular man that had her shaking with need and trembling with the aftershocks of blissful release?

She hadn’t expected things to progress so quickly, but,
man
, that had felt incredible.

Logan had been comfortable with the act, but he didn’t seem as if he did it every day with women he just met. No, he looked her in the eye like she was special. But maybe that was all just a part of his charm. Either way, what they’d done didn’t leave her with a skeevy feeling of regret. Quite the contrary.

In fact, she couldn’t wait until they could do it again.

* * *

When she came back into the kitchen, Kate half expected Logan to be gone. As surprised as she was to see him there, she supposed a man just couldn’t pass up a home-cooked meal.

She leaned against the doorjamb and watched as he pulled the salad from the fridge. Much to her astonishment, Logan moved around her little kitchen like it was the most natural thing in the world. He had reheated the sauce and finished boiling the pasta. He had even taken the bread out of the oven. She didn’t have to taste it to know it was warm with just the right amount of crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.

He must have sensed her standing there because he turned to look at her. “Dinner is served.”

“Thanks to you.”

His lip tugged up into a grin. “I’m starving,” he admitted.

She smiled and went to get the butter she’d forgotten to set on the table for the bread. When she bumped into him while he was serving the salad, he reached out and steadied her with both hands. The second he touched her arms, another zing of awareness passed between them.

After exchanging a smile, they sat down across from each other at the table.

What did you do after a drop-dead gorgeous man gave you immense oral pleasure on your kitchen counter next to a pot of boiling pasta? You sat down together like nothing ever happened and ate said pasta with a satisfied smirk on your lips and a dreamy faraway look in your eyes.

The minute his fork passed between his lips and he bit into the tender pasta, a primal sound rumbled out from Logan’s throat. Kate thought it was the most wonderful sound she’d ever heard in her life. The way he ate his food told her he took the time to enjoy every morsel and that pleased her as much as his demonstration on the kitchen counter did.

Well
almost
as much.

“Christ, Kate,” he groaned. “This is delicious. Do you always cook like this?”

She smiled. “I’ve been experimenting a lot more in the kitchen lately.” And then she turned beet red as the memory of what had happened in this same kitchen just moments before flashed through her mind.

“Delicious,” he remarked and she didn’t know if he was referring to her or the food.

“Thank you.”

Kate never realized that eating could be such a sensual act. With every forkful, she became achingly aware of how Logan’s lips parted to receive each bite and how his tongue flicked out to lick his lips.

“This is really delicious, Kate,” he said again a few minutes later. “I don’t get many home-cooked meals.”

“Thank you,” she said, beaming at him.

She’d taken a hell of a risk by inviting him into her home, but it had been worth it just to watch him savor the meal she’d prepared.

“So, tell me a little about yourself,” he said around a mouthful of pasta.

Kate stared at him over the rim of her wine glass. She hadn’t even taken a bite of food yet and he was already asking her about herself. What a complete gentleman.

“Well, I moved to Red Valley eight years ago with my sister Julia. She moved to go to school here and I followed her.”

They had just shared one of the most intimate things a man and woman could share together and now they were sitting down to normal dinner conversation.

Mind blown
.

“What about you?” she asked. “Where are you from originally?” She already knew a considerable amount about him from his file, like his birthday and mailing address, but she could still play along.

“Sweden,” he answered. “I came over after college to play for the UNHL and ended up here in Red Valley. I was born in Bromma, a borough in the western part of Stockholm. I also have a sister, her name is Emilia. She and my parents still live in Stockholm.”

Kate imagined a beautiful blonde family, all tan and smiling, with blindingly white teeth. “I’ve never been to Sweden, but I hear it’s beautiful.”

“Yes. Very.”

Kate didn’t think it was possible to indulge in normal dinner conversation after what had happened between them by the stove, but somehow she and Logan managed to settle into a comfortable discussion about family and hockey and whatever else two adults talked about over a plate of penne rigate. She didn’t know what else she had expected from him. Why wouldn’t he be comfortable enough to discuss shared interests after giving her an orgasm with his tongue?

Logan Murray certainly looked like a man who could hold his own at a sophisticated team event or a swanky dinner, but he also looked right at home in her little kitchen, eating a meal that was far from gourmet. He seemed at ease with himself in any environment and Kate liked that about him. He didn’t turn his nose up at his surroundings and eye everyone and everything with suspicion like her ex used to do. Logan simply leaned back, took everything in with an air of comfortable confidence and focused on her like she was the only thing in the room that mattered to him.

He was definitely a man who was comfortable in his own skin and Kate found herself relaxing the tension in her shoulders and following the example he set.

After dinner, Kate started to get up to clear the dishes away and Logan stopped her. He stood, picked up her plate and she turned sideways in her chair to face him. His groin was at face level. She looked at the bulge behind his zipper and then up to meet his gaze. His lips parted and she could see his body grow tense. She reached up to undo the button on his jeans and the plates clattered when he set them back down on the table.

Slowly, she slid down the zipper and pushed his jeans down his thighs. His hands hung by his sides, one of his fingers twitched in anticipation. Next, she inched down his boxers until his cock sprang free. She licked her lips.

Before she could do more, Logan grabbed her under her arms, lifted her from her chair and slammed her against the wall. The chair fell to the floor and skittered across the room.

He would have asked her where the bedroom was so he could carry her there and have his way with her on a comfortable flat surface, but wherever it was, was too far away. He had to have her now.
All
of her, and couldn’t wait the time it would take to walk through the house.

She didn’t seem to mind his urgency and the unconventional location. Instead, she wrapped her legs around him and he hoisted her up and smashed her against the wall.

Kate almost couldn’t believe what was happening. This man wanted her. He couldn’t even wait until the dishes were cleared before he had to have another taste of her. The sample he’d had by the stove had only fueled his desire for her. She thought he’d satisfied his craving before dinner, but apparently a plate of pasta wasn’t enough to quench the thirst.

She hooked her leg up around his waist, the heel of her shoe poking into his ass. She met his urgency, devouring his mouth as his hands shoved up under her dress. His fingers were fast, ridding her of her panties and plunging into her before she had time to blink.