Flash Point (3 page)

She was in Todd’s arms and he was kissing the hell out of her? How long had she fantasized about this?

Kate kissed him back, pressing her body firmly against his, crushing her breasts against his chest as she gave herself over to the moment. To the power of a chemistry never before acted on. A chemistry that for so long she’d thought would always only be one sided.

He lifted his head, his breathing ragged. His gaze tormented. “Tell me to stop, Kate.”

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I won’t.”

Todd growled low in his throat and then backed her up, until she slammed into her front door. His hands that gripped her arms slid up to her wrists, jerking them above her head and pinning them against the wood in one of his hands.

Then his mouth was on hers again, while his free hand covered one of her breasts through her sweater. Her nipple beaded and the spot between her legs throbbed with need. Her mew of pleasure was caught on his tongue as it swept across hers.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

His strong fingers squeezed her flesh, finding her nipple through the layer of sweater and bra. Her panties dampened as he twisted and pinched the tip, his tongue so far from gentle as it plundered her mouth.

She arched into him, wanting so much more than he was giving. And he seemed to know, because he delved his hand beneath the V of her sweater and under her bra to find her bare breast.

Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head with pleasure. The feel of his rough, calloused hands against her sensitized flesh kept her mind grounded enough to know she wasn’t dreaming.

Todd pinched her nipple and arrows of pleasure shot directly from her breast to between her legs. She adjusted her stance, needing to ease the ache. There was so much more she wanted. Needed.

She tugged to free her hands unconsciously, wanting him to unfasten her jeans and slip a hand inside. Wanted to feel his fingers inside her. She’d never had that before. With any man…

Todd’s mouth jerked from hers, a guttural “
Fuck
” spilling from his lips.

Kate’s lashes fluttered up and she ran her tongue over her swollen mouth.

Tension had Todd’s shoulders rigid, his face twisted into an expression of frustration. She held her breath, waiting for what would happen next, as her heart continued to thunder in her chest.

Don’t stop, oh please, please don’t stop.
No matter how many times she’d told herself it would be foolish to get sexually involved with Todd——having just this quick impassioned taste, it was clear her willpower was obliterated the moment he touched her.

“Ah, Kate,” he muttered, his finger stroking over the inside of her wrist. “I’m sorry.”

He was sorry? For what had just happened? Her heart did a big fat nosedive and her throat tightened.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he continued, and released her hands from where they were still pinned above her. He took a step backward and gave a humorless laugh. “I guess we can just say we’re even now.”

“Even?” she parroted, the one word high-pitched and soft.

“Yeah. From when you stole a drunken kiss that you probably don’t even remember—”

“I remember.”

Todd’s gaze jumped back to hers and his jaw flexed. “You don’t want to get involved with me, Kate. I’m not boyfriend material.”

She swallowed hard, heat burning her cheeks. How the hell did she respond to that? Seriously.
How?
Say she was just looking to get laid? Because was she? It was a huge leap from virgin to one-night stand.

“I was wrong to say I don’t like that hardware store guy, Kate. You
should
be dating someone like that. Someone who’ll appreciate you. Respect you…”

In the morning? Who knew if they were the unspoken words to the rest of Todd’s sentence, but they fit.

Kate sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed it. Why was it so crushingly disappointing that Todd had slammed the door on the possibility of sex between them?

“Why did you ask me to dinner tonight?” she finally blurted, not really knowing what else to say.

Todd sighed and shook his head. “The hell if I know. But it was a bad idea.”

“Ouch. You’re not doing much for my confidence right now.” Her laugh came out brittle as she dug in her purse for her keys.

“
Damn it
. Again that came out wrong. I’m sorry.”

“You know, I’m just going to go inside now, before you say something that makes me give in to the urge to drive my knee into your balls.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I think you’ve said that a few times tonight.” Which was weird, because Todd wasn’t the type to apologize profusely. She fumbled to unlock the door and shoved it open, before stepping inside. Turning to face him, she gave a strained smile. “It’s best if we just call it a night.”

“Yeah, probably.” Todd shoved his hands into his pocket and nodded. “Shit, Kate, I really am so—”

She shut the door before he could finish another apology.

He’d fucked up tonight. In a big, fat, no-going-back way. Todd slammed his fists into the steering wheel and cursed a blue streak as he headed home.

What the hell had gotten into him? Kate was not any random woman he could seduce without regret. She was Kate. All wide eyes and a touch of innocence he didn’t see with many girls nowadays. Hell,
any
of the girls he’d dated. If you could call what he did dating…

He’d wager Kate had probably only slept with a few men in her life. And the only other guy he could remember her being serious with was some guy on the baseball team back in high school. He’d been away at college, but he’d heard about it, seen them when he’d returned during spring break.

But whatever happened in Kate’s love life, she kept it private. She obviously wasn’t the type to sleep around.

Todd’s mouth twisted derisively. And yet that’s all
he
did. Playing musical beds like it was an Olympic event.

His fingers clenched around the steering wheel as he thought about the softness of her full breast spilling over into his hand. Jesus, she was sexy. Had tits that were so big, soft and
real
. Everything about Kate was real and lush. How had he never realized it before? How understated her attractiveness was?

Because tonight he’d wanted to push open her front door and toss her inside, get her onto that big white couch of hers and strip her naked. Then kiss the softness of her inner thighs, before moving between them to taste the sweet-as-candy pussy he’d find. She probably tasted better than anything in her addictive little shop.

Todd bit back a groan and shook his head. His cock was like granite beneath his jeans, pushing against the denim and throbbing something fierce.
Damn it
. He had to stop thinking about Kate this way. Everything had changed that night of the bachelorette party. All because Kate had kissed him while drunk, firmly knocking her ass out of the just-friends box and into the maybe-we-should-fuck box.

Shit. Walking away from a woman was a new thing. Women didn’t tell him no, and it wasn’t very often he told himself no. He needed an outlet.

Maybe he could call someone… Maybe Rita, who worked down at the bank. They’d hooked up a few times in the past year. He visualized the skinny blonde, tried to get excited, but it wasn’t happening. In fact everything inside him rebelled at using another woman when he really only wanted one.

“Fuck,” he muttered. What the hell was wrong with him? Pussy was pussy. As long as it was warm and wet, who the hell cared, right?

Something deep tightened inside his chest. Guilt? Shame? And a memory that reminded him he hadn’t always been like this. But he snuffed it out, shoving the image back into that corner of mind he didn’t visit much. If ever.

His cell phone buzzed to life and he practically dove for it, hoping for some kind of lifeline for the rest of the evening. It came in the form of his brother Tyson.

And just like that the guilt disappeared and he remembered why he’d become the man he was.

“Hey, Ty,” he muttered. “What are you up to?”

“Sitting around on my butt, waiting for Ellie to get home from her yoga classes.”

“That’s right, she opened the studio a few weeks ago. You check it out yet? Go to a class?”

Tyson laughed. “Hell, no. You really think I’m gonna do that body pretzel stuff?”

“No. Can’t say that I can see you doing that.” Todd’s mouth curved into a slow grin and he finally started to relax. “Gun range, yes. Yoga, no way.”

“Exactly. So I was calling to see if you wanted to grab a beer. We could meet at the Tavern.”

Todd barely hesitated. It beat the hell of his back-up plan of going home to jack off. “Yeah, that sounds good. Meet you there in ten.”

It only took him five minutes to get to the bar, and by the time Tyson walked in, Todd was already nursing a beer and shooting some pool.

“Hey there, little bro,” Tyson greeted, pulling a pool stick down from the wall. “Did you buy me a pint?”

Todd jerked his head toward the high table next to them where a pint of Budweiser sat with the head still white and foamy.

“Hell, I was kidding, but thanks.” Tyson paused beside the table to take a drink. “I’ve got to say, I’m surprised you’re not out with some girl, seeing it’s a Friday night and all.”

Todd’s fingers tightened around his beer and he didn’t reply, just made a soft grunt in response.

“Kate wanted an early night?”

Jerking his head up, Todd met his brother’s pensive gaze. Tyson had never been one to beat around the bush. Someone must’ve seen him and Kate out to dinner alone and commented to Tyson. Sure didn’t take long for word to travel in a small town.

“It was just dinner,” he replied curtly. Not that it was his brother’s business at all.

“Yeah, that’s what I heard. But it was just the two of you, which seemed kind of unusual.”

Todd’s chest expanded with the slow breath he drew in and a tic started in his jaw. But he just gave an easy smile and asked, “Something you’re trying to imply, bro?”

“Not really. I just know how you are with women… But seeing as this is Kate, I know I don’t really have any reason to be worried.”

And there was the warning, not quite spoken, but definitely implied. Kate wasn’t to be touched. At least not by him.

“Kate’s a friend,” Todd finally replied and moved to take another shot, sinking the eight ball into the corner pocket. He straightened and chalked his tip. “And that’s all she’ll ever be to me. So you can just cut with the silent implications, Ty.”

Tyson grinned and slapped him on the back, before moving to set the rack for a new game. “Good to hear. I should’ve known better, I know she’s not your type.”

Yeah, that’s what he’d been trying to tell his dick all night.

“Because Kate’s not like other women,” Tyson continued, removing the rack and picking his stick back up. “And I know she’s got that little crush on you, but you’d have to be a total asshole to take advantage of it.”

Crush? How the hell did Tyson know Kate had a crush on him?

Todd took another swig of beer and again didn’t comment. If Kate had a crush on anything, it was his career. He’d seen it earlier tonight when they’d talked about his job, the way her eyes had lit up and she’d giggled like a schoolgirl. If he’d been the town dentist, Kate probably wouldn’t even glance his way.

Letting his smile fade, Todd gave up the pretense of keeping this conversation light and turned a hard stare on his brother.

“I’ll say it again. Kate is nothing more to me than a friend. Now drop it, Ty.”

Tyson held his stare for a moment, his gaze searching, and then the critical gleam in his eyes faded into one of trust and acknowledgement. He gave a small nod and then murmured, “Consider it dropped.”

Todd blew out a breath from between clenched teeth. Well, he’d managed to convince Tyson that Kate would only ever be a friend.

Now he just needed to convince Todd Jr. of the same thing.

Chapter Four

“I can’t do this,” Kate muttered, the blood rushing to her head as she struggled to maintain some pose that had the word dog in it.

How the hell had she let Ellie talk her into attending a Sunday afternoon yoga class? Oh yes, the promise of lunch out and a long talk afterward.

She was dying to confide in someone about what had happened last night with Todd, but with Megan now living a state away, that left her with Ellie as one of her closest friends. Which was funny, seeing as they’d only know each other for a few months.

Trying to toss her ponytail back from her face, Kate lifted her head and glared up at Ellie, who crooned out words of encouragement to a class that was surprisingly full. Who the heck would have thought this many women in Wyattsville were into yoga?

Sweat poured down her neck and the muscles in her legs started to scream in protest.

God! Exercise was the devil.

Kate glanced over at the clock on the wall and bit back a moan. Still another forty minutes. She’d never make it. She’d be found unconscious in a twisted, muscle-spasming mess.

But somehow she got through the rest of the hour. When Ellie dismissed the class, Kate collapsed on the floor to pass out, but still caught the glare of one woman leaving.

Penny from Penny’s Pies. Kate’s only competition in town for sweets. And, judging by Penny’s glare, apparently the woman still wasn’t pleased with Kate being the new shop in town.

When Ellie finished saying goodbye to the rest of the class, Kate was waiting for her on her mat on the floor. Lying on her back and staring at the ceiling, dreaming of a sexy masseuse and one of her big, fat salted-caramel cupcakes.

“Hey,” Ellie said cheerfully, bounding over and sitting down next to her. “You did fabulous. Good job.”

“I’m not sure you realize, but I think this type of thing is actually considered torture in some countries,” Kate muttered and struggled into sitting position.

Ellie winked and stretched her legs out and grabbing her toes. “Trust me, you’ll be begging to come back next week. It’s addictive.”

“Hmm.” Kate watched as the last attendee in the room left the studio.

“Okay, spill it.” Ellie lifted a perfectly shaped, dark eyebrow. “What’s going on?”