Guilty as Sin (2 page)

The phone rang again fifteen minutes later and Kate picked it up with no small trepidation, worried it was John going in for another round. But this time it was Tommy. Keeping her voice low, she said, “I think Michael’s going to zone out pretty soon, so I’ll call you after he goes to bed.”

Kate made herself a sandwich and settled on the couch to watch
Dumb and Dumber
with Michael, who, much to her consternation, didn’t seem in any hurry to head up to bed.
When the movie ended and he asked her to put
Jurassic Park
into the VCR, she replied, “Aren’t you ready for bed?” unable to conceal the exasperation in her voice.

“What’s the difference to you? It’s not like you have anywhere to go.”

Kate gave a little huff of impatience and checked her watch. It was after nine. How long would Tommy wait by the phone before he gave up and came over on his own, revealing everything to her nosy little brother?

Or, worse, decided she wasn’t worth the wait and went out for the night?

“Or maybe,” Michael said idly, his gaze still glued to the television, “you’re waiting for someone to come over here.”

“What makes you think that?” she said, too quickly.

Michael, ever perceptive, slanted a look at her. “It’s Tommy, right?”

“Of course not,” she snapped. “I promised Dad I wouldn’t see him anymore.”

“Oh, come on, Kate, you think I don’t hear you and Lauren gossiping all night? I can totally hear you two from my room.”

“Only if you sit with your head glued to the air vent,” she snapped, and snatched up a throw pillow to clobber him over the head.

“Hey, what else am I supposed to do?” Michael threw down the Game Boy and flung his arms up to protect his face. “You guys are the ones with the TV and the VCR player in your room. I don’t have jack crap.”

“Promise you won’t say anything to Dad.”

Michael narrowed his eyes. “What’s it worth to you?”

Kate glared right back. “My allowance for the next month?”

He shook his head. “Not good enough. I want a ride to and from school every morning. The bus blows.”

“I can promise rides in the morning but not afternoons. Lauren and I will start SAT prep soon and you’ve got soccer—”

“Fine,” Michael conceded. “Rides in the morning and two months of allowance.”

“Fine,” she bit out, and called him a jerk under her breath.

They were silent a few more minutes watching the movie, then Michael said, “Just so you know, I’ve known for about a week and probably wouldn’t have said anything. Tommy seems like a cool guy. I don’t know why Dad gets all up in his head about it.”

Even her father’s disapproval of Tommy couldn’t erase sixteen years of being a daddy’s girl. Kate automatically jumped to his defense. “Because of who he is, he has to worry about how everything will look, and he has very specific ideas about the kind of people Lauren and I date.”

Michael snorted. “He’d have a stroke if he knew what Lauren’s been up to.”

“How do you know what Lauren’s up to?”

“I know a lot more than you think.”

More silence, then Kate asked. “So if you weren’t going to tell, do I still have to give you my allowance?”

“Hell yeah,” he replied. “Between your two months and the six I already have from Lauren, I’ll finally be able to buy that Jet Ski Mom refuses to let me have.”

“You can buy it, but that doesn’t mean you can keep it.”

“Dad will have me covered.”

Kate rolled her eyes and didn’t argue. It was no secret that while their dad adored and was proud of all of them, he had a particular soft spot for Michael and always let him get away with more. Whether it was because he was the only boy or the youngest or a combination of both, Kate had learned a long time ago not to let the favoritism get to her.

Satisfied Michael wouldn’t narc on her any time soon, she dialed Tommy. Her heart squeezed as the phone got to its fourth ring.

It’s too late, she thought. He got tired of waiting…

“Hello?” he answered, a little breathless as though he’d been running.

“So, um, you can still come over if you want to,” she said.

“Of course I still want to!” he said, the unrestrained eagerness in his voice making her smile.

For the next twenty minutes or so Kate watched the front windows, starting at the sight of each pair of headlights going by.

“He lives outside of town,” Michael reminded her after the third time. “It’ll take him at least fifteen minutes to get here.”

“Aren’t you getting really tired and needing to go upstairs to bed?” she shot back.

He gave an exaggerated stretch. “I’ve been sleeping like, all day, so now I’m not even tired. I could probably stay up all night at this point,” he said with an innocent smile she didn’t buy for a second.

Just then there was a firm knock at the door. She rushed to answer, shooting Michael a glare over her shoulder.

“Hi,” she said, unable to hold back her grin at the sight of Tommy, the harsh planes of his face illuminated by the overhead light. “You got here quicker than I expected.” She moved aside to let him in.

“I might have sped a little,” he said with a sheepish smile. He reached out and placed his hands on her hips as he bent his head to kiss her hello.

“Hey, Tommy.” His head snapped up at the sound of Michael’s call, and there was a flash of panic in his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Kate said, taking Tommy by the hand and leading him into the great room. “We worked out a deal.”

Tommy raised a hand in greeting. “Hey. Kate said you’ve been sick.”

“I’m better today,” Michael said, and turned his attention back to his Game Boy.

“But you really should get your rest,” Kate said. “Sleep is really the best thing for your body.”

“I’m getting plenty of rest right here on the couch,” Michael replied.

“Let’s go out on the deck,” Tommy said. Kate shot another glare at her brother as Tommy led her outside. He settled them onto a wicker love seat facing the lake.

He slipped his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled eagerly into his side.

“You sure we’re okay?” Tommy said.

Kate found it hard to focus with his fingers tracing up and down the sensitive skin of her inner arm. “Yeah,” she finally managed. “He named a price for his silence and I caved.”

Tommy gave a soft chuckle. “I hope it wasn’t too bad.”

“Just some money and having to put up with a smelly thirteen-year-old in my car every morning on the way to school.”

Tommy gave a soft laugh. “Remind me to keep him away from my sister Emilia. She’s only nine but she’s already figured out the blackmail thing.”

“I’m glad you could come over tonight,” Kate said, anticipation buzzing in her veins as she thought about what was going to happen.

“Me too,” Tommy whispered, and bent his head to kiss her. He smelled delicious, soapy and the fresh citrus smell of shaving cream. As always, the second his lips touched hers she went spinning out of control, her mouth hungry against his, her hands clutching at him as though she couldn’t get close enough.

And tonight they would be as close as two people could be—

The sharp sound of shattering glass startled them apart. Kate surged to her feet and started for the kitchen where Michael stood, bathed in light from the overhead fixture. He wore a guilty look on his face, and there was a puddle of lemonade and shards of glass surrounding his bare feet.

“You’re such a klutz,” Kate fumed as she marched into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, I was just thirsty.”

“More like nosy,” Kate muttered. “You know damn well the mini fridge under the bar is totally stocked. Don’t move!” she ordered when Michael would have stepped forward.

Tension knotted in her shoulders as she and Tommy mopped up the sticky liquid and swept up the glass. Way to set the romantic scene, she thought, spending an evening trying to dodge her thirteen-year-old brother.

“I’m sorry, Kate,” Michael said as she threw away the last of the mess.

“Can you just go to bed?” She sighed tiredly. “Tommy and I really want to be alone.”

Her gave her an exaggerated leer. “What are you going to do?”

She punched him in the arm hard enough to make him wince. “None of your business. Go upstairs.”

His mouth set in a petulant line. “I’m not tired. You can be alone in your bedroom. You go upstairs.”

Kate’s cheeks flooded with heat at the memory of Tommy in her bedroom three days ago, his rangy body stretched out on the twin bed across from Lauren’s. But there was no way she was taking him up there now—not with Michael still awake and tracking their every move.

It was one thing to flirt with her inner bad girl and sneak
a guy in her bedroom when the house was empty, but she wasn’t brazen enough yet to do it under her nosy brother’s ever-watchful eye. Knowing Michael, he’d either be at the door with a glass to his ear or hunkered next to that damn air vent.

“Fine. You can hang out in our room,” Kate said, grateful Lauren wasn’t there to punch her in the face. “You can watch movies as late as you want. Just don’t come back down.”

“Awesome.” He tucked the Game Boy under his arm and rushed to the great room to retrieve a stack of cassettes. A few seconds later he was pounding up the stairs.

“And stay out of our stuff!” Kate called after him, knowing full well their room would be ransacked inside of ten minutes.

But it would be worth it, she thought, turning with a little shiver of anticipation back to Tommy, who was watching her from the doorway that led from the kitchen to the great room.

His thick dark hair shone under the lights, picking up the faint gold streaks from all the time he spent in the sun. His deep-set eyes watched her carefully, and as he looked in her face she wondered if he sensed her plans for tonight.

She was suddenly nervous, not sure how to proceed. She couldn’t exactly blurt out that she planned to let him take her virginity that night. Deciding that the best course of action was to let things unfold naturally, she let him lead her to the big leather couch and watched as he made a show of picking out a movie they had no intention of watching.

He had her stretched out under him before the opening credits had rolled, and soon after his shirt was on the floor and hers was tugged from the waistband of her skirt.

Tommy’s hand was making slow, careful progress up her stomach when they heard a large crash and roar. It took
her a few seconds to register that the noise came from the TV upstairs, turned up obnoxiously loud, no doubt for their benefit.

But that did nothing to calm the adrenaline spiking in her system and the realization that there was no way she could do this with her little brother in the house.

As though he read her thoughts, Tommy said, “It’s weird having Michael here. I’m afraid he’ll bust in any second.”

“I’m sorry.” She sighed, frustrated. “I totally thought he’d be asleep and wouldn’t even know…”

“I know someplace we can go,” Tommy said, tugging her up from the couch. She followed, hesitating as he reached for the handle of the front door.

“I can’t leave.” She shook her head. “I know he’s a pain in the ass, but I can’t leave him alone.”

“We won’t go far, I promise. Close enough for us to hear if he calls for you, but nowhere he can bust in on us. Come on.”

Kate’s eyes flicked involuntarily up the stairs. She could hear the roar of the television, hoped Michael would stay occupied or fall asleep soon.

“Okay.” She followed Tommy, first to his truck, where he retrieved a sleeping bag and a pillow he’d stashed in the back. Then he led her down the beach, past the last house where the lake was still bordered by forest. Kate smiled in delight as he stopped at a bare patch of sand sheltered on either side by bushes. He spread the sleeping bag out and knelt down and reached out his hand for her to join him.

Though this was not exactly what she’d imagined for her first time, she didn’t hesitate to follow him down when he stretched out on his back.

Kate couldn’t stifle a moan as strong hands slid under the hem of her shirt and slid up the bare skin of her back. Her
own hands swept hungrily over the muscular swells of his chest and shoulders.

She loved the way his breath sped up to match hers, the way his skin heated under her touch until she could smell the arousal coming off him in waves. His hand slid farther up her back until it met with the clasp of her bra. His fingers traced it for a second before sliding away.

Not tonight, she thought with a pulse of anticipation that was nearly as arousing as his touch. She pushed up so she was sitting next to him. She could hear the surprised hitch in his breath as she unbuttoned her shirt and let it slide off her shoulders. Then, before she could psych herself out, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra.

“Kate…”

Tommy’s hushed whisper, almost reverent, rushed through her and gave her that last bit of courage she needed to let her bra follow her shirt onto the ground.

Grateful that the nearly full moon was muted by the tree branches, she sank back down until they were chest to chest and felt his own gasp echo hers at the first touch of skin on skin. It shouldn’t be such a huge deal; he’d touched her under her clothes dozens of times. But the feeling of being naked—from the waist up anyway—the sensation of being completely bare against him—sent a wicked thrill that went straight to her core.