Kiss Me Katie! & Hug Me Holly! (6 page)

W
ELL, AT LEAST
she had Tic and Toc, her cats. They'd never abandon her. They'd never look at her with soft reproach as Matt had, wondering why she was trying to ruin his life.

Darn him for giving her a complex anyway. All she'd wanted was one little kiss; it wouldn't have hurt him to cooperate.

Much.

“Meow.”

Katie let out a long, shaky breath. “Well, I didn't
mean
to hurt him,” she told the cat. “But really, now that I think about it, that concussion was his own fault. If he would've just stayed still, we wouldn't have fallen.”

She sat on her porch, both cats heavy in her lap as she watched the sunset and sighed. “I'm still Christmas cursed, apparently. Big surprise there.”

“I've heard you say that twice now.”

She nearly dumped Tic and Toc to the floor at the unexpected sound of his voice.

Bryan stood below the bottom step.

In the growing dark, she couldn't see his expression clearly, and told herself it wasn't necessary. She didn't care. More than that,
he
didn't care. “We have to stop meeting like this,” she muttered, trying to soothe the two orange tabbies as they both lifted their heads and stared with reproach at this newcomer.

Bryan stepped onto the porch and sent her his trademark crooked grin, the one that did funny things to her stomach in spite of the fact that she'd refused to acknowledge those things.

And not for the first time, she acknowledged somewhere deep down that Bryan was acting far more “mature” than she. Darn him.

“I hope you don't mind,” he said. “I looked up your address in the computer.”

“I mind.”

His lips curved, but he said nothing to that, simply sat on the bench right next to her. “So. What's this about a Christmas curse?”

“It means I have yet to successfully manage a smooth holiday season.”

“Ever?”

She didn't, couldn't, answer. Not when their thighs brushed, their arms touched, and his face, when he turned it toward her, was completely void
of the laughter she'd been silently groaning over ever since he caught her trying to kiss Matt.

“I'm sorry you had to go through all that,” he said, reading her mind with horrifying ease.

“Which? Nearly killing our vice president, or having him now be afraid of me?”

“That you didn't believe me the first time.”

“Oh. That.”

“Yeah.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “
That.
Katie, is it so hard to believe? That you and I could have shared a kiss?”

“It wasn't
just
a kiss.”

“No,” he agreed with a rueful laugh. “It sure wasn't. And if I hadn't had that ridiculous costume on, if we hadn't been surrounded by dressed up, drunken fools, if…” His eyes gleamed with heat. “Well. Maybe it was for the best.”

She was certain somehow his statement should make her feel better. It didn't.

“So…are you going to admit it?”

“Admit what?”

He let out a short laugh and shook his head. “You can't fool me, you know. I'm the master of avoidance techniques.”

“You don't avoid anything. You jump into every single day with your eyes wide-open, one-hundred-percent ready for anything and every
thing. Don't tell me you know anything about avoidance techniques.”

“Ah, but the adventure and excitement of my job, that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.”

“And what are you talking about?”

“
Heart
stuff.
Emotion
stuff. That's what I'm the master of avoidance at.”

She stared at him, and he stared right back, his eyes clear and open and honest.

“Why?” she whispered. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because maybe I'm a big fake,” he whispered back. Slowly, as if he were afraid to frighten her off, he lifted a hand. His fingers brushed her cheek in a soft, barely there caress. “When it comes right down to it, I've never taken the biggest risk of all. I've never opened my heart all the way to a woman.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Was that her voice, all whispery and light? Good Lord, she sounded as if she were having an attack of the vapors. But then he shifted a little closer and those long fingers cupped her jaw, and she became much more seriously breathing challenged. Her pulse raced. Her heart pounded. Her palms went clammy.

Wait, she
was
having an attack of the vapors!

“You're breathing funny,” he said.

Well, so was he. “I thought you loved your carefree lifestyle,” she said softly.

“I do. I'm just saying…hell.” A self-deprecating laugh escaped him. “I have no idea what I'm saying.”

“I've seen customers fall all over themselves to get your attention,” Katie said. “I've seen half the staff—the
female
half, that is—do the same thing. And I certainly haven't seen you running away. In fact, I've
personally
witnessed you opening up one of your planes to at least a dozen different dates.”

“I said I've never opened my
heart.
Not my planes, or…anything else.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I have enough women in my life with my family. Because I never felt the need for another nosy, bossy—”

“Hey! We're not
all
like that.”

“Then maybe I haven't met the right woman.”

Oh, she didn't want to know this, she definitely didn't, because something within her softened, melted. Warmed.

Darn it. Darn
him.

Her insides were going all molten on her, dis
solving with each light stroke of his roughened fingers. “Bryan—”

Now those fingers spread wide, as if he needed to touch more of her, and his thumb slid slowly, languidly, over her sensitive lower lip until it quivered open.

His gaze darkened, his mouth opened, too.

“Bryan—”

“Mmm. Love how you say my name. Say it again.”

She nearly did, but then realized her eyes were half closed, her body was straining toward his, and she was one touch away from doing what she'd sworn never to do. She could never become attracted to him.

Too late,
claimed a little voice,
far too late.

She not-so-kindly ignored her little voice, because after all, Bryan Morgan was not a forever kind of guy, no matter what he said. She straightened away from him, clicked her mouth closed and glared at him.

So did Tic.

Toc leaped gracefully from her lap and stalked off, clearly bored.

Bryan just waited patiently.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?” he asked innocently.

Making me forget why I don't want you.
“Stop waiting for me to tell you what you want to hear.”

“Which is?”

“That I kissed
you.
”

He laughed softly, sexily, and her stomach tightened again.
Oh, Lord,
she thought frantically.
It's true.
No more fooling herself, because that's really what she'd been doing.

She'd known the truth all along. It
was
him, no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise. Worse, she was helplessly attracted to
this
leanly muscled, sleek, sleepy-eyed, sensual man in front of her.

And she'd kissed him.

“Come on, truth now,” he said huskily. “You know it wasn't Matt in the Santa costume.”

She could only stare at him.

“Let me prove it,” he said softly. “I can, you know.” His eyes seconded the motion. His mouth curved invitingly, and Katie actually shifted slightly, instinctively moving closer.

“Right here, right now.” His gaze was on her mouth. “Let me lay all these doubts to rest for once and for all.”

Heat pooled in all the places in her body she'd ignored for so long.

“Katie?” His fingers toyed with her hair. Their
mouths were only a fraction apart, but he wasn't moving any closer, he was going to make her ask for it.

Her body was already begging.

“Come on,” he whispered, his heavy-lidded eyes dark and sleepy and filled with promises.

So many promises.

But promises weren't good for her, she'd had one too many broken in her past, too many from the likes of a man like this, a man who had no intention of ever settling down.

There. That was the bottom line. She needed to remember that.

Saving herself from making a huge mistake, she jerked back, and in the process startled her cat.

Tic straightened from her lap, meowed softly, then leaped from her legs to Bryan's.

Whether or not the heavy cat missed on purpose—with her claws out—landing directly in the juncture between Bryan's thighs, and the intriguing bulge there, Katie couldn't be sure.

But she had to admit, it was quite a conversation stopper.

“That's two,” Bryan said in a choked voice.

“Two?”

“Two men down for the count today.” He
groaned and bent over. “That's got to be a personal record for you.”

 

I
T TOOK HIM A WHILE
, but Bryan finally figured out he'd been going at this Katie thing all wrong. He wasn't usually so slow in the woman department, but to be fair to him, it had been a long time and he was rusty.

Not to mention—Katie was everything he'd
never
wanted. She represented stability, dependability, and…what else was it she'd said?

Oh, yes, reliability.

She probably wanted a white picket fence and two point four kids, too. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking about her, dreaming about her.

It was scary stuff and he vowed to get over it, and quickly.

The morning after nearly getting a vasectomy from Katie's cat, he flew a particularly tough stunt for a commercial—made all the tougher because in spite of himself, his mind kept slipping back to a certain soft-eyed, warm-spirited, strong yet vulnerable Katie Wilkins.

After the flight he sat for a long moment in his plane before pushing himself out of the cockpit. As he turned toward the aircraft's door, it was suddenly filled with a curvy grinning blonde.

“Don't even
think
about it,” he muttered to Holly, remembering the last time she'd cornered him in this very spot.

She lifted an innocent brow. “Playing hard to get, Bryan? That's so sexy in a man. And so pointless. Every woman worth her pumps knows with the right…shall we say
motivation,
a man is putty in her hands.”

Bryan sighed. “Why don't you give me a break and go ruin some other guy's chances for a change?”

She grinned. “Oh, did I ruin your chances with Katie? What a terrible shame, your actually having to work hard at getting something you want.”

It was true. He hadn't had to work at anything, not once in his entire life, because up until now, it had all come easy—school, friends, lovers.
Life.

Another reason to get over Katie.

“You poor, poor man,” she said, tsking softly in her throat. “Trying to get a woman who has no intention of ever falling for a man like you. You're fumbling around in the dark on this one, trust me.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why is that?”

“I could tell you why she's so squirrelly about the attraction between you two, but…nah.”

“You owe me one.”

“I owe no one.”

“I wore that damn Santa costume so that you could trick Katie into making a fool of herself in front of Matt, all so you could make sure he noticed no woman but you.”

Holly rolled her eyes and looked bored. “What a convoluted idea
that
would be.”

He matched her bored expression. “Of course, I could just tell Matt—”

Her eyes sharpened. “Wait. That…won't be necessary.”

He smiled. “I didn't think so. So…spill it.”

“You mean let you in on our little Katie's private torments? Tell you that her father was a daredevil stunt pilot just like you, one who made promise after promise to her that he always broke because a cool and thrilling job would come up? Tell you that after breaking her heart over and over again, he managed to
really
destroy her by getting himself killed on a job he had no business taking in the first place?” She lifted a negligent shoulder. “I suppose I could tell you all that, and all the sad little details that go with it, but… Well, that wouldn't exactly be like me, would it?”

Bryan stared at her, but for once could see no intent to deceive. “Tell me you're lying.”

“Would I do that?”

Heart heavy, he closed his eyes and shook his head.
Oh, Katie.

“Oh, please,” she said with heartfelt disgust. “Don't feel sorry for her, she always made out in the end. She and her mother received a huge life insurance settlement. She went to the college of her choice. She got to become whatever she wanted—God knows why she'd waste it on becoming an accountant, but that's another story. Fact is, she came out smelling like a rose.”

“And you didn't,” he said quietly, finding himself pitying Holly, not Katie. What kind of a woman would look at Katie's life, and what she'd been through, and resent her?

But what he felt for Katie was far more complicated than pity. Compassion, empathy, yes. Definitely all that and more. Also a fierce pride for what she'd done for herself in spite of the obstacles she'd overcome. But there was a new understanding for what she saw when she looked at him.

And it wasn't pretty.

All this time, he'd been allowing himself to get caught up in the bafflement of why a woman with so much hidden passion and love for life would stifle herself. Why she would pretend she didn't
feel, and even worse, pretend she didn't need someone to feel for her in return.