Suddenly Sexy (14 page)
Authors: Linda Francis Lee
Tags: #Women television journalists, #Man-woman relationships, #Single women, #Contemporary, #General, #Romance, #Adult, #Fiction, #Athletes, #Texas, #Love stories
The expression on his face was sheer awe as he outlined the fullness
with his hands, stopping just before he touched her nipple.
Her breath caught, and she felt a yearning pressure build between her
legs. She wanted him to touch her there, cup her, spread her with his
lips like she had dreamed, then fill her.
He circled one breast with his finger, avoiding the nipple, that heat
inside her growing. She had the decidedly embarrassing desire to move
her hips toward him. She wanted to feel the hardness of him between her
thighs. Then finally he touched the taut aching peaks, and she moaned
in ecstasy as he gently pinched.
Then his mouth came over hers and it was a tiny piece of heaven. She
felt an amazing sense of power when he groaned. Their tongues twined,
then he slowly impaled her mouth, over and over again, so intimately,
showing her what sex would be like with him. Hot and wet, slow and
sweet.
Relishing the feel, she curled her fingers into his cotton shirt. And
passion exploded.
He pulled her into his lap, her bottom cradled between his thighs, as
his mouth claimed her once again. The sensation was hot and enveloping,
mind spinning and exhilarating. She felt herself melt into him, his
strong arms capturing her against his massive chest.
When their tongues touched, fire burned through her, his lips brushing
gently at first, then with demand, his strong thighs spreading just
enough so that she could feel the unmistakable hardening of his body.
Wrapping her close, he consumed her. He tasted dark and dangerous, like
a slippery slope between
sanity and decadence, making her want more.
Making her want to give in, forget right from wrong,
lose herself in
the intensity of emotion.
"Kate? Jesse?"
The words came from just beyond the door. Mortified, Kate tried to jerk
free. But Jesse held her secure, shielding her as he discreetly tugged
down her shirt before he let her go.
"Jesse?" Travis came to stand in the doorway between the hall and
kitchen, looking as serious as a nun. "Could I have a word with you?"
"Now?" Jesse asked.
"Well, ah, yes."
Jesse hesitated for a second before he pushed up, calming his raging
desire. Feeling a tiny bit of what he was afraid might be fatherly
concern, Jesse followed Travis out into the hallway. "What is it?"
The boy glanced back to make sure Kate couldn't hear. "I understand the
whole wanting to kiss her thing."
Jesse choked.
"But I really don't think it's a good idea to give in and do it."
"What are you talking about?"
"She went out on a date and had a bad time. Then she comes home and
starts kissing you on the rebound."
"I'm not a rebound," Jesse said indignantly. Though deep down he knew
the kid was right. He had seen
it often enough and had steered clear of
it. But tonight, with Katie, better sense fled. Her innocence
made that
jaded part inside him crack open and feel a lightness he hadn't known
in years. Not since he was eleven.
"We both know that's what it is," Travis added all too insightfully.
"I've seen it a thousand times with myâ"
"Mother." Jesse hung his head.
"If you continue . . . doing what you're doing, she'll hate you in the
morning. And while she pretty much hates you already, she'll hate
herself, too. I was thinking that she's way too nice to start hating
herself on top of all the work stuff she has going on."
Jesse stared at the boy long and hard. "Go to bed."
"Promise you won't take advantage of her."
"I am not going to take advantage of her," he replied tightly.
"Promise you won't kiss her again."
Jesse's narrow-eyed gaze must have made Travis think better of pushing
him, because suddenly the boy said, "Okay, okay, I'm going."
He disappeared down the hall.
With his body pulsing and his mind raging, Jesse returned to the
kitchen. Whatever his sins were, he had never taken
advantage of a woman in his life.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
"Yes," he stated coldly. Then he took a deep breath. "Yes, everything's
fine. But it's late and we both need to get some sleep."
"Sleep!"
Yes, sleep, at least for tonight. He wouldn't pursue this to the
logical end that his body craved. If he looked at her again, at the
confusion and desire mixing on her delicate features, he was afraid his
conviction would desert him. "Good night." He headed for the back door.
He wanted her, and he didn't want to think. He wanted to lose himself
in her sweetness, consequences
be damned. He thought of how he could
lean her back, pull off her panties, and lick the sweet center of her,
gently sucking her clitoris until she came. There were so many ways to
pleasure a woman. He had pleasured more women than he could count.
Pleasure. Katie.
The words shot through his head like a shiver. He wanted to. But then
he remembered Katie sweetly curling against his side, counting on him
to keep her safe.
That was the problem. This constant seeing her as young and innocent,
remembering the bond between them. Not exactly a sister, but not
someone he could think about in a sexual way.
But he could no longer pretend that things hadn't changed. Whether he
liked it or not, things had shifted between them. There was no going
back. He had to finally face the reality that little Katie was the
past.
A sensual, grown woman had taken her place. A woman who made him crave
and long for something
he had thought long dead inside
him. And he wanted her.
Only one question remained. What did he plan to do about it?
He turned the knob, then pushed out through the screen. A summer breeze
drifted in, bringing the smell of honeysuckle and roses.
At the last second, he looked back at her. "Did I mention you're too
good for Parker?"
"No."
"Well, you are."
Then he let the screen slam as he headed for the guest cottage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: Tell all
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Dessert
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ktextv.com>
     Julia Boudreaux
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: Rumors and water
Chloe Sinclair
Station Manager
Award-winning KTEX TV West Texas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: No comment
Julia Scarlett Boudreaux
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ktextv,com>
    Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Hmmm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curls left long, brushed out just enough to make them full and
wild. Done.
Stretchy top cut low, the neck lined with marabou feathers and
glittering with sequins. Perfect.
Skirt cut high and tight. Probably too high and too tight. All the
better.
High-heeled pair of red hooker heels.
Kate just about swooned as she looked at herself in the mirrorâthe bad
kind of swooning, as in
passing out, and she most definitely wasn't a
swooner.
At any second, she fully expected her heart to burst out of her chest
because it was pounding so hard.
Or maybe she'd hyperventilate.
She glanced around the KTEX makeup room, looking for a brown paper bag.
Finding none, she tried to remember the stress-management techniques.
But it seemed like she hardly remembered the class she
had taken, or the instructions they had given. She settled for rolling
her shoulders.
"Buck up, Katherine," she whispered to her reflection. "You can do
this. You are going to do this."
With three minutes to showtime, she stood up from the chair, thought
sultryâprayed she knew what sultry wasâthen nodded her head and left
the room.
Walking down the long, narrow hallway, she ignored the startled gasps,
just as she ignored the niggling thought deep in the back of her mind
that hooker heels didn't do a whole lot to make her seem friendlier.
Today she had something else to prove, and it pushed her on like a
general's command sending her into battle. Forget the fact that said
general must be a demented fool fighting an imaginary foeâor worse yet,
a hopelessly unwinnable war while wearing stilettos.
She almost managed a smile over all the
w's
.
She strode past Chloe, the clang of the station manager's metal
clipboard hitting the cement floor the
only sound she made. Even Julia
took one staggering step back at the sight of her. Since Kate hadn't
wanted to mention that she and Parker had broken up, she had avoided
both Chloe and Julia. They
would have asked more questions than she had
answers to, and she wasn't about to admit that he had
said the reason
for the breakup was none other than Jesse Chapman. No, that would
require way more discussion time than she was interested in giving.
So Kate avoided them all, including ignoring them now as they stood in
shock as she headed toward the set.
She tucked in her earpiece as the introductory music came up, the
visual of the sun rising over the
horizon in bright shades of red and
orange filling the monitor she could see below the camera. Then she
smiled just as Pete signaled that
she was live.
"Good morning, West Texas!"
She told herself she could do this, and she prayed that her heart would
calm down.
"Today we have a delightfully fun show that will give us all a few tips
on how to make these hot Texas nights
even
hotter
." She flipped her
hair over her shoulder, but only managed to get a puff of marabou
in
her face.
The clipboard clanged again.
Coughing, Kate picked a feather from her slick and shiny lip gloss. But
she did it with what she hoped was a lusciously sensual smile.
The cameraman actually came out from behind the camera for a moment to
stare in dumbfounded disbelief.
Pete did that bleating thing in her ear.
Rather than be deafened, she pretended to play with her curls, and
popped the plastic piece from her ear.
Like a cat on a hot tin roof, she walked to the first product lined up
on the counter, thinking sexy, really sexy, while at the same time
doing her best not to trip. With game show pizzazz, she whipped out her
hands and announced, "What better way to spice up your life than with a
fun pair of dice?"
Chatting away, she rolled the cubes a few times, making sure she showed
only the tamest variations, regardless of the fact that what she had
actually come up with was far racier than Kiss and Cheek, Lick and Ear.
She did have half a brain left. She didn't want the show to be jerked
off the airways for being profane.
"And for all you golf aficionados, how about a little
Fore!
Play? You
know that shout golfers make
when the ball is headed straight at some
poor unsuspecting soul? Fore!" She laughed loudly. "Well, get yourself
this game, my friends,
and I guarantee you'll be shouting, all right. But I don't think it
will be
Fore!
If you find
yourself a strapping man with a fine, strong
putter and a good set of balls, I'm betting you'll be shouting: More!"
She wasn't positive, but she thought Julia might have fainted just
beyond the set. Either way, Kate was
on a roll.
She moved on to a game she had found in a shop in downtown El Paso.
Earlier, she had hung it up on
the fake wall in her
Getting Real
kitchen. It was covered by a small drape. With a flourish, she tugged
the satin free, revealing a dartboard, the round circles leading up to
the bull's-eye filled with boldly
printed instructional targets that
would have made Hugh Hefner blush.
Picking up a dart, Kate gave it a good hard throw. But it missed
completely, flying off the set.
Someone yelped in the distance.
Kate looked straight into the camera. "I guess it's just like they say.
Love hurts."
with his hands, stopping just before he touched her nipple.
Her breath caught, and she felt a yearning pressure build between her
legs. She wanted him to touch her there, cup her, spread her with his
lips like she had dreamed, then fill her.
He circled one breast with his finger, avoiding the nipple, that heat
inside her growing. She had the decidedly embarrassing desire to move
her hips toward him. She wanted to feel the hardness of him between her
thighs. Then finally he touched the taut aching peaks, and she moaned
in ecstasy as he gently pinched.
Then his mouth came over hers and it was a tiny piece of heaven. She
felt an amazing sense of power when he groaned. Their tongues twined,
then he slowly impaled her mouth, over and over again, so intimately,
showing her what sex would be like with him. Hot and wet, slow and
sweet.
Relishing the feel, she curled her fingers into his cotton shirt. And
passion exploded.
He pulled her into his lap, her bottom cradled between his thighs, as
his mouth claimed her once again. The sensation was hot and enveloping,
mind spinning and exhilarating. She felt herself melt into him, his
strong arms capturing her against his massive chest.
When their tongues touched, fire burned through her, his lips brushing
gently at first, then with demand, his strong thighs spreading just
enough so that she could feel the unmistakable hardening of his body.
Wrapping her close, he consumed her. He tasted dark and dangerous, like
a slippery slope between
sanity and decadence, making her want more.
Making her want to give in, forget right from wrong,
lose herself in
the intensity of emotion.
"Kate? Jesse?"
The words came from just beyond the door. Mortified, Kate tried to jerk
free. But Jesse held her secure, shielding her as he discreetly tugged
down her shirt before he let her go.
"Jesse?" Travis came to stand in the doorway between the hall and
kitchen, looking as serious as a nun. "Could I have a word with you?"
"Now?" Jesse asked.
"Well, ah, yes."
Jesse hesitated for a second before he pushed up, calming his raging
desire. Feeling a tiny bit of what he was afraid might be fatherly
concern, Jesse followed Travis out into the hallway. "What is it?"
The boy glanced back to make sure Kate couldn't hear. "I understand the
whole wanting to kiss her thing."
Jesse choked.
"But I really don't think it's a good idea to give in and do it."
"What are you talking about?"
"She went out on a date and had a bad time. Then she comes home and
starts kissing you on the rebound."
"I'm not a rebound," Jesse said indignantly. Though deep down he knew
the kid was right. He had seen
it often enough and had steered clear of
it. But tonight, with Katie, better sense fled. Her innocence
made that
jaded part inside him crack open and feel a lightness he hadn't known
in years. Not since he was eleven.
"We both know that's what it is," Travis added all too insightfully.
"I've seen it a thousand times with myâ"
"Mother." Jesse hung his head.
"If you continue . . . doing what you're doing, she'll hate you in the
morning. And while she pretty much hates you already, she'll hate
herself, too. I was thinking that she's way too nice to start hating
herself on top of all the work stuff she has going on."
Jesse stared at the boy long and hard. "Go to bed."
"Promise you won't take advantage of her."
"I am not going to take advantage of her," he replied tightly.
"Promise you won't kiss her again."
Jesse's narrow-eyed gaze must have made Travis think better of pushing
him, because suddenly the boy said, "Okay, okay, I'm going."
He disappeared down the hall.
With his body pulsing and his mind raging, Jesse returned to the
kitchen. Whatever his sins were, he had never taken
advantage of a woman in his life.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
"Yes," he stated coldly. Then he took a deep breath. "Yes, everything's
fine. But it's late and we both need to get some sleep."
"Sleep!"
Yes, sleep, at least for tonight. He wouldn't pursue this to the
logical end that his body craved. If he looked at her again, at the
confusion and desire mixing on her delicate features, he was afraid his
conviction would desert him. "Good night." He headed for the back door.
He wanted her, and he didn't want to think. He wanted to lose himself
in her sweetness, consequences
be damned. He thought of how he could
lean her back, pull off her panties, and lick the sweet center of her,
gently sucking her clitoris until she came. There were so many ways to
pleasure a woman. He had pleasured more women than he could count.
Pleasure. Katie.
The words shot through his head like a shiver. He wanted to. But then
he remembered Katie sweetly curling against his side, counting on him
to keep her safe.
That was the problem. This constant seeing her as young and innocent,
remembering the bond between them. Not exactly a sister, but not
someone he could think about in a sexual way.
But he could no longer pretend that things hadn't changed. Whether he
liked it or not, things had shifted between them. There was no going
back. He had to finally face the reality that little Katie was the
past.
A sensual, grown woman had taken her place. A woman who made him crave
and long for something
he had thought long dead inside
him. And he wanted her.
Only one question remained. What did he plan to do about it?
He turned the knob, then pushed out through the screen. A summer breeze
drifted in, bringing the smell of honeysuckle and roses.
At the last second, he looked back at her. "Did I mention you're too
good for Parker?"
"No."
"Well, you are."
Then he let the screen slam as he headed for the guest cottage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: Tell all
So, how
crazy were you on your
date with Parker?
xoxo, jcrazy were you on your
date with Parker?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Dessert
Well, we
went to his place after
dinner, but no one got lucky. Though I
did try, Julia. You would have been proud. Afterward, however, I felt
the distinct need to throw myself in a body of water. Preferably one
with sharks. It seems to be a recurring theme with me these days.
Katewent to his place after
dinner, but no one got lucky. Though I
did try, Julia. You would have been proud. Afterward, however, I felt
the distinct need to throw myself in a body of water. Preferably one
with sharks. It seems to be a recurring theme with me these days.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
ktextv.com>
     Julia Boudreaux
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: Rumors and water
It must be
something in the air,
since there's a rumor floating around
regarding Julia and
a certain pool.
something in the air,
since there's a rumor floating around
regarding Julia and
a certain pool.
Julia, tell
me it isn't true that
you dove into the hotel pool at the
Symphony League's Black
Tie Gala.
Chloeme it isn't true that
you dove into the hotel pool at the
Symphony League's Black
Tie Gala.
Chloe Sinclair
Station Manager
Award-winning KTEX TV West Texas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: No comment
You can't
believe everything you
hear about me. But you can believe
that Kate's love products segment is scheduled for tomorrow.
Enjoy!
xoxo,believe everything you
hear about me. But you can believe
that Kate's love products segment is scheduled for tomorrow.
Enjoy!
Julia Scarlett Boudreaux
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
ktextv,com>
    Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Hmmm
I'm
starting to think that a show
on love products isn't such a bad
idea.
Kateâformerly known as an award-winning news anchorstarting to think that a show
on love products isn't such a bad
idea.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
THIRTEEN
Hot-pink lips. Check.Curls left long, brushed out just enough to make them full and
wild. Done.
Stretchy top cut low, the neck lined with marabou feathers and
glittering with sequins. Perfect.
Skirt cut high and tight. Probably too high and too tight. All the
better.
High-heeled pair of red hooker heels.
Kate just about swooned as she looked at herself in the mirrorâthe bad
kind of swooning, as in
passing out, and she most definitely wasn't a
swooner.
At any second, she fully expected her heart to burst out of her chest
because it was pounding so hard.
Or maybe she'd hyperventilate.
She glanced around the KTEX makeup room, looking for a brown paper bag.
Finding none, she tried to remember the stress-management techniques.
But it seemed like she hardly remembered the class she
had taken, or the instructions they had given. She settled for rolling
her shoulders.
"Buck up, Katherine," she whispered to her reflection. "You can do
this. You are going to do this."
With three minutes to showtime, she stood up from the chair, thought
sultryâprayed she knew what sultry wasâthen nodded her head and left
the room.
Walking down the long, narrow hallway, she ignored the startled gasps,
just as she ignored the niggling thought deep in the back of her mind
that hooker heels didn't do a whole lot to make her seem friendlier.
Today she had something else to prove, and it pushed her on like a
general's command sending her into battle. Forget the fact that said
general must be a demented fool fighting an imaginary foeâor worse yet,
a hopelessly unwinnable war while wearing stilettos.
She almost managed a smile over all the
w's
.
She strode past Chloe, the clang of the station manager's metal
clipboard hitting the cement floor the
only sound she made. Even Julia
took one staggering step back at the sight of her. Since Kate hadn't
wanted to mention that she and Parker had broken up, she had avoided
both Chloe and Julia. They
would have asked more questions than she had
answers to, and she wasn't about to admit that he had
said the reason
for the breakup was none other than Jesse Chapman. No, that would
require way more discussion time than she was interested in giving.
So Kate avoided them all, including ignoring them now as they stood in
shock as she headed toward the set.
She tucked in her earpiece as the introductory music came up, the
visual of the sun rising over the
horizon in bright shades of red and
orange filling the monitor she could see below the camera. Then she
smiled just as Pete signaled that
she was live.
"Good morning, West Texas!"
She told herself she could do this, and she prayed that her heart would
calm down.
"Today we have a delightfully fun show that will give us all a few tips
on how to make these hot Texas nights
even
hotter
." She flipped her
hair over her shoulder, but only managed to get a puff of marabou
in
her face.
The clipboard clanged again.
Coughing, Kate picked a feather from her slick and shiny lip gloss. But
she did it with what she hoped was a lusciously sensual smile.
The cameraman actually came out from behind the camera for a moment to
stare in dumbfounded disbelief.
Pete did that bleating thing in her ear.
Rather than be deafened, she pretended to play with her curls, and
popped the plastic piece from her ear.
Like a cat on a hot tin roof, she walked to the first product lined up
on the counter, thinking sexy, really sexy, while at the same time
doing her best not to trip. With game show pizzazz, she whipped out her
hands and announced, "What better way to spice up your life than with a
fun pair of dice?"
Chatting away, she rolled the cubes a few times, making sure she showed
only the tamest variations, regardless of the fact that what she had
actually come up with was far racier than Kiss and Cheek, Lick and Ear.
She did have half a brain left. She didn't want the show to be jerked
off the airways for being profane.
"And for all you golf aficionados, how about a little
Fore!
Play? You
know that shout golfers make
when the ball is headed straight at some
poor unsuspecting soul? Fore!" She laughed loudly. "Well, get yourself
this game, my friends,
and I guarantee you'll be shouting, all right. But I don't think it
will be
Fore!
If you find
yourself a strapping man with a fine, strong
putter and a good set of balls, I'm betting you'll be shouting: More!"
She wasn't positive, but she thought Julia might have fainted just
beyond the set. Either way, Kate was
on a roll.
She moved on to a game she had found in a shop in downtown El Paso.
Earlier, she had hung it up on
the fake wall in her
Getting Real
kitchen. It was covered by a small drape. With a flourish, she tugged
the satin free, revealing a dartboard, the round circles leading up to
the bull's-eye filled with boldly
printed instructional targets that
would have made Hugh Hefner blush.
Picking up a dart, Kate gave it a good hard throw. But it missed
completely, flying off the set.
Someone yelped in the distance.
Kate looked straight into the camera. "I guess it's just like they say.
Love hurts."
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