Thigh High (15 page)

“Wanna dance, Celia?” A man's voice broke them apart, relieving Kat from sob sister duty. “You look like you could use some fun.”

“Always,” Celia replied. She slid off her bar stool and jammed her body hard against the man who'd asked. “Hi, Jeff. What makes men such assholes?”

“I dunno, Celia. Women?” he guessed with a chuckle and led her away to the dance floor.

Left on her own at the bar, Kat wasn't sure where to look. There were men on either side of her, but neither of them interested her. The one next to Celia's empty stool must be on his way home from work, and from the woody scent of him, he worked hard at physical labor. The scent made her think of fresh-cut lumber. A carpenter, probably.

He probably cleaned up well, because he had great arms and a good strong jaw, but he was deep into complaint mode with the man next to him. No, they were a couple of guys out for a beer before heading home for the weekend.

The man on her other side was showing the bartender his wallet photos, proudly displaying his newborn son's picture. He flashed the photo at Kat and she proclaimed the baby's beauty.

Some people had all the luck. She sighed and propped her chin on her hand and settled in to watch the bartender work.

The music swelled louder after Celia shouted for more volume, and from the sound of things, more couples hit the dance floor. Kat wasn't interested enough to turn around to look.

Harry's was finally starting to rock. For everyone but her.

K
at didn't know what Celia was complaining about. Kat would love a man who came with two gorgeous children. That was what she used to want: a good man and a couple of kids.

She was grateful she hadn't started a family with her ex. Paying his way through college had taken all the money she earned. She'd ended up with nothing but the knowledge that she could do more alone than if she hung on another man's coattails.

In the three years since her divorce, she'd come a long way in the confidence department. Her grades were good. She was more than halfway to a degree in marketing and planned to have a business of her own someday. Her sales skills had improved tremendously through the party plan, and she knew once she settled on just the right business she could be the success she wanted to be.

All that was fine.

It was her confidence with men that suffered a blow. She'd messed up with Taye. But she wasn't exactly sure how.

She tried to put the night with Taye into perspective. A one-night stand. That's all it had been.

She'd wanted him to think she was sexually free, uninhibited. Available and ready for a casual fling. She should be pleased she'd succeeded.

Instead, she felt miserable. No more dreams of having a couple of children with a man like Taye for this girl! No way!

Hell, now she'd just be happy to find a man to provide orgasms on a regular basis. Great, big orgasms. Whenever she wanted.

So okay, she bargained. That might be a bit much, considering she'd gone years between men. She should probably adjust the dream. Maybe the man she wanted didn't have to give her great big orgasms. A little one now and then would probably do, but they had to be regular.

Definitely regular. Once a day. On that she would not compromise. She sipped the last of her wine, then caught the bartender's attention and received her third glass of the evening.

The delicious thought of orgasms swirled through her mind. The ones Taye had given her had woken her sleeping need for sex. Her pussy twitched as she thought of Taye's strong hands holding her wrists over her head. His hips had pressed against hers in need. What she couldn't figure out was why he'd pulled away.

She'd given him lots of clues that she wanted another night like last night. Quick, hard sex, with mind-blowing orgasms and no commitment.

That was what he wanted. Why hadn't he taken what she'd offered?

She glanced around the bar and watched the fluid movement of men toward women and women accepting or denying their attention.

The sexual dances people played amused her for a while, but still, she wasn't comfortable here. If she wanted to turn into a sex goddess who got laid regularly, she'd have to find another way.

Getting picked up by men in bars wasn't her thing. If she needed liquor to make a guy look good enough to sleep with, then she was messed up more than she thought.

She went back to making her list of must-haves in a relationship and dropped her orgasm expectations to every other day.

Weekly would work, she conceded after another glass of wine. Her last glass, she decided, as she folded her drink napkin into an airplane. Any more wine and the new daddy next to her might start to look good. And that would be bad. Very bad.

She hated married people who cheated. At least her ex hadn't done that. He'd been too busy with college, but not too busy to make sure she kept up two jobs to support them.

Taye had proven to be a caring, giving and gifted lover. Damn him for setting the standard so high. Her ex had been good too. But hard and fast every time. When they were kids together, she thought that meant he wanted her so bad he couldn't stand it. As the marriage moved along, though, she saw the truth. He was selfish and wanted in and out and done.

The rare times she managed to get off was because she had a good imagination and was ready before they even got going. She definitely didn't want another man like her ex.

She wanted a man like Taye. Just like Taye. She propped her chin in her hand and smiled a
no
at a guy who asked her to dance.

“What's wrong?” he asked, looking down her scoop-necked blouse.

“I'm just here with my girlfriend for a couple drinks. She'll be back any minute.” A white lie wouldn't hurt. “She just broke up with her boyfriend and she needs to let off some steam.”

“Where is she? She can blow my pipes. I got steam too,” he said as he scanned the crowd.

“Move along, buddy. We're here to talk not hook up,” Kat said, disgusted. She didn't know how Celia could be happy in this atmosphere night after night.

Except for the volunteer nights at the shelter, Celia pretty much haunted the local bars. Always looking for…something.

She shuddered to think of Celia ending up with a guy like the one searching the dance floor with an avid, lustful expression. As much as Celia pretended to like a variety of men, her reaction to this Jason proved she wanted more than variety.

A whoop and holler from the floor made Kat turn to see. Celia was being passed from man to man as she twirled. Some of them were none too gentlemanly about where they put their hands when they twirled her.

Taye would never treat a woman that way. Kat had a feeling Celia's Jason wouldn't either.

That's what she wanted. A good man who knew his way around a woman's body. A man who'd keep a woman's heart safe from harm.

A hard male body slid into Celia's vacant seat. Kat looked up expecting to see the man with steam to blow off. But it was Taye instead.

“You shut your door in my face,” she said briskly. “I don't want to talk to you.” She stared at the bartender rather than look at Taye and say something she might regret. Yeah, something like,
Take me now!

“I don't blame you,” he said quietly.

“How did you know where to find me?” she huffed, already putting the lie to her declaration that she wouldn't talk to him. “That is, if you were looking.” Oh Mama, she wanted him to have been looking.

“I opened my door to apologize when I heard Celia say you were coming here. I thought you might want to talk with her for a while. She seemed pretty upset with men in general from what I heard. Then I figured you'd hook up with someone, but it drove me nuts to think of that. I've been sitting in my car for an hour.” His grin was rueful.

She perked up, straightened her spine. “You want to apologize?”

“Yes. I was wrong and jumped to a totally stupid conclusion.”

“Totally stupid,” she agreed. She wanted to make him suffer a moment longer so she tilted her head as if considering him. Tapped her lips with a fingertip. “Apology accepted.” After all, she'd wanted him to think what he thought. She was the totally stupid one. If she'd just gone over as soon as she heard his message, none of this would have happened.

“As soon as I closed the door, I realized you'd dressed up for me. I live next door. You're not a party girl. You live a quiet life.”

“Boring. A boring life.” And that had to change. “What other twenty-five-year-old divorcee do you know that lives the way I do?”

He smiled and traced the side of her face, down to her jaw and along to the corner of her mouth. “Celia sounded so upset as she ranted and raved in her driveway, I figured she needed your shoulder to cry on.”

“She did, but it looks like she's dealing with her disappointment in her own way.”

Taye turned and frowned as he watched the men surrounding Celia. “She doesn't look like she's dealing all that well. I should go get her,” he suggested.

The bartender leaned in. “You don't have to worry about Celia,” he commented. “Most of those guys know her. She's the kind of woman they have fun with, but one of them will see she gets home okay. This is a friendly bar and we keep it that way.”

Kat hesitated but Taye's heated glance seared straight to her heart. He nodded, apparently accepting the bartender's word.

“Come home with me, Kat. The rest of the night is ours.” He leaned in to her ear. His breath tickled and warmed her neck and her body responded with sirens blaring. “I promise there won't be a boring moment.”

She looked at Celia, who was doing a bump and grind with a new dance partner. She waved. Celia waved back and nodded. The smile on her face looked brittle and tired, but her bravado was firmly in place.

Whatever was going on with her friend and this Jason she'd walked out on wouldn't be resolved tonight. But for now, Celia was okay and giving her a thumbs-up to leave.

 

Outside in the cooling night, nerves tingled along Kat's spine. “Where did you park?”

“The lot's full so I parked there beyond the lights.” He pointed out an additional gravel parking area next to the bar's well-lit parking lot.

Kat picked up the pace, grabbing Taye's hand to lead him on. “Hurry,” she said, not wanting to let her pride wake up. If she thought about him closing that door on her one more time, she'd get angry again.

“I don't know if I can wait to get home,” Taye said as they reached his car. He pressed her against the side door, kissing her deeply, with an urgency she loved and responded to.

Every fantasy she'd had about him seemed to be coming true. He'd held her up against the wall, now he held her against the car. What was the third one? Oh yes…she wanted…

He claimed her mouth, took every bit of her into himself and all thought ceased. The noise of the bar patrons in the parking lot fell away as Kat surrendered to Taye's kisses. She slid her hand down the front of his jeans, found the evidence of his need and stroked him.

“We don't have to wait.” She reached for the back door handle.

He clicked the remote opener and she climbed in, grinning. “It's been years since I've done this,” she murmured, wondering how she could make it different from the hurried sex she remembered as a teen.

Taye followed her in and grabbed her hips to lay her out as he slid over her body, warming her into lusty abandon. His aroused scent washed over her, spicy and dark, and she followed him into a deep kiss full of need and apology.

“You smell good, like flowers,” he muttered between heated kisses.

His hands slid under her ass, and he cupped and squeezed her cheeks. She responded by widening her cradle so he fit the way a man wanted to.

She sighed at the rightness of it, letting him mouth her neck and suckle at the delicate skin behind her ear. He'd already learned she squirmed when he kissed her there. He chuckled and pressed his erection to her crotch in a silent demand.

Maybe not so silent, she realized as he growled his need against her throat. His chin, devilish in its curiosity, nudged the bodice of her blouse down to expose the tips of her breasts. Her barely-there bra cups were no defense against his nuzzling, and the sudden shot of cold air made her nipples flame into hard buds.

Voices from the parking lot sounded distant as people walked toward the bar. Loud raucous music spilled into the night when the door opened, but Kat was too far gone to worry. Let the party go on without her.

It was her time to rock!

She worked his straining cock free of his jeans and planted her feet on the steam slippery window of the back door, but Taye twisted to a sitting position.

“Climb on and ride me, Kat. Ride me hard.”

His solid cock slid true and deep, plunging and widening every slick inch of her. She stilled as her inner muscles accepted the stretching invasion. With a shudder of utter need, she moved against him.

He groaned and cupped her bare ass. The slap of slick wet flesh punctuated each breath.

He slid his thumb to her hottest bundle of nerves and let her take charge.

Kat rocked. Kat rolled.

Kat screamed against his neck with an orgasm that pushed him into his own. Hot sudden spurts washed her insides as she closed her eyes and let the delicious final spasms ease through her.

“Hey, buddy! You gotcha some hot stuff there. Wanna share?”

“Shit!” Taye lifted her off his lap and rolled her to the far side of the seat. “I thought this was a friendly bar,” he muttered.

“This is too friendly,” agreed Kate, fumbling to set her clothes right, while heavy male footsteps approached the car.

A shadow appeared at the glass. A man's face cupped by a meat cleaver–sized hand pressed against the window.

“Who you got in there?” The words were slurred but the tone went conciliatory.

Taye climbed between the front seats and slammed into place behind the steering wheel. “Buckle up, sweetheart, we've got to move.”

The tires spit gravel as Taye pulled the SUV out of the parking spot and headed for the lot exit.

Laughter and catcalls followed them, raining down on Kat's conscience. Catcalls! She'd behaved exactly like a cat in heat.

She should have demanded a better apology from Taye. She should have found out why he closed the door on her before she jumped his bones again. He must think she was easier than easy!