Two for Kate (2 page)

Three

Leaning against the wall, Kate tilted her head back and closed her
eyes. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she wiped them away with the back of her
hand. Why did he get to her that way? After everything, she thought she was
stronger than that, but it was obvious she was wrong. Maybe it was just her
trouble with David that made her latch onto any morsel of attention, even if it
did come from the guy she hadn’t thought about in years. 

But those eyes...that voice...his touch.

Kate took a deep breath and opened her eyes, but when she saw Adir
come racing around the corner, her breath caught in her throat. He had followed
her around the back of the restaurant, and without saying a word, he came
toward her, his eyes locked with hers.

Unable to move, and barely able to catch her breath, Kate didn't
protest when he walked up and planted one hand on the wall behind her,
effectively blocking her from moving. There was no avoiding him now. The deep
musk of his woodsy smell was like an elixir, making every inch of her skin
tingle.

"Let me go. This...this is a mistake."

But he didn't move. He moved in closer to her. "I caught your
scent." 

She scowled at him. "Where? When?”

“I saw you standing in line at the register at Zingerman’s. I only
came in because I caught the most enchanting smell. When I realized it was you,
I couldn’t just keep walking without talking to you. I miss you, Kitty-Kat. I
miss us, and the way you looked up at me the moment you heard my voice, I can
tell you feel the same. You can try to run away from me but there's no hiding it.
I saw the look on your face. Those old feelings are still there. I can see it,
Kitty-Kat."

Kate shook her head, but she could feel her entire body quiver at
the feeling of his warm breath on her neck. He reached up and trailed his
fingertips across the nape of her neck.

"Y-you see what you want to see. You always have. You haven't
changed at all, that's perfectly obvious to me."

"Neither have you," he said in a sexy whisper as he
reached up to brush a strand of stray hair that had fallen across her forehead.
"You're still a gorgeous, sexy, knock-out. I don't know what I was
thinking, letting you go."

Kate felt the intense desire to grab his hand but she wasn't sure
whether she would push him away or hold on for dear life. They stood there,
skin to skin, standing so close she was sure he could feel the swell of her
breasts and the press of her taut nipples against his muscular chest.

"I--I have to go," she blurted, trying to brush past
him.

"No. Not yet." 

"Adir...please." She pleaded with him, her eyes now
brimming with tears that threatened to spill over.

"Come to my house tomorrow, Kitty-Kat...please."

"You're crazy!" she said, trying to laugh it off, but
she could see the determination in his furrowed brow.

"Why? What's so crazy about it? It's just a party, and we're
just two old friends getting together for a drink. Nothing more."

Kate knew that look. It was dangerous, a look that had gotten her
into more trouble than she could imagine over the years, one that she had a
hell of a time saying no to. She tried but she couldn't even make her mouth
form the words.

Four

"I'll think about it. Okay. Just...I just really have to go
now, alright?"

She heard herself say the words, but still, Kate didn't move, and
sensing her hesitation, Adir cupped her cheek with one hand. Kate drew her breath
in sharply, parting her lips, longing for him to press his to hers. A quick
flashback of him reaching down between her thighs and slipping his fingers
inside her made her feel instantly heated and light-headed, but just as quickly
as the memory surfaced, it was gone. The intensity between them flickered
and with a sly smile, Adir pulled away from her.

The crushing force of disappointment surprised her, but she tried
to remain composed. So, he had just been just toying with her all along. She
should have known. The bitter sting of rejection left a nasty taste in the back
of her throat, but she painted on her best fake smile and smoothed her hair
down. The last thing she needed was another rejection today and since that had obviously
been Adir's plan all along, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of
knowing just how much it had hurt her.

But still, she couldn't move. Something deep inside kept her from
leaving, until an image of David flashed in her mind and she quickly brushed
past Adir, heading away from him to where she'd parked her car.

"Promise me you'll at least think about it, Kitty-Kat.
Okay?" 

Kate waved over her head at him, refusing to look back in his
direction for fear the electricity between them would just draw her back to him
again. She jumped into her car, started it and zipped out of the parking lot,
not able to take a breath until she’d turned the corner and was halfway down
the block, with the restaurant out of view. 

Why does he still hold this power over me?
she thought to herself, throwing her head back against the seat
and groaning out loud.
And why am I such an idiot to let him get to me like
this? It's exactly what he wants!

At the next stop light, Kate closed her eyes, unable to shake the
sound of Adir's voice, the heat of his touch, his woodsy smell, of him. Every
inch of her skin ached for him, and she knew if she had stayed a moment longer,
she would have backslid into their comfortable and sensual dynamic that she had
spent years getting over.

And yet, she could almost feel the forceful pressing of his lips
on hers. Her panties got wet at the thought of him inside her, but she knew
that her fantasizing was just going to add sexual frustration on top of what
had already turned into a disappointing day. 

The honking of traffic behind her awoke Kate from her daydream.
Her eyes flew open and she shook her head, trying to get rid of the image of
him as she took off back toward the office.  

Of all the days to run into Adir it just had to be the day she was
at her most vulnerable. Typical. Her phone pinged and at the next light she
stopped to check it. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the message:

“Here's my address. Promise me you'll at least think about it,
huh, Kitty-Kat?” 

Kate tossed her phone aside and cursed. Was he doing all of this
just to torture her or was she the one reading into things, getting caught up
in the past just to escape everything going on with her and David? 

Either
way, she spent the rest of the drive back to work trying to drown out her
thoughts with music. She had a feeling shaking Adir and the way he made her
feel was going to be harder than she thought.

Five

The next night, Kate tried to forget about the party at Adir's and
instead decided to cook David's favorite meal, potato gnocchi with a homemade
marinara sauce, for dinner. For the last few months he had been working so many
hours, they barely ate together anymore. She missed the casual chats over a
bottle of wine, and every night he came in late and she saw the electric glow
of the television, she felt a pang of regret and jealousy, like he would rather
eat alone in the dark than have to sit across the table from her for anything
more than half an hour.

The moment she heard his keys in the door, her stomach did a
somersault, so she stirred the pasta sauce bubbling on the stove to calm her
nerves. She waited for a few moments, hoping he would call out to greet her.
But after a few moments, when she heard him angrily toss his keys down onto the
table in the front hallway, she knew she'd gotten her hopes up for
nothing. 

"Hi honey," she called out, trying to keep her voice
cheerful.

When he didn't answer, she sighed. She remembered the days when he
used to come into the house and sneak up behind her. He’d wrap his arms around
her waist, kissing a trail from her ear to the crook of her neck. But those
days were long gone, forgotten amongst a sea of resentment, anger and a
distance that threatened their relationship in the worst possible way.

She could hear him tearing into the mail, which was always a bad
sign. After she’d been laid off, the two had been struggling to make ends meet.
Thankfully, she’d managed to find another one, but it paid barely half of what she
used to make. Kate didn't blame him for being stressed out. She was just as
worried about their finances. But his preoccupation with work, bills and their
other expenses had turned David into an angry, silent man who barely talked to
her much anymore. And their sex life?  It was non-existent. Kate could
barely remember the last time they'd even just spent a night lounging on the
couch, cuddling and watching a movie, let alone the last time they'd had sex.

Tonight she had made an extra effort to clean the house and have a
nice dinner made in an attempt to diffuse the impending conversation over bills
that she was sure they were going to have. All thoughts of a nice evening were
dashed when he came into the kitchen holding the stack of bills. Kate knew she
was in for another awkward dinner with the man she was slowly starting to think
hated her.

"Dinner's almost--." 

"Did you know about this?" He was holding one of the
bills up in the air, shaking it in her
direction.       

Kate wiped her hands on her apron before turning to reach for it,
but David held firm to the bill, lifting it up over her head and glaring at
her.

"What is it?"

She could see the fire in his eyes, but it wasn't the old fire he
used to have for her. It was anger, pure and simple, and it was directed
squarely at her. She pulled back, prepping herself for another of his
rants. 

"It's this month's credit card statement. What's this about
you spending almost $500 last week?"

"I needed...."

David held up her hand like he was trying to scold a naughty
child. "You know what? I don't even want to hear it. I'm so sick of having
this conversation over and over again."

He tossed the envelope down onto the table and stomped out of the
room.

Kate turned to the stove and after a moment, turned the burner
off. So much for that, she thought, throwing down her wooden spoon and spattering
pasta sauce all over the front of her blouse.

"Great, that's all I need."

Shoving the pots and pans off the burner, Kate turned and headed
out of the kitchen. As she passed their second bedroom-slash-home office, she
paused at the door. David was already in his usual position -- planted in front
of the computer, hunched over the keyboard and jamming his fingers against the
keys with such force that she was sure he was going to break one at any moment.

She thought about calling out to him, but instead turned and went
into their bedroom across the hall. After all, what was the use? There was no
sense in talking to him when he was like this, anyway. This was their dynamic
all the time now, which was exactly why they were in this mess. Each one avoided
the other and now there was a divide between them that Kate didn't think they
would ever overcome.

She went into the large walk-in closet to get her pajamas,
hesitated for a moment and then opened the top drawer of her dresser. Lifting a
delicate black lacy slip, she held it up and admired it for a few moments.

Six

This thing is looking a little dusty,
she said softly to herself. Sighing, she folded it up and put it
back into the drawer, before turning to find an oversized pair of cotton PJs to
wear.

Flipping through her closet, she saw so many dresses she loved but
hadn't had the occasion to wear for such a long time. Running her hand across
the clothes, she stopped on her favorite black dress. She remembered this
dress. It wasn't just a favorite of hers. As she plucked it off the hanger and
moved toward the full-length mirror, she held up against her.

Adir had bought her this dress. Every time she’d worn it, it was
guaranteed not to be on her body for very long. She'd gotten rid of every other
memento of their relationship when she’d gotten married, but she never saw a reason
to get rid of the dress. Maybe it was just her way to hold onto that one sliver
of the past, the fact that she couldn't bring herself to sever ties completely,
but now that didn't really seem to matter. He'd found his way back into her
life and for a brief moment, Kate allowed thoughts of him to creep back in.

She closed her eyes, picturing herself in the dress, slow dancing
with him in the center of his darkened living room, her body pressed to his.
Her heart raced as she had a vision of Adir kissing her deeply, passionately,
only to pick her up and carry her down the hall into his room to an oversized
bed where he would lay her down and slip the dress off her sex-starved body.

The very thought of his hands on her skin, his lips kissing her
calves, his tongue trailing up the inside of her thigh until he had his head
buried deep in her sex, hungrily lapping up her juices, gave way to instant
pools of wetness between her thighs.

On impulse, she slipped out of her frumpy PJs and slid into the
slim-fitting dress. Adir loved her curves, and this dress accentuated all of
them really well. Reaching behind her neck to button it up, she closed her
eyes, remembering how Adir would trail his fingers across the nape of her neck,
pushing the dress away so he could lean in to nibble and lick her skin with his
warm tongue.

In the other room, David slammed a desk drawer, propelling Kate
out of her daydream. She stood staring at herself for a moment and was just
about to slip back out of the dress when he appeared at the bedroom door.
 

Kate could sense him there, looking at her. Her entire body ached
for him to come further into the room without saying a word, to peel the dress
from her, carry her to the bed and make love to her. She didn't want Adir to be
the man she envisioned in her fantasies; she wanted it to be David. But when
she finally turned to look at him, his expression was cold, guarded.

"What are you doing?" he said in an annoyed tone,
slipping his tie off and tossing it onto the bed carelessly.

Kate's blood boiled at the rudeness in his voice, like her getting
dressed up was the craziest thing in the world. She glared at him, securing the
button before exiting the closet, then brushing directly past him as she headed
into the powder room.

"I'm going out."

"Out? What do you mean out? We haven't finished talking
about--"

"You know what? You said it earlier. I'm so sick and tired of
having this same conversation over and over again, too. So, for once, I'm going
to go out and do exactly what I want to do. You do it all the time. Why
shouldn't I?"

Kate tried to steady her nerves. She hadn't spoken up for herself
in months and she knew it. She didn't have to look at her husband to know he
was just as surprised by her plans for the night as she was.

"Where are you going?" David said as Kate walked past
him and into the bathroom. Kate secured her hair in a loose bun at the back of
her neck before sweeping on a thick stroke of black eyeliner and her favorite
red lipstick. She turned and heading back toward him.

"I have plans. Dinner is on the stove. Don't wait up."

She brushed past him, barely able to breathe, but as she padded
down the stairs, she couldn't help but smirk to herself. David didn't know what
hit him and soon, neither would Adir.