“You’re confusing him with Landon looking at you, Beth,” Kate countered, turning off the stove. “Plus, I won’t begin with the way Julian looks at you, Molly—oh, Lord, that man loves you.”
“Does he?” Molly said with a cheeky grin, twirling the tip of her ponytail in one finger. “I don’t ever tire of him telling me he does. God, I can’t wait to marry him and make him all mine.”
Looking thoughtful, Beth followed Kate to the cupboard as she pulled out a glass container.
“Kate, if Garrett didn’t want you he wouldn’t spend all day taking care of you when you look like leftovers.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Beth. With friends like you, who needs an enemy?”
“Kate! Come on, listen to us. We’re dishing out good advice here.”
“Even if he ‘wanted me’ for one crazy night and I managed to get him to drop his guard,” Kate said, facing them, “I want love. If I can’t have what you guys have, I’d rather be alone.”
Molly sighed. For the first time since her Florida announcement, Kate could tell that the possibility of her moving to another state was truly sinking in. It hurt, too. To hurt them. She knew they didn’t want her to leave, but she also knew that deep down, they understood.
“I still think you could find love here in Texas.” Despite her words, Molly sounded more dejected now. “Garrett would make a great husband once he realizes everything that happened is not his fault.”
“Molly, please, I can’t talk about this anymore. I don’t love him anymore, and he’s not interested in me. When will you guys understand? Garrett always gets what he wants. He’s not a subtle man. If he wanted me, don’t you think he’d go for me?”
When Beth and Molly exchanged sad looks and fell silent, Kate’s stomach sank. Well, what had she expected? Had she wanted one of them to lie and contradict her? Maybe so, but the truth was the truth, and they couldn’t change it.
Molly attempted to lighten up the suddenly somber ambience. “I still think it’s sweet, you going over with soup and muffins.”
“Well, he’s obviously sick because of me. I have to repay the favor. I was thinking of doing something nice for him to say thank-you for taking care of me, anyway.”
For holding me and watching my fever break and just making me feel like he cares at least a little bit.
Even if the devil’s ultimate plan had probably been to remove Miami from Kate’s agenda.
She sighed as she glanced at the muffins. Without further hesitation, she put them in a small basket, then poured the soup in a large glass container. This might be the last time in her life she nursed Garrett back to health, so she had to make it count.
* * *
The doorman recognized Kate as she walked into the marble lobby with her goodies in her arms. She told him that she was here to drop the stuff off for Garrett, and he allowed her to go up to the penthouse.
Trying not to make noise, she entered the palatial bachelor pad. It was simple and modern, with dark leather furniture with chrome accents, glass tables and dark walnut flooring. But what she most loved was the stainless-steel, state-of-the-art kitchen. It almost seemed to be merely decorative, since she knew Garrett rarely ate at home, but it was still worthy of a five-star restaurant.
Heating up the hot drawer, Kate slid the chicken soup container inside, and then set the muffins on a covered cake stand. Satisfied with her work, she resisted the urge to go primp herself, but did take a peek at her appearance in the mirror over the entry console.
She looked...quite nice, actually.
Now that she was no longer sick, the color had returned to her cheeks. Her eyes had a nice shine, as though she were excited about something, and the soft cotton sundress with blue-and-white stripes almost made it seem like she was ready for the beach. She’d bought it specifically with Florida in mind, but, oh well, today she’d felt like wearing something he hadn’t seen her in before.
And she wasn’t even going to dwell on her reasoning either.
It was only that he’d looked extra good when he’d come to see her and she’d felt and looked like crapola, and now she wanted him to...well, to think she looked like a fresh piece of sunshine.
“Garrett?” She called his name softly down the hall, her stomach turning leaden at each tentative footstep she took toward his bedroom. She didn’t know what she’d do if she found him in bed with someone. Nothing, probably, but she would definitely cry about it later.
She knew he slept with women. A man like him had his choice of girls all the time. But Garrett had always been discreet about it and he’d never really paraded a lot of women in front of Kate. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much it would hurt if she saw him kissing someone, or lying in bed with someone, or putting his arm around someone....
She paused at his open bedroom door, holding her breath. The drapes were wide open, letting the sun inside. His bedroom was done in different shades of gray and black, the nightstands made of ebony wood with chrome accessories. It was all so manly, she couldn’t imagine any design more fitting to Garrett’s dark good looks.
Something warm flitted through her when she spotted his prone figure on the bed. Her heart almost stopped when she realized he was only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs, the rest of his body covered in his natural golden tan and nothing else. Suddenly he looked very large, very dark and very powerful.
“Garrett?”
He stiffened almost imperceptibly, but Kate couldn’t miss the tensing of the muscles in his back. “I’m going to kill my mother,” he growled into his folded arm.
“She didn’t tell me. Molly did.”
“Then I’m going to kill Julian.”
He rolled to his side and pulled the satiny gray bedspread up to his waist.
It was hard not to notice how beautiful his muscled torso was, and how sexy he looked with his dark hair all rumpled.
It was also hard not to notice his scowl.
Kate bit back a smile and stepped in with her arms up in feigned innocence. “Me. Come. In. Peace. Bring food. For. Grumpy. Man. May I pass?”
“Freckles, get away or you will get strep again.”
“I will not.”
“Get out of here, Katie.”
She shook her head. “Katie. No. Understand. What. Grumpy. Man. Says.”
“Grumpy man says leave,” Garrett said, but all of Kate’s maternal instincts had flared to life with just one look at him, and she couldn’t suppress the need to coddle this man like she had when they were younger and she’d helped Eleanor take care of him.
She kicked off her shoes, and before thinking about it, jumped onto the bed next to him, taking care not to touch any part of his body. “You’re not the only bed crasher, you know. I have full authority to crash your bed now that you’ve crashed mine twice.”
He sighed and closed his eyes, banging his head on the headboard. “Get out of my bed.”
“Not until you let me feed you. Starve the virus, feed the fever? Sound familiar? My part-time doc told it to me.”
“Docs are renowned for failing to take their own advice.”
“This one is special. Hey, have they medicated you?”
“I’m already drugged as hell. I don’t want to eat, Freckles. Just get out of here.”
Now Kate scowled, too.
“Garrett, why won’t you look at me? Are you in pain? You look like you are.”
“Yeah, I’m in pain.”
“What is it? Is it your head?” She felt his forehead and he was definitely hot. And she noticed he’d stiffened.
“Don’t,” he murmured, seizing her wrist and returning her hand to her lap.
Eyes widening at the lines of agony carved in his face, she curled her fingers into her palm because they tingled after his touch.
H
e inhaled long and deep before his lids finally lifted open, and her heart melted when he looked at her with that dark, tired gaze. His glassy look killed her, but something there, something she couldn’t decipher, made her stomach constrict. His pupils were fully dilated and his eyes held a strange awareness.
“Please just leave,” he said, and there was something very desperate in his voice that almost made her hesitate.
“Come here, Garrett.” She slid closer until her back was against the gray suede headboard, and she urged his dark head to rest against her chest and ran her fingers through his hair. “If you don’t want to eat, just let me keep you company.”
He groaned on contact, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Kate, I don’t have the energy to do this with you today.”
“This what? I’m not planning to fight you.”
“This... Damn.” He made another deep noise when she lightly massaged his scalp. As her fingers twined in his hair and he pressed closer and tightened his hold around her, her body experienced all sorts of chemical reactions. He was adorable. She wanted to hug him. To tuck him into her suitcase and take him with her.
Crazy girl. The point was to get away from him, wasn’t it?
She continued caressing his hair until he relaxed against her, and her body also turned mushy. When his voice reached her ears minutes later, she started, for she’d almost been falling asleep with him.
“You used to bring me soup when I was sick.” He spoke in a murmur against her chest, and his warm breath slipped seductively into her cleavage. “I liked getting sick because of you.”
She laughed. “You’re a very troubled man, Garrett.”
“I was a very troubled young boy.”
He angled his face so he could peer up at her, then raised his hand and absently ran his thumb down the bridge of her nose. “And you? You weren’t Little Miss Perfect. When you heard the thunder and lightning and that huge storm one night, you lost your marbles completely. Do you remember?”
She dropped her hands as he sat up.
“I’m not sure, since I lose my marbles with all the storms.”
“The one that made both you girls run into the boys’ room. Before we knew it, Molly had jumped into Julian’s bed and you were in mine. But Jules tried to hide her under the covers, and you and I immediately went all around the house looking for Molly, thinking she was somewhere else.”
“Okay. Now I remember.”
He sat back with his temple propped against the headboard, his eyes suddenly warm with the memory. “You and I ended up splitting up to find Molly, and I found you asleep in the living room after I found out Julian had hijacked her and was hiding her in his bed. Do you remember what you said?”
Kate was so riveted by his retelling, by the way his smile flashed as he remembered, she’d lost all power of speech. He looked...happy. And also sad?
And devastating.
When she didn’t answer, he tipped her head back by the chin, and his voice acquired a strange note. It was deeper. Especially with that strep-throat rasp. “You asked me why I hadn’t hijacked you, too.”
A strange tingle was growing in the pit of Kate’s stomach, and she couldn’t stop it, couldn’t control it.
“I was probably more asleep than awake.”
The atmosphere around them felt heavy with something unnameable and untamable. She became fiercely aware of every point of contact of their bodies. Her knee against his thigh. Her shoulder against the side of his arm.
“Do you want me to hijack you now, Kate?”
Her stomach tightened at the question. “What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes and told herself his husky tone was due to the strep throat, but it was too thick, too heavy, as heavy as those coal-black eyes.
He cupped her cheek in one huge, dry palm. “You always took care of Molly until she found Julian. You always put her first, before anything else. Didn’t you?”
When Kate could only nod, he continued.
“This is how I am with you, Kate. It’s instinctive in me. Putting you first. I’d never take advantage of you, that’s my number-one priority. But if I knew you might want something from me, I would like to give it to you. So...”
Suddenly he looked as hungry as he did when he ate her food.
“Do you want me to hijack you?” he asked. “Want me to come after you? Is that why you’re leaving for Florida? Do you want me to give chase?”
His stare was so piercing and primal, he didn’t look weak or sick at all.
He looked predatory and male, and she felt fragile and female. Inside her, a dozen words rippled with the need to come forth.
I want you. Please give me your love. Yourself.
But how could she tie him up this way? Was this really the answer he wanted? Or was he seeking for her to appease him by saying that she didn’t need anything else from him? He’d given her so much already. For his whole life.
A sound of protest tore from her chest, and it sounded so sexual, Kate swallowed it back in horror.
He smiled slowly, almost seductively, as his thumb trailed down the curve of her jaw. “Cat got your tongue?”
Kate couldn’t think. Speak. Breathe.
His thumb went lower, and now slowly brushed over the sleeve of her dress. Then it trailed down her bare arm, the touch a shivery, silken whisper that made her insides quiver with yearning. Her heart galloped as pure need kicked in. His other fingers joined his thumb to caress the inside of her left arm, and her skin broke out in goose bumps as her lungs strained for air.
Garrett was quiet as he watched her reactions. She realized she hadn’t pulled away from his touch, but instead had leaned closer.
He slid the fingers of his other hand into her hair, softly tangling them inside the loose mass. He watched her with somber expectation, as though wondering if she would stop him.
She didn’t.
Oh, why didn’t she?
What on earth was he doing?
What was she doing?
Intense sexual thoughts began to flicker through her mind. Garrett’s lips, his beautiful body naked against hers...
Their gazes held, both of them silent, their eyes almost questioning but also on fire with desire. His breath, slow and deep and slightly uneven, bathed her face.
Suddenly, he tugged her dress up her thighs and then slid his hand under the fabric, up her panty-clad bottom, then up her back, his fingers slowly tracing the little dents of her spine.
Kate sucked in a mouthful of air.
She probably should stop him. She probably should. Instead, she trembled and bent to brush a kiss across his lightly stubbled jaw. Then she drew back and noticed that his eyes were closed, his face almost in an expression of pain. She cupped his jaw and kissed his forehead, her insides melting when he groaned, encouraging her, so that she kissed the tip of his nose.
His hands were suddenly on her hips. Pushing her away? No. He drew her over his lap, guiding her so that she straddled him, and suddenly his fingers stole under her panties to caress her buttocks as his nose slid down the length of hers. She should pull away, but she was breathless, waiting for something, anything, as he buzzed her lips with his. “Kate, stop me,” he said softly.
Five
Holy hell, what was he doing?
He blamed the seven freckles on her nose. They made him do stupid stuff.
He blamed the strep, the fact that he was on steroids, antibiotics and some strange tea his mother had made him this morning. He blamed the fact that Kate smelled like spring and raspberries. He’d never been so hungry, and he didn’t know if a thousand men could tear her away from his arms today.
He was fixated on her lips. It was surreal, so surreal, having Kate in his bed. “Stop me, Katie,” he found himself saying, as he continued to run his hands u
p and down her thighs, and grip her lovely bottom.
He wanted to squeeze her so tight he feared he’d break her bones. He shouldn’t be touching her buttocks, but he was too tired to fight the urge and too sick to care. They felt too good. She felt too good.
He’d wanted to do this since he’d seen her slide into those purple panties and he’d been haunted ever since. Why had she done that little striptease? He couldn’t stop thinking she’d wanted him to see her. She’d wanted him to want her.
And he did, he really did.
“You think I’m blind? That I don’t know?” he murmured against the top of her head. He drew back and stared into her face, noticing how soft her lips looked parted. “What you want is right here—and you’ll want it whether you’re in this room with me or all the way in Florida. You’ll want me.”
He didn’t know why he was testing her like this. But he wanted to see...
If she feels anything for me.
Anything even remotely resembling this madness that I feel.
He caught her closer when she squirmed and tried to push herself away. “You have no idea what I want!” she angrily spat.
“I know exactly what you want! I notice it every time you look at me, like I’m everything you’ve ever wanted. But I’m not, Kate. We both know I’m not. There’s not a day I don’t remember what I took from you—”
“Shut up, Garrett! You’re sick and...medicated and clearly out of your mind.”
He caught her back against him and stroked her cheeks as tenderly as he could, but knew his hands were shaking. “I know you’ll probably hate me for this, but I still won’t let you go to Florida. I want you close to me, where I know you’re safe.”
“I’m not asking for your permission!”
He frowned and stared into her beautiful shining eyes, wondering why he couldn’t have this girl, why he felt like he was poison for this girl.