Читать книгу Modern Romance May 2016 Books 5-8 - Дженнифер Хейворд - Страница 19
ОглавлениеFLYNN WOKE SOMETIME during the night to realise Kat was still in bed beside him. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the occasional sleepover but he was choosy about who stayed and who didn’t. He had wanted Kat to stay. Had wanted it so much it spooked him. He kept telling himself it was okay; she wanted what he wanted—a flingsationship—something between a fling and a relationship. It could last days, weeks or months and he was fine with that.
He looked at her sleeping beside him, her hair in a tangled mess across the pillow, her soft mouth settled in a half-smile as if she was dreaming about something pleasant. She gave a tiny murmur and nestled a little closer. It was as if she had sensed there was someone in the bed beside her and couldn’t bear not to be touching them. He shivered as her arms and legs wrapped around his, her head burying against his chest as she gave a kittenish purr of satisfaction.
He found himself stroking the back of her head while he listened to the sound of her breathing, feeling each soft breath waft over his skin like a caress. One of her hands slipped down between their bodies, her fingers finding him as hard as stone.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sultry smile. ‘You’re up already?’
Flynn shuddered as her hand tightened around him. ‘Been up a while, actually.’
She sat up and pushed her hair back off her face, her beautiful breasts drawing his gaze like an industrial-strength magnet. He touched each one with his hand, cupping them, stroking them, watching as she expressed her pleasure with little sighs and moans. He leaned forward to take her nipple in his mouth, rolling his tongue over and around it, drawing on it with gentle pressure. Her hands came down to grasp his head, her fingers digging into his scalp as if to anchor herself against the powerful sensations his touch evoked.
He moved his mouth to her other nipple, then to the underside of her breast, licking the sensitive flesh with his tongue until she pulled him away to look at him with eyes bright with desire.
She pushed him back down on the bed and straddled him, taking care not to bump his bandaged foot. Her hair half-covered her breast like she was a mermaid, which somehow was even more sexy than straight-out nakedness. He slid his hands up from her hips to her waist, his erection pressed up against her naturally separated folds. He could feel her wet heat, the temptation of her making his body hum with overwhelming longing to thrust in without protection.
But that was a line he wouldn’t cross.
‘Want to put a condom on for me?’ he asked, nodding to the bedside drawer where he kept them.
She reached over, the lithe stretch of her body making his all the more frantic with excitement. She was slim and yet femininely rounded in all the right places. She undid the packet with her teeth as she held his gaze with the sensuous heat of hers. Then with torturous slowness she applied it to him, stroking it down his length, securing it in place with a couple of massaging strokes that nearly blew the top of his head off.
Then, when he thought he could take no more, she gave him a look from beneath her half-mast lashes and shimmied down his body so her mouth was within reach of his erection. ‘I thought you were a conservative lover,’ he said in a strangled voice.
She gave him a naughty girl look and got down to business. He took as much as he could before he pulled her away with a gentle but firm hand fisted in her hair. ‘Enough,’ he said. ‘I won’t be able to pleasure you.’
‘We can take turns, can’t we?’
Flynn stroked his hands up and down the silk of her arms. Her cheeks were rosy, her mouth wet from where she had sucked on him, her eyes sparkling with sexual excitement. ‘I want to watch you come,’ he said.
She looked momentarily uncertain. ‘You mean while I’m on top like this?’
‘If you’re comfortable doing it that way.’
She came back over him and positioned herself so he could enter her, guiding him in with her hand. He felt the tight grip of her body, the slick heat drawing him in until he was mad with the need to let fly. He let her control the depth by holding her by the hips, thrusting up to meet her downward movements. The pleasure built to a crescendo, and for the first time since he’d been a teenager he wasn’t sure he could hold on to his control.
He watched as her orgasm played out over her face, felt it in her body where it rippled and contracted around his. She was gasping, crying, whimpering, shaking and shuddering all at once, her head, with her wild hair, thrown back as she gave a primal sound that made him feel more of a man than he had ever felt before.
His own release was just as earth-shattering. It rocketed through him, leaving him breathless and boneless once it was over.
Kat slumped over him with her head nestled against his neck, her hair splayed across his chest in a silky wave. He stroked her slim back in long, gentle strokes, loving the feel of her satin-smooth skin against his palm.
His mind began to drift... What would it be like to lie with her like this for morning after morning? To wake and see her lying beside him? To see her gorgeous face smile at him as if he was the only person in the world she wanted to wake to? To see her face at the beginning and at the end of each day? And not just her face but the faces of the children they could make together—a girl and a boy, or two girls or two boys. They could even foster or adopt. Make some kid’s life a blessing instead of a curse.
Flynn snapped the lid down on his thoughts like someone shutting a Jack-in-the-box. Why did he have these thoughts around Kat of all people? She wasn’t interested in settling down any more than he was. She was happy with a temporary relationship because she wanted to focus on her career.
She was young, eleven years younger than him. He had never had a lover that much younger. But she was far more mature than some of his previous partners who had been similar in age to him. He liked her sense of humour, her intelligence and her determination to succeed. He even liked the fact she was standing up to Richard Ravensdale. So many women in her shoes would have milked the situation for all it was worth. Milked it and made butter, yoghurt and custard out of it. But she had stood her ground. Refused to be bought. Refusing to be manipulated into doing anything she didn’t believe was right for her.
Flynn wanted her at that party but not just to please Richard. He wanted her to feel connected to her siblings. To feel a part of the family, because he knew it would be good for her. She had no one in the world now her mother was dead. It would give her a safe haven to have older half-brothers and a half-sister to turn to. Even Jaz with her runaway tongue would be good for her. It would give Kat a community of love that appeared to have been sadly lacking in her childhood.
‘I’d better get back to check on Monty,’ she said into the silence.
Flynn stroked his hand up to the nape of her neck, her hair tickling the back of his hand where it was resting against it. ‘He’ll be fine. Cats are pretty self-sufficient.’
She lifted her head to look at him. ‘Are you sure you want me to stay the rest of the night?’
He brought his hand round to cup her face. ‘Isn’t that what people who are having a flingsationship do?’
‘I wouldn’t know, as this is my first.’
‘Mine too,’ he said and brought her head back down to his chest.
* * *
Kat woke to the feel of someone licking her face but when she opened her eyes it wasn’t Flynn but Cricket. ‘Eeeww!’ She laughed and pushed him away.
Flynn came in on his crutches, showered and dressed for work. ‘I would’ve brought you breakfast in bed but I haven’t figured out how to do that whilst on crutches.’
‘It’s the thought that counts,’ Kat said, getting out of the bed, picking up Flynn’s shirt from the night before and slipping it on. She could smell him on the fabric, but then she could smell him on herself. Something shifted in her belly at the memory of all they had shared the night before. It wasn’t just the physicality of sex, the mind-blowing release or the sensual touches and caresses. It was the sense of having drawn closer to him than to any other person. She wondered if he felt the same.
‘I have an early meeting with a client,’ he said. ‘Will you be okay to take Cricket out?’
‘Sure,’ Kat said. ‘I’m using him as research. I think that’s why I nailed the audition.’
Flynn smiled crookedly. ‘Good to know he’s come in useful. Last night I was ready to drive him to the dog’s home.’
‘You would never do that. You love him and he loves you.’
His eyes moved away from hers and he picked up something from the top of a chest of drawers. ‘Dinner tonight?’
‘I’ll cook something for us here,’ Kat said.
He turned to look at her. ‘Sure you want to go to that much trouble?’
‘It was part of the deal, wasn’t it?’
A small frown pleated his brow. ‘I wouldn’t have held you to it. I could’ve found someone else to walk Cricket, and I can afford to eat out or have it delivered to me.’
‘So why did you insist I do it?’
His expression had a hint of ruefulness to it. As if she had uncovered something about him he hadn’t expected. ‘I wanted to spend time with you. To get to know you.’
A warm glow spread through her. ‘Do you spend time getting to know all of your lovers?’
‘Occasionally.’
Somehow his answer disappointed her. She wanted to be the only one he took the time to get to know. She wanted to feel as special to him as he felt to her.
See? What did I tell you? You’re falling for him.
I’m not in love with him.
Not yet, but it won’t be long.
Flynn came over to her and eased up her chin so her eyes couldn’t escape his. ‘Where did you go just then?’
‘Go?’
‘In your mind,’ he said. ‘Every now and again you get this faraway look in your eyes, as if you’re thinking about something.’
Kat pulled out a relaxed smile from her actor’s handbook. ‘I was thinking about tonight’s menu.’
His eyes did that back-and-forth thing between each of hers. Left eye. Right eye. Left eye. Right eye. Then he looked at her mouth, making her belly turn over. ‘Am I on it?’ he said.
She stepped up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his mouth. ‘You’re the main course.’
* * *
Flynn came back home after a long day at work to find his house filled with delicious home-cooking smells. Cricket bounded up to him, spinning in circles in unmitigated excitement. The sense of home, of security, of belonging, was like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night. It settled around his shoulders, wrapping him in a cloak of contentment unlike anything he had felt before, if ever.
Kat came out of the kitchen. ‘How was your day?’
‘Long and tiring.’
‘Dinner won’t be long. I just have to carve the roast.’
‘You cooked a roast?’
Her face fell. ‘You don’t like roasts?’
He brushed his fingers down her cheek. ‘Love them.’
Her smile lit up her face. It was like sunshine after a month of cloudy weather. ‘Go and put your feet up and I’ll fix you a drink.’
‘I feel like I’ve stepped into a nineteen-fifties time warp,’ Flynn said. ‘By the way, the apron looks great on you.’
She looked at him with a pursed mouth. ‘I’m not going to ask you who wore it before me.’
‘No one,’ he said. ‘It was a present from Jake a couple of birthdays back. He likes to joke around.’
‘When is your birthday?’
‘May. I don’t know the exact date but apparently it’s anywhere between the tenth and fifteenth.’
‘Taurus,’ she said, nodding. ‘That makes sense.’
‘Stubborn as a bull?’ Flynn said. ‘Yeah, that’s me.’
She chewed at her lip for a moment. ‘Is it weird not knowing the exact day you were born?’
‘Birthdays aren’t that important to me.’ He had made them unimportant. He no longer ruminated over which day, hour, minute he was born and to whom. Well, not often.
‘I guess you already know when my birthday is,’ she said with a little frown. ‘It seems like the whole world knows I was born two months after Miranda.’
He touched her face again. ‘Any more thoughts about meeting Richard?’
She pulled away as if his fingers had burned her. ‘No.’
‘What about Julius and Jake? Would you be prepared to meet them?’
‘Maybe.’
That was a win if nothing else. But the clock was ticking on that party date and he wanted her there. Everyone was expecting him to pull this off. She didn’t have to stay long, just meet her father and get out of there, if that was what she wanted. ‘I’ll organise something when Julius and Holly come over from Argentina. They’ll arrive a few days before Richard’s party. Jake might catch up with you sooner but it’d be nice if you met them together.’
‘Whatever.’
He brushed his thumb over her pouting mouth. ‘They’re good people, Kat. Don’t put them in the same class as your father. He’s in a class all of his own.’
She stretched her lips into a smile that didn’t show her teeth. ‘I’ll get that drink for you.’
* * *
When Kat brought in a glass of wine to Flynn he was sitting with his feet up, Cricket curled up by his side. He was checking something on his phone but put it down when he saw her. He smiled as she handed him the glass. ‘It’s going to be tough going back to microwave meals.’
‘Can’t you cook?’
‘I can but I don’t always bother. Too much fuss for one person.’
‘I know,’ Kat said. ‘I’m a bit the same.’
He patted the seat beside him on the other side of where Cricket was lying. ‘Got a minute?’
‘Sure.’
She sat down and he put his arm around her shoulders to draw her closer. ‘I’ve been thinking about your job at the café,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be tough getting to and from rehearsals.’
‘I can manage.’
A little silence passed.
‘What if I were to pay you?’
Kat swung her gaze to his. ‘For what?’
He gave a little roll of his eyes. ‘Not that. For helping me around the house. Walking Cricket and so on.’
She didn’t have to think about it. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept money off him or any man. Not unless she was officially employed, as in a proper job. ‘No. Absolutely not.’
‘But what if your shift runs overtime or you have a clash?’
‘I’ll cut back my hours,’ Kat said. ‘I’ll swap shifts. I’ll make it work.’
He let out a breath that had a hint of frustration to it. ‘It’s just money, Kat. I have plenty of it.’
‘That’s not the point.’ She sprang up off the sofa and folded her arms as tight as a steel band across her body.
‘What about if I gave you an interest-free loan?’
She gave him a wintry look. ‘I’m not a charity case.’
He studied her for a beat. ‘Oh, I get it. You don’t want to be beholden to me in case I turn the screws on you attending Richard’s party.’
Kat pressed her lips together. ‘It’s not about that stupid party.’
‘It’s about your pride, isn’t it?’
She didn’t answer.
‘Are you nervous about rehearsals on Monday?’
‘A little.’
‘Need any help with your lines?’
‘I can manage.’
‘Kat.’ The way he said her name in that achingly gentle way brought her gaze back to his. ‘You’ve been doing everything on your own for so long you’ve forgotten how to recognise a genuine desire to help,’ he said. ‘I want you to do well in that play.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I think you deserve this chance to show the world what you’re made of.’
Kat released a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. ‘Okay...if you don’t mind. It would be good to run through my lines a few times.’
‘I don’t mind at all,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen the play live but I’ve seen a couple of YouTube clips. We can work on it over the weekend.’
This will be the clincher. Helping you with your lines. Sheesh... What’s next? A wedding rehearsal?
What’s wrong with helping me with my lines? Any friend would do that.
Friend? Is that what he is?
Well, he’s not my enemy. Not now.
Flynn tapped her on the end of her nose. ‘You’d better not zone out like that onstage. Elisabetta will eat you for breakfast and spit out the leftovers.’
Kat blinked and pasted on a smile. ‘I’ll go and dish up. Don’t move. I’ll bring it in on a tray.’
* * *
The weekend passed so quickly it was Monday morning before Kat was ready. Not because she hadn’t rehearsed her part in the play, but more because the time she’d spent with Flynn had been one of the happiest times of her life. He was such easy company, funny and relaxing to be around. He settled her nerves by getting her to go through her part numerous times. He had even gone to the trouble of downloading and printing the script so he could take Kate or Greg’s part when needed.
Kat couldn’t stop herself thinking what an amazing partner he would make. The way he supported her, encouraged her, challenged her to give more than she thought herself capable of giving. The evenings, they’d spent lingering over dinner and chatting over current affairs or life in general. His sharp mind kept her on her toes; he saw the flaw in any argument and had the mental flexibility to adopt any other position and argue from that corner with just as much skill as from the opinions he held himself.
But it was the nights in his arms she enjoyed the most. Not just the wonderful sex, which seemed to get better and better, but the closeness she felt to him. The sense of him understanding her on a level no one had taken the time or effort to do before.
Even the way he had rescheduled his first client so he could have breakfast with her on Monday morning made her realise how well he knew her. How had it happened? How had the man she had seen as her mortal enemy now become her biggest ally?
Kat could still taste his kiss when she walked through the back door of the theatre. Elisabetta was already there, talking with the director Leon and the other cast member playing Greg. There were stagehands about, as well as the costume designer called Ruby, whom Kat had met on the day of the audition.
It was clear from the moment they began the rehearsals that nothing Kat could do would please Elisabetta. She kept insisting on Kat redoing the scene, even though Leon had been reasonably happy with it. But apparently Elisabetta’s demands overruled his opinion and he meekly allowed his biggest star to call the shots.
It was beyond exhausting but Kat hadn’t fought this hard and for this long to be bullied by a woman who should have been professional enough to put personal issues aside for the sake of the theatre company and the sponsors. Kat called on every bit of determination she possessed to get through the session without biting back. She withstood the stinging criticism, she turned a deaf ear to the insults and she channelled her frustration into her acting.
‘That’s it for the day,’ Leon finally announced. ‘We’re back on set at ten tomorrow. Well done, everyone.’
Elisabetta gave Kat a haughty look. ‘You’ll have to work harder. I’m not impressed by what I’ve seen so far.’
‘You liked what I did in the audition,’ Kat said. ‘What’s changed?’
Elisabetta’s gaze could have stripped three decades of wallpaper off a wall. ‘You think because you’re his bastard child you can talk to me like that?’
Kat aligned her shoulders. Raised her chin. ‘We’re not on set now. I’ll talk to you any way I like.’
Elisabetta’s black eyes flashed with venom. ‘He doesn’t want you in his life, you know. He’s only doing it for the publicity. To make his fans think he’s a good man.’
‘I know,’ Kat said. ‘That’s why I don’t want anything to do with him.’
Elisabetta’s brows snapped together. ‘You’re not coming to his party?’
‘Nope.’
Something hard in the older woman seemed to give way. It was visible in the small almost imperceptible sag of her shoulders, in the way her tautly held features ever so slightly relaxed. ‘Why not?’
‘Would you want to meet someone who paid to get rid of you?’ Kat asked.
Elisabetta shifted her mouth back and forth as if she was shuffling words like cards inside her mouth. ‘What’s going on between you and Flynn Carlyon?’
‘Nothing.’
Elisabetta smiled—the smile of a cat standing beside an empty birdcage. ‘So he’s managed to do it, then.’
‘Do what?’
‘Get you into his bed.’
Kat ground her back teeth together to try and control her temper. ‘My private life is none of your business.’
‘Don’t get too cosy in his bed,’ Elisabetta said. ‘He won’t offer you anything but a quick tumble when it suits him.’
‘You know something, Ms Albertini?’ Kat said. ‘You’re a wonderful actor, one of my all-time favourites. I’ve admired you from afar for as long as I can remember. But as a person? You’re a bitter disappointment.’
At first Kat thought Elisabetta was going to slap her. The colour rose in the older woman’s face in twin spots on her regal cheekbones, but then she tossed her glorious mane of salt-and-pepper hair back and laughed. Kat stood there waiting for it to end, sure another insult would follow and mentally preparing for it. Had she gone too far? Who in their right mind would insult one of London’s most adored theatre actors? Was this the end of her career? Was it over before it had even begun?
An apology was forming on Kat’s lips when Elisabetta stopped laughing and smiled at her instead. ‘I like you, Kat Winwood,’ she said. ‘You’ve got G and D.’
Kat frowned in puzzlement. ‘G and D?’
‘Guts and determination,’ Elisabetta said. ‘Believe me, in this business you’ll need it. I’ll see you tomorrow. Ciao.’ And with a wave of her hand and a swish of her plush velvet coat she disappeared through the stage curtains.
