Flynn’s mouth came back to hers in another passionate onslaught that made her senses sing like a choral symphony. A thousand-member choral symphony. But just when she thought he would take it to the next level he drew back, breathing heavily but still in control. ‘As much as I’d like to finish this, I’m going to call a halt.’
Kat called on every bit of acting expertise she possessed to look cool and composed when inside she was screaming, Don’t stop now! ‘Because you think I wasn’t going to?’
He brushed a strand of hair off her face, his eyes holding hers in a lock that made her insides wobble like a jelly near a jackhammer. ‘It’s something else, isn’t it? This thing we have going on.’
Kat edged out from under him and put some order to her clothes. ‘There’s no thing going on. We kissed and fooled around a bit, that’s all.’
‘I want you, Kat, but I’m prepared to wait until you’re willing to admit you want me too. We do this as equals or not at all. Your choice.’
‘What is it you want?’ Kat said. ‘A fling? A future? A one-off? Or is this just a ploy to butter me up so I agree to meet my father?’
‘This is about us.’ The deep, coming-from-beneath-the-floorboards pitch of his voice made her insides shiver. ‘It’s been about us from the first moment we met. That’s why you were about to rip my clothes off just then and have your wicked way with me.’
Kat kept her gaze away from his unzipped trousers but it took a mammoth effort. Two mammoths and a couple of weightlifters thrown in. ‘I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning when I take Cricket out.’
‘Do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? I have a space between clients between one and two.’
‘I’m working.’
‘Then I’ll have lunch at the café with you. You get a lunch break, don’t you?’
‘I’m not working at the café tomorrow,’ Kat said. ‘I have...an audition.’
Interest sharpened his gaze. ‘What for?’
‘Just a pantomime thing.’
‘If you reached out to your father you’d be able to—’
‘I do not need his help to get a job,’ Kat said. ‘If I can’t get it on my own merit then I’ll quit altogether.’
‘Acting is in your blood,’ Flynn said. ‘You won’t be happy unless you achieve what you’ve set out to achieve.’
Kat raised one of her brows. ‘That sounds more like a description of you rather than me.’
‘It’s a description of both of us,’ he said. ‘Good luck tomorrow.’ He gave her a wink. ‘Break a leg. Or should I say, foot?’
* * *
Kat was on her way to the audition when she got a call from her friend Maddie. She was going to ignore it but she had already been a bit slack at responding to a couple of texts, which she knew would make her friend suspicious. ‘Hi, Maddie.’ She injected brightness into her tone. ‘I’ve been meaning to call. Just been crazily busy, you know how it—’
‘What’s this I hear about you living next door to Flynn Carlyon?’ Maddie said.
‘Where did you hear that?’
‘There’s a photo of you on Twitter. You two are trending.’
‘It’s not what you think—’
‘Have you broken the pact?’ Maddie ’s voice had a note of suspicion. A whole stave of suspicion.
‘No-o-o-o.’ Kat strung her answer out like she was stretching a piece of string. Or the truth.
‘Have you kissed him?’
‘I...erm...he kissed me.’
‘Did you respond?’
What a question. What choice had she had? It had been the best kiss she’d ever experienced. Everything in her had responded—every cell, every pore, every atom. Every kiss henceforth would be measured against Flynn’s searing sensuality and found lacking. ‘I didn’t let it go too far,’ Kat said.
He didn’t let it go too far—not you.
I would have stopped eventually.
Like when? After he’d given you the big O?
‘How far?’ Maddie said.
Far enough to want more. Far enough for Kat’s body to be aching with the need to feel his arms around her, his mouth pressed to hers, his hard body doing all the things to hers she craved. Like the big O. ‘Where was the photo taken?’ she asked.
‘Aha! Diversionary tactics. You are so going to lose this bet.’
‘Kissing is allowed,’ Kat said. ‘We agreed on that.’
‘There’s kissing and there’s kissing,’ Maddie said. ‘Which side does Flynn fall on?’
‘You don’t want to know.’
Maddie laughed. ‘I knew you’d be the first to break. You just can’t help yourself, can you? A handsome man takes a shine to you and you fall madly in love.’
‘I’m not in love with Flynn Carlyon,’ Kat said. ‘I just have a body-crush on him.’
‘He is rather gorgeous,’ Maddie said. ‘Even on crutches.’
‘You’ve seen him on crutches?’
‘That’s the photo on Twitter I was telling you about,’ Maddie said. ‘You were standing outside his house with him with the snow falling down around you with a weird little dog at your feet. It looked like a shot for a Hollywood romantic comedy.’
There was nothing comedic about their relationship. It was turning into high drama. How could she possibly avoid the temptation of him when she was forced to spend time with him? Time she looked forward to in spite of her misgivings about him and his connection with her father. ‘I ran over his foot.’
‘On purpose?’
‘By accident. You know what I’m like at reverse parking,’ Kat said. ‘He was standing behind the car and—never mind. It’s a long story. I’m helping him walk his dog and run errands for him while he’s out of action.’
‘Ah, but is he out of action in the bedroom?’ There was a teasing lilt in Maddie ’s voice. ‘I can’t see a pair of crutches getting in the way of what Flynn Carlyon wants.’
‘What about you?’ Kat was desperate to steer the conversation away from her nemesis. ‘Have you fallen off the wagon?’
‘No,’ Maddie said. ‘Not even tempted by anyone.’
‘Sure?’
There was a tiny silence.
‘Well, I do have to visit my great-grandfather this weekend for his birthday and you know who will be there.’
‘Why will Byron be there?’ Kat asked. ‘You guys broke up months ago.’
‘I know, but Gramps’s dementia has worsened since his stroke,’ Maddie said. ‘He thinks we’re still together and Mum thinks it will stress him out if we tell him any different. It’s just a weekend. I can handle that. Anyway, good luck with the audition. Call me as soon as you hear, okay? And remember—I knew you before you were famous.’
KAT WAS THE last person to audition, which meant by the time her name was called her stomach had grown teeth and they were gnawing all the way