Kat Attalla Special Edition (60 page)

She roughly judged where his shoulder would be and reached out to push him harder. Jake caught her wrist and pulled her down onto the bed with lightning speed. His hand came across her mouth to cut off her surprised cry.

"Couldn't you wait for breakfast?" he joked, pinning her firmly under the weight of his body.

She took a few deep breaths to restore her rattled nerves to merely high-strung. The man had a twisted sense of humor. She wanted to be angry with him for scaring the life out of her, but she‘d broken into his house.

"Get off of me," she whispered, hoping no one would hear the commotion and catch her in Jake's bedroom in such an embarrassing position. Since he wore nothing below the thin blanket, it didn't look good.

However, he felt great. His attempt to calm her down by tenderly stroking her body sent her senses into another kind of turmoil. Her gasp turned to a sigh, her sigh to a moan. As usual, he had managed to make all purpose desert her normally reasonable mind. He should register his hands with the U.S. Patent Office as a secret weapon.

"What have we here?" he asked. She could imagine, more than see, his smug grin. "I've trapped me a trespasser."

Now she remembered why she’d come. "And there's one in my backyard."

He rolled off her. "What?"  He turned on the lamp, and they both squinted against the blast of light. "Are you all right?"

No. I'm hot as hell, she wanted to scream. Instead she scrambled to her knees and put a little distance between them. "One of the cows got out of the barn. A pregnant one."

"Oh." He relaxed when he realized there was no danger. "It must be her time. I guess I better get her back to the barn."

"Should I do anything?"

"Like boil water?" he teased.

"Don't make fun of me, Jake. I'm trying to learn."

He smiled. "Okay. Could you make some coffee while I go wake Trevor? And not that decaf stuff. Something we'll feel."

"Sure."

"Just leave it on the counter if you'll feel too squeamish to come into the barn."

"I'll be there." She sat back on her heels and took a minute to glance around Jake's bedroom. Solid oak furniture dwarfed the large room. The brown, beige, and green print of the curtains and matching comforter gave the room a distinctly bachelor look. Only the antique rocking chair in the corner of the room gave any indication that Jake was a family man.

Jake pulled himself up to a sitting position and carefully rearranged the sheet. "Kate? Are you going to leave so that I can get up?"

Having Jake at the disadvantage for once, she grinned. "Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't have anything on."

"Do you think I didn't notice that when you were on top of me?" The second he began to move, her bravado failed.

His deep, rich laughter echoed through the house, and she darted out the door before anyone awoke to find her with Jake. Being found in the kitchen with Mr. Coffee would be easier to explain.

* * * *

Jake couldn't imagine what Kate had expected to see. If she pictured some animal version of a maternity ward, she had herself another rude awakening that morning. Other than a bed of fresh straw that Trevor pitch forked around the stall, the barn bore little resemblance to the sanitary white conditions she seemed to think more appropriate.

Although birth was as natural as the dawn, at times farmers employed methods to hurry the process along
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an idea that Kate obviously found repulsive in theory and nauseating in practice. Once the front legs and head of the calf emerged, Jake tied a rope around its legs. Trevor yanked it out while Jake caught the newborn.

Jake glanced up and saw Kate doubled over with her hand covering her mouth. "Go back to the house."

"I'm fine," she insisted, looking anything but fine.

"No, you're not." He motioned towards his daughter. "Chloe, go with her."

Chloe put her arm around Kate's back. "She'll be okay. She just doesn't understand that you were making it easier for the mother and safer for the baby."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked skeptically. "It looked like it hurt to me."

Chloe eased her forward. "It would hurt more to wait it out. Come on. Help him stand up now. That's the best part. Then you'll see he's all right."

Jake thought for a moment to take Kate to the house himself, but he noticed that some of the color had returned to her face. He moved back and let Chloe show her what to do.

"You can give him support, but he gets up on his own."

As Kate helped the new calf struggle to its feet, Jake admired the many contradictions of Kate. Chloe's tattered old overalls covered her pale green designer sweat suit. Bits of straw stuck out of the rich, stylish brown hair that fell halfway down her back. She didn't flinch when she rested her manicured fingers against the hind quarter of the animal and kept him straight until he stood on his own.

She seemed to be half society girl, half farm girl. A woman who apparently came from neither world, but fit naturally in both. Once again he had to wonder just who she was.

"Do I have to go to school today?" Chloe asked.

Jake gazed at Kate's averted face and bit back a smile. "Yes. But you won't have to do your chores this afternoon."

"Oh, Dad."

"You're off all next week."

Chloe hunched her shoulders and scuffed her feet across the floor. "Whoop-de-do. We'll be planting all next week. Some vacation."

"Well. I was going to take you to the mall on Saturday to buy a dress for Easter mass, but
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"

"I'm going. I'm going." Chloe scooted out the door before he could rescind his promise.

Kate waved a scolding finger in his face. "Bribery, Jake? I thought that was a parental no-no."

"Whatever works. I have a breakfast date that I don't intend to miss."

"What about your brother?"

"Let him find his own date."

She wrinkled her nose at him and exhaled an exasperated sigh.

"He's already on his way to the upper pasture to fix the fence before you have any other nocturnal guests in your strawberry patch."

"Oh. I guess I'd better go start cooking."

"Don't put yourself out on my account."

She placed her hand along the side of his face and kissed his lips. "Oh. I intend to. And I expect the same of you."

* * * *

Jake showered and changed in record speed. He wanted to make the most of his time alone with Kate. With planting season starting the following week, his free time would be more rationed than water in a drought. He had already wasted five days denying the inevitable. Lucky for him, Kate had a forgiving nature.

She slid a pan into the oven as he walked in the kitchen door. "That was fast. I'm not ready."

"I can wait." He started off with a lie.

"Yeah, right, Callahan." She slipped her hands inside the open front of his shirt. "Did you leave it unbuttoned because you were hot or impatient?"

"To spare the buttons."

"I'll be gentle with you." He leaned back against the counter and pulled her to him. As his hands traveled slowly down her back, she started to shake her head. "Not yet. I want to talk to you first."

"Now?"

"It's important." He could tell by her expression that she had something serious on her mind. "If we can't talk about this first, then we have no business doing it. I'm not asking for your sexual history, I just want to know if you've been careful."

He dropped his hands. Damn! She got right to the point, and that threw him. "Can I ask the same of you? Are you careful?"

Kate lowered her head. "Maybe that didn't come out right, but this isn't a conversation I have on a regular basis. And if you thought I did, you shouldn't be here."

"I have too much to lose to be careless. I wouldn't risk anything that might mean I wouldn't be around to see my daughter grow up."

"You're angry now," she noted softly. "I'm sorry, Jake, but as you said, there's too much to lose..."

Was he angry? He had no right. Should he ruin the morning for both of them because she had enough sense to ask what he should have? "You're right, Kate. I don't quite live up to my reputation around here, and I have donated blood twice since my last relationship so I know I’m okay." Did she have to look so pleased that his veins saw more action than the rest of his body in the past year? "Anything else?"

"Just a minor point. I didn't think we . . . well, not so soon . . . um." She chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't use any birth control. You see, I didn't need . . . What I mean to say ... I will take care of it . . . this week, but I didn't yet."

Jake exhaled a heavy sigh. Evidently Kate didn't have much more of a love life than he did. "I've got it covered, Kate."

She inched closer and pressed her hip against him. "You do?"

He laughed. "I meant it as a figure of speech. But we could make it literally."

"What are you waiting for?"

After the curve she threw him, he decided to turn the tables. "I'm not sure what you mean. You know us country boys are a little slow on the uptake."

"About as slow as lightning," Kate mused. "Perhaps you'd be interested in seeing my etchings? They're in the bedroom."

He followed her down the corridor and into her room. She motioned for him to sit while she carefully removed the battered old stuffed rabbit from the bed.

When she came back to him, she straddled her legs across his hips and rested on his lap. "Are you comfortable?"

"I believe you promised me some artwork."

Kate tilted her head up and placed small kisses along his neck, stopping at the corner of his mouth. She put one hand on his shoulder and ran it down the center of his torso. Her fingers twirled through the soft mat of hair on his chest, and she drew a small picture with her fingernails.

"What do you think of that etching, Jake?"

He sucked in a sharp breath. "A masterpiece of sensation."

His mouth lifted in a lazy grin and then kissed the lips that were right in front of him. Before he could take possession, Kate moved her head down and burned a line of kisses along the same route her hand had just taken.

Jake let out a deep groan. Her touch was exquisite. He ached for her. What she could do to him defied explanation. He tried to reach for her, but she pushed his hands away.

"Mind your manners, Jake. Ladies first," she purred sweetly in his ear.

The warm breath on his neck sent a chill along his spine. He closed his eyes, hoping to retain the very tentative hold he had on himself before he lost all control of the situation.

Who was he kidding, anyway? He had no control of this situation. Right now the lady was in the driver's seat and not ready to give up the wheel.

With the tip of her tongue, she found his nipple. His body jerked involuntarily. Kate gazed up and smiled. "Was that the 'on' button?"

"Kate. I can't take much more of this," he barely managed to choke out.

"A big, strong man like you? Sure you can." Kate continued her seductive exploration of his body. She reached for the snap on his jeans, yanking it opened with no trouble even though her hands were shaking. She slipped a tentative hand inside, her fingers tangling in the hair below his navel.

Jake gasped for breath. She raised her head, and her gorgeous eyes mirrored her thoughts. She knew what she was doing to him, and she enjoyed the power she had over him.

* * * *

"You're going to kill me, Kate."

His raspy voice was heavy with a passion that moved her. Even without his heartfelt words, Kate had no doubts about what she did to him. This time when he reached for her, she offered no resistance. He ran his hand along the outside of her T-shirt, and she quivered with anticipation.

He slipped his hand under the shirt and moved it out of the way. He explored every inch of her neck and shoulders, covering her in hot, urgent kisses. Her body swayed and grabbed his arms for support.

His mouth covered her breast, and she arched closer to him and threw her head back. His warm mouth teased her, sucking and releasing the taut peaks until she thought she would go mad. She needed more.

She pulled at her clothes with such frustration that Jake took her hands. Slowly, as if enjoying his revenge, he then removed the last of her clothing and lowered her onto the bed. His jeans followed, landing in a heap on the floor.

She reached for him. He knelt down next to her and parted her legs with one hand. He knew just where to touch her to make her respond. Her body writhed as he ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh.

He stroked her cheek with his other hand and pushed her hair away from her face. "Do you like that, Kate?"

Liquid fire burned deep inside her. She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a muttered cry. He moved his finger higher, intimately caressing the velvety soft folds of skin. Her body shuddered from the pure pleasure only he could give to her.