Bit by the Bug (Matthews Sisters 1) (12 page)

Running his fingers through the coarse dark facial hair to feel his face, he frowned. Even if he wanted the complications of a sexual relationship – which he didn’t – what would make any woman want to be with him? At least any woman worth having. The look he’d just shared with Kat was surely one-sided. She was probably wondering why in the hell he was gaping speechlessly at her like a simpleton. There was no way a young beautiful woman like her would want a man like him. He looked ten years older than he really was and even Vincent had to admit, if he saw himself on the street, he’d automatically think he was a bum in need of a job and a hot meal.

‘You don’t have time for this,’ Vincent whispered to himself.

Dr Speight was expecting a phone conference tonight and he still hadn’t gathered all the information the man wanted. The only reason Vincent remembered he had
the conference was because the man’s project director had called early that morning to confirm it.

‘I don’t have time for this,’ he said again, trying to will his body’s arousal away. ‘There is too much work to be done.’

With that in mind, he strode out of the restroom. Kat and her sister were already outside. Ella was hailing a cab and Kat held a takeout box in her hands. His beard was damp and the air sent a chill over him as the breeze hit his whiskers. As the cab pulled over to pick them up, Vincent reached to open the door. Ella beat him to it. He found himself disappointed as Kat slid in first, sitting by the door on the opposite side of her sister.

When the taxi stopped in front of his building, Vincent automatically paid the driver and stepped out. He was surprised when Ella stayed in the cab and gave the driver new instructions. As it drove off, he looked expectantly at Kat.

‘She’s going to visit Sasha in between classes,’ she answered his unasked question. A strand of her pink hair blew across her face and he desperately wanted to touch it, to touch her. He held back. ‘That’s another sister.’

Vincent nodded, not knowing what to say to her. He’d always been aware of her as a woman, but his body had apparently caught up with his mind.

‘OK, then,’ she whispered to herself more than him as she brushed past him. ‘Come on, doc, you have a lot of work to do. And just so you remember, tomorrow is my day off. I won’t be coming in so don’t freak out on me like last week.’

Vincent stared after her, watching the sunlight caress her bare shoulders for a brief moment before she disappeared inside. The image stayed with him as he moved to follow her. She must have hurried down the hall because by the time he made it through the door, she was gone.

‘A whole freaking month and a half,’ Kat mumbled to herself, frowning at the collection room door. She’d come to work, do her job and leave. If possible, Vincent paid less attention to her as each week passed. Nothing worked – not the outfits, not the flirting, nor even questioning him about his hero work. In fact, when she asked about what was going on in Lab Two, he seemed more confused than usual. The saddest thing was that the closest she’d ever been to getting the man out of the office was when Megan came by and needed him for work – a whole month ago.

She turned back to her camera and adjusted the lens on the final tray of insects. Her job documenting the massive collection was coming to an end. Today she would finish the photographs. She’d been working slow, trying to make the job last so she’d have an excuse to be there. What would happen when she finished? Would Vincent have no more need of her? He never asked her to do anything beyond photographing the collection.

Her hair was pulled up at the sides and she pushed the heavy length over her shoulder, out of her way as she worked. She’d re-coloured the locks, taking out the pink. Not even the dye job back to natural dark blonde had gotten his attention. It didn’t help she still had erotic dreams of him and didn’t have Jack around anymore for sexual release. Vibrators really weren’t any fun when a girl had to fly solo. There was no way around it. She wanted Vincent, at least once. It didn’t matter what the reason was, if it was because he had power over her, or
that she wanted him because he didn’t want her. She did feel guilty about using him, but technically, she hadn’t done that yet.

‘Oh, good, you’re still here,’ Vincent said, coming into the collection room. Kat jolted in surprise, but didn’t look up from her camera. Just thinking of the man had heated her blood and made the initial hints of arousal blossom within her pussy. Just hearing his voice compelled her body into full force desire. What was he doing here? He never walked across the hall to see her. In fact, she hadn’t laid eyes on him for days, only heard his voice through the door as he told her what he wanted for lunch. She’d left it by the door like an offering.

Snapping the picture to cover the slight shake in her hands, she leaned back, took a deep breath and said, ‘I’m done. That’s the last one.’

‘Oh. Already?’

Kat tried not to laugh. Already? She’d taken much longer than any creditable photographer would have, especially working eight hours, six days a week. Not hearing him move, she finally allowed herself to look in his direction. Gasping lightly, she stared at his face. ‘You shaved.’

Vincent reached for his chin, only to bump it with a small present he held in his hand. It was wrapped in gold paper, with the kind of perfect ribbon decoration done in a department store. Clearing his throat, he looked around before placing the present on the counter. ‘Yes, a couple days ago.’

Kat could only stare at his face. From the way the beard had bushed around his cheeks, she expected him to have rounded features. Instead, his cheekbones were well defined, set off by his straight proud nose. Full lips were parted, giving a hint of straight white teeth. Stubble shadowed his jaw, affecting his skin with a dark afternoon shadow. He rubbed his chin lightly.

Slowly, she drew her gaze higher. With less hair distracting from his features, his deep brown eyes were more pronounced. Kat knew she was staring and yet she couldn’t look away. He was much more handsome than she’d imagined. Sure, he was no supermodel Jack, but he wasn’t unattractive either. Far from it.

Not only had he shaved, but he’d also cut his hair. The dark locks were slicked back, reminding her of how his father looked. Thankfully, he didn’t have the smarmy moustache and the same sense of gigolo style Mr Richmond favoured. No, Vincent always wore subdued colours and tasteful slacks beneath his lab coat.

‘Is something –’ Vincent paused, glancing over his shoulder, ‘– wrong?’

‘You’re …’ Kat stopped as a shiver worked its way through her. She had been about to say cute, but couldn’t force the word out. ‘Ah, young. You’re so young. With the beard, I hadn’t realised.’

His mother had said he was thirty-three, but she wasn’t supposed to know that.

‘Hmm,’ he murmured as he motioned down to the gift he’d brought into the room.

‘Is that for –?’

‘Ella,’ he said.

‘Ella?’ Kat frowned. He bought a present for Ella? What in the world?

‘Yes, she said she was graduating from high school. This is for her.’

Kat smiled, relieved by the way he said ‘high school’. By his tone it was clear he thought of Ella as a kid, but the graduation had been three weeks ago. ‘That’s nice of you.’

Vincent looked around the room, as if he wanted to say more. Then, nodding once, he turned to go.

‘Wait, what do you want me to do?’ Kat asked.

‘Do? Oh, well, give it to her if you don’t mind. If it’s a problem, I can ask Megan when I see her later.’

‘Megan?’ Kat gasped, taking an unintentional step closer to him. ‘You’re seeing my sister later?’

‘She called earlier about her case,’ Vincent said. ‘We’re going to meet up for dinner tonight.’

‘You’re going to dinner?’ The words were out before she could stop them. ‘With Megan?’

‘Yes.’ His tone was low and drawn as he considered her carefully.

Kat bit her lip. Now Megan definitely wasn’t too young for him. ‘Do you talk to her often?’

‘Don’t you?’

Kat shook her head, shrugging. ‘Well, you know, she is rather busy with work. I don’t want to disturb her.’

Damn her! Ella undoubtedly told Megan what Kat was doing with Vincent. How could her own sister betray her? Or was Megan trying to help her? Kat tried not to be jealous, but she couldn’t stop the rush of feelings that overcame her. If Megan was trying to help her realise her goal, then why wouldn’t she tell her? Or was it innocent? Was it really about work? There was only one way of finding out.

‘Where are you going?’ Kat asked, moving to take the present and set it by her equipment just so she’d have something to keep her shaking hands busy.

‘I recommended Luna, though it’s been a while since I’ve been there,’ he admitted. ‘They have a wonderful tortellini with gorgonzola.’

But you’re supposed to take me out for tortellini with gorgonzola, not my sister! Kat took a deep breath, doing her best not to let her jealousy show.

‘You’re taking my sister to Luna?’ Kat swallowed nervously. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. Luna wasn’t a ‘talk about business’ restaurant. It was romantic, with candlelight and private booths, and Megan making out with her shaved, sexy science man!

‘Is that a problem?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Kat blurted. ‘What I mean is, Megan is allergic to pasta.’

OK, that was a bare faced lie.

‘She didn’t mention that to me,’ he said.

‘Yeah, she wouldn’t. She’s too nice, but it can’t even touch her other foods. She wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings if you suggested it. Her boyfriend is always getting on to her about being too nice.’ OK, lie number two and three and possibly four. Kat couldn’t keep track of them. Unable to look at him, she pretended to fuss with her camera, making unnecessary adjustments to the lens and manual settings.

‘Oh, I see.’ She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye.

‘Yeah, they’re pretty serious. Been together a long time,’ Kat said. OK, soon she’d have spouted so many lies she wouldn’t be able to keep them all straight. It was like verbal sewage, she couldn’t make her mouth stop. But was it really her fault? Vincent was the one who’d cleaned himself up and gotten all sexy on her. ‘I believe he’s bought her a huge engagement ring and everything. And well, we all know how she feels about him. She’ll say yes, no problem. But, he’s a romantic. He’ll probably wait to ask her on the Eiffel tower in Paris or something. Being a traditionalist, she won’t mention it until it’s a done deal.’

Oh, this was bad. He was so going to catch her at this. One word to Megan and her lies would all be undone.

Shut up, Kat. Don’t say anything more! Change the subject.

‘Do you have a better suggestion then?’ he asked.

Yeah, don’t take my sister out on a date, you idiot! Take me instead. I’m the one you’re supposed to be dating!

‘You know.’ Kat turned to him and smiled, swaying her hips ever so slightly as she walked towards him. She
pushed out her chest in a subtle move to get his attention. It was almost as if an alien life form took over her body, but obviously desperate times called for uber-slutty measures. ‘Earlier, I asked what you wanted me to do. I didn’t mean about Ella’s graduation present, I meant about my job. I’m done photographing the collection. Everything is on digital file on my sister’s computer. I can burn you a disc or make you a full set of prints, whichever you like.’

‘Yes, um, please.’ His tone was stunted and he blinked several times as she neared him. Kat didn’t stop her leisurely advance as she kept her eyes directly on his. He continued to stutter over his words, ‘Fine. Thank you. I mean, disc, digital.’

‘So I’m done,’ Kat lowered her tone into a husky murmur, letting a small pout come to her lips. If this was it, then what harm was there in trying? Stopping about a foot away from him, she waited for a sign that he wanted her to stay.

‘You’re …’ Vincent’s breathing deepened and he didn’t finish speaking. His eyes drifted down to her breasts and she was glad she wore her lightweight cashmere sweater with the deep V neckline. The black material clung to her body, aided by the use of a padded push-up bra to make the ultimate cleavage.

Suddenly, her faded blue jeans felt a little too tight. Leaning against the counter, she traced her fingers along the edge, using it more for support than for anything else. Her stomach tightened as her sex heated and became moist. She was all too aware of him as a man. The fantasies had been implanted upon their first meeting and curiosity made them flourish.

‘I’m what?’ she whispered, letting her lashes sweep over her eyes. She desperately hoped he wouldn’t call her different again. Kat wasn’t sure which of them had moved but suddenly, they were so close she could smell cologne on his skin and feel the heat from his body.

‘You’re …’ he looked down at her, the whisper of his breath tickling her cheek. He smelled really good. Every nerve in her body jumped to life, straining toward him, wanting to touch him. ‘I should go.’

‘Why?’ Her voice had dropped to a husky murmur, but she didn’t care. She was too aroused to think logically.

Both of them breathed audibly in heavy pants. Staying away from him was torture. Surely the arousal she felt wasn’t one-sided – not right now, in this delicious moment of anticipation. Each second felt like a year, burning with unrealised passions.

Kat waited, knowing as his eyes bore into her that he wanted to kiss her. He stared at her mouth, licking his lips as if he could already taste her against him. But, to her surprise, he didn’t make a move to close the distance.

I’m here to help him with this part. If I leave it up to him, we’ll never get anywhere.

She slowly licked her mouth, dragging her tongue in a practised movement across her bottom lip. There was something alluring about his pristine white lab coat, which wasn’t a surprise considering each dream and fantasy she had of him included him wearing it, about the scientific atmosphere of the building and about the man before her. Kat couldn’t resist grabbing hold of the front of his coat. Warmth flowed through her fingers as she gripped the stiff material and pulled him forwards. He didn’t stop her as she lifted her mouth to his.