Confessions of the World's Oldest Shotgun Bride (2 page)

“I’m sure you have no trouble attracting men.”

She shrugged, and a touch of color rose on her cheeks. “My life is okay.” That word again. She pushed her hair away from her face. “So, what have you been up to? Is it the Army, Navy or Air Force that’s responsible for this haircut?” She reached up and pushed his hair back from his forehead. Though her touch was feather light, her fingers singed him.

“Air Force.”

“Then it’s Captain Tyler?”

“Still Lieutenant. I got a late start.”

“Oh?”

“I was struggling in college, close to flunking out. So I quit and spent a year bumming around Europe. When I ran out of money, I enlisted in the Air Force. Then I got picked for an ROTC scholarship, and the rest is history.”

“You just took off for Europe by yourself?”

“Yeah.”

He saw new respect in her eyes as she said, “How brave of you! I’d never have had the nerve. I always had to stick to the plan.”

It would have taken him more nerve to stay than it had to go. But Katie wouldn’t understand about not having a clue what to do with your life. She’d always been so focused. He gave her his best smile. “I needed extra time to grow up.”

“How did your parents take your leaving school? Mine would have had a cow.”

“Mine were cool. They knew I’d been wasting my time and their money. When I went back, I kicked butt, because I was there for the right reasons.”

“What were those reasons?”

“I needed an education to do what I wanted.”

“And what did you want?”

“To be a pilot.”

She grimaced. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

This wasn’t the reaction he was used to. When most women learned he was an Air Force pilot, they fell all over him even more than usual. But he shouldn’t have been surprised. Katie had never been like other girls, so why should he expect Kathryn to be like other women?

He leaned closer to her and turned on the smile again. “Are you saying you don’t like pilots? I don’t believe it. All women have a thing for pilots.”

“You’ve watched
Top Gun
too many times. The last time I saw something with wings, I killed it with a flyswatter.”

He clutched at his chest, hamming it up to the max. “Ouch! Shot down on my first sortie! You’re breaking my heart.”

“I’m sure your heart is made of sterner stuff than that.”

Reaching into her drink, Kathryn picked out the maraschino cherry, held it up by the stem, tipped her head back, and shut her eyes part way. A low mewing sound escaped her throat as she closed her lips around the fruit and tore it off the stem. After two or three delicate chews, she licked the cherry juice off her upper lip with a slow, deliberate flick of her pink tongue.

The lip licking was an old trick but an effective one. Steve nearly choked on the swallow of beer in his mouth. A reaction not lost on Kathryn, he could tell by her almost imperceptible self-satisfied smirk. Well, two could play this game.

“Let me do that.” He leaned in toward her mouth. She leaned forward too, parting her lips slightly in anticipation of a kiss. Instead, with the lightest of touches, he brushed his thumb over her full lower lip, enjoying the slight catch in her breath. Holding her gaze, he sucked the combined flavor of cherry and Kathryn from his thumb. “Sweet.”

Her mouth quivered and her nipples beaded under the thin fabric of her dress. He grinned. The ball was back in her court, and he couldn’t wait for her next move.

“Yo, Tyler,” a voice called from across the room, jarring them out of the moment. Steve turned to see his pal Colin Murphy sauntering toward them. With his bomber jacket and cocky attitude, Murph looked every inch the stereotypical pilot. Katie stiffened and eyed him as if he were a virulent strain of bacteria under a microscope. Steve silently cursed Murph’s piss poor timing.

Murph stopped next to them, and Steve made the mandatory introductions.

“Hi.” After the briefest of glances, Murph turned to Steve, dismissing Kathryn as if she were invisible. “This place is dead. We’re going to try somewhere else. Coming?”

“I think I’ll hang out here a while longer.”

Kathryn rose from her stool. “You needn’t on my account. Run along with your friends. I have to hit the restroom.” She walked away without glancing back at the men.

* * *

Kathryn pushed the door to the ladies’ room open and walked to the nearest sink. She splashed cold water on her face and closed her eyes, wishing the conflicting emotions bubbling inside her would slide down the drain as well.

Ever since her longtime boyfriend had turned her life into a cliché by leaving her for a younger woman, she’d imagined turning the tables by having a fling with a boy toy—a sizzling younger guy who could satisfy her in ways her boring ex never had. At home, she couldn’t afford to risk starting gossip about her personal life, but here in the islands, it would be safe to leave her uptight office persona behind and cut loose. She’d had three goals for this trip—to dive Grand Cayman’s world famous underwater walls; to sample as many umbrella drinks as possible; and to find a hot young stranger to fulfill her wildest fantasies. Not necessarily in that order, in fact, definitely not in that order.

Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a folded sheet of notebook paper and opened it, revealing the heading, “Boy Toy To-Do List.” Just reading the list of sexual delights made her squirm. She was so ready to move from the planning to the execution stage. Now Steve Tyler had crossed her path. He was pure yumminess, and judging by the way her pulse thumped when he so much as looked at her, more than capable of helping her work her way down the list. The problem was, he wasn’t a stranger. She’d watched him grow up. He knew her mother. She should walk away now. Hooking up with him wouldn’t be sensible. It would so not be sensible.

But damn it, part of her was sick to death of being sensible. Part of her wanted to take Steve back to her room and ride him like a bronco. No muss, no fuss, no strings, and no one got hurt.

Indecision was a strange and unwelcome feeling. Kathryn was used to knowing exactly what she wanted to do and doing it. Tonight, though, it was as if she had an angel sitting on one shoulder and a devil on the other, her inner good girl and her inner slut, yanking her in opposite directions. She grabbed a comb from her purse and jerked it through her hair, wincing as a tangle ripped from her head.

Maybe she wouldn’t have to make a decision. She’d suggested he leave. Maybe he’d moved on to the next meat market with his obnoxious friend. But her gut told her otherwise. He’d still be there when she returned. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. What happened next was up to her.

Sure enough, Steve was waiting at the bar. His spine-tingling smile was missing in action, though. “‘Run along?’ Is that how it’s going to be? Are we back to you treating me like a six-year-old? That would be a damned shame.”

She shrugged. “It was clear your buddy wanted to rescue you from my clutches. I figured it was only fair to let him try.”

His frustration showed in his scowl. “You know damn well that wasn’t what either of us wanted. We had each other all hot and bothered. Then you backed away.”

He moved closer, as close as he could get without making contact. Her body ached to close that infinitesimal gap.

“Decision time, Katie. Do we explore what we know is going on here? Or do we go back to eating ice cream?”

Her rational mind told her she should end this now, while she still could. But she hadn’t had sex in a year, and he made every inch of her throb. She touched his upper arm. “Let’s go.”

The air was surprisingly cool as they spilled out of the now-crowded Hard Rock and onto the sidewalk in front of the harbor. Steve saw goose bumps rising on Kathryn’s arms. He slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “You’re cold. Let me warm you up.”

Her voice hinted of barely contained laughter. “At great personal sacrifice, of course.”

“Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. I wouldn’t be much of an ‘officer and a gentleman’ if I let you stand here shivering.”

“My hero.” She slipped an arm around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. Her hair smelled faintly of something flowery and feminine. Though she was small, there was nothing fragile about her. Her body, pressed into his side, was firm and solid. She was in good shape. Maybe too good. She’d look better with a little more meat on her bones.

Not wanting her to be uncomfortable, he was relieved it didn’t take long for a cab to pull over to the curb. Once they’d climbed in, he gave her a questioning look. “Where to?” They both knew how the evening was going to end, but they hadn’t discussed the next step. There was still an hour until midnight. Maybe she wanted to do some more public celebrating before they started their private party.

Apparently not, because she answered, “Your place or mine?”

“I think our places are the same place. Aren’t you staying at the Buccaneer?”

Her eyebrows rose. “How did you know that?”

He leaned forward and gave the cabbie instructions before settling back, his shoulder just touching hers. “I saw you in the lobby the other day.”

“And you didn’t say anything to me? Why?”

Because he’d been afraid she was a mirage, and if he approached her, she’d disappear. Having the woman he’d lusted after since before he was old enough to understand what lust was turn up on his vacation, in his hotel, had seemed too good to be true. But he wasn’t about to admit that.

“I knew I’d run into you again,” he said. “It was fate.”

The corners of her lips twitched up. “Fate? Well all right, I can go along with that.”

He scowled. “Keep that skeptical tone out of your voice. It’s dangerous to mock fate.”

She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “No mocking from me. If fate is responsible for you being here with me, then I’m the world’s biggest believer.” She leaned against him, tilted her head up, and kissed him on the mouth, hard. Her kiss was the kiss of an experienced and seductive woman, her tongue moving enough but not too much, her mouth soft and tasting slightly of chocolate.

Nothing about him was soft any more.

He ended the kiss, but she didn’t pull away. Her arms stayed coiled around his neck, her breasts pressing into his chest. He was used to women coming on to him, but with this woman, the effect was slightly disorienting. Wanting more, he slid one hand up her side and let it stray to the center until his thumb brushed a marble-hard nipple, just a thin piece of cloth away. So close and yet so far.

Her shoulders stiffened and she pulled a few inches back. Her voice was low and breathy. “It’s nasty to start something you’re not prepared to finish, flyboy.”

What was she doing, giving him one last chance to back out? Like hell! He pulled her onto his lap and pressed her tight against the growing bulge in his pants. “Does it feel like I’m teasing? I’m not stopping unless you say you want me to.” Although he might just kill himself if she made him stop.

Her brown eyes glowed. “What I want is you, Steve.”

There was no shame in her voice, no embarrassment. He’d known what she was feeling, but he was surprised to hear her say it so directly. He wasn’t with some overgrown girl playing coy games, as women his own age often did. He was with a strong, confident woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. His erection strained harder against his jeans.

“And you always get what you want, don’t you, Kathryn?” he whispered in her ear.

His tone had been joking, but her answering tone was serious. “Not always, but when I really want something, I don’t give up without one hell of a fight.”

And for this moment, what his Katie really wanted was to go to bed with him. This must be what it felt like to win the lottery. “I promise,” he said, “this time you won’t have to do much fighting.”

* * *

Kathryn twisted sideways on Steve’s lap and buried her face in the hollow between his shoulder and his neck, hoping to slow her heartbeat. It didn’t work. How could it, with his distinctive intensely masculine scent assaulting her nostrils, and with the proof of his desire for her pressing against her thigh?

He laid his cheek on the top of her head. “Sweet Kathryn.” He lifted one hand from her waist and tucked her hair behind her left ear, then ran his fingertip around the rim.

She gasped and collapsed deeper into his chest. This was ridiculous. Her body was hypersensitive, going into spasms at his every touch. It wasn’t like her to react so strongly. She hadn’t with any other man, and certainly not with Jeff, who’d dumped her a year earlier. The feeling was intense and exciting, but she wasn’t sure she liked it. She hadn’t felt this way, all shivery and out of control, since she was a teenager.

And she hadn’t acted this way since... well, ever. At least not in a social situation. This take-no-prisoners attitude in pursuit of a man who was out of her league by conventional standards was more like her work personality. She’d been known to be fearless in throwing herself at a business opportunity, but never at a man. She’d hoped being where no one knew her would help her to drop her usual, safe patterns, and now it was happening.

The cab pulled to a stop in front of the hotel. Steve handed the cabbie some bills and they got out. Kathryn slipped an arm around his waist and leaned into him hard, as if trying to fuse them together chemically. He draped an arm over her shoulder and rested it on her breast. Hidden by his other fingers, his thumb found her nipple and resumed playing. She stumbled.

He slid his arm to her waist to steady her. “Easy, Katie. Feeling those mudslides?” His cat-that-ate-the-canary expression confirmed he knew the source of her disequilibrium was something else altogether.

She scowled. “My name’s Kathryn.”

They’d entered the lobby, and she noticed the gift shop was preparing to close. She’d better make sure the logistics were taken care of. Not that it was likely a guy like Steve would let himself be caught unprepared. She leaned her mouth close to his ear. “I assume you have protection?”

That impossibly sexy grin widened. “Yes,
Kathryn
. In my room. Right here on the first floor, in the back facing the beach.”