The Best Man (14 page)

“So did you guys really go
downstairs while I slept and have a beer?”

He nodded.

She scowled. “You didn’t scare Ron
off did you? He’s one of my best construction guys. You should see him with a
nail gun. He can hang more wall board in an hour than any three guys.”

Jared shook his head. “I wanted to
tell him to never get within a hundred feet of you again, but I didn’t. I don’t
own you, Kitty, and I never want to.”

“So you’d do a repeat performance.” She
arched an eyebrow. “I won’t scare you off if I desire two cocks?”

Jared closed his eyes and gripped
her rear with his large hand and hugged her tight.

She was nearly overcome with the
warmth pouring from this man. When had he developed such an emotional need for
her? Damn. Damn. Damn. How long could she afford to stay involved with him?

His lips kissed their way across her
forehead and then he leaned back and stared softly at her. “You’re not going to
scare me off. When are you going to start believing that?”

Her breath caught somewhere in her
windpipe. “You didn’t really answer my question.”

“I don’t suppose a cock and a
vibrator are the same as two cocks.”

She giggled and smoothed his
mustache with an index finger. “It’s not the same.”

“I trust you won’t need a steady
diet of two cocks.”

“That would take the fun out of it. And
I do have to get up and go to work most days.”

He planted a kiss on the tip of her
nose. “So are we working out the ground rules here for some sort of
relationship?”

“It does have that feel about it.” She
kissed the corner of his mouth and dragged her teeth on his mustache. “As long
as you don’t expect too much from me. I don’t have much experience with
relationships that last more than a month.” She narrowed her eyes. “And Ron doesn’t
count. We pick each other up when the other is down, but we don’t see ourselves
as involved in anything other than that. We’re good friends and have been for
years.”

“To answer some of your questions, I
don’t have a timeframe in mind. I want to get to know you better—much better.” He
leaned away and shook his head playfully. “Not sex. I want to get to know you
as a person, as a woman.”

“And.”

“I enjoy being with you. I’d love
you to come out and see my ranch. From what I’ve seen, you could use a vacation.”

“Maybe.” She was curious to know how
Jared lived. She’d convinced herself it was only curiosity. And she never did
believe in that old adage,
curiosity kills the cat.

“As to your other question,” Jared
continued, “I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll share you with another cock—a
healthy cock—from time to time, if there are no other cocks when I’m not
around.”

She smiled broadly. “You do drive a
hard bargain.” She slipped a hand inside his robe and dragged a fingernail over
his pecs. “And what about other women?”

“I thought you weren’t into women,”
he teased.

She scratched his chest until he
yelped. “You know that’s not what I meant. If I can’t have other cocks, you can’t
have other pussies. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Nope.” He covered her hand with
his. She guessed they both could feel his heart pumping. “I was hoping you
might come around to my point of view.”

“Until you tire of me, or I tire of
you,” she said before covering his mouth with hers.

“That’s good enough for me. Stay
put.”

She watched him move off the bed and
reach into his trousers. Her body cooled quickly without his warmth. She arched
an eyebrow when he handed her a small package.

“Something I picked up in Amsterdam
hoping we might work out some sort of agreeable arrangement,” he tilted his
head, “at least for the short run.”

She did her best to ignore any
implication he might intend and dug into the small package—a yellow diamond
belly ring. “This is perfect,” she squealed. “I’ve been thinking about getting
another belly ring for a while now. This is absolutely perfect.” She pulled up
the tails of his white shirt that she still wore and held the diamond over her turquoise
ring. “I’ll put it in later. So do you think this is enough yellow to make me
that vision in yellow you keep teasing me about?”

He shook his head. “It helps.” He
ran his fingers through her tresses. “Your straw blond hair and your broad
smile is enough for that.”

“Damn,” she said, pulling his head
to her shoulder. “You can be the most romantic guy sometimes.” She ran her
trembling fingers through his hair. “You don’t know how scary that can be for
me.”

“I’m beginning to,” he said softly
against her shoulder. “Keep talking to me. I don’t want to scare you too much,
too quickly.”

She heaved as he sighed and nuzzled her
ear. “I think right now the best thing we can do is stop talking.” She hugged
him tighter still. “But I do love the yellow diamond. Did Maya help you pick it
out?”

“Yes. She’s rooting for us.”

“Damn. Ssh,” She whispered. “I don’t
want to talk any more. Just hold me, please.”

Jared said nothing but cuddled her
close.

Why did she feel like she’d just
taken a huge, irrevocable step, like the Fool on the card in one of her Tarot
decks? She jerked her eyes wide open. Jared was already asleep. She hadn’t thought
about or used her Tarot cards in years. She snuggled closer to her male heat
source. Maybe it was time to check back in with that mystical side of her she
so often wanted to deny.

- o -

Feigning sleep, Jared hummed a soft
tune in his head. He’d gotten more of a commitment out of Kitty than he’d
expected. There was no timeframe. But they had agreed to an exclusive
relationship—well, sort of. At least he wasn’t going to have to worry about her
taking on all the males in Chicago without him present. And he did trust her, and
he knew if she absolutely wanted out, she’d tell him. That was about all he
could hope for, for now.

He’d take his time with her. She
could be skittish as a young filly.

He thought of the spectacular grin
on her face when she’d spied the diamond belly ring. He smiled—he couldn’t have
made a better selection. Again, he was thankful for Maya’s assistance.

Ah, Maya. He would miss holding the
petite woman in his arms, but he’d never let his Kitty go without a real fight.

He wondered if Kitty knew there were
cases in the animal world where a lioness sank her claws so deeply into its
prey it couldn’t let go.

CHAPTER EIGHT

After rearranging his stock portfolio,
Jared hit the exit button and snapped his laptop shut. He glanced around the
spare bedroom Kitty had set him up in for a temporary office. Even he was
surprised by how smoothly the last several days had gone since his return from Amsterdam. With the Chicago Mercantile Exchange located in the city, he had plenty to do
and had taken the time to renew some long dormant contacts. Many traders
considered Chicago to be the hub of the commodities world. He’d traveled enough
to know that might not be exactly true, but it was close enough.

Most importantly, his love life had
smoothed out. Kitty would go on guard if he pushed her too hard, but she didn’t
seem intent on trying to scare him off. That was progress.

She was as difficult to satisfy in
bed as usual, but she seemed to have found a reservoir of patience he hadn’t
noticed before he’d gone to London. He didn’t count on that lasting.

She really did seem pleased with the
yellow diamond. She’d put it in place later the morning he’d given it to her,
and she hadn’t replaced it yet. He loved the way it sparkled as she thrashed
beneath him.

He chuckled. She’d accepted that
diamond without pause. How long could he wait before giving her the diamond he
really wanted her to wear?

He shook his head. “Easy,” he
muttered. It might take months to wear her down that much—even years. In time,
he’d wear her down—he pulled on his mustache—with romance and simply with being
around. She’d wake up some morning and know she didn’t want to spend another
day without him, and then he’d strike. She might fight him, but he would
persevere. He’d been a marathon runner in college. Those races paled compared
to the one he was now running.

Did she know he was racing for her
heart? He delighted in her body, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d
claimed her heart and had given his to her.

The key to the race was reading her
non-verbals—not necessarily what she said, but how she reacted. Kitty was an
extremely kinetic woman. Maybe that explained her wildness in bed. Unlike him,
she had a difficult time being passive. She’d tilt her chin lower and give him
a very pensive if not frightened look when he asked for too much emotion from
her or when he didn’t monitor his own.

She wanted him, but she hadn’t yet
decided she wanted or needed all of him. He flexed his shoulders and winced at
the sudden pain. Did she know she’d drawn blood the night before when she
clawed his back as he spilled into her?

What would Maya make of that?

Jared checked his watch. Kitty would
be back in an hour and a half. He still had time to shower and then make the
light supper he’d promised to have ready when she got home.

He hadn’t felt this domestic in
years, if ever. It would be good to head back to the track tomorrow. He’d begun
to miss the smell of horses badly.

He sighed. Soon he’d have to head
back to his ranch. It wasn’t that he was needed to run it, he just missed the
place. Was Kitty too big-city to be comfortable on a small working ranch?

“Damn,” he muttered, heading toward
the shower. That question was one he hadn’t wanted to seriously consider. He’d
hate like hell to give up his ranch, but then he was getting ahead of himself.

He brightened and laughed aloud. Maybe
he’d treat her to three cocks if she agreed to move to the ranch.

- o -

“Thanks for the bottle of wine you
sent over,” Rebecca said to Kitty as they stopped to buy hot dogs and drinks
before returning to their box to join the men.

Kitty smiled at her friend as she
listened to her over the din of the Arlington Park racing crowd. Apparently,
they’d missed the fourth race. “I’m glad you liked it. I guess there is no such
thing as a sure bet.”

The older woman smiled easily. “I
knew I was making a sure bet. Still, it was nice to win. Lawrence and I found
some novel ways to enjoy the wine. Of course we thought of you and Jared when
we shared it.”

Kitty paid for their food and they both
walked over to the condiment table. “I’m pleased I’m so much of an inspiration
for your love life.”

“Successful marriages, I believe,
require inspiration and innovation, but then you wouldn’t know about that.”

Kitty looked sharply at Rebecca.

“I love the outfit you have on,”
Rebecca said, perhaps looking for a safer conversation topic. “You look
tremendous in canary yellow. And I’ve always loved the shirtdress style. The
wide black belt works, too. And those high heeled sandals are to die for. Tell
me about them.”

Kitty shrugged. “I thought the thin
straps made my feet look more naked than when I was barefoot.” She grinned. “And
I couldn’t resist the four jewels from toes to ankles. I was surprised by how
comfortable they are.”

Rebecca winked at her when she
finished spreading relish and mustard on a hot dog. “I know one thing that’d
make you look even sexier.”

“What?”

“When I was a teen we wore our
collars up a little.” She wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Like this.”

Kitty stood still and let Rebecca
brush her hair back to fold over her collar. Kitty walked a couple feet away
until she could see her reflection in glass door. “I like,” she murmured. “Thanks,”
she said turning back to Rebecca. “I thought it might make me look too hoody.”

Rebecca flashed a smile. “Maybe too
sexy. I’ll be amazed if Jared can keep his hands off of you.” She began putting
their food on a cardboard tray. “The next time you’re not wearing a dress I
really want to see that yellow diamond belly ring.” She cocked her head to the
side and her eyes sparkled. “Do you think I’m too old to surprise Lawrence with a belly ring?”

Kitty giggled with her
co-conspirator. “I hope a woman is never too old for a belly ring.”

Handing Jared his hot dog and fries,
Kitty grinned at the lusty expression suddenly crossing his face. Rebecca was
right—the raised collar was going to make the afternoon very long for Jared. Long
for her, too.

“What have you two been up to,” he
asked, “besides food gathering?”

“Conspiring.”

“Conspiring how to make me rock hard?”
he whispered in her ear as she slid in front of him to take the seat on the
other side.