Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) (42 page)

“Katherine,” he whispered her name against her ear. “I want to make love to you so bad.”

Katherine swallowed hard; should she? She let his hand wander under her shirt and frowned. She was sure whatever he was doing was supposed to feel nice but it was annoying her. He kept squeezing her breast until she was starting to feel like a milk cow. She had never done this, hand under clothes while a man tried convincing her to sleep with him. As close as she had come was Adam’s affinity for playing with her hips when they had kissed; that had sent shivers up and down her spine. Okay, unfair comparison, Adam was an experienced man, apparently Derrick not so much. They would learn together, she told herself; unless he kept squeezing her!

Katherine shifted, Derrick decided to run his hand down her side to her waist now; at least he wasn’t trying to milk her anymore. He was kissing along her collar bone, the first two buttons of her shirt undone; the hand at her waist slipping around to slide down her zipper. He was certainly going for it, she mused. She stared at the ceiling and grimaced as he reached to unfasten her bra.

“Derrick,” she leaned further back into the couch.

“Hmmm?” he kissed her breast at the edge of her bra.

Katherine shuddered in distaste but he obviously thought she was shivering from pleasure.

“Stop!” she insisted.

“Is something wrong?” Derrick’s eyes were hooded.

Katherine closed her eyes.

“I can’t do this,” she admitted.

“I’m sorry, Katherine, I didn’t mean to rush you,” he sat up.

Katherine blew out a relieved breath.

“I know,” she tried to smile as she buttoned her shirt and zipped her skirt. She was freaking out; what if she really couldn’t do this with Derrick? Not just tonight, but ever?

“I guess I should go,” Derrick stood. “I really am sorry I rushed you, Katherine.”

She walked him to the door and accepted his kiss before shutting the door and leaning against it while Cleo circled her feet. This was not good! What was she going to do? The kisses she and Derrick had previously shared had always been reserved. She had never found them unpleasant and had assumed when the day came the passion would be there.

Katherine pushed off the door only to stop short and study her reflection in the entry mirror. Her hair hung perfectly straight to past her shoulder blades, her face was perfectly made up, and her clothing very subtle. Who was this person? She leaned closer, her eyes the only thing that struck her as familiar and they were inquisitive of what they saw. She grabbed her purse, flipped off the lights, and went to the elevators. A moment later she knocked on Adam’s door; she hoped he was home.

Twenty

“Kaitlyn, hi,” Adam blinked at her when he opened his door. “I thought you had a date tonight,” he stepped aside so she could enter.

“That was a nightmare. Tell me something, Adam?”

“What’s that?”

“Was I a cold fish? I don’t remember being but then what do I know, right?”

Katherine watched Adam frown at her and knew she had lost him.

“In what way, Kaitlyn?”

“In bed!” she blurted impatiently and watched him shake his head, his expression bemused.

“I thought we didn’t discuss this, Kaitlyn.”

“Well, I need to know, was I?”

“No,” he shook his head and seated himself on his couch.

“I didn’t think so,” she admitted.

“Did Derrick accuse you of being a cold fish?” Adam still looked slightly lost.

Considering the way she had come barreling in here, she could understand why.

“No,” she admitted as she paced the room. “Our last two dates he has been different and tonight he just flat out let me know what he wanted. I was already worried after our previous two dates but it was worse than I feared,” she admitted.

“I’m not sure I want to hear this,” Adam’s voice was low.

“I couldn’t do it! He’s kissing me and touching me and all I can think is how awkward it is. And then whatever he thought he was doing with my breast felt more like he was trying to milk me!”

“Shouldn’t you call your mom or Kristen for this?” Adam’s expression suggested he found the entire conversation surreal.

“Maybe I should try calling Kristen; I wonder if he tried milking her too,” she muttered.

“You could call, Tessa,” Adam suggested.

“It’s too late to call Tessa,” she informed him.

“Right,” he nodded.

“Adam, I am supposed to marry him in a few months, sooner if he gets his way, and I can’t stand for him to touch me!”

“That is a problem,” he acknowledged. “Are you sure you aren’t over thinking this? Maybe you’ve worried about it until you’ve psyched yourself out.”

“Ha! If I was going to over think one it would have been you. No, Adam, I can’t stand for the man to touch me.”

Katherine shook her head and sighed. “You remember the way you liked to play with my hips when we were kissing? Even that small touch drove me crazy!”

“Really?” Adam asked.

“Tonight my fiancé has his hands all over me trying to undress me and I wanted to run. It was awful! And look at me! Me with my straight hair and my perfect make up and clothes; Adam, I don’t know who the person in the mirror is anymore,” her tears spilled over. “I don’t know
me
anymore.”

Adam, his stomach twisting painfully, watched Kaitlyn cry; he hated to see her hurting. As much as he hated her pain, however, he was relieved that she had finally seen what he and everyone else had known; Derrick had slowly been obliterating all the things that made her unique. Adam stood and extended a hand.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as she grabbed her purse and took his hand.

“We’re going to go find Kaitlyn,” he informed her.

“To find Kaitlyn?” she frowned at him.

“That’s right,” he nodded.

Adam led her to her apartment and took her keys from her before unlocking the door. He then went to her room and opened her closet. He started removing all of the new clothing and tossing it on the bed.

“What are you doing?” Katherine demanded as she watched him.

Once he had removed all of the new things he scooted her clothing back down and selected a green top and searched her dresser until he found a pair of jeans. He added her underclothing and shoved her toward the bathroom.

“Go shower and let me know when you’re dressed.”

“Adam, what is this…”

“Go or I will strip you and shower you myself. I want to see your curls, Kaitlyn.”

“Fine,” she turned and shut herself in the bathroom.

Adam paced around the apartment while he waited; he wished Derrick were standing before him right now, he would deck the man.

“Okay, I’m dressed,” Katherine announced a short time later.

“Good,” Adam led her back into the bathroom and searched through her shelves until he finally found what he was looking for shoved to the back. He squeezed frizz control gel into his palms and started scrunching it into her hair. He had watched her do it many times while he had been hanging out in her dorm room.

“How do you know how to do that?” she demanded.

“I used to watch you do it,” he smiled at her.

He unplugged the flatiron from the wall and tossed it onto her bed with all the clothing he had already piled there and plugged in her hair dryer. Katherine patiently let him dry her hair and then watched as he shoved all of her new makeup aside in one of her drawers to dig into the back. He handed her an eyelash curler and she obediently curled her lashes and then applied the dark brown mascara and eyeliner he handed her. He next handed her a lip gloss and stood back while she applied it.

“That’s all?” she asked. “My freckles are showing.”

“Exactly and it’s more than you need,” he informed her.

Katherine met his intense gaze and felt a shiver run down her spine. The way he was looking at her suggested that he meant exactly what he had said. Adam moved to stand behind Kaitlyn.

“Do you know that woman?” he asked her as he reached and pulled a curl straight before letting it bounce back into place.

“I think I remember her,” Katherine smiled at him in the mirror.

“Good, now let’s get you some shoes and go.”

“Go? Adam, it’s almost midnight.”

“We’re adults,” he shrugged.

“Okay,” she grabbed socks, tennis shoes, and a jacket before seating herself on the couch to pull on her socks and shoes. She spotted her engagement ring as she was tying her shoes and as soon as she finished, she stood and removed the ring from her finger to lay it in a small dish on top of her entertainment center. She was going to have to call Derrick tomorrow and have a very serious discussion with him.

“Ready?” Adam asked.

“Ready for what?” she asked with a smile.

Adam helped her into her jacket and locked the door behind them as he led her out into the hall. Once they were seated in his Durango he turned to her.

“What would you like to do, Kaitlyn? You want to see a movie? You want to go midnight bowling? You want to go dancing? What do you want to do? We can do anything. We’ll drive to Gatlinburg if you like.”

“Gatlinburg? Adam, are you crazy?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” she laughed.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I am actually,” she admitted.

“Choose a place, any place in the city that is open and I will take you to eat,” he offered.

She smiled and chose one of her favorites. As he drove across town, he noted the way she kept bothering her bare ring finger and stopped at an open store. He found a simple gold ring with a couple of blue gemstones and bought it for her.

“Wear this and your hand won’t feel so naked,” he offered.

“Thanks,” she gave him a smile.

A few minutes later they were seated with menus open in front of them.

“I love their fajitas but they are way more than I can eat,” Katherine frowned at her menu. “And they have amazing flan.”

“So let’s split their fajitas, but let’s start with desert and end with an appetizer,” he recommended.

“Why?” she laughed.

“Because we can.”

“Okay,” she had a wide smile on her face. They settled on a desert and an appetizer before the waitress appeared to take their order.

“You order,” Adam nodded at her.

“We’ll have an order of cheese sticks, we’re going to split the fajitas, and the apple crumb, but we would like to start with desert and end with the appetizer,” Katherine related.

The waitress smiled and nodded, “we can do that.”

“Thanks,” Katherine smiled.

“You look familiar,” she noted of Adam.

“He gets that a lot,” Katherine laughed.

“Yeah,” she shook her head and moved off.

“You’re good at distractions,” he noted.

“I don’t want you mobbed,” she shrugged.

“Thanks.”

“I should be in the bed right now,” she admitted.

“Says who?” Adam countered.

“Common sense,” she smiled.

“Every once in a while you have to ignore common sense.”

“Apparently,” she yawned but she was smiling. “Thanks, Adam; I’m having fun.”

“You’re welcome.”

They ate their reverse meal in good spirits. Katherine couldn’t help laughing; it all felt so silly and so good. Adam paid for their meal, signed an autograph on the napkin to leave for their waitress, and offered Kaitlyn a hand.

“Thanks for coming by,” the waitress smiled as she scooped up her tip.

Katherine watched her eyes widened and shhhed her; the waitress smiled and nodded. Katherine was laughing as they emerged outside into a light drizzle. She turned her face up to welcome it. She felt so light, so….free.

“Anything else you want to do?” Adam asked her.

Katherine started to say no; then smiled.

“Wal Mart; I love going to Wal Mart in the middle of the night,” she admitted.

“Wal Mart it is.”

A few minutes later they were roaming the aisles and dodging the employees who were stocking shelves. Katherine grabbed a couple of items she needed as they went but they spent most their time browsing and making jokes about some of the products. By the time they started the drive back to their apartments, Katherine was blinking sleepily.

“That was fun,” she admitted.

“Good.”

“And I think I found, Kaitlyn,” she shared.

“That’s even better,” Adam smiled.

“I don’t know how I let it happen, Adam.”

“It didn’t happen all at once or you would have noticed,” he assured her.

“Right,” she nodded.