Page 35 of The Catch

She pulled out a vase and arranged the flowers in some water before setting them on the island.

“You want a drink before we go? We have a few minutes.”

“Sure. Whatever you’re having.” He watched her waltz around the kitchen, choosing a couple of glasses from what looked like an eclectic collection. He could kick himself for not kissing her immediately upon arrival, and he wondered how he was going to reclaim that opportunity while she poured from the bottle she’d just opened.

“Do you work from home?” he asked, pointing to her kitchen table which had been set up like a desk. Her laptop was plugged in and open, stacks of manila folders set neatly beside it.

“Sometimes. I like the office atmosphere, so I make the trek in most of the time, but I can really work from anywhere. Unless I have to be in court.”

“That’s convenient with the traffic around here.” He stepped toward a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the city, watching the cars in a tight line below. The summer sun was low in the sky, and it glinted off the metal and glass of the cityscape.

Cat came up behind him with his wine, and he stepped closer, reaching for the glass. She pulled her lip between her teeth, her thick black lashes fluttering as their fingers brushed. He could feel her nerves humming, something between trepidation and sexual tension brewing behind those big brown doe eyes. Whichever it was, he wanted to alleviate it. He set the glass down on the table beside him and took her face in his hands, gently. Her heels made her taller than usual, and her bright red lips were right there for him to take.

Cat sighed, kissing him back. He kept his touch light, letting her guide them as he studied her reaction. He wanted to learn her tells, something unique that he could memorize and use to please her whenever she let him have the chance.

She wrapped her arms around his back, still holding her wine, and he dared to go a little further, moving one hand from her cheek to the back of her neck. Her soft hair threaded between his fingers, and she shifted in his arms. So did the tenor of her embrace, from cautious to indulgent. Her lips parted, and he matched her need with a swipe of his tongue, then a full-on exploration.

Cat set down her glass then too, and her hands settled on his hips, tugging until he was flush against her.Fuck.There was no hiding behind his manners now. Every dirty thing he wanted to do with her was pressed like lead into her tummy. When she moved her hands up his back, clutching the cotton of his shirt beneath his jacket, he had to concentrate on not grinding against the front of her dress like a teenager.

God, she felt good. The muscles in her back rolled and stretched under his arms as she stood on her toes to meet his kiss. Her hair was like silk, swishing back and forth over his hands as her head slanted to accommodate his eager tongue. She seemed to vibrate with an energy that was larger than her petite frame could contain—like a hurricane kept in a jar—and he wanted to find the button that would release it.

Cat pulled away, her palm firm on his chest. For a moment, he thought she’d come to her senses and was about to insist he mind his manners, but instead, she tossed a glance behind her and gave him a look that set his whole body on fire.

“Couch,” she whispered, before crashing back into his mouth.

Josh walked them backward without breaking their kiss until the hardwood floor turned into soft carpet beneath his shoes. He opened his eyes just long enough to maneuver in front of the couch, then he fell backward into the cushions, pulling her with him. Her dress stretched around her thighs as she climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He pushed the taut material up her legs until it didn’t look in danger of tearing, then he let his fingers squeeze and caress their way around to her ass.

“Christ, Catia,” he said, as she rolled her hips forward and dug her fingertips into his hair. He wasn’t prepared for her to touch him like this. She’d been rationing out her affection since that night when they’d almost had sex on that beach. She’d pulled them back to the starting line, and he completely understood. If this was going to be something real, which he hoped it was, then he was prepared to earn that. But this starting and stopping was more than he could take. He loosened his greedy grip, whispering into the skin below her ear. “Tell me what you want. I don’t want to get this wrong.”

Cat pulled back, meeting his gaze with a little flicker of confusion. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m bad at this.”

He chuckled at her choice of words. Given his physical state at the moment, she was anything but bad at this. But the last thing he wanted to do was to take advantage of her confusion. He moved his hands to a safer place on her waist and his lips back to her mouth. “This is good,” he said, kissing her softly. “We can stay here.”

She nodded. She let go of his hair, and her hands fell chastely onto his shoulders.

They did stay there for what seemed like forever, kissing and talking and completely ignoring their wine until the evening sunlight that lit the room had turned the color of fire.

“We’re going to be late,” he said, glancing at his watch behind her head.

“I don’t care.”

Her teeth were on the shell of his ear, and he had two handfuls of sequined goodness—at that particular moment, he didn’t care either. But, she’d said this was important. “Are you sure?”

Her warm breath prickled his skin as she sighed out her response. “Fine.” She sat up, adjusting her dress. “I guess we had better get to this date then,” she said, her eyes telling him she wanted to stay just as much as he did.

He finally let her go with a parting squeeze. “Guess so.”

“I just need to fix this.” She waved a hand in front of her face. “Then we’ll go.”

Thirteen

The downtown restaurant was bustlingby eight-thirty on a Friday night, and despite the air conditioning, the air was dewy with the humidity that shamelessly hitched a ride in on each new guest. After Cat had fixed her makeup and called an Uber, they’d arrived still punctual enough not to draw any undue notice.

The lounge area was a circular room with windows on one half and a twenty-foot long bar on the opposite end. Candlelight flickered from a sea of tall tables and bounced around the groups of well-dressed people enjoying the buzz of the end of the workweek. It would have been a romantic night out on the town if they weren’t surrounded by a dozen of her co-workers.

Josh was engaged in polite conversation with Bill Cranshaw, the middle-aged IT guy, whom Cat never actually spoke to except for at these types of things. Cat had always felt sort of bad for Bill. He was socially awkward, to put it kindly, and he couldn’t seem to help himself from making every painful conversation worse by launching into the intricacies of cybersecurity and firewalls. Josh, though, had a way of fixing his expression to one of complete and genuine interest, whether you were talking about the appetizer selection or world peace. Bill was practically basking in the attention.

Cat listened only half-heartedly while she replayed the earlier scene on her couch. She didn’t know what had come over her. She’d only intended to have a glass of wine then get them to this safe public place as fast as she could. But damn, he looked good in that suit that matched his eyes, and that five o’clock shadow that she just had to get her hands on. Then he’d done that thing where he rested his palm on her neck and twirled her hair around his thumb. She liked that thing.

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