Page 47 of Sweet Spot

“Could’ve gone better.” I kissed her again.

“Could’ve gone much worse.” She pulled out of my embrace.

I made it difficult but not impossible to escape. “It was a solid first showing considering the rollercoaster of an off season. Overall, I feel really good.” The hard part was over. Now we had to play our game. “Grab a drink with me.”

“What about your daughter?”

“Rosie? She’s with my mom. Probably fast asleep by now.”

Kate hesitated, but then nodded and a small smile curved her lips. “Red Tourist?”

“Works for me.” I snagged her fingers with mine and held on as I returned to my office for my backpack. She kicked the door closed and kissed me again.

If I had any doubts left about whether she was as attracted to me as I was to her, they vanished when her body slammed against mine. It caught me by surprise and I froze as one hand cupped my cheek and her other arm wrapped around my neck. Hot electricity shot through me, jolting me into action. I dropped my bag and grabbed her hips. When that wasn’t enough I slid my hands up her back and kissed her deeper. She tasted new and exciting. Different and somehow familiar.

“Sorry,” she gasped. “Got a little carried away.”

“Don’t ever be sorry for that.” Kate cared a lot more than I did about romance around the office. I respected her wishes and acted accordingly, but I didn’t give a rat’s ass if someone opened the door and found us kissing.

She bit her lip like she was trying to keep herself from saying something. I cocked my head, deliberately not picking my bag back up. “You got something on your mind?”

Her eyes locked with mine. “Eli has mentioned, more than once, hiring me on permanently.”

A little shot of adrenaline hit my system. “Well I, for one, am a big fan of that idea.”

“What if six months from now we decide we actually hate each other?”

I snagged her fingers again. I kind of wanted to keep them between mine forever. I just liked the way it felt—the way it made me feel. “I won’t hate you in six months. I don’t even hate Everett and he’s done every terrible thing in the book. Hell, we live together.”

“I suppose I could just quit. I’ve never quit a job before.” She was cute when she was confused.

“Take the job, don’t take the job, quit if you need to, as long as it means you’ll be around all the time, I’m a big fan.”

“Yeah?”

I pulled her against me. “Oh yeah.” And then I kissed her until she stopped thinking.

16

Isaac

“Does this count as a second date?” I teased her because it was my whole goal in life to make her smile.

She shoved a bite of blackened grouper in her mouth and waggled her eyebrows. “Why does it matter? Are you trying to get to the third date or something?”

“Nah. I don’t believe in number-of-dates equaling something. Kissing and such should always be done based on comfort. It’s weird though, isn’t? Like a transaction. If the guy buys three dinners the girl is supposed to reward him with sex? No. That’s…no.” I shuddered even thinking about it. Are you into each other? Cool. Have sex on the first date. Or the tenth. Or after marriage. Whatever made people feel good.

“So why does it matter?” She popped another bite and leaned a little closer.

I shrugged. “Dunno exactly. I guess…” I rubbed my chin, scratching at the prickle of growth. “I guess I want more. This stage has been fun. I’ve really enjoyed actually getting to know the Dr. Kate James before I even kissed her, but now that I have, I suppose I’m anxious to move on.”

“And what are we moving on to?” At first I thought she was genuinely confused, but then a little bit of a smile broke out on her face and I realized she was teasing me right back.

“The only game I like to play is baseball. Relationship games are my personal version of hell.” It was a huge reason Amanda and I were together as long as we were. She was one of the most blunt and honest people I ever met. I always knew where I stood with her. It made being together easy. Easy meant we stayed together when we really should have gone our separate ways. We weren’t in love. We were comfortable. “I don’t mind keeping things quiet. I don’t mind a little sneaking around…but only as long as it’s for privacy. I like you Kate. I want to date you. And I want to be clear and honest.”

She set her fork down and pushed her late dinner away, giving me her full, gorgeous attention. “There is a huge difference between privacy and pretending. I like my privacy. Dating someone with such a public life does scare me a little. But the last thing I want is to play games. I never would have said it was my personal version of hell, but I want nothing to do with it.”

That was a relief. “Well, then to be perfectly clear, how does Rosie affect you?” If she wanted to have a quiet fling that kept the rest of my personal life separate, that was fine, but I needed to know it now.

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