Jennifer Probst - Searching for Someday

Hi Kate! Really enjoyed my date with Slade. I think he’s the one! Hasn’t called back yet though. Have you heard any feedback from our meeting? Hate being stalker type so figured I’d check with my fave matchmaker first. Thanks, as always for everything.

Crapola.

Kate stared at the smiley face at the end of Hannah’s text and got sicker. Somehow, she had stolen Hannah’s man. In a twisted way, of course. Not on purpose, of course. Emma’s text had streamed in the other day, gleefully informing her they had a great date and she was waiting for his call. While her clients waited, she was in bed with him.

Bad karma.

She groaned. Get it together. Slade hadn’t connected with Hannah or Emma, and there was nothing to do about it. She’d call them as soon as she got into the office and break it to them gently. Kate had been the bad news breaker many times. In this business, breakups and non-connections were job hazards but part of the journey. She always hated when one client liked another more, but had nailed that speech down like a pro.

She just needed to make sure they didn’t know the real truth.

Slade came in with two steaming mugs. Kate cleared her throat. “My mouth’s watering.”

He handed her a mug and arched a brow. “For me or the coffee?”

She gurgled a laugh. He was so damn arrogant and sexy. “Coffee.”

“Bummer.”

She sipped the hot brew, then looked up. “How’d you know I like it black?”

“No cream or half-and-half in the refrigerator. Sugar bowl is hidden. I took a chance.”

“Very nice, counselor.”

Green eyes blazed with stinging heat. “I don’t think I’ll ever hear that term and not think about your face when I made you come.”

Her cheeks pinkened and she buried her nose in her coffee. Robert gave a doggy moan and sank into the fluffy goose down comforter. Slade’s low laugh drifted across the room. “God, you’re sexy when you blush. All fire and brimstone one moment, all shy virgin the next.”

Boy. If he only knew.

At least his words caught her sense of challenge. She kept her voice measured. “Have you been using that famous charm to manipulate others your whole life? Just remember you didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want.”

His intimate gaze dropped to the sheet she held tight against her chest. Her nipples poked through the satin in an effort to come out and play. “That’s what made it sweeter,” he growled. “Knowing you liked begging.”

Wetness leaked from her thighs. Kate realized she was already too far gone. She’d never get enough of him. She ached for him to take her again, though she was sore. His cock responded to the unspoken need of her body and sprang to life. Her mouth watered to taste him, feel his hot, full length stretching her lips wide and controlling his pleasure. Slade muttered a curse, put his mug down on the table, and walked toward her. With gentle motions, he lifted Robert from the bed and placed him back on the floor. Transfixed, she allowed him to take her own cup and rip back the sheet.

A thrill coursed through her at his open, hot stare, taking in every inch of her nakedness, scenting her arousal. He pressed one knee down on the bed and her eyes half closed, waiting for him to take her on another wild ride.

“God, Kate, did I hurt you?”

His sudden question ripped through the pulsating silence. Her eyes flew open and followed his gaze. Blood smeared the sheets and stained her inner thighs. Slade sucked in his breath as the evidence of her virginity flashed in vivid neon.

Crap. It hardly hurt, so she didn’t expect any blood. Kate sat up and pulled the covers tight against her chest. “N-n-no, of course you didn’t hurt me.”

His fingers twisted in the sheets and he yanked them back. Seconds ticked by. His erection withered away and when he finally looked up, her lover was gone. The man who replaced him was steeped in ice, his lips turned downward in a half sneer. Kate shivered. She prayed for strength to hide her vulnerability and her rapidly plummeting confidence.

“You were a virgin.”

The hard words assaulted her ears. She sprang from the bed and grabbed her terry robe, belting it firmly around her and escaping his accusing gaze. “So? It’s no big deal.”

“Holy shit. I don’t believe this.” His jaw clenched and fury emanated from his pores. Robert lifted his head and gave him a wary look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugged and ignored the ball of ice in her gut. “Because it means nothing and I wanted to escape an unpleasant scene such as this. It was just a technicality, Slade. Nothing to worry about.”

“I was your first lover. You waited this long for a reason. Why me?”

She prayed for the floor to swallow her up whole but knew she was stuck. Hmm, was this the time to tell him she had a special touch and never felt a connection with another man? Or should she confess her witchlike gene’s disappearance and her plan to sleep with him to gain it back? Somehow, neither option seemed viable, so she cocked her head and lied again. “I’ve been busy. Never got around to it.”

He emitted a vicious curse. “I hurt you. If I had known, I would’ve been gentler, more considerate. I would’ve seduced you and made sure you were ready. Did I bruise you, too?”

Kate let out a laugh. “You gave me multiple orgasms and never hurt me. Honestly, this whole martyr routine is embarrassing. Can we drop the subject, please? I’ll make us some breakfast.”

She tried to move past him, but his arm snaked out and gripped her upper arm. Tingles immediately crackled to life, and he stared at their joined flesh as if just figuring something out. “Have you ever felt this electricity before, Kate? To another man other than me?”

She stuck up her chin and hit him with her best shot. Screw this. Truth would be better and knock him back on his ass. “No. Maybe that’s why I finally decided to do it with you. I have no regrets about what happened last night. Do you?”

He jerked back and nausea hit. Dear God, he regretted it. In the harsh morning light, knowing she was a virgin, he actually felt guilty. What was he so afraid of? Expectations of their relationship? Knowing he would always be her first? Or that he might actually feel something for her? Panic lit his eyes, and he suddenly looked at her not as a lover, but as more of a woman spinning her web to trap him. Kate fought the impulse to laugh in his face. Who would’ve thought an innocent virgin could scare the big bad wolf?

“No. But we didn’t talk about what last night was about. I don’t know if—if you have ideas about us. What do you want?”

The joy from last night drained out of her. Kate stared at the man she’d given everything to, who now resembled a stranger, hopping from foot to foot in an effort not to shoot out the door. “I want nothing,” she said woodenly. “Last night I wanted sex. With you. This morning, I want to get back to our original agreement and business relationship.”

“Forget we slept together? You give me your virginity and now want to pretend it never happened?”

Kate forced herself to shrug. “It wasn’t a gift, Slade, it just was. We’ve already agreed that a long-term relationship won’t work for us. We got it out of our system, so let’s move on.”

Relief carved out the lines of his face. Her heart shattered into tiny pieces and it hurt to breathe, but damned if she’d let him see an ounce of her pain. Slade Montgomery didn’t believe in anything she needed, and pretending they could be something more than one night would only prolong the torture. She reached deep for calm, knowing it was the only way to end this now.