Leanne Banks - Hot Stuff

“I’m begging you. Please, no more fix ups for a while.”

“I’ll restrain myself. And Danny will probably lose interest in your love life since he has other things on his mind. Amy just found out she’s pregnant again. I’m making chicken and biscuits stew as a special celebration dinner tomorrow night. It would be nice if you could join us and bring one of your amazing cakes.”

“Sure. That’s great. I’m really happy for Danny and Amy. And it’s my day off so I don’t have to jump up and leave before dessert.”

Even before Kellen McBride strolled into the bar at ten thirty, he knew he was in big trouble. Cate Madigan was stuck in his head. He liked the way she smelled, and the way she kissed, and the way her hand felt in his. He liked her curly red hair and milky white skin and Opie Taylor freckles. She was all the things he admired and feared in a woman. And that translated to a knot in his stomach and an ache in the area of his heart. Symptoms very similar to indigestion, but Kellen didn’t think an antacid was going to do much for him. He was very close to having his ticket punched. He supposed he’d always thought it would happen one day… he just hadn’t planned on it happening now. Truth was, it was inconvenient and mildly painful. And he had no idea how to reverse the process… or if he wanted to.

“I thought I should show up to walk you home,” Kellen said to Cate. “After all, I am your boyfriend. And I’m territorial. I wouldn’t want Pugg moving in on me.”

“Was he outside?” Cate asked.

“Yep. I told him I was on board.”

“Did he go?”

“No, but he crossed the street.”

Cate wandered the length of the bar, checking on the few remaining customers. A half hour to closing and everyone was in a holding pattern. She rinsed glasses and tidied up. And she thought about Kellen McBride, and admitted to herself that she liked him. A lot. And she was attracted to him. A lot. And she felt totally flummoxed over the whole thing. A lot.

“He’s completely out of my league,” Cate said.

Andy Shumaker dragged his attention off the overhead game to Cate. “Who?”

“Sorry,” Cate said. “I was talking to myself. I didn’t realize I was talking out loud.”

“Why do you think he’s out of your league?”

“He’s way too handsome. And he’s very smooth. He’s probably had a kazillion girlfriends.”

“Lucky duck,” Andy said. “Who are we talking about?”

“The guy at the end of the bar.”

“The one staring at you?”

“Yep.”

Andy did a little finger wave at Kellen and hoisted his glass in salute. Kellen finger-waved and hoisted back.

Andy was in his midfifties and had recently been kicked out of his house. His wife had listed “constant humming and finger tapping” as grounds for divorce, and Andy was attempting to break himself of the habit by consuming large quantities of alcohol.

“I bet he exfoliates,” Andy said. “I bet he’s a stinkin’ exfoliator.”

Cate made a mental note to cut off Andy’s beer supply for the night and slid a look at Kellen. “You could be right,” she said to Andy. “He has wonderful skin.”

“And look at his eyebrows. He has two of them. And they’re not even fuzzy. I bet he plucks.” Andy slugged down the remainder of his beer. “You know what it means when a man plucks his eyebrows?”

“He wants to look human?”

“It means he’s gay.”

“Feeling a little hostile to the well-groomed guy?” Cate asked Andy.

“I hate those groomer guys,” Andy said. “They all think they’re so hot. Look at the way his clothes fit. It’s like he had them tailored. And his shirt is ironed. And he has muscles! I bet he works out.”

“You could work out,” Cate said to Andy.

“When?”

“You could work out instead of sitting here drinking beer.”

Andy stared at Cate, mouth open, eyes showing mild horror as he digested her suggestion. The train was slow in loading at Andy’s station.

Kellen crooked his finger at Cate in a come here gesture.

“Me?” Cate mouthed.

Kellen smiled and nodded.

Cate gave Andy a diet soda. “On the house,” she said. And she moved down the bar to Kellen.

“You were talking about me,” Kellen said.

“We were admiring your shirt.”

“It’s just a standard white button-down.”

“It’s ironed. Andy was impressed.”

“As well he should be. What about you?”

“What about me?”

Kellen grinned. “Are you impressed?”

“Pretty much,” Cate said. And she thought she would probably be even more impressed by what was under the shirt.

Cate and Kellen stepped out of the cool bar into the hot night and immediately spotted Pugg waving at them from across the street.

“Pretend Pugg isn’t here,” Pugg called. “Pugg is a phantom in the night watching over his damsel.”

“Pugg needs a reality check,” Kellen said, taking Cate’s hand.

Cate looked down at her hand in his. It felt nice, but she wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Pretending to be a boyfriend?” she asked.

“No. I just wanted to hold your hand. I don’t think we need to pretend anymore.”

A light mist had started to fall and the sidewalk glistened under the globe lights that hung over Evian’s front door. The temperature was in the low eighties. The sky was black and starless. The few people on the street walked with their heads down, plowing through moist, saturated air that clung to skin and soaked into lightweight fabric. It was a little after eleven and traffic was sporadic.

Pugg was still following across the street when Cate reached her building.

“Pugg’s going home now,” he yelled to Cate. “Call Pugg any time of the day or night if you need anything. Ice cream, pizza, chocolate bars, buttered popcorn, beef burrito, a morning diddle.”

Cate felt Kellen’s grip tighten on her hand. “I’m going to have to talk to him,” Kellen said.

“Ignore him. He said he was going home.”

Kellen released Cate’s hand and moved to cross the street. “I’ll ignore him after I talk to him.”

“No!” Cate said. “You’ll get blood all over your nice white shirt.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I hate this macho shit,” Cate said. “Run Pugg!” she shouted to Patrick Pugg. “Run.”

“Oops,” Pugg said. And he took off before Kellen could make his way through the street traffic.

Kellen turned back to Cate. “You ruined all my fun.”

“You were going to hit him.”

“Only if he didn’t listen to what I was going to say.”

And Kellen knew exactly what he was going to say to Pugg. Truth was Kellen liked Pugg, but Pugg was going to have to understand that it was unacceptable to speak to Cate like that. As far as Kellen was concerned, Cate was his, and he was prepared to protect her from all of the evils of the world. He was going to be the one to slay the dragon and storm the castle. Okay, so probably he would also have to sometimes pick up the dragon’s droppings and take out the castle’s garbage, but those weren’t jobs for the faint of heart either, right?

“My brothers were always beating up my boyfriends. It was awful. After a while no one would date me. I had to go to my prom with my brother Danny.”

“Pugg isn’t your boyfriend.”

Cate opened the front door to her building, and they both stepped inside.

“Next time I’ll let you talk to him, but you have to promise not to hit him.”

“Fine. Can I shoot him?”

Cate rolled her eyes and got into the elevator, and Kellen got in with her.

“You don’t have to see me to my door,” Cate said.

Kellen hit the button for the fourth floor. “Yes, I do. It’s part of the boyfriend code.”

“You’re not actually my boyfriend,” Cate said.

Kellen was standing very close. Close enough for Cate to feel his body heat. Close enough for her to catch a hint of something that smelled masculine and sexy and expensive. A lingering trace of cologne or aftershave.

Kellen closed the small space between them and brushed his lips across hers. “I could be a boyfriend,” he said.

“Not afraid of my brothers?”

“I think I can hold my own.”

“They fight dirty,” Cate said.

“Me too,” Kellen said. And he kissed her again, touching his tongue to hers.

Cate felt the heat rush through her stomach and head south. The elevator doors opened, and Cate debated staying in the kiss as opposed to jumping out and running for the safety of the condo.

“Can’t make up your mind?” Kellen asked.

“I can handle Patrick Pugg. I’m not sure about you.”

Kellen draped an arm around Cate and moved her out of the elevator, down the hall to her condo. “That’s the fun of it. The mystery of it all, the thrill of the unknown, the challenge of the chase.”

“I’m pretty sure I can handle the chase,” Cate said. “I’m worried about the part where you catch me.”

Kellen pulled Cate to him and kissed her, his thumb ever so slightly skimming the underside of her breast.

“Maybe we should get that part over with, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Kellen whispered into her ear.

“Tempting, but too late. I’m feeling a panic attack coming on just thinking about it.”

Kellen grinned down at her. “I could get you liquored up first if you think that would help.”

“A perfectly good suggestion, but I’m going to pass.” Cate turned to her door and inserted her key. “I have a lot of Irish Catholic guilt and scruples to manage. I’m going to need some time.” Plus a full personal disclosure and a physician’s clean bill of health… in writing, Cate thought.

Cate paused with the key still in her hand. “This is weird. The door was unlocked. And I know I locked it.”

“Maybe Marty came home.”

“Marty is fanatical about locking the door. Especially if he’s in the condo.”