And when the first, shattering jolts hit her system, she tore her mouth free of his, whispered his name and clung to him desperately. Moments later, while she shivered and trembled in his arms, he allowed himself to follow her and she held him tightly as his body exploded into hers.
Six
“That’s it,” he whispered. “Unconscious for real now.”
“I feel great,” she admitted with a happy sigh.
He looked down into her eyes and shook his head. “You’re amazing.”
“Why am I amazing?” she asked, reaching up to smooth his thick black hair off his forehead.
Studying her for a moment or two, he finally said, “Most women right now would be either regretting what just happened—”
“Not me,” she said.
“—or they’d be silently planning how to make this a little more permanent.”
Katie frowned and shook her head. “Also not me.”
“I’m getting that,” he said and rolled to one side of her, pulling her with him though, so that she rested her head on his shoulder.
Snuggling close, Katie listened to the steady beat of his heart and the quiet, every-night noises of her old house. Wind rattled her windows and the familiar creaks and groans of the house settling sounded like whispers from friends.
She felt wonderful. Better than she had in too long to remember. But, she had heard what Rafe had to say and she knew he was probably right. A lot of women right now would be plotting how to keep him in their beds. In their lives. And, she had to admit, at least silently, that it would have been easy for her to fall into that category.
But she wasn’t going to fool herself or tell herself comforting lies. She knew this one night wasn’t the beginning of a “relationship.” If not for remodeling her kitchen, she never would have met Rafe Cole. This wasn’t your ordinary dating situation, she thought firmly. He hadn’t made her any promises and she hadn’t asked for any.
She rose up and braced her folded arms on his chest. Her hair was in her eyes, so she shook it back and looked at him squarely. Might as well have this conversation now, she told herself and gave him a sad smile.
“Uh-oh,” he murmured. “That’s not a this-was-great-let’s-do-it-again smile, is it?”
“No,” she told him and moved one hand to smooth his hair back from his forehead. If her fingers lingered a little longer than necessary, who was to know? “This was lovely, Rafe. Really. But—”
He frowned at her, did a quick roll and had her under him in the blink of an eye. Now he was looming over her and his blue gaze was fixed and sharp. “But what?”
She sighed. “I just don’t think we should do this again, that’s all.”
“You’re dumping me?”
“Well, we’re not really a couple, so it’s not really dumping you, but, yes. I guess so.”
“I don’t believe this.” He sounded astonished and Katie admitted silently that he probably wasn’t used to women turning him away. Any man who looked like he did had to have women clinging to him like cat hair. She chuckled a little at her pitiful analogy and his frown deepened.
“This is funny, too?”
“No, sorry.” She stroked her hand up and down his arm, tracing the line of his well-defined muscles and barely restraining another sigh of appreciation. “No, this isn’t funny. I just had a weird thought and—”
He snorted. “Perfect. So not only are you dumping me, but you can’t even focus on the task?”
“Why are you getting angry?”
“Why the hell wouldn’t I be?”
Katie felt a small spurt of irritation shoot through her. “Just a second ago, you were proud of me for not making more of this than there was.”
“Yeah, but—”
“And now you’re mad for the same reason?”
He blew out a breath and stared at her for a long second. “This isn’t the usual response I get from women, so pardon the hell out of me if I’m a little surprised.”
“Surprised, sure. But mad? Why?” Her minor irritation faded and she gave him a patient smile. “You feel the same way, you know you do. I just said it first. I would think you’d be glad for my reaction.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not,” he muttered, pulling away. He leaned back against the headboard and threw one arm behind his head. Giving her a look that probably should have worried her, he said, “So exactly what was tonight about, Katie?”
“Us,” she said and scooted to sit beside him. Absently, she tugged the sheet up to cover her br**sts. “We both wanted this, Rafe. And I thought, why shouldn’t we have it?”
“And that’s it?”
“Yes.” Well, not completely of course, she thought. She did care for him and if she spent too much more time with him, she could come to care a lot more. Which would be a huge mistake. Yes, Rafe was a great guy, but she didn’t trust herself anymore to know the good guys from the creeps.
Cordell King had seemed like a sweetie at first, too. Then he’d had a diamond bracelet overnighted to her along with a note saying they “were just too different to make a longer relationship work.” Translation, she’d always known was really, I’m rich, you’re poor, goodbye.
So, she’d been wrong about Cordell. And confidence in her character-reading skills was low. Nope. Better she bury herself in work for a year or two and then she’d get back out there. Oh, she was glad she’d had this night with Rafe. But she wasn’t going to build a future out of it. Still, she knew now that she could get back into the world and one day she’d look for a man like Rafe, she told herself. Someone strong and kind and honest.
“I don’t believe you,” he said grimly. “Something else is going on here and I want to know what it is.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Katie. You like me. I know you do. So why’re you cutting me loose before the sheets are even cold?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
He grabbed her, pulled her across his lap and held her tightly to him. “Yeah. It does. To me.”
Being this close to him really wasn’t a good idea when she was trying to be logical and rational, Katie thought. She fought down the impulse to slide her palms across his broad, muscular chest and said, “You’re taking this all wrong, Rafe.”
“What did you expect? That I’d just get dressed, say thanks for the roll in the hay and then leave?”