Chapter Two
“Happy Birthday!”
Kat raised her glass, clinking it together with the rest of her party, laughing as she repeated the words loud enough to be heard over the music, toasting Jen before swallowing the shot. “Too sweet.”
But that didn’t stop her from taking another one.
“Let’s dance,” Jen said, popping off her stool, grabbing Kat with one hand, Kristine’s with the other. Kat followed them, losing herself in the beat of the music, reveling in being in the hottest dance club in Manhattan with a group of friends, alcohol flowing freely, awesome music, and just being alive.
She raised her arms above her head, matching Jen’s movements, knowing it was hiking her short dress up even further. She’d lost count of how many drinks she’d had, but she had to admit she was feeling pretty good. Not only was it Jen’s birthday, Kat was celebrating her official resignation from the New York State Police Department.
She had taken that doctoral spot she’d been offered at Columbia University. Because as for the world of academia, it was where she belonged, where she fit, though she had tried to deny it after her parents’ murders. Her father had been a professor…
Not tonight, she told herself. Because tonight, for one night, she was part of the New York scene, just another twenty-something out for some fun. Tonight, she was young, full of life, and she was going to enjoy it.
Even if it killed her.
She was moving forward. She had survived.
Now she just had to survive the upcoming week. She’d promised Ethan, couldn’t back out. Besides, she desperately wanted to fix the tension that had grown between them. The tension that had become increasingly worse since she’d run from his house. They’d barely spoken since. And tonight…he’d promised he’d be here, yet was nowhere to be found. Wasn’t answering his phone, wasn’t responding to her texts.
“I need another drink!”
That from Jen. Kat wholeheartedly agreed, following her off the dance floor for another drink she didn’t need, but desperately wanted. They were a party of six tonight, Jen’s friends from the clubs her father owned. With the exception of Brian, Jen’s brother, who was surprisingly cutting loose tonight. A war correspondent, he was only home only for a week before he went overseas again. He caught her eye, gave her a flirtatious smile as he handed Kat another drink. She returned his smile with one of her own. He was seriously good-looking, brown hair and devilish brown eyes that sparkled with interest, so unlike the serious personality he showed the rest of the world. Tonight he was fun, full of jokes and laughter. And Kat supposed that’s what attracted her in the first place, his love of life so like Jen’s. One Kat was just beginning to discover. Or trying to, anyway.
Brian had been flirting with her all night and Kat was seriously considering…something. Something short and sweet. He was leaving in another week. And after tonight, she’d be upstate for the duration of that week. No awkward morning after. She could quietly slip away and by the time she returned, he’d be gone. Maybe it was exactly what she needed. She missed the feel of a man’s hands on her. Missed being wrapped in strong arms, feeling safe and protected. Wanted. And Brian might just give her that for a night.
But she wasn’t sure she was ready.
Not when she still dreamed of a man with black hair and blue eyes.
Jen said something and everybody laughed. Kat laughed along with them even though she’d missed the joke. Brian whispered loudly in her ear and Kat held out her hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor.
“You look amazing tonight, Kat,” Brian yelled over the music, his gaze traveling down her body, back up again, his appreciation obvious. Kat smiled and settled her hands on his shoulders. Her dress caught the disco balls from the ceiling and made her sparkle. Made from thousands of silver sequins, it sparkled everywhere, catching the light so she lit up the dance floor. It was tight, hugging every curve of her body, stopping at a point that would still be considered the tops of her thighs. But it was the neckline that made the dress so very sexy. A very low V, which ended well below her breasts all the way to her sternum, slowly angling up, covering her nipples for sure, but showing plenty of cleavage.
Topped with a pair of silver high-heeled sandals, she looked great, exactly the look she was going for tonight. Young. Beautiful. Free of the past, she reminded herself again. And if she repeated those words enough, she might just begin to believe them.
She gave Brian a sexy smile that made him laugh. He gripped her waist a little tighter as they moved to the music, before he took her hand and spun her around, keeping a tight hold to spin her back in. Kat laughed as she crashed into him, a little unsteady on her feet. “Maybe not a good idea,” she yelled on a laugh. “Not in heels and halfway drunk.”
“Halfway?” Brian asked as he pulled her closer, his hand resting on the small of her back. He was tall, reaching six feet, maybe a little more. His body felt hard beneath her hands and it was so easy to picture him wrapped around her…
“Three-quarters then,” Kat said, smiling up at him. He loosened his grip, moving his hands to her waist again and she moved her body with his, lost again in the music moments later. She could always get lost in the music. One song melded into another and still they danced until Kat was parched.
“One more spin.”
At least she’d been warned. Kat let him spin her out, tugging her hand to reel her in, but she stumbled again. Brian covered it well, bending her back and kissing her softly on the lips while her leg stretched out, just like in those old black and white movies.
Kat laughed again when Brian lifted his mouth. “Nice save, but there really wasn’t room under this dress for much, if you get my point.”
“Jesus, Kat,” Brian groaned, his smile going from flirtatious to something else entirely as he lifted her up, wrapping her arms around his neck. And then he was bending his head toward hers, closing in for another kiss. She let everything go, losing herself in the feel of his lips on hers, the silky slide of his tongue against hers. After the heartbreaking loneliness of the past six weeks, she couldn’t help but need more, want more. And if he didn’t spark the immediate explosion of breath-stealing desire and need she was used to? Well, it still felt amazing to be wanted again, if only for a night. And maybe, just maybe, she’d finally be able to sleep. It’d be a hell of a lot better than how she spent most nights, wandering her tiny apartment, aching for—
“You taste as sweet as I imagined, Kat,” Brian whispered in her ear before taking her mouth again. He lifted her off her feet, his hands strong around her waist as her feet dangled in the air so they were eye to eye. He slowly pulled her closer, her leg brushing against him, feeling his arousal. And that quickly, indecision exploded. She pressed against his shoulders, needing a minute…and froze.
The smile died on her face, her stomach dropping out from under her, as if she was on a rollercoaster, only so, so much worse. Stephen Chandler stood twenty feet away, watching her, slowly stalking toward her, the expression on his face…murderous was the word that came to mind as he glared at the back of Brian’s head.
How the hell had he found her? And the bigger question, why had he found her?
Not for anything good, Kat thought when their gazes collided. Fear, starting with the trembling of her hands, working all the way through every nerve of her body until she damn near shook, overtook her in an instant, battling with the overwhelming desire that was just as intense, just as instant, no matter how hard she tried to push it away.
He looked…cold. Lethal. An expression on his face she’d never seen before. Between the distance separating them and the darkness of the club, his eyes looked as black as his hair, glittering with deadly intent when the disco lights from above fell on his face.
Dressed in jeans and a black button-down shirt, he blended in with every other man in the club. Or at least, he should have blended. But even the other dancers gave him wide berth, as if they could sense the danger Kat felt all the way down to her toes.
Which pissed her off. Or would have rather, if she wasn’t so scared, like she had been caught doing something wrong. But they had no ties to each other. Not after he’d tossed her into another man’s arms and never looked back.
But his expression. It was terrifying. Kat pushed at Brian’s shoulders, stone cold sober now. She thought only about escape, internally replaying the last few minutes, wondering just how much Stephen had seen, how long he’d been there. But he was too close and there was nowhere to hide.
“Kat? You okay?” Brian asked as he slowly dropped her to the floor. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I…uh,” Kat tried to grab his hand, pull him back to their table, hoping by some miracle she could get lost in the crowd. But that certainly wouldn’t happen with her dress, shining like a beacon, a big giant arrow pointing her out every time the lights reflected off her. Perhaps the floor would just open up, swallow her whole and she’d never be seen again.
Brian turned, his curiosity getting the better of him, coming face to face with Stephen. As if sensing danger, he pulled her closer, wrapping a possessive arm tightly around her waist even as Kat tried to wiggle free. And as Stephen closed the final two-foot gap, his gaze locked on Brian, Kat’s brain scrambled. Was she supposed to introduce them?
Brian, meet Stephen, my last weekend fling. Or first weekend fling? First and last weekend fling? Stephen, meet Brian, the man I’m considering fucking next, but haven’t yet made up my mind…
But it was Brian who spoke first, his voice friendly and easy going, belying the tension in his body. Or maybe the tension was her own.
“Brian Fitzgerald.” He held out his hand, which Stephen shook, surprising Kat. From the lethal glint in his expression, she would have thought he’d deck him rather than take his hand. But Stephen, well, he was always controlled, wasn’t he?
Most of the time.
“Stephen Chandler,” he said smoothly, releasing Brian’s hand, his gaze settling on her. The fire blazing in his eyes made goose bumps stand on her arms, even as she felt her palms dampening with sweat. “Kat. We need to talk.”
No hello. No how have you been? No sorry about that voicemail I left a couple weeks ago. Just we need to talk. Somehow Kat managed to find her voice, though it trembled when she spoke. “A-about what?”
“New developments.” His voice was hard. Unwavering. And Kat knew then she wasn’t going to be leaving with Brian or the rest of her party. He’d drag her out of there if he had to, of that she had no doubt.
“At midnight? Couldn’t this have waited—”
“It’s nearly four in the morning,” Stephen said, cutting her off, his voice nearly a growl. His gaze remained on her face, but Kat knew he was still taking in the rest of her. The dress she had so loved, the dress that had made her feel incredibly sexy, now made her feel incredibly exposed. Her fingers itched to tug the dress further down her thighs, pull the too-deep V closer together, but she couldn’t without drawing more attention to either. And there was no way in hell she wanted that.
Jen came up on her left. Kat could have kissed her, she was so relieved. Without waiting for an introduction, she held out her hand to Stephen. “Jen Fitzgerald.”
Stephen had no choice but to break eye contact as Jen all but gushed about being so happy to finally meet him before shooting Kat a look that said way too much. She must have missed something, because the next thing she knew, Brian was leaning toward her, whispering something in her ear before giving her a final squeeze, releasing her when Jen began dragging him away.
“Wait,” Kat said desperately, finally coming out of her frozen stupor. “You’re my ride.”
“Not tonight,” Stephen said, wrapping his large hand around hers, a show of possession even though he no longer had the right. But the shock of desire was instantaneous, like an electrical current running up her arm, straight to her core, calling her a liar. She wondered if he felt it too, but his expression still held that deadly intent, vanishing for only a moment as he smiled at Jen when she came back with her clutch, suddenly all seductive charm that had Jen melting in a puddle at his feet.
“Fix this with him, Kat,” Jen whispered, handing Kat the bag that matched her dress. “Now’s your chance,” she said, loud enough to be overheard. “And call me in the morning. Or afternoon,” she amended, so much innuendo in her laugh it was impossible to miss.
But Kat wanted to run. Run as far and as fast as she could from this man who no doubt blamed her for ruining his life, if the look on his face was anything to go by. Because the second Jen turned, the false charm disappeared as if it never was. His body seemed coiled to strike, though at what, she wasn’t sure. Cowering in fear wasn’t her usual MO, but every instinct was screaming that Stephen was hanging onto his control by one very fine thread. And she wasn’t about to be the one to cut it.
“Try it,” Stephen warned. “See how far you get.” He waited a beat before he spoke again. “We—”
She didn’t hear anything after we. His lips were still moving, his utterly kissable lips that still had the power to weaken her knees, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. But his use of we? That wiped out her fear and her desire, the crushing pain of losing him crashing over her.
Because even though she’d never admit it to Stephen Chandler, he’d broken her heart and in no way had she been prepared for the pain seeing him again would cause. In an effort to protect herself against him, she licked her suddenly dry lips and glanced back at Brian before slowly looking at Stephen again. “There is no we, Chandler. There’s nothing to discuss. There’s no unfinished business between us, no new developments that matter to me. You’re too late.”
“Am I?” His tone was just this side of cruel, the insinuation impossible to miss. Obviously, this was not the same man who’d once used the tone of his voice, his words, and his touch, for seducing her. Not the same man who’d once laughed often and easily. Her heart wept for everything she’d taken from him. Kat tried to take a step back, halted by his hold on her. At least she was able to breathe a little easier with the few inches that now separated them. Until he made a show of letting his gaze rake over her body, lingering on the deep V of her neckline, focusing on the exposed part of her breasts, the tops of her bare thighs. “Seems to me, I’m just in time.”
Kat cringed at the coldness in his eyes. She smiled up at him, a mocking sarcastic smile, her voice saccharine sweet. “Trust me. You’re not.”
Immediately, she regretted the words. The muscle in his jaw tightened and the pressure of his hand on hers increased. But it was the flash of pain that had her berating herself for the callousness of her words.
“Enough with the games, Kat. Tonight’s not the night—”
“For anything,” she hissed. “You show up out of the blue and expect me to go God knows where when you look like you’re ready to kill someone?”
He didn’t respond, just pulled her closer. Then he smiled. But it wasn’t a smile she’d ever seen on his face before. Kat’s heart pounded at the cruel twist of his lips, the coldness glinting in his eyes, the tension tightening his body. “Lucky for you, you’re not the woman I’d like to kill right now.”