Page 48 of Bang Buddies With Benefits
Boy, was I wrong.
Or more accurately, I’d kicked the hornets’ nest much harder than I’d meant to. It’d stung everyone involved. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to be the one as much as she wanted to get married and have kids.
That’s where this extra bitterness is coming from.The revelation hit me dead center in the chest, and the fight leaked out of the resulting hole.All the planning she’s doing for Noah’s and Jeremy’s wedding is serving as a reminder of what she’d hoped for herself.
Yeah, I’d given my disclosures at the beginning of our relationship. It hadn’t prevented me from seeing the signs that she was hoping for more, and since I did care about her, I thought maybe one day I’d wake up and magically feel ready for that next step.
In retrospect, I should’ve owned up to the miscommunications, mixed signals, and misunderstandings rather than shrugging it off with the disclaimer that I’d been upfront. As if she wasn’t allowed to change her mind. Instead, I’d forced her to be the bad guy while clinging to my chill guy persona. That dude couldn’t get hurt, way he’d been when his father died, because he’d shut that part of him down.
Pride clamped my throat and jaw, but I didn’t let that stop me. “I’m so sorry, Julia. For everything that went down, and all the hurt and heartache I caused you. I really am.”
In any other situation, the three astonished expressions across the table would’ve been hilarious.
My brain rushed off to somewhere else, though. Namely, someone else.
I wasn’t sure what it was about Catalina that’d tapped into the part of me I’d unwittingly shut off.
I thought of cocktails, and how it took the right mixture of sweet, sour, and spice. How keys could slide into more than one lock sometimes, but it took having all the tumblers and pins perfectly lined up for it to open up.
And now here I was, trying to make sense out of a profound emotion that poets and song writers had tried to put into words for centuries.
No. That can’t be right. I’m not…
The chime over the door sounded, and I automatically glanced toward it. The sexy woman who entered the shop calmed the tempest within me as thoroughly as she roused my passion and adoration. And I nearly knocked over my chair, I leaped out of it so fast.
22
Zac
“Over here, honey.” I couldn’t wait a second longer, though, and it had nothing to do with our audience. I met Catalina halfway, scooping her into my arms and planting a kiss on her lips.
My taste of her only increased my craving. I thrust my tongue deeper inside, stroking and riling, and expressing how much I’d missed her this week.
Judging from her wobble as I lowered her to her high-heeled feet, I’d not only taken her by surprise, but she was also as affected by the kiss as I was.
“Sorry I’m late.” Catalina smoothed a hand down her curls, not that it undid what today’s humidity had done to them. They were more pronounced and slightly wild, and I couldn’t wait until later tonight when I was plunging my fingers through the silky strands. “The photo evidence was called into question, and the other side insists on having their own expert authenticate it. They’re just trying to drag it out, the bastards, but it means I’ll have to study the photos again and…”
Her voice wavered, and then she clamped her lips. “I’ll spare you the details and just say it made a long, rough day even longer and rougher.”
“Go into as much detail as you want to,” I said, and more, I meant it. Her movements were jerky, her thoughts somewhere else entirely. I cupped her cheek. “Are you okay? If you need to get out of here—”
“I’m fine.” The words were meant to convince herself as much as me. “How are you holding up? Did they deny your request for representation and put you on trial without me?”
When it took me a whole second to open my mouth to answer, Catalina tugged at the bottom of her suit coat and making every inch of her petite frame count. “Sounds like it’s time to release the courtroom shark. It’ll feel good after the day I’ve had.” She started past me, plowing through the opening, and I quickly stepped into her path, gripping her hips and barring her way. The urge to rant and have someone on my side was tempting, but peace was still the end game.
“I appreciate the offer. It’d be fun to watch, too, if the goal wasn’t toavoiddrama. Plus, I think the Carrington sisters and I just agreed to a sort of truce.”
“You did?” she asked, skepticism and a hint of disappointment in her expression.
I lifted my hand and smoothed the crinkle between her eyebrows with my thumb. “It remains to be seen.” I skimmed the pad down to her nose, tapping it, before swiping it across the seam of her lips. “I do know that I’m happy you’re here, and honestly, that’s all that matters.”
It didn’t cause the smile I’d been hoping for, the one with the dimple.
My brother and Jeremy were headed back to the table, so I grabbed hold of Cat’s hand and rushed to intercept them. A week or two ago, it would be more for show. In the here and now, I wanted the two people I considered family in this room to meet her without an audience.
“Catalina, this is my brother, Noah, and his fiancé, Jeremy. Guys, this is my fian—girlfriend.”Shit.Between referring to my brother’s betrothed, the fact that I’d called Catalina’s office yesterday to confirm this appointment, and my self-reflections, I’d nearly created the drama we were going to try to avoid.
Amusement lit Noah’s eyes, the quirk of his mouth and uptick of his eyebrow calling me out on my very real feelings. If he could see them so plainly, could Catalina? Was that why I hadn’t gotten the dimpled smile? Was I unintentionally doing to her what Julia had done to me, pushing her for more before she was ready?
