Cougar Wants [Cougarlicious] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

“I promised Mike I’d be there by seven
,
so we could finish framing in the room and maybe get the roof on,” Tate said just before she heard the bathroom door click closed.

“Well damn,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen.

Turning on the coffeemaker, she looked down at herself and grinned, deciding not to pull on pants quite yet. Let Tate regret putting work over their mutual need. By the time he entered the kitchen, the coffeepot was half-full. She was leaning against the counter sipping her first mug of the day and slowly waking up. A second mug sat on the counter beside her.

“Oh, now that’s a sight worth waking up for,” he said with a grin as his eyes scanned down her body then back up again.

“I didn’t know how you liked your coffee,” she grumped. “But then, I don’t know a lot about you.”

She watched as he added milk and sugar to his mug. When he took a sip and moaned in appreciation, she could not help but smile. So he was a coffee
-a
holic, too. At least they had that in common.

He leaned a hip against the counter with only inches separating them. “Sorry I woke you up so early.”

“Not a problem,” she replied before taking another sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes as she felt the caffeine enter her system.

They continued drinking in silence. When he finished his, he rinsed out his mug and set it in the dish drainer.

“Can I take some with me?”

“Uh-huh,” she grunted.

He disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later with the biggest steel travel mug she had ever seen.

“Wow,” she said as he opened it, rinsed it out, then put a large amount of milk and sugar in.

“Even more amazing is that the coffee stays hot until lunchtime.”

He emptied the rest of the fresh brewed coffee into the mug. Screwing on the lid, he picked it up and shook it for several seconds. Kimber watched silently, only raising an eyebrow when he shook the mug like a cocktail shaker.

Once he seemed satisfied the coffee was ready to go, he wrapped the arm not holding the mug around her back and pulled her into his chest. Lowering his head, he licked across her lips and then gave her a deep, wet kiss that raised Kimber’s temperature to near boiling once again. At the same time, he pressed his erection into her hip.

“I’ll see you later,” he said
,
sounding strained as he released her and headed for the front door.

“You kiss me like that and then just walk out?” Kimber yelled as she followed him to the front door.

Tate turned in the doorway and raked his eyes up and down her body. She quivered in response to the heat she saw in his eyes. “Anticipation is a good thing. I’ll be home as soon as I can
,
and
I’ll
make it up to you. Just remember, no playing without me,” he said with a grin.

Kimber waited to scream out her frustration until after he winked and pulled the door closed behind him. The laughter she heard from the porch told her that he had heard her.

Over the next weeks, Kimber became well acquainted with anticipation and frustration. Tate was rarely home except to sleep
,
as he had told her before moving in. In the beginning, Kimber would fall asleep in her bed, but would wake up in Tate’s bed, in his arms. Finally, she gave up and started sleeping in his room
,
though
she
kept her things in her room.

Her mother had been disappointed that Tate had passed on not one but three dinner invitations. Since she had seen the man in the flesh, she did not accuse Kimber of making her new roommate up, but
she
did begin to wonder aloud with increasing frequency whether the man might not have some other woman in his life. The way he was reacting, Kimber was beginning to wonder that for herself.

On the few days that rain kept him from working, Kimber hoped for a day in bed with her mate. Instead, Tate spent the time running errands or washing the mountain of clothes that quickly accumulated in his bedroom. As the clothes washed and dried, he cooked several casseroles. Once they cooled, he packed plastic containers with the food to take to work with him.

“You know, I’m here and have time
.
I could do some of this stuff for you,” she offered when he looked like he was dozing off while standing at the stove where he was browning hamburger.

“You’re my mate, not my mother. Besides, you have work of your own you’re supposed to be doing,” he said, sounding grumpy and exhausted as he stared at the browning meat instead of looking at her.

Stung by his rejection, Kimber retreated to her office and quietly closed the door. Though she did have several new covers for her two new publishers to design, Kimber wanted to be with her mate and not working. They spent so little time together that for him to be in one room and her in another caused an ache in her heart. Everything she had learned about mates from Tate
,
as well as extensive searching on the Internet, made her think something was very wrong with their relationship.

But she found she could not work. How could she come up with sexy, loving pictures for romantic novels when her own romance was sliding down the drain? What was wrong with her that he didn’t want her any longer? Was it because of her age? Or the fact that she designed sexy pictures for sexy books? Or was it something else?

Instead of taking the bull by the horns and confronting Tate, she stayed in her office as tears rolled down her cheeks. For some reason her spunky, snarky attitude disappeared when dealing with Tate. She wanted to take care of him, wash his clothes, cook his food,
and
rub his sore muscles after a long hard day of work, but she did not want him thinking of her actions as those of a mother, but of a loving mate wanting to make his life easier.

Finally
,
she put her earbuds in, turned on her computer, and forced herself to work. She lost track of time
,
though her mind really wasn’t on the covers she created. By the time she e
-
mailed the last cover off, she had come to the conclusion that it was time they had a talk about being mates versus roommates and how she could not continue living like this.

She was checking
her
e
-
mail when she thought she heard the doorbell, but did not move to answer it. She didn’t want to face Tate just yet. When a large, warm hand touched her shoulder, she jumped and squeaked.

Pulling her earbuds off, she turned to face Tate. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” he said, frowning as he studied her face. “Your parents are here. Are you okay?”

Kimber stood and stepped around him, suddenly aware of her puffy eyes and the dried tears on her cheeks. “I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, sounding doubtful, but not calling her on the obvious lie.

As she headed down the hall, she heard him walk into his room and close the door. Her fire returning, she wanted to confront him but first needed to get rid of her parents.

“Mom, Dad, what brings you here?” she asked, pasting a smile on her face as she stepped into the living room.

“We want to talk to you,” her father said from the chair by the door. That was where he always sat when they came to visit. Her mother sat on the couch as close to her father as she could get.

“About what?” Kimber sat on the opposite end of the couch.

Her father looked uncomfortable and did not speak until her mother nudged his leg with her foot. “I...we…wanted to give you this,” he said, passing an envelope to her mother who then handed it to her. It took another nudge from her mother before he continued. “It was wrong of me to not support your choice of careers. I just don’t understand why you won’t go back to work for the advertising agency or get another job. One with benefits and a retirement plan.”

“Dad, working for myself at this job makes me happy. I know you have difficulty with it, but I’m doing okay
.
I’m surviving
,
and I picked up two more publishers the last couple of weeks and will soon be able to pay for my own retirement and benefits.”

“Then why are you renting a room to that young man?” her mother asked. “The one who answered the door. The one who you were…um...”

“The one I’m sleeping with? Because I can,” Kimber broke in and answered simply. “Yes, he’s young. Yes, he’s living here. Yes, we are lovers. Face it, Mom
and
Dad, your daughter’s become a cougar.”

She ignored her mother’s gasp and focused on her father. Standing
,
she offered him the envelope. “Want this back now?”

Her father shook his head, but his face grew redder by the second. His jaw muscles worked as if he was trying to keep from raging.

“Mom, Dad, I’m working at a job you don’t like or understand
,
and
I’m
living with a younger man. If you’re embarrassed to admit that to your friends then don’t talk about me. I’m forty years old and tired of trying to please everyone else while I’m miserable with my life. I like my job and being with Tate. Now, I need to get back to work
.
I
s there anything else?”

“I just don’t understand you,” her mother finally sputtered as she pushed to her feet and headed for the front door. “We’re here to help you not have to rent out a room
,
and you’re throwing it in our face
s
. And we have yet to properly meet your young man.”

“Mom, Tate works three jobs
.
T
oday is the first day he’s not worked since moving in a month ago. You will meet him someday when he’s not exhausted and busy.”

Her mother calmed down
,
and though she tried several times to get them out the door, her parents stayed for nearly an hour. They spent the time catching her up on their life and subtly questioning her about her life, Tate, and their life together. When they finally left, Kimber felt like she’d been dragged backward through the ringer.

Once she was certain they were gone and
would
not be returning, she walked down the hall to Tate’s room.

“They’re gone
.
I
t’s safe to come out now,” she said as she pushed the door open.

Tate didn’t answer. He was sprawled across the bed, sound asleep.

Before she could join him, the oven timer sounded. With a sigh, she
went to the kitchen
and turned off the stove
before
taking
two large casserole dishes out of the oven. Then she returned to the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, snuggling up beside her sleeping mate.

She gently settled a hand on his tousled hair and stroked it with a smile. He needed another haircut.

“Kimber,” he murmured, rolling to his side and shifting so her front was snuggled against his back.

“Yes, love, I’m here,” she said
,
wrapping one arm around his waist. She slowly rubbed her hand up and down the center of his chest. “Sleep, my cougar. Rest well
,
and have sweet dreams of me.”

* * * *

Kimber’s sad appearance when he told her that her parents had arrived poked a hole in Tate’s heart. He was stressed from too much work and not enough time and in a bad mood because of the weather, but taking it out on his mate only added guilt to the swirl of negativity twisting around inside him.

Instead of joining her and meeting her parents, which he had no doubt was their reason for visiting unannounced, he retreated to his room. He wasn’t ready to meet them and couldn’t be sure he would ever want to meet the people who were so entwined in his mate’s life.

His bed called to him. Exhausted, he laid down for just a few minutes, he told himself. The next thing he knew, Kimber had curled up beside him and was petting him in a way that untied some of the knots in his gut. He knew she felt neglected
and
knew he was throwing up walls between them, but
he
did not know how to live any differently.

For nearly half his life
,
he had been alone and able to count only on himself. But now he had a mate who was feeling unnecessary in his life. Maybe it was time to rethink his singular focus on work and reaching his financial goals and learn how to share with his mate.

Pulling Kimber closer, he took a deep breath and settled back into sleep
,
promising to fix things between them as soon as he could.

* * * *

Another week passed
,
and Kimber felt no closer to Tate. There was a bug going around
,
and instead of working
only
two nights
for Petey’s
, Tate had worked every night that week, covering for other drivers. The only time she saw him was early each morning, and usually she got a quick kiss and a good look at his naked ass as he crawled out of bed and started his day.