Erica Lucke Dean - To Katie with Love (12 page)

THE CABERNET FLU

F
riday morning, I woke up feeling like crap. My formerly phony headache pounded behind my eyes, and I was cold. I would have thought it was karma, but I’d never actually
used
the headache excuse.

Through the window, I saw a sliver of daylight beginning to crest the horizon, but it hadn’t managed to lighten the sky yet. I’d stayed up way too late, hoping Cooper would call. I knew I was being silly, but I didn’t expect him to ignore me for the entire day. That was probably why I’d drunk a whole bottle of wine by myself, and if the taste in my mouth was any indication, I’d eaten that cat I didn’t own.

Who does this? Katie James, that’s who
. I was clearly being ridiculous. I used to get along perfectly well without a man in my life, so why was I suddenly unable to make it through a single evening without a phone call? What did Cooper even see in me besides a pathetic girl with nothing better to do on a Thursday night than read romance novels and make up imaginary pets?

I rolled over to look at the clock upside down on the nightstand. If my eyes could be trusted, it was just before seven. With a hand pressed to each side of my head, I sat up. I had to make a decision: either get up and go to work or call in sick. I fell back against the pillows and stared out the window. The light was spreading upward, and a pale blue color took the place of the dark purple.

I had expected my mother to call me last night, too. I left her four messages from work telling her I really did have a date the other night. I knew I would regret it later, but I wanted my mother to know I was actually happy, especially since I finally fit within her definition of happiness. But that was before I didn’t hear from him all night.

I reached for my phone to call Phil and let him know I had the cabernet flu, but my cell wasn’t on the nightstand. I fished under my pillows, but it wasn’t there either. I rolled to the side of the bed and looked on the floor. No cell phone.

Crap!
I had to actually get out of the bed.

It was cold… the kind of cold I thought only existed in Connecticut with my mother. I was horrified to admit, even to myself, that I’d hoped Cooper would show up at my door late last night in search of a goodnight kiss. I’d wanted to be dressed in something thoroughly unforgettable, so I’d fallen asleep in Cooper’s coat and one of my new bra and panty sets. Well, I was certain
I
would never forget my stupidity, thinking he would care enough to come see me.

I pulled his jacket tightly around me and climbed out of bed in search of my missing cell phone. I tried to remember when I’d seen it last. I knew I had it when I came home. I thought so, anyway. I checked my purse, but it wasn’t there.

Finally, I fished through the pockets of Cooper’s coat.
Bingo!
I’d had it all along. I flipped it open to call Phil, and to my horror, I had twenty-four missed calls. I clicked on the call log and scrolled down to view the times. There were five missed calls from my mother.

The rest were from Cooper. My heart sank. He’d started calling me at five thirty and stopped just after one in the morning. I had gotten drunk alone for no reason. Not that there was
ever
a good reason for that, but there went my bad reason, too.

Now, I really feel sick.

I couldn’t imagine why I hadn’t heard the phone ring, even if it was in the jacket pocket.
Leather isn’t exactly soundproof.

I flipped through the menus on my phone and shook my head as I discovered the problem. I had turned off my ringer and never turned it back on. I didn’t remember turning it off. Maybe someone else did it as a prank. It was not a funny prank, if they did.

Damn. Damn. Damn.
I was afraid to listen to my voicemail, so I just highlighted Cooper’s number and hit Send.

He answered on the first ring. “Katie?” he said in a frantic tone.

“Hi,” I replied in my familiar pathetic girl voice.

“I’ve been worried sick about you. Where have you been?”

I sighed. “It’s a really long story,” I said, feeling incredibly guilty for doubting him. “Basically, I forgot to turn my cell phone ringer back on, and I missed all of your calls. Plus five from my mother, but she suspects I don’t know how to operate a cell phone anyway. And I drank an entire bottle of cabernet, thinking you didn’t want to talk to me.” The tears came, and I didn’t even try to stop them.

“Of course I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been worried sick. I even came by your house a few times and rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.”

“Really?” I didn’t know how to feel about that. I was happy he wanted to see me so badly, but I was on the verge of tears knowing he had been ringing my stupid broken doorbell while I was lying in my bed, curled up in his coat, wearing sexy lingerie and drinking really bad wine.

“Really,” he said gently. “Why didn’t you answer the door?”

“My doorbell doesn’t work.” More tears spilled out.

“Katie, don’t cry. We have lots of evenings ahead of us. Don’t be upset about one missed opportunity.”

“But I’m wearing lingerie.” A sob shook me.

“I’m on my way over,” he teased. At least, I thought he was teasing. “Are you going to work today?”

“I’m calling in sick,” I said, reining in the tears. “I feel sort of horrible.” I climbed back into my warm bed and placed the phone between my head and the pillow.

“Would you like it if I came over?”

“Uh huh.” I didn’t really care anymore if he noticed how pathetic I was. Being sophisticated and sexy all the time was hard work. Besides, before I drank all the wine and ate the damn cat, I’d cleaned my townhouse so I wouldn’t be embarrassed about that. I even washed my sheets.

“Cooper, where are you?” I asked in my sexiest voice, although I was pretty certain I already knew. He was probably still in bed.

“I’m in the car, almost to your house.”

“What?” I sat up too quickly and immediately regretted it. I held one hand to the side of my head.

“Didn’t you say you wanted me to come over?” I could almost hear his lopsided grin.

“Yes, but I didn’t think you were on the way.” I jumped out of the bed and sprinted into the bathroom to find my toothbrush. I couldn’t have cat breath when I was certain he would smell of peppermint, as usual.

“I’ll be there in about three minutes. Come let me in.” He hung up.

I squeezed a large blob of toothpaste onto my toothbrush and checked out my reflection as I brushed my teeth. Dark rings of mascara circled my eyes, and with the foam bubbling out of my mouth, I was a full-on rabid raccoon. Once I’d rinsed off the makeup, I didn’t look half bad. My hair was tousled in a sort of sexy way, and I was wearing the sexiest underwear I owned. Thank God—and Vicky—I’d shaved yesterday.

I slipped out of his warm jacket and snatched the blanket off the bed to wrap it around me like a cape as I flew down the stairs. I opened the door, and there he was. “Hi.”

“Hi back,” he said in a sleepy voice.

I stepped behind the door as he came in then closed and locked it behind him.

He wrapped his arms all the way around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. He held me there for a long moment before releasing me. “I was so worried about you.”

I winced. “I’m sorry.”

He bent down and kissed me softly. “It’s okay… now that I know you’re safe.”

“The only danger to me was myself, I’m afraid.” I managed to laugh as I tugged the blanket further around me. “You look like you didn’t sleep. Is that my fault?”

He shrugged.

“Maybe you should lie down.” I bit my lip.

He seemed to notice the blanket wrapped around me for the first time and raised an eyebrow.

I smirked. “If you can handle it.”

“I think I can
handle
it fine.”

I only barely caught his double entendre. I led the way up the stairs to my room and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Have you noticed we don’t do living rooms?”

He gave me a quizzical look.

“I’ve been to your house twice, and I’ve only seen the inside of your bedroom, and you come to my house, and we end up in the bedroom.”

He laughed. “I hadn’t noticed until you mentioned it. I guess we’re good in the bedroom.”

I arched an eyebrow. “That remains to be seen.”

He sat beside me. “Is that a challenge?”

“I don’t know.” I blushed. “Phil!” I shouted.

He frowned. “That was… unexpected.”

“Ewww.” I laughed. “I need to call Phil to tell him I’m sick.”

I reached behind me to grab my phone, and I rolled onto my stomach while I dialed. It took a few rings for him to pick up. “Hey, it’s Katie. I’m not feeling well today. I think I might have the flu.” I laughed nervously.
The cabernet flu.

“I guess that put a damper on your romantic plans for last night. I’m sure Prince Charming was devastated.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Cooper. “Not really. I didn’t hear from him all evening.”

“Well, color me shocked. Should I fill him in if he shows up here looking for you?”

“Sure, if he comes in, you can tell him I’m sick.”

“Feel better, and tell Maxwell I said hi.”

“Uh… thanks. I’ll see you Monday. Bye.” I snapped my phone shut and tucked it under my pillow. I giggled and rolled until I was on my side with my head propped up with one arm. “Phil said hi.”

His eyes widened. “Does he know I’m here?”

“I can’t really be sure, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to work today. Besides, he won’t care. I refuse to tell him this, but he’s always been more than fair with me. It’s a good thing, too. I was supposed to see Dean again today. Phil thinks he has a major crush on me,” I added for good measure.

“I’m sure Dean isn’t the only one.” Cooper’s eyes darkened, and his jaw tensed.

“Don’t worry. It’s pretty obvious my heart belongs to someone else.” That was as close as I could get to saying what he wanted to hear. But it seemed enough because he got that hungry look in his eyes again.

“Is that so?” he asked.

When I nodded, he reached down to hook my wrist with one hand and pulled me upright again, barely brushing his lips against mine. “I almost forgot.” He fished into his pocket. “I got this for you.” He pulled out a gold bangle as wide as one of his fingers with a small silver bell-shaped charm dangling from the clasp.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking it and trying to make out the swirly inscription across the top. “Hen… Henry, Earl of Catnip?” My eyes shot up to his. I was rendered speechless.

He swept a tendril of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “Since your imaginary cat now has a name, I decided he also needed a collar to keep him safe. But since imaginary cats have no place to
wear
a collar, I figured you could wear it for him.” A faint blush colored his cheeks.

“This is too much. I can’t—”

“Please, I want you to have it.” He coaxed the bracelet from my fingers, slid it over my wrist, and locked it into place with a smile. “Besides, it’s already engraved, so unless someone else has a cat with the same name, we’re kind of stuck with it.”

“Cooper, it’s beautiful. I… I don’t know what to say.” My eyes roamed over his face, pausing on his lips.

“You know I’m going to kiss you now, right?” he growled.

I almost gasped from the intensity of the stomach ripple that followed. “I had hoped.” I managed a whisper, but my breathing wasn’t even, and my heart had picked up speed.

“Katie, if I kiss you right now, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop at just kissing, especially with you wearing this.” He tugged lightly on the blanket.

I knew he wasn’t referring to my taste in bedding, but what I was wearing under it. And he hadn’t even seen it yet. I let the blanket fall off my shoulder, exposing the top swell of one breast and the sheer lace encasing it.

He let out a moan and closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to gain control of himself. He whispered my name.

That undid me further, so I let the blanket fall all the way to my waist, giving him a view of the entire lace bra and its contents. I shivered and became intimately aware of what the cold was doing to my body and how he would react to that.

“Damn.” He closed the space between us, crushing his lips against mine in a kiss that sucked the oxygen from my lungs in a violent rush.

I found myself gasping for breath as his tongue tangled with mine in the most sensual kiss I had ever experienced. His hands slid down my arms, lightly grazing the sides of my breasts, as mine slid up his back. I felt his hands splayed out over my waist. My breath came out in little pants as I waited impatiently for him to explore further, but he managed to maintain some control even while I tangled my fingers into his hair, pulling his face harder against mine.

I nipped at his lips with my teeth, and he moaned into my mouth. I had no idea how he was holding on to that reserved control—I had already abandoned mine even before he touched me. I wanted him to lose control. So much. I snaked one hand between us to undo the buttons on his shirt.

He pulled my hand away. “Not so fast,” he whispered against my lips.

It wasn’t fair. I needed the feel of his skin against mine.

He slid his hand across my stomach and rested it against the swell of my breast. He continued to kiss me until I was half delirious. He sucked on my bottom lip, then released it to tangle his tongue with mine. I thought he was trying to kill me.

“Take me now, Cooper,” I whispered in desperation.

He chuckled hoarsely. “I’m getting to that.”

I couldn’t help it. I found that funny and laughed. It was going to be a slow death. Well, if I was going to die, at least I was with him. A surge of emotion coursed through me, and I knew exactly what I had to do.

“Cooper?” I murmured.

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

To my horror, he stopped kissing me. He pulled away and stared into my eyes for a long minute. “What did you say?”

“I said… I love you.” I sucked in a steadying breath and smiled. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I know we’ve only been a couple…
officially
, for a few days, but I do, I love you.”

Those three little words seemed to shatter every bit of his control. With one yank, the buttons on his white shirt flew in every direction. He pulled it from his shoulders and tossed it to the floor. His mouth found mine again, and his skin was hot where it touched me. His hands explored up and down my body, only briefly pausing to slide the lace away and toss it aside.

I squirmed beneath him, unable to meet his eyes as I lay across my bed wearing absolutely nothing. He hovered above me in only his gray slacks.

“God…” His breath hitched. “You’re beautiful.”

I splayed my hands against his chest and slid them down to his flat stomach, feeling a shudder go through him as I fumbled to unbuckle his belt. Then my shaky fingers slipped under the waistband of his pants to unfasten the button.

His lips trailed from my collarbone down to my breasts and over my stomach. I was dizzy and close to tears.

I reached down and knotted my hands in his hair again, jerking his face up to mine. “I promise we can do this again later, I just need you… inside me… right now.” It was so very true, self-evident really, that I surprised myself by feeling no embarrassment in saying it. So I said it again. “Take me, Cooper.”

His lips turned up in a beautiful smile, and he kissed me as he slid his pants down his legs until I could feel the length of him pressing against me. He grabbed my leg to hitch it up against his hip and, with a deep growl, filled me completely.

His fingers curled around my shoulders, anchoring him to me. “My beautiful Katie, can you feel what you do to me? How crazy you make me?” he whispered as he made earthshattering love to me.