Free Heidi and the Kaiser by Selena Kitt Page A

got it bad.” He sighed, moving toward her on the sofa and sliding an arm around her shoulder.
    “You have no idea.” Turning her face toward him now, she pressed her cheek against his chest and let him pull her close.
    “So that’s what’s got you so quiet?” he murmured, kissing the top of her head.
    Had she been quiet? Probably. Her thoughts were full of Kaiser and Andrea and the dread of future possibility. It was like waiting for the shock of some twisted reverse-Christmas-morning. “Sort of.”
    “Tell.”
    She sighed, shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
    “I’ve got all night.” He gave her a gentle, reassuring squeeze and she found herself feeling too safe and secure in the circle of his arms, her guard dissolving. She’d been dying to tell someone …
    “There’s this woman…” she began, and before she knew it, she’d spilled it all, from Kaiser’s training her to Andrea’s stealing her designs, and when she was done, Lenny’s shirt was wet with tears.
    “Oh my god, Heidi…” he murmured, rocking her, and she let him, craving the comfort. “Why didn’t you tell him?”
    “Tell him?” Heidi snorted a laugh, wiping at her face with the back of her hand and finding it streaked with mascara. She’d changed into jeans and a t-shirt when she got home, but had forgotten how made up she was. What a mess…”I can’t tell him. I can’t prove anything.”
    “You think he won’t believe you?” Lenny pulled the end of his shirt out from his belt and wiped at her tears, mascara and all, leaving black streaks on the khaki material.
    Heidi shrugged, looking and feeling miserable. “Why should he believe me? It’s my word against hers. And this is Andrea Paxton we’re talking about.”
    “You’ve changed on the outside, but you’re the same old Heidi.” Lenny shook his head slowly as he pulled her close again. He smelled like pretzels and beer and aftershave, which wasn’t an unpleasant combination, but was so far from the smells of the man she was longing for she suddenly found it more pain than comfort to be in his arms.
    “I know.” Heidi bent her head, closing her eyes. “I’m pathetic.”
    “No, you’re not.” Lenny lifted her chin, cupping her tear-stained face in his hands.
    “You’re bright and beautiful and sweet…”
    She met his gaze, surprised into silence by his words, but even more so by the look in his eyes. She knew that look. She hadn’t seen it often in her life, but enough to recognize it.
    “Why do you think I called you?” Lenny asked, his gaze moving down to her mouth, pausing there, and she found it suddenly hard to breathe.
    “I don’t know…” she lied. She did know, now, even if she hadn’t before.
    “Don’t do this thing with Kaiser,” he pleaded, his thumbs stroking her cheeks.
    “What thing?”
    “This thing.” His mouth captured hers in one easy motion, so quickly she didn’t have time to protest, although somehow she had felt it coming. He didn’t just smell like pretzels and beer, he tasted like it, too. The kiss was soft but not tentative, his mouth beginning to explore hers. The sensation was enjoyable, but…
    “Lenny…” She broke free, gasping for breath, but his hands were moving in her hair, down her back, tugging her shirt up and seeking the skin at her waist. His mouth moved over her jaw, her neck, her ear, back to her mouth, and she let him kiss her again. It had been a long time since a man had kissed her, and she found herself gauging her own response like some curious scientist.
    Kaiser had never kissed her. She had wanted it, longed for it, dreamed about it, but his mouth had never touched hers. She found herself thinking about Kaiser’s mouth, his perpetual frown. How many times had she imagined their first kiss?
    “Oh, Heidi…” Lenny moaned against her lips, and she realized she’d been fervently responding, lost in her fantasy. He had her half pulled into his lap, and she could feel him, hard, against her