Free HellKat by Robyn Roze

tomorrow.
    “I already have lunch plans.”
    “With your ex -boyfriend?”
    Kat scowled. “Yes, Tucker. I’m at least going to have the decency to talk to him in person.”
    “Oh. Thought maybe you could just text him or somethin’.” He tucked his lips together in a grin.
    “How long are you even going to be here?” she asked, holding her breath. She recognized the faraway look, the dreamy state, his eyes lingering on her lips. He’d gone back to that night, their night. The powerful vibe from him was unmistakable. He wanted to kiss her, to touch her. He appeared stuck, at war with himself. Kat flushed with intense heat at her own memories melding with his, drawing her nearer. Then she shoved the thoughts aside, determined her brain would rule this time, not the impatient throbbing between her legs.
    “Snap out of it, Williams. Your memories are going to have to keep you warm tonight.”
    His eyes traveled the short distance to hers, oblivious to the question she’d asked.
    “How long are you going to be in New York?”
    He waited a few beats, held her stare. “As long as it takes.”
    She cleared away the lump of desire in her throat, and refocused. “For ...?”
    “For you to feel comfortable enough to come back to Montana with me for a spell.”
    He seemed to have returned to the present.
    “A spell? What does that translate to?”
    “Oh, a couple weeks or so. I’m hopin’ longer. Just depends on how things go from here on out. But I’m gonna be on my best behavior. You can count on it, Kathryn James.”
    There went the tickle up her spine again from the rumble of her given name rolling off his tongue. His lids narrowed slightly. Did he know that had an effect on her? God, she hoped not.
    “I’m not gonna make it easy for you to say no.” A sexy grin lit his dimpled cheeks.
    Kat tried to suppress her own smile but failed miserably.
    “So what are you going to do while you’re here? Surely you have to work, have places you need to be.”
    “You just let me worry about that.” He shrugged. “I can work from anywhere.”
    She outlined the hard angles of his face. A rush of excitement flooded her with images and sensations of the nights possible in her future. She cleared them out of her head and looked away, replaced the pictures of Tucker with Grant’s face at their lunch date tomorrow, the one where she’d blindside him, the way she’d been blindsided tonight.
    She and Grant had had a good evening, a good time since the first day they’d met in the park. No fuss. No fights. No pestering.
    So, why did he, they, seem so damned boring now?
    Why hadn’t sitting across from Grant ever aroused the same intense thrill sitting across from Tucker spurred in her?
    Whatever the difference, when the passion faded with Tucker, Grant would already be with someone else, leaving her back at square one to contemplate Dan, again. Without doubt, plenty of women in the city would happily trade places with Kat, push her out of the way, in fact, for the opportunity to accompany Grant, soak up his easy charm and share his bed.
    Kat sighed in doubt and shifted focus to the worn varnished tabletop. Warm fingers fluttered underneath her chin, gently lifted it.
    “It’s gonna be all right, Kat. He’s a big boy. Better he finds out now, not later.” His expression was shaded in hues of understanding and patience. “We need to see what this is between us. I know you feel it too, and I can’t walk away without finding out. Can you?”
    A freaking mind reader too? How the hell could he be so confident about this?
    “I’m tired, Tucker. I have an early day tomorrow, and I really need to go home. I need to think about this. It’s not as easy as you want it to be—not for me.” Indecision poked at her, pushed her outside her comfort zone, and made her mad. She slid out of the booth, no goodbye.
    Tucker quickly followed, blocked her path before she could escape him.
    “You’re not running away from me, Kat. I am