He was smiling.
"He likes you," he said.
Katherine let Rufus smell her hand, he licked it and she scratched him behind the ears.
"He must really like you too," she said. "And watch over you.. I guess"
"Some watchdog" Jensen remarked. "If that's how he reacts to every stranger who comes here then I'm screwed".
Katherine smiled, and straightened. Then she answered his previous question. "No, I don't need to drink anything. I just came to give you that. I should go now"
"Hey, come on, Kat," he insisted. "You can't just come here, stay five minutes and then just leave. Are you avoiding me?"
"No," Katherine said. "Why do you ask that?"
"I don't know... A feeling, I guess. Are you scared I might kiss you again?" he asked suddenly.
"What.. No" Katherine replied.
"If you had told me sooner that you didn't like it ..." he began.
"I never said that I didn't like it" Katherine said.
Only after she heard her own words did she realize what she had admitted. Their eyes connected, soundlessly but jarringly. She drew in a swift breath. It was no armor against the intensity of his gaze.
"So you like it then?" he asked gruffly.
"No," Katherine said. "I mean..." she lowered her gaze. "I don't think we should be talking about this, Jensen"
She heard him drop the box on the table. His trousers brushed against a chair as he scooted forward.
"Why?" he asked.
"That is my business," Katherine said.
"And now it's mine," he said, raising his voice.
Bravely, she flung up her head and glared at him, then wished she hadn't. His forearms were propped on the edge of the table, and he was leaning forward slightly. His hair, his bare arms, his wide chest, his face and his eyes, all exuded a masculinity that both fascinated and repelled her.
"This subject is closed," she said huskily.
"And I say it's not," Jensen said. "Have dinner with me"
"Excuse me?" Katherine said.
"Dinner. Let's have dinner. Let's go to dinner together. You and I" he said.
"You mean like a date?"
"Exactly like a date" he said.
"I don't think so"
"Why not?" he asked.
"I thought we already agreed I would go to the party with you. That should be enough... And I just brought you cupcakes too".
"We will go on a date after the party... At the party there will be a lot of people around... That doesn't really count as a date to me. Why do you keep saying no?" he asked.
Katherine was tired of this. “Maybe I just don't find you attractive" she said angrily.
"Lies, Kat," he said. "You want me. You and I both know that. And I want you too. Ever since that day you walked into my office. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the last time we kissed. Do you have any fucking idea how hard it was for me to get some sleep that night? I have taken so many cold baths I'm already questioning my sanity. And I know you feel it too. You nearly fainted when your breasts came up against me that day, and the expression on your face when you discovered I was hard defied description. You can't deny that you were affected by that kiss"
"I was just caught up in the moment," she said, breathing hard.
He linked his fingers at the back of her neck beneath her hair where her skin was dewy from the heat.
"That is another lie, Kat," he said.
Ducking his head, he whisked his lips across hers. "You said yourself just now that you liked my kiss"
"I don't," she said stubbornly.
"Liar," he whispered.
He touched the corner of her lips with his tongue. It was thrilling, terrifying. His teasing caress made her hot and dizzy. His size and strength overwhelmed her. He felt and smelled masculine. His maleness both seduced and repelled. She fought the appeal and terror of it.
"We shouldn't do this, Jensen" she begged against his seeking lips.
His fingers played a tantalizing dance down the length of her spine to cup the curve of her hip.
"I love the way you respond when I kiss you.....I always have... " he said. Then he added "..... Like this".
He captured her mouth with his. The heat simmered between them, then exploded, consuming her in a fire she had no hope of containing.
An instant later she realized she didn’t want to contain it. She wanted to feed the flames, burn higher and hotter and brighter until nothing mattered but the pleasure that could be gained from this timeless moment.
She let her fingers roam his hard, wide chest, tugging him close, satisfied only when she could feel the swift, strong beat of his heart beneath her palms. His arms felt like corded steel, his hold as unrelenting as his nature.
After all this time, she shouldn’t still want him so desperately. She should resist, fight the trap he had sprung. But the truth was, she had been waiting for this to happen since that kiss at her house.
After five years, she discovered she hadn’t forgotten a thing. Not his smooth, intoxicating flavor. Not the firm, warm feel of his mouth. Not the soul jarring response of her body to his bold touch.
She traced his bottom lip, knowing by his shiver that he found their embrace as affecting as did she.
He lifted his head, taking that lovely mouth with him, and she cried out in disappointment. But he shushed her with hard, stinging kisses to the corner of her lips, along the line of her jaw, down her chin and neck…over the tops of her breasts.
The sound of her phone ringing made them stop. Reality returned in a cascade of harsh breathing.
Katherine opened her eyes.
Jensen moved away from her to the window, his back turned to her, his shoulders rising and falling in a rapid movement that attested to his scramble for control.
Katherine adjusted her clothes hurriedly then left the room to answer the call. Minutes later she returned. Jensen was sitting on one of the chairs, eating one of the cupcakes. He stood when she returned.
"I have to go," Katherine said. "Work stuff"
He nodded slowly. "I will pick you up on Saturday. What time will you be ready?" he asked.
"Eight o'clock is fine," Katherine replied.
"Eight it is," he said, giving her a wink.