LITMIR.BIZ

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once it was over.

      Kat slumped over him with her head nestled against his neck, her hair splayed across his chest in a silky wave. He stroked her slim back in long, gentle strokes, loving the feel of her satin-smooth skin against his palm.

      His mind began to drift... What would it be like to lie with her like this for morning after morning? To wake and see her lying beside him? To see her gorgeous face smile at him as if he was the only person in the world she wanted to wake to? To see her face at the beginning and at the end of each day? And not just her face but the faces of the children they could make together—a girl and a boy, or two girls or two boys. They could even foster or adopt. Make some kid’s life a blessing instead of a curse.

      Flynn snapped the lid down on his thoughts like someone shutting a Jack-in-the-box. Why did he have these thoughts around Kat of all people? She wasn’t interested in settling down any more than he was. She was happy with a temporary relationship because she wanted to focus on her career.

      She was young, eleven years younger than him. He had never had a lover that much younger. But she was far more mature than some of his previous partners who had been similar in age to him. He liked her sense of humour, her intelligence and her determination to succeed. He even liked the fact she was standing up to Richard Ravensdale. So many women in her shoes would have milked the situation for all it was worth. Milked it and made butter, yoghurt and custard out of it. But she had stood her ground. Refused to be bought. Refusing to be manipulated into doing anything she didn’t believe was right for her.

      Flynn wanted her at that party but not just to please Richard. He wanted her to feel connected to her siblings. To feel a part of the family, because he knew it would be good for her. She had no one in the world now her mother was dead. It would give her a safe haven to have older half-brothers and a half-sister to turn to. Even Jaz with her runaway tongue would be good for her. It would give Kat a community of love that appeared to have been sadly lacking in her childhood.

      ‘I’d better get back to check on Monty,’ she said into the silence.

      Flynn stroked his hand up to the nape of her neck, her hair tickling the back of his hand where it was resting against it. ‘He’ll be fine. Cats are pretty self-sufficient.’

      She lifted her head to look at him. ‘Are you sure you want me to stay the rest of the night?’

      He brought his hand round to cup her face. ‘Isn’t that what people who are having a flingsationship do?’

      ‘I wouldn’t know, as this is my first.’

      ‘Mine too,’ he said and brought her head back down to his chest.

      * * *

      Kat woke to the feel of someone licking her face but when she opened her eyes it wasn’t Flynn but Cricket. ‘Eeeww!’ She laughed and pushed him away.

      Flynn came in on his crutches, showered and dressed for work. ‘I would’ve brought you breakfast in bed but I haven’t figured out how to do that whilst on crutches.’

      ‘It’s the thought that counts,’ Kat said, getting out of the bed, picking up Flynn’s shirt from the night before and slipping it on. She could smell him on the fabric, but then she could smell him on herself. Something shifted in her belly at the memory of all they had shared the night before. It wasn’t just the physicality of sex, the mind-blowing release or the sensual touches and caresses. It was the sense of having drawn closer to him than to any other person. She wondered if he felt the same.

      ‘I have an early meeting with a client,’ he said. ‘Will you be okay to take Cricket out?’

      ‘Sure,’ Kat said. ‘I’m using him as research. I think that’s why I nailed the audition.’

      Flynn smiled crookedly. ‘Good to know he’s come in useful. Last night I was ready to drive him to the dog’s home.’

      ‘You would never do that. You love him and he loves you.’

      His eyes moved away from hers and he picked up something from the top of a chest of drawers. ‘Dinner tonight?’

      ‘I’ll cook something for us here,’ Kat said.

      He turned to look at her. ‘Sure you want to go to that much trouble?’

      ‘It was part of the deal, wasn’t it?’

      A small frown pleated his brow. ‘I wouldn’t have held you to it. I could’ve found someone else to walk Cricket, and I can afford to eat out or have it delivered to me.’

      ‘So why did you insist I do it?’

      His expression had a hint of ruefulness to it. As if she had uncovered something about him he hadn’t expected. ‘I wanted to spend time with you. To get to know you.’

      A warm glow spread through her. ‘Do you spend time getting to know all of your lovers?’

      ‘Occasionally.’

      Somehow his answer disappointed her. She wanted to be the only one he took the time to get to know. She wanted to feel as special to him as he felt to her.

      See? What did I tell you? You’re falling for him.

      I’m not in love with him.

      Not yet, but it won’t be long.

      Flynn came over to her and eased up her chin so her eyes couldn’t escape his. ‘Where did you go just then?’

      ‘Go?’

      ‘In your mind,’ he said. ‘Every now and again you get this faraway look in your eyes, as if you’re thinking about something.’

      Kat pulled out a relaxed smile from her actor’s handbook. ‘I was thinking about tonight’s menu.’

      His eyes did that back-and-forth thing between each of hers. Left eye. Right eye. Left eye. Right eye. Then he looked at her mouth, making her belly turn over. ‘Am I on it?’ he said.

      She stepped up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his mouth. ‘You’re the main course.’

      * * *

      Flynn came back home after a long day at work to find his house filled with delicious home-cooking smells. Cricket bounded up to him, spinning in circles in unmitigated excitement. The sense of home, of security, of belonging, was like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night. It settled around his shoulders, wrapping him in a cloak of contentment unlike anything he had felt before, if ever.

      Kat came out of the kitchen. ‘How was your day?’

      ‘Long and tiring.’

      ‘Dinner won’t be long. I just have to carve the roast.’

      ‘You cooked a roast?’

      Her face fell. ‘You don’t like roasts?’

      He brushed his fingers down her cheek. ‘Love them.’

      Her smile lit up her face. It was like sunshine after a month of cloudy weather. ‘Go and put your feet up and I’ll fix you a drink.’

      ‘I feel like I’ve stepped into a nineteen-fifties time warp,’ Flynn said. ‘By the way, the apron looks great on you.’

      She looked at him with a pursed mouth. ‘I’m not going to ask you who wore it before me.’

      ‘No one,’ he said. ‘It was a present from Jake a couple of birthdays back. He likes to joke around.’

      ‘When is your birthday?’

      ‘May. I don’t know the exact date but apparently it’s anywhere between the tenth and fifteenth.’

      ‘Taurus,’ she said, nodding. ‘That makes sense.’

      ‘Stubborn as a bull?’ Flynn said. ‘Yeah, that’s me.’

      She chewed at her lip for a moment. ‘Is it weird not knowing the exact day you were born?’

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