“Not a chance.” He wanted to tie her up and make her his. He wanted to claim her. And he didn’t want to let go after a few orgasms. He didn’t want to come home needing her—her smile, her words, her comfort—and find out she’d slipped away again. And he sure as hell didn’t want the woman he cared deeply for returning to a lonely life.
“What’s in New York?” he asked. “Why did you need to go back?”
Her teasing smile faded. “Prior commitment.”
“Must have been pretty important if you took back-to-back red-eyes and ate animal crackers for dinner.”
She set her fork down and whipped her mouth with her napkin. “I joined a mentor program last year and I was matched with a young girl living in foster care. Twice a month I sit down with her for an hour at her elementary school. Eventually I was hoping to do some weekend day trips.”
He’d paged through the usual explanations while she was away—a patient who needed her, a doctor’s appointment, or the one that drove him to the brink of jealousy, a date. But he’d never pictured her sitting down to lunch with a child who was traveling down the same road she’d taken as a kid.
“Yesterday,” she continued, “Brianna opened up.”
“You’re going to get your weekend adventures?”
Kat smiled, not the teasing grin she used to so effortlessly seduce him or the professional expression she offered others, but a genuine look of joy mingled with excitement.
“Yes. And fingers crossed a lot more. God, I don’t want to say too much or I’m afraid I’ll jinx it. But Brianna asked if I’d consider adopting her. And I said yes.”
“That’s great, Kat.” But the weight of her words sank in, leaving him face-to-face with a complicated mess. How would they make this work if she had a family on the other side of the country and his needed him here?
“Brianna deserves to have something good happen for once,” Kat said.
“So do you.” And he wanted that something good in her life to be him. But Brody had a sinking feeling he was looking at the one person who didn’t need him—not nearly as much as he needed her.
“I’ve been very fortunate, Brody. After all, I went to Harvard,” she said, her tone changing to sarcasm.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it. You deserve happiness and family. Just like Brianna.”
She stabbed the last potatoes on her plate. “I think our conversation took a wrong turn toward serious. And I don’t think this is the place.”
“You’re right.” The Lost Kitten strip club wasn’t the place to tell her that he wanted to be a part of her future happiness. “But—”
His cell phone cut him off, vibrating against his thigh. Retrieving it, he glanced at the caller ID. Moore Timber. Great. With Eric away on his honeymoon, he couldn’t ignore the call.
He stood and headed for the door. “I need to take this. Outside.”
AS BRODY DISAPPEARED into the daylight beyond The Lost Kitten’s timeless interior, Kat helped herself to his potatoes.
“Your boyfriend hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you walked in.” Daphne, the owner with the long black hair, claimed Brody’s empty seat.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Kat said, the words quickly snapping the imaginary lines binding her to Brody. But saying those words for the second time since she’d landed back in Oregon this morning—they left her uneasy, as if she was lying.
Daphne’s eyebrows shot up. “He stared at your mouth as if he owned it. There were a few times that I swore he was going to push the dishes to the floor and take you here.”
“Those looks were your fault,” Kat said, reaching for humor. “The food was so good, I thought I’d have an orgasm just from eating the potatoes.”
Daphne leaned her head back and laughed. “Can I bring you back to the kitchen before you leave? I need you to repeat those words to my chef. He’s going to drop to one knee when he hears that and beg to marry you.”
“Sure. But fair warning, if he proposes, I might run for the door.”
Brody returned to the table, his intense brown eyes focusing briefly on the club owner before turning to her. He stopped beside her chair, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Everything OK?”
“Great.” Kat smiled up at him. “We were just talking potatoes.”
Pressing her palms flat against the table, Daphne stood. “I’d still like to steal her away to the kitchen to meet my chef before you leave.”
“I’ll send her back in a minute.” Brody looked down at her. “I need to head out. One of the trucks went off the road near a harvest site. Are you OK to catch a ride back with Josh?”