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‘Ex,’ she muttered, unable to keep her mouth from twitching at the teasing glint in his eyes.
Those incredible eyes…she was convinced they had the power to make her do crazy things. Why else would she be standing here like a hypnotised chook unable to look away?
Kelly’s head swivelled between them, her catlike eyes glowing with interest.
‘Well, well. Seems like these two are going to get along famously. They’re already chatting. Why don’t you say a few words, Kate, before we wind things up?’
Kate tore her gaze away from Ty’s mesmerising stare and strode to the podium, hoping that her professionalism wouldn’t desert her while her mind was a useless jumble of unexpected memories.
‘As senior editor for Femme magazine I’d like to thank you all for attending our Odd Bod Man Auction here tonight.’
Glancing at the piece of paper thrust into her hand, she continued, ‘Thanks to your generosity we’ve raised over ten thousand dollars for the Ramirez Orphanage. Well done, ladies.’
Particularly well done to her considering she’d contributed one tenth of that money to ‘purchase’ the guy she had every intention of cutting loose once this evening was over. The money didn’t irk nearly as much as the fact he now knew she’d outrageously overbid to beat every other woman in the room to have him, not once, but twice.
The smattering of applause died down and she forced herself to concentrate on finishing up the speech.
‘I’d also like to thank the men who generously volunteered their time tonight and for the next week. I’m sure the ladies will be more than thrilled to have personal Odd Bods for the week ahead. I know I am.’ Not.
There, that last remark should show him that he hadn’t affected her. Not much, anyway.
Squaring her shoulders, she turned to Ty and flashed him an uneasy smile. Once again loud applause filled the room as he blew her a kiss.
Damn it, her knees wobbled again. All it took was one stupid little gesture and she was acting as she had when they first met: star-struck, smitten and totally unable to control her reactions to him.
Leaning on the podium for support, she fixed a bright smile on her face and turned to the audience.
‘Thank you, ladies. We hope to see you at our next fundraiser.’
As she stepped away Kelly grabbed her arm.
‘Not so fast, Kate. Have you forgotten what the last step is after a successful bid?’
Her heart plummeted. She’d been hoping to escape the final humiliation every other woman who’d purchased an Odd Bod had gone through. The goofy friendship bracelets bearing a strong resemblance to handcuffs to shackle the Odd Bods to their bidders were tacky to say the least. And it looked as if she’d have to grin and bear it.
‘Come on, you two. Don’t be shy. Kate, you can remove this any time you want…if you’re game.’
With that final remark, Kelly snapped the bracelet onto her wrist, the other end already securely fastened to Ty’s, and dropped the key into his jeans pocket.
‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ Kate muttered, silently vowing she would never drink champagne again.
Though deep down she knew it wasn’t only the alcohol that had made her bid for Ty. One look into those gorgeous baby blues after all this time and she’d lost it.
Though she didn’t have feelings for him any more the thought of some other woman having him trailing after them for a week performing goodness knew what duties had been incentive enough to make her commit the ultimate folly, that ludicrous bid to end all bids.
‘No joke, I’m afraid. Looks like the fun’s just beginning,’ Ty said, swinging their bound arms into the air in a victory salute.
The applause crescendoed, accompanied by raucous hooting and laughter, and light bulbs flashed in a continuous wave as the contingent of photographers lapped up the opportunity. Kate clenched her jaw and grinned, determined to appear in control when in fact she wanted to bolt.
‘Yeah, I’m having a real ball,’ she said through gritted teeth, keeping her smile in place and giving a subtle yank on the chain binding them.
‘Just a little longer. Plenty of time to get reacquainted later.’
His subtle, husky emphasis on ‘reacquainted’ set her pulse racing and she took a deep breath, knowing the faster they got off-stage and unlocked, the happier she’d be.
She lowered her arm forcefully, pulling his down, and Ty tugged on the chain linking them, reinforcing the fact that if he hadn’t wanted to lower his arm she wouldn’t have succeeded in moving him one inch.
‘Let’s go.’
She marched off the stage, leaving him no option but to follow.
Now was her big chance.
To do what?
Exchange pleasantries? Make small talk?
Chewing her lip in frustration, Kate picked up the pace. For someone who spent her life making decisions over which words sounded better or which articles went where, she hadn’t thought this through at all.
Seeing Ty on stage was one thing, having him attached to her up close and personal another.
She’d wanted to catch up? Well, looked as if she had her opportunity considering she’d spent a small fortune to have him bound to her for a week.
Not that she’d hold him to it. They’d have a quick catch-up backstage and she’d let him go.
Yeah. That was exactly what she would do. Simple.
Then why did she feel as if fate was chuckling and the joke was on her?
Tyler shook his head. Still the same old Kate: proud, gorgeous, independent, with those bewitching hazel eyes that got him every time.
He’d enjoyed teasing her during their brief relationship, the golden flecks in her eyes sparking whenever she reacted to his banter. Those flecks had also glowed when she’d been aroused, as he remembered all too well.
He’d been floored when their gazes had locked across the room, her presence at the auction a sucker punch to the gut when he’d least expected it, and try as he might he’d found his gaze drawn to her repeatedly while she’d acted as if he didn’t exist.
Then what had that crazy bidding been about?
Damned if he knew.
‘Keep up,’ Kate said, giving a none-too-subtle yank on the chain binding them, and he bit back a grin.
She hadn’t changed at all, still the same determined woman who wasn’t going to wait for anyone, as she picked up the pace.
His gaze travelled to her butt and the way the black linen skirt clung to every sexy, provocative curve. She didn’t merely walk. She strutted and then some on long legs, showgirl legs, sensational legs that had wrapped around him so many sweet times.
The great thing about her height was it didn’t detract from her curves one iota. In his experience, tall women were usually lean with small breasts and few curves. Kate, however, was the antithesis of this stereotype. For a woman about five-ten, her voluptuous breasts and narrow waist would put an hourglass to shame.
She was a knockout, pure and simple.
He wrenched his gaze away from her butt and his mind out of fantasy land and focussed his attention on her hair, admiring the sleek, new style. Shorter hair suited her. The burgundy highlights in the chocolate-brown depths drew attention to the shiny mass that now brushed across her shoulders and he itched to run his fingers through it.
Unfortunately, it seemed moving his view higher hadn’t dampened his growing desire. If anything, the thought of her luscious locks trickling like soft silk through his fingers inflamed him further.
Looked as if he still had it bad. No great surprise there.
How many nights had he lain awake dreaming about her, wishing he could reach out and touch her? In fact, the fantasies about Kate had been one of the few things that had kept him sane during the agonising year-long knee-rehabilitation programme two years after their split, when dreary days had merged into pain-filled nights as he had tried to come to terms with the fact his knee was bust, no amount of exercise could ever repair the damage and he’d be off Team Eight, removed from active duty permanently.
Life had sucked big-time back then.
Now, it looked as if his fantasy had come to life again. So what was he going to do about it?
From the first minute he’d caught sight of her sitting at a table surrounded by beautiful women yet standing out anyway he’d been stunned. She’d been staring at him, her luscious mouth a perfect little pout, and he’d had difficulty breathing. In fact, his first glimpse of Kate after six long years had been worse than a case of the bends, and no amount of hyperbaric chamber treatment would fix what he had for her.
Lust, pure and simple, had slammed through his body, making him want to leap over tables, grab her and lock his mouth to hers, tasting her, possessing her, reminding her of how damn good they’d been together in the bedroom.
He stumbled and she cast a pitying glance over her shoulder while he sent her a cocky grin.
Staring at his sassy ex strutting in front of him had him remembering exactly how great they’d been together. Perhaps spending seven days trying to resurrect old times before facing the life-changing appointment next week wouldn’t be such a bad thing?
Yeah, that sounded like a plan.
And like any good SEAL, he always stuck to the plan.
CHAPTER TWO
KATE didn’t speak till they reached the confines of a dressing room backstage. With Ty’s stare boring holes into her back, it took her a while to figure out what to say.
Her plan to have a quick chat and catch up had sounded good at the time. However, now that she actually had him all to herself her plan had hit a snag. A big one.
She hadn’t banked on the familiar zing between them, that special something that had prompted her to propose to him in the first place. Back then he’d thought it had been a bit of a laugh and she hadn’t disillusioned him.
She’d played it down, they’d joked about being engaged, he’d attributed it to her crazy sense of humour, but deep down she’d known it hadn’t been real. They were two crazy kids in love, him fresh out of SEAL training, her fresh off the plane from Sydney. Vegas had been a hoot, hooking up with the fun-loving SEAL even more so, and it had seemed natural to move in with him back in LA.
But life wasn’t just about fun and they’d both had places to go, careers to pursue and they’d done the right thing in splitting up.
Hadn’t they?
Kate closed the door behind them, determined to make their catch-up short and sweet. Either that or succumb to a sudden hankering for a fix of seal and it sure didn’t involve going to the zoo to get it.
‘Look, I know this must seem crazy to you, me bidding and all. But I just wanted to catch up. Basically, I’ve no intention of holding you to this odd-jobs stuff. I’ll happily donate the money to the orphanage and we can call it quits, okay?’
He remained silent, a speculative gleam in his blue eyes with the barest glimmer of a smile playing about his sexy mouth.
Disconcerted by his silence and the look in his eyes, she rushed on. ‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Guess I just got curious, wondering what you’ve been up to. Six years is a long time.’
Could she sound any more pathetic?
Standing this close to Ty, having that intense blue stare focussed solely on her, was short-circuiting her brain. Not to mention the nerve-endings firing through her body.
‘It is a long time.’
His cool tone was at odds with the banked heat simmering in his eyes and she shivered despite the warmth of the room.
‘So a quick catch-up before cutting you loose isn’t so bad, right?’
She forced a fake laugh, expecting him to join in and agree.
‘No.’
Typical Ty: short, sharp, to the point and the opposite of what she expected him to say or do.
‘What?’
‘I said no.’
‘No, you don’t want to catch up or no, you don’t want to be cut loose?’
Oh-oh, why did her voice have to do that, go all soft and low and husky? As if she were baiting him? Tempting him?
It was his fault. Less than a few minutes in his company after six years and she’d fallen into flirt mode automatically.
He shook his head, a slight frown appearing between his brows, accentuating the age lines that fanned from the corners of his eyes. Though little could detract from his good looks Ty looked older, weary, as if he’d fought a thousand battles.
‘I don’t want a quick catch-up.’
‘Oh.’
She couldn’t stand this. He was confusing the heck out of her just as he’d always done by keeping his emotions under tight control while burning her up with those ‘come get me’ eyes.
‘I want a long one. I want to hear everything you’ve been doing. Everything.’
His eyes darkened to the colour of her favourite stone, a deep blue sapphire, and the comparison disconcerted her. She didn’t want to compare him to anything as precious as her grandma’s heirloom ring.
‘It’s been way too long, Katie.’
His smooth, steady tone did little to placate her as she tried to ignore the way her heart thumped when he said her name in that familiar way.
‘Uh-huh,’ she said, wishing she could think of something witty to say rather than standing here captured in the intensity of his stare, wondering if he knew the effect he was having on her after all this time.
‘So what do you want to do?’
Fling myself at you?
Tear your clothes off?
Have my way with you?
She had to think of something sensible to say, something to break the tension.
