"It's fine" Jensen said. "I told him I would come see him at his games and I realized that whatever happened or whatever is happening between us shouldn't stop me from keeping my word"
Katherine nodded. "How are you? I mean how have you been?" she asked. She knew he had been hurt the last time they had talked, and she didn't want him to be. She cared about him.
"I'm fine" Jensen replied. "Been working a lot lately, traveling, tryna clear my head... Stuff like that"
Katherine nodded. She understood. Hurting him had never been her intention and right now as she looked at him, all she wanted to do was pull him into her arms. But she wasn't sure that was a good idea and considering how angry he was when he left her house that day, she was sure he would probably reject any show of affection from her. He would probably mistake it for pity. So she looked away.
Jensen watched her. Watched the hurt in her eyes disappear behi
When Katherine and Jensen got to the hospital and Katherine saw her father, her heart broke into many pieces. Just seeing him there, lying down, looking fragile and vulnerable brought hot tears to her eyes. He was asleep so they all went outside his room to talk... Not wanting to wake him up."What are the doctors saying" Katherine asked, letting her tears flow freely now and making no effort to stop them. "How is the cancer back? He looked fine. He has been fine all this while. How can it just come back? How bad is it? There has to be something they can do right? I mean, they are not just gonna sit back and let him die right? Isn't that like... Supposed to be against the law or something? They have to try something... anything"Jensen took a hold of her arm and rubbed it soothingly. "Calm down a little bit, Kat" he said softly. "I know you are scared, but one question at a time. They can't answer a million questions at once"Kather
Three weeks later....Jensen Packard draped his left wrist over the steering wheel and patted his lap with his right nervously as he drove to Crimson Bay. At this time of the night there was little traffic. It was mindless driving, which was very good, because Jensen's mind wasn't on driving.He missed Katherine.He had traveled for a business meeting a week ago but he had cut the trip two days short. Unnecessarily he had driven for six hours to get home tonight when tomorrow by noon would have done just as well.There is absolutely no reason he was coming home so early, except for the fact that there was someone he was eager to see. Which was a bit stupid considering the fact that she probably didn't feel the same way.The fact that he still loved her and thought so much about her scared the hell out of him... Scared him so badly that he almost talked himself into turning his car around and going b
He went inside the store. She had obviously been working. He thought as his eyes took in the pans and other equipment that had stains of batter in then. Why did she decide to work so late instead of waiting till the next day. And where was Tim? He wondered. Probably with his grandparents then. He went into her office.Katherine's head lay on top of her desk. She was asleep. Jensen tiptoed forward."Katherine?" he called.She didn't stir. Her head was pillowed on her extended arm. His eyes were drawn down to her hand. She had very slender fingers. He thought. Her hand was delicate and, in response, fragile looking. Her beautiful hair was a riot of wavy disarray, spilling across her arm and the paperwork she had fallen asleep over. It was inky black, the perfect complement to her fair complexion.There was a faint blush on the cheek that was turned up. Her brow was as smooth and glossy as she one painted onto a China
"It's kinda late" Jensen replied. "Just after twelve""Oh, God" she said. She picked up the telephone off the floor and put it back on the desk. Then she searched her bag and withdrew her phone. While she called her mom to apologize for not coming back and checking on Tim, Jensen stood at the edge of her desk, glaring at her."I'm glad you arrived when you did. I wasn't planning on staying here for so long" she said after the ended the call and put the phone on the desk. "I was working... Was planning on delivering some cupcakes to a customer very early tomorrow morning... Or should I say this morning then.... I must have slept off when I decided to look at some paper work""What the hell were you thinking of to stay out here by yourself in the dark?" he asked angrily. "You are lucky it was me who came through that door""The door was locked, Jensen" Katherine said."As though that would stop anybod
She was stunned. He could tell. Her body became became as inflexible as a flagpole and she stopped breathing. He didn't let her non participation deter him, however. His tongue dipped into her moth, then withdrew, again and again.Katherine let out a strangled gasp before she raised her hands to clutch his arms. He tasted of whisky and danger. An altogether intoxicatingly adult mix. Had he been drinking? She wondered. But the thought didn't last long in her head as Jensen continued to explore her mouth.She was aware of was how hard Jensen's chest felt against hers, how it made her breasts tingle and swell against her dress. His mouth was hard and ruthless, punishing her and expertly seeking a response so that he could humiliate her some more. Katherine knew in some distant part of her brain exactly what was happening, but that part of her brain seemed to be disconnected from her body and her mouth."Kat" Jensen wishpered. As he spo
"And then I wake up... And when I do I'm scared, Jensen. Because it reminds me that he's dying. My father is dying. And there is nothing I or anyone else can do about it. I try so hard to be strong but I'm not. We are all just sitting around waiting for him to die, Jensen"Jensen moved forward then and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him and he hated that he couldn't fix this for her. But he understood. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head."Everything is going to okay soon, Kat" he said.Katherine sniffed and pulled away from him. "How?" she asked. "How is going to be play? I can't handle this. Jonathan is out there, acting like a man and trying to suck it up and mom... She's hurting. She's hurting so bad. But she's out there acting like she can control this... Like it's just one little family problem. And Tim,... how the hell do I find a way to tell my son that his grandfather is never going to get well like he
"If you are waiting for me to give you a bite of this sandwich you are going to be very disappointed, honey. I'm not sharing this with you" Jonah said and Katherine burst into laughter.Oh! This was one of the things she was going to miss about him. His sense of humor. His free and beautiful and loving soul. Katherine felt tears threaten, but she definitely wasn't going to cry right now.. And certainly not in front of him."Oh don't worry dad" she said. "You can have all of it. Maybe even more of you want"Jonah shook his head. "No. This one is enough" he said."How's Tim?" he asked."He's fine. He's at school" Katherine said. "He is worried about you. Keeps asking me every night when I tuck him if you are getting better.""I know. He asks me the same thing every time he's here" Jonah said. "It's okay, Kathy. I know you are hurting...and I know it's nothing easy for you. But I have
He never brought up the topic of them since that day at her office. She had more important things on her mind so he just focused on helping.But today, when her father was being buried. Jensen was totally stunned by Katherine's appearance that morning.Not only was she wearing a curve hugging black suit with a flirty little frill at the bottom of her skirt— drawing attention to the feminine shapeliness of her calves, fine ankles, and feet shod in sexy black high heels— but her hair was…positively mesmerising.He had arrived at her parents house the previous day so he could help ensure that things went well and all throughout breakfast he could not stop looking at her hair.Since her father's death she wore it in pigtails or scaped into a knot, tightly confined, with a hat or cap crammed over it more often than not. It had been a while since he had seen it like this—lustrous dark waves springing softly from her head,
She cuddled deeper into his embrace. She hadn’t lied about the cuddling part. She had missed him so much. And she was just so glad to be in the arms of the man she loved.She loved this man. She loved her husband. And she wanted him to come home. She shook her head when she realized that he was talking and she hadn't been listening.“We have options,” Jensen said.She blinked and focused her attention back on the here and now and the fact she was in bed after hot, sweaty sex with the man she loved.It was all she could do not to groan.“What options?” she asked huskily.“I can feed you. I can make mad, passionate love to you again. Or we can take a short nap and then do either option one or two. Or both. See? I’m easy.” he said.She smiled and squeezed him. She did love him. It scared her to death just how much she loved him, and she was flooded by so much em
“Ride me,” he said in a strained voice. His pupils dilated and his brow constricted. Tight lines were etched into his forehead, and his hands gripped her hips so tightly that she could do nothing more than squeeze her inner muscles around his erection.“Sweat heaven,” he groaned.She wasn’t going to last, and she was helpless to do anything about it. She needed to move. She had to move.Placing her palms flat on his chest, she wiggled free of his grasp and began to move up and down, taking him, releasing him, then taking him again. Sweat beaded his brow. His eyes were narrow slits, and he never took his gaze from hers. He urged her closer so he could cup her breasts. They filled both palms and he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the painfully erect nubs.“I can’t hold on,” she whispered.“Then let’s go together,” h
His breath blew hot over her chin and then her jaw. He kissed a line to her ear then sucked the lobe between his teeth. Shivers overtook her. Delicate little goose bumps dotted her flesh until she trembled uncontrollably.He stepped back, his hands falling to the waistband of her pants. His fingers hung in the snap and he stood there staring at her heaving chest.“You’re so beautiful.” he said. "I have missed you so much"He raised one finger to hook in the strap of her bra. He ran it up then down, and he grazed the tip over the swell of her breast.“I love the lingerie.” he said.She leaned back on the dresser, resting her palms on the top to give him a better glimpse of her cleavage.“You’re absolutely merciless, aren’t you?” he murmured.She smiled and arched invitingly until the bare
“Get it together, Katherine” she muttered.Lord, but she did lose all her brain cells when it came to Jensen.She laughed outright and it had the effect of someone popping her thought bubble with a sharp pin. The driver looked up in the rearview mirror, and she valiantly tried to look back with a straight face. If he only knew the absurd thoughts she was processing.If she was truly the naughty girl of her fantasies, she would have ridden over with only a trench coat covering her sexy lingerie. Then when she walked into Jensen's room, she could discard the coat and watch his reaction.The idea certainly had merit, and if she ever received another invitation such as tonight from him again, she’d give it serious consideration. Just to tease him. But for now, she would concentrate on the moment.A few minutes later, the driver pulled up to the sumptuous hotel Jensen had been staying in since he moved
"All they needed was some convincing. I'm finalizing the documents for the dissolution of the partnership. I know you might find it hard to forgive me, but I don't want us to grow apart over this. No one is worth it. So please tell me that you want me back home too, Kat. And maybe this is a little too fast, but I don't care, I wanna be with you tonight. It's been so long. Let me hold you tonight."Katherine sighed. Oh, the man really knew how to get to her, with his words, his touch, his kisses. Everything. “Jensen,” she began again, and promptly shut up when it came out more as a plaintive wail than a protest.“I’ll send a car for you, Katherine." he said." You are my wife. But I want this to be special, kinda like a first date like you said. I’ll have my driver pick you up from work, or if you prefer, you can drive your car to the house and I’ll have him pick you up there. Tim can take care of the house for one night and Deanie can stay at your mo
He looked at her almost like the last was a challenge. She tilted her chin up and stared coolly at him. She hoped that she looked as unruffled as she wanted to portray.“Why did you come to my office today, Jensen?” she asked.His mouth tightened briefly before he relaxed and eyed her with thinly veiled amusement. “We are married, Kat " he said."I can't take my wife to lunch?”She curled her fingers into tight fists.“Jensen.” she said. She stopped when her voice cracked. She felt like the worst sort of idiot. Right now, she felt ridiculously tongue tied.“Yes?” he prompted. He wore a curious smile, almost as if he found her and the situation amusing. It made her angry.“Look Jensen, I'm not going to act like I didn't miss you. I did. But I don't know what you are up to, and if you think that —.”
Behind the desk, a cheerful looking younger woman smiled a warm welcome as he approached.“Good morning, Mr Packard" she said. "And welcome. I assume you are here to see Mrs Packard.”He returned her smile. “Is she in?” he asked.“Yes. But she is not here right now. If you will wait in her office, I’ll get her at once. Would you care for some coffee?” she asked.“No, thank you.” he said, he wasn't sure he could keep anything down right now.She turned to stride down the hallway, leaving Jensen standing there. He walked into Katherine's office and went to the window to look down on the street instead of sitting.A few moments later, he heard the tap tap of heels and turned to see Katherine walk into the office, a confused, wary look in her eyes.“Jensen,” she greeted. “I wasn’t expecting to see you. I thought you were going to San Francisco. T
"Oh" Jensen said. "I gotta say that I'm really glad you told me about this. It's kinda hard to believe how fast you have grown. I mean, there was a time when all you cared about was video games, but now here you are, having girl problems"Tim grinned. "Don't tease me dad" he said."I'm not. I'm not" Jensen said, raising his hands. "And I gotta say that In my time, I was never turned down by a girl. Not bragging"Tim rolled his eyes and smiled. "Show off" he said, and Jensen laughed."But," Jensen continued, "With your mom, I hesitated. I was stupid. Didn't know what I had. I was enjoying all the attention I was getting that I forgot to go after the one thing that mattered, and I almost lost her. So I say, suck it up kid. To hell with that fear. Just ask her to go to the dance with you, what's the worse thing that could happen? ""Ermmm, she could turn me down" Tim replied
"Yeah right" Tim said sarcastically. "I know how stuff like this happens. I watch a lot movies and I know how stuff like this goes. This is how it starts and before you know it, they are giving you a speech about how it isn't your fault and that sometimes things just doesn't work out. I just don't want to have that talk with my parents. I know how much they love each other"Chloe nodded. "Okay" she said. "I can't say that I understand because I don't. My parents aren't... Divorced. But I'm certain that whatever it is, it's not your fault. And honestly, there is nothing you can do about but hope that they find a way to fix their problems. And sometimes, they might just be going through a tough time. Doesn't mean they are gonna get a divorce, so you might just be worried for nothing. Come on" she nudged his shoulder. "You can't be worrying about this when nothing permanent has happened. Remember you have a game next week. One of you have been training for a long time