The Playboy Next Door Read online

  The microwave dinged, and she pulled the ground beef out. Now what to do with it? Meatloaf maybe? She’d seen a box of rice in the cupboard and some frozen mixed veggies. Or maybe some meatballs with pasta. She’d spotted some pasta, but did Tony have any sauce?

  “We’ll see.” She opened a cupboard and peeked inside. The only thing it contained was containers of protein powder and protein bars. “Zack, I’m about to start dinner. Can we talk again later?”

  “Yeah, sure. I should find something to eat too.”

  She ended her call and relief seeped through her. Avoiding Zack had bothered her. They’d been friends for so long. It looked like she didn’t have to do that anymore. Judging by his tone and the reason for his call, he’d gotten the message she didn’t want anything more than friendship from him. Of course, that didn’t explain why he was asking her friends about her love life, but maybe he was just acting concerned, sort of like a brother might.

  That thought brought Striker to mind. How had practice gone for Tony with both Pop and Striker there? She trusted Pop not to say anything stupid during practice. He was too professional for that. However, that didn’t mean he hadn’t treated Tony differently this afternoon. Her brother, on the other hand, had a short fuse and often spoke before he thought. Saturday night was a perfect example of that. With a little luck though, Pop had acted as a reminder that Striker should keep his mouth closed.

  Tony’s demeanor when she walked in had given nothing away. She’d have to ask him when he got back. In the meantime, she needed to finish getting some kind of meal ready for them.

  An annoying beep erupted thirty minutes later just as Cat was about to answer the front door. Turning off the oven, she opened the door a wall of heat hitting her in the face and pulled out the meatloaf.

  With dinner safely on the counter, she again headed for the front door and dropped candy bars into each of the bags presented to her. For the past half hour, there had been a steady stream of monsters, princess, and movie characters at Tony’s door. Not that she was complaining. She enjoyed seeing the various costumes. If it kept up this way, she’d need to open yet another bag of candy. Cat had already used the two Tony left out, as well as a third from the kitchen.

  The crowd on the step dispersed, and Cat saw two more children headed toward the walkway. She heard the door in the kitchen open and close while she waited for her newest trick or treaters to reach the step.

  “Ben has enough candy to keep him happy until next October,” Tony said, coming up behind her. “Whatever you made for dinner smells good.” Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her cheek.

  “Meatloaf,” she answered as she watched Grace Ellsbury and her cousin walk toward the steps followed by Mack and Jessie.

  “Trick or treat,” the two fairies said together. Both girls looked adorable dressed in fairy gowns identical to each other except for the color. The girls even wore their hair the same way with matching floral headbands.

  As she put candy into each bag, Mack gave Tony a quick hello, and she couldn’t stop from looking at her brother’s best friend. Mack’s expression let her know he wasn’t surprised to see her there.

  “Cat, I don’t think you’ve ever met my daughter Grace.” Mack put his hands on the purple fairy’s shoulders.

  She’d seen Grace around town with her grandmother before Mack moved back to North Salem and several times since. However, she didn’t recall every speaking to the little girl.

  “Grace, this is Striker’s sister Catrina.”

  Grace smiled up at her. “Striker was over yesterday. He has a big black and blue mark on his face, but he told me it doesn’t hurt.”

  Cat pressed her lips together. Children said whatever they wanted. “It’s nice to meet you, Grace. Have you gotten a lot of candy tonight?”

  “Brianna, she’s my cousin”—Grace pointed to the yellow fairy next to her—“and I’ve gotten a ton. I can’t wait to go home and eat some. Daddy says he needs to check it all first.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.”

  “All right you monkeys, let's go,” Mack said, taking each girl by the hand.

  “We’re fairies, Uncle Mack, not monkeys,” the yellow fairy said.

  “I’ll try to remember that.” Mack looked back at her and Tony. “Jessie and I are having a cookout at my place Saturday. You two are welcome to join us. I invited Sean and Striker too.”

  She’d never pegged Mack as the peacekeeper type, but perhaps he wanted to help mend the rift between his friends.

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know,” Tony answered before she could accept or decline.

  They spent another thirty minutes taking turns handing out candy. When only high school age trick or treaters rang the bell, Tony switched off the outside light and locked the door. Cat guessed they would have had to do that soon anyway regardless of who came to the door. They were down to half a bag of candy.

  “Finally, we can eat. I was about ready to finish off that bag of chocolate and get out the extra bag I bought for myself.”

  “This was the last bag.” Cat placed the meatloaf and rice on the table.

  “I stashed some in my desk. A bag of extra-large peanut butter cups.”

  “Who wants meatloaf then? Get ’em out.” She made as if she intended to walk out of the kitchen.

  “I’ll share with you after dinner, promise.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “Thank you for not minding that I went out tonight. I promised Ben back in August that I’d go with him this year. I honestly forgot all about it.”

  “It seemed like a bad idea to tick off an imperial storm trooper.”

  Tony grinned and shook his head. “Nah, it’s Darth Vadar you need to watch out for. Storm troopers are mere puppets.”

  “Thank you for that bit of knowledge, oh, wise one. Now let’s eat.”

  As they started on dinner, Cat couldn’t shake the feeling of rightness that occupied the table with them. Although they’d never sat in his kitchen and eaten dinner together before, on some level, it seemed like it was something they did every day. Did Tony feel it too? If he did, he gave no indication.

  “What were you going to tell me when you walked in earlier?”

  She gotten so busy handing out candy and making dinner that her upcoming interview slipped her mind. Tony’s reminder brought all her excitement from earlier rushing back. “I got a call today from HR to set up a first round interview.”

  “You’re changing jobs?”

  Right, she’d applied for the position back in July before she started seeing Tony. Other than her family, only Zack and her friend Kelsey knew.

  “At the beginning of July, I applied for the supervisor of new product development position. I never heard back, and then in September, a rumor went around that they decided to look outside the company for someone. Either management changed their mind or it was just a rumor because Dolores from Mr. Hernandez’s office called. I have an interview next week with him and Claire Underwood. They’ll weed out the candidates they don’t like before sending on people to meet with Mr. Carson.”

  “That’s great.”

  “It’s a long shot. I know at least two other people who applied for the position, and they both have more years than me at the company.”

  “That doesn’t always matter.” Tony refilled his plate with more rice. “When you get the position, we’ll have to think of some way to celebrate.”

  She didn’t share his confidence, but she did appreciate it. And while she had wanted the job and in many ways still did, a tiny part of her didn’t. While the promotion would be great for her career and her bank account, it would mean relocating. Back in July moving across the country to California had sounded exciting. She’d lived her whole life on the east coast. It could be fun to spend some time in a different location. Now, moving anywhere outside of Massachusetts held much less appeal, thanks to the man seated across from her.

  A knot formed in her stomach at the thought of leaving Ton
y behind. If she got the position, she’d have very little choice. It was a fabulous opportunity that only an idiot would turn down for a casual fling with a guy like Tony.

  Cat put her fork down. Should she tell him the position would require moving? Did she want to hear what he’d say if she did? Nope. Besides, the chances of her getting it were slim. Why hear something tonight that deep in her heart she already knew. No, tonight and for however long this thing lasted, she’d enjoy her time with Tony and not worry about the future.

  Chapter 8

  It took some effort, but Cat dragged herself from the bathtub. Besides Tony himself, the thing she liked most about living at his house was the bathtub. The bathroom in her apartment contained the smallest tub ever created. The one here, however, was designed for long relaxing bubble baths. In the week and a half since she’d moved in, she’d used it as much as she could, including this afternoon when she returned from the gym to find Tony still not back from the football game.

  Cat grabbed the towel hanging on the back of the bathroom door and wrapped it around herself before switching off the radio. Mom and Pop were expecting them for dinner in a few hours. When her mom first called and invited them, her instinct had been to say no. For some reason, she doubted Tony regularly went to family dinners with the women he dated. Regardless, she’d told Mom she’d check with Tony and get back to her, fully expecting to tell her the next day they couldn’t make it.

  Tony surprised her. He hadn’t so much as flinched before agreeing to go. Kelsey insisted that showed how committed he was to their relationship. Cat hadn’t agreed or disagreed with her, because, honestly, she didn’t know what to think. He didn’t behave like a guy prepared to walk away any time soon, and if not for knowing his reputation so well, she would’ve assumed she was a permanent part of his life.

  Unfortunately, she did know his reputation, so rather than daydream about diamond rings and wedding dresses, she enjoyed each day and night they spent together.

  Much cooler air seeped into the bathroom when she opened the door and goose bumps formed on her arms.

  “I was about to come in and see if you needed rescuing, beautiful.” Tony reclined on the bed when she walked into the bedroom.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know you were home. How did the game go?” She couldn’t remember if he’d told her who they were playing or not that morning.

  “Close one. We won by a field goal,” he said as he swung his legs off the bed. His eyes roamed down her body and her nipples hardened as thoughts of how he’d woken her up that morning formed.

  “It’s still a win.”

  He closed the gap between them, and her heart rate spiked.

  “True.” He kissed the side of her neck and then her lips. “What time is your mom expecting us?” He whispered the words against her ear.

  “Between five and five-thirty.”

  Tony smiled and the dimple she loved so much appeared in his cheek. “That’s not a lot of time.” He pulled open the towel wrapped around her and once again gave her a thorough once-over. “I’ve been thinking about you since I left this morning.”

  His gaze left every inch of her skin burning.

  “And how much I wanted to touch you again.”

  Cat swallowed as his hand cupped her breast. “I’ve missed you, too.”

  He bent his head toward her other breast. “Let’s see how much.” His breath caressed her nipple and sent instant longing to the rest of her body.

  Without a good come back, she buried her fingers in his hair as his mouth took possession of her nipple.

  He teased one breast with his fingers while his lips and tongue lavished attention on the other. Her hands fell to his shoulders and pulled at his T-shirt.

  “You’re not playing fairly,” she said, unable to keep the catch from her voice.

  Tony released her nipple and met her eyes. “Why would I want to do that?” The hand that had been teasing one breast slipped between her legs and he fondled her. “I find it so much more fun this way.”

  Her stomach muscles contracted as he continued his teasing. When he kissed her breast as he touched her, her knees shook. Then, just like that, he pulled his hand away.

  Cat opened her mouth to protest, but Tony picked her up before she could.

  “Don’t worry, beautiful.” He stretched her out on the bed. He didn’t say anything else before he kissed her, his tongue slipping into her mouth the way his fingers had slipped into her a moment ago. At the same time, he pulled her arms up and over her head, wrapping her fingers around the spindles of the headboard.

  Pulling his mouth away, he looked down at her. “Don’t move.”

  Anticipation flowed as he kissed his way down her neck and over her breasts. Already hypersensitive, she almost jumped from the bed when his tongue circled one nipple and then the other. Gradually, he kissed his way down her stomach, and when he passed her navel, the throbbing his teasing created earlier increased. The lower he went, the faster her heart raced.

  “You’re so smooth,” he said before kissing her in the very spot that shouted for his attention.

  At any moment, she was going to die. Her heart couldn’t possibly beat this fast and survive. If she did die, she’d die happy and with the man she loved.

  Cat’s fingers tightened on the spindles of the headboard as her body exploded with pleasure. As she enjoyed the sensations crashing through her body, she felt the mattress shift. Opening her eyes, she watched Tony stand and pull of his clothes. The sight of him naked and gazing down at her sent a thrill of excitement straight to her core, and she started to sit up, intent on touching him.

  “I don’t remember saying you could move.” He came down on top of her.

  Running her hand over his shoulder and back, she wrapped her legs around his lean waist. “And what if I want to?”

  “Trust me, you don’t,” he assured her as he began to show her just why she didn’t want to move.

  ***

  Cat glanced at the alarm clock. “We really should get up and get ready. It’s almost four.”

  “It doesn’t take me that long to get dressed.” Tony continued stroking her arm and she figured she’d be happy to stay right there in his bed for the rest of the day.

  “Well, I need to do something with my hair. It’s a mess,” she said as she lifted her head off his chest.

  “Five more minutes.” He kissed her. “I like holding you like this.”

  Her heart melted a tiny bit more at his statement, and she nodded. She did love it when they cuddled like this. “But then we both need to get ready. I really don’t want to be late tonight.”

  True to his word, he held her for five more minutes and then climbed out of bed. “Be right back.”

  She watched for a moment as he headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once the bathroom door closed behind him, she tossed back the covers. She’d already picked out an outfit for the night, so getting dressed was the easy party. The not so fun part involved her hair. Most days, she combed it right after she washed it. She’d found that doing so made it more manageable. Their afternoon activities had prevented her from doing that, and now it was a tangled mess of almost dry hair.

  She slipped on her clothes and then faced the mirror. Dragging her brush through her hair, she considered several different options before pulling it back into a loose bun. Tony preferred when she wore her hair down; he’d mentioned that to her several times. Tonight, considering the state of her hair and the amount of time she had to play with, a bun was her best option.

  She heard the shower turn off as she applied her makeup, something she normally wouldn’t do before visiting her parents. However, while much lighter, the bruise on her face was still visible without makeup and she didn’t want Mom and Pop asking questions. Of course Mom might still when she saw Tony. His bruises remained visible as well. Or maybe she wouldn’t. She suspected Pop had questioned Striker already. Perhaps Pop filled Mom in on everything already. Either way, she didn’t want an
y mention of Tony and Striker’s fight tonight. Nope, she wanted to enjoy the evening. Although she’d spoken to Mom, she hadn’t spent any time with her parents in several weeks, and she was looking forward to doing that tonight.

  Thirty minutes later, Tony pulled into her parents’ driveway, and Cat closed her eyes and groaned.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “That’s Zack’s car.”

  She considered the possibilities. Maybe Zack had just stopped by for a quick chat with Pop. He did it all the time. Then again, it was very possible that he’d come by for a visit and then Mom being Mom had invited him to stay for dinner. The thought of having a meal with her ex-boyfriend seated across the table from her current boyfriend gave her indigestion even though she hadn’t eaten anything yet.

  What were the chances that someone inside hadn’t noticed them yet? Could they leave and go back to Tony’s. She could call her mom and tell her she wasn’t feeling well. She hated lying like that, but she hated the idea of spending several hours with her parents and Zack even more.

  “You didn’t say he’d be here.”

  “I didn’t know, Tony. No one has opened the door yet; let’s go home and I’ll call Mom. I’ll tell her I’m not feeling well.” At the moment, she didn’t feel well, so it wouldn’t really be a lie.

  She heard the car pull in behind them even before Tony answered.

  “Too late. Striker just pulled in behind us.”

  Talk about a pleasant evening going down the drain. Zack’s presences might be a coincidence, but not her brother’s. “Mom didn’t tell me he’d be here either.” But she should’ve.

  Tony remained silent as they walked into the house, Striker right behind them. Cat didn’t mind. At least it meant Striker and Tony weren’t arguing. She just hoped it stayed that way for the next few hours.

  She followed the sound of voices through the house and out onto the large screened porch attached to the back of the house.

  “You’re all here.” Her mom stood and came around to give Cat a hug.

  Outside on the patio, Pop stood in front of the grill, but he turned and waved in their direction.