Take Me (Take Me 1)

“Not a chance in hell. He’ll take one look at you and forget my name entirely.”

“No way, no how… But aside from that obvious sentiment. Geez, Kate. Am I detecting a hint of jealousy or insecurity in your tone?”

“Nope.”

Nikki got to her feet as well, a coy smile on her face. “Come on, spill. Is he really the catch Babs purports him to be or—”

“Babs?” Kate inquired. “Have we swept passive-aggressive under the rug and moved directly to plotting this woman’s ‘accidental’ fall down a flight of very tall stairs?”

Planting her manicured hands on her hips, Nikki said, “The woman is five years younger than me, has never worked a day in her life or set foot in a college classroom, and is now sleeping on my mother’s side of the bed.”

“That’s painful,” Kate agreed.

“And if the pitter-patter of bare feet from a toddler is on the horizon… Jesus. Really, Kate. Keep me on this topic, and the next thing we both know, you’ll be prescribing meds and a straight-jacket.”

“Hardly,” Kate replied. “You are the queen of perspective. You just happen to be a little too close to the project at present. Take a few steps back. Don’t interact socially with Morgan and ‘Babs’ for a few weeks and take your mother to Elizabeth Arden. You will prevail.”

“Or end up on death row.”

“She’s not worth it, girlfriend.”

“Jury’s still out.”

Kate made her trek toward the door. “You’re not the homicidal type,” she said.

“How unfortunate for me.”

“I get it. I do. But my advice still stands.”

“And this guy you spent the night with?” Nikki prompted.

Kate spun around—as best as she could, given the load she carried.

“Who said I spent the night with Jude?”

“No one.” Nikki crossed her arms over her ample chest and gave a smug look. “You have that insanely satisfied glow about you and a much more relaxed disposition than this meeting warrants. All tell-tale signs a man rang your bell i

n the sexiest fashion, and for hours on end—not via a quickie in a dark corner of The Plaza.”

“There are no dark corners of The Plaza.”

“Whatever. The question is, Kate… Are you going back for seconds?”

14

Million-dollar question, is more like it.

Kate ruminated over her friend’s parting shot as she sat in the back of a Town Car on the return ride to Manhattan.

It was an interesting and complex conundrum, in that Kate truly did sense Jude was under some emotional strain from his work. This compelled her, of course, to want to help him from a professional standpoint. Conversely… She hadn’t gotten him out of her system.

How he’d turned the tables on her!

Kate had done a fantastic job all these years keeping her attraction to Jude under wraps. Not losing sight of her goal of helping him heal.

Now, she wasn’t just mulling over how he might be incurring a setback…she also couldn’t keep thoughts of his hands and his mouth on every inch of her from permeating her mind.

And all of those sensuous recollections were accompanied by the very distinct sound of his low groans, his sexy words, his lust-tinged tone, his harsh breathing…