Page 31 of At the Heart of It (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #4)
“Because you’re always looking out for other people,” she said. “You came to my aid last night at the swingers club. You made sure Viv was really okay with you being part of the show before you agreed to do it. And you look out for others—the animals at your sister’s shelter, your sister herself.”
Something flashed in his eyes. A darkness Kate couldn’t quite place. Then it was gone, and she wondered if she’d imagined it.
“I think you’d like my sister,” he said.
The words startled her a little, the implication that she might actually meet his family. She knew that would never be possible, but?—
“Speaking of my sister, Viv brought up a pretty decent idea yesterday.”
Kate went back to toweling her hair, ignoring the twinge in her gut. So what if he brought up his ex-wife while they both sat on the same bed they’d made love in the night before? Modern relationships were complicated, and this wasn’t even a relationship. It was only sex, wasn’t it?
Jonah must have seen something in her expression, because he reached up and touched the side of her face. “Hey. I know this is weird. Dating’s hard for anyone post-divorce, but when you throw in the high-profile nature of my previous marriage?—”
“And the fact that your ex-wife is my longtime idol?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “It makes things a little more raw.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Like you said, nothing’s ever a mistake. Sometimes it just feels weird, that’s all.” Kate tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. “What were you saying about your sister?”
“Oh, right. You know how the network folks have been after me to shoot a bunch of footage with my shirt off?”
Kate grimaced. “For the record, that wasn’t my idea.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m actually okay with it, and I thought maybe we could tie it to Clearwater Animal Shelter. You know, explain why I do the whole shirtless dog-walking thing, maybe shoot a little promotional footage that draws attention to the shelter.”
“That’s kinda brilliant.” Kate beamed. “We can build a whole promotional campaign around it, really get people excited for the show before the pilot even airs.”
“I’m glad you like the idea.” He sat up and stretched, then glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “I should probably get going. I fed Marilyn in the evening, but she probably wants breakfast.”
“Not to mention we’re all shooting today.”
“Right.” Jonah gave her a lopsided smile. “Hopefully it won’t be too weird.”
“Oh, it will be.” Kate smiled and stood up again. “But I’m a professional. I deal with weird all the time.”
“Perhaps not this precise brand of it.”
“True. I don’t usually sleep with the stars of the shows I work on.” She turned to face the mirror, resting one hand on the headboard as she smoothed down the front of her skirt. “Just the camera crew. And the lighting guy. And the makeup artists. And the?—”
She shrieked as Jonah grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back down on the bed.
He tickled her until she was breathless from giggling and her cheeks flushed with laughter.
Her blouse came untucked and her skirt hiked up and she gave serious thought to just crawling back in bed with him and calling in sick for the day.
Then he stopped tickling and planted a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, followed by one more on the lips. “Enough,” he said, taking his hands off her. “I suppose we both have to go to work.”
“Right.” Kate sat up reluctantly and heaved herself off the bed. She groaned as she glanced at the bedside clock. “Damn. I was hoping to be on set in fifteen minutes.”
“You’d better get ready, then.”
She pushed herself off the bed, then leaned down for one more kiss. Then she scuttled away, hustling toward the bathroom as Jonah eased off the bed behind her. “Let me just grab all my stuff out of here so you can shower and get ready,” she called.
“I’ll just shower at home,” he answered from the other room. “But first I’ll see if I can get this complicated-looking contraption to make us some coffee.”
“And I’m going to see if I can use this complicated-looking contraption to dry my hair.” She pulled the blow dryer off the holder on the wall and started to switch it on when she heard the knock at the door.
She set the dryer down and poked her head out of the bathroom. “That’s housekeeping. I asked them to bring a couple more towels.”
Jonah looked up from his station next to the door, fiddling with the coffeemaker. He wore nothing but a pair of blue-striped boxers, and Kate felt her stomach do a somersault at the sight of all that flesh on display. How was it possible she wanted him again?
“I’ll get it,” he said. “You finish getting ready.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her hairbrush again and watched for a second as he moved toward the door. A faint track of parallel lines ran across one shoulder blade, and she remembered putting them there, raking her nails down his back as she arched under him.
Quit staring , she commanded herself as she slid back into the bathroom and faced the mirror.
Her finger was on the switch of the blow dryer when she heard the thunk of the door handle, followed by Jonah’s voice: “Thanks so much for—oh.”
Silence, followed by a familiar female voice.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”