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Of course, that wasn’t making her feel any better.
Especially the way Cort was striding down the street like he couldn’t wait to get away from her.
She doubled her steps to catch up with him. He glanced at her and slowed his pace.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” she said, “if I said anything back there to make you . . . I—I guess I should have kept my feelings to myself.”
Cort’s gaze stayed focused ahead of him. “You can’t help the way you feel.”
Katie nodded, even though she knew Cort wouldn’t see it, but she couldn’t speak. She didn’t expect him to return her attraction. After all, he’d never shown any sign of interest before, but she also didn’t expect this reaction. He seemed almost—angry.
Talk about rejection. Her desire for him pissed him off. Wow. That was pretty harsh.
Neither spoke even as they stepped into Cort’s silent apartment. Cort immediately went to the bathroom, not even putting down the cookie jar or the bird.
He returned seconds later. “The priest is gone.”
“Oh.” Katie wasn’t sure what else to say. She knew Cort was disappointed. He wanted answers. But more important, he wanted to find out about the annulment. “You didn’t really expect him to still be there, did you?”
He gave her a long look, and for a second, she wondered if he knew more than he was telling her. But then he just crossed over to the kitchen counter and put down the cookie jar with more force than necessary. The bird cawed loudly at the sound.
“Get the f**k off me,” Cort yelled, shaking his arm. The bird cawed again, but flew away to perch on top of the refrigerator.
For some reason that was the last straw for Katie.
“You don’t have to take out your frustrations on the stupid bird,” she shouted. “I know you are angry with me. I know you are upset that I’m a vampire, because you feel responsible for me and you don’t want to. And I certainly know you are even more upset that we’re married. But most of all, I know you just want to be rid of me.”
Cort turned away from the counter, his usually sleepy eyes wide.
“Well, don’t you worry about it,” Katie continued, “I’m sure I can go to the courthouse or something and file the annulment. As far as being a vampire, there seems to be plenty of them in this city to get tips from, I won’t bother you. And right now, I’ll help you out with your last problem, too. I’m leaving, and you can forget any of this ever happened.”
She turned to leave, but before she could even take a step, Cort had grabbed her wrist.
“Is that what you think?” he said.
“Well, duh,” she responded, her unusual anger apparently making her childish, too. But she didn’t care. She was hurt and upset and scared.
And very, very mad at herself, because even in this state she was still altogether too aware of Cort’s hand on her skin.
“Katie, I’m not angry with you. Hell, none of this is your fault. I feel guilty that in one night, I turned your whole world upside down. But I don’t blame any of that on you.”
Katie stared up into his beautiful dark brown eyes, lost in his sorrowful expression.
“And I don’t blame you,” she said.
“I will admit I was hurt that you’re ashamed and disappointed to be married to me.”
Katie started to speak, but Cort raised a hand to stop her.
“I realize you can hardly be thrilled about finding yourself married to someone who is little more than a casual friend, but I will admit, hearing you use those words,” he shrugged, “they hurt. No one wants a person to be ashamed and embarrassed and disappointed about their marriage. Even an accidental one.”
Katie found herself smiling slightly at that description, even as she tried to absorb what he was saying.
He was hurt. She’d been hurt.
“I didn’t mean those words that way.”
He frowned. “How did you mean them?”
Katie wanted to groan. She supposed it was her surprise at his candidness that made her answer without measuring her words.
But he had been candid. Maybe it was time she was, too. Hadn’t she always said she wanted to be wilder, more rebellious?
Just tell him what you meant.
“I—I said I was embarrassed and ashamed, because I couldn’t remember anything about those pictures. That’s not me.”
Cort nodded. “I get that. It’s not me either. But why were you disappointed? Because the pictures didn’t give us more answers?”
Katie could have just said yes, that was why. But she wasn’t going to. Maybe it was time to admit her feelings for Cort. It had been three years of hiding her feelings. She was at the start of a new existence. Maybe it was time to tell him. He might reject her, he probably would, but given everything else that had happened, this seemed like as good a time as any.
“I was disappointed because I didn’t remember anything in those pictures.”
Cort didn’t speak for a moment, then he said, “You mean the partying?”
She shook her head. “No, I was disappointed—I am disappointed, because I can’t remember being held in your arms or kissing you.”
Cort was quiet again, and regret and panic spread through her chest, tight and painful. She shouldn’t have said anything. She wasn’t ready for rejection after all.
But just when she would have told him to forget what she said, he tugged the wrist he still held.
“Well that’s one thing we can fix right now.”
He pulled her against him, and his lips found hers as if they had a dozen times before.
And maybe they had, although that thought was quickly lost as she became overwhelmed by the masculine feel of him now, in this very moment. This was real. This was what she’d imagined for so long and now that he was touching her, kissing her, it was so much better than the pictures or even her imagination.
His lips explored hers, strong and soft at the same time. His hands moved up her arms, sending delicious chills throughout her body.
She whimpered, overcome, weak with her desire. Her fingers dug into the muscles of his shoulders, feeling his strength.
She moaned again as he deepened the kiss, his tongue finding hers. She could taste the lime from his drink, the tang of the fruit and him making her shiver. He was utterly delicious. They stood, bodies pressed together, lips moving hungrily over each other’s.
God, he was so much more amazing than she could have ever dreamed up in her overactive imagination.
