He signaled for the valet to hail a taxi.

“I’ll see you next week in St. Louis?”

“I’m going to be awfully busy with work and—”

Before she could finish, he’d slid his hands around her neck and his mouth was on hers. It was a soft, but demanding kiss, and she fell into it easily, her hands resting on the solid warmth of his wide chest.

It only lasted a few seconds, but God, she wanted so much more. When he pulled back, she licked her lips, tasting whiskey.

“Think about me when you’re at home doing … things.”

His lips curved as he tucked one of her curls behind her ear.

He walked her to the taxi and leaned in after she got inside.

“And I will see you next week in St. Louis, Kat.”

He shut the door and the taxi pulled away.

She wanted to turn around and look to see if he was still standing there watching, but for some reason, she knew he was.

She had no idea what she was going to do about Grant Cassidy.

Keeping him out of her thoughts and out of her life was proving more and more difficult all the time.

TWELVE

KATRINA HAD SPENT THE PAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS making care arrangements with the au pair to watch over Leo and Anya, who’d argued they were far too old for a babysitter and could handle spending a week alone.

Ha. She could only imagine the parties and the trouble those two could get into unsupervised. Once Cerissa showed up, Katrina had packed, taken her flight to St. Louis, and gotten settled into her hotel. First thing Monday morning she’d met with the photographer and the rest of the team.

They were doing a wedding shoot at the Jewel Box for one of the bridal magazines. She had the cover photo, and would be showcasing some of the features inside the magazine, so it was a pretty big deal, and she’d have several dresses to wear. Typically she didn’t give much thought to the outfits, but she rarely had the opportunity to model bridal wear. It was going to be a fun shoot.

Plus, the location was gorgeous. The Jewel Box was a greenhouse in one of the parks in the city, and her manager told her it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She’d looked it up while she was in her hotel room last night, and couldn’t wait to start the shoot today.

When she arrived on scene, she was whisked over to hair and makeup and spent a couple of hours there having makeup applied and her hair curled. They started out with her hair down, which went well with the strapless designer gown. It was an ivory satin full ball gown, luxurious and a striking complement to the gorgeous Jewel Box, with its Art Deco cantilevered design. They did the first pictures outside. It was the perfect day from a production standpoint. Though quite hot, little to no breeze helped to keep the dress and other paraphernalia in place. They had to stop in between the shots though, to keep patting her down to erase any sheen. The dress was ultra heavy and not at all suited for outside August weather in St. Louis, but she handled it just fine.

Fortunately, the photographer was quick, and before Kat knew it, she was out of that dress and into the next, this time a lovely white lace A-line with sleeves. She was lucky this series of photographs would be taken inside, next to some of the most beautiful flowers she’d ever seen. They’d redesigned her hair for these photos, pulling it up so it was off her shoulders. After all, the lace on her shoulders and down her arms had to be seen.

After a couple of hours of various poses in that dress, they were finished for the day.

She went back to her hotel and showered off the heavy makeup, washing the excess product out of her hair. She let her hair air-dry outside on the balcony of her hotel room while she talked on the phone to Cerissa, who told her everything at home was fine. Leo was working out a lot and Anya was, as typical, always on the phone or with her friends.

At least she didn’t have to worry about the kids. After she hung up, she grabbed a book she’d started in the middle of her flight to St. Louis and spent about an hour reading. When her phone rang, she put the book down and looked at the display.

It was Grant. She thought about ignoring his call, but that would be rude. Not that she wasn’t an expert at rudeness, but he’d been so nice to her and the kids, so she at least owed him an answer to his call.

“Hello, Grant.”

“Hi. How was your shoot today?”

“It went well, thank you. What did you do today?”

“Not much. Day off, so I worked out and cleaned my garage.”

She tried to get a mental visual of him working in his garage. All sweaty, maybe his shirt off.

More dangerous thoughts.

“I see. Sounds relaxing, I suppose.”

“I was thinking of barbecuing some chicken for dinner and wanted to invite you over.”

She couldn’t imagine him doing that, either. “Oh, well, I have an early call tomorrow, so …”

She wanted to let him off easy. She’d thought a lot about him—about that kiss he’d given her the other night. She was attracted to him. Too attracted.

It was time to back away.

“I promise to have you back to your hotel in time for curfew. Whatever time that is. I’d really like to see you, Kat.”

Well … crap. And the problem was, she wanted to see him, too.

Wasn’t that the problem?

She should say no. End this, before things got even more complicated than they already were.

But the words spilled out of her mouth before she had a chance to pull them back. “Sure. What time?”

So much for listening to her inner voice.