Kiss the Kitty: (Her Dad’s Best Friend) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Kiss the Kitty

  Her Dad’s Best Friend

  Copyright 2017 by Virginia Silk

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Note: Contains graphic language and sexually explicit material, intended for adult readers only.

  Contents

  Kiss the Kitty

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Kiss the Kitty

  One look at her and he wanted her — in his bed, pinned beneath him, screaming his name — but then he found out who she was.

  His best friend’s daughter, the one he was supposed to keep out of trouble while her father bailed her out of yet another mess.

  And even if Katherine Healy wasn’t off limits, she would still be all wrong for him.

  James Reed came from a long line of scandalous characters and was determined to be the white sheep of the family. And while Katherine’s family tree was littered with the same type of self-destructive drama people, it seemed to him that the apple that was Kitty hadn’t fallen far from the tree.

  But that first impression, before he knew who she was, was hard to shake. And what he didn’t realize was that Katherine was trying to be good — she really was — but his uptight, judgmental, stick-in-the-mud attitude was pure temptation for a recovering brat like her.

  …forbidden fruit had never looked so tasty.

  *This is a standalone romance novella. Includes a hot, nerdy billionaire, a gorgeous, naughty virgin, and their steamy road to HEA.

  CHAPTER ONE

  James

  He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. From the moment she’d walked into the bistro, he’d felt a pull stronger than anything he’d ever known, and one thought — one loud, all-consuming thought — roared in his head: MINE!

  She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. An angel, a gloriously sexy angel with long blond hair and big, bright eyes.

  He tried, but couldn’t quite make out the color of her eyes as they swept the room as if she was looking for someone.

  Better not be a man, he though grinding his teeth as her gaze brushed right past him.

  Not finding what or whom she was searching for, she strolled over to the bar, and stopped in front of one of the stools. Biting her lip, she looked at it for a moment as if it were a problem she needed to tackle. She lay her purse on the bar top, and grabbed the edge for support as she climbed onto the tall stool. Finding her balance, she cautiously loosened her grip on the edge of the bar before relaxing her shoulders.

  James felt a smile tug at the corners of is lips as she proceeded with a little shimmy, as if congratulating herself. But that movement also made the curly ends of her long hair sway against the small of her back as if directing his gaze to her ass. An ass so firm and shapely, he had to fight back a groan. His hands itching to–

  Jesus fuck…he needed to get himself under control.

  John and his troublemaker of a daughter were going to be there soon. He couldn’t very well meet them in his current state. And more importantly, he couldn’t approach her. If he stood right now, with his raging erection pressing so hard against the zipper of his pants it was painful, he would more than likely cause a scene, and quite possibly risk indecent exposure. This was a respectable establishment, someone might actually call the cops.

  Okay, maybe that was a tad extreme, but was it worth the risk? No, he needed to be a little subtler in his approach.

  His friends would have good laugh though. After all, this was him, Mr. Boy Scout himself. A nicknamed that wasn’t going anywhere after they found out he actually had been a boy scout.

  Yes, yes, they could laugh all they wanted, but it had taught him a lot of valuable lessons about thinking ahead, strategizing, being prepared. But he hadn’t seen this coming, her, and he had never felt so unprepared in his life.

  Think, man, think!

  Just then, a bartender popped up from behind the bar, his sudden appearance startling her and causing her to wobble on her stool.

  A surge of protectiveness coursed through him at the sight. He was about to leap out of his chair to come to her rescue—indecency charges be damned—but the bartender beat him to it. He reached across the bar, grabbed her by her upper arms and steadied her before she fell.

  James let out a sigh of relief, but that feeling was soon replaced by a different one as he realized the guy was taking full advantage of his newly acquired hero status. His hands slid down her arms and he entwined his fingers with hers.

  Son of a bitch.

  Once again, James was about to leap out of his chair, but his beautiful angel managed to untangle herself on her own, making her hands busy with her purse.

  Good girl.

  He had to take a few deep breaths before his heart rate returned to normal. Well, not normal exactly, it had been elevated ever since she’d walked through the door. In a good way, though. It was excitement.

  He couldn’t remember ever feeling so excited about a woman. Not even about those he’d been in relationships with. Honestly, he always knew there had been something missing in his relationships, they had all been very…well, tame. You might even say – and this was probably a little sad but – lacking or rather void of emotion and passion.

  Well, he was feeling things now. In less than five minutes, she’d made him feel so many things, possessive, protective, jealous, aroused, oh God, so fucking aroused…and she hadn’t even looked at him.

  The bartender reappeared with a glass of something transparent and lingered even after she’d paid him and their business was, for all intents and purposes, concluded.

  Move it along man.

  He needed to lock this down, but the timing and circumstances weren’t in his favor.

  John and his daughter would be there any second, and from what John had told him, he was going to have his hands ful
l for the next week or so, but there was no way in hell, he was letting that brat ruin this for him.

  And she would try.

  He was sure she would find a way to scare his little angel away. The girl just couldn’t help herself. In fact, her destructive behavior was the reason they were meeting here in the first place, instead of at his office across the street like John initially suggested.

  James suspected the girl might not be too happy about the arrangement and was likely to make a scene to demonstrate that. And good God, that girl could cause a spectacle like it was nobody’s business. He did not need that. Reed Industries and his family name had been associated with enough of that, but that was in the past, not while he was in charge.

  Honestly though, he’d been under the impression that things had changed, that she had gotten her act together. It had been a long time since he’d seen her himself, but John had been speaking very positively about her lately. He’d even been bragging about how well she’d been doing in school. Obviously, the poor guy had just been setting himself up for disappointment.

  Because the girl’s mother was horribly unreliably, and the rest of her family wasn’t much better, John had call him for help—at least someone appreciated his sensible nature and didn’t refer to him as a boy scout, as if it were a bad thing.

  Anyway, John had asked him to let the girl stay with him while he cleaned up her mess. At the same time, his friend had business out of town and was afraid if he left her alone at his place or God forbid that sorority house where she usually lived, she would find a way to sabotage her own rescue.

  James had agreed, but obviously, he didn’t want someone with that kind of track record anywhere near his sweet angel.

  Thomas! Yes, of course. He was going to have his driver follow her home and keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, he would take the delinquent home in one of the company cars, and then he would…he would…

  Jesus Christ, stalking? This was the grand plan? It was so out of character for him. He’d never done anything like this. Then again, he'd never seen anyone like her before either. She was a mixture of raw sex and pure innocence, and it was drawing him in like a magnet.

  There was no way he was letting go of her. So yes, stalking. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but it was all he could come up with at the moment. Desperate times and all that. He would figure out where to go from there.

  He was just about to make the call to Thomas when she turned on her stool. Facing the seating area, she leaned her back against the bar, crossed her legs and scanned the room again.

  James held his breath in anticipation as her gaze filtered over the patrons of bistro.

  Green.

  Her eyes were green. His favorite color he just realized.

  Reaching him she did a double take and her eyes locked on him.

  That’s right baby, keep them right here.

  And then she smiled. The sweetest smile he’d ever seen.

  Mine!

  Screw subtle. He didn’t want to scare her, and he couldn’t go to her right then, but they would meet again—soon, very soon—but for now, he wasn’t going to leave her in any doubt about how much he wanted her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Katherine

  Was it too late? Had they passed that point?

  Oh…sweet Jesus! Katherine held her breath as his eyes did another shameless sweep of her body before again meeting hers. They conveyed so much; lust, hunger, appreciation, but what she didn’t see in them was recognition, none whatsoever.

  So, that would be a yes.

  Yes, they had definitely passed that point. The point where she could just say: Hey there, so you don’t remember me, but I’m your best friend’s daughter, the one you’ll be ‘babysitting’ while the consequences for her non-academic misconduct are decided.

  Oh dear, this could potentially turn out really awkward.

  Thing was, she suspected it had been too late even before she looked at him. Something in his eyes made her think he might have been watching her for a while.

  Maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised that he didn’t recognize her, it had been a while after all, and even back then, he’d always done a spectacular job of ignoring her. Not that she blamed him. Really, she’d been a total brat. But, she had his attention now. No question about that.

  She had smiled at him, a ‘yeah, it’s me’ kind of smile, but he clearly didn’t take the hint. Oh, he did smile back. Sort of. Really it was more of a wolfish grin that held so much promise it sent her heart racing. And his eyes…

  Oh God, his eyes. She felt them on her like a physical caress, causing an intense pulsing between her legs.

  Was this really happening?

  This was James Reed, uptight, stick in the mud James Reed. Known as a stickler for order and discipline, which was exactly why he’d been granted the honor, or rather the misfortune, of being her temporary ward.

  Professionally though, this reputation had served him well. A reminder of that was the view through the window just behind him, displaying the huge Reed Industries sign over the front entrance of the building on the other side of the street.

  Yes, that James Reed was sitting right there, devouring her with his eyes. That one and the same James Reed in his immaculate suit, crisp white shirt, perfectly straight tie, and with his dirty blond hair carefully combed to the side.

  Katherine struggled to keep her breathing even. Had he always been this hot?

  She definitely didn’t remember him being this…built. He’d also grown a bit of a beard since she last saw him, giving an edge to his otherwise clean-cut conservative look.

  Still, this was James Reed.

  Didn’t they call him Mr. Goody Two-shoes or something?

  Well, that did not sound like the guy looking at her right now. With such intensity, it was causing hot flashes.

  And there was no denying she liked it. No, that wasn’t right. She freaking loved it.

  Jesus, she needed to cool down. She reached for her glass of sparkling water on the bar and held it to her lips.

  “That better not be vodka.” The furious voice of her father had a more cooling effect than any sip of water. Really, his mere presence was the equivalent of a cold shower.

  …and not just on her.

  James looked like he’d been slapped in face. His eyes flicked between her and her father before his mouth twisted into a scowl. Yeah, there it was, the recognition she’d been looking for earlier.

  “Hey dad,” she said cautiously.

  He didn’t answer, just grabbed the glass out of her hand, sniffed into it before he tasted the content, then made a grunting sound and sat it down on the bar.

  Okay, maybe she deserved that, but she had hoped his anger had dissipated just a little since they last spoke.

  He looked around the room for James, who managed to school his expression before her father spotted him. Giving her father a nod, he ran his hand through his hair, making it stick out in all directions. He then got up from his seat, and awkwardly held his menu in front of his crotch.

  Hmm…looked like some things had to catch up on the ‘cooling down’.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Katherine

  “Let’s get this over with,” her dad said. “I don’t have all day.”

  Katherine got down from her stool. God, she hated these things, she always felt like she was climbing a tree. “Dad,” she said, trying to get his attention.

  “No, I’m not doing this with you,” he said tersely.

  Her heart sank. All the progress they’d made had gone right down the drain.

  She followed him to over to table where James stood, still holding his menu in front of his crotch. She was in a lot of trouble, and this was going to be painfully uncomfortable, but that still made her smile internally.

  “John,” he greeted her father.

  “James, I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” he said. “You remember my daughter?”

  James cleared his trough. “Of course.”


  Liar!

  He held his hand out to her, “Kitty.”

  No one had called her Kitty in years. For some reason, it made her feel all weird and tingly inside. Also, a little naughty, if she was being honest.

  “James,” she said slipping her hand into his, their eyes met and it was as if time stopped and everyone else vanished. There were only him, her…and fireworks.

  He looked at her with such heat, she felt her whole body ignite.

  His gaze dropped to her lips and for a second she thought he might pull her in for a kiss, but before she recalled who and where they were, his expression turned cold and he pulled his hand back as if he’d been burned.

  And as if to stress his rejection, swiftly turned and faced her father, who was already ignoring her. Katherine lowered her head. At least he was here though.

  She often hadn’t feel like much of a priority to her parents. A while back she had finally accepted that that was just the way things were. She had given up on getting their attention, although her recent adventure didn’t suggest that. She couldn’t make sense of it herself.

  Having spent the better part of two days sick in her bed, she hadn’t had a chance to figure out what exactly happened before her dad had swooped in.

  Something she had mixed feelings about. It was either letting him fix things, which required her to swallow some pride or risk losing his financial support and possibly getting expelled. Yes, kind of a cynical way of looking at it. The truth was, what she really needed was some support from her family. And even though his method could stand some improvement, he was there. She didn’t expect her mom to come running.

  But she understood why her mom kept her distance during a crisis, her dad had a way of steamrolling anyone who disagreed with him. It was his way or no way at all.

  That wasn’t at all how her dad viewed these situations…or her mother. Katherine was never in doubt that whenever he told her, ‘you’re acting like your mother,’ it wasn’t a compliment.

  According to him, the reason why her mom avoided these kinds of situation was that they weren’t about her, and she avoided anything where she wasn’t the center of attention.