Chapter 15

15

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The headline was bold with large letters proclaiming, “KRIS AVERY TAKEN?” Smaller letter’s read: “Hollywood’s favorite ladies’ man is off the market: Who exactly is Cath Black?” An accompanying photo was split into two slightly grainy images, one was of the two of them leaving an Italian restaurant where they had gone for dinner a couple of weeks before; she had been helping him along to the car as he had still been in pain from the accident. The other was of the main administrative building at Pendleton where her office was located. She held up the magazine for Kris to see and began to flip through it looking for the article. “How the hell did they get these photos without us noticing? Without me noticing?”

“Because it’s what they do and believe it or not some of them do it really well.” He gently took the magazine out of her hands, flipping it shut firmly. “Take it from a seasoned pro, don’t read it. It’s not worth your time, most of what they write is shit.”

“You read them all the time,” she pointed out. His morning routine often included coffee and checking his phone to see what was going on in the entertainment scene, to see if anything significant had occurred since the day before.

“I check the online rag sheets,” he conceded. “But only because I feel like I have to keep tabs on what they are saying about my movies. I try to ignore the stuff about my personal life.”

“I swear, the next photographer who tries to get a photo of me at work is going to get a right hook to the jaw,” she threatened, balling her hands into fists and making a noise of disgust at the invasion of privacy. “I can handle it in my personal life, I have no issues with it when we are out together, but Pendleton is fucking off limits. The last thing I need is for my position with Special Forces to be compromised. We may need to talk about doing something legal, a cease and desist or a restraining order.”

“This is why my lawyer is on speed dial, I’ll call him right away after the holidays.” He rolled the magazine up and tapped her on the shoulder then made a tossing gesture. “I’ll tell you what, if you want, I’ll buy all the copies here and we can burn them in the fireplace at the condo tomorrow night. It’s what I normally do, they make great kindling.”

“Very tempting.” She scowled at the cover and tossed it back on the shelf aggressively. “You know, if they were going to risk sneaking photos on the base, they could have at least included my rank. I busted my ass off for that.”

“And a fine ass it is.” He slid his hand down her back, cupping her ass and giving it a squeeze of affection.

“Aiming for more bruised ribs, eh?” She quipped, making a halfhearted gesture like she was going to elbow him.

“Oh, I see your plan, you do that and keep me living on base with you longer.” He made a put-upon face. “Then you get to keep me all to yourself.”

“Well, I do love those energy drinks you stash in the fridge.” She heaved an overly dramatic sigh. “It would be an utter shame if they disappeared.”

“I knew it!” He wagged a finger at her and gestured to the multiple cases of drinks in the cart. “I knew you were stealing them!”

“What can I say, I love that fake chemical taste, it reminds me of eating MRE’s in the field.” She shuddered at the memory and began loading their purchases on the grocery belt then followed the items along as the cashier began to ring them through.

In a short matter of time, their groceries were through and bagged on the end of the belt. Kris stepped forward and reached for his wallet automatically, only to be beaten to the punch by Cath. He’d been paying for far too much lately in her opinion, and she was determined to equal out the playing field when she could. “You pull that card out, you lose fingers.”

He leaned in close to her ear as she passed the cashier her card. “That’s twice in under ten minutes you’ve mentioned violence, if you want to take me home and give me a good toss around, I am all for it.”

“Don’t give me any ideas.” She began passing him the bags to load in the cart.

“How about fantasies?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and began to push the cart towards the doors.

“Shit, if getting your ass kicked gets you off that badly, I’m definitely your girl.” Cath chuckled as they exited the store and headed for the Subaru.

“Damn straight.” Kris gave her a smile that made her flush with warmth, the affection in his eyes was almost staggering to her. “You know I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that.”

Cath played coy as she opened the SUV’s hatch and began to load their purchases. Bending low she made sure he had a prime view of her body as she stretched out to put the bags inside. She felt his gaze sweep over her and drew out the process of standing up fully, instead choosing to take her time organizing the shopping bags in the trunk. “What? That I can kick your ass? I thought you’d have realized by now that was a given.”

“That you’re my girl.” Kris lifted the last of the bags into the trunk and waited for her to shut the hatch. He pulled her close and wound her arms around his neck, tucking her inside his leather jacket. Cath leaned up and kissed him, letting him press her back against the SUV’s hatch as they got caught up in the moment. Even after five months, Cath was sometimes shocked at how intensely she felt it when he kissed her, like the world stopped for a moment and all that mattered was being in his arms. She wasn’t some fresh faced ingénue; she’d been in love before, but it had never felt like this, euphoric and heady, and leaving her hungry for more of him all the time. Half the time, it left her feeling like she’d won the lottery, and the other half of the time it scared her to death.

With a reluctant sigh, Cath broke away gently, knowing that if she hadn’t been keenly aware that they could wind up the front running story on TMZ, she would have stayed in his arms like that for hours contentedly. She detangled her arms from around his neck, shifting them so that she could grab the collar of his jacket in her fists and steal one last quick kiss. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here and go home to where we don’t have an audience watching us.”

“For once, you won’t get a word of disagreement out of me.” He turned and headed for the passenger side of the SUV.

Cath followed and opened the driver side door then leaned on it, resting her chin on her arm as she gave him a cheeky grin. “That just may be a Christmas miracle in itself.”