naked body as she made her way to the kitchen in search of food. The buzz from the alcohol had long since faded—dissolving almost entirely when she’d paced the parking lot waiting for a cab because driving drunk hadn’t been on her agenda. And though she was tempted to drown herself in more booze just to forget what had happened, she didn’t think it would help, so why bother?
She opened the refrigerator, peered at the contents, then sighed.
Maybe she wasn’t hungry.
Not for food, anyway.
Kora grabbed the container of orange juice, then twisted off the cap, taking a swig right from the bottle. While she contemplated adding a little vodka, her cell phone rang. She glanced down at it sitting on the bar, narrowing her eyes when she saw who it was.
“No fucking way,” she mumbled to herself.
There was no way he had the fucking balls to call her on the same day as his baby shower.
No. Fucking. Way.
THE INSTANT HE HEARD her voice, Donovan smiled.
“What the fuck do you want, Sam?”
Yep, just as he’d thought, she didn’t want to talk to her back-stabbing ex. But since he wasn’t Sam, he hoped she wouldn’t be angry for too long.
“Not Sam.”
He was met with silence. It lingered for several seconds, and he didn’t say a word as he made his way out to the front porch. When the baby shower had wound down, Donovan had decided to go back to Sam’s for a little while. And under the guise that his cell phone battery had died, he’d asked Sam to borrow his. Just as he’d suspected, Kora’s phone number had still been in his contact list.
“What do you want?” Kora asked, her voice still firm but not quite as deadly as before.
“Your address,” he told her bluntly. No sense beating around the bush. He had every intention of talking to her, but he wasn’t planning to do it on the phone.
“What? Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Donovan didn’t want to play games with her; he wanted to get in his car and drive to her house, strip her naked, bury himself inside her, and make her scream his name. And when they were sweaty and sated, then they could talk. About anything. About everything. About why the sky was blue or how babies were made. He didn’t care, just as long as he could get his hands on her again.
Not once in his life had he found himself this consumed by a woman. Since she’d snuck out of the restaurant, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her. He didn’t think he would be able to until he saw her, touched her, tasted her.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kora mumbled.
“I think it’s a fucking fantastic idea,” he told her, keeping his tone firm.
He didn’t know much about Kora Madison, but he suspected she was used to making the rules. And though Sam was the type to let someone railroad him, Donovan had never been that guy. Control was something he craved, something he refused to let go of. Even now.
Especially now.
“Donovan…”
“Yes?” he asked, glancing at his car. In a few minutes, he fully intended to be in that car, driving to her house.
“We can’t.”
“We can, Kora. And we will. I’m only asking one more time. What’s your address?”
More silence, and for a second, Donovan thought she wouldn’t give it to him. He hadn’t thought things through completely, because he wasn’t ready to give up, but luckily that didn’t matter.
Because, although she sounded reluctant, Kora rattled off her address and then hung up on him.
Donovan stared at the phone, grinning like a fool.
Seven
AFTER HANGING UP ON Donovan, Kora stared around her house, wondering what she needed to do. He obviously wasn’t going to listen to reason, which meant he was probably already on his way, so she felt as though she should be doing something other than standing there.
Unfortunately for her, the house was clean, so she had nothing to do there. Which left her to look at herself, and that was when she realized she was still wearing a towel.
“Lovely,” she muttered, making her way to her bedroom.
She didn’t want to get dressed up, but only because she was too lazy to do so. When she’d showered, she had washed off all her makeup, and without it, she looked like a twelve-year-old kid, not a twenty-six-year-old woman, so maybe he wouldn’t be interested. Not that she gave a shit. She really didn’t want Donovan coming over. For some inexplicable reason, Kora knew she