The Year of Living Shamelessly (4 page)

Read The Year of Living Shamelessly Online

Authors: Susanna Carr

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary

BOOK: The Year of Living Shamelessly
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“Mating?” Melissa groaned. “Please, Hilary, can you just call it dating like everyone else?”
 
“I could, but it would be inaccurate.”
 
Katie tuned her friends out as she watched Tatum flirt with Ryder. The woman’s sexy look was effortless. It just wasn’t fair, Katie decided as she folded her arms across her chest. Compared to Tatum, Katie felt kind of stupid strutting around in an outfit that probably wasn’t so sexy after all.
 
So what if most of the men at this party found Katie attractive? If there ever was a
Who WouldYou Rather Do?
contest, Tatum would win in a landslide. Why did Katie think she could catch Ryder’s attention when he was used to dating the sexiest women around? It didn’t matter if she had reinvented herself into the woman she needed to be; she still wasn’t in the same league as Tatum.
 
Katie stared at Ryder and Tatum, hating how the woman could flirt as if she was born to do it. She’d bet Tatum never had to consult a magazine or expert for tips or tricks. Katie wanted to intervene, but why give Ryder side-by-side comparisons? She longed to escape and head home, but she was driven to watch. What should her next move be?
 
“Let’s go,” Hilary said, pushing her chair back.
 
“No, not yet,” Katie said, still watching Ryder. She wasn’t going to give up at the first sign of difficulty. “You just have to be patient. Something might happen tonight.”
 
“Katie, have you made a move on him since you walked in?” Hilary asked. “Did you say anything suggestive? Flash a little skin?”
 
Flash Ryder? Katie smiled. Oh, yeah, that would get a response, but not the kind she would be hoping for. He’d probably throw a blanket over her and tell her she was going to catch a cold.
 
“There is a time for patience, and there’s a time for action,” Hilary said. “If you aren’t ready to make a move, then why are we here?”
 
Katie was reluctant to inform Hilary that she had already made her move and it hadn’t gone as planned. But that was just a warm-up and not her master stroke. Now all she had to do was work up the nerve to try again. If she really had transformed, she would stop being the mousy, invisible girl in the corner and instead be the brazen woman who went after her fantasies.
 
But her secret fantasy had Ryder going after
her
. Like a man possessed, a man unable to fight the desire she created in him. She would have to do nothing and he would break into a sweat simply thinking of her.
 
Men never acted like that with her. They wanted her, but they weren’t going to be her sex slaves. These days the men noticed and flirted with her, but they were never going to make fools of themselves or make grand, expensive gestures or ruin their lives like they would for Tatum. Maybe Katie should just accept that her dreams about Ryder were too far out of reach.
 
She should, but she couldn’t, Katie realized as she watched Tatum sit her perky little butt on the bar. Ryder wasn’t looking too pleased with her. As he stood, hands on hips, glaring at Tatum, several men rushed to help her stand on the bar. It was quite a feat since she was wearing a skintight minidress and strappy heels.
 
Great, Katie thought with a groan as the rest of the guests turned to see what caused the commotion. Tatum was going to be the center of attention tonight. Was everyone going to be honored by a lame attempt at
Coyote Ugly
? Hilary’s idea of leaving was sounding better and better.
 
“Okay, everyone,” Tatum called out, motioning for them to quiet down, “as some of you already know, Ryder Scott is leaving town. . . .”
 
Katie jerked in surprise and sat straight up. Leaving? “Did she just say Ryder is
leaving
?”
 
“I think so,” Melissa said.
 
Katie stared at Ryder, who continued to scowl at Tatum. Because Tatum had it wrong, of course. Ryder wasn’t going anywhere. Katie would be the first to know about it.
Wouldn’t she?
 
“Ryder’s moving?” someone yelled from the crowd. “When?”
 
Katie felt like her heart stopped beating. She didn’t know why. She was overreacting. She took a deep breath. Ryder would set everything straight and the sudden ache in her chest would disappear.
 
“New Year’s Day,” Ryder reluctantly answered in his deep, gravelly voice.
 
Katie’s world slowly stopped turning.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ryder closed his eyes, resisting the instinct to seek Katie. He knew she was hurting right now. All because of him. Knowing that made it worse.
 
All hell was going to break loose, and there was not much he could do about it. He wished he had muzzled Tatum when he had the chance.
 
He felt a hand clasp his shoulder. “Sorry I spilled your secret, Ryder,” Jake said. “I didn’t know Tatum was standing right behind me. Can that girl keep her mouth shut about anything?”
 
Ryder faced his friend. Jake was as tall and lean as him. He also had short dark hair and always dressed casually, but that was where the similarities ended. Jake was the charmer, never without a smile. Sometimes Ryder wondered if the guy had a care in the world.
 
“The news was going to get out sooner or later,” Ryder said. He let out a long sigh. Tatum had a knack for stirring up trouble, but Jake had no clue how badly she had just messed things up for Ryder.
 
“I still don’t know why you swore me to secrecy,” Jake said before he wandered away to follow a sexy blonde who walked past them.
 
If Ryder had his way, Jake never would find out the reason. How could he explain that he was sure Katie would pull out all the stops to bed him before he got away? Since the college was closed until the New Year, she would make it her full-time job to seduce him. She was like that whenever a deadline was approaching, whether it was doing her taxes or decorating her home for the holidays. And deep down inside, he wanted to see how far she would go. It wasn’t very honorable of him, but he wasn’t feeling very gentlemanly around Katie these days.
 
Not that he would confess that to Jake. There were some things you just couldn’t say to your best friend about his little sister.
 
CHAPTER TWO
 
 
“You need a drink,” Hilary decided. “A big one.”
 
“No,” Katie refused. Her voice sounded far away. She closed her eyes and took a weak gulp of air as the pain clawed at her. She felt like she was being torn into strips and bleeding from the inside.
 
She gasped for another breath, wanting to lay her head down on the table, but afraid she would never get back up. She needed to get home, in her bed, under the sheets, and have a good cry. One that lasted, oh, a month. “Why is this happening?”
 
“You didn’t know about this?” Melissa asked, her voice rising with each word. “Didn’t suspect it?”
 
Katie slowly shook her head. She barely had the strength to make the simple movement. All of her energy was spent on fighting off the pain and remaining upright.
 
“Don’t you think she would have told us?” Hilary asked.
 
“True,” Melissa said and looked at Katie with concern. “Katie is turning pale. Hilary, back up. I think she’s going to throw up. You might want to move out of the line of fire.”
 
“I’m okay,” Katie said shakily. The numbness was beginning to spread through her body, from her core to her limbs.
 
“I don’t get this,” Melissa said, getting angry on her friend’s behalf. “You guys used to be so close. He’s always hanging out with Jake and he couldn’t find thirty seconds to give you a heads-up? Why would he hide it from you?”
 
Hide? No, nothing like that, Katie thought, her mouth twisting with a bitter smile. He simply forgot to tell her.
 
“I can’t believe he told Tatum and not me,” Katie muttered viciously.
 
Hilary rolled her eyes. “You just got hit with bad news and
Tatum
is all you can think about?”
 
Melissa swatted Hilary’s arm. “Shut up. She is obviously in shock.” Melissa rose from her seat and walked over to Katie. “Tatum probably weaseled it out of him. And now it’s your turn.”
 
Katie frowned. “My turn for what?”
 
“Go over there and find out what’s going on.” Melissa grabbed Katie’s arm and tried to pull her from her seat.
 
Katie shook her head and dug her heels into the carpeting. She couldn’t face Ryder now. She might do something embarrassing, or show how hurt she was.
 
“Don’t confront him,” Melissa advised, yanking Katie out of her seat. “Simply ask him to dance.”
 
Her stomach clenched at the thought. “In these boots?”
 
Melissa ignored the question as she stepped behind Katie and pushed her in Ryder’s direction. “And congratulate him on the move.”
 
Katie leaned back, her heels dragging on the carpet. “Oh, you mean
lie
.”
 
“Do it now.” Melissa gave a mighty push. “You have no time to waste.”
 
Katie staggered forward, crashing into the crowd. She righted herself and looked back at the table, only to see Melissa and Hilary motioning for her to keep moving. Katie closed her eyes and felt like the party was swallowing her up. It was too hot, too crowded. The festive scent of cloves, cinnamon and citrus that she normally adored now overpowered her, and if her nerves weren’t shredded enough, the DJ was playing the Chipmunks’ Christmas song.
 
She wanted to run away as fast as she could. The old Katie would have done that, and the new Katie was heartily recommending it. She pivoted on her heel, looking for the exit, when Melissa’s advice floated through her.
There was no time to waste.
 
Wasn’t that the truth? As much as she wanted to curl up into a ball and hibernate, that was a luxury she couldn’t afford. Once she decided to rejoin the world, Ryder would be gone. She only had eight days. A little over a week to lure Ryder into her bed and seduce him into staying. And while she was convincing him, she had to get every one of her fantasies fulfilled. Katie groaned. Eight days wasn’t going to be enough.
 
“Katie Kramer!” The deep, masculine voice boomed over the Chipmunks. “When did you get here?”
 
Katie cringed at the familiar sound. She didn’t need this. Not now. She acted like she didn’t hear the megaphone-strength voice and tried to sneak through a group of people wearing Santa hats. She thought she had made her escape just when she felt a thick arm around her waist tug her back.
 
Gritting her teeth, and reaching deep inside to find a polite smile, Katie turned around and faced Darwin Jones, her number-one fan. She wasn’t sure what she had done to gain his admiration. She certainly didn’t encourage it, although Darwin probably didn’t see it that way.
 
Darwin thought he was a player. A tall, lanky guy who hadn’t quite mastered control of his arms and feet, he wore his red hair slicked back because he believed that the chicks dug it, but all the style did was highlight the way his ears stuck out. He approached women with pickup lines in an obscure African language to demonstrate his worldly ways, but his pasty complexion indicated he rarely got out of his room. Darwin probably didn’t realize how big he truly was, if the tight clothes that clung to his thin frame were anything to go by. His shirts were often an eyesore and the vulgar belt buckles were simply designed to draw a woman’s eye to what he believed was his best attribute.
 
This time her gaze didn’t make it all the way down to his waist. She couldn’t stop staring at his red-and-green sweater. She blinked several times but it still looked like Mrs. Claus was doing something very suggestive with old Saint Nick.

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