Chapter Four: AJ

AJ

“So, tell me about yourself, Kat,” AJ asked, getting comfortable in his seat. He couldn’t believe his luck. He had the most beautiful woman at the party alone with him in a limo. He wanted to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“What do you want to know?” Kat asked, smoothing the fabric of her skirt.

Everything, AJ thought to himself. It was taking some self-control not to reach out and touch her. It wasn’t just her physical beauty that attracted him. She was witty and funny with just enough sass to keep him on his toes. The fact that she’d approached the limo without waiting for him to take charge was a huge turn-on.

Instead, he played it cool. “Anything you want to share.”

“Um, well...” Kat shrugged. Her movement was easy and graceful. “I am able to kill any houseplant.”

“Seriously?” AJ chuckled.

“Yes, and I know that’s a weird thing to admit to someone you just met, but...” she grinned. “It’s a good conversation starter.”

“That it is. Any houseplant?” AJ asked.

“All kinds. I’ve killed cacti, palm fronds, trees, flowers, shrubs, and I even managed to kill a fake orchid,” she said, putting up fingers with each kill.

“You killed a fake orchid?” he asked. “Isn’t it already dead because it’s fake?”

“I managed to light it on fire.”

“With a lighter?” He was completely intrigued by this woman. This was possibly the most entertaining conversation he’d had all week.

“With a glass of water.” She blushed and bit her lip. “I set a glass of water next to the window, and it acted like a magnifying glass and lit the fake flower on fire.”

“I didn’t even know that was possible,” AJ admitted.

“Neither did I,” Kat said. “I’m pretty sure it’s pretty close to impossible, but when it comes to me and plants, I have the black thumb of death.”

AJ laughed. “How are you with outdoor plants?”

“Not much better,” Kat admitted. “Luckily, I live in an apartment right now, so I’m not responsible for any. But, growing up, I wasn’t allowed to do anything with the lawn.”

“That would have made it hard to go outside,” AJ said, feeling completely at ease with her. “How did you play outside?”

“My dad sent me over to the neighbor’s house quite a bit. Which was fine with me, since my best friend lived next door,” Kat explained. “Luckily, her mom had an amazing green thumb that was able to combat short periods of time with my black one.”

AJ laughed. For the first time in weeks, no months, he could feel himself smiling. He had forgotten how good it felt just to laugh.

“Do any of your siblings suffer from this curse?” AJ asked.

“I’m the only one,” she admitted. “My younger sister has no plant-killing abilities that I’m aware of.”

“So, you have a younger sister? Are the two of you close?” AJ loved that he was getting to know her. He was attracted to her body, but the longer they spoke, the more he wanted to know what was going on inside her mind.

“As much as we can be,” Kat said with a shrug. “She’s ten years younger than I am, so she’s just getting ready to graduate high school. She’s an awesome kid, but I just don’t get to see her that much.”

“That must be hard,” AJ commented, thinking of his own brothers. “I have two younger brothers. They’re two and four years younger than me, so we used to do everything together.”

“Do you get to see them often?” Kat asked. Her knee bumped against his and his heart sped up a little at the innocent touch. He wanted it to become something much less innocent.

“Not as much as I’d like,” AJ replied. “I’m so busy with my work and they’re both successful in their own lives.”

“What do they do?” Kat asked, appearing genuinely interested.

“Chris is just finishing up law school and Frank is a stay at home dad to two amazing girls,” AJ told her.

“It must be nice to have nieces,” Kat remarked. “I loved going home and getting to be a kid again with my brother.”

“They’re the best. Melanie is so smart you wouldn’t believe it and Meredith is already walking,” he gushed. He was about to rattle off more about them before he caught himself. She just met him, she didn’t want to hear all that. “But, you probably don’t want to hear me talk about them.”

Kat smiled. “Actually, I think I do. They obviously make you happy.”

He grinned. He could talk about his family for hours if anyone let him. Especially Frank’s two girls. He couldn’t wait to have children of his own, though he made sure to keep that information on the down-low. He tried to keep his personal life as private as possible.

“Sir, ma’am,” the driver interrupted, saving Kat from AJ telling her his niece’s life stories. “We’ve arrived at the park.”

“We’d like to just sit here, if that’s okay,” Kat told him. AJ liked how she took charge.

“Whatever you two want,” the driver replied. AJ could hear him put some music on in the front part of the limo to keep himself entertained.

“So, you like to swim and you have two amazing nieces,” Kat said, getting their conversation back on target. “Time for a hard question. What do you do for a living?”

AJ shook his head. “Not telling,” he said with a smirk. He was enjoying their time together. He could tell she didn’t know who he was. If she did, she wouldn’t have looked nearly as shocked when he handed the driver a hundred dollars. He had nine more just like them in his wallet and it was a low cash day for him.

Kat pouted. “So, you won’t tell me anything?”

“I’ll tell you that I run a business.” He just wasn’t going to tell her which one. “And that I love it. Right now, it’s stressful, but...”

“Did you start it yourself?” Kat asked. She held up her hands. “I’m just curious. We can switch topics if you want.”

“I did start it. My mom actually gave me the idea when I was in college and I started up a small business out of my dorm room with my roommate, Paul,” he told her. “It grew from there.”

“Do you still work with Paul?” Kat asked.

The weight from work fell back on his shoulders. “Not anymore. Paul is out of the company now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Kat chewed on her lip again. AJ had to wonder if she had any idea she was doing it. “What do you like best about your company?”

“My employees,” he answered automatically. “They are the reason that the company is half as successful as it is. My dream is to be able to give them the kind of jobs that will allow them to provide for their families without stress.”

“Wow.” Kat looked impressed. He wasn’t intending to try and use that as a line, but he wasn’t going to complain that it worked.

“What about you?” AJ asked, switching the focus off of him and back to her. Honestly, he wanted to know more about her. He knew enough about himself.

“Since we’re not sharing details, I can’t give you specifics,” she teased. Her eyes went distant and a smile crept across her face. “I’m working on this big project. If my boss approves it, it will change everything for me.”

“Sounds important,” AJ said.

She grinned. “For me it is. It would change my life. It would be something that I could really be proud of. Something I built and created. I’m putting my heart and soul into it.”

“If you do that, then it’s sure to take off,” he promised. He had a feeling that if Kat put her mind to something, she would succeed. She had this amazing light to her that he just couldn’t get enough of. She was vibrant and happy.

Not only was she exactly what his company was always looking for, she was exactly what he needed in his life.

A thought like that was a little scary, so he switched gears. “Would it be terribly wrong for us to break into this champagne?” AJ asked her, pulling out the bottle from the drink holder.

Kat grinned. “After the day Renee gave me today, she owes me a glass of champagne. Besides, we can always replace it with one from the party when we get back.”

“I like the way you think,” AJ told her.

She laughed. The sound was possibly the most pleasant thing he’d heard this week. In fact, the last thirty minutes had been the highlight of his whole month. He didn’t want to go back to the party. He wanted to stay in this limo with this sexy and vibrant woman, drinking champagne and talking about their families.

Or kissing her.

The longer he sat next to her, with her leg pressing against his, the harder it was to just talk. He wanted to kiss her. To feel her skin. He was starting to wonder if she bit her lip like that during other things, too. He wanted to bite that lip.

He decided right then and there that they weren’t going back to the party. There was no way he was going to let some other guy come in and possibly steal her for even one dance. He was keeping her for the night.

Longer if he could.