“A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.” G.K. Chesterton
Thirteen. The unlucky number according to superstition. Unlucky for some, but not quite as unlucky for Kate Todd.
Thirteen hours ago, she’d ran into Tony DiNozzo, quite literally, in the foyer of her building. Thirteen hours later they’re sitting half naked in her half furnished apartment eating Chinese takeaway from the carton, and fighting over the last piece of shrimp. Everything that had occurred in the past two hours, from the moment he’d shown up at her front door to collapsing back on her couch from sheer exhaustion, could have been attributed to any number of things, but the logical ones Kate could think of wouldn’t have lasted as long as this, surely they would’ve passed long before anything happened; things like adrenaline, energy rushes, sugar highs or endorphin highs. She had, after all, just come from a run that got her blood pumping, and the nervous energy in her system got her endorphins going and he just happened to be the first male she’d seen on that high. It was purely hormonal.
To really understand how she’d gone from asking him to help with her security system to ripping his shirt off his back, she’d have to examine in great detail what happened between them at nine o’clock that morning in DC Beans. Maybe it was something in the coffee that sparked the hormonal riot in her; then again, she and Jethro drank tons of the stuff together and never once had they had the urge to jump one another - the night in ninety-five not being included in this examination of her promiscuity of the last decade.
Thinking back to that morning, Kate tried to find where they’d gone from being mere acquaintances to fuck buddies in thirteen hours or less.
They’d been standing less than a foot apart, her hand still in his, and he offered to buy her a coffee to make up for nearly crushing her in his rush to leave the building. She was ready to decline, since no harm had been done to neither her or her groceries, but he insisted; she couldn’t exactly refuse when he flashed her a look that reminded her of a wounded puppy, and she suspected it worked on most girls he pulled it on.
Despite all appearances that he was in a rush to get somewhere earlier, he certainly wasn’t anymore as he idly led her down the road to the small coffee shop at the end of the street. When asked if he’d had somewhere he needed to be instead of buying her coffee, Tony told her that it wasn’t important and could be put off till a later date; having coffee with a beautiful woman, however, could not.
Kate knew he was trying to charm her, and was doing a pretty good job of it if she were honest; but whether he was doing it to get into her pants, or if he had a different agenda from the rest of the male population she was interested to find out. She’d known guys who’d seemed all sweetness and light, but what it came down to in the end was sex; she’d dated enough rats in the world to know that when what they wanted was denied, they either got violent or looked elsewhere. The cheating she could take, especially if she wasn’t into the relationship much to begin with. From what she could tell, Tony didn’t seem like the type to do either.
After they’d placed their orders, two regulars, one with sugar and a shot of hazelnut and the other with milk and two sugars, they grabbed a table near the back and leaped into varied conversation.
Kate learned Tony had originally intended to play for Ohio State professionally, but a knee injury forced him to give up that dream, so he left his football training and took up some low level IT work and by graduation knew how to build a computer from scratch, much to his father’s disappointment. With the money he made being a security guard, he’d been able to start a freelance security company where he was able to work for himself and reap the benefits.
Tony said he’d never been held in high regard, never been the apple of his father’s eye, so he done all he could to disappoint him. Being a security guard was the worst job in the eyes of DiNozzo senior, and Tony couldn’t have been more pleased when he learned he’d been more or less disowned and written out of the will. Kate was startled by the similarities in their childhoods. They’d both willingly left the family home at a young age to make their own way in the world. The only differences between them were she’d abandoned her family while he’d been kicked out. The kicker came when she learned how old he was. At twenty-six, he truly was a boy trapped in a man’s body. He had crazy plans and ideas and the childlike mind that convinced him he was going to succeed. It was a sight to behold, and Kate felt herself being more attracted to him as the minutes past.
They kept their conversation light, staying away from the subjects they intuitively knew would be painful, instead sticking to the original question which would be asked on a first date; favorite color, favorite dessert, favorite film.
Kate told herself they were on no sort of date, they were simply getting to know each other over coffee in a conversation that seemed unending. She wouldn’t deny that he was stirring something within, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d fallen for some upon first glances. Her brain was telling her that ten years ago, Tony was still in high school while she was doing things she shouldn’t be with her boss; her body spoke a different story.
Two hours after they first walked into DC Beans and several coffee refills later, Kate and Tony had swapped numbers and parted company, with the promise that Tony would call later to see if she needed any help in the apartment. Kate never expected to be the one to make the first move, it wasn’t in her nature. She liked to have a plan ready for any potential guy who was set on charming their way into her life, she liked structure and control.
She’d gone home, taken her lavender scented bath as originally planned and set about organising her office. The letters she’d glanced over earlier were once again put on hold, as was finding a doctor’s office. By the time she was done, Kate was starving; raiding her refrigerator gave her nothing of substance, but enough for an energy kick. She had a dinner scheduled with Jethro that evening, but the lingering feelings from meeting Tony that morning had her calling Jethro and taking a rain check; immediately after she’d keyed in the digits of the number Tony gave her and waited for him to pick up.
Everything from that point on got a little blurry. She remembered asking if he could come over and start the process of installing a security system for her, bribing him with food so he‘d come over quicker, Tony telling her she needed no excuse for him to come over if she wanted him there. She‘d smiled at that, realising she was complete putty in his hands; it all went blank after that.
By eight o’clock Kate had just changed her clothes, again, deciding to go with the tight black jeans and long sleeved v-neck top, when there was a knock at the door. She’d stood on the stairs for a moment to gather herself, before she moved forward to open the door. On the other side stood a god clad in dark jeans and leather jacket with messy hair, a cheeky smile and warm eyes. They’d looked at each other for countless minutes before Kate finally moved to let him in. From then on in it was pretty much settled what would be happening that night.
Half an hour after Tony’s arrival, and after she’d shown him where the security cameras were to be placed, she was leaning over his laptop reading about the system he would use when he’d come up behind her with two bottles of iced teas he’d grabbed from the refrigerator. He was close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, and the electricity that sparked between them when she’d grabbed the bottle and caught his hand in the same movement. She’d turned to thank him, hearing the nerves in her voice, and just decided to make the first move and kissed him. The bottles were placed down soon after, her arms going round his neck and his under her thighs to move her up onto the counter.
Images of herself against the wall with her legs wrapped around the guy who was practically a stranger to her flashed through her mind; on the kitchen counter, the couch and the living room floor; sitting on the kitchen table with his head between her thighs. Sitting at that same table now an hour later, Kate could feel herself winding up for another round.
“Kate?”
“What?”
Tony watched her and let a slow, knowing smile creep over his face as if he knew exactly what she was thinking at that exact minute; he probably did know since she could tell he’d been thinking of the exact same thing.
“Tony, how’d we end up here?”
“Sitting half naked together at your kitchen table at god knows what time? I don’t think you’re old enough for memory loss just yet, Kate.”
“No, it could just be the result of a lot of extremely good sex in a short period of time.”
“Stop; you’re making me blush. But seriously, I don’t know how we ended up here. We barely know each other and yet, I couldn’t stop thinking of you the whole day. Maybe it was just meant to be.”
Kate tilted her head to the side, never really having believed in fate or destiny, and narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d admit that perhaps she did want him to come over for something more than his professional opinion, which was more than obvious now, but to call it fate didn’t quite cut it for her.
“So, you’re saying I was destined to meet you this morning, call my boss and oldest friend this afternoon to blow off a dinner date; which I’ve never done. Call you for technical assistance which was really a front I was doing; I was really asking you to come over and screw my brains out. Is that it?”
Tony mimicked Kate’s position, thinking over her explanation as his smile grew wider.
“In a nutshell, yes.”
Seeing their food was gone, Tony stood and threw the carton in the bin, returned to the table and pulled Kate up from her chair. She was tired, and her muscles were aching in a pleasing way, but there was one last place that had yet to be christened as thoroughly as the rest of her apartment.
Now she was standing, he was wrapped around her from behind and the weight of Tony’s arms around her was like a warm security blanket, something which she hadn’t felt in a long time. She wanted just one more time tonight, to make sure she’d feel it enough all day tomorrow morning, to assure herself it hadn’t all been a dream, while she sat at her desk playing boss lady.
“Tony?”
“Hmm?”
“Take me to bed.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Kate Todd is a recently promoted, highly successful business woman who embarks on an affair with the much younger security guard who works in her apartment complex.
After a night of passion and excitement, the new couple are brutally attacked on their journey home and it has devastating results. Kate sets out for revenge but finds it will never be enough.
After a night of passion and excitement, the new couple are brutally attacked on their journey home and it has devastating results. Kate sets out for revenge but finds it will never be enough.