Chapter Twelve

Maybe agreeing to meet her wasn't such a good idea. Jensen thought.

It was Monday. And he was in office. He couldn't get anything done. He realized he had been having difficulty getting anything done since she had sent him that bloody text. She was constantly on his mind and he found himself always losing focus.

His secretary knocked and entered his office

"Sir" she said.

"Yes, Mrs Geller" he answered, her presence making him snap out of his thoughts.

"There is a Miss Kavell here to see you, she says you are expecting her, but I checked and she doesn't have an appointment."

"Yeah... Let her in"

It wasn't going to take long. He just had to hear what she had to say. Straight. Sharp. To the point. Sayo nara. Goodbye. Maybe seeing her once again was just what he needed to get over her —to get her out of his mind once and for all.

Jensen grimaced as he awaited his first glimpse of Katherine Kavell in five years. The door opened.

His first reaction was a filthy curse at just how wrong he was. Thinking seeing her again was going to help him get over her. Merely looking at her, he knew that wasn't going to be possible. She looked amazing...

Vibrant. Vivacious. So fucking beautiful.

Dressed in a blush pink floaty top and skin-tight, chocolate coloured leather trousers, she was a magnificent vision, powerful enough to slacken his jaw before he caught himself and pressed his lips into appropriately neutral, downright unfriendly lines. Her curvy hips and beautiful legs were balanced on sky high heels matching her trousers and, with that combined with her long hair and flawless make up

The woman could turn heads wherever she went. He thought. She carried herself differently. She had developed poise and sophistication. She had grown into her stunning looks.

The girl he had once known had become a woman.

Jensen felt his breathing fracture into useless silent hiccups as he stared.

She effortlessly projected an ingrained confidence and inner strength he had secretly envied since they had known each other. Although he never told her that.

He watched Katherine saunter towards him, that heart stopping smile curving her luscious lips.

He stayed put, he just sat there and stared at her. Maybe because he didn't trust his legs to hold him if he stood. He let her come closer, looked deeper into her stunning eyes to spot the first signs of wariness.

Right in front of his desk, she stopped.

"Hello, Jensen" she said in that amazing voice of hers.

Jensen dropped his pen on his desk and narrowed his eyes, almost deluding himself that minimising his vision would lessen her physical impact.

"Hi, yourself." he replied.

"It's good to see you," Katherine murmured.

Jensen gritted his jaw against the evocative effect of her voice. Warm honey. Sultry nights. Hot tangled sheets. The stuff of a thousand wet dreams. All forbidden best friend territory.

Except they weren't best friends any more. Hell, they weren't even friends. So he raised an eyebrow, deliberately, but didn't answer. The faintest flush stained her cheeks. A little appeased at that reaction, he waved towards a chair.

"Please sit" he said.

She studied him for one second longer, either reacquainting herself with his face or assessing his mood before taking the seat he had offered. Jensen swallowed involuntarily at the rich, flowery scent that trailed her. Damn....It was annoying but he gave himself a pass.

Katherine looked around. A sea of royal blue carpet covered the floor. The desk was vast and there were some fascinating etchings of Brisbane, in its early days, framed in gold on the walls. At the other end there was a brown leather buttoned three piece lounge suite set about a coffee table.

He watched as she looked around his office, examining every square inch of it. Yeah, definitely the wrong move, agreeing to see her. He thought. When she was done, she faced him with another tentative smile.

"Your office is amazing. Very stylish. Very…suave." she said.

Jensen nodded briskly, totally dismissing the pulse of warmth that attempted to steal through him.

"Thanks." he said. "Would you like a drink? I have white wine. Or I can offer you something else?"

No reason not to be civil before the takedown began. He thought. She shook her head.

"White wine is fine, thank you." she replied.

Katherine watched as he produced two glasses and a bottle of wine from his drawer. He hadn't even smiled at her or looked happy to see her one bit.

"Are you sure you want me here, Jensen?" she asked suddenly.

He froze, then stared at her, frowning. "Excuse me?"

"I wasn't imagining it." Katherine said. "You are cold. And distant. And seriously pissed off with me. So why agree to meet me, Jensen? If you were going to be this way, why didn't you just tell me to go to hell with whatever I wanted to discuss with you?" she demanded.

One thing he had forgotten about her. Katherine always shot from the hip, no holds barred. It was one of the things that used to annoy him when they were little... And then something he had grown to admire.

But he was determined to do this on his terms. He shrugged.

"Well, I didn't want to ignore you. I wanted to be nice." he said.

Katherine stared at the wine he offered her. Then she looked back at him. He was watching her. She took the glass and held it.

"I'm just not sure I want to talk to you if you are going to spend the whole time glaring at me. She said.

"You are a grown woman, Katherine, I'm sure you can take it." he replied carelessly.

"I can. But I don't think I want to" she challenged without losing an ounce of warm seduction from her voice.

It really was the most maddening thing. He thought. Irritated, he shrugged again.

"You are the one who reached out. You are the one who wanted to see me. And unless I'm mistaken you want something from me, correct?"

She opened her mouth, most probably to deny his crisp assessment. But just then his secretary knocked. Katherine was glad for the interruption. For a moment he didn't say anything, just stared at her. Long enough to make her feel uncomfortable, then he looked away.