The Seduction Game

Kate’s thought processes were clearly not running along the same lines, though. “You can’t just keep kissing me,” she said, pushing him back. “I don’t even know what happened. Your avatar was not exactly chatty, or mine for that matter, and what on earth was with the size of her bosom?”

“I—”

“Because it certainly wasn’t true to life.”

If not for the fact that the teen trio had managed to put everything together so quickly—except the Kate avatar of course, they’d already created her—Will would have been inclined to have strong words. “Programming glitch? I can explain everything.”

“I’m waiting. All I know is that you told Chris you’d seduced me to get your hands on my building, and that if that didn’t work you had something else up your sleeve.”

“And you thought I meant K.I.T.? You really thought I would do that?”

“I—”

“How could you have so little faith in me?” he demanded. “You must have known I would never be capable of anything like that. After last night you should know me better than that.”

“But it…” She paused, her voice trailing off, and lowered her head.

“What?” he demanded. “What?”

“It never seemed real,” she whispered. “Not really.”

“It?”

“Us,” she said, waving a hand between them. “You’re a millionaire hotshot developer.”

He started. What the hell did that have to do with anything? “And?”

“I’m just…me. We’re in completely different leagues.”

“I know,” he said. “I know you’re out of my league. I get that. I still want you. Still need you. Just you. Just Katie. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be with someone who expects nothing from me, but me? To be able to just feel like a normal person again. No responsibilities. No worries.”

“I—”

“You make me feel rejuvenated, Katie,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “Like anything is possible.”

“It’s been just two weeks,” she argued. “Hardly time at all to get to know someone. This whole thing has been like a whirlwind.”

“It’s more than enough time, and it happens that way sometimes.”

“It?”

“Yes ‘it.’” And it was at that point that Will had to take a very deep breath, because the moment had come and just like Jen had said, it was time to put it all on the fucking line. There was no holding out. It had to be all about the grand gesture. God knew he owed Kate that. “It being the fact that I have fallen for you,” he said softly.

She gaped. Her glasses slipped down her nose. “Fallen for me?”

Will pushed them back up. “For you, Katie,” he said. “It was inevitable really, from the very start. I just didn’t realize. You got me the moment I saw you in that Swamp Thing tee shirt. Before that, even. When I started wondering exactly what geeks did better.”

“Oh, Will…”

“I love you,” he said, and the words were far easier to say than he’d imagined them to be. “That’s all you need to know for now. The rest we can argue, and debate, and discuss to our hearts’ content, soon enough—better yet, we can get our avatars to do it—but for now, just know that I do.”

“Will…”

“You could maybe jump in here,” he added, sudden nerves making his chest tight. Because he knew Kate desired him, knew that the attraction had been there from the first, but was it more than that? Did she feel it, too?

Please, God, let her feel it, too.

“Jump in how?”

“With your own declaration,” he said. “Instead of leaving me hanging out here on my own.”

She smiled, that dazzling smile of hers, her eyes no longer red rimmed but sparkling now. “You’d have had my declaration this morning if you hadn’t been such a douche.”

“I was fixing things,” he growled. “Making everything right.”

“In a really stupid way. I came to see you to give you the contract. To sign K.I.T. over and have it stop being an issue between us.”

“It stopped being an issue long ago,” he said. “The moment you made me wear those Spock ears.”

“They were Elvish!”

“Uh-huh.”

“And Chris?”

Will sighed, his humor fast evaporating. “Chris is probably, at this very minute, making a run for it with a substantial amount of my money.”

“Noooo….”

“Yes, but we can talk about that later. I have more important things on my mind right now.” Kate raised an eyebrow. “Still hanging here.”

“Perhaps I’ll let you hang for a while. Just so you can see how it feels.”

“Oh, it’s like that, is it?”

She tapped her finger on her chin and gave him a speculative look. “I’m going to need some convincing before I jump into anything.”

And so Will took Kate into his arms and began the business of doing just that.





Epilogue


Kate was ridiculously nervous as Will helped her out of the car. She smoothed her clammy hands over her jeans, fiddled with the bottom of her shirt, then pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“Don’t do that,” Will whispered.

“Do what?”

“The glasses thing,” he said. “You know what it does to me.”

Kate couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face as she shut the passenger door. For some reason she had yet to work out, Will seemed to find several of her nerdisms appealing. The glasses, the vintage tees, her Converse collection. In fact, Kate had seen him eyeing a blue pair for himself, just the other day, as they were heading to the travel agency, or rather, what used to be the travel agency, but was now the new home of K.I.T.

He’d look all Doctor Who Ten in Converse. Her grin widened. Ten was her favorite Doctor.

“You seem happy all of a sudden,” Will said, tugging her forward. “I worried you’d be deathly pale and I’d have to sling you over my shoulder.”

“I’m okay,” she whispered. “It’ll be fine, right?”

Will laughed. “Well, they certainly don’t bite.”

“Unlike their son.”

“I nibble, and it can’t be helped, your skin tastes like sunshine.”

“Will…”

“What?”

She sighed. “You say the cutest things sometimes.”

“Your influence, Katie. It’s good for me.” He shot her a look that was practically overflowing with emotion, and Kate shivered.

“I like being a good influence on you,” she said.

“Just look how much more relaxed I am and we’re only two months in.” Will sighed. “Imagine what we’ll be like in a year, or even ten years for that matter. Hell, woman, we’ll probably be trailing a little fishing boat along the harbor by then. Both barefoot and free.”

Kate laughed. “I’d like that Will. Not sure if the kids would though.”

He started. “Kids?”

She laughed some more at the expression on his face. The laugh trailed off as they reached the house, and Will pushed open the front door. Kate was desperately nervous. She wished Meg could have come with her, but even Meg had considered it kooky to go meet someone else’s boyfriend’s family for the first time.