“What?” Kellie looked at him over her shoulder as he rose to his knees.
“On your back.”
She didn’t question his request but stretched slowly, like a cat, as she rolled. He settled between her legs, face-to-face, exactly where he wanted to be. Kellie didn’t try to hide from him. She stared back at him, holding his gaze and making the simple act of sex more intimate.
He slipped back inside her and she hugged him perfectly. As if they’d been made for each other. Her legs wrapped around him, one foot rubbing the back of his thigh while her hands dug into his shoulders.
“Is this what you wanted?” she asked, kissing his jaw.
“I always want you, doll.”
He held her in place and began to thrust slowly, relishing the sensation of her gripping every inch of his cock. Her breasts rubbed against his chest and her nails scraped tracks down his back, but his gaze always went back to hers. He ground his pelvis against hers and she cried out. He thrust hard, watching the way her face froze the instant before orgasm shattered her world. He pistoned, racing to catch up with her as she crested the wave into bliss and her inner muscles clamped down on his cock, triggering his own orgasm.
As he shuddered and spent himself, he buried his face against her neck and gathered her close. Who knew how many times he’d get to do this again? Each time was special.
Eventually her grip on his shoulders loosened and her legs slipped from around his waist. He kissed her.
“Be right back.” He disposed of the condom in the bathroom and crawled back in bed.
Kellie stared up at the ceiling, chewing on her lip.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as he scooted close enough he could lay his arm across her waist.
“We just had sex.”
“Yeah.”
“I should be worried about Grandma and doing something for her, not having sex.”
He propped himself up on his side. “Are you not worried about her anymore?”
“I am, but—”
“What can you do, doll? You can’t be at the hospital until they clear you. What else can you do?”
“I don’t know, but I feel guilty. Sorry, that’s not what a guy wants to hear after getting his rocks off.”
“You’re right. I’d rather you told me how hot and awesome I am, but I get what you’re saying. I was in the Marines for a long time, and after I’d finish a tour I’d feel guilty about doing something like getting a beer when there were guys who couldn’t anymore.”
“You don’t act like a jarhead.”
He shrugged. It had been a long time since someone had used the slang term to refer to him. “It wasn’t really me. In my blood? Sure, but I didn’t belong.”
“But your little brother is still in, right?”
“Yup. He’s currently in Florida though, so no worries.”
A creaking sound stopped them both from speaking.
“Hello? Quin?” Penny called.
“Shit.” He pushed out of the bed and grabbed his shorts.
“Who is that?” Kellie asked.
“Daaaddddyyyyy!”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Kellie muttered, grabbing the sheets. “My clothes are on the stairs.”
He snagged a shirt from the dresser and jogged to the stairs. Penny was kneeling in front of Josie with her body between her and the stairs and talking in a hushed voice.
“Heeeeyy, there’s my girl.” Halfway down the stairs he snatched the wad of clothing and pitched it up and into the hallway. “Hi, Pen.”
Penny glanced over her shoulder, her cheeks bright red. “Sorry, we were driving by and she wanted to see you. I didn’t think.”
Josie squirmed out of her mother’s arms and launched herself at his legs. He intercepted her little body and hoisted her up in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. “I’m glad to see you, Lady Bug.”
“Daddy, guess what? We went to Chick-fil-A, and I went down the slide.”
“I should have called, I’m so sorry.” Penny kept glancing at the top of the stairs.
“It would have been nice, but it’s okay. I did say I wanted to hang out more.”
“There was a girl there who had pompoms on her shoes, and I want pompoms for my shoes.”
He laughed, still unaccustomed to her ceaseless chatter. “I don’t even know where you buy pompoms, Lady Bug.”
“We can leave,” Penny said, wringing the strap on her purse.
“No, you haven’t even seen this house. I’ll give you guys the tour. You’ve already seen the entry, and these are the stairs. In here is the formal dining room.” He strode away from the stairs, hoping Kellie got her clothes out of the hallway at least.
“There’s nothing in here,” Josie said, twisting this way and that to look.
“Nope. Not yet.”
The stairs creaked behind them. He paused in the doorway to the kitchen, holding his breath. He had no idea how this scene would play out.
Kellie stepped into view, one hand on the doorway. “Hi, hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all, doll.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Penny, this is Kellie. Kellie, this is Penny. And this little troublemaker,” he poked his daughter’s sides and she squirmed in his grasp, “is my daughter, Josie.”
“You look like Mulan. I like Mulan, she’s my favorite,” Josie announced.
Penny looked from Josie to Kellie, wide-eyed horror on her face. “Josie, you can’t say things like that.”
Kellie chuckled and winked at Josie. “It’s okay. Mulan was my favorite too.”
“Do you have pompoms on your shoes?” Josie asked Kellie.
Kellie glanced at him, her brows rising. “No, I don’t have pompoms. I hear they’re really neat though.”
“I want pompoms on my shoes.”
“We’re doing a tour,” he interjected. “Formal dining room, and in here is the kitchen and when I finish the flooring, the living room as well.”
“I can see dirt.” Josie pointed at the bare bones of the house, visible where the flooring hadn’t yet been laid.
Behind him he could hear Penny quietly murmur to Kellie. “So sorry about this. We were on our way to Home Depot and he said—”
“It’s okay. It’s awkward, but most of us are adults here. Hopefully. Sometimes I wonder about him, but for the most part he’s grown-up.”
“I can hear you two,” he said over his shoulder.
Kellie snorted. “And?”
“I’m going to show Josie the rest of the house. You two have fun.”
Kellie glanced from Quin’s retreating backside to Penny.
“Want something to drink?” she asked, moving into the kitchen.
“Water, please. Again, sorry about this.” Penny slid onto one of the barstools. “It’s nice to meet you though.”
“Yeah, I saw you at the gym, but it wasn’t one of my better days.”
“Oh that.” Penny chuckled. “I almost laughed in his face when he told me what happened.”
She pushed a bottle of chilled water across to Penny. “I’m not usually so volatile.”
“No, please, Quin needs someone like you.” Penny slapped a hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t say stuff like that.”
Kellie paused, the moment uncomfortable only because she relished those words, spoken by someone else. She couldn’t handle Quin right now, but she wanted him and she was selfish enough she didn’t want anyone else to have him. “Thank you. I think.”
“He’s changed in a good way since he met you. I should probably thank you. He’s never shown more interest in Josie. I’m babbling, sorry.”
Kellie braced her hands on the counter. “He just needed to understand what was expected of him. Being a parent is hard work and your situation is unique.”
“Yeah. Unique is one word for it, but we make it work. I really wanted to keep Quin in Josie’s life. He’s a great provider. It’s the rest that needs a little work. But you don’t want
to talk about that. Girlfriends shouldn’t have to be involved with baby mama drama.”
“I wouldn’t say drama. You seem to have a good relationship.” And the green-eyed monster glared out from her eyes. Yes, Kellie was jealous of this woman who had given Quin something permanent. He loved his kid, even if he didn’t know how to connect with her yet.
“We’re just friends. I’m married.” Penny twirled the rock weighing her left hand down.
“Holy cow, that’s huge.” Admittedly, Kellie knew nothing about diamonds, but even she could see this one was large.
“Please don’t think that there’s anything between Quin and me.”
She studied Penny’s face, the delicate turn of her nose and slight point of her chin. Penny was a beautiful woman in a traditional, almost magazine kind of way. If Kellie were honest with herself, Penny didn’t look as if she belonged with Quin.
“I believe you,” she replied after a moment.
Penny released a breath, her shoulders slumping. “I just want him to be happy. He works so hard.”
Kellie didn’t know what qualified as making Quin happy to Penny, but the Quin she knew liked to have lots of fun. Sometimes too much fun, and that worked for her.
* * * * *
Kellie gripped the headrest and flexed her fingers. She’d succumbed to boredom and gone into the shop first thing in the morning after waking up and had done three small walk-in tattoos on top of some ordering that needed to get done so they had items like gloves and ink.
She didn’t want to go home, but Quin had to teach a class tonight and she was running out of clean clothes at his place. She needed to stand on her own feet a bit more and figure out what to do next. So she was going to her house.
The street was the same one she’d driven down a thousand times, but it didn’t feel the same. She slowed as she reached her house and did a double take at the white SUV with rental tags in her drive. She stopped at the curb and sat staring at the foreign vehicle for a moment. Had someone parked in her drive by mistake?
Popping the seat belt, she got out of the car and hefted her duffle over her shoulder. As she approached the front door, she realized that the curtains had been drawn aside. She always left them shut. She pulled out her phone and tapped 9-1-1 just in case and opened the unlocked front door.
The smell of fish and steamed rice wrapped around her and pulled her into the house. Welcome to The Twilight Zone. Was Grandma going to be at the stove? Her heart leapt to her throat and her pulse beat in double time.
“Hello?” she called.
“You finally decide to show up?” A man who came no higher than her nose stepped into her path from the kitchen.
It took her a moment to register the face of her stepfather. “I didn’t realize you were here. Hello.” And for the first time it dawned on her that she hadn’t even thought to call her mother since Grandma’s stroke.
“Is that Cho Hee?” Her mother’s shrill voice was one she couldn’t forget no matter how much she tried.
Kellie edged around her stepfather so she could see into the kitchen. Her mother stood at the stove, Grandma’s apron tied around her neck. A pang stabbed Kellie’s heart even as anxiety squeezed it in a vise. This couldn’t be good. “Hello, Mother.”
“Don’t you ‘Hello, Mother’ me. I’m so ashamed of you I could wish you were dead.” Her mother slammed the wooden spoon down, splattering grease on the counter.
She felt surprisingly little sting at the words. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about, so if we could rewind, what are you doing here?”
“We’re visiting my brother.” Her stepfather retreated to the middle of the kitchen, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her.
“Okay, well, Mom, I have some bad news.” Maybe she’d lie and tell her she tried to call her, but they hadn’t spoken in over a year anyway. They only really emailed, and that was typically to keep her apprised of Grandma’s condition.
“I know all about Mom being in the hospital. Some social worker called me as soon as we get off the plane. What am I to think of my own daughter dating some white trash? I heard he’s the one who reported you for abusing Mom.”
“What? Who told you this?” Her mother often made crazy accusations, but how did she know about Quin?
“We just got back from the hospital. Where have you been?”
“Working.”
“And not with your grandmother.” She muttered something and turned back to the stove to stir the food.
“You’re right, I’m not allowed to see Grandma until they can prove that I didn’t do anything wrong, which I didn’t, so I wasn’t at the hospital.” It had been so long since Kellie had had any kind of discussion with her mother that she couldn’t walk away from. She didn’t know where to start. She didn’t want to touch the topic of Quin with a ten-foot pole. He wasn’t Korean so he would never be good enough in her family’s eyes.
“Are you still working at that nasty shop?” her stepfather asked.
“I co-own it with my friend Mary,” she replied. Though he’d married her mother, Kellie had only met the man once for a few hours. She should respect her stepfather, but it was hard to feel anything but resentment to the man who had taken her mother away from her.
“Bah.” He shook his head.
Her mother faced her, spoon in hand. “You should stop that tattoo nonsense. What would Mother say? You need to get married. Have some babies with a good Korean boy. What about Shin? Hm? We can arrange something nice for you before we leave.”
Kellie shook her head. “What? No, I’m not getting married. Can we talk about Grandma, please?”
“What is there to talk about? She had a stroke, she doesn’t remember anything.”
“Is she awake?”
“Yes.”
Relief flooded her. At least something good was coming out of her mother’s impromptu visit.
“Why didn’t you tell me someone bought the gym?”
Kellie glanced at her stepfather. “I didn’t think it mattered to you.”
“Of course it matters to me. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I had to hear from Grandma Gang.”
“I’m sorry, a lot’s happened in the last few months.”
“You know what your problem is? You don’t care about family anymore, Cho Hee.”
Kellie’s mouth gaped. She didn’t care about family? All of the reminders that her mother was the one who left, that it was her mother who made her responsible for their family, that it was her mother who never called, were on the tip of her tongue. But she didn’t fight like that. She was made of better stuff than that.
Instead she took a deep breath. “I do care, Mom, we just show it in different ways.”
“We’re out of coconuts. Go get some.”
As if coconut were the magic word, her stepfather headed toward the living room and her mother turned her attention to the food that was already grossly overcooked. Going to get a coconut would be a blessing instead of having to stay put.
“Yes ma’am, I’ll be back in a little bit.”
Kellie left her duffle in the foyer and headed back to her Cube, purse in hand. Coconuts were the last thing on her mind. Her mother had known about Quin, but from whom? And why would anyone assume he’d thrown her under the bus? Having her mother around was stressful enough under normal circumstances, and if she was staying for more than a layover Kellie needed Quin. Needed his strength and support. Hell, just a place to crash would be appreciated. The less she saw her mother, the better.
The drive to the gym was a blur. Before she knew it, she was parking next to Quin’s truck and heading inside. Yet another bland face was at the reception desk.
“I need to talk to Quin,” she said without bothering to stop.
It wasn’t hard to pick him out. He was at the far end of the gym next to the octagon. Two sets of fighters were going through drills inside the cage while the rest worked at different stations. But she only had eyes for Quin.
“My office.”
Did he know something she didn’t?
She nodded and followed him, keeping her mouth shut until he’d closed the door. He didn’t ask her why she was there or what was wrong. It was as if he’d expected her to come at him pissed off and angry.
She whirled to face him. He’d leaned a shoulder against the door and crossed his arms over his chest.
“My mom showed up at my house today.”
His brows lifted. “Did you tell her?”
Why was he acting weird? Where was the hug, the hungry kiss? Her nerves ramped up another notch. Had her mother known something she hadn’t? Suspicion curdled her stomach. The uncertainty blossomed into a nasty cocktail of bad vibes and rage. He was supposed to be there for her.
“No, it hadn’t even occurred to me. But Mom had some interesting things to say about you.”
She’d always been able to read Quin, but not anymore. It was as though they’d never connected, bickered or laughed together. His expression was flat, with no emotion reaching his eyes and his mouth pressed into a tight line.
“Do you want to know what she had to say about you?” Inwardly she begged him to prove her mother wrong. Don’t let her be right.
“I think that’s why you’re here.” He tipped his head forward and his lips thinned as if he were readying for a blow.
She crossed her arms to mirror his pose. “You act like you already know what I’m going to say.”
“I have a pretty good idea, yeah.” He sounded so careless. It hurt. He wasn’t supposed to be so close to her he could hurt her, but here he was and it was happening.
Her jaw dropped. She hadn’t really thought her mother had been correct. Kellie was angry and lashing out. That’s why she went to Quin, they battled it out and put shit behind them. Was everything her mother had said true? She held herself very still. Her body flashed cold. The ambient noise and the office faded away until all she could see was the dismissive expression on Quin’s face.
The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) Page 29