“You know what, Elliott? I think you should leave.” She pulled the robe tighter around her middle, holding the neck together with one hand. “I’ll be gone in the morning, and it might be best for us to not be alone together right now.” With a few short steps, she reached the laptop that was on the bed and slammed it shut. She grabbed it and held it out to him.
And now she wouldn’t even look at him. Shit. Why couldn’t she see or even feel how perfect they were together? How incredible it had felt to have her lips against his? How . . . precious. He hadn’t meant to scare her. He took his laptop gently from her. “I’m sorry, Lee,” he said. “That was really fucking insensitive of me. And sometimes I do say shit without thinking it through properly. So, yeah. I’m sorry. But please, let me keep helping Daniel.”
At the sound of her son’s name she looked up at him. “Of course. Look. I’m tired. Perhaps it would be best if we got some sleep and talked about this in the morning.”
He nodded, grateful that she would let him do that, and turned toward the door. Tomorrow he would convince her to give what they were building between them a chance. While he could go all alpha on her ass, it was the wrong way to win Kendalee over. She’d need convincing emotionally, not physically. He placed his hand on the doorknob. “Tell me one thing, Kendalee.” Now it was his turn to be unable to look at her directly. “You felt it, right?”
She sighed and was silent for a moment. The seconds ticked by like a metronome set to thirty beats per minute, each one passing by painfully slow.
When she didn’t answer, he yanked the door open without turning to look at her again.
“Elliott,” she called out.
He looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with her. Tears rimmed her eyes. She looked small, fragile even, in his robe. He’d never be able to wear it again without thinking of her in it.
“This would be so much easier if I hadn’t.”
Those few words gave him hope.
And frustrated the fuck out of him.
While he understood that she wasn’t ready right now, it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t ever be. After closing her door, he adjusted his dick in his shorts. Had a kiss ever turned him on as much as that one had? He wasn’t certain, but as he turned to take the stairs to his room, he allowed himself to think what it would feel like to sink deep inside her.
Elliott let himself into his room, usually his calm place in the craziness of the house. Compared to the others, he kept it reasonably tidy. The bed he’d chosen had a simple metal frame because while he wasn’t into full-on kink, a little bit of restraint was always fun, and the blackout curtains were a necessity because of the hours he found himself keeping. Now it felt lonely.
He placed the laptop on his desk and wandered through the walk-in closet to the full bath. A huge bathtub that had seen more than a bit of action stood in the middle of the room. Reaching into the shower, he turned it on, and waited as it heated. His cock ached, and he gripped it through his shorts. Part of him considered getting off while he was in there, but it felt wrong. Not with Kendalee a floor away and still upset. He looked up at the ceiling, and debated going back up there. He could be persuasive when required, and he knew it wouldn’t take much to convince her to kiss him again. But he had a feeling she’d regret it in the morning.
After cleaning up, he climbed naked onto his bed. It was way too early for sleep, but he could catch up with the sports news. He clicked on the TV that hung on the opposite wall and put the volume on low. His eyes strayed away from the screen to the laptop on the desk. “Kissing Kendalee” was a great fucking title, and it would make an even better chorus. If only he could figure out the rest of the song. Quickly, he climbed off the bed to grab the laptop before returning to where he’d been seated.
Perhaps one good thing could come out of his frustration. Usually he was the music and Dred was the lyrics—he hadn’t written a single song on the new album—but every now and then they mixed it up.
He flipped the laptop open. There, on the screen, were boards after boards on Pinterest. Kendalee hadn’t closed the windows she’d been looking at.
Kendalee W.
Toronto.
The most un-Aquarius Aquarian living vicariously.
He grinned at her blurb and made a mental note to check out what an Aquarian was meant to be like as he scrolled through titles like Dream Vacation, Little Luxuries, and Hair Flair. And then there was Perfect Date. In one picture, a takeout bucket of crab’s legs sat on a plaid blanket on a beach near a little fire. In another, a couple in cozy sweaters and jeans lay wrapped around each other, asleep on a leather sofa in a cabin decorated for winter. The third was a couple hiking somewhere above a glorious lake.
It was nosy and a violation of her privacy, but he opened another board anyway, One Day, Baby. They were all experiences he could give her. Ice skating at Rockefeller Center, seeing the Northern Lights, getting something called a Tiffany Bone Cuff bracelet—which looked kind of weird—and those red-soled shoes by that dude whose name he could never pronounce.
Yeah. He tagged the page, and instructed his laptop to remember the password. The information was going to come in handy if he was going to stand any chance of winning her over.
First, he needed to check that the guys would be okay with Kendalee staying at the house permanently while Daniel was at the hospital. That is, if he could still get her to stay now. He grabbed his phone and dialed Nikan’s number. As he waited for him to pick up, he scrolled further down and found a board titled Hot Men. With a grin, he opened it. Holy shit. He was going to go blind. Wasn’t it porn if you could see pubes? But there, on the top row, was a photograph of him. It was a picture he couldn’t even remember being taken. In it, he was leaning back against a wire fence, his hands above his head, fingers through loops. And he was shirtless, greased up with oil and dirt.
When Nikan answered, he could barely remember what he was supposed to ask him.
Not only had Kendalee felt their kiss, but she’d wanted it just as much as he did.
And that meant he had a chance.
CHAPTER FOUR
Kendalee eyed the line from her register while pretending to be fascinated by the array of Pokémon cards she was currently being shown.
“And this one is a hundred and forty health that I got from my friend Toby in a trade.” The little boy waved the card in her direction as she scanned his mother’s items.
“Mmm,” she said, reaching for the cauliflower, “I think I like the other guy better. The purple one.”
“Donovan, please stop bothering the lady.” Mom was frazzled as she frantically shoved groceries into her bag, all the while bouncing to keep the one she was carrying in a baby sling happy.
Kendalee remembered those days. She would have loved a chance to have more of them, but her prayers to St. Anne had gone unanswered and Mother Nature had not cooperated either. Nor had Adrian. After the third round of IVF, Adrian had put his foot down and said he couldn’t afford the time and money for any more clinic visits and couldn’t deal with her depression and moods when it didn’t work out.
“It’s okay,” she told the child’s mother as she scanned the last item, a box of cereal. “I remember how my son was at this age. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday.”
She was glad that the place was busy because it left her no time to think about how she’d crept out of Elliott’s house in her clean but slightly creased clothes before first light. She’d made it to the hospital long before Daniel had woken but with Elliott still on her mind.
No good would come of them finishing their conversation. She didn’t trust herself. Her sleep had been fitful, filled with images of what would have happened next if she hadn’t stopped his advances. Would he have pulled her robe off and kissed her neck and ear in ways she’d only dreamed of? Would he have kissed her lips again, pressed his tongue into her mouth? Oh. My. God. His size. She’d always believed Adrian had been reasonably endowed, but then, she’d only slept with one
other man besides her husband. But, jeez. Elliott put the two of them to shame. She’d felt it pressed up against her stomach when—
“I thought this item was on special offer in the flyer.” A young woman shoved a bright purple pack of rice toward her and stood with her hand on her hip. Whatever happened to a little courtesy? Perhaps some manners?
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, sorry that the woman hadn’t bothered to read the flyer details properly. “This is the five-hundred-gram bag. It’s the kilo that’s on special.”
“I don’t need a kilo of rice,” the woman said.
And rice has a shelf life equivalent to the half-life of uranium. “Well, it does keep for a while,” Kendalee answered.
“Oh, keep it.” The woman stormed away from the register in the direction of the door. Miserable moose.
“Bitch.” A packet of gum landed on the belt.
She looked up to see Elliott’s eyes follow the woman out of the store.
“Do people often talk to you like that?”
He’d obviously just showered. Those curls that usually fell across his face were wet and brushed back. And he smelled so good that she wanted to reach across the conveyor belt, tug on that black V-neck tee that fit him to perfection, and pull him even closer for a better sniff.
“For the most part no, but people do get upset about flyer pricing.” She picked up the paper that advertised all the specials and then put it down again. How boring could she be? It wasn’t like he needed to buy discounted canned goods. She picked up his gum and scanned it. “That’ll be a dollar.”
Elliott looked behind him. Two more people had joined the line. “Kendalee, I’m sorry I was a jerk last night.”
She wished she could turn off the pull she felt when he looked at her like he could devour her in one bite. And just as much, she wished she could give in to it.
“I just . . . the whole thing caught me of guard and I—”
“Excuse me. Are you going to pay?” An elderly gentleman with a basket full of groceries and a tartan shopping bag tapped his fingers on the belt impatiently.
“Fuck,” Elliott said, running a hand through his hair. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a toonie. “Wait. Here,” he said, handing her the two-dollar coin. I’ll be back.”
Kendalee gave him his change and watched as he ran back into the grocery department. Biting back a grin, she began to scan the elderly man’s groceries. Periodically, she’d check the back of her line, certain that he’d be back to see her. She’d served two more customers by the time Elliott reappeared, his arms full of groceries.
“Okay, I’m back, and I’m going to make this quick. Yes, I thought it, but I shouldn’t have said it. I mean, who wouldn’t think about sex with you? That kiss knocked me on my ass. And I like sex. A lot. The two kind of came together in some kind of . . .”
“Sexual nirvana?” an elderly lady suggested from behind Elliott as she placed two cartons of Tropicana on the belt.
“Yes. Exactly. Thank you . . .” Elliott looked at the lady expectantly.
“Molly,” she offered. “And you’re a good-looking boy. She’ll forgive you.”
“I will?” Kendalee asked.
“Dear. I’m having a sexual nirvana of my own just listening to him speak.”
Elliott laughed and reached for the lady’s juice. “I’ll get these, Lee.”
“Okay. But you are out of time. That’s eleven dollars and ninety cents. I included five cents for a carrier bag.”
“Goddamn. Slow down there on the scanning, will you?”
Now she did smile. “I have to achieve twenty items per minute when I scan. Company goal.”
Elliott handed the two cartons of juice to Molly. “There you go, sweetheart.”
“Thank you,” Molly said to Elliott before turning to face Kendalee. “And you should forgive him.”
“Mind these.” Elliott thrust his carrier bag of groceries at Kendalee. “I’ll be back.”
“They are born idiots,” Molly said as Elliott disappeared back into the store. “Your job, my dear, is to find an idiot you can tolerate enough to marry.” The woman chuckled as she walked to the exit. “I’ve been married to my Harry for sixty-one years,” she called out over her shoulder.
Kendalee smiled and placed the bags by her feet before she began to scan the next customer. There were worse things that could happen than to have a very sexual, younger guy get the hots for you. Maybe they could continue a comfortable flirtatious friendship until she was certain of herself and her feelings. Customer after customer passed through her register, and there was no sign of Elliott. For a moment, she considered that he’d given up, but somehow she knew that wasn’t true. While her heart fluttered a little at the idea of his return, the theme to Jaws played in her head, the single notes of the cello telling the audience that the shark was approaching, building anticipation. Whatever he was doing was taking some organizing.
Twenty minutes later, with the end of her shift fast approaching, she began to notice the looks. First, people were looking up the grocery aisle. Two people even had their cell phones out, recording whatever was going on. Then Rachel popped her head around the display stand at the end of the aisle that was filled with Tide laundry detergent on special, grinned at her, and disappeared back up the aisle.
Fabio walked by her register, slapped his palm on her bagging area, and walked off whistling. Which was something the man never did.
Before Kendalee could ask, Elliott turned the corner with a cart full of canned goods. They were stacked high enough to form a pyramid. Her jaw dropped when she saw Rachel follow him with another cart, this one filled with packets of pasta, rice, and other assorted dried goods. And just when her chest felt like it was going to implode under pressure, another colleague appeared with a cart full of boxed cereal.
“Twenty items a minute you said, right?” Elliott asked with a grin.
She laughed as she took in all the food. “Yes. And I’m good. I can go faster.”
Elliott began to load can after can of Campbell’s soup onto the belt. “Well, there are at least five hundred items in these three carts, which means you need to talk to me for at least twenty-five minutes.”
Kendalee shook her head in disbelief. “What are you going to do with all this food?”
“I asked your boss to make sure it gets delivered to the local food bank.”
Damn. Why did he have to be such a good man? “Fine. Are you ready?” She picked up the first can and shook it from left to right. Fabio deposited two empty carts at the end of the belt.
“Ready.”
Kendalee scanned the first item with a beep.
“First, I’m sorry.”
She continued to check out the items as Elliott tossed them into the empty cart. “I know you are, Elliott,” she whispered. The conversation was too personal to be had at a checkout. “I’m not mad about the kiss. But you made me uncomfortable asking me personal questions like that.”
“I’m never going to lie to you, Kendalee. And I’m not going to pretend that I don’t want to explore this . . . us . . . but the way I went about it was crass. That, I totally apologize for. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have asked you the question eventually, though.”
It was hard to stay focused on the scanning. “And I told you why we can’t.”
“Listen. I can’t undo the fact I enjoyed kissing you. And I can’t help be a little pissed at you that you’d turn down trying to figure out what this is. I get you are still figuring out your divorce and stuff, and I am happy to work around that if you wanted to try. But I’m a freaking grown-up. Well, most of the time. You need somewhere to stay that is close to the hospital and Daniel. I have no idea how long it will be before Daniel gets out of hospital, but there’s room for him too. And I want to help you. I want to help Daniel. Please don’t let me putting my foot in it get in the way of that.”
Kendalee stopped scanning and studied Elliott. It had been a stupid moment, and he’d more than
apologized. And the truth was, underneath it all, she was simply embarrassed. It would have been mortifying to admit to someone as obviously sexual as Elliott that her love life sucked. And it had made her feel older than she was. If she’d answered that question, more would have followed, she was certain.
But she’d be foolish to turn away the chance of a real place to stay for free while she saved some money and settled things with Adrian. Plus, it being so close to the hospital would make things like preparing lunches for herself and popping home for a shower more feasible.
It squeezed her heart to look at the pile of groceries growing on the belt, his generosity toward her and to others overwhelming. He was a good man. “I accept your apology and your offer.”
Elliott reached for her hand across the belt and brought it to his lips. “I can’t guarantee I’m not going to ask awkward questions at some point, Lee, but I’ll do my best.”
“I’ll do my best to not make a big deal out of it when you do.”
He released her hand, and she began to scan again.
“You know how I said I was never going to lie, Lee?”
She nodded, grateful all the canned soups were done. It was going to take her another ten minutes to finish the next two carts.
“Yeah. Well, I’m not sure how successful I’m going to be at going back to square one.”
“Good, because you need to go back to before square one. Before we . . .”
“Kissed?” he asked as he rested his hands on the side of her conveyor, flexing his arms in such a way that his biceps looked huge. He leaned closer to her, his eyes focused on hers. He ran his tongue along his lower lip before biting it between his teeth.
Goddamn, the man was beautiful.
“The way you’re looking at me right now says that isn’t going to happen.”
He fell back on his heels, and folded his arms across his chest.
She wanted to tell him he was wrong, wanted to lay out all the reasons she was right. But she couldn’t, not when he looked at her in a way that made her question whether human combustion was a thing.
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