by Codi Gary
“I was just teasing you, darling.” He caught her wrist in his big warm hand, stroking the inside with his thumb. “I promise to behave if you stay.”
Kelly pulled from his grasp and dipped down to give him a peck on the cheek. “It’s almost ten and I have to be at the office early.”
“You sure I can’t change your mind?”
For a grown man, his pout was rather adorable, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth so she wouldn’t smile. His ego was far too healthy as it was.
“Not tonight, Hank, but thank you. I had fun.”
Hank groaned. “Oi, she said fun. I’m doomed.”
She placed her hands on her hips with a huff. “I could have said you were boring and I never want to see you again.”
“Do you want to see me again?” His eyes bored into hers with a seriousness that made her shift her feet.
Hank was nice and funny. They could go out for dinner and drinks without breaking her protocol, especially since the mere touch of his hand didn’t send her into an excited state of lust.
“Yes, I think I would.”
His self-satisfied grin took up his whole face. “Well, then there is that, I suppose.”
“Goodnight,” she said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
He stood up next to her, and even though he had tipped the bartender earlier, he put another bill on the bar. “I’ll walk you to your car. There could be fiends about.”
“In Sweetheart? Please.”
“All the same, I’ll see you out.”
Kelly picked her phone up off the bar. He placed his hand on the small of her back, gently leading her outside and she smiled. She’d had a good time, and Hank was charming. She didn’t remember much about her first date with Ray except his hands were sweaty and she’d been so nervous she kept having to leave the movie theater to pee.
So far, her grown-up dating experience had been a dud. At least she liked Hank.
Maybe I should just say to hell with the rules for once.
But as she paused just inside her car door, looking up at his handsome face shadowed in the street lights, the words, “Come home with me,” froze in her throat.
“I’ll see you Friday, Hank.”
“Unless I see you before that.” He winked at her as he backed up and made his way one row down to a silver Porsche.
Kelly climbed into the driver’s seat and shut the door. Well, that had been a bust. Why the heck couldn’t she do casual sex? She’s seen it done hundreds of times in movies and television. Most men didn’t turn down no strings attached romps in the sheets, so the risk for rejection was low.
She turned the key in the ignition, realizing that it was probably a good thing she didn’t suggest they get it on. Hank was going to be her client for several more weeks. It would be awful to have a casual fling and either one or both be disappointed in the other’s performance. Hank was probably a sex god who knew every move and position to make a woman come, while Kelly…
Well, her experiences had all been with Ray for about three months before he deployed. They’d had sex a couple times while he was on leave, but other than that, she was not exactly a rock star in the bedroom.
Besides, she wanted a serious relationship, right? Not some love-her-and-leave-her fling with an actor.
I haven’t lived at all since I was twenty years old. I have buried myself in work for eleven years. It’s time that I get a life.
She needed to get some experience and take life by the balls. And maybe, by the time the summer was over, she’d give Hank what he wanted.
Her phone beeped, and she swiped her thumb over the screen. Chris had finally texted her back.
Hey, sorry, I just got home. Heading to bed.
Kelly threw her car into reverse and revved out of the parking spot with a vengeance. Oh no he wasn’t. They were going to have this out right now.
Chapter 10
Chris was sitting in his living room with his legs propped up on the coffee table, watching an episode of NCIS, when headlights flooded his living room.
“Shit.” He ducked low, making his way over to the window. He looked out in time to watch Kelly climb out of her car, wearing her black swishy dress, as she liked to call it. Her hair was flowing around her shoulders in loose waves and she looked fit to kill as she stomped up his porch.
Beautiful, but completely homicidal.
She didn’t even bother to knock, just barged right in.
“You!”
He sat back on the couch, pretending that he hadn’t known she was there. “Me what?”
She stalked towards him, pointing a finger as she stood above him. “I have been texting and calling you for days! Why are you avoiding me?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not. I told you, I had something to do tonight and then I came home to go to bed.”
“You are a lying sack of potatoes! You have been giving me sorry too busy to talk texts all week. Now, what in the hell did I do to piss you off?”
He stood up with his hands in the air. “Whoa, take it easy. You didn’t do anything.”
“Really?” He winced at the sarcastic bite to that single word. “So, we aren’t going to talk about what is bugging you?”
“There’s nothing bugging me!”
“Fine, I’ll be the adult then. Sunday morning, we were wrestling, and you got an erection.”
Chris’s jaw dropped. “What in the fu—”
“It’s no big deal! It’s a natural reaction to having my ass pressed up against your crotch, but that’s all I thought it was! I didn’t freak out or anything, so I have no idea why you’re being such a weirdo about it.”
What the hell was he supposed to say to her? She’d felt his cock hard against her and just brushed it off as though he got a boner all the time? As though he was a fourteen-year-old who couldn’t control his body?
Maybe she has a point? Why else did I get so turned on by Kelly unless I couldn’t help myself?
Still, she didn’t have to just lay it out there like that.
“Okay, first of all, I am not avoiding you. Second, I appreciate that you are so accepting of my body’s natural urges. And three, why are you wearing your fancy dress?”
“Well, if you’d had an actual conversation with me this week, you’d know I went for drinks with Hank.”
That got his attention and not in a good way. His muscles tensed with irritation and his jaw tightened. “Hank, your client, Hank? The one you said you wouldn’t meet up with outside the office because it would be inappropriate?”
“Yeah, so?” She crossed her arms and did her sassy-hip-popping stance. “I wanted to do something fun since you blew off Wicked Wednesday!”
“So, you decided to go out for drinks in your sexy, swishy dress with a client because I was busy?”
Her mouth fell open. “Did you just call my dress sexy?”
Chris didn’t want to consider her face, at the carefully outlined eyes, the thick, sweeping lashes, or full, pouty mouth. He didn’t want to notice that her chest was rising and falling rapidly, showing off her cleavage above the swoop of the dress’s neckline.
“Isn’t that what you call it?” he asked.
“No, I’ve called it my swishy dress, but never—”
“Does it matter, really? It’s just a stupid dress!”
He hadn’t meant it to come out quite so harsh, and by her stunned expression, she didn’t know what to make of him.
“What is wrong with you?!”
Chris ran his hands through his hair with a wry laugh. “Seriously? You show up here talking about erections and throwing out accusations that I am avoiding you and there is something wrong with me?”
“Yes, because you always have your phone on you.” Kelly’s voice broke and he saw the sheen of tears in her hazel eyes befo
re they spilled over, trailing down her cheeks. “And never, in our eighteen years of friendship, have you ever blown off Wicked Wednesday without being on death’s door.”
Chris’s heart sank as Kelly cried, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Ah, dammit, Kel. Don’t cry.” He stepped into her and even though she struggled against him for a moment, he held on until she relaxed.
“I…just don’t know…what I did.”
All his defenses flew out the window as he felt Kelly tremble with sobs against him. “You didn’t do anything. It was all on me.”
She didn’t say anything, just continued to soak his shirt with her tears, so he kept going, the semi-truth spilling out of him like a volcano.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I was avoiding you.”
“Why?” she sniffled.
He rolled his eyes to the heavens. “I was embarrassed about the…erection.”
“Really? That’s it?”
He stared down into her upturned face and luminous eyes, lost in their mix of greens and yellows. “Yeah. I just didn’t want you getting the wrong idea.”
“What idea?”
“That I was a caveman who wanted to throw you over my shoulder and have my way with you.”
She pulled away and slapped at his arm. “It’s not like you said, ‘Hey baby, wanna do it?!’ when I felt it poking me—”
“Jesus, Kelly, really?”
“Sorry, I just meant that I didn’t think anything about it until you started being weird. I mean, it’s not like I’ve never had a physiological response to you I couldn’t control.”
Now, that was interesting. “Really?”
Kelly glared at him. “All right, seriously, you don’t have to sound so intrigued. I’m only telling you this to make you feel better.”
“I think you should tell me more,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“You’re awful.”
“Sorry. And by the way, if I was trying to get you into bed, I’d have a better pickup line than ‘You wanna?’”
“I don’t know. As the last few days have shown, you aren’t as mature as I once believed.”
“Cute.”
“I know.” Her arms loosely wrapped around his waist. “You know you can talk to me about anything right? You don’t ever have to be embarrassed. No secrets.”
Chris brushed back a strand of her dark hair, tucking it behind her left ear. “No secrets.”
She laid her head on his chest with a sigh. “Good, because I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Chris’s mind drifted to Maria and her advice to put some distance between him and Kelly. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but she spoke first.
“I love you.”
He hugged her tight. “I know.”
They stood there for a moment, silently embracing the other. He breathed her in, the familiar scent of Kelly washing over him. Making him feel at home.
“Wanna watch a movie now?” she asked.
Distance could wait until tomorrow. “Sure. Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 11
Kelly stood in Rylie Templeton’s kitchen, watching her friend and former employee as she poured batter into two round baking pans. Technically, the spacious kitchen belonged to her boyfriend, Dustin Kent, who had also worked at Something Borrowed for a time, but the two were practically living together anyway. The light wood cabinets were plentiful, and on the counter was a gorgeous standing mixer.
In the corner, lying on the brown swirled tile floor was Rylie’s pit bull, Raider, his eyes closed in bliss as the warm sunshine came through the gigantic window and covered his back.
Rylie slid the pans into the double ovens and shut the doors. She spun around to face Kelly with a smile.
Rylie’s brown eyes sparkled as she wiped her hands on the legs of her jeans. “You have some cake designs for me?”
Since she’d stopped being a bridesmaid at the end of last wedding season, Rylie had taken over making all the cakes for Something Borrowed. She was a genius when it came to the culinary arts and was using the money to open a gourmet bakery, hopefully in the newly renovated Buzzard Gulch.
“I do.” Kelly pulled the pictures out of the folder in her hand and laid them across the counter. “So, we have a traditional Catholic wedding for three hundred people. She wants something like these.”
The three and four tiered cakes were white with eye-catching colorful flowers. The cakes were all round, and Rylie picked up the one in the middle, her forehead wrinkling as she studied the picture.
“I think the four tiered will be the best for the number of guests.” Rylie set the picture down and redid her long brown ponytail. “When do they want to come for a tasting?”
“We only have four weeks, so could you have something this weekend? And FYI, the bride loves chocolate and the groom likes fruit.”
Rylie shook her head with a chuckle. “Nothing like springing things on me last minute.”
“You’re doing a tasting for the Walker wedding. I thought you could just add a few more samples and we’ll schedule them close together.”
“Yeah, that would have worked…except the Walker wedding is gluten free. I’ll have to have separate samples for each couple.”
Kelly cursed. “I didn’t know that. How did I not know that?”
“Gotta keep up with the deets, boss woman,” Rylie teased. “It will be fine. I already have the Walkers scheduled for ten, so if we do the…what are their names?”
“Flintstone.”
Rylie rolled her eyes at the obviously fake name. “So, easily recognizable, and super VIP. Got it. We’ll do them at four.”
“Great. And Dustin’s okay with you having them here?”
“He’s good. My kitchen is too small to handle the amount of baking I do. Here, I can use the pool house kitchen and the double oven when I need them.”
“I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to step on any toes.”
“Are you kidding? He likes when I take over his kitchen because I always leave him extras.” Rylie walked over to the cupboard next to the sink and held up a large, black mug. “Do you want some coffee?”
“Sure, I’d love some.” Kelly pulled the second folder out of her purse, and put it on the counter. “I need to schedule one more tasting, but I have to talk to Hank about it.”
Rylie turned and gave her a quizzical look. “Who is Hank?”
“Hank Townsend, the actor. He’s hired me to plan his sister’s wedding.”
Rylie’s eyes widened. “Hank Townsend? Oh man! He is smoking hot! And when he talks…” Rylie trailed off as the back door opened and she whispered, “Swoon.”
Raider jumped to his feet with a series of hair-raising barks. If Kelly didn’t know what a lambchop he was, he would have been terrifying with his scarred face and flashing white teeth. Some teenagers had lit the poor dog on fire, and it had taken him months to heal his body as well as his trust, but Rylie had won him over, like she did everyone.
The dog’s nails clacked against the floor as he raced into the adjoining room and Kelly heard Dustin Kent’s voice as he greeted the dog.
“Hey, buddy! Are you excited to see me? Huh? You just want me to play with you. Where’s your ball?”
Raider was a blur as he skidded back through the kitchen and out into the laundry room.
Dustin appeared in the archway of the kitchen and waved at Kelly. “Good morning, Kelly.” Dustin was six feet tall and gorgeous. Rylie told her once she thought that he was a dead ringer for Tom Welling, with his black hair and blue eyes, and Kelly could see it.
And about ninety-five percent of the time, he was a nice guy.
“Morning.”
Dustin made his way over to Rylie and wrapped his arms around her waist. He stared down at her so tenderly, tha
t Kelly felt like a voyeur watching them.
“Got anything sweet for me?”
Rylie blushed. “Pervert.”
Dustin dipped her over his arm without warning. Rylie let out a startled shriek, cut short by the blazing kiss Dustin planted on her lips. This time, Kelly did avert her eyes and stared at the door as Raider ran back in, a green tennis ball hanging out of the side of his mouth.
“So, who is making you swoon?” Dustin asked, sounding out of breath. Kelly figured it was safe to look at them again. Rylie’s face was red, and her lips appeared a little swollen.
Was it weird that Kelly was jealous of the look in her eyes?
“What?” Rylie said.
“When I walked in I heard the word ‘swoon.’”
Rylie seemed to collect herself as she pulled out of Dustin’s arms and went back to pouring them coffee. “Oh, Kelly is working with Hank Townsend.”
Dustin squatted down and took the ball from Raider’s mouth. “The action star?”
“The very one,” Kelly said.
“Who is he marrying?” He threw the tennis ball into the grand foyer of Dustin’s mansion. Kelly had never had an official tour of all the rooms, but the high ceilings in the entryway and the sheer size of the outside told her that there had to be at least six rooms.
Raider ran in place for several beats before he shot off after the ball, making Dustin, Rylie, and Kelly laugh.
“Babe! If you play with him in the house, he is going to break something,” Rylie said, setting a plate of powdered donuts on the counter.
Dustin just shrugged. “He’s fine. Anything he breaks is on me.”
Rylie rolled her eyes. Kelly knew that Dustin wanted Rylie to move in with him, but so far, she hadn’t agreed. Kelly got the feeling that there was a lot not being said for Kelly’s benefit.
“To answer your question, Hank isn’t the one getting married. His younger sister is. He is just here to pay and plan it for her.”
“Has he hit on you yet?” Dustin asked.
Rylie gasped. “Dustin!”
“What? Rumor is the guy is a ladies’ man. Kelly’s attractive, so it makes sense he would flirt with her.”