“Not till later.” She set her mug down and tugged on Joe’s hand. “Get in here.”
He didn’t take his eyes off her. “This time I get to be on top.”
Kailey sighed and got out of bed, straightened the covers and fluffed the pillows. Last night she and Gen had hatched a plan, but Kailey worried Joe wouldn’t like it. He hated surprises.
Gen had brought over plenty of food, and a pre-cooked roast. All Kailey had to do was warm it up. Gen had encouraged Kailey to pretend she’d cooked it herself, but Joe would see right through that. He knew she couldn’t cook. But what could Kailey do? Gen was trying to help, and it felt good. Like someone other than Joe actually wanted her here. Though she wasn’t sure he still wanted her.
Today she would find out for sure.
She cleaned the entire house top to bottom like when she’d lived here. Something she was good at, since she’d spent most of her childhood cleaning. Bathrooms, especially. Her fourth foster mother liked the kind of spotless floor you could eat off of.
Following Gen’s precise instructions, Kailey took out the pot roast Gen had cooked and started warming it on a low flame. According to Gen, Joe had doctor’s orders to rest and relax for the next two weeks, which would be difficult for him. That’s where she came in. She’d entertain him—in his favorite way, and then in a thousand other ways. She had a list somewhere. They were finally going to check out this little town the way he’d wanted her to do when she first moved here. When all she’d wanted to do was lay around in bed with Joe. She hadn’t given anything else much of a chance.
By four o’clock Kailey had bitten off the last of her nails, when she heard a car door slam outside. She heard Joe and Gen arguing about whether or not he needed help getting inside. Sounded like Joe won the argument, and Kailey heard Gen’s car drive away. She waited, holding her breath. How would he respond to seeing her here again, in the same little house they’d lived in for a month? She hoped he would be happy but for one second as she heard the door opening, a cold stab of fear kicked her in the gut.
Maybe she was too late.
She stood in the middle of the living room so he would see her right away. The keys jangled and the knob turned. Joe walked in the door, cut and bruised and oh. So. Freaking. Hot.
“Surprise!” It was all she could do not to fling herself into his arms.
“Kailey. What the hell?”
One look at him and her heart kicked into high gear. He could always do that to her with a sideways look or a crooked smile.
There was no smile now. “I thought I saw your car. Did you drive that piece of shit all the way up here?”
She ignored the comment. “Dinner will be ready soon.” Keeping busy was probably a good idea. She lifted the lid and pretended to know what she was doing.
“Again. What the hell?”
“Sit down on the couch and relax. Do you uh, need me to help you?” She moved closer to him, but her reception seemed cloudy at best. He needed time.
“Do I look like I need help? I’m just sore. Banged up.”
“If you need anything I’m here.”
He studied her. “Uh huh. Why?”
Wasn’t it obvious? And yet she knew Joe would resist help. She’d known it all along but it hadn’t changed her plans. “I drove all the way here last night to see you.”
“What about your job?”
“I quit. You’re more important.”
“Because of the accident.” The edge had returned to those blue eyes.
She preferred them softer, the way they looked when he was about to make love to her.
There was no danger of that now. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Yes. She should reassure him. “Of course you’re fine! I know.”
His eyes narrowed but he never lost his intense focus on her. He walked back to the door, opening it. “If you’re here to help me, you can leave now. I don’t need help. I can take care of myself.”
She ignored his comment and dug through the utensil drawer to set the table. When the door slammed shut a minute later, she was afraid to look up and find out he’d walked out on her. “Dessert is a cake from Gen’s bakery. Shocker, right?”
She stopped only to glance up and see him still standing by the front door. Kailey tried not to pay too much attention to the heated looks, as he let his angst do the talking.
“Dinner is served.” She piled a plate with the roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. Amazing. She hadn’t burnt any of it. Maybe the secret to all this was to pay close attention, and not walk away from the stove.
“Did you cook this?” Joe seemed suspicious as he took his seat at the table.
“Um, yes.” Oh hell, she’d lied to him.
But she needed him to realize she was ready to give this relationship a real chance this time. To be the one he came home to every night. To warm up a good meal and not walk away and forget all about it. To stay.
“Does it taste all right? What do you think?”
“It’s fine.” After a few bites he put down his fork. “All right. Tell me why you’re here.”
“I told you.”
“Try again.”
“Why can’t you accept that I wanted to see you?”
“Maybe it’s because last month you said: I can’t do this. And you dumped my ass.”
I made a mistake, Joe, and I didn’t realize it until I almost lost you. But he didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to think the change had anything to do with him being even a little bit weak.
Somehow she’d never found him more attractive. Finally, he needed her. “What if I changed my mind about us?”
“You didn’t. The accident changed it for you.”
“It wasn’t a little thing, you know. You—you could have died.”
“I didn’t. Look, I know what you’re going through but it will pass. It always does.”
“No, it won’t. Not for me.”
“I’ve seen it a hundred times. The accident scared you. I get it. But you can’t let it be the reason you make this decision.”
There were several minutes of silence between them.
“What were you thinking up there when you were about to crash?” Did he think about her at all, even for one moment?
“I thought I was fucked, and then after I crashed, I took a good long look at my plane and I knew I was fucked.”
Okay, he wasn’t a poet. But all he cared about was the plane? She tried not to let that bother her, since she deserved it. He’d always been there for her, and what had she done? Pushed him away, because she was good at it.
“Your hair is pink,” Joe said after another few silent minutes.
He’d noticed. “Some streaks through the blonde. Do you like it?”
He shrugged. “It’s pink.”
So much for fishing for compliments. “How do you feel?”
“Like I got run over by a truck. Or a plane. But I’ve got painkillers. Speaking of which,” he rose slowly. “Now that I have something in my stomach, it’s time for my meds.”
She got up and rushed to beat him to the pharmacy bag she’d seen him bring in and set on the coffee table. “I’ll get it for you!”
As usual, their timing was off. Kailey misjudged her distance, bumping into Joe’s chest. He actually steadied her, one hand on her hip. Great, he’s injured and still taking care of you. Up close and personal now, she could see every cut and bruise. Those stitches above his eyebrow would probably leave a scar, and keep him from being too pretty.
Her hand instinctively rose to his chest. He let out a small hiss and she wasn’t sure if it was pain, anger or desire. She fervently prayed desire.
“Are you trying to kill me? I’m sore everywhere. Remember? Plane crash?”
Okay pain, not desire. She couldn’t help it when her eyes watered. “Don’t even joke about that. Do you know what it was like for me every time I’d hear about a plane crash? I would freeze. Every. Single. Time. And this ti
me it was your plane crash! You could have died.”
“I didn’t.” He smiled a little bit, and tugged on her hair. “I’m hard to kill.”
She broke away, gave him the pills and a glass of water. “Here.”
“Thanks.” He eyed her as he popped them in his mouth and swallowed. “You quit your job.”
“I’d already given my notice. I accepted a job on the Housewives show in Hollywood next month.” She probably shouldn’t have said anything about the job, but she always talked too much when she was nervous.
“You have no place to stay.”
“I can always get a motel room.” Or more like sleep in her car, which she didn’t dare tell Joe.
“You can stay with me. Something tells me you won’t be here long, anyway.” Then he turned, opened the door to his bedroom and left her standing there.
4
Joe couldn’t shake the feeling he’d kicked a puppy.
The moment he’d walked through the front door and seen Kailey, his gut was a churning pit of emotions and he clearly remembered his first thought before the crash: Kailey, with her nose ring and tattoos. The toughest little wimp he’d ever known.
God, he loved her.
Kailey was trying, but he didn’t believe for a second it would last. The accident had spooked her, like it had Gen, Wallace, his mother, and everyone who knew him. Hell, it had scared him a little too if he were being honest.
But soon enough Kailey would settle in and the fear she’d lose him would pass. She’d get tired of Starlight Hill, scared of what she felt for him, and find an excuse to run again. Even if he’d do anything to make her stay, he was too exhausted and sore to pretend he was enough for her. Now she was here to do her penance, and pay him back for all the times he’d taken care of her.
She still didn’t realize he’d do anything for her a thousand times over without expecting anything in return.
From the moment he’d walked in the door and smelled the roast, he’d known it was Gen’s doing. Then he’d tasted and confirmed it. But he wouldn’t tell Kailey he knew. It made him smile, too, to think of Gen trying to pull one over on him. Funny how the women in his life didn’t know him very well.
He opened his nightstand drawer and took out the tiny box. Kailey had no idea he’d been about to propose to her on the day she’d dumped him, when all they’d been to each other for months was friends with benefits. He’d loved those benefits, but in one crazy weekend she’d cut him off from those too. That’s how scared she was.
He’d thought maybe a ring would show her he was serious, but the ring would have petrified her. Fool. He still hadn’t even returned it, which made him some kind of first class fool. Opening his sock drawer, he buried the box underneath the mountain of white.
Kailey wasn’t the only one trying to make amends because of the accident. Joe had his own to make, starting with Wallace, who was his best friend and Gen’s new fiancé. At first, Joe hadn’t been able to shake the feeling Wallace had tricked him into keeping an eye out for Gen, while all along he had designs on her. Having had his best friend seduce his little sister was a hard pill to swallow until Gen had confessed she’d done the seducing.
He shook his head, because the last thing he wanted in it right now was that thought. But after his near-death experience, he wanted a one-on-one talk with Wallace. Joe understood love made men do stupid things.
Like buy expensive rings for women who didn’t want them.
Yeah, he had someone to see and it wouldn’t wait another minute. For months, things hadn’t been right between him and Wallace. Life was way too short to carry a grudge. He grabbed his keys, opened the door to his bedroom and nearly ran into Kailey.
She backed up. “I was coming to see if you’re okay.”
He moved past her. “I’m fine. Look at me, I can walk and everything!”
“Where are you going? Do you need me to drive you somewhere?” Kailey followed him to the front door.
“In that piece of shit? No thanks, I’ll drive myself. I need to go see someone.”
“But you’re supposed to rest and relax.”
“Right, and driving is such a strenuous activity.”
“But Joe! I thought we’d watch a movie. I rented a bunch. All action movies.”
Kailey was a romantic-comedy girl all the way, not that a person would immediately deduce it by looking at her. She detested action movies, which meant her efforts today were valiant.
Odd role reversal. He wasn’t used to this scenario, and being the one to do the leaving. “I won’t be gone long.”
She didn’t say another word and he didn’t look back as he climbed in the truck and pulled out his phone.
Wallace answered on the first ring. “Hey. You okay?”
“Great. Meet me at the Tavern. Yeah?”
“Be right there,” Wallace said.
Funny how Wallace didn’t question it. That’s how best friends were. Even if the last time they’d been at the Tavern together, Joe had been so drunk on Tequila he’d later hauled off and slugged Wallace for screwing around with Gen.
They hadn’t discussed it since, and when Wallace had asked Joe to pull the silly banner with Wallace’s sky-high marriage proposal for Gen, Joe had put aside his stance against banners and done it. More for Gen, who was head over heels in love with Wallace and always had been.
But things hadn’t been the same.
He’d let Gen take up all of Wallace’s free time, certain it was what he wanted, too. But yesterday when Joe had been in the hospital surrounded by friends and family, he couldn’t get over the silent regret between him and Wallace. If Joe had died, it would have been with unnecessary crap between them.
He pulled into the Tavern parking lot, busy at five thirty on a Saturday night, and noted Wallace’s Pacific Construction truck already in the lot.
No sooner had he walked through the front door than someone shouted, “Holy shit! It’s Joe.”
“Didn’t you just crash land yesterday?” Someone else asked.
“Man, talk about tough. Did you know this guy landed a plane in a pile of shit and lived to walk away from it?” This was from Arnie, the owner and sometime bartender, when he wasn’t dreaming of mime school.
Bad idea to have come here. He should have realized it might be better to hang low for a few days like Kailey seemed to want. Maybe next time he’d listen to her. Now he had to endure slaps on the back like hot firebrands and handshakes which felt a little like arm and shoulder dismembering.
Wallace intervened. “Hey guys, remember he’s not a super hero. He’s sore and bruised.”
“A plane landed on him!” Arnie yelled. “I’m surprised he’s walking.”
“The plane didn’t land on me,” Joe muttered as he walked towards a back booth.
Wallace sat across from him. “Excuse them. They don’t see a real life hero every day. Can I have your autograph?”
“Shut up.”
Wallace grinned. “What’s going on?”
Someone brought a beer for Joe. “On the house.”
“Thanks,” Joe said, then shoved it over to Wallace. “I can’t drink. The meds.”
Wallace took a pull of the beer. “I heard Kailey’s staying with you. Is she driving you crazy yet?”
“I didn’t come here to talk about her.”
“Gen said Ivey told her Kailey was wandering the halls of the hospital. The entire staff was watching her, and when she wound up on the maternity ward looking for you, Ivey helped her out.”
Joe laughed, which hurt. “She’s not good with directions. Among other things.”
“Yeah. But anyone can see she’s crazy about you.”
Joe shook his head. “Accidents like this can change people. They can make you reconsider decisions you’ve made in the past. Make you regret stupid shit. Like slugging your best friend.”
Wallace leaned back. “Hey, I told you. We’re cool.”
“Yeah, but I never told you. And we are, you know? C
ool.”
“Always, bro.”
“Great. Just needed to say that.” Joe relaxed and let his shoulders unkink.
“Do you have some kind of a bucket list? Amends you need to make?”
“Nah, you were the list.”
“What about Kailey?”
“What about her?”
“You didn’t think about her? No regrets?”
Joe squirmed under Wallace’s stare. Kind of hard to lie to his best friend. “I thought about her.”
“I figured.” Wallace leaned forward, a smug look on his face Joe didn’t much care for.
“Hold on, genius. I can’t think of anything I would have done different. I love that girl, and I did everything I could to show her. She still left.”
“Got it. But she might have regrets.”
“No. She’s only here because the accident spooked her, and she has some kind of crazy idea she’s got to take care of me.”
“Or she wants to take care of you. And maybe you could, you know—let her.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Wallace slid him a look. “Not the point, is it?”
“As soon as she makes herself feel better, she’ll be gone again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know Kailey. She isn’t built for small towns. Plus she has a commitment in Hollywood a month from now. That’s where she wants to be. Not here with me.”
“Don’t be surprised if she sticks around this time is all I’m saying.”
“I would be. It’s not like I don’t want her to stay. But I sure as hell don’t want her staying out of pity.”
“Pity? Nah, not Kailey. Plus, I don’t think Gen would have helped her at all if she didn’t believe Kailey means for things to be different this time around.”
Joe looked sideways at Wallace. “Are you kidding me? Gen still believes in unicorns.”
THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8 Page 57