by Sarah Hegger
Kelly opened a beer bottle and handed it to him. “It got more complicated than that. Turns out Vince’s one night with Chelsea had some serious repercussions. Vince, being Vince, did the right thing and married her.”
“Huh.” Gabe sipped his beer. He’d been too busy trying to get his ass into vet school when it had all gone down to pay it much mind. Still, going from Kelly Ashton to Chelsea Finster was a seriously boneheaded move. As he remembered it, Chelsea had been a nice enough looking girl, but with an annoying way of whining everything she said. “You said Chelsea had Vince until earlier this year?”
“They’re divorced.” Kelly said, and there was no missing the smug satisfaction in her voice.
A tiny pang of disappointment surprised him. “You and Vince are back together?”
“No.” Kelly shook her head. “But I’ve spent enough of my life waiting for him.”
“You made your move yet?” Gabe didn’t want her to say yes.
Kelly chuckled. “I’ve made it clear that I’m amenable to a move,” she said. “But he has to do some of the work.”
“And in the meantime, you’re sitting under the stars drinking beer and eating burgers with me?”
He could hear her naughty smile in her voice. “In the meantime, I am sitting under the stars, drinking beer and eating burgers with Gabe Crowe. The hottest boy in our senior year.” She fist pumped. “Kelly scores!”
Chapter Two
Kelly cracked an eye open and blinked the room into focus. Nope, that couldn’t be right. She definitely didn’t have a poster of vintage cars on her wall. Also, her walls were a soothing taupe that she’d spent hours picking out, and not steel blue.
Nor did she sleep in a twin bed with a man spooning her. And a man who was most definitely naked.
Maybe if she shut her eyes again the scene would right itself. Also, take the roiling stomach, parched mouth and thumping head with it.
“Umm…” The arm around her waist tightened, and Gabe said, “So, that happened.”
“Uh-huh.” Words weren’t happening yet.
His erection pressed against her butt but moving away from it seemed pointless. Firstly, because a twin bed didn’t allow her anywhere to go, and secondly—and probably more relevantly—she’d already made friends with that part of Gabe.
More than once, if her hazy, night-before recollections were to be trusted.
“Why here?” They had not only ended up doing the dirty but had snuck into Gabe’s childhood bedroom. She had vague recollection of lots of giggling and shushing. Discarding of clothes had followed, again much giggling and shushing, and then the up close and personal part.
And, wow! She needed to take some time and dwell on those memories, because along with his still-killer body, Gabe Crowe had skills, of the multiple sort.
Gabe wriggled to his back. “It was the closest place.”
“Okay.” Which meant she was currently in Dot Crowe’s house, and she would be doing the walk of shame through Dot Crowe’s house.
Dot Crowe, mother of Gabe of the wicked skills, and also mother of police chief, Ben Crowe. In addition, community pillar, all round great lady and president of the Twin Elks Prayer Chain.
Kelly couldn’t put it off any longer and wriggled around to her other side and faced him.
Gabe’s grin was unadulterated wicked, and his voice a rough, slightly thrilling rasp as he said, “Do we need to talk about this?”
“I really would rather not.” Sweet tortoise tits, she couldn’t say how much she didn’t want a rehash. But she was beginning to get an inkling of how she’d ended up there. “Let’s chalk it up to the Jack Daniels.”
“Works for me.” Gabe rubbed his palms over his face. His short dark hair stood up like someone—ahem—had been digging her fingers in it. Dark morning stubble covered the sharp line of his jaw in a perfect nature-made contour that highlighted killer cheekbones.
Don’t get her started on the body, because no girl was prepared for that. You saw this sort of pretty in magazines, sat in darkened movie theaters and watched it flit across the screen, binge watched Netflix in the hope of more, but you knew it wasn’t real. Men who looked like that came courtesy of photoshop, body contouring and excellent lighting.
And then Gabe Crowe kissed you at Lookout Point, you let events take their course and your theory evaporated. Perfect was real and lay in bed next to you with a sheet artfully draped low over his hips.
It was such a pity she had nobody to high-five right then. She’d tapped that, and Kelly felt sure in the annals of girls who scored above their league, this had to rate a perfect ten.
There was also the not insignificant matter of getting out of Dot’s house without anyone—specifically Dot and Ben—being any wiser.
Gabe turned and looked at her, a smile teasing his mouth. “Kelly Ashton, can I say that was a great night?”
“You may.” An answering smile met his, because it had been a better than great night. “And then we will agree never to speak of it again.”
“But I can think of it, right?” He tangled a hand in the hair at her nape and brought her in for a kiss. “Last night filled up the spank bank for a while.”
“Ugh.” She only pretended to push him away, but men who made you laugh got you every time. You laughed and laughed and then you were naked, begging God for the O and demanding they give it to you harder. “You’re a pig.”
“Last night was fun, Kelly.” He pressed his beautiful mouth to hers. Flashes of hotter, needier kisses followed the lip to lip connection. Kisses that made her senses blaze and erased good sense.
Kelly pulled out of the kiss before she lost all hope of escaping before Dot woke up. “It was, but you’re not going to get weird on me about it are you?”
“Weird?”
“You know.” She edged away from him and pulled the sheet with her. “Begging me to have your babies. Locking yourself up in a monastery because you know you’ll never have it that good again.”
Gabe chuckled and sat up, making no effort to hide his nakedness, exposed as he was by her hogging the bedding. “I can’t make you any promises.”
“Try.” She unearthed her panties and spotted her jeans nearby. She shoved her panties into the back pocket. Keeping the sheet in place—because no way was she letting perfect Gabe clock the jiggly bits in daylight—she wriggled into her jeans. “I’m not even sure how I ended up here.”
“Well.” Gabe stood and stretched. A ridiculously beautiful snapshot of muscle, sinew, tanned skin and male lickability.
And she stood there with her bra in her hand with no idea what to do with it.
“It started with you saying how long it had been since you’d had sex.” He dug up her shirt and handed it to her. “And then I confessed to a distressing dry spell as well.”
Kelly got her bra on and pulled her shirt over her head. “You and the girlfriend not getting along, right?”
“Ex.” He pulled his jeans on and fastened them. “She dumped my ass.”
What a pity to cover all that. “You deserved it.”
“You said that last night as well.” He pulled a face at her. “I don’t think you appreciated the finer points of our breakup.”
“Nope.” Kelly hauled her socks on. Before she and Gabe had got to the more fun part, they’d spent a lot of the night talking and getting to know each other. “She wants more; you don’t. She said fish or cut bait. You didn’t fish. She cut bait.”
He flinched but disappeared inside his shirt as he pulled it over his head. “I’m sure there was more to it than that.”
“Your career.” Kelly pulled on her boots. Even now, and after last night, she was surprisingly comfortable with him. “You work for her father, and he’s not very happy with you right now.”
“Yeah, there is that.” Gabe looked suddenly vulnerable.
&nbs
p; It was him looking like that, like his world had come crashing down on him, that had led to the cuddling, the confessions about dry periods, the kissing, and then the stuff she didn’t have time to dwell on, but planned to replay in detail later. “Right.” She stood and faced him. “Time to get me out of here. Secretly.”
Gabe snuck to the door and cracked it open. He peered into the dark hallway. “All clear. I’m sure Ma is still sleeping.”
And how old were they exactly? “She better be.”
Kelly crept down the hall behind him, wincing at every tiny noise they made, holding her breath.
They reached the kitchen door and Gabe opened it a crack and peeped inside. He motioned her forward with a smug smile. “All clear.”
Yes! Kelly did a mental fist pump and slid into the kitchen. She’d been there countless times when she hadn’t spent the night doing the nasty with one of Dot’s boys. Then again, Dot had five seriously yummy boys, so she couldn’t have been the first girl to sneak out.
“Well hello, Kelly.” Big grin on her face, hair as always a wild gray tangle, Dot bustled into the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“Ergh!” Kelly tried to back into the hallway and smacked into a hard body.
“Steady there.” Ben Crowe took her by the shoulders and shifted her to the side. “Nervous, Kelly?”
He stood beside Dot, and they both grinned at her.
Gabe groaned and threw himself against the wall. He covered his face with his hands. “Have you been waiting?”
“Not so much waiting as being available to the opportunity.” Dot grinned at them and straightened her Chief’s Mom sweatshirt. “And now that you’re well and truly busted, would you like some breakfast?”
“Umm…” What she really wanted was to get the hell out of there, crawl under her bed and stay there for the next thirty years or so.
Ben poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned his hips on the kitchen counter. With dark hair and eyes, tall and broad, Ben and Gabe carried an obvious genetic stamp. “Don’t tell me you’re going use my brother and discard him?”
“You dick!” Gabe, the idiot, had his hands on his knees as he continued laughing. “You may as well stay to breakfast.”
“Oh God.” She hung her head and willed the earth to open up and swallow her.
“Good.” Dot rubbed her hands together. “Gabe, can you get me my pancake bowl?”
Kelly stopped fighting the inevitable and took a seat at the kitchen table. “This is so embarrassing.”
“Really, dear?” Dot gave her a saccharine smile that put Kelly on her guard. “But probably not nearly as embarrassing as being woken up by your son and his…er…friend.” She tutted and shook her head. “One of you is a screamer.”
Kelly dropped her head on the table. “Please make it stop.”
“Exactly what I said at about three a.m.” Dot snort laughed.
Ben snickered.
And Gabe groaned, took the seat next to her, and threw her a sheepish look. “Sorry about this.”
“Oh, come on.” Dot threw her hands in the air. “How old are you two? It happens.” She shrugged, and then her grin turned evil. “But I’m glad to hear you inherited some of your father’s best qualities, Gabriel.”
Ben shuddered and looked green.
Dot cackled.
Gabe looked ill.
“Now, Kelly.” She banged around putting frying pans on the stove. “What month do you fancy for the wedding?”
Once she gave in to the inevitable, Kelly enjoyed breakfast with the three Crowes.
Ben had popped in on his way to work. Recently married to her best friend, Poppy, Ben Crowe was one of the good guys. He even dropped into his mother’s house every day or so to make sure she was okay.
After breakfast, Gabe walked her out. Dead leaves crunched under their feet.
“Well.” Kelly tugged her coat around her. “Thanks for a lovely evening.”
Gabe threw his head back and laughed. It was a great look on him. “You’re welcome.” He tugged her closer to him. “I really did have a great time, Kelly.”
“Are you getting soppy on me?” Last night had been fun, but it was over, and they both had lives to get back to. Hers included finding a way to turn back the clock on her relationship with Vince.
Vince! She should have been thinking of him, not rolling around the sheets with Gabe.
“Never.” Gabe chuckled. “We good to leave things here?”
“Perfect.” Kelly rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. “It was fun, but it stops here.”
“Agreed.” Gabe’s gaze drifted to her mouth and lingered for a heart-stopping moment. He sighed. “It sure was fun.”
*
Gabe walked back into the kitchen and only Ben was still there. “Ma gone?”
“To get dressed.” Ben nodded and carried on reading the Twin Elks Crier.
Taking the seat opposite Ben, Gabe sipped his coffee. Only a year separated him and Ben, but they had never been close. Maybe because as kids they’d competed for everything. At school Gabe had been way ahead of Ben, but Ben had been better at all things sports. Now they didn’t seem to have that much in common.
“The thing with Kelly.” Ben kept his eyes on the paper. “It going anywhere?”
Not that it was any of Ben’s business, but Gabe suppressed the childish knee jerk to say so. “No.”
“She good with that?”
“Yup.” It would be easier not to react like a kid if Ben didn’t insist on going all big brother on him. At thirty-five and thirty-four, they were past that shit.
Ben turned the page and smoothed it down. “She and Vince have a shot.”
“She said.”
Glancing up, Ben raised a brow then returned to his paper.
The familiar itch started beneath Gabe’s skin. Sitting in Twin Elks watching his brother read the paper was time out of his life he wasn’t getting back. He needed to shower and get on with his day. “I’ll see you around.”
“Gabe.” Ben stopped him as he got to the kitchen door. “I know I don’t need to say this, but Ma doesn’t need you bringing your hookups here.”
No, Ben didn’t need to say it, but he had anyway. “Right.”
“Any idea how long you’re staying in town?” Ben put his paper aside and stood.
By the set of Ben’s jaw, Gabe knew to brace for it. “Nope. That will depend on what happens in the next couple of weeks.”
Ben kept that heavy stare bent in his direction.
“I have a couple of feelers out about new positions. The thing in Australia is not totally dead, so I still have to hear on that.”
Nodding, Ben shoved his hands in his pockets. “Ever think about staying?”
“Here?” Gabe almost laughed, but Ben’s serious expression stopped him. “You asking for you or for Ma?”
“Both of us.”
That rocked Gabe back.
Ben said, “You know Ma misses you. She misses all of you.”
Gabe nodded. He did know that. All of them knew that. Not that Ma ever nagged about it. She was a great mother for boys, always giving you room you needed to do you. “Twin Elks is not for me.” He didn’t want to disparage the place Ben loved and made his life in. “And there’s nothing for me to do here anyway.” Gabe tried to lighten the mood. “Unless the ocean has suddenly made its way up here.”
“You could do other stuff,” Ben said.
He was serious, too, and Gabe was missing something. They didn’t hate each other, but it wasn’t like he and Ben needed to spend more time together. “I don’t want to do other stuff. I like what I do.”
“I get that.” Ben’s jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed a warning that Gabe recognized well. They were about to get into it. “But maybe what you want isn’t all there is.”
“Like w
hat else?” Gabe glared right back. If Ben wanted to throw down, he would meet him there.
“Like leaving me to take care of Ma,” Ben said. “Taking no responsibility.”
“Are you kidding me?” Since he’d been back, Gabe had been waiting for Ben to bring that up. Ben liked to shine up his armor and dazzle you with it. “You chose to stay here. Nobody made you. Certainly not Ma.”
Ben stilled and stuck his chin out. “So that makes it okay to dump this all on me?”
“Nobody’s dumping anything on you. And Ma is hardly a burden. She gets on with her own shit.” Fear snaked through him. “Unless there is something you’re not telling me. Like Ma is sick?”
“She’s fine.” Ben made a dismissive gesture. “But she’s lonely, and I’m worried now that I have other responsibilities that I can’t give her the time she needs.”
Now it made more sense. Ben’s recent marriage had brought four young kids with it. Big brother heaviness aside, Ben was not being an asshole. “What about Luke? Or Mark? Mark won’t play hockey forever. And sooner or later, Rafe is going to get tired of working all over the world.”
Ben gave him a hard stare. Finally, he nodded. “Got ya.”
“Jesus, Ben,” Gabe said. “This is not where I want to be. This place stifles me.”
Shrugging into his heavy jacket, Ben nodded. “I said I get it, Gabe.”
Frustration boiled inside Gabe as Ben opened the back door and stepped outside. Long strides eating up the walkway, Ben got to his cruiser and climbed in. Gabe wanted to follow him and make him understand why he couldn’t stay. Twin Elks had nothing to offer him. Unfortunately, if he called Luke, Mark, or Rafe they would say the same thing.
Chapter Three
Thank God it was Sunday, the only day of the week Kelly didn’t have to open her coffee shop, Kelly’s Koffee Klatch. After getting home, she had a hot shower and pulled on yoga pants and a comfy sweater. Hangover aside, Sunday was the day for getting her chores done.
Her muscles ached from her night with Gabe. It had been a spectacular end to her dry spell, but she had waited all that time for another chance with Vince, and she was going to take it.
