by R. Linda
Dammit.
Why did I say that? Did I want to hang out with her kid? Sure, she was hot, and I enjoyed hanging out with her…but her son was an entirely different ballgame. I wasn’t good with kids.
“You want to come with me to see Cole?”
No.
Absolutely not.
“Yeah, it could be fun.” I nodded, trying to convince myself more than her.
“Uh. Sure, I guess.” Kenzie’s lips were twisted into a grimace.
“If you don’t want me to, I won’t. No pressure,” I said, hoping she’d give me an out so I wouldn’t have to follow through with what my big mouth suggested.
“No, it’s fine. I just don’t usually bring other guys around Cole.”
“Usually?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Ever. I don’t usually let anyone around him until I know for sure they’re going to stick around.”
I cupped her cheek. “You don’t want him to get attached and then lose someone. I understand.” I swiped my thumb across her cheek, watching as her eyes fluttered closed. “Babe, we’re neighbours. I’m Harper’s brother. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay.” She smiled and leaned into me.
“How about you get ready while I go home for a shower, and I’ll meet you back here?”
“Sure.”
I released her and stood to place my dishes in the sink, and then I walked to the door and called, “Thanks for breakfast, and make sure you lock the door behind me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. How about you put a shirt on?” she called down the hall as I opened my front door.
Chapter Thirteen
Kenzie
The police were useless. It was the same story every time I went. Brody’s friend tried to help, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do until there was evidence Chace had committed a crime, and him knowing what went on inside my apartment at night apparently didn’t warrant any cause for concern. Jeremy wasn’t too impressed, and I was running out of ideas to keep Chace away.
“You need a lawyer,” Jeremy said as we walked to my car.
“I can’t afford a good one. Chace has money. Lots of it. I’m worried if it went to court, he’d win.”
“He couldn’t possibly win.” He took the keys from me and ushered me around to the passenger side.
“I’m not willing to risk it. Not yet.”
“Well, it’s bullshit.”
“I know. But at least uni starts back in a week.”
“So?” Jeremy started the car and backed out of the parking lot.
“So, Chace will have to go back to school. It’ll make it harder for him to harass me if he’s living three hours away.” I pointed him in the direction of Ryder’s house so we could go and see Cole.
I was nervous about Cole meeting him officially. He’d seen him a few times at the roadhouse, but they never really interacted, and I wasn’t sure how things would go. I was worried Cole wouldn’t like him because that would mean any feelings I may have had toward Jeremy would immediately become irrelevant, and I knew that would be too hard to cope with. He was quickly becoming a big part of my life, even after only a few days. There was something about him that drew me in.
“And until then?”
“Until then, Cole can stay with Ryder, and once I’m convinced Chace has left town, I’ll bring my baby home. It’s only a few days.”
Jeremy grunted in response and didn’t say anything else about it. “Okay, so tell me what Cole likes.”
“What? Why?”
“Because first impressions count, and if I want to keep spending time with his mumma, I need to make sure he likes me.” Jeremy smiled, and my heart melted at his words.
“You want to keep spending time with me?” I grinned.
“I haven’t got you out of your pants yet, so yeah.”
I punched him in the arm. “And if that happens, then what? You’ll get bored and move on.” I swallowed thickly at the thought that if I gave in to my feelings and things actually progressed that Jeremy might just get over it and find someone else to “spend time” with.
“Not likely. Once I get you out of those pants, babe, I doubt I’d let you put them back on. In fact, I think I might burn them all to be safe.”
I raised an eyebrow and didn’t say a word because Jeremy had just pulled the car into Ryder’s driveway.
We climbed out of the car and walked up the path. Jeremy was fidgeting beside me, straightening his shirt and brushing his hair out of his face. “Do I look okay?” he asked.
I chuckled and patted his arm. “You look…” I tilted my head and examined him, “…better without the shirt.”
“You told me to put it back on.”
“Well, first impressions and all that.” I turned and pushed open the front door. Cole came running from the living room and skidded to a stop in front of me. His board shorts were tied tight around his waist, sunglasses on his eyes.
“Bailey said we can go for a swim!” No “Hi, Mum.” Nothing. He just clasped my hand in his and pulled me toward the door.
“Slow down, buddy. Where’s Bailey?” I tugged him into the house and nodded at Jeremy to follow.
“Getting her swimmers on. Did you bring yours?”
“No, I thought we could go to the park and take the basketball to shoot some hoops.”
“Don’t say shoot some hoops like you’re cool.”
“Hey, I am cool.”
Cole scoffed and rolled his eyes. So much like Ryder. “Who’s that?” Cole looked up at Jeremy with a curious expression on his face.
“This is Jeremy. He lives next door.”
“Hey, buddy.” Jeremy held his fist out to bump.
“No one fist bumps anymore,” Cole said with a shake of his head.
“Cole, be nice.” I tried not to laugh, but the kid’s attitude was too much sometimes.
“Are you the one with the loud music?” He folded his arms and stared Jeremy down.
Jeremy shot a worried look at me before falling to his knees in front of Cole. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t realise it was that loud.”
“Mumma wasn’t happy.”
“Believe me, I know. She told me off and made me apologise.” Jeremy looked up at me and wrinkled his nose. I watched in awe as he interacted with my son.
Cole’s shoulders lifted, and he sighed. “She does that to me too.”
“Well, that’s only because your Mumma knows best.”
“Do you like cars?” Cole’s face brightened.
“Yeah, I do,” Jeremy replied with enthusiasm. “I fix them up.”
“Really? Uncle Ryder likes doing that too. He lets me help sometimes.” Cole reached forward and grabbed Jeremy’s hand. “Come with me.”
Jeremy stood and allowed Cole to lead him out of the room, but not before shooting a wink at me over his shoulder.
I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. They were getting along great, and if Cole took him to show him toys, that meant he liked Jeremy. A lot. I’d never seen him attach himself to someone so quickly since Ryder brought Bailey home to meet him when he was little. My heart swelled, so much it felt like it would burst out of my chest at any minute as I listened to my son tell Jeremy about each and every one of his cars in his collection, while Jeremy showed the perfect amount of interest to keep Cole talking.
“Well, that’s new,” Bailey said when she walked into the living room.
“What?”
“That smile on your face.” She pushed her finger into the dimple on my cheek. It was a genetic thing; we all had dimples and curls.
“I smile.” I folded my arms and frowned at her.
“Ah, no, you don’t. Not very often. It doesn’t have anything to do with a certain tattooed bad boy, does it?”
“It has everything to do with him. Listen to them.” I pointed down the hall.
“I have been. I’ve been hiding around the corner eavesdropping for the past five minutes. It’s sweet.” Bailey chewed on
her bottom lip and studied me.
“It’s not sweet. It’s sexy as hell, the way he is getting along so well with Cole. Not even Nate and Linc are that good with him, and Cole loves them.”
“It’s only a matter of time.” She grinned.
“For what?”
“Until Cole falls in love with him too.”
“Too?” I screeched. “What are you talking about?”
“You, obviously.” She rolled her eyes and began picking up Cole’s stray toys around the living room.
“I am not in love with Jeremy Donovan.”
Bailey shrugged her left shoulder and pursed her lips. “Maybe not yet, but you will be. I guarantee it.”
“You sound like Ryder. This isn’t a romance novel. This is life.” I huffed and refused to listen to her words. I wasn’t in love with him. No way. It was far too soon for those feelings. In lust, yes. That was undeniable. The guy’s tattoos, and arms, and…his neck. I just wanted to lick it. And when he smiled, my stomach flipped, and I had to try my hardest not to become a giggling schoolgirl.
“Yeah, and you only get one, so carpe diem, baby.”
“I am not taking relationship advice from you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t even know you were in love with my brother.”
“I was eighteen!” Bailey whined. “I didn’t know what it was. And it was Ryder freaking Jones, for goodness’ sake. He was untouchable. A Greek god.” She smiled dreamily.
I screwed up my face in disgust. “Except to you. I believe there was lots of touching and kissing and fooling around for two people in a fake relationship. And who the hell fake-dates, anyway? No one is that good of an actor.”
“Again. I was eighteen and so insecure. And why are we talking about me? Let’s talk about this kiss between you and Jeremy.” Bailey clapped and sat down on the sofa.
“I’ll kill him.” I leaned against the wall and scowled.
“Who?”
“My big mouth, pain in the ass brother.”
Bailey just laughed. “You know there’s no keeping secrets. So, tell me about this kiss?”
“What are we? Fourteen?” I scoffed. I wasn’t telling her about the kiss with Jeremy just down the hall.
“It was pretty freaking spectacular,” Jeremy called from Cole’s bedroom.
Oh, my god. He’d heard.
Bailey burst into a fit of giggles. “Oops.”
Footsteps sounded down the hall, heavy ones. Jeremy appeared in the doorway with Cole on his shoulders and a bright smile on his face.
“Are we going to the beach or what? Me and my little buddy want to go and scope the babes.” Jeremy wiggled Cole’s legs, making him laugh.
“Eeewww.” Cole screwed his nose up.
“There will be no scoping any babes.” I pointed at both of them. “Cole, you are too young.”
Jeremy pouted. “Just one babe, then?” He held up one finger with a hopeful expression on his face. My mouth twisted into a grin that I tried to hide.
“Girls have germs,” Cole announced.
“Not all of them, buddy,” Jeremy told him, his eyes focused on me. I didn’t even know where Bailey was. She could have been right beside me or doing cartwheels on the back of the sofa, for all the attention I paid. I couldn’t tear my gaze from Jeremy. The way he was flirting with me while having a completely normal conversation with Cole.
“The ones at school do.”
“But your Mumma doesn’t, does she? And she’s a girl.”
I wiped my suddenly sweaty hands on my pants.
“She’s not a girl, silly.”
“She’s not?” Jeremy looked genuinely surprised.
“No. She’s Mum.”
“Ah…true. So, what do you say, Mum? Are we going to the beach or not?” Jeremy asked.
“Just waiting on you two.” I smiled.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeremy
The kid was awesome. We spent that entire Sunday afternoon at the beach building sandcastles and swimming. And Kenzie bailed on dinner at the Kellermans’ so we could spend a little more time together. I never knew spending the day at the beach could be so…fun.
Cole even taught me how to make sand angels—same as a snow angel but in the sand. Ryder showed up with lunch for everyone. And Linc came down with his surfboard and took Cole out for a surf.
The kid couldn’t surf, but he had a blast lying on the board and paddling through the waves. I couldn’t tear my eyes off his mother, though, and I was pretty sure everyone noticed. We’d raced home to get our swimsuits so we wouldn’t look out of place on the beach and so Kenzie could swim with Cole.
And holy shit.
Kenzie in a swimsuit.
Not an image I would get out of my head anytime soon. Pretty sure it was burned into my retinas. I’d see that fine ass and smooth stomach every time I closed my eyes. And that was perfectly okay with me. I just had to try to keep my hands off her tonight. Which was going to be near impossible. Not only did we spend the day at the beach on Sunday with Cole, we took him to play basketball on Tuesday, and to the park on Thursday, and each time, I’d catch Kenzie watching me play with her son with a smile on her face. And each time Cole wasn’t looking, I’d find a way to touch Kenzie, whether it was a brush of the hand or a kiss on the cheek—never more than that. I just had to touch her, feel her skin, her warmth. Hell, even smell her hair. There was no getting enough of this woman.
It was Indie’s birthday, and I’d been roped into going. Though, admittedly, Kenzie didn’t have to twist my arm too much to get me to agree. She only had to flash her green eyes at me and call me an antisocial bastard, and I conceded.
I slid my shoes on and pulled my shirt over my head before running my hands through my hair to smooth down the ends. It wasn’t like I was trying to make an impression or anything. I sprayed cologne. Not too much. Didn’t want to make her sneeze because, obviously, I was absolutely trying to make an impression on Kenzie. Then I left my apartment and knocked on Kenzie’s door.
Light footsteps approached, and the door handle twitched. “Who is it?” she called.
“Babe, open up.” I smiled, grateful she had the sense to check who was knocking on her door. Though I suspected she only did it because she knew it was me.
“I’m sorry, who is it?”
“Kenzie, quit playing around or I’m going to the only bar in town instead of your friend’s parents’ house.” The only reason I was even going to the party was because it meant I’d get to see Kenzie a bit more.
Still nothing. I rapped my knuckles on the door once. “Have a good night, then.” And I walked toward the stairs.
Three.
Two.
The door creaked open. “Jeremy Donovan, get that ass back here right now.” She peered into the hall.
I turned and challenged her with my gaze. “Make me.”
Her glossy, pink lips twisted up into a smirk, and she stepped into the hall. My mouth watered. If I thought she looked incredible in a swimsuit, it had nothing on this dress she was wearing. Black. Tight. Short. And killer heels. Hell, yeah. Lifting her hands and pulling her hair into a pile on top of her head, her dress crept higher up her strong, toned thighs.
Dangerously high.
My eyes travelled the length of her body, committing every curve to memory as she spun slowly on the spot and put her back to me.
Bare skin.
Exposed right down to the top of her ass. I could see a hint of her underwear peeking out where the zipper of her dress ended.
And, hell.
No bra.
Kenzie looked over her shoulder at me, still with the same sultry smirk. “Zip me up?” she asked and walked back into her apartment.
She didn’t have to ask me twice. I crossed the hall and followed her into the living room, closing the front door behind me. She stood in the center of the room, hands still in her hair, and waited.
Taking slow, deliberate steps so I could en
joy the view a little longer, I approached her. I placed my hands on her hips and stepped in close until my chest was touching her back.
“You don’t play fair,” I leaned in and whispered, letting my lips graze her ear. The hairs on the back of her neck raised, and a small shiver ran through her.
“Never said I did, Casanova.”
She smelled edible. I couldn’t resist; I needed to taste her skin. I pressed my lips to the base of her neck, right at the top of her spine, my tongue sliding over her skin as I pinched the zip between my fingers and dragged it up, letting my knuckles coast over her back until her dress fixed in place.
Kenzie leaned back into me, her breaths a little heavier, more pronounced. She sighed. I groaned and cleared my throat. Grasping her shoulders, I pushed her away slightly and turned her to face me. “We need to go now, before I lock us both in here for the entire weekend.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Interesting. And whatever would we do to keep busy?”
“Oh, I have plenty of ideas.” I picked up her bag from the coffee table and handed it to her. “But it’s your friend’s birthday, and we should go.”
Kenzie grabbed her leather jacket from behind the door and slipped it on over the dress.
How was it possible that adding more clothes made her look even sexier?
We walked to my truck, and I opened the door for her. “Such a gentleman,” she teased.
“For now,” I shot back.
We drove to Indie and Nate’s parents’ place, a sprawling mansion with manicured lawns and well-kept gardens. Well, mansion might have been an exaggeration, but the place was huge, nonetheless. And inside didn’t disappoint. Huge, white, open. So many rooms. Kenzie led me through the house and out onto the back patio where everyone was congregated.
The pool glimmered an almost purple colour, and the lights strung above cast a soft glow. It looked like something out of a fairy tale I used to read Harper when she was little.
I felt out of place, like I didn’t belong, and that was probably because I didn’t. Aside from Kenzie, and Harper and Nate, I rarely interacted with the rest of them, so I was a little uncomfortable but refused to show it.
