by Kristi Gold
“Did you pull something?”
“No, but I have a huge knot right here,” she said, touching the place. “Guess I wasn’t doing the crunches correctly after all.”
Instead of saying I told you so, Kieran took her by the shoulders, turned her around and started rubbing the sore spot. “How’s that?”
“Feels great.” And it did. Really great. “You’re pretty good with the massage technique, O’Brien.” She flipped her ponytail over the opposite shoulder to give him more access. “But I’m better at it.”
“I’m sure you are, and I intend to find out in the near future when you give me my massage.”
Erica couldn’t wait, possibly at her own detriment.
While Kieran continued to work her sore muscles, thoughts of the encounter with Aidan O’Brien returned, threatening to send Erica into another fit of laughter. “You really didn’t find it the least bit funny, having your brother stop by while you’re chanting, ‘Tighter. Work it, babe. Spread your legs’?”
He halted his massage midstroke. “I didn’t say ‘spread your legs.’”
She sent him a frown over her shoulder. “I could’ve sworn that’s what you said.”
“Believe me, if I’d said that, you might be flat on your back, but you wouldn’t be doing crunches.”
She turned to face him. “Exactly what would I be doing?”
He reached up and pushed a strand of hair away from her damp forehead. “Let’s just say you’d be doing something more interesting than working your abdominals.”
Erica forgot all about her stiff neck when Kieran’s gaze drifted to her mouth. Forgot that he was her fitness coach and by his own admission, bent on keeping their relationship totally professional. She’d also forgotten until now what it was like to be in that defining moment right before a kiss, when everything disappeared except the need for human contact—the need to know she was still desired. Then again, perhaps she was only imagining he wanted to kiss her. As she swayed slightly forward, he framed her jaws in his hands, and right then she knew with certainty that she hadn’t been imagining a thing.
When his mouth covered hers, warm and oh so welcome, Erica’s arms automatically went around his neck while he settled his palms beneath her ribs. She momentarily considered the dangerous path they were taking, but decided she didn’t care. Her awareness centered on how much she had missed this intimacy. How much she appreciated his undeniable skill, his gentleness that directly contrasted with his diehard training methods, the soft, seductive glide of his tongue against hers, his body melded to hers. The kiss soon turned deep, more deliberate and extremely deadly to Erica’s composure.
“Mr. O’Brien, there’s a little girl named Stormy looking for Ms. Stevens.”
The blaring intercom startled Erica back into reality and sent Kieran away from her. She suddenly recalled the rare nights Jeff had come home early only to have their attempts at alone time thwarted by Stormy. Maybe this was a sign that what just happened, shouldn’t have happened. The repentant look on Kieran’s face led Erica to believe he definitely felt that way.
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, more embarrassed than she’d been since she’d met him, and that was saying quite a bit. “Guess I should go find the kid.”
He grabbed a towel from the weight bench and swiped it over his face. “Probably a good idea.”
“I’ll see you Monday morning.”
“I’m overscheduled on Monday,” he said as he tossed the towel aside. “Let’s make it Tuesday evening here at the club and skip the morning run. We can add cardio to the strength training.”
“Sounds fine.” A chance to sleep in a bit later, yet Erica couldn’t help but wonder if the kiss had something to do with the schedule adjustment. If maybe he’d decided coming to her home wasn’t such a grand idea.
“About what just happened…” he said, fueling her suspicions. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“No big deal,” she said as she backed toward the door. But it had been a big deal. Something she would have a lot of trouble ignoring. Something she’d have to learn to ignore, because as he’d said, it wouldn’t happen again. Yet she couldn’t help wishing that it would.
“When’s it okay to kiss a boy, Mom?”
Erica had to brake hard before she ran right through the red light. Surely her daughter hadn’t witnessed the kiss she’d shared with Kieran. No way. Stormy had been waiting by the front desk when she’d sought her out at the club. “What brought that on, Stormy?”
She glanced at Stormy to see her shrug. “Me and Lisa were talking about it today at the mall. She said she’s been thinking about kissing a lot and she says she’s ready. So when is it okay to start kissing?”
Lovely. After her up-close encounter with Kieran’s talented mouth, that was the last thing Erica needed to think about right now, especially while navigating a moving vehicle. “It depends, Stormy. Maybe when you’re fourteen or fifteen.” Or twenty-five, if Erica had her way.
When Erica guided the car into the subdivision, Stormy asked, “How old were you when you kissed Daddy the first time?”
Uh-oh. This could definitely come back to bite her. Jeff had been the literal boy next door, her very best friend, until the summer before junior high when they’d locked lips in the cornfield, a rite of passage for every farmer’s daughter. “I was a little older than you.” But not by much.
“Where did he kiss you?”
“At the farm.”
“No, silly. I meant was it on the cheek or on the mouth?”
She shot through the stop sign before lifting her foot from the accelerator to prevent a citation. “On the lips.”
“Was it a French kiss?”
At this rate, she was going to take out a few mailboxes before she made it the remaining two blocks to the house. “Sounds like someone else has been thinking about kissing.”
“Maybe,” Stormy said quietly. “I’ve been thinking about kissing this boy at school.”
Just one more block, Erica. “Does he want to kiss you?”
“Lisa says he does.”
Hold the wheel steady. “Does this boy have a name?”
“Randolph James Hillyard. We call him R.J. He lives by Lisa.”
Great. Her daughter’s first crush—a rich little lothario. She turned onto their block and sent a quick look Stormy’s way. “Are you two going steady?”
Stormy wrinkled her nose. “Huh?”
Obviously that whole concept was passé. “Are you two a couple?”
“He’s going to be at the party next Friday.”
She pulled into the driveway much faster than necessary and managed to stop before plowing into the garage door. “What party?”
“Kaylee’s birthday party. Don’t you remember?”
No, Erica didn’t, but then her mind had been wandering quite a bit lately. After putting the car in Park and turning off the ignition, she shifted to face her daughter. “This is a boy-girl party?”
Stormy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Mom. We’re too old for baby parties.”
Erica didn’t consider not quite eleven as too old for anything except perhaps a tricycle. “I might not remember you mentioning this party, but I do know I haven’t given you permission to go.”
Stormy put on the pouty face that she wore so well. “I have to go, Mom. Everyone in the fifth grade’s going. It’s not like Kaylee’s parents won’t be there.”
Erica found little comfort in that fact considering she’d only met Kaylee’s mom maybe twice. “I’ll talk to her parents and then I’ll let you know if you can go. Okay?”
“Okay.” Stormy fell silent for a moment before she asked, “Was Daddy the first boy you kissed?”
He’d been the only boy she’d kissed until they broke up for about five minutes their senior year of high school. She’d made the mistake of going out with Bobby Frank Feldon after a football game, a boy who had fast hands and no respect for girls. After that night, she’d appreciated Jeff even
more, and they never spent a moment apart again. “Yes, Daddy was the first boy I kissed.”
“Do you miss kissing him?”
Until tonight, she hadn’t given kissing much thought. She’d intentionally not thought about it for several years, because if she did, she’d only be inviting the familiar ache, the sense of loneliness she’d tried so hard to discount. “I’m missing my favorite TV show, so let’s get into the house.”
Stormy scooted out of the car while Erica retrieved her gym bag and followed her inside. She was incredibly tired, extremely hungry and somewhat bewildered. Things were moving too fast in her life, with her relationship with her child and her indisputable attraction to a man who was basically off-limits.
She wondered if Kieran had given her any thought since she’d left the club—given their kiss any thought. More than likely, he’d probably blow it off and go about his business, never to think about it again.
“That was one hot redhead you were ‘working out’ with, Kieran.”
As predicted, Kieran would be forced to defend himself before he’d even entered the door of his parents’ house. He’d already given himself a sufficient chastising for letting things get out of hand with Erica, and for reliving that kiss over and over in his mind most of the previous night.
“I told you, Aidan, she’s a client. End of discussion.”
“If you say so.”
At least his brother had enough class to make sure no one else was standing in the driveway before he’d started hounding him. Speaking of driveways…the minute he’d pulled up, he’d noticed the place wasn’t the usual parking lot. “Where is everyone?” Kieran asked as he followed Aidan up the steps to the porch.
“It’s just me, you, Corri and Dad. Devin’s on call and Stacy’s at her parents’ house with the boys,” he said. “Since J.D.’s with his dad, Jenna and Logan went away for the weekend.”
“Which means she’ll be pregnant by tonight.”
Aidan laughed. “Probably. Anyway, Kevin’s—”
“Not around.” Nothing new there. Kieran never expected to see his twin at family gatherings these days. “Where’s Mom?”
“She went over to Mallory’s to deliver chicken soup because Whit and the girls have colds, and that means we get sandwiches.”
“No pot roast?” Their mother’s cooking was the high point of Kieran’s week and one of the primary reasons he made an effort to be there.
“No pot roast today. But I don’t care as long as the twins aren’t here to expose the kid to a virus.”
“Which kid?”
Aidan frowned. “My kid. Emma, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Maybe he did need a chart. “Oh, yeah. I remember her now. Cute baby, curly blond hair, looks like her mother, thank God.”
“You’re damned hilarious.” Aidan pulled the screen open but continued to block the entry. “By the way, Emma’s asleep in our old room, so be quiet.”
Kieran could handle quiet. His father, on the other hand, didn’t know the meaning of the word.
He stepped inside to find Aidan’s wife, Corri, seated on the sofa, a tray of sandwiches set out on the coffee table before her, and his dad, good old Dermot, fast asleep in his favorite lounger.
Corri straightened and smiled. “Hey, Kieran. Glad you could make it. We were beginning to feel like pariahs.”
Aidan dropped onto the sofa and rested his hand on Corri’s thigh. “I was kind of enjoying the silence for a change.”
After grabbing a soda from the fridge in the kitchen and a ham sandwich from the tray, Kieran took the chair kitty-corner from the TV, focusing on the football game in an effort to ignore Aidan, who’d started nuzzling Corri’s neck. He sure as hell didn’t need to see overt displays of affection. He did need to finish eating, get out of there fast and go to the club to work off some excess energy while considering his current predicament—Erica Stevens. Maybe even fantasize about Erica Stevens. A little fantasy never hurt anyone, as long as he didn’t go down the reality road again.
“Aidan tells me he met your girlfriend, Kieran,” Corri said. “Is this the former gymnast Mallory mentioned to me a few days ago?”
If he hadn’t already swallowed the bite of sandwich, he would’ve choked. “Yeah, she’s the former gymnast. And no, she’s not my girlfriend. I’m her personal trainer.”
“I’m thinking you’d be a wise man to make her your girlfriend, son.” Apparently his dad had been roused from his nap by his normal curiosity, as well as his penchant for making his opinions known.
“Why is that, Dad?” Aidan asked, although Kieran wished he hadn’t.
Dermot released a gruff chuckle. “Because I hear gymnasts are a flexible lot.”
Aidan and Corri laughed in response. Kieran didn’t. Nothing about the remark was funny. Neither were the explicit images of Erica now running through his mind. Images he pushed away for the time being.
After wolfing down the sandwich and soda in record time, Kieran escaped to the kitchen to discard the trash. If he played his cards right, he could be out the door before the next round of verbal grilling.
“Leaving already, Kieran?”
Kieran glanced to his right to see his brother hovering in the doorway. So much for a fast getaway. “Yeah. I need to stop by the club before I head home.”
Hands in pockets, Aidan strolled into the room. “Another floor-mat training session with the gymnast?”
A few years back, Kieran would’ve attempted to knock the smirk off his brother’s face, even if Aidan did have three inches on him. They’d all learned how to fight by fighting each other. But he was more mature now, and throwing a punch in his mother’s kitchen wasn’t a banner idea. Instead, he chose a partial lie, not a fist, for his weapon of choice. “I have to do some paperwork, Aidan. That’s what you deal with when you own two businesses.”
Aidan leaned back against the cabinet and studied Kieran with blatant skepticism. “She’s getting to you, isn’t she?”
Kieran opened the pantry door and tossed the can into the recycle bin. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Another lie.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Maybe I should say who I’m talking about. You’ve got a thing for the redhead.”
Kieran slammed the pantry door and whirled around. “I told you, she’s a client.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said, but I’m not buying it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so defensive when someone brings her up. You’d just ignore all the comments, but you’re feeling too guilty to do that.”
Unfortunately, Aidan happened to be right on target, even though Kieran didn’t plan to admit it. “Look, she’s a nice woman who wants to get into shape. She doesn’t have a lot of money, so her daughter came to see me and asked me to help out. I’m doing both of them a favor without charge.”
Aidan frowned. “In other words, you’re providing your services for free, and there’s nothing more to it?”
“Yeah.” Lie number three. “Something wrong with that?”
“Not at all, except you’re not telling me everything. Did things go beyond the trainer-client relationship last night after I left?”
Kieran gritted his teeth. “I didn’t sleep with her, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Aidan chuckled. “But you wanted to.”
He hated that his brother read him so well. “Okay, yeah, the thought crossed my mind after I—” Nope, he wasn’t going to go there.
“After you what? Kissed her?”
He didn’t have the energy for another lie. “Yeah.”
Aidan pointed at him. “I knew it.”
“I didn’t plan it. It just happened, and I’m not going to let it happen again.”
“What makes you think you can stop it?”
He didn’t have any choice. “Because it’s unethical. Aside from the standing rules of the profession, you told me yourself that it’s a bad idea to get involved with someone you have a working relationship with, even though
you didn’t follow your own advice with Corri.”
Aidan ran a fast hand through his hair. “You’re right, but it turned out okay. Better than okay. And the way I see it, you have two options. You let nature take its course and see what happens. Or you cut if off now, because even if you can bench-press a building, you’re not strong enough to ignore the chemistry.”
He didn’t care for his brother’s options or opinions. “I’m not you, Aidan, so you can kiss my—”
“Don’t say it, young man.”
Kieran turned to the right where his mother stood immediately inside the kitchen, holding a plastic container. Lucine O’Brien might be small in stature, but she was more than capable of carrying off the disapproving-parent demeanor in a big way. “Hey, Mom. When did you get back?”
“Just in time to hear your conversation.” She set the bowl on the counter and regarded Aidan. “I believe I heard your daughter.”
Aidan tilted his head slightly. “I don’t hear anything.”
Lucy gestured toward the living room. “Then go talk to your wife. I need to have a conversation with your brother.”
That’s all Kieran needed—another lecture. Only this one could be ten times as bad, depending on how much his mother had overheard. Probably more than he’d hoped, considering the stern look on her face. “This woman you’re discussing,” she said after Aidan departed. “Is this the widow with the child that Mallory spoke of the other night?”
Good thing his sister wasn’t around. Otherwise, he’d have to give her a chunk of what was left of his mind for spinning the rumor mill out of control. “First of all, Mother, my personal life isn’t anyone’s business. Secondly, this whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion. I’m only supervising her fitness program.”
She had the skeptic’s demeanor down to a fine art. “Really? When did you add kissing to that program?”
Damn. “It was a mistake. A spur-of-the-moment thing.”
She folded her arms across her middle. “Perhaps that’s true, but my sons aren’t inclined to do anything they don’t want to do.”
