by MJ Fredrick
Killian sat back. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who didn’t want a wedding. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Cassidy’s practical.” It made him wonder, though, if Liz would want a wedding. Then he pulled himself up short. He hadn’t even told her he loved her. He couldn’t be thinking about a wedding so soon.
“She doesn’t want her mother to mess things up, I’m sure.”
“Angie’s been working hard to turn her life around. She does Liz’s books.”
Sage opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. “And Liz has been getting her payments in on time. But that’s about all I can say for Angie.”
She sat back as their food was delivered—fajitas without tortillas for him, creamy chicken enchiladas for her. The waiter silently filled their glasses of water, then left.
“So what is the deal with you and Liz? You’re not serious about her, are you?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sage widened her eyes. “Because you’re the mayor and she is—has a reputation.”
He almost wondered what she’d been going to say instead. “She’s a great person, generous and good. She’s fun to be with. Why wouldn’t I want to be serious about her?”
“Because if you decide to marry her, she’ll make a crappy mayor’s wife.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She doesn’t have any experience doing the things a mayor’s wife does, for one. She doesn’t go to parties, unless you count the ones that get out of hand. She’s not particularly friendly with the women, and to be frank, a lot of the women don’t like her because she’s slept with their husbands.”
The words gave Killian a jolt. “Before they were married.”
“Yes, of course.”
“And she’s friends with Maggie, Nia and Cassidy. But you’re talking about your circle of friends.”
Color tinted Sage’s cheeks. “I am, but my circle of friends are the ones who get things done in town.”
“Because maybe they don’t have to work so hard to make a living.”
She waved a hand. “Don’t give me that. Plenty of women make time for both. And if she’s going to be first lady of Evansville, she’s going to have to make an effort.”
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” he said, and hated the way his voice sounded, hated that Sage probably thought she’d bullied him into changing his mind about Liz, when all he wanted was not to think about how him being in her life could change her so much.
*****
When Killian returned home from his trip, the courthouse and the town square were bedecked in red, white and blue in preparation for Independence Day. Allison was behind this, he knew, Allison, his mother and the McKenna women and that whole group of ladies who knew how to celebrate big in a small town. They ran the Bluebonnet Festival and organized the parade and the annual Thanksgiving dinner and the Christmas festival. Things that made small-town life special.
His thoughts touched, briefly, on his conversation with Sage. If he and Liz got serious, she was going to have to think about becoming part of that committee—it would be part of her duty as the mayor’s wife. He knew she didn’t get along with Sage, but then, few people did. And Allison…he blew out a breath, not sure what to think about Allison.
Not sure why he was thinking about marrying Liz, to be honest. He’d been crazy with missing her yesterday, wishing he could have brought her along, showed her the sights. Okay, it was just San Antonio, and she’d probably been, but he’d thought she would have liked the restaurant where they’d eaten, and he could imagine her in some of the shops they’d passed. He’d brought her a gift, couldn’t wait until tonight to give it to her.
He walked into his office to see Ryan Keller sitting in the waiting room.
“Ryan? Got news for me?”
Ryan rose slowly from one of the leather chairs that had been there since his father was in office.
“Yeah, we closed three of the gaming halls down yesterday, pulled some employees in, but no one’s talking. Misdemeanor charges only, too, so we had to let them go.”
Killian led the way into his office. “I’m surprised you moved so quickly.”
“No sense waiting.” Ryan walked to the window of the office and looked out on the square. “Y’all have a big Fourth of July party?”
“Big enough. Parades, some rides, fireworks. We’re lucky to be able to have the fireworks this year, actually. Some years we can’t because of the drought. But this year the fire chief said we’re looking good.”
“Something you could take a date to, then?”
Killian raised his eyebrows. “Anyone in particular?”
“Sort of hit it off with Allison the other night.”
“Allison.” Killian dropped into his chair, unable to imagine anyone “hitting it off” with her.
“Yeah, why? Something wrong with that?”
“She’s just—a little high maintenance.”
“Nothing wrong with that. I like giving a woman a lot of attention.”
“While you’re around.”
“Sure. She knows this isn’t long-term. We’re just having fun.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Something you know that I don’t?”
“I know she wants to get married, and I’m pretty sure she has the upper hand in most relationships. She’s going to try to get you to change your mind.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t change my mind.”
Killian chuckled. “You don’t know Allison very well, then.”
*****
Because he’d been at the office so late the night before, catching up on work he’d missed while he’d been gone, he hadn’t gotten to the salon before Liz left, and he hadn’t wanted to go out to her house after nine, when he’d finally left his office. Maybe he’d bring by some breakfast or something after his run.
He pulled his car into the parking lot of the high school by the track, and was startled to see another car there, and Liz standing beside it, dressed in shorts and one of those sports bras, her hair in a high ponytail at the back of her head. His heart kicked, and he parked crookedly beside her, barely getting the keys out of the ignition before stumbling toward her.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked.
She grinned. “You’d said you’d get me out here running eventually.” She pressed her hand to his chest and leaned in, brushing her lips over his. “And I missed you.”
“You missed me.” Pleasure spread through his chest as he looked down at her. “Enough to go running with me?”
“Well, I haven’t run since high school, so you may have to go easy on me.”
“I can do that.” He returned her light kiss, though he wanted to delve deeper. He took her hand and led her onto the rubber track. He couldn’t keep his gaze away from the play of muscles in her stomach when she reached over her head to stretch. He wanted to run his tongue over the soft skin there, follow the line of her shorts to her thigh…
Huh. He’d never run with a hard-on before. That might be challenging.
“I was going to bring you breakfast once I was done here.”
“Hm, now I won’t feel guilty eating it.”
She waited for him to set the pace, and matched it with more ease than he expected.
“Some day I’m going to have to take you to San Antonio,” he said as they rounded the first curve.
“I haven’t been in a while,” she replied with a bit more difficulty. “Did you and Sage have fun?”
He glanced over, but saw no jealousy in her expression. “I guess, if anyone could have fun with Sage. I did find out for sure she’s not with Jackson. Even she knows Maggie likes him.”
“Everyone knows. So did Sage come back with even more ambitious ideas for the town?”
“I’m sure she’ll twist what she heard to fit Evansville, and we’ll all hear about it at the next merchant association meeting. Things going okay here? With you? How’s the planning for the quinceañera coming?”
She was a little mor
e winded now. “Good. I guess. I never thought I’d feel left out of the planning, but since Papa is paying for everything, well, I’m not as involved as I would be if we were doing it on a budget.”
“Are you mad at your sisters?”
“No, why?”
“For taking your father’s money. For letting him be a part of their lives?”
She shook her head. “No. He owes them.”
“And you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want anything from him.”
“Anything?”
She pulled up, bracing her hands on her legs to catch her breath. He slowed, stopped and turned to look at her.
“Look, you don’t get it. You had a great dad. He was always at the football games, watching you march, always there for you and Maggie. Even when my father was living at home, he wasn’t that kind of dad. He’d rather go drinking with his friends than spend time with us, and you know what? That was cool. We didn’t need anyone with us who didn’t want to be there.”
“But now he wants to be there. Are you really going to cut him out of your life when he’s making an effort to change? You and I both know a person can change.”
She straightened, pressing a hand to her side and grimacing. “Honestly? Lately I’ve been wondering if it is possible.”
“Why do you say that?”
She blew out a laugh. “Because we haven’t even gone around the track once and I’m out of breath.”
“All it takes is practice,” he said, his hand on the small of her back, on her damp skin. “Come on. You can do it.”
She straightened and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Maybe I’m thinking of another workout we can do.”
*****
The town was just coming to life when he pressed Liz through the door leading to his apartment, up the stairs. They were barely through the door before she stripped the running bra over her head and tossed it aside, then turned into his arms, pressing her gorgeous breasts against him. He couldn’t resist. He slid his hands up her body to cup them, weigh them, sweep his thumbs over her tight nipples as he covered her mouth with his.
She reached between them, nails scraping down his chest until she found the hem of his ratty old t-shirt. For a moment, he thought she was going to rip it from him, but she only slid her hands beneath it, over his sweaty chest, and she leaned closer, deepening the kiss.
“Shower,” he said.
If there’d been a cop on the road between here and the high school, he would have been pulled over. He would have had a hard time explaining that he was about to have a naked woman in his shower, and that had never happened before.
Already he was so hard, he feared he’d embarrass himself once they got naked. But clearly she didn’t mind, because she pressed close, parting her legs against his erection and circling her hips.
He pushed aside all the doubts Sage had planted in his mind, curved his arm around the small of her back and dragged her with him into the bathroom.
“Tiny,” she said on a laugh as he pulled her past the clutter on the sink, the pile of dirty clothes.
“Big enough.” He hoped. He didn’t let go of her as he reached in to turn on the water. The shower head gurgled a minute before spraying cold water right in his face.
Even that couldn’t dampen his desire as Liz pushed his shirt over his head, then reached for his shorts. Then she was touching him, those soft hands circling, stroking, and he gritted his teeth and pulled her under the spray with him.
She gave a laughing shriek as he pressed her against the solid wall of the shower and glided his hand down to find she still wore her shorts. Peeling them off was a challenge—they’d been tight even before they got wet. But he’d faced less appealing challenges before and won.
He left the sodden shorts—and her panties—on the floor of the shower and kissed his way up her body, flicking his tongue out to catch the rivulets of water on the way down. She groaned and let her head fall back against the wall, let him do what he wanted, her body alternately tensing and softening beneath his touch.
She hooked her leg around his hips, opening herself to him. The temptation pulled at him, but he stepped back.
“No condom.”
She blinked up at him through the water raining down on her head. “None?”
“Not in here. By the bed.”
“So why are we in here?”
He chuckled and stepped back, reaching for the soap. “Turn around and I’ll show you.”
*****
Liz collapsed on her back on Killian’s unmade bed, and stared at the ceiling. After that round, they might need another shower. She was trying to figure out how she’d get Gracie to bring her a fresh set of clothes before work when Killian linked his fingers through hers on the mattress between them.
“Will you go to the fireworks with me?”
She laughed and rolled so she could rest her chin on his chest. “What, are we still in middle school?”
He stroked her wet hair back from her face so he could look into her eyes. “Just to remind you, I watch the fireworks from up on the dais, you know, with the other council members. But I want to hold your hand and watch your face while they go off. Will you go to the Fourth of July rodeo and the fireworks with me?”
“I guess I should be glad you didn’t ask me to ride in the parade with you.”
“So? Will you?”
The cut-off shorts might have been a mistake, but July in Texas was too hot for jeans, and seriously, she hadn’t thought about it far enough ahead to go shopping, or even to order something online. She tugged at the hem of her shorts as she got out of the car at the fairgrounds Evansville shared with the town of Alice, where she was meeting Killian to watch the rodeo.
She’d enjoyed watching him in the parade, Maggie driving his car as he and his mother sat on the back and waved to the crowd, who went wild. They really loved him. Would they love him enough to reelect him, if the two of them stayed together? Liz had gotten past the point of caring what any of them thought about her, but she was careful of what they thought about her sisters, and now what they thought about Killian.
But he blew her a kiss as he rode by, not caring who saw. Liz, however, saw his mother’s mouth tighten as she nudged his leg and directed his attention elsewhere. He followed her lead, but not before winking at Liz. Just that simple gesture sent a quiver of lust through her.
He’d awakened all kinds of pleasures in bed the other morning, and her relaxed attitude had been remarked on several times, though of course she hadn’t shared the reason. If they guessed, well, more power to them.
Okay, maybe she shouldn't be thinking these thoughts as she walked to meet him.
“You look incredible.” He caught her hand and leaned down to kiss her lips, holding her as if he was afraid to touch her.
She didn’t look very mayor’s date-ish, she knew, and hoped she hadn’t made a mistake in her choice of wardrobe. He, on the other hand, was dressed mayor-casual, in a western shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing those strong forearms, jeans and boots. He had to be roasting.
“Sorry I’m late. I dropped Brianna and Gracie off at the carnival, because Gracie didn’t want to take her own car and risk it getting scratched or something.” She rolled her eyes. “Like that’s not going to happen on her college campus. Although, to be fair, if she’d found a parking spot, it might have just been easier to walk from home.”
Killian turned, tucking her hand in his, and led her into the arena. “You been to the rodeo before?”
She was aware of people watching and whispering behind their hands as she and Killian made their way to their seats.
“I’ve been.”
But her motivation for coming in the past had not been for the sport, but for the cowboys who came to town. She swallowed. Yeah, something best not to share with Killian.
And what a different experience it was, watching the sport without thinking about which cowboy she wanted to hook up with afterwards. The
events were exciting, and dangerous, and she squeezed Killian’s hand more than once as the tension overtook her, making him laugh.
She turned down his offer of a beer and popcorn, even though the smell from snacks from the people in front of them made her mouth water. Knowing he couldn’t enjoy the treats would ruin her own enjoyment.
But the atmosphere was enough, the energy bubbling from the crowd, the scent of salty treats mingling with the animals and dust and heat. She flashed a smile at Killian, and he bent over to kiss her, not just a brush, instead settling his lips over hers, drawing her close. Her blood sizzled, expanding beneath her skin. Someone cleared his throat behind them, and she pulled away. She glanced over her shoulder to see one of the councilmen, Jerry Jimenez, watching, eyebrows furrowed. Disapproval radiated off of him.
Killian just chuckled and slid his hand down the length of her bare leg to take her hand again. He rested his hand against her knee and she was aware of nothing but the contact. Everything in her pulsed to his touch. Her skin grew tight, her nerves tuned to him like an antenna seeking radio waves. She leaned into him, letting her knee brush his thigh, making him aware of her thoughts. He eased back and turned his face to her, so just his breath brushed over her skin.
“You’re not watching the rodeo,” she murmured, keeping her gaze turned away.
“Neither are you.”
She felt rather than heard the words, carried on the warmth of his breath, and she smiled. “Then maybe we should go?”
He chuckled softly. “As much as I’d love that, it would be remarked upon if the mayor didn’t show up for the festivities tonight.”
“We could be done by then.”
She chanced a look at him, and wished she hadn’t. Everything in her went liquid at the heat in his eyes.
“Next time, we won’t be leaving my bed for hours.”
Her brain must have melted at that, because she was barely aware the rodeo had ended until he curled his fingers through hers and pulled her to her feet. He guided her down the bleachers and toward the gate. She was aware of a few looks from the locals and again rethought the length of her shorts. She definitely should change into the sundress she’d bought before the barbecue and fireworks.
