Telling Channing about John wasn’t something I was ready to do.
“So what’s the story between you and Ty Shaw?”
Okay, that came out of nowhere. I paused for a moment, staring at him with what was probably a befuddled look.
“The story?” I asked. I was hoping to stall for time so I could figure out why in the world Channing had asked about Ty . . . and how in the world I would respond to that question.
He laughed. “I don’t think it was a coincidence he was out checking the fence when I came and picked you up earlier, do you? Is there something I should know there? A past between you two?”
I forced myself not to laugh. “A past between us? As in a romantic past?”
Channing nodded.
“No, not at all. Ty is a friend and that’s it. I mean, if you can even call what we share a friendship. I’m his brother’s wife’s best friend, so we have to be somewhat nice to each other, but I’m pretty sure Ty can’t stand me.”
With a raised brow, Channing slowly let a small smile play across his face. “Well, then you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you or gets jealous if another guy is talking to you.”
I shook my head. “No, you’re completely mistaken. Trust me.” I desperately needed to change the course of this conversation, like yesterday. “So, shall we move on to that drink at the Blue Moose?”
He looked at me with a slightly surprised expression on his face. Yes, I knew that was a drastic change of subject, but Ty was also on my list of things I didn’t care to talk about with Channing. But I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Channing had brought up Ty, especially if he thought he’d seen an attraction there. In all honesty, Ty was a subject that I just wasn’t ready to talk about. His rejection still left a bitterness in my mouth.
“Sure, the check is paid for, so I’m ready to go whenever you are. Did you like the quiche florentine?”
“Yes! It was amazing. How was the pasta?”
“It was great. I can safely say I am full.”
Channing stood and took my coat, prompting me to stand and allow him to put it on me again. As we made our way out of the restaurant, I tried to push all thoughts of Ty Shaw from my brain.
Tried . . . and failed.
When we stepped into the Blue Moose, I took a quick look around. No Ty, but I did see Tanner. I wanted to groan internally. Could I not go anywhere in this town and not see one of the Shaw brothers? I mean, it wasn’t that small of a town.
“What would you like to drink?” Channing asked, taking my hand in his as he walked us toward the bar. My stomach did a little jump at the contact. It had been a long time since a man had touched me in any sort of intimate way. It wasn’t like butterflies in the stomach, but at least my libido was waking up a little. She recognized a man’s touch and liked it. Score one for me.
“I’ll just have any local craft beer they have on tap.”
He winked, and I couldn’t help but smile. It looked like the evening was back on the positive again.
“Do you want to sit at the bar or at a table?” Channing asked as he motioned for Ralph, the bartender, to order.
“How about I go grab a table?” I replied while I gave his arm a slight squeeze. He smiled, and I turned and set out for a table. It didn’t take me long to find one in the back corner. It wasn’t tucked away, so it wouldn’t appear we were attempting to hide, but it was a good distance from the dance floor and had a clear view of almost the entire bar.
“Here you are. I was looking all over for you,” Channing said as he placed the beer down in front of me.
“Sorry, this one’s sort of out of the way, yet we can still people watch and talk without competing with the music.”
He sat down and gifted me with another wink and grin.
Another stomach jump . . . okay, this was promising. My body was certainly on board with Channing and his sexy little winks. I just needed to get my brain on board as well.
“Do you like to dance?” he asked, glancing out over the dance floor.
“I love to dance. I’m pretty good at the two-step, if I do say so myself.”
He laughed. “Well, I figured, since you’re from the South. No one would doubt it with that accent of yours.”
I felt my cheeks heat. He didn’t have to know I’d worked for years on my southern drawl, much to Lincoln’s endless eye rolls when I threw out the words fixin’ or y’all.
Having wealthy parents, I was always told to speak slowly and clearly around my father’s business associates, or my parents’ friends. Even though we were from the South, having a southern accent was very much frowned upon by my father. A well-educated woman would never say y’all. I did, more to spite them than anything. Well, and the fact that I loved how it sounded.
It was just another reason I was glad to be away from Georgia. Back then, anytime my mother called, it was usually to see if I was dating anyone yet, or if I could attend a fundraiser, or a wedding, or some other bullshit event where they wanted to put on airs for their peers and show off how great a family we were. The perfectly well-rounded, educated daughter. I was both those things, but somehow, I still lacked something in their eyes. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out what that was.
I loved my parents, and I knew they loved me, but their money came in at a very close second to their daughter. Or maybe it was the other way around. I hadn’t figured out where I stood in the ranking.
“So, you asked me about myself. Is it my turn now?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer and loving the way the music pulsed through my body.
“Have at it, Kaylee. I’m an open book.”
I sat up a bit straighter and tilted my head some as I regarded him for a moment or two. “Okay, the most common one—why are you single? You’re handsome enough, nice body, hot job, pun intended.”
He laughed. “Well, I dated my high school sweetheart up until a year ago.”
My brows rose. “Wow. What happened?”
Channing shrugged. “She wanted a different life that didn’t include living in Hamilton. I wanted to be in Hamilton.”
“Was there no compromise?”
His eyes looked sad for a moment. “There was. I tried for a little while. Told her I would move to Billings. She had gotten a nursing job there. I lived there for about a year and hated it. She knew I wasn’t happy. So then I tried to commute. I work a split shift, so on my days off, I’d drive and stay with her in Billings.”
“That’s not too bad . . . it’s what, five hours or so?”
“About that, closer to six, but take into consideration our winters, and there were more times I was stuck here in Hamilton. So I looked into taking a position with the Billings Fire Department because, honestly, being with her was what I wanted. I got offered a job and asked Lauren to marry me. She was surprised and didn’t answer right away. That should have been my first warning sign. Then she said the words no man wants to hear after he’s just gotten down on one knee and asked a girl to marry him.”
“We need to talk?”
This time, Channing laughed. “Yep. Those words. She had met some doctor and didn’t mean for things to happen, but she was attracted to him and was wanting to see where it would take her. So, instead of getting married, we broke up.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, taking his hand in mine. “That must have been hard.”
He shrugged and reached for his beer with his free hand and took a drink. “It was, at first, but I got over it.”
“Do y’all still talk?”
“Nah, not really. I haven’t heard from her in about five or six months. It’s better that way. She got on with her life, and I’m doing the same.”
I nodded and took another drink. “How many women have you dated since?”
Channing looked directly at me and gave me a panty-melting smile. Lord, this guy knew how to make a woman’s body heat up. “Not many, maybe about four women. One was sort of long term, if you count five months as long term.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Not when your last relationship lasted years!”
“That’s true.”
“Someone local?” I asked.
“Yeah, Nellie Kesler.”
My mouth fell open. “Nathan’s sister? Like, Nathan as in the city manager?”
“Do you know him?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, he attempted to date Lincoln, and he is a grade-A jerk. No, the better word to describe him is a manwhore.”
Channing tossed his head back and laughed. “That he is.” His eyes drifted past me. “Like the Shaw brothers.”
I tried not to let that statement get to me, but I couldn’t help but wonder why he would say something so inappropriate. Unless it was his not-so-subtle way of trying to warn me off of Ty.
“How about we take a spin on the dance floor?” I asked, needing to change the very touchy subject.
He stood and reached for my hand. “Let’s dance, cowgirl.”
And boy howdy, did we dance. Channing wrapped me up in his arms, and we took off two-stepping. The guy was good, and I found myself comparing him to Ty. Of course, Ty had a bum leg, but he was still an amazing dancer.
Ugh. Stop this now, Kaylee. Ty is no longer in the picture. He was never in the picture. He made it crystal freaking clear that we have no picture together.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Channing said, giving me a kiss near the side of my mouth.
I wanted my body to want more, but the slight nervous feeling in my stomach was all I got. Was it anticipation? I hoped it was. I needed to move on, and I needed to start to feel again. I swallowed hard and looked up at Channing. “I was thinking I’m sort of over this bar.”
A wide grin erupted over Channing’s handsome face. “My place or yours?” he asked.
“Mine, and this isn’t an invitation into my bed, Channing. I want to make that clear.”
“Okay, I wasn’t assuming it was.”
I raised a brow in disbelief.
He laughed and took a step back, holding his hands up in defense. “All right, okay, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t exactly on my mind. I’m a guy, after all. But I’m not going to pressure you in any way, Kaylee.”
I gave him a soft smile. “That’s not to say I only have talking in mind, Channing.”
When he didn’t say anything but just stood there, I continued. “Shall we leave?”
“Yes, I think that’s an amazing idea . . . it’s either that, or I may end up kissing you right here in the middle of the dance floor.”
I chuckled as Channing wrapped his arm around my waist and guided us through the crowd. I may not have been having sex tonight, but there were plenty of other things we could do to take some of this sexual frustration away. Lots of other things to do, actually, and here I had at my disposal one handsome firefighter to help put out some small flames—or cause some others to spark to life.
As we headed out the door, I tried to push away the sudden feeling of panic that was churning my stomach. I drew in a few deep breaths as we walked to Channing’s car.
Once we fell back into an easy conversation, I relaxed again. Channing had taken my hand in his and was rubbing his thumb over my skin as he drove. I hated that I felt nothing from that action. Not. A. Damn. Thing. And when we pulled up to my house, I let out a long exhale as I waited for him to walk around and open my door. He reached his hand in and helped me out.
“It’s freezing!” I said as we quickly made our way up the steps.
After I unlocked the door, Channing decided to do something to warm me up. He kissed me. I turned to face him, and he cupped my face in his hands and pressed his mouth to mine.
At first I was stunned, not sure what to do. He pressed my body against the door and deepened the kiss. I opened to him and soon found my tongue moving with his.
I didn’t feel a thing. Not one damn flutter in my chest or dip in my stomach. Nothing.
When he moaned, a flashback of Ty kissing me caused me to pull my mouth from his and shake my head. An emotion now took hold of my chest and squeezed like a damn vise. I wasn’t sure what to make of this one.
Confusion? Guilt? Doubt?
Shit. Shit. Shit. I’m broken. That’s it. I am a broken woman who will never, ever have sex again.
Channing looked at me with a befuddled expression.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking a step closer and placing his hand on the side of my cheek. “I swear, Kaylee, I’m not pressuring you, it’s just . . . I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I first laid eyes on you.”
A weak smile lifted the corners of my mouth slightly. “Really?”
He leaned his forehead to mine. “Really. But if you’re not ready, I’m a very patient man.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Channing. I thought I was wanting this, but maybe what I really want is to jump back into the whole dating thing a lot slower than I planned.”
“And that’s fine with me. I had a great night tonight, and I really want to see you again.”
We took a step back from one another, and our gazes met. “I had a great time too. I think we should call it a night.”
He nodded. “Can I ask you one thing? And I swear this is not a ploy to get into your house.”
I raised a brow. “I have Mace, you know.”
Channing laughed. “I have to piss like a racehorse, and I have a thirty-minute drive home.”
With a grin, I opened the door and walked into my house, Channing following me. “Down the hall, first door on the left.”
“Thank you!”
After a minute or two, Channing walked into the kitchen. “Thank you again for the great night, Kaylee.”
“No, honestly, thank you, Channing. It’s been a while since I’ve been out on a date, and I really needed it.”
I turned off the kitchen light and followed him back through the living room to the front door.
“Try not to set any more fires,” he said with a grin that should have made me want to haul him up to my bedroom and have my wicked way with him. Instead, I opened the front door as I laughed.
“No promises. I have a new candle lighter I ordered from some girl on Etsy, along with her homemade soy candles.”
Channing rolled his eyes. “Glad I’m not on call.”
I slapped him on the chest and ushered him outside. “Be safe driving home.”
He turned, and his eyes drifted to my mouth. I thought for a moment he might kiss me again, and I mentally prepared myself for it. Instead, he tipped his head and said, “Good night, Kaylee. May I call you?”
“Yes, of course!” I said, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Good night, Channing.”
“Night, Kaylee.”
I watched as he walked down the steps, then the pathway, and finally to his little sports car. He slipped in and took off down the driveway.
Letting out a deep breath, I turned and looked at the fence line that separated my rental property from the Shaw family ranch.
I focused a bit harder . . . was that two guys on horseback off in the distance?
When I stepped out on the porch and took a few steps, I squinted to see in the dark. Then I laughed.
“Who would be out on horseback after sundown?” I said, shaking my head and walking back into the house.
Chapter Six
TY
I watched as Channing helped Kaylee out of the car. The lights from the front porch allowed me to see that he held her hand as they walked up the steps. When she turned and he kissed her, it took everything I had to keep from jumping the fence line and yelling for him to stop.
Instead, I watched in silence, tucked into the shadow of a tree. They broke apart, and Channing placed his hand on the side of Kaylee’s face.
“Tell him to go home,” I whispered, like I was the good angel sitting on her right shoulder.
When Kaylee opened the door and he followed her in, I closed my eyes and dropped my head. Fuck me, she must have listened to the little devil on her other should
er instead.
“Kind of creepy as fuck, bro.”
Tanner’s voice made me look over my shoulder at him.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked, turning my horse and walking him toward my younger brother. The moonlight gave us just the right amount of light.
“Saw Mountie was still out, so I thought I would see what was going on.”
Tanner looked past me toward Kaylee’s place. “You ever going to tell her how you feel? Or just creep around like a super-freaky stalker on horseback?”
I laughed and started heading back toward the barn. Tanner turned his horse and caught up with me, walking his horse alongside mine.
“Advice about women coming from you, Tanner? What in the hell do you know about women?”
“Well, I know how to make them come in all sorts of creative ways, so there’s that.”
“That’s because you used to listen to me, Brock, and Beck talk about that. We passed along all of our tips and tricks. Years of experience that we gifted to you.”
He chuckled. “That is true. I know when a woman is faking an orgasm.”
I looked at him and could barely make out Tanner’s smirk. “So, I think what you’re saying is that it’s pretty clear you know a lot about sex, dude. Not women.”
He shrugged. “Same thing.”
“Hardly.”
“Fine, so maybe I’m a little green when it comes to the romance shit, but Ty, you like this girl. Why can’t you just admit it?”
“It’s complicated, Tanner.”
“Why?”
“It just is!” I snapped before kicking my horse into a gallop. Tanner did the same and followed me back to the barn, where we took off the saddles, got the horses brushed, and put a bit of hay in their stalls before we boarded them for the night. Tanner moved around pretty damn good for having a broken ankle.
“Where are your crutches?” I asked.
He shot me a look that said I knew damn well where they were.
I had figured Tanner was going to give up on the Kaylee thing, but he started again when I shut Mountie’s stall door and locked it.
“I’m just saying, everyone sees the attraction there. Hell, even Blayze has a song about you and Kaylee.”
Always Enough Page 5
