A Promise To Keep

by Christina Tetreault

  Hands came down on his shoulders, and Kelsey’s lips left his. The combination of the two kicked him back to reality. He pulled his hand away and settled it back on her waist.

  Kelsey cleared her throat and bit down on her bottom lip. “I… we… uh,” she said, a slight tinge of embarrassment and confusion in her voice. “I’m….” Kelsey shook her head before she finished her statement. “You know what, I’m not sorry.” She met his eyes. “I understand if you’re ticked at me though.” No hint of confusion lingered in her voice anymore. “I know you think of me as a sister. You’ve told me enough darn times. But I’ve never thought of you as a brother.”

  “Good.”

  She moved, and her T-shirt slipped off her shoulder, revealing the fire-engine-red bra strap. His eyes zeroed in on it. Kelsey was a no-frills kind of woman. The kind he expected wore plain white or tan cotton bras. The strip of fabric he saw now and the lace he’d felt told him otherwise.

  “Good?” Her voice went up an octave. “You’ve always treated me like a little sister, Drew. And after Sean’s wedding you specifically said I’m like a sister to you.” She pointed toward the front door. “We were standing right outside the door. I remember the whole conversation. You said you cared. Insisted you wouldn’t call me every month if you didn’t care, and then you finished up by saying ‘you’re like a sister to me.’”

  Drew had said what he thought he should after the reception. What he thought she expected him to say. Their kiss wiped those arguments out of the playbook. “Kels, I do care, and that’s why I call.” He ran a finger along the exposed bra strap. “But believe me, my feelings toward you aren’t brotherly.”

  Kelsey inhaled deeply, and his mind registered what he’d just admitted. Mentally, he slapped himself in the head. He’d come over to learn her secrets, not reveal any of his own.

  “Oh.”

  He pulled her against him and lowered his mouth toward hers. In case the words hadn’t been enough, he’d show her. “Yeah, oh,” he whispered, and kissed her before she could speak.

  Kelsey didn’t hold anything back. Her lips moved against his, and her fingers danced across his upper back. She raked her teeth across his bottom lip, and he opened for her. When her tongue touched his, a tidal wave of desire unlike anything he’d ever felt hit him head-on. Drew dropped his hand from her shoulder and reached under her T-shirt again. The hand still lingering on her waist joined his left. He ran his fingertips up her stomach. When his palms covered her breasts, he found her nipples hard and straining against the thin fabric.

  Drew released her lips and kissed a path down her neck. He felt the slight shiver go through Kelsey’s body, adding more fuel to the fire already raging inside him. He planted one final kiss in the hollow of her neck before pulling back and tugging her shirt off. He outlined the circle of one breast before easing the lacy cup aside. Drew repeated the action on the other side before taking one taut nipple in his mouth. She arched into him, and started working the buttons on his shirt free. He gave her nipple one last tug before he released it and took her lips again.

  When Kelsey slipped the final button free, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders. She raked her fingers down his back before ending their kiss. Kelsey looked at his face, and then her gaze traveled over his body slowly. When her eyes hit his waist, she reversed her path and met his gaze. Her blue-gray eyes told him everything. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. As if to prove him right, she unclipped her bra and tossed it aside. He didn’t need an additional invitation. Seconds later, her leggings and his jeans joined the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Lifting her up, he settled her across his lap, straddling him. Drew slipped a hand between them and pushed aside her lacy red panties to touch her. She sucked in a deep breath and moved against him.

  “Did you like that? Tell me what you want,” he said near her ear before taking her earlobe between his lips. He touched her again, and her grip on his shoulders tightened.

  “You.” She kissed his neck.

  Drew didn’t need to hear anything else. He grabbed his jeans and the wallet inside. Driver’s license, cash, credit cards. He searched through it a second time. Damn it. How many times had he had condoms in his wallet and not needed them? Now he needed them and he didn’t have a single one.

  He tossed it back on the floor. He already knew the answer, but he’d ask anyway. “Do you have condoms upstairs?”

  “No, I thought you’d have some.”

  Every foul word he’d ever heard in a locker room went through his mind. Running a hand through his hair, he closed his eyes. “Nope.”

  Kelsey grabbed her bra hanging off the corner of the coffee table and put it on. Then she tossed his shirt toward him without turning around to face him. With her back to him, she yanked her T-shirt and leggings on. She hoped he was putting his clothes back on too. Facing him was going to be hard enough after what just happened. She didn’t need him half naked too.

  She’d kissed Drew expecting him to either bolt out the door or remind her he considered her a sister. Nothing had prepared her for his response.

  If he’d had protection, at this very moment they’d be fulfilling another of her longtime fantasies. An assortment of emotions pulled at her. It was probably for the best they’d stopped. Maybe they’d be able to remain friends despite what they’d shared.

  Get real. He’d touched her in the most intimate ways possible. She’d never look at him again and not think of this afternoon. By kissing him, she’d altered their relationship forever. She should regret her decision. Should wish she could turn back the clock and stop them from taking things so far.

  She didn’t. Given the chance, she’d do it again too.

  She’d loved Drew since she was ten. Wanted to kiss him since she was thirteen, and make love to him since she was sixteen. Today she’d finally gotten a taste of what it’d be like to be with him.

  Rough, callused fingers closed around her hand. On cue her pulse sped up as her body remembered the feel of his fingers exploring her body.

  Drew gave her hand a little tug, and she turned. He’d put his clothes back on but hadn’t buttoned up his shirt. She waited for him to say we went too far and we can’t let it happen again.

  “Are you going to stand over there all day?” he asked instead. “I’d prefer you over here.” He released her hand and grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his lap. He traced her jaw with his index finger and brushed a tender kiss across her lips. “I’ll make sure I have condoms next time.”

  He kissed her again, and for half a second she considered telling him to go buy them and come back. Tomorrow he might decide making love to her was a terrible idea. But this afternoon he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  Why couldn’t he have had one? Drew had checked his wallet, so he must normally carry a condom. Had he used his last one with a woman he’d picked up at a place like the Purple Cat? Kelsey’s stomach rolled at the thought of Drew with someone like Delilah or Cora.

  Drew moved his lips away from hers and reached for her hand again. “What time should I get you on Friday?” He kissed her knuckles before lacing his fingers through hers. “And what do you want to do?”

  She recognized what she felt as pure jealousy. An emotion she had no business feelings. Who he’d been with wasn’t any of her business. A few kisses didn’t make them a couple.

  Recognizing a fact and coming to terms with it were two different things.

  “Did you forget it’s Valentine’s Day? Don’t you already have plans with someone?” The same someone you used your last condom with.

  “It is? I thought Valentine’s Day was Saturday.” He checked the date on his watch. “You’re right. Doesn’t matter. My only plans are with you.” He cupped her breast and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You have the whole weekend off, and I intended to take advantage of that.”

  Stuff the jealousy, and take what he’s offering. “Anytime Friday night, I guess.” Two weeks from now he might be feeling up someone el
se. Right now he wanted her.

  “Does school still get out at quarter past two, or did they change that too?”

  “It’s the same.”

  “Good. We can leave after school and drive up to North Conway. We can stay at my parents’ place and hopefully get some skiing in Friday night. If not, we’ll have all day Saturday and Sunday.”

  Since everyone in the McKenzie family loved skiing, his parents had bought a small house in North Conway. She and Ian had tagged along on more than one McKenzie family ski trip up there.

  She hadn’t gone skiing in five or six years, but her gear was in the basement. Hopefully skiing was like riding a bike. Once you learned you never forgot how. “I can’t get home late on Sunday.”

  ***

  “I’ll start painting this week.” Drew put the key she gave him in his jacket pocket and then kissed her. Despite winning the bet, he’d insisted on painting the kitchen and living room like he’d originally promised. “Call me and let me know how the meeting with the real estate agent goes.”

  “I’m going in to work after I meet with him. So, it’ll be on the later side by the time I get home.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Call me whenever. I’ll be up.”

  After another kiss hot enough to melt all the snow in her driveway, Drew walked outside. She watched him back onto the street, and then closed the door. “Wow.”

  She collapsed on the sofa. She didn’t need to check her watch to know it was ridiculously late, but unfortunately falling asleep now or anytime soon wasn’t happening. Not after the afternoon and evening she’d spent with Drew.

  “Man, can he kiss.” Kelsey closed her eyes and replayed their time together. Before today, the last time she’d seen him without shirt, he’d been in college. Back then she’d thought him gorgeous, with muscular arms and a toned six-pack. Today the word gorgeous didn’t do him justice. He’d packed on muscle and refined his body into a perfect male specimen.

  She envisioned his long, tanned fingers pushing her panties aside, and a throbbing started between her legs. She could almost feel him touching her there. She lingered on the memory for a moment longer and opened her eyes. She hadn’t had sex or been touched by a man in three years. Until this very moment, her body hadn’t protested. Thanks to Drew, every inch of her was loudly voicing its displeasure and demanding she rectify the problem soon.

  I’ll make sure I have condoms next time. His promise was burned into her thoughts. She didn’t know if she’d see him before Friday. They hadn’t discussed each other’s plans for the week. Come Friday afternoon though, there would be nothing to disturb them. Months from today she might regret going up to North Conway with him. If she turned him down and stayed home instead, she’d regret it even more.

  “It’s going to be a very long week.”

  Chapter Six

  All the muscles in his chest and arms screamed in agony. Drew ignored the pain and pressed the bar toward the ceiling, and then lowered it toward his chest one more time. Using everything he had left, he pressed the bar up a final time and racked it. No way could he do another rep. Like he’d done to his legs, he’d exhausted all the muscles in his upper body. He’d hoped a hard workout would kill the pent-up sexual energy he’d been dealing with since Sunday night.

  It hadn’t.

  Careful not to whack his head on the bar, Drew sat up and grabbed the water off the floor. He chugged down half the bottle before reaching for his cell phone. Seven o’clock. Her appointment with the real estate agent was supposed to be at six. Had they finished up yet? Monday’s appointment had lasted so long she’d almost been late for her shift at the restaurant. He’d shower and then give her call. Maybe they’d even have a full conversation this time.

  As promised, she’d called him after work Monday night. They’d talked just long enough for her to tell him she’d crossed the first real estate agent off her list. Tuesday, he painted in the afternoon, prepared to pick up where they left off Sunday night when she came home. Instead she’d rushed in the house, told him Junior had asked her to fill in, and rushed back out. He’d cursed Junior for the rest of the night.

  The surgeon who’d built his house hadn’t skimped on anything. The shower stall in the master bathroom had multiple jets, allowing a person to have the ultimate shower. Tonight, Drew turned them all on and adjusted them to hit just where on his body he needed it. For a few moments, he stood there and let the water work its magic. Tilting his head back, he let the water run over his face, and a vision of Kelsey doing the very same thing formed. Water cascaded over her breasts and down her stomach. The desire he’d been dealing with all week intensified, and his body decided a full-on erection was in order. Again.

  He let the image change, and instead of Kelsey alone, he stood with her. As the water slipped over her skin, he licked it off before joining their bodies.

  “Friday can’t come fast enough.” Reaching out, he switched the water to cold and picked up the soap.

  He had everything planned. Yesterday he’d gotten the key to the house in North Conway from Mom and purchased lift tickets for Cranmore. This morning he’d driven to his house in Weston and picked up all his ski gear. Tomorrow once school ended, they’d be on their way.

  Drew heard his cell phone beep when he walked out of the bathroom. He read the message while he dried off. Meeting went well. Call me when you get a chance.

  He pulled on underwear and then brought up Kelsey’s number. Drew hated the idea of her selling Bancroft Automotive. He knew what it meant to her. Since she’d refused a loan from him, he’d been trying to come up with another solution. So far he’d come up with only one. He wasn’t sure she’d be open to it, at least not yet. Hell, he was still trying to wrap his head around the concept, and it was his crazy idea. Crazy or not, it would solve all her problems and allow him to keep his promise to Ian. And it wasn’t as if something didn’t exist between them. If he’d had protection Sunday, they’d already be lovers. Tomorrow he’d make sure they were.

  “Hey, you,” Kelsey said when she answered his call. “The living room looks great.”

  After he picked up his gear, he’d spent an hour painting. “Glad you like it. I’ll do a second coat next week. Two coats should be enough in there. How’d it go with the real estate agent?”

  “Good. She’s going to e-mail me all the paperwork. Bancroft Automotive will officially be on the market next week.”

  He held back a groan. Convincing her that marrying him was in her best interest by next week wouldn’t happen.

  “Are you sure about this? Maybe you should think about it some more.” The longer she put it off, the more time he had to get her to agree. “Give yourself another month or two.”

  “I’ve been thinking about this for well over a month already, Drew. I don’t need any more time. Carolina is going to e-mail me the necessary paperwork and get the process going.”

  She used the same tone as when she’d refused his loan. Regardless of what he said, getting her to postpone wasn’t happening. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get any offers before he got her to the altar. “Okay, I won’t bring it up again,” he said. “The weather looks a little iffy for tomorrow night. We might not get in any skiing until Saturday morning.”

  According to the weather channel, a mix of sleet and snow was expected to pass through much of New England. “It’s not supposed to start until dinnertime, so the drive up to North Conway should be fine.”

  “Yeah, about that,” she said, her tone apologetic. “I can’t go this weekend.”

  “Why not?” His frustration echoed in his voice.

  “Annie asked me to cover for her Saturday. We can spend Friday and Sunday together if you want. I’m sorry.”

  “There wasn’t anyone else she could ask?” Kelsey couldn’t be the only employee not already scheduled.

  “She knows I always say yes, so she asked me first. Drew, believe me I want to go, but until the garage sells, I need the extra money.”

  “We’ll go up
another weekend.” Out on the football field, he had to make last-minute decisions and adapt all the time. He’d do the same thing now. “But I want all the free time you do have this weekend.”

  “Deal,” she agreed immediately. “I really am sorry,” Kelsey said again, because he still sounded annoyed. She’d known he’d be, but had agreed to take Annie’s shift anyway. And while she might tell him it was because she needed the money, there had been more behind her decision.

  Sunday they’d gone from talking to kissing to removing each other’s clothes in a matter of minutes. She’d let pure emotion control her actions. With her brain back in charge, she was having second, third, and fourth thoughts about crossing the final line with Drew. They had a unique relationship. He’d been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. As much as she complained about his monthly calls, she didn’t want to lose him either. At least for her, sleeping with Drew would change everything between them.

  “What time are you working on Saturday? Until closing again?”

  The lamp on the nightstand flickered. It’d been doing it a lot lately. Thinking it was the lamp itself, she’d brought up an older one from the basement and replaced the one that had been there since she moved back home. Evidently, the problem wasn’t the lamp but the outlet. Sometime soon she’d have to call an electrician and have him take a look at it. She liked having a light right beside her bed too much to go long without one.

  Kelsey switched on the overhead light and then turned off the lamp. “Nope. I’m working five to nine. Annie doesn’t close often. Her husband works third shift, so she needs to get home before he leaves to be with their daughter.”