by Cindy Kirk
“I was afraid when I went off to college. Really afraid I was going to fail. I thought, then what would I do?” He tightened his hold on her hand. “For me, failure wasn’t an option. Just like it isn’t for you.”
She blew out a breath. “I’ll schedule the test.”
“Will you let me know when?”
“Will you send positive vibes my way that day?”
“Absolutely.” He grinned. “By the way, do you still have those playing cards?”
“Cards?” Cassie tried to play it cool. She lifted her hands, forced a sunny smile. “I don’t know anything about any cards.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Or you.” Krew leaned close. “Do you have the deck with you?”
It had to be the intoxicating scent of his cologne that short-circuited her good sense and had her answering honestly. “Yes.”
“Pull them out. Ask me one of the questions.” Krew’s eyes glittered. “Or better yet, I’ll ask you one.”
Cassie shook her head.
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“You know what kind of questions are in the deck.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Some of them are quite risqué.”
“I remember. That’s why I really want to play.”
As much as Cassie was enjoying the banter, and she was enjoying it a great deal, the time had come to clarify. “The thing is, these aren’t really getting-to-know-you cards.”
He massaged her palm with his thumb while his gaze remained riveted on her face. “What are they, then, exactly?”
The look. The touch. Cassie struggled to form a coherent thought and answer the question.
“They’re, ah, they’re relationship cards. For, ah, for people in relationships.”
The gentle caress continued.
“We’re in a relationship of sorts. You’re Dakota’s mother. I’m her father. We’re getting to know each other. Actually, I’d say we’re in the middle of forging a relationship.” He smiled. “Wouldn’t you?”
It made so much sense when he said it. Or maybe it didn’t. Regardless, Cassie found herself nodding.
“C’mon, Cass. Be a sport. Pull out the deck.”
She assumed he’d let go of her hand. When he didn’t, she was forced to forage through her purse on the floor with her free hand.
With her eyes still locked on his, she set the deck on the table.
“Would either of you like dessert?”
The server’s voice was like a splash of cold water.
Cassie realized with sudden horror how this must look. Her hand in Krew’s, gazing at him with some lovestruck puppy-dog expression.
She tried to jerk her hand free, but Krew merely held on and turned to Cassie.
“Dessert?”
“Not for me.” Her words came out choked.
“Thank you.” Krew smiled at the server. “No dessert tonight. Just the check, please.”
When the server left, Krew turned back to Cassie. “Let’s continue this discussion at my place.”
Discussion? What had they been discussing?
His thumb continued to caress her palm, making rational thought difficult.
Cassie nodded and soon found herself in his sports car, on the way to his house.
Krew kept the conversation light, entertaining her with stories from his Cincinnati trip. By the time they reached the drive leading to his house, Cassie had almost convinced herself that being alone with Krew was no big deal.
Almost.
Chapter Nineteen
Soon after they arrived at Krew’s house, a fire was burning in the hearth, filling the air with the pleasant scent of applewood. Outside, big, fluffy flakes of snow fell into the quiet stillness.
Cassie gave herself an hour before she’d need to pick up Axl at her mother’s house.
Krew settled next to her on the sofa facing the crackling fire, his fingers playing lightly with her hair. “You always smell so good, like vanilla.”
She flushed. “It’s my shampoo.”
“Whatever it is, I like it.” He gazed at her for a long moment, and her lips began to tingle. “Okay, pull out the cards.”
She blinked. “You want to play cards?”
“Why do you think I invited you home with me?”
She might have believed him, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. Well, two could play this game. Cassie leaned over and took the cards from her purse.
“Pick a good one,” he told her when she slid a card out from the middle of the deck.
Cassie flipped it over and read, “Has what you accomplished in the last five years been what you wanted to accomplish?” She chuckled. “That’s quite a mouthful.”
His gaze grew thoughtful. “You go first.”
Cassie leaned back on the plush sofa, liking the way his arm felt around her shoulders. The warmth of his body—or perhaps the heat came from the fire—completely relaxed her. The tension returned as she contemplated the question.
“I don’t like looking back. The last five years hold some of the lowest points of my life.” Cassie stared at the flames. “The positives are that I reconciled with my mother, I sought help from a psychologist—which I’d always resisted—and I now feel strong and hopeful.”
Kicking Clint out—finally—and resisting his efforts to get her to visit him in prison had also been major accomplishments. But Cassie refused to let Clint be any part of this conversation.
“I’m proud of you.”
She smiled. “I’m proud of myself.”
The moment her eyes touched his, something inside her seemed to lock into place and she could not look away. The eye contact turned into something more, a tangible connection between them.
Cassie found herself filled with a longing so intense it took her breath away.
Then, because a strong woman took charge of a situation and asked for what she wanted, she gathered her courage. “I realize you haven’t had your chance to answer, but I need to pick up Axl in forty-five minutes, so I’d like to ask a favor.”
Obviously intrigued, Krew angled his head. “Anything.”
Cassie swallowed, cleared her throat. “Instead of answering more questions, could we make out?”
The surprise that had his eyes widening would have been funny at any other time. “Ma-make out?”
“Just kissing.” Though her voice remained steady, Cassie could feel the heat rise up her neck. “I don’t think I’ve ever just sat on the sofa and kissed a man. Not without there being an expectation of more.”
Krew regarded her intently, then nodded. “I can do that.”
“Only if you want—”
He chuckled, a low pleasant rumbling sound. “Oh, I definitely want.”
Even before his mouth brushed hers, Cassie knew the feel of his lips, the softness and the warmth. He continued pressing his lips lightly to hers, teasingly, his mouth never pulling away. His lips were exquisitely gentle and achingly tender.
Winding her arms around his neck, Cassie embraced the pleasure, and her pulse became a swift, tripping beat. She planted a kiss at the base of his neck, his skin salty beneath her lips.
Cassie wasn’t sure how long they kissed. All she knew was she’d never been kissed like this before. His fingers slid into her hair, his hands warm against her neck.
Unlike the night on the beach, his large hands, with their clever fingers, didn’t roam. A feeling of gratitude washed through her for his patience. It was as if he knew just how much she needed this kind of closeness.
But when she opened her mouth, he changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it, kissing her with a slow thoroughness that left her wanting more.
More of him.
All of him.
Cassie moaned, a low sound of want and need.
His hand flattened against her lower back, drawing her up against the hard length of his erection.
A smoldering heat, urgent and hungry, flared through her and settled between her thighs.
At that m
oment, she wanted nothing more than to strip off her clothes, feel his bare hands against her skin and his—
“No.” Krew jerked back, his breath coming hard and fast. “I promised you.”
It took her several erratic heartbeats to find her voice.
“Y-you—” Cassie stumbled over the simple word, her brain caught in a lust-induced fog. What had she been about to say? You didn’t have to stop? You don’t have to respect my wishes?
Krew rested his forehead against hers. When he spoke, his voice was soft, reaching inside her to a raw, tender place. “I care about you, Cassie. So very much.”
As he stood, he gently locked their fingers together and pulled her to her feet. “I think it’s time to take you home.”
Even as Krew sat in church on Sunday morning, an image of him and Cassie on the sofa pushed into his consciousness.
It didn’t help that her leg was pressed against him in the tightly packed pew. She smelled terrific. How had he never known what an enticing scent vanilla shampoo could be? Her shiny blond hair hung loose to her shoulders and shimmered in the overhead lights.
Krew liked sitting beside Cassie and Dakota. And the boys, well, they were great kids he enjoyed being around.
“No, Axl, sit down.” Cassie’s urgent tone had him glancing at the little boy on her other side.
Axl’s face took on a mulish expression that, even in the short time Krew had been in Good Hope, he’d learned to recognize as trouble.
When everyone rose for a pre-sermon hymn, Krew leaned close. “I’ll take him out.”
Her startled gaze searched his. “Are you sure?”
“No worries.” Krew reached past Cassie and lifted the boy into his arms. For someone so small, the boy was built like a nose guard. “C’mon, Axl.”
If the boy minded leaving his mother and brothers, it didn’t show. He waved bye to them with the hand holding a plastic football.
Krew waited until they were in the lobby to set the boy down. Though it was probably sacrilegious to play a game of catch in church, other than running steps, he couldn’t think of a better way to use up some of the kid’s energy.
“Okay, Axl.” Krew smiled. “Throw me the ball.”
The child hugged the ball even closer and stared suspiciously at Krew. “My ball.”
“I know it’s yours. I’m not planning to keep it. You throw it to me. I throw it back to you.” He took a step back and held up his hands. “Can you throw it this far?”
Axl studied him with suspicious blue-green eyes for several long seconds. Without warning, he heaved the ball in Krew’s direction.
It hit the shiny linoleum several feet in front of Krew.
Taking a step forward, Krew reached down and caught it when it bounced. He grinned at the little boy. “Good job.”
“Give me,” Axl demanded.
“Are you ready?” Krew focused on the boy as if he were a wide receiver and they were about to go for the winning touchdown.
“Throw.”
Krew grinned, liking the kid’s style. Carefully judging the short distance that separated them, he lobbed the ball gently. It hit the boy right on the numbers.
For a second, as Axl fumbled with the ball, Krew thought they’d have an incomplete pass. Then the child gained control of the ball and hugged it tightly.
“Good job.” He offered his fist, and Axl bumped his small one against it, grinning widely.
“Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events?”
Krew recognized the voice behind him immediately. He swept Axl up into his arms. For once, the boy didn’t squirm, but merely turned the football over and over in his hands.
“Mitch.” Krew gestured with his head. “I didn’t see you in there.”
“I saw you.” Mitch’s eyes were bloodshot. Either he’d stayed up too late, or he’d drunk too much last night. Or maybe both. “You were all cuddly beside your baby momma.”
When Krew didn’t respond, Mitch gave a harsh-sounding laugh and shook his head. “I really thought the kid was mine. Thank God, she’s not, but what were the odds…”
“If you really thought Dakota was your daughter, how could you ignore her all these years?”
“Oh, please.” Mitch rolled his eyes. “Don’t act so high and mighty. You wouldn’t have played this any differently.”
“You don’t know me at all.”
Mitch shrugged, pulled out a flask and took a swig. “I know it didn’t take you long to get Cassie into your bed.”
Krew held on to his temper with both hands. “C’mon, Axl. Let’s go.”
He’d taken only a few steps when Mitch called out, “How is she, by the way? Because back in high school, her, ah, skills left a lot to be desired.”
Krew whirled. The straight-armed punch to the face had Mitch staggering backward, blood spurting from his nose. “You’re—”
“We’re done here.” Krew hated that Axl had seen him hit someone in church, but the boy appeared unconcerned, his gaze still focused on the football in his hands.
Krew slid into the pew beside Cassie just as the sermon began.
“All good?” she asked in a low tone.
Krew ignored his aching hand and thought of Mitch. If he’d stayed in the lobby, the guy would likely have started with the legal threats. But Mitch wouldn’t follow through. At heart, he was a coward.
Now, because of the punch, the man would steer clear of both him and Cassie. Which was the way Krew wanted it.
“It’s all good,” Krew told Cassie and focused on the sermon.
“You’ve got to come with us.” Lindsay’s voice turned pleading. “Everyone goes to Muddy Boots after church.”
Not everyone, Cassie thought, mentally correcting her sister—every couple in Lindsay’s social circle.
Though Cassie recalled being invited a time or two in the past, she usually hurried out of church the second the service ended.
Krew looked unconcerned, and she realized he was leaving the decision up to her. Cassie knew that his remaining time in Good Hope was limited. Sharing breakfast with these friends from the past was a good way to reconnect.
Still, she had Axl and—
“Has Axl ever gone to Little Fishes?” Prim Brody was one of the couples clustered around Krew and Cassie. The pretty strawberry-blonde held her youngest, Adelyn, a girl who must be six or seven months old by now. “I know Sarah Rose loves it. Doesn’t she, Ami?”
Ami, who’d just walked up, holding hands with her husband, smiled. “Loves what?”
“I was telling Cassie that Sarah Rose loves Little Fishes,” Prim explained. “Addie isn’t old enough to go. It’s for—”
“Children eighteen months to age four.” Ami smiled at Axl. “He’d fit right in.”
Cassie felt her arms tightening protectively around Axl. Which was ridiculous. It would be good for her son to play with other kids. Besides, once she started selling real estate, he’d have to go to day care on a regular basis. “Okay. We’ll give it a try.”
“I like the sound of giving something a try.” Pastor Dan, Katie Ruth at his side, stopped by the group. “What is it you’re going to try?”
“Axl is going to Little Fishes, and Cassie and Krew are joining us for breakfast,” Lindsay announced.
“That is good news.” Katie Ruth beamed. “I’m headed in that direction. I’d be happy to drop Axl off.”
While a kind offer, it was obvious to Cassie that Katie Ruth didn’t have children. There was no way Cassie would give Axl to someone he didn’t know—no matter how wonderful and trustworthy she was—to then be left in a strange situation.
“Thanks, but if you point me in the right direction, I can find it.” Cassie offered Katie Ruth a grateful smile.
“The Little Fishes room is at the end of this hall, last door on the right. Jackie White is the teacher.”
“I’ll walk with you.” Krew dropped into step beside her while the others headed for the door, promising to save them seats.
; “The man is completely oblivious to the way Katie Ruth looks at him,” Cassie muttered once they were out of earshot.
“Who?”
“Katie Ruth. Didn’t you see the way she looked at Dan?”
“Really?” Krew grinned. “You think she’s got the hots for the preacher?”
Cassie swung Axl’s hand wildly as they strolled down the shiny hall, making the boy giggle. “All I’ll say is they’d be good together.”
“That won’t matter if there’s no attraction on his part.”
“Hold that thought.” Cassie stopped in front of an open door, the sounds of young voices and laughter spilling out into the hall.
She strolled into the room with Axl while Krew waited in the doorway.
“Cassie.” Jackie’s smile widened when she saw her. After saying something to a girl who looked to be in middle school, Jackie hurried over.
Well, hurried as fast as someone using a cane could go. Jackie, tall and thin with reddish-blond hair, had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years earlier. “You brought Axl.”
The boy gave her four-pronged cane a suspicious look.
“This is my cane,” Jackie said to him. “I need it to help me walk.”
“I didn’t call ahead and say I’d be bringing him. I hope it isn’t a problem.”
“No advance notice necessary.” Jackie placed a hand on Cassie’s arm, her eyes warm. “We’re simply glad Axl is here.”
Cassie noticed Axl was staring intently at where Sarah Rose and another girl were coloring. “Do you want to color, Axl?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off the two.
“Mommy is going to leave, but I’ll be back in an hour to pick you up.” She kept her tone light and matter-of-fact. “Okay?”
“’Kay.” He headed across the room without a backward glance.
Cassie didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
“We’ll take good care of him.” Jackie slanted a curious glance at Krew, who’d stepped just inside the room.
“Thank you.” Just before she turned, Cassie pulled a piece of paper from her purse and scribbled a number, then handed it to Jackie. “My cell number. If you need anything, call and I’ll come right away.”
