by Taryn Quinn
I flushed. “I can’t help it.”
Sage wiggled her eyebrows. “He hated every second, but man, did I get plowed. Good thing I was already preggers. Probably would have been twice over if not.”
I didn’t even know what to say. And my inappropriate meter was usually on max.
“Stop torturing the poor girl with your sex stories.”
Sage shredded my straw wrapper. “I can’t help it. Who else am I going to tell them to? My mother has officially parked the RV in our driveway. Should have seen James’s face when he rolled up and saw that.”
“Your mom and dad are staying with you?”
“Yep. My life is officially over. They keep saying they’re going to stay in the RV, but please. That’s not going to happen. The only good part is that they’re happy to take all the grandbabies for grand sleepovers.” Sage peeked over her shoulder at Oliver and Seth. And my stomach bottomed out as Dare tucked a toothpick along the side of his mouth before laughing at something Seth said.
Suddenly, Dare turned and caught my eye.
I tried for a seductive smile, but based on his quirked eyebrow, I probably looked more like a freak.
My flirtation game was nonexistent.
Sigh. Nothing new there.
I turned back to Ally just as Sage tried to snake my notebook out from under my hand.
“Hey!”
Sage’s fingers curled around the edges. “Whatcha got?”
“None of your business.” I closed the notebook on her fingers and slid it off the table and into my bag. “School stuff.”
Sage propped her head on her hand, tapping her finger against her cheek. “You didn’t even start classes yet.”
“No, but we have…stuff.”
“Stuff, huh?” Sage made a humming sound.
I glanced at Ally. “Yeah, stuff.”
“Right. She was telling me all about her teacher…stuff. Kindergarteners are hella crazy.” Ally shrugged and took another sip.
I rolled my eyes. “How are you feeling?”
Sage sat back just as Michelle returned with Sage’s seltzer and fries. “Good. Fat.” She carefully selected a fry. “I had to put on my first official pair of maternity pants. Both exciting and annoying because I have cute toes and can barely see them these days. But you know,” she rubbed her bump, “baby and…” She laughed softly, jerking her head toward Oliver at the bar. “Never thought I’d be so happy.”
She was positively glowing.
I smiled and hoped I didn’t look as green as I couldn’t help feeling. “I’m so glad for you.”
She reached for the ketchup right next to my bag. “I’d be happier if you guys told me about the baby shower you’re planning though. That would make me super happy.”
“Can’t you settle for just regular happy, dammit? You aren’t a bag of milk yet. And trying to have sex with my husband is a lesson in futility while Alex is teething.” Ally held up her glass to Michelle. “More.”
“Sure thing.” Michelle glanced at me. “You good?”
“I’ll take another.” I moved my bag to the chair beside me. Evidently, I would need tequila to make it through the interrogation. “We’re not planning anything.”
Sage made a huge pool of ketchup in the middle of the fries. “You both suck at lying.”
“No, we don’t.”
“You so do. It’s good, I like that in a pair of besties.”
My stomach flipped and I warmed from the inside out for a whole new reason. I hadn’t been someone’s bestie in a damn long time. And considering the new bestie designation, it seemed weird that I hadn’t told her about Dare.
My gaze slid back over to the bar. The guys were shouting at the television. Well, minus Oliver, who appeared bored. Dare was cupping a beer in his long, battered fingers. I remembered all the little scar lines along his skin as he molded those fingers over my breasts.
When he’d been peeking over—
“Okay, so if you’re not going to tell me about the shower, you’re definitely going to tell me about this.” Sage pointed at Dare. “You still crushing on Dare?”
I flushed. “No.”
“The heart eyeballs say differently. You were flirting with him pretty hardcore the last time we went out as a group. He is hot. You know, in a not-Oliver kind of way.”
I rolled my eyes. Yes, her husband was attractive. And by default, Ally’s was as well since they were the famed Hamilton twins in this crazy, nosy town.
Not to say I didn’t love that about Crescent Cove. I loved that everyone watched out for each other.
Except when the new schoolteacher had a white-hot one-night stand with the scruffalicious, grumpy town mechanic and wanted to keep it under wraps. Good luck there.
Yeah, that part of Nosy Town I could live without.
The white-hot part, however, I would be happy to relive. I was still walking a little funny, thanks to Dare’s above average abilities. Or maybe just average—how the hell could I know? I’d only been with two guys in my life before him. And my goodness were they underachievers compared to Dare.
“I wasn’t aware your peaches and cream complexion could go so…peach.”
I snapped my gaze to Sage. “Har-har.” I twisted the bottom of my glass in the bit of condensation from my rapidly melting drink.
“So you are crushing on him.” Sage propped her chin on both hands and leaned in. “Do I get to start carving your initials into trees?”
“God, no.” I took a healthy drink from my margarita and choked a little when the citrus hit the back of my throat.
“No hiding behind alcohol, woman. We only use it to infuse us with courage and tell excellent stories.”
I finished the glass and slammed it down. “I had the sex with Dare.”
Sage spluttered out a laugh. “The sex?”
I fanned myself with a stack of napkins. “Trust me, if you’d been there, you would agree that it definitely qualified as ‘the’ sex. Whew.”
I was sweating just thinking about it.
Or that could’ve been due to the alcohol. Whoops.
“Although that would’ve been weird if you were there,” I continued. “Sorry. I’m not into voyeurism or exhibitionism.” I leaned close to Sage. “Is that another kinky thing you and Oliver do?”
“Are you kidding me?” Sage snorted. “If I showed anyone this preggo belly who wasn’t responsible for it, I’d be up on a lewdness charge. Hello, humongous.”
Ally let out a long sigh. “Dear Lord. I need more alcohol for this.”
Four
Kelsey kept looking over at me. Was I supposed to go over there? Shit. What was the protocol for sleeping—well, no actual sleeping had been involved, but I also wouldn’t have gone as far as calling it a dirty fuck with her.
She was too sweet for that.
Not that she’d been super sweet when she’d been in my lap giving me orders Saturday night. And man, I could still see the wide-eyed surprise when I’d dumped her on her back and went to town between her amazing thighs. I didn’t mind oral. At times, it could be my second favorite thing about sex.
With her?
Yeah, there hadn’t been an issue. Good thing, because she’d soaked my beard and even after a shower, there had been a hint of her on me into the next day.
She looked willowy in those buttoned up clothes she usually wore. In cutoffs and a T-shirt, she’d looked like every wet dream I’d had since I was fourteen. I’d always had a weakness for a fresh-faced girl.
And Kelsey fit that bill in a million ways.
But she was also the girl you dated and married, not banged out a lonely night with.
The waitress who had been taking care of the ladies’ table came around the bar and I stood up. “Can I bring those over?”
She tilted her head at me.
I dug a crumpled five out of my pocket and dropped it on the tray.
“Suit yourself, handsome.” She handed me the tray and took the bill.
Seth t
urned his back on the bar and propped himself on his elbows. “What’s up, Kramer?”
I shrugged. “Just saving the waitress a trip.”
“What a gentlemanly and almost charming thing to do. So why are you doing it?”
Seth wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t the type to play the charmer, but I didn’t know any other reason to go over there. Seemed weird to just go over there to say hi. Like a high school dance maneuver filled with lame regrets and wince-worthy embarrassment.
Instead of explaining myself, I just walked away from the guys. Under his breath, Oliver made some remark that made Seth laugh.
I nearly turned around and handed the tray back to the waitress. This was dumb. I was being stupid.
But then Kelsey laughed at something Seth’s wife had said and did that nose wrinkle thing that should’ve made me roll my eyes. Instead, it tightened my damn jeans.
Nope.
Turning around.
I didn’t need this.
Then she gave me this sexy little smile over her shoulder. And my stride lengthened. I’d done far more stupid things in my life than flirt with a gorgeous woman.
“I believe these are for you ladies.”
Ally made grabby hands. “Anything that doesn’t smell like formula or boob juice is for me.”
I blinked.
Sage took the tray. “Don’t mind her. She doesn’t get out much.”
Ally took her drink and I had to tighten my grip on the tray so it wouldn’t topple. I gave Sage an easy smile. “Straight bubbles are for you, I imagine?”
Sage sighed. “Yes, these heathens are drinking right in front of the pregnant lady who can’t have a single drop.”
Ally made a loud slurping sound. “Yep.”
I set the other margarita in front of Kelsey. “Tequila, huh?”
She nudged her two empty glasses away. “Luckily, I can walk to my place from here.”
A pop song that wasn’t too obnoxious came on. I was more of a classic rock guy, thanks to my hours in the auto shop, and other days. Ones that were almost too far away to see clearly. Where burnt rubber and racing had filled my head and heart.
I shoved those memories to the back of my mind. Too long ago to go down that endless track.
I leaned just a touch closer to her ear. “Dance?”
She turned her head and her cheek brushed my beard. Her citrusy scent blended with a sharper one due to the margarita. She swallowed hard and those golden eyes went a little hazy.
I wasn’t sure if it was because of the tequila or just that thing that bloomed up between us lately. Whatever the feeling was—and it was a very annoying feeling at that—I was willing to follow it for a few minutes. Just to remember what a woman smelled like again and not the eternal scent of motor oil, unwashed men, and peanut butter.
Wes was on a peanut butter kick and it was fucking killing me.
She nodded and stood up.
Christ, I wished she hadn’t. I definitely shouldn’t have come over.
The little straps of her flowery dress left her creamy shoulders bare. A dusting of freckles made me itch to get my lips on her again. We’d moved so fast the last time—the only time—I hadn’t gotten to thoroughly explore all of her.
Fuck.
I shouldn’t be exploring anything on her. I didn’t have the time to get all twisted up over a woman. I could barely keep up with Wes and the doubles I was working, along with the pinch hit days at my pop’s place.
But then she tossed her hair over her shoulder and took my hand.
Fuck, I was sunk.
She led me onto the dance floor and the song went slow and syrupy. It was an ex-boy band sort of song, but it didn’t stop me from sliding my hand around her waist. My rough hands caught on the delicate fabric and I instinctively pulled away.
She reached around and held me tighter. Her long legs bumped mine as we instantly fell into a loose sway. She was a little unsteady on the ankle-breakers she was wearing, but I took the opportunity to draw her even closer.
Her slightly more-than-a-mouthful breast buzzed against my chest and I sighed when she settled her arms around my neck. There was nothing quite like a soft woman. I buried the need under duty for my boy and my work, but God, she felt good.
“So, tell me, have you gotten a bed yet, Nuts Lady?”
“We were having such a nice dance until you ruined it by speaking.”
I stiffened.
“No, don’t do that.” She played with my hair. “I was joking. Obviously, not well. I kinda suck at flirting.”
“I’ve never been good at it either.”
I settled her back against my chest and tried not to groan at the way my knee instinctively went between her thighs. Nothing about her fit the crude scenarios in my head. She was the sweet girl next door, not a chick in a bar looking for a good time. I had to remember that.
To accept that all I was going to get was a little more time with her scent filling my brain.
She reached back to toy with the hair at the nape of my neck. Her long fingers made little swirls against my freshly shorn hair. “You cut it.”
I’d taken Wes to the barber for school, but I couldn’t seem to spit out that I had a kid. It either ruined the moment or made things awkward and then also ruined the moment. “Gets hot in the shop.”
Her long hair swirled around my forearm. A waterfall of silk against my rough arms and hands. Just like the rest of her.
“Yeah, I keep thinking I should chop mine off. It’s so heavy.”
“No.” I growled it out way more intensely than I should have, but all that hair was… “Fuck no.”
“Just like a guy. Always want us to have super long hair. But it’s stick straight and flat half the time.”
I moved my hand from the small of her waist up to the heavy tangle of gold and red strands. “All I can see is you on that floor with your hair tangled while I made you come.”
She shivered and I held her tighter as the song blended into another slow one. There were people crowding in on us as the dance floor filled.
“I’m not good at this,” she said quietly.
“You were just fine the other night.”
She tucked her chin in where my shoulder met my neck. “That was probably a fluke.”
I tugged a handful of red-gold silk so she had to look at me. “Then it was a fluke for us both. I can’t promise you a fucking thing, but God, I want to be inside you again. On a fucking bed this time.”
“I don’t have one yet.”
Well, I’d just have to fix that, now wouldn’t I? My buddy at the furniture shop owed me a favor for towing his car from Rochester back home. It was time to collect.
She stumbled against me a little as she swayed. I couldn’t take her home tonight anyway. One, she was far too tipsy. I wasn’t a complete asshole. And two, Wes was at Sage’s house playing with the kids, but he had a shopping day with my parents tomorrow.
They loved to take my kid out for school shopping. It was the only time they really spoiled him, so I’d stopped being an asshole about it. I could take care of my kid—and they knew that—but I couldn’t deny the help was appreciated. Not when I had to pay off a new furnace for the sinkhole that was my house.
I locked down all the crap that lived in my head—kid, house, job—and spun her out in a quick twirl. Her surprised laugh filled my chest way more than it should. She was a little weird, and she said whatever came into her head. We didn’t seem to have much in common.
Right now, it was just my dick talking. Had to be. And as much as I wanted to lose myself in Kelsey, it was time to go back to the real world.
I dragged her back in, deliberately crowding close. “Guess I’ll see you around, Kels,” I said against her mouth.
The urge to brand her was a little too intense for my comfort. That and I couldn’t kiss her to a fucking Ariana Grande song. There were some lines I just couldn’t cross.
“Kels, we gotta go.”
She turned toward Ally�
�s voice. The indecisive look on Kelsey’s face made me want to tell her to say the hell with them. I’d find some way to get her in my arms for the night.
But then she was gone. And I was left standing in the middle of the dance floor with my dick throbbing and my head full of too much bullshit.
Sage nodded to me and I knew they’d get her home. I blew out my breath and dug my keys out of my jacket.
I had to get Wes in bed anyway. He’d be all sugared up after playing with Laurie.
Sometimes responsibilities were a bitch.
Five
I straightened my freshly ironed khaki skirt, then pushed up my sleeves of my baby blue sweater set. Principal meeting wear, I liked to call it. I usually went with a far more kid-proof outfit when actually teaching. But today was a good day to bring out the one cashmere sweater set in my wardrobe.
I wasn’t gonna lie, it was mostly for armor. Who could hurt you in cashmere?
It was a delusion I was willing to live with.
I held my hand up to knock.
“Come in, Miss Ford.”
I swallowed then turned the knob. You’d think I was in the principal’s office as a student. I put on my sunniest smile. Principal Gentry still wore an abbreviated version of her habit. As if a suit and a nun’s habit had a baby. “Good morning.”
“Have a seat, Kelsey.”
All right, so we were getting right down to it. I perched on the edge of my chair and folded my hands.
“We’ve had a few things change for the school year. Unforeseen things which have required me to juggle a few classrooms.”
My stomach pitched. Oh, God. I wasn’t getting sacked, was I? They just hired me on full-time.
She held up her hand. “Don’t worry, I didn’t invite you here to let you go.”
That was me, poker face of the ages. I swallowed a hysterical laugh. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“But there’s been a shift in enrollment for our kindergarten class. I no longer need a second teacher as I did last year.”
I gripped my fingers until I couldn’t feel them anymore.
“However, I do need a first grade teacher due to yet another change. Most of the children from kindergarten stayed on. You’re the newest teacher with us, so you haven’t gotten into planning your curriculum much.”
