by Beth Ehemann
He groaned from behind me and dropped his head on my shoulder. “You’re dangerous, Kacie Jensen, you know that?” He gave me a tap on the butt as he turned and headed upstairs to the shower.
Dangerous, huh? I’d never been called dangerous before. I kinda liked it.
After breakfast, I finished cleaning up the kitchen while Mom was up front, seeing a few guests out. Fred snored off his pancake coma on the couch. Lucy and Piper were in the family room by Fred, quietly coloring pictures of the horses from the fair yesterday. Brody went upstairs to pack up his bags. This was the part about this whole thing that was going to suck, saying good-bye. Less than twenty-four hours since our first kiss and I was already having doubts. There were just so many things that could go wrong. Was this really going to be possible? Were we going to be possible?
I wiped off the placemats and carried them to the pantry. Reaching up to put them on the shelf, I was startled when Brody’s strong arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me in close. I quickly looked past the pantry door.
“Relax, they’re still coloring,” he whispered into my ear as he leaned over and gently kicked the pantry door closed with his foot.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling his freshly showered scent. He smelled clean, yet outdoorsy. I let myself relax into his hug, losing myself in his comfort. His strong arms wrapped around me like a warm cotton sweater making me feel tiny and protected. He loosened his grip just enough for me to turn to face him. I laced my fingers together and swooped them around his neck, his hands resting on my hips.
“This has been an interesting weekend, huh?” I asked coyly, staring into his mesmerizing eyes. He grinned, flashing me his champion smile.
“To say the least. I don’t want to leave, but I have some things I have to take care of this week.”
“That’s okay, it’s probably good that you’re going. I need to clear my head.” I sighed.
Concern rolled across his face. His brows pulled together as he tightened his grip on my waist.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just all happening so fast, I need to breathe.” I smiled to reassure him and myself.
“Kacie, I like you, there’s no doubt about that. When I went home last week, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. That’s why I came back. The more I know about you, the more I want to know.” He bit his lower lip and paused for a second, thinking about what he was going to say next. “I’m in no rush, I’m not looking to get married tomorrow. Hell, I wasn’t even interested in having a relationship until I met you. And now that I’ve met you, walking out that door with no plans to see you again isn’t an option. We can take this as slow as you want, just give it a chance.”
My heart raced around my chest, probably in an attempt to leap out of my body and land at his feet as an offering. I closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath before responding.
“I like you too, Brody, more than I want to, actually. I’m not used to this feeling. It scares and excites me at the same time. We’re so different—our worlds are so different. And the thought of putting myself out there to be hurt again-”
“Stop right there.” He cut me off as he took my face in both hands, squatting to be eye-to-eye with me. “You’re not a conquest and I don’t play games. I told you I haven’t really ever done the girlfriend thing and you haven’t done the boyfriend thing in a long time. Let’s figure it out together.”
His persistence beckoned me. The way he sounded so sure, so certain … maybe this would work.
I smiled at him and clasped my hands over his. “You’re right, it’s silly not to try. But … under a couple conditions.”
He let go of my face and stood up tall, crossing his arms across his chest. “Conditions, huh? Interesting. Hit me.”
“Well … first the girls can’t know anything is going on. I always said if and when I dated someone, he wouldn’t meet the girls until we were very serious. No way was I going to have a bunch of guys floating in and out of their lives. I know this thing between us wasn’t exactly planned, and you’ve already met them. Hanging with them is okay, but no kissing, holding hands or anything like that when they’re around. Deal?”
He flared his nostrils and narrowed his eyes at me, contemplating what I’d just said. “Deal. But … that just means when I’m alone with you, I’m going to be extra … attentive. Double deal?”
Every vein in my body damn near exploded from the surge of excitement that jolted through me with that sentence. I had no idea what he meant, but I wanted to. The possibilities were endless.
“Deal,” I replied, my head held high and my voice deceptively confident.
“Is that it?”
“One more,” I answered, biting my lip. “No pressure.”
He looked confused as he arched a brow at me. “No pressure?”
“Yeah, you said we’re taking this slow and I’m good with that.” I looked into his dark green eyes, wondering if I would be able to keep my own deal. “Nothing serious. Let’s just have fun. No pressure. Get it?”
“Got it. No pressure.” He smirked, entertaining me.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I suddenly needed air. Being this close to Brody, with all of his energy focused on me was intense, overwhelming. “All right, I gotta check on Lucy and Piper.”
I walked over to the pantry door, and just as my hand grabbed the knob, Brody’s arm shot in front of my face and grabbed the doorjamb on the other side of me, blocking my path.
Baffled, I looked up at him, butterflies swarming my stomach.
He licked his lips as a sexy grin spread across his face. His gaze burned down on me.
“Pay the toll.”
Instantly, my butterflies morphed into pterodactyls.
“Where’d you disappear to this weekend? As if I didn’t already know.” Andy badgered sarcastically on the other end of the line.
“Uh … Kacie’s.” I yawned, still half asleep.
“No shit, Sherlock. How did that go? Did you two crazy kids profess your undying love for each other? Will I be getting a wedding invitation in the mail?”
“No, asshole. We just hung out,” I snapped back, slightly irritated at his teasing.
“Wow! Little defensive, aren’t we? Okay, okay. I’ll back off. I do have a question for you though, actually a favor.” Hesitation rang loud in his voice and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what this favor was.
I sighed. “This is gonna piss me off, isn’t it?”
“Probably.”
“What is it?”
“Remember I told you last week that Blaire is trying to turn into Suzy Homemaker? Well, she’s hosting a party and doing all the cooking to show off her new … skills.”
“No,” I shot back before he had a chance to continue.
“Come on, Brody. Don’t make me suffer through this by myself,” he begged.
Driving all the way out to Andy and Blaire’s house was bad enough, but having to fake through an evening of pleasantries and eating her cooking was going above and beyond.
Before I could answer him, he sweetened the pot. “Why don’t you bring Kacie with you? I’d like to meet the girl who has turned my best friend’s brain into a pile of shit anyway.”
Smiling at the sound of her name, I responded, “When is this grand dinner?”
“Next Saturday night. My house. Cocktails and hor d’oeuvres at six, dinner at seven. You in?” He sounded excited, clearly expecting me to say no.
I sighed. “Yeah, I’m in.”
“Kacie too?”
“Yes. It’s going to take some convincing on my part, but I’ll get her here.”
Convincing, begging, whatever.
“Awesome. Thanks, bro. It means a lot to me. By the way, you might want to eat before you come out here, but don’t tell Blaire I said that.”
“You busy?” Kacie’s voice was soft and sexy, tempting me to jump into my truck and drive back to her house right then, jus
t for one more kiss.
“I am busy actually, but I’d drop just about anything for you.”
Wow. Okay, way to sound like a lame teenager, Brody.
“You’re sweet, but stop it or you’re gonna make me like you even more.” She giggled.
Challenge accepted.
“How’s your morning been?” I asked.
“It’s been full of Lysol and laundry detergent.” She sighed. “Both girls have the stomach flu. I was actually calling to warn you. I hope you don’t get sick.”
“Eh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, I’m more worried about you.”
Hmm, getting sick might be a blessing. It would get me out of Blaire’s fake ass dinner.
“I’m okay. I think between the girls and all the people I’m exposed to at the inn, my immune system is made of steel. I almost never get sick.”
“Never say never,” I teased her. “So, let’s assume for a minute that I did end up with a raging case of the stomach flu. Would you come down here and take care of me?”
Silence on the other end of the line.
“I’ll take that as a no.” I laughed, trying to break the tension.
“No, that’s not a no. I just haven’t really thought about the whole coming to your house thing yet. It caught me off guard,” she said quietly.
“Funny you should mention that...” I said matter-of-factly.
She inhaled quickly. I could feel her anxiety through the phone.
“Before you freak out, nothing has changed, we’re still taking things slow … but I have a dinner party to go to next weekend and I was hoping you’d be my date.”
“Oh. Wow. Coming to your house…” She paused. “Um, I don’t know.”
“That’s not the answer I was hoping for. I was looking for something more along the lines of: ‘Why yes, Brody, I’d love to spend the weekend at your house having copious amounts of crazy, sweaty monkey sex.’”
Silence.
“Kacie, I’m kidding. Look, if sleeping here makes you nervous, I have a spare room with its own bathroom. You are more than welcome to sleep in there. I won’t be offended. No pressure, remember?”
“Okay.”
I could tell she was smiling now, thank God.
“I have to run it all by my mom and see if she minds watching the girls for the night.”
“Maybe you could come down on Friday and go home Sunday?”
“I don’t know, Brody, that’s a long time to be away from them. I’ve never been away longer than a few hours.” She sounded unsure, nervous even.
My jaw was on the floor. “You’ve never been away from them overnight?”
She giggled. “Nope, they’re my life. I hate to be away from them. Besides, where would I have gone?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “True.”
“How about we compromise … I’ll come Saturday morning and stay until Sunday afternoon sometime. Okay?”
“Kacie, I’ll take what I can get with you.”
“You’re doing it again.” She laughed.
“I can’t help it.”
“Hang on…” I could tell she put her hand over the phone and was hollering at someone. “Brody, I gotta go. Lucy is getting sick again. I’ll text you later?”
“Go. Be with them, I understand. Text when you can.”
To say I was excited for Kacie to get here was putting it mildly. All week, Kacie and I had texted throughout the day and at night after she put the girls to bed. We talked well into the morning. I felt kinda bad about that. I could sleep in, but she was functioning on only a few hours of sleep each night. She never once complained though, and each night on the phone, we got more and more comfortable with each other.
Friday afternoon, I decided to tackle my ghost town of a guest room. No one had stayed with me in a while, and she slept in my bed, not in here. I spent the better part of the day washing sheets and dusting bookcases, doing whatever I could think of that would make Kacie as comfortable as possible while she was here.
A little while later, my phone chirped. It was Viper this time.
V: DUDE. SHIT HIT THE FAN AGAIN TODAY. CAN I CRASH AT YOUR PLACE TONIGHT?
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Of all nights he wants to stay here tonight?
YEAH, THAT’S FINE, BUT YOU HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH.
V: TOTALLY COOL WITH THAT. I’M GOING TO GRAB A PIZZA AND I’LL BE OVER.
GET TWO. I’M STARVING.
An hour or so later, I was kicked back on my couch watching baseball when my front door flew open and Viper came strolling through, pizza and beer in hand.
“Sup, my man?” He bellowed as he dropped the stuff on my kitchen counter and came over to shake my hand.
I stood and shook his hand back.
“I’m clearly doing better than you. What’s going on at your house?”
He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Kat came home and the cleaning lady was still there.”
I stared at him, confused. “Why would that piss her off?”
Well, Kat came in and I was relaxing in my chair. The maid was on her knees … sucking my dick.” He laughed. “Apparently, that was not an approved chore. Kat ran over and grabbed her by the ponytail and started whaling on her. I’m not gonna lie, it kind of turned me on at first, those two going at it, but I wrapped my arms around Kat until what’s-her-name could get out of the house. Needless to say, she’s fucking pissed, and I didn’t want to sit there all night listening to it.”
Shaking my head, I asked my next thought out loud. “Why do it? Why go through all of this? Is it worth it? Why not just break up with her and live your life however you want?”
Viper narrowed his eyes, contemplating my question. “I don’t know. She’s always there when I need her. It’s nice to have someone there for me all the time. I know she’ll never really leave. Plus, she’s a fucking animal in bed.” His eyebrows wiggled up and down. “Clawing, biting, screaming. Who bails when you get to fuck that every night?”
“You … make my brain hurt.” I smacked him hard on the back of the neck as I walked into the kitchen to grab the pizzas.
“Speaking of fucking, what’s up with you? I haven’t talked to you all week. You fuck that girl yet?”
I turned around and locked eyes with him. “Dude. Don’t.”
He held his hands up in front of him defensively, his eyes wide. “My bad, man. Sorry.”
I picked up the pizza boxes from the counter and turned back to the living room, nodding toward the kitchen. “Grab the beer, will ya?”
“Got it.” Viper grabbed the six packs of beer and carried them over to the coffee table. “This girl really has you all fucking crazy, huh?”
“Yeah, she does. And I’m totally okay with that.”
“What is it about her? I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl who has made me act as idiotic as you are,” he said, as he shoved a piece of pepperoni in his mouth.
“Nothing. Everything,” I said, smiling to myself.
“Oh my God. Did you grow a pussy while you were up there?”
I reached over and punched him on the arm, hard.
“Seriously, dude.” He looked at me incredulously. “What is it about her? I’ve never seen you like this.”
“I don’t know…” Moments I’d had with Kacie started running through my head as I tried to pinpoint exactly what it was that had me so crazed. “It’s the way she looks when she’s playing with her daughters. It’s the way she crinkles her cute freckled nose when she smiles really big. It’s the way her hair looks sexy all the time, even when it’s in a ponytail. I could sit here listing things for hours and still not tell you all of the amazing things about her.”
Viper stared at me; his eyes wide open in disbelief.
“Whoa.”
Whoa was an understatement, I was beyond crazy about her and it was completely foreign to me. Ever since I was old enough to form memories, hockey was my life. I thought about it constantly, obsessed about it. I dissected plays
from past games in my head, watched thousands and thousands of hours of highlight reels, anything I could do to improve my game. Kacie was the first person to pull me out of a lifelong hockey haze and consume my thoughts with something I never expected. Something far better. My mind often wandered to thinking about her and what she was doing right that minute, what she was wearing today, if she was thinking about me, too.
“She’s coming here this weekend,” I said nonchalantly.
“She is?” He grinned wildly and licked his lips like a wolf on the prowl. “Do I get to meet her?”
“Hell no.”
“Come on,” he begged.
“Not a chance.” I shook my head. “You can crash here tonight then get your ass up and out early before she gets here.”
He smirked at me like he had other plans. “We’ll see about that.”
“Stop stressing, we’ll be fine.” My mom smiled reassuringly as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. “Go. Have fun. Relax.”
She knew me too well, sometimes better than I knew myself. My stomach was full of tiny, little knots, each one representing something different that could go wrong over the next thirty-six hours. “I know, Mom. Thanks … for everything.”
Cupping my cheek lovingly with her hand, she said, “For you, anything. Now hurry, before traffic gets too bad.” She grabbed the plastic dress bag from the front hall closet and handed it to me. “Don’t forget this.”
Due to my complete lack of fashion sense, Lauren had stopped by that morning with a dozen dresses for me to try on for the dinner with Brody. She and my mom squealed and giggled louder with each dress I tried on, discussing how the ice blue one made my butt look perfect and the salmon colored one complimented my skin tone. I just stared at them like a deer in headlights and turned when they told me to.
Obviously, I picked the ice blue one.
I tossed my duffel bag in the back of my jeep and hung the dress on a hook. Butterflies slammed against my rib cage as I pulled out of the driveway, waving at the two little smiling faces on the porch. Not quite ready, I pulled back up the driveway, threw my jeep in park and dashed to the porch for one last kiss.
