So Right

by Darcy Burke

  He huffed out a breath and donned a look of mock disappointment. At least she thought it was a put-on. Maybe it wasn’t.

  “You’ve put together an impressive library,” he said as they climbed the stairs.

  “I owe it to the Archers and their generosity. It wouldn’t have been possible without their grant.”

  He chuckled. “They can afford it.”

  “Sure, but not everyone who can would give back the way that they do.”

  “Very true. And they do it because they want to, not for the tax breaks.”

  They reached the exhibit space, and she showed him around everything she’d set up.

  “Also impressive,” he said. “I keep forgetting to ask if you’ve had any news from the archaeologist. Do I need to worry they’re going to classify my vineyard as some valuable historic site?”

  She shook her head. “You were there. She said she didn’t think that would happen. But no, we haven’t heard anything. We did learn today that the ranch became a brothel at one point.”

  He turned to look at her. “A what?”

  “A brothel.”

  His brows climbed his forehead. “Whoa. That gives our property some unintended character.”

  “The historical society is doing more research,” she said. “We’d love to know how that came about.”

  “Yeah, me too. Let me know when you find out.” He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “In the meantime, I have something for you.”

  She saw the mischievous glint in his eye and was instantly curious. “You do? Does this involve the conference room?”

  He laughed. “It could. But no.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Then he took her hand, and her breath caught. What was he doing?

  When he didn’t drop to one knee, she relaxed slightly. He clasped something around her wrist. She held up her wrist and saw the filigreed book charm. She gasped, then smiled. “It’s the bracelet from Oktoberfest! How did you do that?”

  He grinned. “I might’ve taken the vendor’s card that night when your back was turned. And I might’ve called her to buy it.”

  Kelsey turned her wrist this way and that. “I love it.” She rested her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “Thank you.” It was perhaps the most thoughtful gift she’d ever received.

  She moved closer until their chests were touching, stood on her toes, and kissed him. He swept her up against him, and when the kiss was over, she was breathless.

  “I suppose I should let you get back to work.” His tone echoed with regret.

  Suddenly, the conference room idea had extreme merit. She grasped the edges of his shirt over his chest. “So you wanna see the conference room?”

  His eyes glinted with desire. “I thought you’d never ask. Really. And I was so disappointed.”

  She waggled her brows at him before taking his hand and leading him into the conference room. Once they were inside, she closed the door. “Um, there’s no lock.”

  “Does your assistant come up here?”

  “Just to take a break, but she’s busy with story time and will be for at least”—she glanced at the clock on the microwave on the counter—“another fifteen minutes.”

  “Then we’d better get busy.” He reached out and took her hand, pulling her against him. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her long and deep.

  Kelsey melted into him, all the while thinking this wasn’t her best idea but unable to put a stop to it. Except… She pulled back. “Do you have a condom?”

  His lips spread in a sexy, arrogant grin that did crazy things to her insides. “In my wallet.” He pulled it from his back pocket, withdrew the aforementioned item, and tossed the wallet on the table. He turned his attention back to her and held up the wrapped square.

  She snatched it from his fingertips and reached for his waistband, popping his button open. She thrust her hand lower and cupped his rigid length. “Mmm, you’re quite ready.”

  He growled out her name before tugging her against him and kissing her. He speared his tongue into her mouth as he thrust his hips into her hand. She rubbed her hand along his heat while desire pooled in her core.

  He pivoted with her and set her on the edge of the table. “You wore a skirt today. How fortuitous.” He slid his palms up her thighs, squeezing her flesh, until he found the waistband of her underwear. She lifted herself off the table as he worked them down and pulled them off.

  She undid his jeans all the way and coaxed his cock from his briefs. Using her teeth, she tore open the condom wrapper.

  “God, I love it when you do that. So sexy,” he said, swirling his thumb over her clit.

  Pleasure pulsed through her. Whenever he stroked her there, it seemed an orgasm was never far away. He already knew her body so well. She thrilled to his touch.

  She rolled the condom over him and cupped his balls. He groaned and leaned in to kiss her. He clasped her hips and brought her to the edge of the table, meeting her there, his cock nudging her opening.

  She opened her thighs wider and clasped the base of his shaft, guiding him into her. He thrust inside, burying himself to the root, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  Everything else was a blur of movement and pleasure as he stroked into her with fast, hard snaps. She wanted to cry out but couldn’t. She clutched the back of his neck and kissed him harder as her orgasm slammed into her.

  He came right after, groaning into her mouth. She held him close as reality came back to her.

  He withdrew, and she pointed him to the doorway that led to a bathroom. She found her underwear and set herself to rights. A moment later, he came out, his lips curved into a satisfied smile she was sure he’d wear all day.

  “You’ve thoroughly corrupted me,” she said.

  He walked to her and kissed her cheek. “Guilty. Without regret, by the way.”

  She let out a laugh. “Come on, I need to get back downstairs.”

  He walked down with her, and she saw him out. “Feel free to drop by anytime.”

  He winked at her. “I will accept that invitation.”

  She held up her wrist. “Thank you for the bracelet. I love it.”

  He stared at her a moment, and she had the sense he was going to say something. Instead, he kissed her softly. “See you later.”

  She closed the door and watched him walk away, happiness swelling in her heart.

  After spending his Monday morning outside in the vineyard, Luke walked into the winery to grab lunch. He headed to the kitchen and was surprised to see both of his brothers and Hayden there. “Guess we’re all on the same schedule today.”

  Cam smiled at him. “Guess so. We’re heating up Mom’s leftover stew.”

  Luke opened the cupboard to grab a glass and froze for a second. He and Kelsey had eaten dinner at his parents’ last night. They’d had stew. Which meant Mom had dropped this off this morning.

  He turned from the cupboard and exhaled. “What did she tell you?” He waited for the barrage of questions, or, perhaps more accurately, the ration of shit.

  Cam’s smile broadened to a grin. “She really likes Kelsey.”

  This wasn’t news to Luke. She’d been thrilled when, after inviting him to dinner last night, he’d asked if he could bring along his girlfriend. That single word had sent her into paroxysms of delight.

  Not that Luke had any problem with that. He was pretty giddy himself. In fact, he was counting the minutes until Kelsey got here. They were going to spend the afternoon finalizing details about the Halloween event they were hosting this Saturday.

  “So what’s the scoop?” Hayden asked, stirring the stew, which they were reheating on the stove top.

  Luke poured himself some iced tea from the fridge. “There’s no ‘scoop.’ We’re dating. What’s the big deal?”

  “Good question,” Hayden said. “It’s not like when Cam got serious about Brooke. That was a massive deal.” He shot a teasing grin toward his best friend,
which earned him an eye roll from Cam.

  Jamie leaned against the counter near the door. He was drinking a glass of what looked like apple cider.

  Luke inclined his head toward the glass. “Is that the cider for this Saturday?”

  Jamie glanced toward Hayden and Cam. “See how he tries to deflect?”

  Luke shook his head, then leaned back against the counter next to the fridge. “Clearly you all want details. Ask away.”

  “Are you guys living together?” Jamie asked. “My running route takes me by the house, and I notice her car is still there.”

  “Wow, sounds serious,” Hayden said.

  Damn, they had to open with a tough one? He and Kelsey hadn’t discussed the living arrangements long-term. They were just happy being together. “She’s still staying with me, yes. Her apartment, as I’ve pointed out, is crap.”

  “Is she still looking for a place?” Jamie persisted.

  “Yes.” Maybe. Probably not. Luke made a mental note to ask and to also reiterate that she was welcome to stay as long as she liked. Which, he supposed, suggested they were living together—at least in his mind. It wasn’t as if anyone was sleeping on the futon.

  “Well, I’m thrilled for you,” Cam said. “I hope this works out better than Paige. Speaking of her, I heard through the grapevine”—he winced—“sorry, pun not intended. I heard she interviewed at Bellwether last week.”

  “Yeah.” Luke hadn’t heard from her since she’d shown up at his house. “Do you know if she got the job?”

  Cam shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think they offered it to someone from the area. Can’t imagine the prospect of her living nearby made you too excited.”

  No, but then it also hadn’t made him upset. “It doesn’t affect me. She’s in the past.”

  Hayden stirred the stew again. “Clearly, since you’re all hot and heavy with Kelsey. Which is cool. I like her a lot. This Halloween event is going to be great.”

  “I think so too.” Luke wasn’t looking for their approval, but it was nice to have. Especially since he liked Kelsey more than a lot.

  In fact, he was pretty sure he was falling in love with her. He thought about her constantly and could hardly wait to be with her when they were apart. And when they were together, he never wanted their time to end. Living with her—yep, he’d call it that, at least to himself—felt so comfortable. She didn’t care that he might want to tune out and watch Sports Center or work outside in the yard. She was as busy as he was, doing library stuff or reading a book. They shared this companionable silence that he’d never experienced before.

  “Stew’s ready,” Hayden said. He looked over at Luke. “You joining us?”

  “Sure. Kelsey will be here in about a half hour so we can walk through what’s left to arrange for Saturday.”

  Cam grabbed bowls from the cupboard. “You sound really happy. I’m glad.”

  Luke turned and set his glass down on the counter so he could pull spoons from the drawer. “She’s pretty special.”

  Yeah, things were serious. He hoped she felt the same way.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Saturday morning dawned cool and cloudy, much to Kelsey’s chagrin. She crossed her fingers that the weather forecast was accurate and that it would burn off by late morning. She was just glad it wasn’t raining.

  She and Luke were the first to arrive at the winery at seven o’clock, but were soon joined by Marci and the West Arch crew. By the time they opened at nine, everything was ready to go. Business was relatively slow until shortly after ten, right when the sun started to peek through the clouds.

  Kelsey was manning the cookie-decorating station when Alaina and Evan arrived with their toddler daughter, Alexa. Alaina gave Kelsey a big hug. “What a fantastic event! This is classic Ribbon Ridge.”

  Evan looked at his wife. “Don’t forget to tell her about the e-mail Crystal got. You wanted me to remind you.” He helped Alexa into a chair at the table.

  Alaina nodded as she smiled at him. “I did, thank you.” She turned to Kelsey, who was presenting Alexa with a cookie in the shape of a pumpkin. “Crystal heard from the archaeologist.”

  Kelsey straightened. “Do tell!”

  “They dated the fire to 1901. Ish. It’s hard to be super accurate, but that’s their best guess based on the testing.”

  “I wonder if it was still a brothel at that time,” Kelsey said.

  “Crystal said the same thing. She’s in LA right now, but she’s looking forward to doing more research.” Alaina chuckled. “I think she’s going to move into the historical society until she’s figured out what happened to Dorinda.”

  “She seems very interested in her,” Kelsey said.

  “If by interested, you mean obsessed, then yes. Especially since we heard about the brothel. She’s desperate to know if Dorinda was part of that or if she’d moved on by then.” Alaina helped her daughter frost the pumpkin cookie. “People and stories interest Crystal—she’s a natural-born storyteller. I keep trying to convince her to write a script.”

  “About Dorinda?”

  “About something. I know she wants to—she just has to set aside her self-defeating attitude.” Alaina set the frosted cookie on a napkin in front of Alexa. “Do you want some sprinkles?”

  “Sprinkles!” Alexa reached for a container of Halloween-shaped decorative sprinkles to shake over her cookie.

  “Well, I hope she does that,” Kelsey said, thinking that the pursuit of one’s dreams was vitally important to finding happiness.

  She glanced over to the hayride stop where a few families were lined up, waiting for Luke to return on the tractor. Emotion gathered in her chest as she anticipated seeing him again. Emotion she somewhat recognized.

  Was she in love with him? Just thinking the L word made her tremble. She’d felt so betrayed by that emotion. She wasn’t sure she was ready to let it in again.

  Shaking her head, she focused on the kids at the table. After a quick lunch, she read Halloween stories to the kids and handed out lollipops. Gram and George stopped by, holding hands. Kelsey didn’t think Gram had ever looked happier.

  George excused himself to go check out Luke’s tractor while another load of families was climbing into the hay-stacked trailer he was pulling. Gram sighed as she watched him walk away.

  She touched Gram’s arm. “You and George are really happy.”

  Gram turned, smiling. “Yes. Frighteningly so.” She laughed. “When I came to Ribbon Ridge to blow off steam for a bit, I never imagined I’d stay. Let alone take a job. Or fall in love.”

  There was that L word again. “Have you? Fallen in love?”

  Gram nodded. “I think so. I’m quite out of practice, of course. I fell in love with your grandpa a lifetime ago. But I suppose it’s like riding a bike.”

  Kelsey wasn’t sure she agreed. Riding a bike was a repeatable endeavor—one you could learn and practice and improve upon. After Noah, she’d accepted that she just sucked at falling in love and really had no interest in trying it again. But now… It was hard to compare what was happening with Luke to what she’d felt for Noah. With Noah, she’d known, almost immediately. Luke was different. She felt a quiet peace with him that she didn’t necessarily equate with the tumult of falling in love. At least in her experience.

  No, she couldn’t relate it to riding a bike.

  “So what are your plans, then?” Kelsey asked. “Will you just stay at the Archers’ apartment for now?”

  “Actually, George has asked me to move in with him, and I’m considering it.” Gram laughed and waved her hand. “Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll probably tell him yes tonight. We have a romantic dinner planned.”

  Kelsey wrapped her in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’ll be staying here.”

  Gram hugged her back. “Me too, dear.” When they broke apart, Gram studied her intently. “What about you and Luke? Are you moving in with him?”

  They’d discussed it briefly this week. Actually, Luke had
brought it up, and Kelsey had neatly changed the subject. File that right along with keeping love at bay. “Not right now.”

  The light in Gram’s eye faded. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, not at all. Everything’s great. I’m just taking things very slowly.”

  Gram patted her shoulder. “As you should, dear. I’m sorry if I’m being insensitive. You two just seem to be getting on very well. I like seeing you happy as much as you like seeing me that way.”

  Of course she did. She leaned over and kissed Gram’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  George came back and said he’d agreed to take over driving the tractor so that Luke could have a much-deserved break. Hearing that, Kelsey asked if Gram would mind watching the cookie table so she could grab something for Luke to eat. Gram was eager to help, and so Kelsey took off into the winery to fetch a sandwich and a Coke for Luke. She grabbed a Diet Coke for herself and juggled everything as she hurried back outside.

  The afternoon had turned bright and warm. She blinked against the sun and contemplated going back inside for her sunglasses.

  Then Luke came toward her, his handsome face creased in a smile as his gaze dipped to the sandwich in her hands. “You brought me lunch.” He dropped a lingering kiss on her mouth.

  The anticipation she’d felt earlier curled into an irrepressible joy. “Yes. Do you want to sit?”

  “Nah, I’m good. Been sitting in the tractor most of the day.” He took the sandwich and led her to a table near the winery, where they had extra arts supplies stocked and ready if they needed them. Marci was doing a great job with the craft table.

  She opened his Coke and set it on the table, then opened her can. “This has exceeded my expectations.” She looked around at the families enjoying the beautiful fall day and just felt happy to be a part of it.

  “Mine too.”

  The soft, sultry sound of his voice drew her to look at him. He was staring at her as if he’d been referring to her instead of the event.

  “Are you being a dork?”

  “Probably. You make me act all dorky.” He made a silly face before taking a bite of sandwich.