12 Days (Hope Harbor)

by Karla Doyle

  “That’s it?”

  She didn’t know whether he meant the question in terms of, was that all she wanted to buy, or, was that all she wanted to ask. Either way, her answer remained safely the same. “Yup.”

  Chapter 6

  December 18

  KELLY

  Having his parents around was putting a major crimp in his plan to win Addie. He was making progress, for sure. Their trip to Hamilton two nights ago had been a win. The pre-mall kissing. The in-mall kissing. An intimate, late dinner at The Keg that’d ended with more kissing.

  He’d had high hopes for the end of their evening—until they walked through the front door and found his parents watching TV in the living room. The house wasn’t big enough for the four of them.

  They’d all seemed to fit just fine when his parents owned it. Now that he was the king—and Addie was the queen—having four adults in the wartime bungalow felt as if they were living in a shoe box. Like mice trying to avoid each other in a tiny labyrinth, while all trying to get to the cheese at the end.

  And damn, he wanted that cheese. Every time he had Addie in his arms made him want her more. Tasting her lips, touching her silky hair, squeezing her sexy ass… He was ready to find out if she really wore those cheeky panty things. Then slide them off and take her all the way home.

  That was never going to happen with his parents hovering. Addie hadn’t said anything directly, but she beelined it to her bedroom—alone—every time his parents were in view. Her closed door was a problem when he was on the wrong side of it.

  She hadn’t seemed conflicted when they’d kissed. Hadn’t declined his invitations or mentioned having plans with anybody else. Aside from tonight, but going to a bachelorette party didn’t count.

  Addie wouldn’t be anywhere else tonight. She’d grown up with the bride-to-be, her cousin, Jenna.

  Unlike Addie, Jenna had moved away directly out of high school. She met a future captain of industry at university, got engaged to him, and never moved back. Together, Jenna and Ryan had become some kind of big-deal, power couple in Kitchener-Waterloo. They could’ve had their wedding stuff anywhere, but Jenna had wanted it here, in her hometown of Hope Harbor. Smart man that he obviously was, Ryan had agreed. Tonight’s event was day one of the festivities.

  And it was an event in the true sense. Jenna wasn’t having a few female friends over for drinks to celebrate her upcoming wedding, she’d rented the community center and invited nearly one hundred women to drink at the open bar, dance to a D.J.’s mix, and watch the male strippers. A whole revue of them.

  Jenna’s fiancé was cool with the stripper entertainment, and so was Kelly. He wasn’t worried about Addie watching a bunch of guys take their clothes off to music. It was the one guy who might be getting naked with her in private that loomed in Kelly’s mind.

  He pointed the remote at the TV in his bedroom and navigated to the menu. Sports highlights weren’t holding his attention. Maybe something with action would distract him.

  The body count on his screen had only reached five when his phone lit up with a text notification.

  Can you come and get me?

  Hell, yes, he could. He clicked the TV off with one hand while shooting Addie a reply with the other.

  Be there in 5.

  Thank you.

  My pleasure.

  He hopped off the bed and stuck the phone in his back pocket. Halfway to the front door, it vibrated with another notification. Then vibrated again. He hit the remote-start button on his key fob and shrugged into his coat, withdrawing his phone as he walked across the snow-dusted driveway. A bubble with the number “5” sat at the corner of his text icon. He tapped it while settling onto the driver’s seat, his jaw dropping at the sight of Addie’s new, rapid-fire messages.

  Keep thinking about that word.

  Pleasure, I mean.

  Because I want some. With you.

  I bet you’re way better than my vibrator.

  Oops. Now you know I have a vibrator.

  Oh, man. This was so not like her. Meaning she’d probably been enjoying the hell out of the open bar.

  He’d seen Addie drunk before. Many times. From mildly tipsy, to hugging the porcelain while she puked her guts out, and everything in between. Or so he’d thought. Not once had he seen this version of drunken Addie.

  He set the phone facedown on the passenger seat, then headed for community center. When he’d dropped her off four hours ago, she’d told him she planned to walk home. He’d shut that idea down fast. Made her promise to text him for a ride if she didn’t get one from another designated driver.

  With a population of just over six thousand, most of whom had lived here forever, Hope Harbor was mostly harmless. He still wouldn’t risk her safety. Not while they’d been just friends, and sure as hell not now that they’d become more.

  A handful of turns later, he pulled into the packed parking lot. Even with his windows closed, he could hear the thumping beat from the music within. A small group of women stood out front of the community center, several of them smoking, all of them loud.

  He’d never been nervous around women, solo or in groups. He loved women. Drunk women were a different entity, though. A hit of dread tugged at his gut as he pulled to a stop at the curb. Especially since Addie was nowhere in sight. Double especially because Melanie Easton was in sight. And headed his way. Shit.

  He lowered the passenger window partway so they could talk, but she lifted the handle anyway.

  “It’s locked,” she said, trying again to open the door.

  “I know.” Shit. He should’ve taken the time to end their little thing properly, not just ghosted her. Too late to change how he’d handled it. He’d have to be an asshole and set her straight, here and now. “Sorry, I’m here to give somebody else a ride.”

  “Addie?”

  “Yeah.” Maybe word had gotten around. Wouldn’t surprise him in this town. And if it made breaking things off with Melanie easier, he wouldn’t mind that, either.

  “I don’t care if you’re driving Addie home. She can sit in the back.” Meaning Melanie thought he was picking Addie up as a friend favor.

  Also, meaning he’d have to get rid of Melanie, tonight and for good. Shit. Served him right, though.

  “Come on, let me in.” She tugged on the door handle again. “It’s cold out here. I could probably cut glass with my nipples. Let me in and you can warm them up with your mouth, even though you’ve been a bad boy, ignoring my messages. Lucky for you, I like bad boys. Take me back to your place and I’ll show you how much I like bad boys.”

  A couple of weeks ago, his cock would’ve been halfway to hard hearing her talk like that. Now—nada. No blood flow, no sign of life down below. “Sorry, Melanie. I’m only here for Addie.”

  “You’re a jerk, Kelly,” she said, loud enough to turn every female head in their direction. “And an idiot, giving this up.” She rubbed her hands up and down her body in what might’ve been a sexy motion, if not for her winter coat and wobbly stance. “I know how much you liked fucking me.”

  And, boom—Addie had appeared, emerging from the nearby group of women who were now all ears, instead of all mouths. Worst timing ever.

  He held his breath, literally, as Addie approached Melanie from behind and tapped her on the shoulder. Addie wasn’t a coward, but she preferred avoidance over confrontation any day of the week. That’s kind of how you had to be when you ran a small business in a small town. He was the same way.

  Addie smiled when Melanie turned her way, then cupped her hand over her mouth while saying something near Melanie’s ear. Whatever she’d said, Melanie didn’t look happy, but she didn’t appear angry at Addie. No further words were said. Melanie didn’t even shoot him a dirty look. She just turned on her very high heel and returned to the party.

  With that, he hopped out of the truck and around the front, opening Addie’s door before she got to it. The action earned him a combination of dirty looks and complimentar
y comments from their onlookers. Drunk women were predictably unpredictable.

  “Hey,” he said, taking her hand. “Careful on the running boards, they’re kind of slippery from the sleet we’ve been getting tonight.”

  “My hero.”

  “I should be calling you my hero.” He stood with the passenger door open while she buckled her seatbelt. “You diffused Melanie like an explosives expert with a ticking bomb.”

  “I told her the truth.”

  “That I’m with you now?”

  Addie’s eyes opened wide. “What? Oh my God, no. Why would I tell her that?”

  “Because it’s true.”

  “A lot of things are true. That doesn’t mean I say them out loud.”

  Interesting. He’d have to lure her back to that topic later. “Then what’d you say to her?”

  “That your parents are visiting and they’re super nosy.”

  Shit. He’d still have to deal with Melanie. Addie’s quick, levelheaded solution was better than an ugly scene, though. He owed her for that. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” She smiled, and it wasn’t the standard, polite type. “Hurry up and get in the truck. Now, I want to tell you something.”

  “Is it about your vibrator?”

  “Sshh!” The finger on her lip didn’t match the volume of her shushing. “I didn’t mean to send that.”

  “I think you did, or you wouldn’t have typed it in the first place.”

  Her face was the cutest shade of pink. And her smile—out of this world. Contagious, too, because he could feel his grin all the way to his ears.

  He closed her door and hustled around, into to the driver’s side. “All right,” he said, clicking his seatbelt into place. “What did you want to tell me?”

  “That I think you’re hot.”

  “I think you’re hot, too.”

  “And I want to do things with you.” She wiggled across the bench seat until she was pressed up against him. “Kissing and touching and sex things. Lots of sex things.”

  Oh, man. “I think watching the male strippers got you all horned-up.” He winked while putting the truck into gear.

  “I didn’t watch the strippers. I’m Kelly-Horned-up. I always have been.” She slid her hand up the inside of his thigh, to his fly, which she cupped with a firm forwardness that had to be fueled by alcohol.

  His cock didn’t give a fuck why Addie’s hand was stroking up and down. Only that she continued doing it.

  “Want to know a secret?” she asked.

  “If you want to tell me, yeah.” He kept his eyes on the road ahead. Tried—and failed—to think about something other than her hand on his hard-as-nails cock.

  “I look at you when you walk around the house in your white boxer briefs. As in, I look at you. And I wish I had x-ray vision so I could see everything.”

  The everything she wanted to see very much wanted to see her. Up close and extremely personal. He really needed to steer this conversation out of X-rated territory.

  He glanced over and shot her a smile. “What about the black ones? No good?” There. That ought to nudge things over to the fun-and-joking-around category.

  “The white ones are my favorite. I can see more of you in the white ones. Every line and bulge…” Somehow, she managed to get even closer. The heat between her legs radiated up his thigh, and God help him, she made a sound he would swear under oath was a little moan.

  Between the hard-on crowding his jeans and Addie being half on his lap, semi-grinding on his leg, driving was getting more challenging by the minute. Also, note to self—ditch the black underwear and get more white ones.

  “Are your parents asleep?” Her question had danger written all over it.

  “They were when I left to pick you up.”

  “Good. Because I want to be alone with you, Kelly.” She rarely called him by name.

  Back in the early days of their friendship, he’d told her how much he hated the family name his parents had saddled him with. Loyal to the core, Addie had kept “Kelly” off her lips for all but a handful of occasions. Hearing her say it now, though… Damn, she made it sound hot.

  He pulled into the driveway and killed the engine. The seatbelt would have to wait. Partly because he couldn’t get at it, partly because he needed to kiss her. That’s all he’d do, though. Some kissing, then some more kissing when they got in the house. Then he’d say goodnight to her, lock himself in his room, and beat off until his hand cramped up.

  “I’ve been thinking about you all night,” he said, threading his fingers through her hair.

  “You have?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He drew her closer, his plan for a short, soft kiss going out the window the instant their lips met. He’d kissed a lot of women, but none of those kisses, none of those women, compared. Kissing Addie was like filling up on everything he needed to survive. Every breath, every taste, made him crave more.

  She gasped as he nipped at her bottom lip. Then climbed higher onto his leg while sucking his tongue into her mouth.

  “Let’s go inside,” he said, when his cock threatened to break through multiple layers of fabric to get at her.

  “That’s exactly where I want you—inside.” Bold sex talk for a woman who’d spent her life treading lightly. She had to be hella drunk. But she wasn’t slurring or acting sloppy.

  Maybe he was overthinking it. He stole one more quick kiss, then opened his door. “Sit tight.”

  “Oh, I am,” she said, her eyes shining as she smiled at him. “Hopefully, not too tight. It has been a while.”

  And, shit. He didn’t question the truth of her words, or the desire behind them. Only the reason she’d said them. Clearheaded Addie wouldn’t tell him those details. Mildly drunk Addie might, might, drop hints. But nothing to this extent.

  He was fucked. And definitely not going to get fucked. Fuck.

  Walking around the truck to her door, he filled his lungs with crisp, winter air. The cold did nothing to curb the fire coursing through his body. His head was still filled with her scent and the taste of her mouth. His leg still tingled with the memory of Addie’s heat pressed against it. His cock was still at full-mast, ready to make good on everything Addie wanted.

  He opened her door and helped her out of the truck, doing his best to be a gentleman. Not an easy task when her hands went immediately to his hips.

  “Want to know another secret?” she asked, grabbing two handfuls of his ass.

  “If you want to tell it.” He couldn’t turn the offer down. Not without hurting her feelings. All he could do was hope she didn’t say anything she’d regret revealing.

  “I have a vibrator.”

  He chuckled. “You mentioned that.”

  “It gets a lot of use because of you.”

  His hand had gotten a lot of use because of her recently, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Not this early in their new relationship, and not while stone-cold sober.

  Too bad they hadn’t gotten drunk together. That would’ve put them on a level playing field. Something they clearly were not, despite their mutual interest and sizzling chemistry. If only he’d opened his eyes sooner. They could’ve been doing this for years already. Then it wouldn’t matter that she was being extra flirty because of a boozy evening with the girls.

  “Let’s go in, where it’s more comfortable,” he said, disentangling her from his body. Maybe he could get some coffee into her.

  “Okay.” She leaned against his arm as they walked up the sidewalk. Not staggering, but not steady on her feet, either. Could be the high-heeled boots she’d worn, the slightly slick concrete, or just her desire to be snuggly. Or, it could be the booze.

  Given the rest of the evidence, his money was on the booze. “I guess you had a good time tonight?” he asked, while unlocking the house with as little noise as possible.

  “So good. Jenna and I danced and did some shots.” She laughed. “Actually, it was lots of shots—” She cupped her hand over her mouth
when her enthusiasm bounced back at them inside the front hall. “Oops. Ssshh…” Aware of her volume. Good sign.

  “I’m glad you had fun. I’m also glad you’re home.”

  “Me too. Help me?” Still clutching his arm, she waggled a booted foot in the air.

  “You bet.” He crouched in front of her, unzipping one boot and sliding it off, then the other. Not the first time he’d done something like this, but the first since things changed between them. Now that they had, he was acutely aware of his face’s proximity to her pussy. The fact it was covered by a pair of jeans didn’t discourage his cock in the slightest. The dick wanted what it wanted, and it wanted Addie.

  Maybe she’d read his mind. Maybe hers was in exactly the same place. The reason didn’t matter. Only the fact that her hands had moved from his shoulders to the back of his neck, and she was suddenly a hell of a lot closer. Close enough for his nose to graze her dark-blue, painted-on, killer-sexy jeans.

  He inhaled. Filled his nose with her perfume, the one he’d bought for her birthday. And with her scent. The one laced with pheromones.

  He had decent willpower, yet he’d never felt so weak. He’d just do this. With all their clothes intact. He wouldn’t let it go further.

  He gripped her hips and pressed her against the wall. Then covered the luckiest denim on earth with his mouth.

  A soft, sexy moan from above spurred him on. He pressed his tongue against the seam of her jeans, giving it the same treatment he’d give her clit if she were naked. When she moaned again, he had to fight the urge to strip her down, right there in the front hall.

  He stood, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Got kissed by her, too, because she gave just as good as she got. Goddamn, he hoped that equal-opportunity eagerness extended to other things. Not tonight, though. Soon, but not tonight.