Every Sweet Regret (Orchid Valley 2)

“Kace?” a woman calls from the hall. “Where are you?”

I freeze. “Is that Amy?”

He looks over his shoulder toward the opening bedroom door—just as Amy steps into view.

“Oh. I—”

“Out,” he snaps.

Amy doesn’t move. She stands in the doorway to Kace’s bedroom and stares at me like I’m a roach she’s found crawling across her food. “Hi, Stella.”

I try to think of something to say but only manage a squeak.

“Out,” Kace repeats, angling his body over mine to block me from her view.

“I thought you said you two weren’t involved,” Amy says.

Growling, he grabs the blanket and pulls it over me even as he rolls off the bed and walks bare-ass naked to shut the door in her face.

Once she’s not staring at me anymore, I recapture control of my motor functions and jump out of bed, scrambling for my jeans. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Kace. I know you didn’t want anyone to find out about us, and—”

“Stella.” He grabs the hand that’s reaching for my jeans and pulls me toward him. “You do not owe me an apology. Not at all.”

My shaking hands are only a mirror of what’s happening inside me. I like that he tried to protect me from her angry gaze, but a little voice in the back of my mind is shouting that there’s a red flag here. I was surprised he tried to protect me, surprised he didn’t try to pretend nothing was happening, surprised he was harsh with her and kind to me. How screwed up is that?

I swallow. “I don’t know where my shirt is.” Probably somewhere in the hall where he stripped me. “Can I borrow one? I’ll get out of here so you two can talk.”

He pulls a Falcons T-shirt from his dresser and hands it to me. “I understand if you want to go, but don’t run away because you think you have to. This is my house, and you’re my guest. She’s the one who showed up uninvited.”

“I guess you two are even now,” I whisper. I pull the shirt on over my head. “Tit for tat, right?”

“How do you . . . ?” He shakes his head, then mutters something about Smithy before sighing. “This was one score I never needed to settle.” Grabbing me by the hips, he tugs me toward him and presses a kiss to my lips. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t think the conversation she wants to have will go any smoother if I’m here.” I step back, away from his warmth. “Anyway, I’m supposed to meet the girls tonight, remember?” I paste on a smile. “I should go get pretty.”

He sweeps his eyes over me. “You’re already stunning.”

A shiver of happiness trembles through me. I grab his cotton shorts from the floor and hand them to him.

He pulls them on. “Come over after you get home?”

I grin. “Why? What do you have in mind?”

His eyes go so hot that I’m surprised my clothes don’t spontaneously combust. “I think what’s in my mind is best when shown.”

Those nervous tremors in my tummy morph into butterflies. “I’ll be here.”

I straighten my shoulders as I open the bedroom door, but luckily Amy isn’t in the hall or anywhere in the path between Kace’s bedroom and the back door.* * *KaceLeave it to my ex-wife to be the biggest cockblocker in my life. I’m pissed. Not just because of the way she looks at and treats Stella, but because she walked right into my room like she had any right to do that.

I find her on the front porch swing, vaping. “What is that?” I ask.

“A vape pen.”

I repress an eye roll. “I know that part. I mean, why would you start such a nasty habit?” I lean against the house, keeping my distance from her and her vapor. “Haven’t you read the studies?”

“Sure, but I don’t do it much, and never around Hope.” She shrugs.

“Where is Hope?” I want to say, Why the fuck are you here and walking into my house like you own the place? But we’ll start with the easy stuff.

“She’s with my mom.” Amy’s expression is too serious. I haven’t seen a look like that on her face since she told me she wanted a divorce.

“Why are you here?”

She takes another puff on her vape pen and shrugs. “I thought we could hang out. We haven’t in a while.”

Hang out? I know she wants us to be friends, but—

“So . . . Stella?” Her arched brow speaks volumes. It’s Amy’s signature You’re fucking kidding me, right? face. “Is that really happening?”

I shove my hands in my pockets. I’m not going to give her the specifics about my love life. I don’t owe those to her, and I wouldn’t do that to Stella. “It’s not really your business, Amy.”

Her jaw drops. “Bullshit. Anyone you bring around my daughter is, in fact, my business.”