Not What I Expected

His head canted to the side. “Really? Huh. I’m usually not wrong about those vibes. Like now. It’s in the thirties and snowing, but you’re burning up, ripping off your scarf and unzipping your jacket. If I were to take a guess, I’d say you’re thinking about me in ways that make you feel irresponsible and rather hot.”

I wasn’t hot. I was an inferno. “I need to go. My fajitas are getting cold.”

Kael’s tongue grazed his lower lip. “Follow me to my house. I can warm up your fajita.”

My age crept up on me like I knew it would if I spent too much time in his company. A big part of me knew he wasn’t referring to anything in my to-go bag, but I wasn’t aware of slang meanings for fajita. Possibly vagina—just based on the shape—but that wasn’t enough to give me the confidence I needed to land a solid accusation.

“I’m going home to eat it. I mean …” I cringed. “The fajitas in the bag. The ones I just picked up inside.”

Kael laughed a little, and it elicited actual sweat between my cleavage. “Do you have another fajita? Is that why you’re having issues forming complete sentences?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know. Do I have another fajita?”

When the skin at the bridge of his nose wrinkled, I realized he was only referring to the actual food I ordered.

Kill. Me. Now!

“I have to go.” I leapt into my SUV and sped out of the parking lot, fishtailing a bit from the accumulating snow. In a year’s time, I’d gone from feeling stuck and suffocated in a lifeless marriage to unimaginable grief and guilt to … Kael. He knocked me off-kilter, barged into my passive dreams, and turned them into pure sin.

His smile.

His laugh.

The mischief in those eyes.

The offer!

Since when did people start throwing out offers for sex as casually as suggesting a cup of coffee?Chapter TenI loved him in all his forms as he had always loved me in my many forms. It was the blatant letting go of everything and the gross stuff that came with it that he didn’t try to hide—even a little.* * *As soon as I stepped through the back door and greeted Meadow, I headed straight to the office and plunked down into the chair, setting my bag of food on the desk two seconds before my fingers glided across the keyboard, doing an internet search for slang meanings of fajita. With the urban dictionary on the screen in front of me, I read over the possibilities as I ate my dinner.

My sexual dinner.

Just as I’d thought, fajita could be interpreted in a distasteful way.

While I finished my dinner, I called Amie and put her on speaker phone.

“I know. It’s snowing, so we won’t be walking in the morning,” she answered her phone as if my call were all too predictable.

“Kael Hendricks offered me sex.”

Silence.

More silence.

“Amie?”

“Yeah, I uh … wow … so how was it?”

“I didn’t have sex with him! Geesh … do you really see me like that?”

“Like what?” She laughed. “Single. Available. Able. Willing. Yes. I see you as all of those things. Why are you talking to me when you could be In. His. Bed?”

“Seriously? Wow … where to begin answering your ridiculous question. Let’s start with the age gap. Hello! Twelve years. He’s my competition. The enemy. He’s cocky. I have four children. He doesn’t believe in marriage or monogamy.”

“You said … and I quote, ‘I’m not ever getting married again, Amie. Don’t ever let me even consider it.’ And I agreed with you. No need to anchor yourself again after finally seeing a glimpse of freedom. By this time next year, you could be living by yourself. Hell, you practically are now. Do you really sit around at night missing a man?”

“I miss …” I cut myself off before I spewed out my knee-jerk response that would have landed me in her trap, making her point for her.

“You miss the sex. Just say it. Then I can say WHAT ARE YOU DOING TALKING TO ME?”

“I have kids. Are you not listening to me? What would happen if … and this is one hundred percent hypothetical … if I had sex with him and my kids, specifically Bella, found out. Not to mention other people in this small, gossip-fueled town? My church family would disown me.”

“You don’t have to tell anyone. And I highly doubt Kael would run around town flaunting the fact that he nailed you.”

I winced. “Nice language. What are you? Fifteen? And why wouldn’t he tell people? Do you think he’d be too embarrassed because I’m so much older?”

“For real, Elsie? Are you seriously offended by the notion that he wouldn’t tell anyone?”

“This conversation is ridiculous. I’m not sure why I even called you.”

Amie chuckled. “Because you wanted me to tell you to have sex with him.”