Not What I Expected

Kael’s head tilted to the side, eyes narrowing. “I did? Huh … wonder when she snuck into my house. And I’m surprised she didn’t wake my dad. He’s a light sleeper. Did we have sex? Was it good? She must have slipped out before breakfast, which would have been hard to do since I was up at four this morning to start plowing snow.”

“Bella said that Amber said—”

“Oh … my favorite Epperly rumor mill. Wow! It doesn’t even take a break for Thanksgiving? Bella said that Amber said that Kimberly said that Mandy said that Tom told Dick and Harry that he overheard Mo and Curly talking about what’s his name, who dated what’s her name last year before you know who showed up and spoiled the whole thing with a grudge over you know what.”

My lips quivered to disguise my reaction to what he said because it was funny and accurate.

Kael glanced right, looking for signs of anyone coming downstairs or out of the bathroom before leaning closer to me. My backside hit the counter, and he rested his hands on the granite, caging me with his body. My heart sounded the alarm, pounding out of control—frantic that we were going to get caught.

“Elsie … if the whole town thinks I’m fucking every other woman but you, then our little secret is safe. Right?”

I couldn’t ask the question I wasn’t supposed to care about—was he fucking other women besides me? But I wanted to ask the question that I couldn’t stop thinking about—WAS HE FUCKING OTHER WOMEN BESIDES ME?

“I just don’t want you leading other women on. I’ve known Amber and her family since she was born.”

After a few slow blinks, a tiny smile bent his lips. “Am I leading you on?”

“No.” My head jerked backward. “It’s just sex.”

“But these other women, who you’re so concerned about, can’t have meaningless sex with the new, hot guy in town?”

“You are so not the new hot guy in town.”

He was.

Kael left a trail of scorched panties in his wake just from his smile. I didn’t have to engage in personal conversation with the other women of Epperly to know that I wasn’t the only one having inappropriate dreams about Kael Hendricks. But I couldn’t deny having a tiny shred of hope in my gut that I was the only one having sex with him.

Again, it was hard to explain. I didn’t … really … I didn’t want a boyfriend or the rumors and responsibilities that came with one. I just wanted to get my fill of the new, hot guy in town before he dipped his penis into every other hussy in Epperly.

Every other …

Yep, I thought of myself as a hussy at that moment. After all, I did have a mental list of other available Epperly men I could have screwed. Even if the list comprised of only two other men besides Kael, it was still a list.

“You should run to the store later to pick up something you forgot.”

“What?” I squinted at him. “I didn’t forget anything. And the store is closed today.”

“The convenience store on the corner is open.”

Confusion kept a strong hold on my face.

“My dad will take a nap in about two hours. And you’ll need to run and grab some milk.” He stood straight.

“I don’t need milk.”

After glancing down the hallway and up the stairs, he opened my fridge, grabbed the milk, and dumped. It. Down. The. Drain.

My mouth hung agape, eyes frozen open.

The bathroom door down the hallway creaked, and Kael brushed past me. “Don’t worry, I’ll need milk too, in about two hours. I’ll pay for yours as well.”

Dan peeked his head back into the kitchen just as Kael started toward the front door. “Tell that lovely daughter of yours ‘thanks’ for the coffee.”

It took a few seconds to peel the shock off my face and conjure an expression that resembled kindness. I wasn’t sure I hit the mark, but Dan seemed fine with my attempt. “Happy Thanksgiving,” I managed.Chapter FifteenA fart is not a mating call.* * *My crew of four kids, three girlfriends, and a wound-up dog all made it to the kitchen an hour later. I couldn’t look Linc’s girlfriend in the eye, but it didn’t stop me from shooting daggers at my son. I taught him better than that. Maybe I never said the actual words “don’t pound your girlfriend and make her scream when other people are in the house,” but I had to believe that one of my many speeches over the years implied such etiquette.

“Where’s the milk?” Finn asked, inspecting the contents of the fridge.

“Oh … uh … we’re out. I need to go get some.”

“There was a full carton of it earlier.” Bella felt the need to complicate things with her astute observations.

“I used it up.”