“Do I look upset?”
“I don’t know your looks well enough to say for sure. I mean … no. You don’t appear all that upset.”
“Did you do this to upset me?”
I shook my head.
“Well, there you have it. No harm, no foul.”
“I did it for Bella. She wanted to get back at you.”
Kael nodded slowly. “And she’s mad at me why?”
“She thinks you played me.”
“Played you? I’m pretty sure you broke up with me.”
“Well, we weren’t together, so there wasn’t an official break up.”
“We were having sex, and that stopped.”
“You miss the sex?” I raised an eyebrow. He had a much longer list … a much deeper pool of candidates in Epperly than I did. Even if he didn’t want to marry Tillie, I felt certain Amber would have made herself available to him. Hell … I think Amie would have volunteered.
“Damn right.”
I laughed.
“You don’t?” he asked just before taking another sip of his drink.
“Yeah. I miss the sex.”
“I miss the conversation.” He smirked.
“The conversation? We didn’t talk. We had sex.”
“Not true. We talked about life. We talked about relationships and religion. We could probably even talk about politics. I have some interesting views on it as well.”
“I’m sure you do.” I couldn’t hide my grin. Life felt right … in place with Kael. I couldn’t explain it. Just a feeling. That was the feeling he so expertly gave me.
I fell backward, barely catching myself before falling onto my ass when the door opened behind me.
“Mom … what are you—” Bella helped me regain my balance as her gaze bounced from me to Kael sitting on the crate. “Oh, hey, Mr. Hendricks. How’s your day-before-Christmas sale going? We’re killing it. Our whole inventory is nearly gone.”
“Bella …” I rolled my eyes.
Kael bit his lips together to contain his amusement with my melodramatic daughter.
“I’m sure you’re pissed off at my mom, but you should know it was my idea. She might be blinded by all of…” she waved her hand in front of him, gesturing to his body “…that. But I’m not. Your nice guy act doesn’t fool me.”
“Bella …”
She turned toward me. “Why are you giving him the time of day?”
I shook my head. “I’m not giving him anything. Now, what did you need when you came out here?”
She huffed. “Amie is inside looking for you.”
“Okay. Tell her I’ll be right in.”
“I’ll wait.” Bella crossed her arms over her chest.
God … I loved that girl. With her fire, she would rule the world. She was everything I knew I could be but didn’t have the courage to actually be.
Kael stood. “I’ll let you get back to your customers. I was planning on closing early today anyway. Now I can surprise my employees with an even earlier start to their holiday. Merry Christmas to you and all of your family.”
“Come on, Mom.” She tugged at my arm.
“Bella.” I peeled my arm from her hold. “Give us a minute.”
She sighed. “One minute. I’ll be right on the other side of this door, waiting, so if he tries anything …” She scowled at Kael.
Again, his lips worked to suppress his amusement. As did mine.
As soon as the door shut, we stared at each other in silence, both of us knowing Bella’s ear was glued to the other side. I glanced around the parking lot, but nobody was in sight. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I texted Kael.
Me: Kiss me.He read my message on his watch and grinned, chin tipped downward staring at it.
Everyone deserved a Christmas wish. That was mine.
The second he glanced up at me, he took two steps and slid his hands along my face, cupping it as his mouth covered mine. It warmed me from the tip of my cold nose to my tingly numb toes. It made my heart race as my brain gave me a nice dopamine buzz. I imagined the Kael effect was stronger than ecstasy, the high of endorphins racing through my body.
It wasn’t love. It was attraction.
Love was the feeling I knew I’d have when he was no longer touching me.
Love was the ache in my chest when I thought he would never kiss me again.
Love was missing his smile.
Love was craving the sound of his voice.
My fingers claimed the front of his jacket to steady myself. When his lips released mine, he didn’t let go of my face.
He lingered.
That was the story of Kael Hendricks. Everything about him lingered.
His intoxicating scent.
His paralyzing touch.
The life in his eyes burning brightly.
Then there was something that I couldn’t quite name, couldn’t exactly put my finger on. It was that undefinable thing that lingered the most. And it wasn’t that I wanted Kael the way young Elsie Stapleton wanted Craig Smith.
I didn’t want him.
And I didn’t not want him.
I didn’t know what to do with him because I didn’t know the new rules for my life. There was some defining left to do.