“Just when you had an itch?” she asked, mocking him.
It seemed easiest to just come clean, so he said, “I slept with her, and with Cathy and Lili and, when the opportunity presented itself, a few other women as well. We had an arrangement. They didn’t want anything other than sex, and neither did I.”
“Yet she called you.”
“Because I haven’t...had an itch recently.” He dipped in before Kennedy could guess his intent, and put a firm smooch on her lips. “These days, I’m only interested in sleeping with one woman.”
She fried his ass by saying, “I guess there’s something to be said for convenience.”
Sitting back, Reyes scowled. “Now you’re just trying to piss me off.”
“No, I’m being serious.” Leaving her seat, she went to the window to gaze out. “If I’m honest—”
“Yeah, let’s try that.” He stared at her proud shoulders and saw her stiffen.
“Being honest,” she began again, “it’d be less awkward for me if I know you aren’t with anyone else. But Reyes, I meant what I said. You’re doing enough for me as it is, and if you prefer to—”
“Just so we’re clear,” he interrupted in a voice gone low and dangerous, “I’ll be fucking furious if you think to sleep around somewhere else.”
She spun to face him, her brows up in surprise, not in the least alarmed at his tone. In fact, she smiled. “That’d hardly be possible when I have to stay glued to you for safety reasons.” The smile twitched. “I can’t see you trailing along for that errand.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“And I wouldn’t presume to invite someone else into your house, so—”
Son of a bitch. He shot out of his seat and advanced on her. “I don’t want anyone else, so for me it’s a moot point. For you, if you’re thinking of—”
Laughing, she pressed against him, her arms sliding around his neck, her body flush to his. “I’m glad.”
“Glad?” He didn’t understand her at all.
“Glad that you don’t want anyone else.” The smile softened. “Sterling is right. I was being chickenshit.” Then she laughed again. “How could you think for even a second that I’d want another man with you around?”
“I’ll admit I was stymied by the notion.” While she snickered, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kept her right there, as close to him as possible—where she belonged. “I can’t promise to have all the answers, babe, but I know this isn’t convenience for me. I don’t want it to end just because the danger does. I want a chance to see where it takes us.”
The humor faded away, replaced by something nearing satisfaction. “That sounds serious.”
“Feels serious, too.” He nuzzled her temple, pressed a kiss to her brow, then another to the bridge of her nose, and finally planted one on her sexy mouth, long and hungry and probably inappropriate for his father’s kitchen.
But hey, it wasn’t every day that he spilled his guts out.
When he let up, Kennedy put her forehead to his chest. Around faster, deeper breaths, she whispered, “Count me in as long as you promise to let me know if you change your mind.”
“Done.”
“And FYI, when it’s safe, I definitely need to get my own place.” When he started to protest, she spoke over him. “It’s the only way we’ll both know for sure.”
“I already know I don’t want us in separate places.” Now that he’d had her with him, he couldn’t imagine any other scenario.
Sleeping alone? No, thank you.
Quiet dinners without their conversations? He’d pass.
Missing her pre-coffee zombie impression? Mornings wouldn’t be the same.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “That’s why you spent so long talking to your caller?”
Ah, there was a definite edge to her words, and damned if he didn’t like it. It meant she wasn’t as blasé about sending him off to other women as she pretended.
Turning her own phrase back on her, he said, “FYI, I wasn’t talking to Annette that whole time. In fact, my conversation with her was short and sweet, consisting of me saying I was off the market, and her laughing her ass off at me.”
Kennedy frowned. “Why, exactly, did she laugh?”
“Because the idea of me being in a relationship is hilarious as fuck, I’m guessing.” He kissed her again for good measure. “And there you have it. You’re so special, so sexy and unique, you have me doing things out of character.”
Her expression went through several changes, caught somewhere between displeasure and hope. Finally she sighed. “I don’t understand you.”
“Makes two of us.” He grinned. “But I’m coming to grips with it, so I hope you do, too. By the way, I took so long because Dad cornered me on the front porch. He gave me a real heart-to-heart, the gist of which was that I shouldn’t screw this up or I’d be regretting it the rest of my life. So here I am, trying to figure things out and, truth, Kennedy, I’m not getting a whole hell of a lot of help from you.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t want your family to pressure you.”
Laughing, he stepped back and snagged her hand, drawing her out of the kitchen. “That’s what you took from all that, huh? For sure, you’ll keep me on my toes.” The humor swelled within him. They had a looming situation of life-and-death proportions, and still she made him laugh. There couldn’t be another woman like Kennedy anywhere. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”
“And get naked and do all those amazing things again?”
“Now you’re talking.”
“I just need a few minutes to say goodbye, and to give Chimera and her babies one last hug.”
Kennedy might not realize it yet, but she already fit in with his family. She didn’t need to be a computer geek like Madison, or a fighter like him, Cade and Sterling. She fit because of who she was, not what she could do.
His family liked her. He more than liked her.
Was she the one for him? It was sure starting to feel that way.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE SNOW WAS already falling by the time they left. Big, fat flakes that quickly gathered everywhere, covering every surface in white. Kennedy thought it was beautiful, adding a fairy-tale feel to the terrain.
Shivering, she huddled in the passenger seat, wishing she’d brought a coat.