“Oh,” she said, sounding relieved. “Okay then.”
“Great!” Kyle interjected, smiling. “Now that we have that settled, how do you feel Haley’s doing with all the gymnastics?”
“I think she’s amazing, but I feel like all I’m doing is standing there saying ‘Great job!’ and ‘Awesome!’ and honestly, I have no idea if she really is good at this or if I’m just cheering for the sake of cheering. I never paid much attention to gymnastics before so it all looks impressive to me. I know I can’t do anything like that.”
“Much to my brother’s dismay,” Hunter mumbled, and Kyle kicked him again.
Sighing dramatically, Sydney said, “Okay, that’s my cue to go inside because clearly the two of you have things to work through.” She had turned to walk toward the house when Haley opened the back door.
“Aunt Syd? I was texting Janie about all the cool stuff I’m doing with Violet and she invited me to sleepover! Can I?”
Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…
“Of course! We’ll drop you off after dinner, okay?”
“Thanks! You’re the best!” Haley called out before disappearing in the house.
Kyle wrapped his arms around Sydney’s waist and kissed her neck, utterly heedless of his brother standing right there. “That’s what I was going to say,” he murmured against her throat. “You are the best.”
It was weird to be nervous, but…she was.
After running home to grab stuff for her sleepover, they dropped Haley off at Janie’s before returning to Sydney’s. There was a part of her that wasn’t sure if it was where she wanted to be—the space still didn’t quite feel like it was hers—but Kyle had whispered some wicked promises about them making memories there.
How could she possibly resist?
As they walked into the house, Kyle kept the conversation going by talking about all the work they’d accomplished. The exterior was done, the whole downstairs was finished, and up here on the main floor, the bathrooms and the master bedroom were done, all new flooring had been laid in the main living area and kitchen, and the new appliances were due to arrive next week. The renovations were almost complete and she couldn’t wait to wake up to a day where there wasn’t the sound of hammers and power tools.
That would also mean a day without seeing Kyle.
It was funny how she’d gone from just dealing with the fact that all she wanted with him was a fling, to wondering if this really could be something more.
Something with a little more permanence.
Something like she’d dreamed of when they dated so many years ago.
Not that she was going to be bringing that up tonight.
Nope. Tonight was about relaxing and unwinding and enjoying the company of the one man who could turn her inside out with just a grin or the touch of his incredibly talented hand.
Placing her purse down on the kitchen table, she realized he was still talking.
“And once the appliances are in and the last of the furniture gets delivered, I’ll deal with staining the new steps out front.”
“Um…what? I thought they were done.”
Shaking his head, Kyle stepped around her and helped himself to a bottle of water in the refrigerator before handing one to her. “They’re pretty much just bare wood. With all the work going on and contractors coming and going, it would have been crazy to finish them any sooner. This way, it will be like we’re putting finishing touches on our way out the door. You’ll have to let me know if you want to go with a light stain or maybe even painting them white to match the trim.”
“Oh, uh…I’ll have to think about that. I thought they were staying that way.” Taking a sip of her water, she walked across the room and sat down on the sofa.
Kyle followed, watching her carefully. “You okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
Reaching out, he caressed her arm. “You just seem a little uncomfortable.”
“I…I’m not.” But she realized her words and her voice were saying completely different things.
“Look,” he began softly, his caresses never stopping. “Remember the night you came to my place?”
She nodded.
“This is no different. If you just want to hang out, then we can sit up and talk until you feel better.” He took a sip of his water. “Or…if you want to go inside and christen that new king-sized bed, then I’m more than willing to oblige.”
She realized she was overthinking everything. Grinning at him, she said, “That wasn’t quite what you said that night.”
He shrugged. “I’m paraphrasing. But I’m also serious. As much as I envisioned exactly what I wanted to happen once we got back here, I’m perfectly fine just sitting and talking.”
“What…,” she began, “what did you envision?”
“For starters, walking through the door and then kissing you senseless up against it before getting a little down and dirty in the kitchen. Then, after I gave you your first orgasm, I was going to carry you into the bedroom.” He grinned. “The day that bed got delivered, I started fantasizing about all the ways I wanted to make love with you on it.”
It suddenly started to feel very warm in the room.
Clearing her throat, she said, “Oh, um…really?”
That boyish grin told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her with his words. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “But then again, I’ve pretty much been fantasizing about making love with you all over this house since I started working here.”
Heat flooded her cheeks and she couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “Stop. You have not.”
The hand that was caressing her arm stilled and he was quiet until she looked at him again. “When we worked on the rooms downstairs and you bought those oversized pillows for the rec room? I envisioned us there. And when your office was done and I would walk in and see you working, I had several fantasies about pushing everything off of your desk and doing some naughty things to you there.”
Yeah, it was definitely hot in there and she took a long drink of water to try to cool off.
“The day we took the TV out of the guest room? The day I kissed you on the bed?” His gaze darkened as he inched closer. “If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would have acted on that fantasy.”
“Kyle…”
Reaching up, he placed a finger over her lips and she couldn’t help but run her tongue over it. His soft hiss made her bold and she continued to kiss and lick each of his fingers as he got a little more graphic in his descriptions of what he wanted to do to her.
Without realizing it, Sydney kept moving closer until she was straddling his lap. He was hard everywhere and he smelled and tasted so good.
One large hand anchored on her hip while the other reached up into her hair. His eyes were dark with desire. When the grip in her hair tightened, she let out a small gasp.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he practically growled. “All I can think about is you—all day, every day.” His eyes scanned her face. “For years I wondered what would happen if I ever saw you again, but I never thought I’d have you like this again.”