Chapter 9 Kelsey
Kelsey sat in her car for a moment after pulling out of Archer’s driveway, her hands resting lightly on the steering wheel while the quiet hum of the engine filled the space around her.
The street ahead was calm and sunlit, the kind of slow weekend morning that usually made her feel relaxed, but today her mind refused to settle.
Harrison’s words from the drive over kept circling back, refusing to fade into the background.
The next time you lie to me, Kelsey, you’re going to find yourself over my knee getting your bottom spanked long and hard until the lesson sticks.
Heat crept slowly up the back of her neck again just thinking about it.
The ridiculous part was that the threat should have irritated her. Any other man speaking to her that way would have earned himself a very quick reminder that Kelsey Kincaid did not answer to anyone.
She was an independent woman.She owned her own business.She paid her own bills.
No one told her what she could or couldn’t do.
And yet…
Her stomach twisted slightly as she pulled onto the main road.
Because when Harrison said it, something inside her had reacted in a way she couldn’t quite explain.
Part of her had been mortified by the sheer boldness of it.
The other part—quieter, deeper, and far more dangerous—had gone warm and soft in her chest in a way that made her pulse quicken.
She hated that reaction.
And she craved it.
Kelsey exhaled slowly and shook her head as if she could physically dislodge the thought.
The grocery store was only ten minutes away, and if she didn’t run errands now she would spend the next three days surviving on stale granola bars and whatever leftovers she could scrounge out of the restaurant kitchen.
The parking lot was moderately busy when she arrived, but manageable. She grabbed a cart and headed inside, pushing it slowly through the produce section while tossing the basics into the basket—spinach, tomatoes, eggs, coffee.
Her mind wandered while she shopped, drifting back to the chaos of the group chat that morning.
Cassidy dramatically complaining about her sore bottom.
Savannah teasing her mercilessly for it.
Kelsey had laughed when she read the messages, but the truth lingered quietly underneath the humor.
Her friends were happy.
Really happy.
Savannah had Barrett.
Cassidy had Archer.
Both of them had men who noticed when something was wrong and stepped in without hesitation. Men who set boundaries, who provided structure, who carried the weight of things so their girls didn’t have to carry it alone.
Kelsey had spent most of her adult life insisting she didn’t need that.
Independence had always been her armor.
But lately…
Lately she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Her cart rolled slowly into the snack aisle before she realized where she was.
Kelsey stopped.
Then sighed.
If she was being honest with herself, the week ahead was going to be stressful enough without denying herself a few small comforts.
She grabbed a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels and dropped it into the cart.
Then she reached for a pack of soft chocolate chip cookies and added those too.
If she was already committing to the indulgence, she might as well do it properly.
She pushed the cart toward the frozen section a few aisles over and opened the freezer door, the cold air brushing across her arms as she scanned the options. After a moment of consideration, she grabbed a pint of vanilla ice cream and set it carefully on top of the other groceries.
“Kelsey.”
She froze.
Blake stood halfway down the aisle holding a basket in one hand, his expression somewhere between amused and curious.
“Hi, Blake,” she said cautiously.
He stepped closer and glanced down into her cart.
Produce.
Eggs.
Coffee.
Then the pretzels.
The cookies.
And the ice cream.
His brow lifted slowly.
“That doesn’t look like the grocery cart I expected from the owner of Seven Stones.”
Kelsey snorted.
“Oh please. You think I eat like the restaurant menu every day?”
Blake leaned casually against the cart handle and studied the contents again.
“That depends,” he said mildly. “Do you normally buy this much sugar at once?”
She crossed her arms.
“I’m an adult, Blake. I can buy whatever groceries I want.”
His mouth twitched slightly.
“I’m aware of that.”
Kelsey grabbed the cart handle again.
“Then we’re done here.”
Blake stepped aside but didn’t move away.
His gaze flicked back to the cart.
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, nodding toward the cookies and ice cream, “Harrison would have opinions about that.”
Her head snapped toward him.
“Harrison is not my Daddy,” she said quickly.
Blake lifted one shoulder.
“Didn’t say he was.”
His eyes drifted back to the ice cream.
“Still… he might.”
Kelsey tightened her grip on the cart handle.
“Well lucky for me,” she said sweetly, “that’s not his decision to make.”
Blake grinned.
“Maybe I’ll mention it to him anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You wouldn’t.”
Blake rocked back on his heels.
“I might.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes and pushed the cart past him.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Probably,” he called after her.
She finished the rest of her shopping quickly after that, but the encounter left a strange warmth lingering in her chest she didn’t want to examine too closely.
By the time she loaded the groceries into the trunk of her car, Harrison had already found his way back into her thoughts.
To the calm certainty in his voice.
To the quiet authority in the way he carried himself.
The drive home passed in a blur of errands and stoplights. She swung by the bank to deposit the weekend receipts from the restaurant and stopped at the office supply store to grab printer paper before finally heading back to her apartment.
Inside, she carried the grocery bags into the kitchen and began unloading them.
The chocolate pretzels went straight into the pantry.
The cookies joined them.
The ice cream went into the freezer.
She paused for a moment, staring at the carton before closing the door.
Harrison would definitely say something about that purchase.
The thought made her smile despite herself.
Kelsey shook her head and headed for the shower.
The restaurant was waiting whether her thoughts were sorted out or not.
The hot water loosened the tension in her shoulders as she stood beneath the spray longer than usual, letting the steady rush quiet her thoughts.
Of course it didn’t work.
Harrison’s voice surfaced again in her mind.
Over my knee.
Her stomach flipped.
Kelsey groaned softly and turned off the water before she could spiral any further.
An hour later she was dressed for work in one of her usual outfits—a fitted blouse, dark jeans, and low heels—as she locked her apartment door and headed toward Seven Stones.
The restaurant was already busy when she walked through the doors.
Warm light filled the dining room, bouncing off the exposed brick walls while the low murmur of conversation and clinking glasses created the familiar rhythm she knew so well.
Maddie stood behind the host stand flipping through the reservation list.
“Kelsey!” She said brightly. “Perfect timing. We’re slammed tonight.”
Savannah had taken the night off, which meant Kelsey would be running the front of the house herself.
“Of course we are,” Kelsey said with a sigh.
Maddie grinned.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Kelsey slipped behind the host stand and glanced at the seating chart.
“It’s not bad,” she admitted. “Just busy.”
The next hour passed in controlled chaos as she moved through the dining room greeting regulars and smoothing over small issues while the kitchen ran at full speed behind the swinging doors.
At one point Maddie leaned closer with a curious smile.
“So,” she said quietly, “I heard you were at Archer’s cookout yesterday.”
Kelsey nodded.
“Word travels fast.”
“Small town,” Maddie said.
She hesitated before asking, “Did Harrison go?”
Kelsey felt warmth creep up her neck again.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And nothing,” Kelsey said quickly.
Maddie raised an eyebrow but didn’t push.
Dinner service continued in a blur until the rush finally began to taper off.
By the time Kelsey slipped into the back office for a moment of quiet, her feet ached and her mind buzzed from the constant rhythm of the evening.
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes briefly.
For the first time all day, her thoughts returned fully to Harrison.
Tuesday night.
Dinner.
The memory of his warning surfaced again, vivid and impossible to ignore.
Kelsey felt the same strange mix of embarrassment and anticipation twist through her chest.
She told herself she should be annoyed.
She told herself she should be irritated by his confidence.
Instead…
She found herself wondering what it would actually feel like if he followed through on the promise.
And that realization alone was enough to make her cheeks burn in the quiet office.
Kelsey opened her eyes and shook her head.
Whatever was happening between her and Harrison was clearly not simple.
But one thing was becoming increasingly obvious.
The tension between them was only growing stronger.
And sooner or later… something was going to give.