Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Elizabeth
K enny kissed like he had been ordained to do the job.
Literally, it felt like he was on a mission to claim me with his lips, and he wouldn’t accept defeat.
It was… stunningly hot.
Also rather unexpected.
For all the sweetness and sunshine he displayed, the gentleness and respect and courtesy, there was something demanding and almost base in the way he drove the kiss.
And me?
I more than happily hung on for the ride, opening to him when he demanded it, tilting my head when he urged me to, hooking my arms around his neck and pressing into him as he did me.
He groaned and broke the kiss, bent down, and picked me up by the back of the legs and deposited me on his kitchen counter. As he stepped between my knees, his large hands settling at my waist, I found my voice.
“Well, that was…” I didn’t know. Still hadn’t regained the full powers of speech, apparently, but Kenny was already shaking his head.
“Not done yet.”
His voice was gruff and so full of need, it made my stomach clench, then somersault when he dipped his head and kissed me again.
We were pressed together, every slide of his lips and tongue coaxing me from solid to liquid. The sounds he made, the way he was breathing, how his big hands splayed over my ribs, grasping but not moving up or down despite my internal pleas for it. With my thighs bracketing his narrow hips and my hands in his hair, I was utterly lost to any reason this wasn’t what we should do until the end of time.
Until he pulled back, squeezing my waist again and exhaling like he was catching his breath after a run.
“So. You did want to kiss me.”
His smile cracked through the serious, hooded expression like the first beams of sunrise. “Only a little.”
I bit my lip, but it did nothing to hide my answering grin.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and he swayed forward, but then he let go of me and forced his head back dramatically. “I don’t think I can stand there anymore.”
Knowing he was as addled as I was gave me boldness I wouldn’t have imagined after what’d felt like a total failure last night. He’d done the work to reassure me and I believed him.
Because of this, I asked, “Why not? ”
His gaze shot to mine, and he narrowed his eyes. “I think you know.”
My eyes widened, all innocence, and I pressed. “But why not? It was just a little kiss.”
Heat flared in his stunning blue irises and he stalked forward, shoving between my legs and resting his hands on the cabinet behind me, thoroughly caging me in.
Well hello . The tattoos had struck me as surprisingly bad boy for this sweet, sensitive man, but I was getting a hint of a new dimension. That kiss, and now this rough, barely leashed energy from him, was more than a little thrilling.
His gaze was dark and full of promise. “Yes. Just a tiny, harmless kiss.”
I lifted my chin, positioning my lips a breath from his. “Completely harmless.”
He shook his head slowly, brushing his mouth over mine once, twice, then pulling back.
“Stay for dinner?”
“Sure.” I didn’t have to think about it. There wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be. And if I hung around, maybe he’d kiss me again.
He didn’t kiss me again.
Not until hours later, after we’d eaten a meal he’d cooked for us, then watched a movie in his cozy living room with a sleeping kitten snuggled on the couch between us. Not until I’d stepped outside his door, certain he was going to let me go without talking about the kiss, or what it meant, or what came next.
I was certain right up until he grabbed my hand and tugged, pulling me back toward him and sinking his hands into my hair with so much stabled hunger, I couldn’t imagine how I’d not felt it coming. He kissed me so thoroughly, I saw stars when he pulled back a few minutes later and it had nothing to do with the pitch-dark sky.
“Buy you a donut tomorrow before work?” he asked, releasing my hair but pinching my chin lightly before letting me go completely.
“Sounds good,” I managed, amazed I could sound at all composed after the unraveling he’d just done.
“Good. Zero-eight. See you there.”
So at seven-forty-five, I left the house and two minutes later ducked into the shop to find Elise sliding a fresh batch of donuts into the display case.
“Well, hello there. Back for more donuts already?” She grinned.
“They are delicious. But actually, this was Kenny’s doing. I’m meeting him here in a few minutes.”
Her smile widened. “Oh. Well. Very nice.” She wiggled her brows.
Discomfort hit at the knowledge that she assumed we were dating or together or at least interested in each other. But then… weren’t we?
My shoulders deflated at the unavoidable reality that I didn’t know. And no matter what he thought, or even what I thought, we didn’t have a future.
“Hmm. That wasn’t the response I anticipated.” Her gaze sharpened and slid over me as though checking for something, but when I blinked it was gone. “On another note, are you coming to book club? ”
“Is that Saturday? Jo mentioned it again, so I’ve been thinking about it.”
She’d actually texted me every day and had left me a paperback copy at my apartment door a few days after I’d arrived. I had read the book eagerly since the club focused on romance reads and I’d enjoyed the genre a great deal.
“Yes. We’ll have wine and appetizers and even if you haven’t read, it’s fun. I’ve missed finishing the book a few times and it’s still great. The weeks I can’t make it just kill me.” Her smile flickered and fell.
“Do you have to miss often?” I asked, that expression too different not to ask.
She waved a hand and straightened her apron. “Nah. Occasionally, I have a meeting that pops up, but not as often lately.” She grinned and her brows rose. “Your date’s here.”
“Oh, we’re not uh… well, yeah. Thanks.” And yes, I had a master’s degree and had briefed senior State and Defense department staff, but my composure in the face of a handsome man meeting me for donuts was apparently nil.
Speaking of, said man looked unfazed as he wandered in and flashed me a grin that made my insides twist. And right behind him, Cookie entered the shop.
“Morning, Liz,” he said, his voice still rumbly from sleep.
“Morning, Kenny. Or do I call you Barbie? I’m never really sure.” I sort of wanted to push and see what he said.
“How about you call me whatever you want?”
My heart flipped, and I tried my best not to read the innuendo in his tone, but it was impossible.
“Kenny, then,” I said quietly.
His smile was soft, almost secret. “Works for me.”
Elise stood behind the counter and beamed at us. “Aren’t you two adorable? ”
We both chuckled and stepped up behind Cookie, who’d finally caught Elise’s gaze.
“Morning, Luc,” she said with a small smile and a flush to her cheeks.
Cookie nodded and spoke so quietly I could hardly hear him. “Glazed, please.”
She blinked but nodded, punching in the order and then fluttering away to get his donuts. Kenny and I eyed each other, and I was relieved he saw it, too. There was something here and it was weird. Clearly, Elise kind of liked Cookie, enough to blush when she greeted him, but he was not himself. He was on the quiet end from what I’d seen, but not like this.
Once Cookie had paid and the complete silence between the two ended, Kenny moved up to order, then insisted I do the same. Minutes later, we were seated at a two-top by the front window as though Elise wanted to show us off, but instead of being self-conscious, I just listened.
He told me about the kitten this morning, told me about a dream he’d had, and right as he was saying, “We should talk about last night,” both our phones buzzed.
The timing couldn’t be a coincidence, so we both checked our messages to find the same thing.
There’d been an incident at Jack’s and he and Evie were requesting we come to the house immediately.