Chapter 17 Wyatt
I spent the night at Kinley’s place and woke up the next morning to the sound of her talking on the phone. I got up from the bed, following her voice.
Last night had been so fucking fantastic. I smiled at the memory, running a hand through my hair. Kinley gasped when she noticed me, then went back to her call.
“Then... No, no, no, nothing. Yeah, I just had a scare. Can I call you back? Okay, thanks.” She lowered her phone, pressing End Call before throwing it onto the couch. “Wyatt, you can’t do that.” She pointed at me.
“And what exactly is ‘that’?”
She narrowed her eyes, putting both hands on her hips. “Walk in naked.”
“What is it about me naked that you don’t like?” I moved toward her deliberately slowly.
Her eyes traveled up and down my body. She was drinking coffee. I glanced at her cup when I was right in front of her.
“I need a sip of that,” I said.
She immediately lifted it to my lips. I touched her hand, tilting it the way I wanted as I drank from it. After putting the cup down, I realized she wasn’t making eye contact. She was looking at the floor—no, she was looking at my dick.
“Enjoying the view?”
She looked up and giggled. “I wasn’t doing it on purpose.”
“Clearly,” I teased back.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Can you put some clothes on?”
“Or you could take yours off.” I leaned into her ear, grabbing her earlobe between my teeth. She playfully pushed me away. “What are your plans? Who were you talking to?”
“My sister. She wanted to chat.”
“About?”
She averted her gaze. “You.”
“She knows I spent the night here?”
“Of course not.”
I whistled. “Damn. That’s a blow to my ego.”
She groaned. “I’m sorry. That sounded really crappy. I didn’t mean it like that.” She glanced down. “Wyatt, I can’t get my thoughts together with you parading your cock in front of me.”
I wanted to tease her some more, but I sensed that she truly wanted to talk.
“I’ll go get dressed.”
“Perfect.”
When I came out of the bedroom again, Kinley was filling two plates with sunny-side-up eggs.
“Just in time. Breakfast is ready,” she said.
“You didn’t have to make breakfast. It’s Saturday. We could just go out.”
She looked at me and then back down at the plates as she put the pan in the sink.
“Kinley, what is it?”
“Nothing.” She grabbed the plates and hurried to the dining table.
Did she really think she could brush me off that easily?
I opened the drawers until I found cutlery, giving her time to arrange the napkins on the table or whatever she was pretending to do while avoiding talking to me.
Then I joined her, setting down a fork and knife for each of us.
When she still didn’t say anything, I put a hand on her waist, whirling her around.
“Kinley. I don’t like this.”
She licked her lips, looking up. “What?”
“You’re clearly uncomfortable. What’s wrong? Why is it such a bad idea for your sister to know?”
“When I told her about the kiss, she warned me that it’s not a good idea.”
“We both know that.” My tone was humorous, and she instantly relaxed. Clearly, this was the way to go. “But the fact that something isn’t a good idea doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.”
She laughed. “I think that’s exactly what it means.”
“Fine, let me rephrase. It doesn’t mean we’re able to do the right thing.”
“That sounds more like us,” Kinley replied.
I sensed that she needed more time to process this. It wasn’t ideal—it wasn’t good for team dynamics if I dated one of my employees—but it wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle. Something about Kinley made me want to break all the rules. But I knew it was more complicated for her.
“What do you usually do on Saturdays?” I asked her.
“Depends. Sometimes I go to the beach and take a walk. Drink coffee.”
“Let’s do that after breakfast.”
She hesitated for a split second. Then her gorgeous face lit up with a smile. Her green eyes just sucked me in. “If you want, I can show you my favorite spot.”
“I’d be honored to share that with you.”
I wanted Kinley to open up to me, but I had to go at her pace.
The sunny-side-ups were good, but I was still hungry after eating them.
“Does the place where we’re grabbing coffee also sell food?” I asked as we put the plates in the dishwasher.
“You’re still hungry? I’ve got more food.”
“Let’s get out of the house. I suspect that you’ll be more relaxed.”
“Okay.”
We rode in my car, as I intended to drop her back off later. Her favorite spot was forty minutes away. On the drive, she spoke about work exclusively, so I followed her lead.
As we exited the car, I instantly took a liking to this place.
It wasn’t crowded at all, and there was even a truck selling baked goods and coffee.
“What are you having?” I asked Kinley when we reached the counter.
“An Americano and a donut, please.”
“I’ll have an Americano, too, and two donuts.”
“Right away,” the woman behind the counter said. She seemed to be in her late sixties, unless I was mistaken.
She fulfilled our order in just a couple of minutes, and I bit into my donut before I even paid.
“Damn, this is good.”
The woman seemed affronted. “Of course it’s good. You think I’m selling dog shit?”
Kinley pressed her lips together, shaking her head subtly.
“My bad, ma’am,” I said.
I quickly paid, tipping her generously. That seemed to mellow her.
“You have a great day,” she said as Kinley and I walked away.
Once we were far enough from the truck, Kinley leaned in conspiratorially. “I call her Granny. I don’t know what her real name is. I asked her once, and she replied that it’s none of my business.”
I laughed. “Wow, what a way to run a business.”
“Here’s the thing. Sometimes she’s super, super friendly, and sometimes she’s not. But she never wants to tell me her name.”
“You asked a second time after she shut you down?”
“Of course. I caught her in a good mood once, figured that was my chance. No luck.”
After finishing the donuts, we took off our shoes before we stepped onto the sand. I was holding my cup of coffee in one hand and my shoes in the other.
“I wasn’t joking. I think those are the best donuts I’ve ever had.”
“That’s actually how I found this spot. I found a social media account that posted about finding hidden gems.”
“She can’t have many customers, though.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised. It’s full here at sunset.” She grinned. “You look so funny with your shirt and cuff links here on the beach.”
“I can take them off if you prefer,” I teased as we both sat down on the sand.
“Here in broad daylight? You’d seriously do that?”
“Hey, I offered to take off my cuff links, not all my clothes. But it’s interesting that that’s what you came up with.”
Kinley’s ears turned red, and she quickly downed a mouthful of coffee. After she lowered her cup, I leaned in, putting my mouth in the crook of her neck, stealing a kiss. She giggled, and I straightened up.
“How often do you come here?” I asked her.
I wasn’t going to bring up her sister again. I just wanted us both to relax today.
“Probably once or twice a week, though that will change now, of course. I don’t have as much time as before.”
“We can come here together sometime. I bet it helps you decompress at the end of the day.”
Kinley’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.
We enjoyed the coffee in silence. Once we were done, I asked, “Want seconds?”
“Nah, I’m good. We can just enjoy the waves. They’ve gotten bigger since we arrived.”
“Yeah, but I don’t like this position,” I said.
She frowned. We were both sitting down, leaning back with our palms in the sand.
“Okay.” She sounded confused.
I pushed myself up onto my knees and then moved behind her, sitting so I could cradle her legs with mine and she could rest with her back against my chest.
“Oh, I like this new position so much more,” she said.
“Figured you would.”
I only kept one palm in the sand, resting the other on her belly. I’d been right. She was calmer here than at the house.
“Elsa is simply looking out for me,” Kinley said out of nowhere. Her stomach tightened slightly.
“That’s great.”
“And she’s right, isn’t she?” she murmured. I felt as if she was having a conversation with herself.
“Kinley, you just had a bad episode.”
“It was more than that, and you know it.”
“I wasn’t trying to downplay it. I called it an episode because that’s how I see life. It’s not always going upward. Sometimes we run into rough patches.”
“Then I’ve had an entire awful season,” she said, but started to laugh.
“And now that season is over.”
She leaned against me, completely letting go. I ran my fingers through her hair; it was soft and silky.
“You’re always so optimistic.”
“Yeah. I’m a pain in everyone’s butt because of that.”
She laughed. “Anyway, I think Elsa might chastise me some more, but I’ll tell her that it’s none of her business.”
“Channeling Granny back there.”
“Exactly.”
“Kinley, tell her what you’re comfortable with. If you want, I can talk to your sister.”
She abruptly turned around to face me. “Why would you do that?”
I shrugged, letting go of her hair. “It could help.”
“Nah. That’s not how things work between my sister and me.”
“I just want you to relax and not worry about anything.”
“Well, you certainly did a great job of making that happen last night.”
I grinned. “Is that so?”
Kinley was so fucking feisty. I loved it.
“Yeah. I mean, on my favorite armchair, then in the bathroom and the bedroom. I lost count.”
“I didn’t,” I whispered in her ear. “I remember every single orgasm you had.” She gasped and then quickly looked around. “The beach is empty, Kinley.”
“Let’s change the subject,” she urged.
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to turn me on, and then who knows what might happen.”
“Oh, I know exactly what will happen. I’ll drive back to your place, and we can pick up where we left off last night.”
“I can’t do that. Emily asked if I want to go to a fair with them later, and I said yes.”
“What kind of fair?”
“It’s a street party with activities for kids. Emily loves those.”
I liked hearing her talk about her niece and her sister, and that she was so involved in their lives. It mirrored my relationship with Jeremy.
“When do you have to meet them?”
“At three o’clock.”
“Then we’d better head back.”
“Why? It’s only eleven. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Oh.” Her mouth was delicious, shaped in an O. “Someone’s got big plans.”
“Hell yes. As a matter of fact, why don’t we grab some more donuts?”
“Why?”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “For after.”
Kinley grinned. “You’re full of great ideas today.”
“I know.”