Chapter 10 #2
I take her coat and hang it in the closet—where it belongs –and then show her the rest of the house.
We start in the kitchen with its beamed ceiling, hand scraped wood floors and custom cabinets.
She oohs and aahhs over the granite counter tops and gleaming stainless steel appliances.
Off of the kitchen is a den, with floor to ceiling windows that look out onto my property and a towering stone fireplace.
A dining area sits adjacent to the kitchen.
“It’s very manly,” she comments, gliding her fingertips over the back of one of the leather dining chairs. “Lots of wood and leather. It’s very you.”
“If you move in with me, you can redecorate however you want,” I promise. “We can paint the kitchen bright pink, get feathered pillows, a mirrored ceiling. Whatever you want.”
She laughs, her mouth hanging open. “I didn’t say I wanted to change any of it. I like it the way it is. I like seeing you in every touch.”
My heart feels too big for my chest. She really is perfect in every single way. “Come on, let me show you upstairs.”
I take her hand and lead her up the gleaming wooden stairs, taking her straight to my bedroom. Our bedroom, if I get my way.
“Oh, wow, Logan,” she says quietly, taking it in.
Two walls are taken up entirely by windows that look out onto a pine forest, the mountains visible above the tips of the trees.
Another fireplace sits between two of the windows, and my massive king-sized bed is in the middle of the room, facing the large TV mounted to the far wall.
I take her hand and pull her into the ensuite, showing her the soaker tub nestled beneath a huge window, and the walk in shower with its river rock floor.
“There are two more bedrooms up here. One’s Hailey’s old room, and the other is my office. On the walk-out basement level, there’s a big games room and a movie theater.”
“There’s a movie theater?!?” she squeals, and it makes me grin that of all the finer points of the house, that might be what sells her.
“Yeah. And there’s a fire pit and a hot tub in the backyard, too. We can have a soak later, if you want.”
“I didn’t bring a swim suit,” she says, blushing, and I slide my hands around her waist.
“You don’t need one. This whole half acre is mine. No one can see my backyard. It’s completely private.”
“Hmm, well. In that case,” she says, eyebrows bouncing. I lean down to kiss her, but we’re once again interrupted by her hungry stomach.
“Come on,” I say, lacing my fingers with hers. “Let’s go find some lunch.”
We head back down to the kitchen, and I lift her up and set her on the island while I pull out some leftover Chinese from the day before.
I turn on the oven—I hate using the microwave to warm things up—arrange everything on a tray, and slide it in to heat up.
And then, I turn my attention to Kaylee.
“Stay here with me,” I whisper, my hands landing on either side of her hips on the island. “Just live here, with me. Wake up in my bed every morning. Please, baby,” I say, and I don’t care that I’m begging. The thought of her not living here with me is physically painful.
“I’m trying to think of a reason to say no,” she says, tilting her head. I drop my head and start kissing a path up and down her neck. She moans softly, and I suck gently on a spot beneath her ear. Maybe I’m not playing fair, but I don’t care.
“You can’t because there isn’t one,” I say, scraping my teeth over her earlobe. She shivers and clutches at my shirt.
“Maybe not,” she admits. “Just kiss me, please, Logan. I need you to kiss me.”
So I do, lowering my mouth to hers and kissing her slow and gentle.
Her tongue slips against my lower lip, just like I showed her, and I let her in, letting her explore my mouth with her eager, curious tongue.
She moans and I kiss her back, deepening the kiss.
I lose all sense of time as I kiss my girl, slow and deep, unhurried.
Kissing for the sake of kissing. Because it feels good.
Because we both want to, and we can. There’s no end goal of getting her in bed here.
We’re going to have lunch, maybe have a shower, and then she needs to go to the office to do whatever she needs to do with those papers I signed.
I’m so lost in Kaylee, in the sweetness of her mouth and her soft sighs as she melts in my arms, that I don’t hear the steps on the stairs coming up from the lower level. But then there’s a loud gasp, followed by the words “What the hell?” in a voice I immediately recognize.
Kaylee and I jerk apart like two teenagers caught making out in the backseat of a car, and I turn to see my daughter Hailey standing several feet away, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She’s wearing a University of Alberta sweatshirt, her laptop in her hands.
“Dad?” she says, her voice filled with disbelief. “What…what is happening right now?”
Kaylee slides off the island, her face bright red. I want to tug her to me, to make her stay, but she’s too fast.
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles, twisting her fingers together. “I’ll, um. Give you guys some privacy. Excuse me.” She darts out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving me alone with my daughter.
Hailey’s gaze swings to me, her eyes narrowing. “Was that Kaylee Murphy?”
I rub a hand over the back of my neck. “Yeah. You know her?”
“Not well, but I definitely remember going to high school with her! Dad, she’s my age. Younger than me, I think, because she was a grade behind. What are you doing?” she hisses.
“What are you doing home? Don’t you have classes?”
“They canceled them pre-emptively because of the storm, so I thought I’d surprise you with a visit for the weekend. Looks like I’m the one who got the surprise.” She shoots me a withering look.
I cross my arms and shift my weight, trying to find the right words. “It’s not what it looks like, or what you think it looks like, Hails.”
She walks into the kitchen and sets her laptop down on the counter, then crosses her arms, mirroring my stance with one eyebrow arched. “Really? Because it looked like you were making out with a girl younger than your own daughter.”
I sigh, leaning back against the counter.
“Okay, maybe it is what it looks like. But I want you to know that this isn’t some…
fling, or whatever. You know me. I don’t date.
I don’t mess around. Kaylee’s my girlfriend, Hails.
And this isn’t how I wanted you to find out, but it’s done now.
Kaylee and I are dating. And I care about her. A lot.”
Hailey’s eyebrows shoot up. “You do?” she asks, skepticism dripping from her voice. “How…” She sighs and presses a hand to her forehead. “How did this happen?”
“She’s my realtor.”
Her head jerks back at that. “You’re moving? But you love this place.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I was looking for a place for you. As a graduation present.” I hold my hands out at my sides and wiggle my fingers. “Surprise,” I say flatly.
“Oh. That’s…really sweet of you, Dad.” She frowns. “But then…you haven’t known her that long then. So it can’t be that serious.”
“You’re right, I haven’t known her long, but I can assure you that it is serious. I want her to move in here with me.”
“What?” She shakes her head. “You’re crazy. Is this some kind of mid-life crisis or something? Because that’s nuts. How do you know she’s not some deranged gold digger?”
I scowl at her. “She’s not. I’m the one who pursued her, not the other way around.”
“She’s got to be twenty-five years younger than you.”
“She is.” I nod, because our age difference is a simple fact, one I can’t deny.
Our eyes lock, and I’m reminded of the arguments we used to have when she was a teenager over things like curfew and borrowing the car.
Hailey rolls her eyes and drops her arms. “God, Dad. This is so weird.”
“We can’t help who we fall for, Hailey.”
She mumbles something that sounds like, “Don’t I know it,” but now isn’t the time to push.
“I know it’s weird for you. I get that. But it’s happening.
Kaylee and I are both adults, and we’re in a relationship.
You don’t have to like it. You’re allowed to feel however you feel about it.
But you do have to accept it, and you do have to treat Kaylee with respect.
” I take a step towards her. “I know it’s a lot, but I hope eventually you can be okay with it. ”
She bites her lip, looking away. “I don’t know if I can be. I mean, what are people going to say? What are people going to think?”
“I don’t give a shit what other people think, and you should know that. This is my life, and Kaylee makes me happier than I’ve been in a very long time.”
“She does?” When I meet her eyes, I can see her softening, even if she doesn’t like it.
I nod. “She really does. And I think I make her pretty damn happy, too.”
Hailey sighs, then lets out an aggravated sound.
“This is so weird. You can’t just go around dating people half your age…
because…it’s…” She shakes her head. “If she makes you happy, then I can try, because you being happy is important to me. I will work on accepting that you’re dating Kaylee, and I promise to be nice to her. ”
I pull her into a hug. “That’s all I ask, sweetheart. Thank you.”
She wraps her arms around me, hugging me back. But when she pulls away, her expression is serious. “If she hurts you, I rescind all promises made. Or tries to steal your money.”
“She’s not going to do either of those things, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
Hailey sighs again and looks up the stairs. “I should go talk to her, probably. Right?”
I shrug. “Up to you.”
“I should go talk to her.”
I grin at her. “Someone sure did a good job raising you.”
“It was Mom,” she says with a smirk, and I clutch my chest.
“Ouch.”
She laughs and heads up the stairs.