Chapter 19
19
KINGSTON
“ A carriage? Yes, we could totally handle that. Yes, I have a guy.”
I leaned against the doorway, crossing my hands over my chest as I watched Claire fold laundry while on her phone, explaining that she had a guy with a horse-drawn carriage.
This was something I needed to investigate.
I had tried to go in there and help fold the laundry earlier, and she had smacked my hand and told me that it was my day off from doing chores. Considering it was her house. Well, she didn’t have to know that I had already taken out the trash, cleaned the gutters, and was going to work on doing some touch-ups on the paint around the place once I found her paintbrushes. I knew she had them because she had mentioned it was on her to-do list for later that day, so I would just get started. Claire had done laundry, as well as a few other things around the house that had taken her most of the morning while she was on the phone working. I didn’t know how she could do seventeen things at once. I usually needed to be focused on one thing at a time unless I was on the job and aware of our surroundings. That was inherent. But Claire could do seven things at once while still having a conversation.
“No problem. I will send you an email with all the quotes and see what we can do. And you’re right, there’s a few other things that we should handle, but we can do that in person after the first?” She smiled, shaking her hips as she worked, and my gaze went straight to that action. My cock hardening and tenting my gray sweatpants.
“Yes, happy holidays to you. And don’t worry. I’m here for you.” She shook again, and I held back an audible groan. “Yes, have a great day. Goodbye.” And then Claire turned around to end the call and met my gaze. She screamed loudly, dropping the set of clean panties in her hands, and pressed her fist to her heart.
“I didn’t know you were watching me. Stalker much?”
I snorted, then leaned forward, brushing my lips against hers .
“I was just watching you dance. I can’t help it. You do things to me.”
“Well. I can see that.” She pointed to my erection, and I shrugged, my cock bobbing along with the movement.
“You can’t blame me. You were bending over. And dancing.”
“And you’re not wearing underwear, are you?”
“That’s the point of gray sweatpants. I’m supposed to seduce you with my VPL.”
“Where did you even learn that word?” she asked with a laugh.
“I know things. I’m very savvy.”
“And I do not even want to know,” she said with a laugh. “And what have you been doing with that VPL of yours?” she asked, raising both brows. She was so cute because she couldn’t raise one at a time, and it kept bugging her that so many in her life could.
“I’m not going to sit on my ass while you’re working and cleaning your house.”
“But it’s your day off.”
“And? Let me help. I like doing things with you. I love you.”
It was never going to get old hearing those words coming from my mouth. I grew up knowing that love and happiness were something that you could attain. I grew up in a household where my family loved me, and I watched healthy relationships bloom around me day in and day out. I always assumed that one day I would find that one person, and I would know when it happened. I would immediately find myself on a path that I had been prepared for because of my connections.
I hadn’t realized that I was such a damn idiot for so long.
“I love you too. It scares me a little bit how much I do.”
I leaned forward, brushing my fingers along her jawbone. “Why are you scared? You shouldn’t be.”
“I’m not scared of you. Or even of us. I just didn’t realize I could feel like this. I spent so long trying not to feel everything because I was so scared and I didn’t realize that I could have this.”
I reached down and handed her the scrap of panties, and she rolled her eyes before throwing them back in the washer. “Yes, laundry on the floor, us in sweats, and you doing my housework even though I asked you not to.”
“I even cleaned your gutters.”
“You were on a ladder without me? Kingston.”
“There were no dogs around to push me off the ladder. I was fine.”
“Well at least you’re getting over that fear. I feel like maybe I should have told you a long time ago that I liked you. But we’re not in high school, and I wasn’t going to wait for you to see me. I just hid in myself. And how silly was that?”
I clucked my tongue, and then ran my fingers down her arms before grasping her hands in mine. “I’m just annoyed that a bear literally walked past us, and while my cousin and Phoebe were safe in the car, I didn’t realize that the woman of my dreams was hiding in that bathroom.”
“Oh yes, in a state park bathroom, so sexy.”
“You are fucking sexy.”
“To be honest, I’m glad that we became friends. And that I didn’t have to stress myself out for too long over if you would see me or not.”
“I should have seen you.”
“We weren’t ready yet. And hey, now we don’t have to think about it because you’re stuck with me. I am very sorry.”
“I’m not sorry at all.”
“Did you really clean the gutters?”
“Yep. That’s one less thing on your to-do list. I was looking for paintbrushes to work on touching up the trim.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I wrapped my arms around her, as she snuggled into my chest. She smelled so damn good, and I couldn’t help but let my hands wander, cupping her ass. Even though it was almost New Year’s, snow all around, she was wearing tiny little shorts under one of my sweatshirts. And as I probed underneath the shorts just to see, I grinned. “You’re not wearing any underwear either.”
“Kingston Montgomery. We have to do work before we head out to your parents’ house for dinner. Though this does seem like it’s an awfully big event.”
I squeezed her ass, and she laughed.
“I’m pretty sure that nearly dying and then coming together in the hospital room is the Montgomery rite of passage to become family. So you’re stuck with me. And your family’s coming over for dinner too.”
“Just Hudson and the kids. My parents are off on their cruise.”
“Well, Hudson and the kids are already part of the Montgomery way of life, so they’re going to get doubly so.”
“This doesn’t feel real.”
I brushed my lips against hers again, and she sighed into me.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s real. But let’s check.” And so without giving her any warning, I gripped her by the hips, and lifted her so she sat on the dryer. When she let out a squeak, I pressed a few buttons, and the dryer began to tumble.
Her eyes widened, and I slid in between her legs.
“Kingston. I wasn’t done. There’s still wet laundry in the washer. ”
“We’ll deal with the laundry in a second. Let’s just see how this whole tumbling thing works. I’ve never tried it.”
“Well, sitting on a dryer’s mostly a girl thing.”
I raised that single brow and she scowled at me.
“You’ve gotten yourself off on a dryer before. And I thought you were the sweet and innocent one.”
She reached down and gripped me underneath the band of my sweats.
“Oh, we can see exactly who’s the innocent one here.”
I kissed her with everything that I had, both of us groaning into one another. It took a bit of maneuvering, and then her shorts were off, and my hands were underneath the sweatshirt, cupping her breasts.
“Kingston. I need you.”
“I’ve got you,” I growled. “I’ve got you.” And as I shoved my sweatpants down past my knees, I slid deep inside her. We both groaned, the dryer making her move on my dick without me even trying, and both of us laughed a bit, and then we were moving with abandon, with Claire leaning back to hold onto the edge of the dryer, and me thrusting into her as the dryer moved quickly. The warmth added to the sensation, and we laughed, continued to find each other, and when she came, I followed, unable to hold back any longer .
“Well damn,” I whispered. “I wonder what would happen if we used permanent press?”
“Maybe next time. My ass is getting hot.”
I immediately pulled her off the dryer, both of us laughing, and then I kissed her again, needing her close.
“You know I never expected you. I know I keep saying that. But I didn’t. I thought you were just ignoring me all those months because I fucked up.”
“You didn’t fuck up. And I was ignoring you because…well, I was in my own head. For obvious reasons. And because you saw me bleeding out on the floor and helpless. I thought I loved you, but I really just loved the idea of you. And that crush just made everything a little twisted in my brain. But I love you. And I guess us getting trapped in a cabin in the woods was the best thing ever.”
“I’m going to be forever grateful for old fashioneds, snow, and you riding my dick.”
“You should put that on a card. It would sell millions.”
“I just might do that. The next Montgomery dynasty?” I pressed a hard kiss to her lips, and then we laughed as we cleaned up, both of us taking our time in the shower.
That of course meant we were late to the dinner, and Claire’s brother gave me a knowing look as we showed up .
“Well, I see you had a fun day.”
“Stop it,” Claire said as she kissed her brother’s cheeks, and then held out her arms for her niece and nephew. They tumbled on top of her, as my brothers came through, both of them laughing at the sight.
“It’s nice not to be the youngest anymore,” Oliver said, and Logan snorted.
“You still act younger.” They shoved at each other, as my mom came through and shook her head at them.
“They never really grow out of it,” she said dryly to Hudson, and Hudson sighed.
“So I hear.”
“We have a straggler for dinner if that’s okay,” Mom said, and I frowned as Ford came in.
“Hey. I came in with news, and now I get dinner. Greer and Noah are on date night, so now I don’t have to eat leftovers.”
“Like either one of them would ever let you just have leftovers on their date night,” Lincoln said with a sigh. “Plus I know you know how to cook.”
“Fine, fine. They’re amazing and didn’t leave me alone. I’m blessed.”
“What’s wrong?” Claire asked, as she came back, her hand coming into mine.
“Yeah, what’s up, Ford?”
Hudson cleared his throat and looked at the twins. “Hey, can you go upstairs and go get that present you have for your aunt? We’ll let you know when you can come down.”
“I hate not being an adult,” Claire’s nephew said as Claire’s niece just sighed and the two left the room.
I frowned at Ford, confused. “We were at work all day yesterday, and I’ve had my phone on me. What’s up?”
“The officer’s going to call you tomorrow, but I just wanted to make sure that you knew that they found the car.”
Claire stiffened next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her. Hudson came closer, a scowl on his face.
“What do you mean they found the car?”
In the weeks since the accident, they had been searching for the driver and car that had run Claire off the road and almost killed her. But they hadn’t found it. The lack of evidence, and the snowstorm had pushed everything behind. Then there had been a giant pileup on the highway, as well as a double homicide in the same area, and while it had nothing to do with Claire’s accident, it did pull focus.
But not for us, never for us.
“They found the car abandoned, about ten miles outside of Westminster.”
I blinked. “All the way down there?”
He nodded. “Yes. It made it all the way down there, and there was clear evidence that it was the car that hit Claire.”
“What happened to the driver?” Claire asked, her voice low.
Ford shook his head. “Turns out he turned himself in this morning.”
My jaw dropped as Claire gasped. “Just like that?” I asked, anger rising. “After all this time?”
“It was a kid, Claire,” Ford said, speaking directly to her and wisely ignoring my anger. “The cops are going to call you in the morning because they were still working through things. I just have a buddy that was keeping me in the loop because we’ve been helping him with another case. That’s the only reason I know now. And I literally just found out. It was a kid. Some seventeen-year-old who had been drinking cheap booze and didn’t realize what he was doing. He stole his dad’s car, and then kept driving because he was so damn scared. And when they found the car, the kid wasn’t home, but the dad was. I don’t know the whole story, but the kid showed up at the precinct, and told them everything. I don’t know what’s going to happen to him, it’s not going to be good. He’s seventeen, they can treat him like an adult. But he was scared shitless.”
“He almost killed Claire,” I growled.
Claire patted my chest, her voice soft when she spoke. “But I’m fine. How scary for that kid though? ”
“Don’t…don’t pity him,” I snapped.
“I’m with Kingston on this,” Hudson agreed.
“I can be angry with him later. I’ve been angry with whoever this imaginary person was this entire time. But right now, I’m just sad. His entire life has changed, and I’m fine. Yes, I was scared, but we’ve been through worse. Every single person in this room has been through worse. Which is terrifying considering what happened. But we’re okay, and we’re in this new year, and I just want good things to happen. So let’s have this family dinner which has been stressing me out all day because it’s a meet the parents thing even though I know you guys, and well, here I am. Panicking over this. But I love all of you. Every single person in this room. So let’s just deal with it tomorrow. Because I’m okay.” She repeated, looking at me, “I’m okay.”
I sighed, and wrapped my arms around her, as I saw out of the corner of my eye my mom wiping tears from her face. “Well, I always wanted a daughter. I’m glad that I have you.”
“Mom,” I whispered.
“Oh shush. I’m not pushing you into marriage or defining your relationship—I’m adopting her. It’s going to get a little weird later with the paperwork, but she’s mine now. I’m sorry.”
I laughed, as my mom took Claire from me, and Ethan held me close. “I love you, son. Don’t be angry. You’ll deal with it later.”
I met Ford’s gaze, and he nodded, and I knew we would.
My job was protecting people. And finding ways for them to protect themselves. The fact that Claire was able to find that space in order to say what she did? She was so much stronger than any of us. And maybe, just maybe, I hadn’t failed as many times as I thought. So we would deal with the future together, all of us. We would deal with the driver, with the next calamity that came to the Montgomerys, and anything that the world threw at us.
Claire looked over her shoulder and winked at me, and I lifted my chin, before I went over to her, my family surrounding me.
One night had changed everything, but in the end, I got the girl.
I had finally fallen for the girl who had always been there.
And it was about damn time.