Chapter 27 Miles
TWENTY-SEVEN
Miles
Lucy takes a shower while I put away my camping gear.
Going to Margaret’s sounds fun…and risky.
What if she accidentally says something to everyone?
When Lucy showed up with Margaret as her maid of honor, I had concerns.
The woman knows everything about everyone… I just hope she can keep those secrets.
But I need something to distract me. I’ve spent too much time in the office and too much time staring at my ceiling, thinking about my wife sleeping down the hall from me.
A game night is just the thing.
I change shirts in my bedroom and reapply deodorant and a little cologne for the night.
I still beat Lucy back to the living room.
There’s a mountain of laundry on the couch, and none of it is mine.
I didn’t even see Lucy bring that much stuff into the house.
I don’t know how she can fill an entire couch with clean clothes.
“I’m ready!” Lucy calls as she enters the living room. She catches me staring at the clothes and cringes. “Don’t worry, I’ll fold those when I get back.”
What’s funny is that it doesn’t bother me as much since it’s not mine. I would feel guilty if it were my clothes there, but it’s not that the actual mess bothers me.
“Or I can do it now?” Lucy suggests.
I shake my head. “You’re an adult. You can fold your laundry when you want.”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Oh, really? Who says I fold it?”
“Now you’re going too far,” I tease her.
Lucy walks ahead of me into the garage, carrying her makeup bag in one hand and her tennis shoes in the other. “Do you mind driving?”
“No, not at all. Were we supposed to bring anything?”
“Willa said she has us covered.”
She jumps into the passenger seat of my FJ Cruiser and flips down the visor.
“All righty then.” I climb in and start it up, closing the garage door with the button on my visor after I back onto the street.
“I didn’t know your garage was so messy,” Lucy says in a funny voice.
I glance at her as she’s contorting her face while applying some mascara.
“I should have added that to the roommate contract. Made you organize it every Saturday.”
“I don’t think I could keep up with Clutterbug Miles.”
“Don’t make me swerve and mess up your makeup,” I threaten.
She glares at me. “Don’t even think about it.”
“So, you’re sure you don’t mind going camping with my family?”
Lucy tucks her legs under her, crisscross-applesauce style. “We always knew we’d have to face them eventually. It’s kind of the whole reason we got married. Will we have to meet Preston?”
I nod. “He’ll probably be there.”
“I’ve got to admit, I’m very curious about him.”
“My parents and sisters will be there too.”
“Oh no. What if I like them like I do Goldie?”
Something warm and fuzzy fills my chest. I like that Lucy likes my family. And it feels important to me. Even if this is just a temporary thing for us.
“They’ll probably want to keep you in the divorce,” I assure her.
I turn into Margaret’s neighborhood and park at the far end of the road, leaving the closer parking spaces for the families with babies and any of Margaret’s senior friends…or boyfriends.
“I asked my friend Krystal about getting Alexander. I was planning on driving out there to get him, but she told me she’s coming through Oregon next week on a road trip and I could just meet up with her. Would that be an issue with the camping trip?”
“Absolutely not. That takes priority. I’ll even go with you to get him if you want?”
Lucy finishes swiping the lip gloss on her lips, then turns to flash me a smile. “How did I get so lucky to have you?”
And then she leans across the console and presses a quick kiss against my lips.
I think the move takes both of us by surprise, and I’m the one who recovers first. I grasp the back of her neck and deepen the kiss.
She tastes as sweet as she looks. And kissing her feels like lighting a fire in my veins.
Every nerve is standing at attention, and what was meant to be a sweet, innocent thank-you kiss swiftly turns into something else.
Her lips are warm against mine, and it feels like she’s infusing her warmth into me.
My lips are on fire. In fact, they feel like they’re burning.
I pull back abruptly. “Am I allergic to you? Why are my lips on fire?”
Lucy looks stunned as she stares at me, and then she glances at my lips and starts to laugh.
“My lips are burning.” I try to rub at them, and some lip gloss comes off.
“It’s lip plumper,” Lucy gasps out.
“Lip plumper?!”
“Yes, it kind of burns and tingles and makes your lips bigger.”
“There’s no tingle, just burn.” I glare at her.
She stops laughing and narrows her eyes. “You’re the one who kissed me.”
“You leaned over here to kiss me!”
“I was going to kiss your cheek,” she says dryly.
“Oh.” Well, this is incredibly awkward. She was going for a chaste cheek kiss, and I just ran my tongue against her teeth. “Um…”
My lips are still burning from the plumper, and I try to think of a good excuse for how I reacted.
“It was reflex?”
A myriad of emotions flits across her face before she leans back against her seat. “It’s probably good we kissed.”
“It is?” Apparently, all I can do right now is blurt out questions.
“Yes. When we’re around your family, they’re going to expect to see us comfortable with each other. They might even expect us to kiss.”
“Good point.” I let out a big breath of air. “And how was that?”
Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are twinkling as she taps a finger against her chin. “I don’t know. I’d rate it a five out of ten.”
“A five?!” I have the overwhelming urge to lean over there and kiss her until she gives me a ten.
She winks at me, and I have the sinking feeling that I’m the only one affected by that kiss.
“Maybe it’s that lip-burning stuff,” I mumble.
A door slams, and Lucy jumps out of the car and waves to someone parked farther behind us.
She leans back in the car and says in a panicked voice, “It’s Willa and Kingston.”
“Do you think they saw us?”
Lucy glances over her shoulder. “Nah, she doesn’t look shocked. I think we’re okay.”
“You and I are going to talk about this when we get home.”
Her jaw drops open at that, and I laugh as the shocked look turns into a scowl.
“You’d better watch yourself, Granger,” she threatens as she steps away from the car and slams the door.
I wait a full thirty seconds before I climb out of the car. I need to at least be breathing at a regular rate. Who knew a little kiss would send my heart rate sky high?
I greet Kingston with a slap on the shoulder. We’re not huggers. “Hey, I wondered if you were still alive.”
“We work together,” he deadpans.
“Yeah, except I’ve been stuck in the office lately and haven’t seen a hint of you.”
Kingston has the decency to look embarrassed. “Sorry about that. You’re right. I’ve left the boring stuff to you, haven’t I?”
I’m saved from answering because Margaret is at the door, waving for us to come in.
“We’re about to start the first round of poker! You’d better hurry!”
“Of course.” Willa laughs. “Knowing Margaret, it’s probably strip poker.”
Kingston and I clear our throats at the same time and share a look. That’s not something I care to think about.
We walk up the sidewalk to the porch, and I grab the door, holding it so the sisters can walk in first.
Kingston waits next to me.
“Did someone punch you in the mouth?” Kingston asks as he looks at me.
I reach up and rub at my lips again. Stinking lip plumper. “Burned it on hot coffee today.”
I burned it on something that was smoking hot anyway.