Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tucker
I’m equal parts excited and terrified to see Kate this morning. The kiss we shared was beyond all of my expectations. She was soft, yet eager, clearly swept up in the moment, and damn if I didn’t want to yank her up and carry her to her bed without a second’s hesitation.
But I couldn’t. All of my previous concerns remain, but if I’m going to outright ignore them and sleep with her, anyway, I have to do it right. I have to make sure she understands and accepts that it won’t be the start of a romantic relationship. It can’t be. I’ll be leaving in a few days, and it would be over.
And until we have that conversation, nothing can happen between us, no matter how much I want it.
But it’s the text messages that came later that have me terrified. I went too far, talking about kissing her all over, then I backtracked too harshly, ending the conversation because I didn’t want her to completely shut down on me. I feel like such an idiot, and I’m just hoping everything will be normal between us this morning.
Checking the time on my phone, I bite out a curse. I’m late for breakfast.
Luckily for me, the wedding party is meeting here this morning. Miss Ginny offered to host today’s breakfast, so I don’t have far to go. Leaving my room, I jog down the stairs, coming to a halt in the doorway of the dining room.
Everyone is here already, and the only open chair is between Blaine and Logan.
Kate didn’t save me a seat next to her.
I shake off the negative thought and walk into the room with a smile. Just because Kate didn’t save me a seat doesn’t mean she’s trying to avoid me. Maybe it just worked out this way, and she didn’t want to ruffle any feathers by asking Sam or Penny to move.
Greetings are exchanged as I walk in and take my seat, but my eyes are locked on Kate. After a second’s hesitation, she looks across the table at me with wary eyes. I offer her a smile, and she returns it, though hers seems a bit timid.
Okay. Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought.
Kate might be embarrassed by the sharp turn our texting took last night, but she’s not avoiding eye contact or ignoring me, completely. I’ll take it.
I look around the table at the others, and my brow furrows as my eyes land on Penny. She’s looking pretty green around the gills this morning. Her face is pale and pinched, and she’s hunched over like her stomach hurts, or something.
Before I can ask her if she’s okay, she whimpers and hops up from the table. Bent at the waist, she rushes out of the room with a hand slapped over her mouth.
“Is she okay?” I ask Logan, who’s rising from his chair to follow her out.
“I don’t know,” he says. “She’s been sick all morning, but I couldn’t talk her out of skipping today. Maybe now, she’ll agree to go home and rest.”
The rest of us stare at each other after he rushes out, then Blaine blurts, “Is she pregnant, or something?”
“No,” Kate says quickly, then firmer, “No. There’s no way.”
I nod at Kate, accepting the statement as fact. She and Penny are incredibly close, so if anyone besides Logan would know if it’s possible, Kate would be the one. Plus, Penny was drinking yesterday––and has been all week––and if there were any chance Penny were pregnant, she wouldn’t imbibe. At all.
“She texted me this morning to tell me she was sick all night,” Kate adds, then looks at me. “I wonder if she got food poisoning, or something.”
My own brow furrows at that. We all ate the same thing yesterday, and none of the rest of us got sick. I shake my head.
“We all ate the burgers and no one else is sick. Do you think she just drank too much?”
Kate shakes her head slightly. “She was pretty tipsy when they left last night, but I’ve seen her much worse, and she’s never been sick like this the next day.”
Logan re-enters the room, his face etched with concern. “She should be back in a minute. She’s just washing up.”
“Did you guys go somewhere else after you left my place last night?” Kate asks, and Logan cocks his head.
“Yes, actually. Penny wanted ice cream, so we stopped by The Frozen Monkey for a couple of cones.”
I’m looking at Kate, so I don’t miss the tightening of her eyes as she says, “Kaylee Harper owns that place. Was she working when you guys went in?”
“Yeah,” Logan says, his own eyes narrowing. “She served us while making snide comments about how Penny should be watching what she eats this week. So she’ll fit into the dress.”
“Bitch,” Blaine murmurs, speaking for the first time since Logan got back.
Her vehemence throws me off-guard. Is she…defending Penny? I mean, I know she’s Logan’s sister and all, but this is the first time I’ve seen proof she cares about anyone other than herself. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been harsh with the judgment while focusing only on how Blaine interacts with me. And Kate.
“Kaylee Harper? Why does that name sound familiar?” I ask, refocusing on the conversation.
Kate’s cheeks brighten with a slight blush as she looks at me and says, “She sent her cousin to the Grill to…ask me out…the night we met. Remember?”
Oh, yeah. Douchebag Alex.
“And you think Kaylee…what? Put Ipecac syrup in Penny’s ice cream, or something?” I ask, playing devil’s advocate despite my dislike for the woman in question. “She would’ve tasted it, I think. It’s supposed to be really bitter. ”
“No,” Logan says. “I had some of hers, too, and I didn’t taste anything. Plus, I never got sick.”
“Is Penny allergic to anything?” I ask, throwing out darts and hoping one will stick.
“She’s allergic to soy,” Sam chimes in. “She had a bad reaction to a protein bar that contained soy nuts back in high school. She got really sick. Everyone on the island knows––one of the benefits of living in a small town––and all the business owners know not to give Penny anything with soy in it.”
“Is it possible Kaylee gave her soymilk-based ice cream? Accidentally?”
I throw that last bit on to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, but my suspicions run darker. If she would send her cousin to sexually harass Kate and insult Penny, a customer, to her face in her own place of business, what isn’t she capable of?
“No,” Kate says. “She wouldn’t.”
She says the words, but her tone tells me she’s not really all that sure.
Penny walks back into the room, then, looking like hell warmed over despite her attempt to smile at us. “I’m okay, guys. Really.”
“I’m taking you home to rest,” Logan says, but Penny balks.
“No, Logan,” she whines. “We already canceled yesterday’s game, and I don’t want to ruin today’s, too. I’ll be fine. Really.”
“Logan’s right,” Kate says. “Getting you healthy and feeling great for the wedding is more important than the games. Go home and rest up. We can entertain ourselves today, Pen. It’ll be fine. I promise. ”
Penny looks over at Logan, who gives her a nod of encouragement. Then she sighs before saying, “Fine. Let’s go home.”
“Feel better and text me later,” Kate says, hopping up to give her best friend a hug.
Kate retakes her seat as they leave, and Miss Ginny arrives with platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits. After Kate explains to her why Penny and Logan left, she offers her sympathies and leaves us to ourselves.
We start to eat, and the silence turns a bit awkward. I’m trying to come up with a suitable topic for conversation when Blaine sighs.
“Well, what are we going to do now?”
“I’m actually going to head home after this. I have some stuff to do for the wedding,” Kate says.
“I’ll come with you,” I say quickly, and Kate’s eyes widen. I swallow thickly. “To, you know, help.”
Blaine looks back and forth between us, rolls her eyes, and focuses on Sam. He holds up his palms and shakes his head.
“I’m going back to bed. I didn’t get back to the island until after midnight, and I’m wiped.”
Blaine huffs and looks back at Kate, who keeps her gaze locked on her plate. There’s obviously no invitation to join us forthcoming, and Blaine rolls her eyes again.
“It’s fine,” she says. “I wanted to go to the mall on the mainland before the wedding, anyway, so I’ll just go today.”
“Well, have fun,” Kate says, biting off the end of one of her bacon slices .
Thank God, Kate didn’t cave and invite Blaine to join us at her house. If she were truly put off by my text messages last night, she would’ve used the blonde as a buffer, right?
Knowing we’re going to be alone in just a little while, I eat my breakfast with gusto. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can get to Kate’s and talk to her about last night. And kiss her.
I really want to kiss her again.
Once we finish eating and thank Miss Ginny for the delicious breakfast, I follow Kate out of the house. We’re silent as we climb into her golf cart, and there’s zero conversation during the ride back to her place.
As soon as we walk into the house, I close the door and grab Kate’s wrist before she can take another step. She looks back at me with questions in her eyes, and I take a deep breath.
“Kate, I’m sorry if I took things too far and made you uncomfortable last night. That wasn’t my intention, at all.”
“It’s fine,” she says with a slight shake of her head. “I’ve just never…done anything like that before, and I didn’t know what to say.”
With my free hand, I cup her cheek and use my thumb to lift her chin so she’s looking into my eyes. “I know. Logan told me.”
She flinches back, her expression filling with mortification as she stares at me with wide eyes. “Told you what , exactly?”
Oh, shit. Why did I say that? Retreat! Retreat!
Kate must see it in my eyes, though, because her cheeks turn crimson, and she tries to pull out of my hold while muttering, “Oh, my God.”
I tighten my grip on her as my expression turns pleading. “Please don’t run. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I should’ve just…”
I close the distance between us as I say those last three words, bringing our mouths close together. Kate freezes, then blows out a breath before moving in and pressing her lips to mine.
Thank God!
I take over the kiss, nibbling and nipping playfully to get her to relax a bit. Some of the tension drains out of her, and I move my mouth downward, blazing a path down her neck.
“I’ve wanted to touch you and taste you since the night we met,” I say between kisses. “Getting to know you these last few days only made the cravings worse. Logan could see it, so he tried to warn me off, thinking the truth would put an end to this before it even started.”
A husky chuckle slips out of her as she tilts her head back, giving me better access to her throat. “Penny tried to warn me off you, too.”
I chuckle against her skin and pull back to meet her gaze. “I’m sure she did. But tell me, Kate, what is it you want?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers, her eyes liquid pools of melted chocolate.
“I think you do,” I say, my tongue darting out to wet my lips as I turn serious. “I can give you my body and all the pleasure you can take, but you need to understand that’s all it is. After this weekend, I’ll be leaving, and I have no idea when I’ll be back. So, this can’t be more than a few days of fun. I want it, Kate. I want you . But if you don’t want to go any further, I understand. We can go back to being friends like this conversation never happened. No harm, no foul.”
She stares at me for a long moment. My heart races, pounding in my chest with anticipation. Her eyes flick back and forth between mine, and just when I’m sure she’s going to say no, she takes a deep breath and nods.
“I want this, too.”