Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Kylie
No offense to Luke, but his couch felt like Kylie was sleeping on a bed of rocks mixed in with a stuffed animal collection.
One where the animals had lots of hooves and horns.
Harriet had been sound asleep when she arrived at 9:45 p.m. A few short sentences were all Luke said to her as he left, the conversation cordial but efficient. She worked for him now.
That’s how bosses were with employees.
Right?
Light peeked through the living room curtains as she cracked one eye open and shut it abruptly. How could it be sunrise already? She hadn’t slept a wink.
Until midnight, she’d cleaned and cooked and done laundry, a neatly folded basket of which sat on the floor in front of the washer and dryer in the hallway closet.
Too respectful to go into Luke’s bedroom, she’d left it there, planning to ask what, exactly, “light housekeeping” meant to him.
It was just towels, sheets, and three pairs of what appeared to be jersey-knit pajama bottoms of his.
Did he want her to do all his and Harriet’s laundry as part of the job? Would she learn whether he was a boxers or briefs kind of guy?
Boxer briefs?
Or… commando?
That thought made her sit up in frustration. Great. Now she was thinking about Luke’s… you know.
With a body like his, all compact muscle and long bones, it had to be boxer briefs.
Or nothing at all.
A noise down the hallway made her ears perk, but Jester didn’t move an inch, sound asleep in his dog bed, so she wasn’t worried about safety.
Harriet might wake up and wonder where her daddy was, though.
Kylie stood and stretched, staying silent through a long, blood-beating yawn.
Tiptoeing down the hall, she had her head down and didn’t see him until she felt him, all broad shoulders, bare skin, and rock-hard muscle.
“Oof!” burst out as she crashed into Luke, who was standing in front of the laundry closet.
First, she noticed dampness, along with a radiant heat and musk that made her senses go wild.
Second, she realized she had one hand flat on his bare, broad chest.
Third, as she looked up, his mouth was inches from hers, Luke’s eyes burning with surprise and--
Oh, yes.
Lust.
“I am so sorry!” she gasped, stumbling backwards, calves hitting the laundry basket. She lost her balance and grabbed onto to his arm.
“I can’t–I–” he started, but at the last instant she righted herself, and that’s when she realized he was wearing a towel.
And nothing but a towel.
Fresh from the shower, he smelled like summer rain and lime, his hair wet and tousled, one hand clenching the ends of the towel around his waist like he was saving its life.
Luke was naked.
Big, thickly muscled, and hot as hell.
“So big!” Frozen, hand still on his chest, she knew she should move away and break contact, but something primal said Touch.
Touch touch touch.
Touch him.
Touch him everywhere.
Hold on.
So big.
Did she just say So big?
No no no no no.
Number 14, Part A of the contract, she reminded herself.
Don’t Bang the Boss.
“Kylie?”
“Mmm?” Words failed her.
Her fingers, on the other hand, were not failing in any way, shape, or form. In fact, they were doing quite well for themselves.
And speaking of forms, Luke’s was, well…
So big.
“What are you doing with those fingers, Kylie?” he asked softly, snapping her out of her trance, making her freeze.
“I, uh...”
“You’re killing me,” he murmured, but, honorable guy that he was, the man took a step back.
Ending physical contact.
“Oh!” she let out, the sound punctuating the tension between them. Heat was pouring off her in waves, and she saw her ferocious, deep need reflected back at her in Luke’s gaze.
And suddenly, her crotch was the center of attention.
“JESTER!” Luke snapped at the dog, who inserted himself between them, nose in the most inconvenient place possible. It’s like the dog could smell her desire.
Could he really?
Properly chastened, Jester went back into the living room, the interlude just enough to clear Kylie’s head.
“I don’t even know what to say.” She giggled a little, nervously, at the end. “I didn’t realize you were home.”
“Got here ten minutes ago. You didn’t answer when I whispered your name. Figured I’d take a quick shower while you were still here and Harriet wasn’t up yet.”
“Pecs,” she said, her mouth apparently busy saying whatever her gaze fell on.
“Excuse me?”
“Expect! I wasn’t expecting you home so early.”
“Yeah. The bad guys all seemed to take a night off.” He grinned at her. “Couldn’t find my pajama bottoms.”
“They’re in that basket.”
“You don’t need to do my laundry,” he said, frowning a little.
“They were in with the sheets and towels. I didn’t go into your bedroom,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t sure what you meant by light housekeeping.”
“Nicole was supposed to just do Harriet’s clothes.”
“Supposed to?”
“She didn’t do it half the time.”
“Well, I’m not Nicole.”
“You most certainly are not.”
Her eyes had been combing over his body, but now she found herself the object of a once-over, a slow, steady smolder that made her nearly burst into flame when his eyes finally met hers.
Luke took a step toward her, the attraction magnetic and impossible to deny, the urge to kiss him more like instinct than want.
Kylie couldn’t not kiss him.
Number 14, Part A be damned.
And then:
“Daddy!” Her curly head a mop of tangles, sleepy Harriet woke up at the sight of Luke, her arms going around his waist at the hip. He pivoted, bending down so she could move the hug to his neck.
Giving Kylie an ample eyeful of thick, muscular thigh.
And, she suspected, if the hallway weren’t so shadowed, even more.
“Hey, kiddo.”
“Kylie’s still putting me on the bus, right?”
“Um, sure.”
“Good!” Letting go, Harriet ran down the hall, Jester’s tail thumping when she appeared.
The television clicked on.
Kylie thumbed toward the living room. “I’m just going to get her some breakfast and put her on the bus.”
“Great. Thanks. I have a call I need to make to the sheriff, so I’d appreciate it.”
“Might want to get dressed, too.”
He looked down at himself and laughed. “Yeah. That.”
As Luke turned away, Kylie held her breath, finally exhaling when she reached the kitchen.
Yeah. That.
That had been swoon-worthy.
Given this was her first early morning shift on the job, Kylie had to wing it. When asked, Harriet explained helpfully that she liked simple O cereal in chocolate milk.
The trick failed.
“You can’t eat sugar all the time, sweetie. How about some apple slices and cheese, too?”
“Yum!”
Luke had written out a set of basic instructions in case he wasn’t home in time for the bus, so Kylie followed them, assembling Harriet’s lunch.
Weird.
“Dried seaweed strips?” Kylie searched the cupboards, finding foil-wrapped packages, clearly purchased in bulk. She added one to the pink lunchbox.
“Cheese stick.” That was easy.
“Two clementines.” A bowl overflowing with the little orange fruit, Honeycrisp apples, kiwis, and pears made that easy, too.
“Pine nuts.”
Hold on. Pine nuts? The kind you use to make pesto?
Sure enough, a small container of them was in the cupboard, by the spices.
“Harriet? How many pine nuts do you get in your lunch?”
“Lots!”
That was helpful.
Kylie shook a few tablespoons into a zip bag and hoped that was good enough.
“Two deli pickles.”
A jar of large pickles, half empty, sat on a shelf in the fridge.
And, finally…
Hold on.
The list didn’t really mean what she was reading, did it?
A peanut butter sandwich with hemp seeds, banana slices, and crushed sweet potato chips in the sandwich?
Luke’s handwriting was crystal clear.
Her cognitive dissonance was the problem.
“Harriet? Honey? Do you eat a peanut butter sandwich with hemp seeds, bananas, and crushed sweet potato chips in it?”
Not adding, “Really?” was an exercise in restraint.
“Mmm hmmm.” The kid was distracted by cartoons, but added, “It was Mommy’s favorite.”
Hand reaching for the bread, Kylie froze. It suddenly made more sense, and Kylie assembled the sandwich with a small wave of grief she wasn’t expecting.
Along with a heaping dose of guilt.
This was Amber’s child. Amber’s husband. Amber’s house.
And Kylie had no right to be attracted to Luke like a slobbering teen.
Lunch for Harriet neatly assembled, she rounded up her school backpack, boots, coat, mittens, and snow pants, a glance at the clock telling her she had seven minutes before the bus came.
Luke’s voice, low and calm, floated down the hallway from his bedroom. That work call must be going well. Kylie felt good to be keeping things humming along with Harriet so Luke could do his job.
Protecting Luview, Maine, was important.
Also, she was charmed. Luke was undeniably hot. Touching him, looking at him, feeling his innate sexy goodness–these were pretty amazing job perks.
“You okay?” His sudden appearance jerked her out of her own head and made her squeak in surprise, the bag of sweet potato chips nearly toppling over and spilling.
Lightning-fast reflexes meant he saved it, but only by brushing his arm against her breast and ribs, sending sparks flying along her skin.
“Fine. Thanks,” she said, busying herself with the task of making the strange sandwich.
“It’s a different kind of sandwich. Like tasting new things?” he asked in a way that made her mind wander to less innocent places.
“Sure!”
His phone buzzed before he could say another word. “Shoot. Work. Gotta go.”
“When do you sleep?”
“When she’s at school. Only have to do the night shift here and there. I’ll nap when you leave, then get her off the bus, run some errands, and later get a full night’s sleep tonight.”
“That sounds hard.”
Luke looked around the house, which was spotless. “It was harder before you appeared, Magic Trash Fairy.”
“Hey!” She punched his arm. It didn’t move.
So much muscle.
So big.
Laughing, he left the room, already on the phone before he shut his bedroom door.
“Harriet! Time to get ready for the bus.”