Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kylie
Amber cut Luke out of Kylie’s life all those years ago.
Amber.
It was Amber.
The entire time Luke’s parents were here, she’d run Amber’s name through her mind in an endless loop, a tornado with her name in it, airborne by the force of the emotion generated by learning the truth.
Swept away by all of the feelings–shock, anger, disgust, betrayal, silliness, regret–Kylie found that one overrode all of that.
Love.
Heaven help her, she was really, truly falling in love with Luke.
“What I’m going to do with the building isn’t important, Kylie. We have other things to talk about.”
“Like Christmas? Because if you don’t want me there, I understand. Your mom put us on the spot when she asked like that.”
“No. Not Christmas. Amber.”
“What about Mommy?” Harriet called out from her perch on the second-story balcony.
The word Mommy made Kylie wince.
“We can talk about this later,” she whispered, reaching for his arm. He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed, eyes sad, blinking hard as he clearly processed the same swirl of emotions she was feeling.
“We absolutely will. I’m so–”
“Conflicted?”
“I was going to say angry. And sad. And wistful. And–”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Right. Conflicted.”
Luke’s wry smile tugged at her heart, his warm touch grounding her so nicely.
“You’re not mad at me?” he asked.
“No! Why would I be?”
“Because I should have figured this out long ago. Think about how different life might have been.”
“Different? How? We were fifteen and seventeen, Luke. I left town and moved halfway across the country. Amber must have been jealous, and she did what an immature fifteen-year-old might think was a good idea. I can’t be angry at you for something she did.
I can’t even be angry at her. We were young.
I was in Indiana. Were we going to somehow magically hold onto a relationship based on a single kiss? ”
A thump next to them made them both look. Harriet’s sweet face looked up at Kylie, her mouth twisted in a gross look.
“Ewww. Don’t kiss!”
Luke’s hand went to his mouth to cover what she knew was a grin.
“We’re not talking about kissing each other,” Kylie lied.
“Good!” Harriet poked Kylie in the belly button. “Because kissing makes babies and we don’t need any babies!”
Luke looked like someone poured ice water all over him.
Bending quickly, he tipped his chin down, eyes up, the interrogative expression making Kylie go sober.
“Who told you that?” he questioned Harriet.
“Jace Morgenstern.”
The flutter of Luke’s eyelashes revealed a deep irritation with the answer, as if he expected it.
“Kissing does not make babies,” he said softly. “Please put that out of your head and don’t repeat it.”
“But Jace said–”
“Jace is wrong.”
“Then how are babies made if you don't kiss?”
Luke’s look of horror was followed by an inarticulate choking sound.
“Harriet!” Kylie interrupted, sensing this wasn’t going in a productive direction. “Why don’t we go outside and look for good places to put gnome homes?”
“Ooo! Okay!”
As Harriet scampered outside, Luke shot Kylie a grumpy look.
“She’s six! I thought I had years before I had to worry about the birds and the bees.”
“It troubles me that you’re using 1950s terminology to describe sex and reproduction.”
“You’re deflecting.”
“Yes.”
“Great way to redirect her.”
“Maybe she’s not the one I’m redirecting.”
His hand grabbed hers and yanked her into a hallway, her back against the wall, Luke’s lips on hers before she could think another thought.
The kiss was hot and sweet at the same time, everything she wanted in a passionate moment with him all rolled into one, the way his breath hitched making it clear he was barely holding himself back, the urgency of the kiss so intense.
Except it was too brief.
Gasping as he broke it off, she asked, “What was that for?”
“I have to have a reason to kiss you?”
“No.”
“Good. Not that I don’t have plenty.”
Another kiss, this one deeper, longer, his hands wrapping around her waist, sliding up under her coat, the chill of his cool palms no match for the racing heat pumping into her.
What if she could have this every day?
What if she really could come home again?
What would it feel like to be accepted, embraced, brought into the town’s fold and given a place in their world?
What if his tongue, so warm and urgent, could touch her like this forever, her hands threading in his hair, her little gasps turning to moans as his palms caressed her spine, moving to her ribs, floating down to firmly hold her butt, the grip a claim she liked.
Liked very much.
What if everything bad that had happened to her over the last few months was part of the journey that brought her here, to this moment, to this potential future with Luke?
So many what ifs.
“You smell so good,” she whispered into his neck.
“You taste even better,” he replied, licking her ear, making her shiver and melt into him.
“DADEEEEEEEE! WHERE ARE YOU?”
Luke’s eyelids lowered shut, exasperation etched into his face. The smirk didn’t help any, her mouth on his in an impulsive lunge before he breathlessly pulled away and whispered, “Jace Morgenstern might be right.”
“Huh?”
“This kiss could lead us to do something that makes babies.”
And with that he jogged away, Kylie following but pausing on the threshold. As he grabbed Harriet in his arms and lifted the squealing little girl up onto his shoulders, Kylie tried to find air for her lungs.
One longing look at the giant auditorium attached to the office and she shut the door, took a deep breath of cold air, and told herself there would be plenty of time to talk later.
Because Luke promised.
And he always kept his promises.
At least, the ones Amber hadn’t subverted…
For the next hour, they wandered the camp, walking into each building, Kylie and Luke weighing out the practical versus the wish list for renovations. Harriet wandered outside, making snow angels, throwing snowballs, and generally keeping busy in the way a kid who spends a lot of time outdoors can.
She noticed he avoided the pier.
So did she.
No need to be tempted by more kissing.
By the time Luke’s phone buzzed, they were thoroughly chilled and ready to leave.
Dusk was coming soon, too.
“Gotta stop in at the office,” he said as they walked to the car.
“We need to let Jester go piddle, too, Daddy,” Harriet solemnly reminded him.
They climbed into the Jeep, Harriet expertly clicking herself into her car seat, the three of them setting off for downtown as if they were already a little family.
The memory of Luke’s kiss, the Jace Morgenstern comments–babies!–made Kylie flush all over.
One of Harriet’s favorite songs came on the radio and they bopped to it, her infectious giggles even getting Luke in on the fun, his goofiness a welcome change from his otherwise serious demeanor.
What Kylie loved more than anything about whatever this was that brewed between them was the gradual unveiling of more and more facets of Luke Luview.
She found him endlessly interesting.
Endlessly attractive, too.
By the time he pulled into the parking lot at the police station, Kylie was overcome by a wave of sadness.
Her small, empty apartment suddenly felt lonely.
“Tomorrow?” he asked, giving her a smoldering look as they climbed out of his car and she looked down the street, spotting hers. The parking lot held a pink cruiser, a few pick-up trucks, plenty of older compact cars, and Kell’s poison ivy truck, with his company logo and tagline:
Pulling for You, Inc.
We touch it so you don’t have to.
Snow piled in giant white icebergs in the corners of most of the parking lots. Early enough in the season to escape the gross, slushy gray of late winter, the piles looked like fun. When they were kids, those giant mountains were instant kid magnets for easy sledding and fort building.
As Christmas loomed, though, they were untouched.
“Tomorrow’s my day off.”
“I know. I mean, I’d like to take you out.”
“Out? What about Number 14, Part A?”
“We’ll call it a business dinner.”
“What about waiting until January 12?”
“Huh?”
“The betting pool. Your mother told me we had to wait until January 12.”
“Oh, geez. She did not.”
“She most certainly did. And Dotty Chen asked me to wait until December 31.”
“I don’t care what they want. I care about what you want, Kylie. What do you want?”
“I want to go out to dinner with you.”
“Good. Pick you up at six. Wear something nice.”
“Like what? It’ll be covered in a ski parka no matter what.”
“I’m taking you to a place with cloth napkins and no kids’ menu.”
Harriet must have overheard because she pouted. “What will I eat, then?”
“Chicken nuggets and fries and apple slices with Aunt Colleen.”
“Pfft.” When she made the noise, a curl on her forehead flew straight up. “That’s better than any rest’rant food.”
Kylie gave her a quick hug, then turned to Luke, who opened his arms wide, pulling her in for a heated embrace that sent shivers of arousal through her.
The station curtains parted.
Rusty’s face appeared in the window, followed by some guy Kylie didn’t know, though he wore a red police uniform.
“We’re being watched,” she whispered in his ear. “Who’s that?”
“Jude. Fellow officer.”
“Ah.”
“Let them watch.” But he didn’t kiss her.
Just shot her a wicked grin.
And with that, she walked to her car as Luke and Harriet entered the station, feeling like it was all a dream.
The best dream.
The kind you don’t want to wake up from.
New reality slowly seeping in, she grinned like a mad fool, mouth still tingling from his kiss, heart shining like sunbeams. The streets of downtown were filled with shoppers, Love You Flowers hopping and full of poinsettias, Love You Books busy with so many customers, there was a line snaking across the display window.