2
It was dark out and with every fiber of his being, Kam was aware of Glory fuming beside him. She still looked perfect. Still
smelled enticing.
Still annoyed him.
And yet he wanted her, damn it. Now more than ever.
Those two small tastes, measly perfunctory kisses, hadn’t even come close to taking the edge off. “Come on.”
She dug in, resisting his tug on her arm. “To where?”
“The house? Or did you want to spend the evening in the yard?”
“I wanted to go to my house.”
“It would have been out of Dan’s way to take you there, then take me here, and you still would have been without a car.”
“Mr. Fellows might not have minded,” she grumbled, and grudgingly allowed him to lead her along. Even lower, she said, “Sorry
I ruined your night.”
Interesting. So she was still willing to take the blame for that? Well, he wasn’t above teasing her. “What’s that, Glory? You said something?”
They stepped up to the door, and she inhaled a deep breath before facing him with the same enthusiasm she might have had facing
a cockroach. “I said I apologize for ruining your evening.”
Folding his arms and resting a shoulder on the exterior wall beside the door, Kam asked, “Why did you?” Would she admit she
was afraid of Mike? If so, then he’d have reason to jump in. To get involved.
Instead, she shrugged. “It was a knee-jerk reaction to finding the flat tires, and then Mike showed up. Now, of course, I’ve
thought of a dozen other ways I might have handled the situation. Unfortunately, they didn’t occur to me in that moment.”
“I occurred to you.”
“Hmm, well, you do seem big enough and mean enough to discourage another guy.”
Mean? He wasn’t mean. At least, he didn’t think so. Frowning, he wondered if that was how she genuinely perceived him. “Mike
didn’t seem all that discouraged to me.”
“I know.” Bothered by that, she looked away and stared out at the yard. “He’s . . . persistent.”
Kam touched her chin, bringing her gaze back to his. “How persistent?”
For a long moment, she just stared into his eyes—until she caught herself and stepped out of reach. Wrapping her arms around
herself, she said, “It’s not your problem.”
He smirked. “Not what you said at the hall.” Why he was so determined to help her, he couldn’t say, especially when she seemed
to constantly look down her nose at him.
Predictably, her shoulders stiffened. “I apologized. What else should I do? Bleed?”
Without changing his casual posture, he heard himself say, “Another kiss might cover it.” The second the words left his mouth, his eyes flared. And he stared at her, waiting.
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that what you want, or is it another joke?”
“What do you mean?” Mostly he was intrigued that she wasn’t ruling it out.
“Ha! You’ve made me the butt of your joke since I so stupidly asked for your help.”
Is that how she viewed it? Okay, sure, he’d ribbed her a little, and he supposed he had enjoyed seeing her caught in her own
scheme. Only . . . he didn’t want her to feel bad for asking for help.
Dropping his head, feeling like a complete dick, Kam had to admit she was right. “Not what I’d intended,” he said softly.
Glory turned slightly toward him. “No?”
It struck him that neither of them were rushing to get inside. At this time of night, without the scorching sun, the August
air was muggy but tolerable.
Reaching out, Kam hooked one finger in a loosened hank of her silky hair, drawing it forward over her shoulder. “I only meant
to tease you.”
“But now I know you had other plans . . .”
“Not really.” Time to fess up on that one, too. “I didn’t even remember Natalie’s name until Dan said it. I’d only been chatting
her up to keep from watching you.”
She bit her lip before asking tentatively, “Is that true?”
With a short quiet laugh, Kam said, “I’m many things, Glory, but I’m not a liar.” He released her hair to slide his hand around
her neck. “Now, about that kiss?”
“You actually want to kiss me? Because I’ve always gotten the impression that you don’t like me.”
“I don’t dislike you.”
“Kam,” she warned.
His mouth twitched. For once, Glory didn’t look quite so perfect, not with a mulish frown pulling her brows together. “Want
me to spill my guts, huh?” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. God, she was soft. And she smelled so good, like subtle perfume,
damp skin, and hot woman. “Fine.” He tugged her a little closer—and praise the Lord, she didn’t resist. “It bothers me that
you’re always so put together. Never a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in your clothes.”
Flustered, she said, “That’s not true.”
“Mostly true,” he said. “It makes me want to mess you up a little.”
She had been subtly leaning toward him, drawn by the low tones of his voice, but now she abruptly straightened. “Mess me up?
Why would you—”
“With a kiss,” he murmured, drawing nearer. “Some touching.” As he said it, he loosened more of her hair, stroking through
it, enjoying the warmth and weight of it. Since she didn’t object, he stepped against her, but instead of kissing her, he
teased his nose up the column of her neck to her ear, then whispered, “A little nuzzling.”
A sound of want purred out of her, and Kam knew he was a goner. He drew her close, and this time, he took the kiss he wanted—the
kiss he’d been thinking about ever since meeting Glory McCallahan.
Whoa. Glory didn’t mean to, but at the feel of his mouth moving over hers, she completely caved, all resistance gone as if
it had never existed. Boneless, she allowed him to gather her close, from mouth to mouth, down to thighs to thighs.
Tongue to tongue.
Pelvis to . . . Hello.
Her fingers curled into his lapels to hold on since her legs weren’t cooperating. Kam gave a growl of encouragement and turned his head just enough to kiss her deeper, hotter.
She forgot about everything except his hands on her body, one of them cradling her head, the other sliding down her spine
to her backside.
Did she want that? Oh, yeah. She did. In fact, she wanted—
“Ahem.”
They bounced apart as if a giant spring had magically appeared between them.
There, at the open door, stood Addie, an odd expression on her face, her arms crossed to hold her housecoat closed. Blu, Tanner’s
German shepherd, pushed his way out and, after a quick hello to Kam and Glory, went out into the yard to do his business.
Glory felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from her lungs. She couldn’t draw a deep enough breath, couldn’t think, and
actually, she might’ve been panicking a little.
Apparently, Kam didn’t suffer the same ailment. “Damn, Addie. That was rotten timing.”
“How was I to know?” she said back with amusement. “Blu was in the room with me but he heard you right off. I kept waiting
for you to come up—only you didn’t.” She turned to Glory, and her smile slipped away. “Good grief.” Stepping out in a rush,
she said, “You’re hyperventilating.”
Kam turned, too, and a touch of alarm filled his eyes. He reached her before Addie could. Catching her close, he shielded
her with his body. “Are you all right?”
She nodded and wheezed noisily. Of all the people in the whole world, Addie was the nicest she’d ever met. Sure, she loved
her cousin Callie, and they were close, but Addie was special. Kind to everyone, open and loving. Accepting.
Addie never judged her. No, she just accepted her.
Glory wanted her respect, and instead, she’d been busted making out on her front stoop like a horny teenager, for crying out loud. She’d really like to sink into the ground and disappear.
Since that wouldn’t happen, she needed to calm down.
“Give her some room.” Pushing Kam aside, Addie eyed her critically and with some relief. “Better now?”
Better, when she now had the undivided attention of both Addie and Kam? No, but she could fake it with the best of them. She
hoped. “I’m sorry we disturbed you.” A quick scowl at Kam put the blame on him. After all, he was the one who’d started the
kissing, but then she had no illusions about him trying to be perfect.
“Nonsense. I wasn’t asleep yet. I was just in bed reading, unwinding, and enjoying being barefoot.” She smiled. “How in the
world you young girls wear those shoes I’ll never know. Give me sneakers, flip-flops, or work boots any day.”
See? Addie always knew how to put her at ease. Wrinkling her nose, Glory said, “I’m used to them, I guess.”
“But don’t you enjoy wiggling your toes now and then? Maybe when you’re not working?”
Okay, seriously, she didn’t want to discuss her toes. “I wanted to go to my own place, but Kam had Mr. Fellows bring us here.”
Kam, who still had his arm around her, as if that was normal, filled in the details: “We both had flat tires. Dan brought us here. I was going to take your car, but I’d have
left you a note, letting you know I’d have it back early.”
So that had been his plan? He could have told her that. But wait. Why would he not have it back until early? Once he dropped
her off, where did he plan to go?
Back to see Natalie?
Addie opened the door wider. “Come on in, and I’ll get my keys.”
“You two go on,” Glory said. “I’ll wait out here with Blu.”
Kam gave her a look, whistled, and Blu bounded into the house. “Now we can all step inside.”
His hand at the small of her back urged her in first. Now that Addie had mentioned shoes, Glory felt the ache in her arches.
She didn’t want to do any more walking than necessary, but more than that, she didn’t want to complain.
As soon as she got home, though, she planned to strip off her clothes, take a nice long bath, and then sleep for hours.
Well, hell.
Kam saw the broken window the second he pulled into the driveway at Glory’s new home. Since she was staring out the side window,
doing her best to ignore him—which, he had to admit, she did well—she hadn’t yet noticed.
He put the car in Park. “Glory—”
“Thanks for the ride.” In a sudden rush, she unfastened her seat belt and picked up her purse. “I really appreciate it.” She
flashed him the briefest smile possible and opened her door before Kam caught her arm.
With a theatrical groan, she flopped back into her seat and asked, “Now what?”