After Sundown (9 page)

"So tell
m
e,
Kit, are you planning to remain celibate for the next dozen years?"

"What do you mean?" Kit asked as she wiped the milk from her lips.

"What I mean is, what are you saving yourself for? You need sex, I need
sex
.
" Cole grinned devilishly as he reached out
and
gently
stroked
her upper arm, allowing his thumb to steal a caress from the soft swell of her breast.

"
O
h,
stop that!" Kit swatted his hand as she set her empty plate on the carpet with her glass.

"Okay
,
" Cole shrugged in surrender. "Tell me about your husband." Cole leaned back and pillowed his head on his clasped hands.

“
Kevin
and I started dating in college.
We were both majoring in business
. After school he got into real estate and I was working for my family's restaurant."

"
Your
parent's restaurant?"

"It was started by my grandfather and his father. My father took it over and someday it was to go to me.
Brandon
never had any interest in the business."

"What happened?" Cole sat up and moved to put another log in the fire.

Stirring the embers with a brass poker, he listened to Kit.

"Mom got sick with cancer when I was in high school. After my mother died,
Dad let his medical insurance lapse. He said, why pay all the high premiums, lightening doesn't strike twice. He was wrong."

"Cancer?" Cole closed the fireplace screen and s
at
down next to Kit.

"Leukemia. The medical bills wiped out everything.
M
y
dad died
and
we were forced to sell his home and the business to payoff all the debts."

"Do you have any other brothers or
s
isters?"

"There's just me and Brandon."

They were quiet for
several minutes when Cole reminded Kit that he had asked about her marriage.

“
Kevin
and I were best friends. He was very supportive when
D
ad
died. I had lost my father, my job and our family's legacy in one swoop. He was great. I didn't have the heart to work for someone else's
restaurant,
so
Kevin
talked me into applying for a job with a restaurant consultant company. I enjoyed it, but it involved a lot of traveling. Both
Kevin
and I wanted kids. We'd decided when Sarah was born that I'd stay home with her.
Kevin
was making good money in real estate. We had everything planned out."
She sounded bitter.

“
Kevin
was on his way home one night when he stopped at a convenience store for milk.
Some junky killed him over a lousy
twenty
bucks. I know
Kevin
would have just handed over the
mone
y.
He’d
never play hero for something like a few bucks. There was no reason for the guy to kill him." Kit's eyes filled with tears. Cole reached out and touched her knee, giving it a light squeeze.

"You don't know how often I've cursed myself for asking him to pick up some milk. My entire life has changed because of a lousy gallon of
milk that
I forgot to pick up earlier." The
self-loathing
in Kit's voice was
obvious.

"Kit, my
go
d,
you don't blame yourself for his death?" Cole sat up abruptly and looked into Kit's face. Silent tears
trailed
down her face.

"It was my fault
,
" Kit whispered. Cole instantly swept Kit into his arms and held her head against his chest, gently stroking her hair.

"No, Kit. It wasn't your fault. Life just takes these unexpected turns when we least expect it. When I met Connie, we never con
sidered our affair to be a life-
altering event. Yet it was. My entire life's course was changed from that moment. Your father never thought allowing his life insurance to lapse would make a significant difference in his life. And people stop
every day
to buy milk from convenience stores and nothing changes in their lives."

"Why is it I always seem to cry when you're around?" Kit asked with a weary smile as Cole
gently
dried her tears
with the back of his hand.

"I guess I just bring out the best in people." Cole grinned
before placing a chaste kiss on
Kit's lips. Sarah and Megan began calling for K
it's help, interrupting the intimate discussion.

Chapter
Eleven

During a one-week span, Kit found it necessary to transfer five thousand dollars from her savings account to her checking account, and already the money was gone. Finally, Kit landed a consulting job, her first
since
the
humiliating experience at After Sundown.
It is about time
, she thought. By mid-October, she found two more consulting jobs. The days grew shorter, with less time for herself, yet she was grateful for the work.

While the girls were in school
, Kit focused on her freelance jobs
.
On weekends, she ran errands and did the grocery shopping. La
t
e at night, while Sarah slept,
Kit cleaned house
, did laundry
and tackled her bookkeeping.

Kit's hectic lifestyle was not the source of her mounting stress. Cole Taylor was solely responsible. A friendship of sorts blossomed between Cole and Kit.
Each
nigh
t,
Cole found himself spending about a half an hour at Kit's, when
picking up his daughter.
The friendship did not discourage Cole's
subtle
ongoing campaign to
get
Kit into his bed.

One evening, when Cole came to pick up Megan, Kit
was struggling to remove a splinter from her foot. Cole insisted on helping, and soon the two were sitting on the couch
in the den
, with Kit’s foot propped up on his lap. Megan and Sarah were upstairs, playing with their Barbie dolls.

“This should teach you not to run around barefoot on your wood
deck,
” Cole scolded, as he positioned the tweezers at just the right angle and took hold of the splinter’s end. With one quick motion, he pulled the splinter from her foot. Cole set the tweezers and
the
splinter on the coffee table, and began massaging the injured area. Kit wiggled her toes,
but she
did not move her foot from his lap,
taking
the moment to enjoy the impromptu foot massage.

"When are you getting a new couch for your living room?" Cole asked as
he
gently rubbed her foot.

"When I win the lottery
," Kit murmured, closing her eyes and wiggling her toes.

"I could loan you the
mone
y,
" Cole offered, his eyes focused on her foot.

"Thanks, but I have my
saving
s,
"
Kit told him, her eyes still closed.

"That's what you keep saying. Do you ever add to that savings, or do you only make withdrawals?"

“
Boy,
you’re nosey,” Kit told him as she jerked h
er
foot from his grasp. Before he could respond, she quickly put her other foot on his lap and wiggled its toes. When Cole looked at her curiously, she said, “
Well,
you can’t rub just
one;
it will make me feel all unbalanced.” Cole laughed and began rubbing her foot.

“I hope these are clean,” he chuckled, applying a bit more pressure to the second foot, than he had the first.

“Are they stinky?” Kit asked with a mischievous grin. To her surprise
,
he leaned over and gave her toe a
quick
sniff.

“No,
they smell quite delicious. I’m tempted to nibble your toes.”

“Foot fetish?” Kit asked with a raised brow.

“Not particularly,” Cole
answered
, and then
ran his hand from her foot to her
calf
, and under the soft fabric of her jogging pants
, seductively massaging the lower part of her leg
. “I just like what they are attached to.”

"Are you trying to seduce me again
?
" Kit asked. The massage felt so good, Kit was reluctant to pull away. Instead
,
she leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Is it working?" Cole asked with a grin, his fingers continued to weave a provocative path along her calves.

"You know," Kit murmured
,
"I could have you arrested for sexual harassment."

"You don't look harassed
,
" Cole chuckled. Kit responded by wiggling her toes and accidentally rubbing Cole's crotch.

"Cut that out!" Cole snapped. "
Damni
t,
Kit, when are you going to put us out of our misery?"

"
Col
e,
I was just getting used to our friendship." Kit pulled her f
oo
t from Cole's lap and placed
both feet
on the carpet.
"Y
ou aren't going to give up, are you?"

"It's
inevitabl
e,
Kit."

"I think it will make things uncomfortable
,
" Kit returned.

"I'm damned uncomfortable now!" Cole grumbled.

"Oh come
o
n,
Cole Taylor, surely you have other female acquaintances that you can badger into your bed?"

"I've never had to badger any woman into my bed!"

At that declaration
,
Kit lifted a brow and smirked.

"Until you
,
"
h
e conceded with
a half smile.

The next evening
,
Cole
left
work earlier than
usual, arriving at Kit’s house as she was about to serve dinner.
Kit invited him to join her and the girls for
a home cooked meal
. He gratefully accepted. After dinner, the
girls
pleaded with Cole to stay a bit longer, so they could watch their favorite television show together. More than willing to spend extra time with Kit, Cole agreed without asking her. She didn’t seem to mind and even offered him a glass of wine. The two adults retreated to the living room, while the girls watched television in the den.
Earlier that
evening,
Kit had started a fire in the living room fireplace, and the flames were beginning to crackle and
snap,
as they danced in the stone hearth.
Kit still di
d not have a couch in the room,
and so the two leaned again
st several large throw pillows, facing the fireplace.

When walking in the living room, Cole turned off the overhead light, so they could better enjoy the fireplace. Kit said nothing about the lack of lighting when she took a place beside Cole on the floor. They sat there for a few minutes without talking, each sipping their wine. Sounds from the television show drifted in the room, reminding them
that
the girls were in the den nearby.

“This is nice,” Cole
said, breaking
the silence.

“Yes it is,” Kit agreed, her voice soft. They both stared into the flames.

“Dinner was great, by the way,” Cole told her.

“Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.”

“You better watch
out.
I am liable to show up early every night to beg a homemade dinner from
you,
” Cole teased. Kit laughed and then set her wine glass on a small nearby table.

Cole turned around to face her. She was still looking into the fire. He leaned over and set his glass next
to
hers, never taking his eyes off Kit’s fa
ce. He didn’t think he had ever
known a woman with as flawless skin as Kit
’s
. She co
uld sense he was staring at her. Kit
glanced over to meet his penetrating gaze.

“What?” She asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

“You have,” Cole whispered, as he lifted his right hand and brushed his fingertips down the side of her face, “the most beautiful skin I’ve ever seen.” Kit’s eyes widened at the compliment, and instead of pulling away, she sat frozen, looking into his dark eyes. When he leaned forward
to steal
a kiss, she did not move away, but leaned into
it
, allowing herself to enjoy the intimate physical contact with a man she found incredibly attractive. With the girls in the next room, she felt safe allowing herself this one
indulgence
.

Kit leaned into the kiss, parting her
soft lips
and fully
participating
, ignoring her better judgment. Cole immediately pulled her closer. Kit’s head began to spin and her heart raced. She wanted more. When she felt Cole slip his hand
seductively under the hem of her
top
, she did not pull away.
She wasn’t wearing a bra, which gave Cole easy access to her full breasts.

When his hand moved over one breast, seductively kneading the soft mound, Kit arched her back and fairly moaned. It was after Cole brushed his thumb repeatedly over one nipple, causing it to harden into a tight little nub, that the sens
ual fog began clearing. Breathing heavily, Kit gently pulled away, separating their lips.

Cole refused to relinquish the soft mound. Kit reached up and placed
one
hand over his, the fabric of her top separated their hands. Gently and persistently she attempted to push his hand away, as she regained her normal breathing.

He wouldn’t budge.
Instead, he took his free hand and used it to pull hers down to his crotch, forcing her palm against the evidence of his arousal.

“God, you make me hard,” Cole whispered into her mouth, which was just a few inches away
from his
. Once again, his thumb moved over the tip of
one
nipple. “I make you hard too.
”

Since her husband’s death, Kit had not touched a man so intimately. Instead of jerking her hand away, she gently squeezed, feeling the masculine hardness behind the denim. Cole groaned and asked, “
When,
Kit, when are you going to put us out of this agony?”

Kit never answered his question,
because
in the next
moment,
the girls tur
ned off the television set and by the time they entered the room, Kit and Cole were no longer touching.

Later that evening, while Cole was tucking his daughter into bed, Megan asked an unexpected question.

"Daddy, are you going to marry Kit?" Her large brown eyes were wide in
innocence
.

"What?"
Taylor
sat on the edge of the twin bed and gently brushed Megan's bangs from her forehead.

"Kit's just your sitter, pumpkin. She's not my girlfriend
,
" he said softly.

"
Bu
t,
Daddy,
I
want Kit to be my mommy, I've never had a mommy."

"Pumpkin, you had a mommy."

"It's not the same. Sarah has a mommy."

"I know. But Sarah doesn't have a daddy
,
" Cole reasoned.

"But you could be her daddy. She likes you." Megan studied her father's face for a moment. "Don't you like Kit and Sarah?"

"Sure
I
d
o, but
that doesn't mean
I
should marry Kit."

"Kit's making me a Halloween costume
,
" Megan announced.

"She is?" Cole had forgotten that Halloween was just around the corner.

"I've never had a homemade costume before. Sarah and I are
g
o
nna
be pirates. Kit already made me a purple pirate shirt."

"She did?" Cole began feeling a little guilty over his lack of involvement in the upcoming holiday. He suddenly realized that Kit probably couldn't afford the extra material to make his daughter's costume.
Why was she doing it?

"Sarah's shirt is yellow. We wanna go trick or treating together. Can we?"

Cole leaned back on the bed next to his daughter and stared up at the ceiling.
He never imagined that a baby
sitter would become such an intricate part of his life.

"I don't
kno
w,
honey.
I
need to talk to Kit
,
"
h
e answered.

"Kit is taking us to buy pumpkins. She said
I
get one too. She's
g
o
nna
help us make jack-o-
l
anterns
. Sarah says her mom has special knives so we won
’
t cut ourselves. I've never made a jack-o-
l
antern
before."