I’ve gone out with Conner a few times. I met him when we were both in line at the bank. He seemed like a nice guy, and I’m still adamant about getting over Mike and finding someone to build something lasting with. Yeah, I know I’m breaking the rules about being an independent woman, but I know what I want. And since the man I want is an idiot, I need to look elsewhere.
“We can go to a movie,” I tell him right away and see disappointment flash through his eyes before he takes his eyes off me and looks at the house in front of us.
“Let’s go in,” he says, opening his door and climbing out of his truck.
I open my door and meet him in front of the house. He takes my hand in his and I fight the urge to make him release me as we walk up the steps to the front porch. When we reach the door, he doesn’t knock; he just walks in. The second we step over the threshold, I’m bombarded by the sounds of people laughing and having a good time.
Conner leads us through the crowd, stopping along the way to say hi to people he knows. When we reach the kitchen, a young, very good-looking guy with his hair shaved off comes up to us, pulling Conner in for a one-arm hug. When they pull away, the guy looks at me and then to Conner. Again, something flashes in his eyes, but I’m not fast enough to understand what it is.
“Asher, this is Kathleen. Kathleen, this is Asher.”
“Nice to meet you.” I smile and take his hand when he puts it out for a shake.
“You look familiar,” he says, and I shake my head no. “Do you know my wife November?” he asks.
My stomach drops. No way. Fate cannot be this cruel. But the chance of another woman named November living in this town is about as likely as being struck by lightning. I’ve never met November, but Mike talked about her often, along with his granddaughters—he even brought up his son-in-law a few times, but I never put two and two together.
I’m an idiot.
“Babe!” Asher yells across the room.
I turn my head in the direction his eyes are facing and see a beautiful woman smile and walk towards us holding a little girl in her arms.
“You called?” she asks, rolling her eyes.
“You know Conner, baby, and this is Kathleen,” he tells her.
When she reaches his side, his arm goes around her waist and her eyes come to me. “Kathleen,” she mumbles. The look in her eyes is making me wonder if Mike ever told her about me.
“Nice to meet you,” I tell her, wanting to break the awkward moment.
Conner’s hand goes to my back and my body stiffens at the contact. November’s eyes look between Conner and me and a smile starts to spread across her lips.
“Nice to meet you, too,” she says then looks down at the girl in her arms. “This is June,” she says, lifting the little girl higher up on her hip before stepping out of her husband’s grasp.
November pulls me in for a one-arm hug, forcing the little girl in her arms between us. When she starts to pull away, the little girl grabs on to the front of my shirt. I look down at her and smile.
“She’s adorable,” I say, looking up at November.
June doesn’t let up. Instead, she seems to hold on tighter to me as her mom starts to pull her away.
“Can I?” I ask.
November nods, and I take the girl completely from her, pulling in a lungful of her baby smell.
“Your dad around?” I hear Conner ask as I run my fingers down June’s chubby cheek.
“Yep. He’s manning the grill,” Asher tells him.
“I’ll be back,” Conner says, squeezing my side before walking away.
I feel a singe across my skin and turn my head, looking around the room full of people before locking on Mike. Even from the distance between us, I can see his jaw grinding.
“So you’re the one who has my dad all messed up?” November asks.
I pull my eyes from Mike and look at her. “Sorry?”
“My dad,” she says, looking behind me. “He’s been moping around for a while. He spoke about you to me about a week ago when I threatened to sic Grandma on him if he didn’t tell me what was going on.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. This is not what I wanted.
“Don’t be,” she whispers back, her smile catching me off guard.
I feel a hand at my back and don’t even have to turn my head to know that it’s Mike.
“You’re here with Conner?” is growled near my ear as Asher reaches over, plucking June from my arms, giving me a soft smile before wrapping an arm around November’s waist and leading her away.
“Nice to meet you, Kathleen,” November calls over her shoulder before looking at her dad and shaking her head.
“Mike, I—” I start to tell him that I’m sorry when he cuts me off.
“No. Actually…” He shakes his head. “Fuck no. You didn’t even give me a second to work shit out in my head,” he says, his voice low, and my hands begin to shake.
“Don’t do this here,” I whisper.
“I wouldn’t have to do this shit here, but seeing’s how you ain’t returning my calls, I got no choice.”
“Mike.”
“Don’t Mike me, baby. I’m pissed the fuck off right now.”
“You have no right to be mad.” I frown.
“No?” He looks at me, top to toe, shaking his head. “I’ve had my mouth and hands on every inch of you. And you show up at a party at my kid’s house with a date.” He shakes his head again.
“Don’t be a vulgar. And I had no idea this was your daughter’s house,” I tell him, feeling my face heat in embarrassment.
“You may not have known, but Conner knew this is my daughter’s house. As for being vulgar,” he says, his face dipping even closer to mine, his voice dropping, “your body knows me, craves me.”
“Not anymore,” I bite out, becoming pissed off.
“You’ve been mine since you walked back into my life.”
“You tol—”
He cuts me off, ducking his head so he’s face to face with me. “I know what I said, baby. I thought that you were cool with how we were. You told me you wanted to keep things simple ‘cause your boy. I had no clue that you were feeling like you weren’t important to me.” His hand comes up, his fingers wrapping around the back of my neck.
“You didn’t stop me from leaving,” I say quietly, still hurt by that.
“I was caught off guard. I thought I had time. Then I saw you out on a date and was pissed but happy the guy was a loser.” He smiles and I narrow my eyes. “Then I called you. I wanted to laugh about it with you, but that’s not what happened.”
“No,” I agree. “I was really mad at you. I
am
really mad at you.”
“You think weeks of silent treatment hasn’t shown me that?”
My heart starts to feel lighter, and then guilt starts to kick in. “I’m here with Conner.”
“You were here with Conner. Now, you’re here with me.”
“Mike,” I whisper-hiss his name.
“Babe, I’ll talk to Conner.”
I shake my head. “You’re not talking to Conner.”
“Did you know Conner knew I was seeing you?”
“What?”
“Every man in town knew I was seeing you. They all knew you were off-limits.”
“What?” I repeat, stunned.
“You never wondered why the fuck no one ever hit on you?” he asks, his thumb sliding down my throat.
“No,” I answer, swallowing at the intense look in his eyes.
“They knew you were off-limits. Just ‘cause our relationship wasn’t out in the open doesn’t mean I hid that shit.”
“Oh my God,” I breathe.
“That’s why me and Conner are gonna talk,” he states, and anxiety fills my chest.
“I’m still mad at you.”
“Don’t matter. I’m still talking to him.”
“Mike.”
“Kat.”
“Don’t be a jerk,” I hiss and try to break out of his grasp.
His hand wraps around my waist and his hand at my neck slides farther back into my hair, holding me captive as his mouth comes down on mine, pulling the air from my lungs. I gasp in surprise, and he takes the opportunity to slip his tongue between my lips. His familiar taste fills my mouth, and my body, which is completely owned by him, leans in until my chest is pressed firmly to his. When he groans and I feel his arousal at my stomach, a whimper escapes into his mouth.
“Seriously?” I hear barked.
My eyes squeeze shut. Then Mike’s forehead touches mine for a brief second before he pulls away.
“You, me, outside,” he tells Conner, jerking his head towards the front door.
My hand covers my mouth and I look around the room at all the people who have stopped to watch what’s going on. I can’t believe I just kissed Mike in front of all of these people; I really can’t believe I did it when I am out with Conner.
“Oh shit. This should be good.”
I look to my left at a young guy. His head’s shaved. He looks similar to Asher, and I wonder if they’re brothers.
His eyes come to me and a smile spreads across his lips. “I’m Trevor.”
“Kathleen,” I say then hear yelling and start to head towards the front of the house.
“Don’t think Mike would want you out there, doll,” a guy covered in tattoos says, stepping in front of me.
“I need to stop them.”
“Sorry,” he says, and I try to step around him, but he blocks my way again.
“Move.” I glare, and he smirks, shaking his head.
I look around me and see a sliding glass door not far from where I’m standing. I’m just about to make a run for it when Mike comes storming back into the house carrying my purse, which I left in Conner’s truck.
“Let’s go,” Mike says, and the tattoo guy in front of me smiles before stepping out of the way. When Mike reaches my side, his hand slides around my waist and his eyes go to the tattoo guy. “Thanks, Nico, and tell November I’ll call her,” he says before leading me out of the house.
“What are you doing?” I ask when I finally find my voice.
“We’re going to my house so we can talk,” he says, opening the passenger’s side door to his car and pushing me in before slamming the door closed.
“What just happened?” I whisper to myself as I watch Mike slide behind the wheel.
“Seatbelt, babe,” he says as I sit there, stunned. His arm comes across me, pulling the belt across my body before locking it in place.
“Mike.”
“We’ll talk soon,” he tells me, starting up the car and putting it in reverse.
“Mike.”
“Just a minute, babe,” he mutters, pulling out his phone and pressing a couple of buttons before putting it to his ear. “I won’t be at the club tonight. Can you handle it?” he asks into the phone while turning his car onto the main road. “Good. Thanks,” he mutters before pulling the phone from his ear and putting it in the cup holder between us.
“Can you take me home?” I ask softly.
His hand comes to mine in my lap. He twines his fingers with mine before pulling my hand to his mouth and whispering, “No,” against my fingers.
“I just kissed you when I was out on a date with someone else,” I tell him.
“I know,” he replies, pulling my hand to his thigh.
“I feel really horrible about that, Mike.”
“I know that, too.”
“I need to apologize to Conner.”
“No, you don’t,” he says firmly.
“Mike, you know about my past, about my ex and what he did to me. I doesn’t sit well that I did that to someone else.”
“Did you sleep with him?” he asks on a growl.
“What?”
“Did you sleep with Conner?” he repeats, sounding even angrier.
“No,” I whisper.
“Do you like him?”
“He was nice.”
“Nice?” he says, his face showing disgust.
“Yes. Nice.”
“Could you see yourself with him in five years?” he asks, and I turn my head to look at him, noticing that his jaw is clenched.
“No,” I say quietly.
“Then you don’t need to call him.”
We drive the rest of the way to his house in silence. My brain keeps repeating everything that just happened and I have no idea why I’m not fighting him or why I don’t have more of an issue with his telling me that I can’t call Conner. All I keep thinking about is that, every time he touches or kisses me, it feels right.
When we pull up to his house, he shuts down the car and immediately gets out, walks around to my side, opens my door, leans in across me, unhooks my belt, and pulls me out with him.
“Um,” I mumble, not sure what I’m going to say as he shuts the door behind us.
He grabs my hand, dragging me with him into the kitchen. “Sit here,” he says as his hands go to my waist, hoisting me up on to the counter. Then he kisses me on the lips before going to the fridge and getting two beers.
I watch him, at a loss for words, while he pops the tops on both beers before coming to stand in front of me, pushing my legs apart, and then standing between them.
“Now, let’s talk,” he says, setting his beer down at my hip. His hands slide around me, pulling me closer to him. “First, I fucked up, but this is how it’s supposed to be. There is supposed to be an
us
.”
I can feel my mouth opening and closing, but no words are coming out.
His eyes search my face, his voice drops and his hands go to my face, holding it gently. “I love you. You love me.”
I double blink and feel my insides melt.
“I messed up.”
What the hell is going on?
I look around the kitchen, making sure that I’m not getting Punk’d. Men do not do this—at least not the men I know. Then again, Mike has never been normal—hence my not being able to get over him.
“Do you forgive me?” he asks softly, his eyes pleading.
I take a deep breath, holding it in. I still can’t form words as I look into his eyes. I know we have a lot to work through, but I want to be with him. So I take my hands off the counter, place them on his shoulders, and lean in, pressing my mouth to his. His hands hold my face more firmly while he takes over control of the kiss by tilting my head farther so he can get deeper. His tongue tangles with mine and the feel of his hand skimming down my side to run smoothly over my breast causes me to lift my hips and circle my legs around his waist. Then he pulls his mouth away and rests his forehead against mine with his eyes closed.
“We have a lot to work out,” I say softly.
He nods, his hands sliding around me.
“If we’re going to do this, I want all of it, not just the sex.” I know deep down that I’m just as guilty as he is for what happened between us before. I should have told him sooner that I wanted more before flipping out and jumping ship.