Page 32

K ENDALL

I’m on my lunch break when my cell phone vibrates with an incoming text. I swipe open my messages and bite my lower lip when I see Nash’s name.

NASH POTATO: If you don’t already have plans tonight, can you come over around six?

Like the lame ass I am, I don’t have plans on a Friday night. Before two of my three best friends were married, I’d be pulling them out to a club or planning some other event. Rowan would join us if she wasn’t working. Riley and Jackson were always a sure thing for a night out.

Now it’s just me, myself, and I, because more often than not, Rowan has a shift or she’s sleeping because she just worked a twelve-hour or because she has an early morning shift.

I read the text again. Six o’clock is early. Paisley will still be up. Unless she’ll be with her grandparents, which means Nash and I would have the house to ourselves and I wouldn’t have to restrain myself. I still don’t know what I want to do about my growing feelings or my ongoing trust issues.

The tingling sensation between my legs is my answer. Even if I can’t trust myself, I’m still a woman with needs, and Nash is a man who can deliver.

He’s the only man I want to deliver.

I squeeze my thighs together and respond.

ME: Sure. Can I bring anything?

He responds instantly.

NASH POTATO: You’re all I need.

Well, hell if that doesn’t ruin my underwear.

At the end of the day when Joe and Beth pick up Paisley, I’m tempted to ask them about their weekend plans, but I chicken out and distract myself by putting my classroom together instead of making conversation.

Needing an outlet for my nerves, I pop into an afternoon Pilates class, then take my time showering and shaving at home. Mom and Dani assume I’m hanging out with the girls again, which is fine by me.

At two minutes to six, I pull into Nash’s driveway. I sit in my car until Shinedown finishes their song and I mentally suit up my armor. I’ll flirt, tell him my period is over, we’ll have sex, and I’ll leave.

Easy peasy.

I leave the comfort of my car and wrap my arms around my middle to ward off the bitter chill in the air. When I reach the door, I press the doorbell with my gloved finger and bounce on the balls of my feet to get warm.

I only get a few bounces in before Nash opens the door and greets me with a shy smile. “Kendall.”

“Were you expecting someone else?” I tease.

He shakes his head and steps back, making room for me to slip by him and come inside. He closes the door behind me and I turn to him.

“Hey.” Damn, he looks good. His jeans hug his thick thighs perfectly, and there’s something sexy about seeing him in his socks and no shoes. The dark Henley stretches across his chest and biceps, as all his shirts do, and the icing on the cake is the dish towel draped over his shoulder.

“Can I take your coat?”

I slide off my gloves and shove them in the pockets before slipping out of my coat and handing it to him.

“Miss Kendall!” Paisley calls from the other side of the living room and comes charging into my legs. She hugs me with all her might. “I missed you.”

I chuckle and hug her back. “It’s only been a few hours since you left school.”

“I know, but you haven’t come over to my house all week. I had so much fun at my party.”

“I did too.”

“Pais, why don’t you pick up your artwork off the kitchen table? Dinner will be ready soon.”

When she scurries off, I turn to Nash. “Was Paisley supposed to be here tonight?”

“I didn’t want to be selfish.”

“Taking time for yourself isn’t being selfish. Paisley knows you love her.”

Nash steps into my space and pushes my hair over my shoulder. “I didn’t want to be selfish with you . She wants to spend time with you as much as I do.”

Oh, gulp. I’m not used to sweet words. Not even Ja–

Nope. I bite back any thoughts of him. He’s been monopolizing my thoughts too much lately, and deserves zero seconds of my thoughts and zero inches of headspace.

Since sexy banter is more my style, I run my palm down the dish towel and whisper, “I’m sure what Paisley wants to do with me is quite different than what you want to do.” I pat the towel and spin on my heel to join Paisley in the kitchen.

Mostly to put some space between my pounding heart and Nash’s sexiness. I can’t think straight with him looking so at home, so much like a dad, so fucking hot.

We make it through Nash’s delicious chicken parm with little flirting, other than the occasional eye-fucking, I suppose. I figured he’d drop sexual innuendos every chance he could get. I even set him up a few times.

“ Do you prefer chicken breast or thighs?” I asked him.

He tapped his chin as if in deep thought and said, “Thighs . ” I know he loves my breasts, and my thighs as well, but he totally gets off when his face is buried in my cleavage. I mean, when he’s between my legs as well, but he comments on my breasts a lot during sex.

I asked him if he needed a hand in the kitchen when Paisley left to use the bathroom, and he politely declined my help and told me to have a seat at the counter.

We’ve been done with dinner for an hour, and the three of us are sitting on the floor around the coffee table in the living room playing Chutes and Ladders.

“Oh, man.” Paisley sticks out her bottom lip in a pout when she lands on the top of a slide.

“Looks like Daddy’s gonna win this one,” Nash says with a teasing grin. He tweaks Paisley’s nose between his fingers and spins.

“Does Daddy always win?” I whisper softly so Paisley can’t hear me.

“Not always,” he says with a lift of his shoulder. Again, blowing off my flirting.

He flicks the spinner and moves his guy across the squares, the end in reach. When he lands three spaces from the winning square on the top of a chute, Paisley giggles.

“You’re on my square now. Maybe Miss Kendall will slide down too.”

“I know your tactic, little one.” Nash crosses his arms, pretending to be upset. “You’re working your magic making us all fall to the beginning so you can stay up later.”

She giggles again and spins. Ten minutes later, Nash makes it to the end first.

“Can we play it again?”

“Not a chance, Sweet Pea. Say goodnight to Miss Kendall.”

Paisley hops into my lap and hugs me. “Can you come over every night? I like playing games with you and Daddy.”

Before I can respond, Nash peels her off me and she wraps her arms and legs around him like a koala.

“Good night, Paisley.”

“Night, Miss Kendall.”

When they slip around the corner and up the stairs, I clean up the game and put all the pieces back in the box. I push to my feet and open the closet door for my coat, but a firm hand closes it before I can.

“Stay,” Nash rumbles behind me. “Please.”

My core clenches, reminding me how much it misses Nash’s touch.

“Paisley—”

“She yawned her way through brushing her teeth. I read two pages before she was snoring on my shoulder. My girl plays hard and crashes even harder.”

“I like to play hard too.”

He pushes my hair aside and sucks on my earlobe. “I’ll be right back.”

I fiddle with the hem of my sweater and pace the living room while I wait for him. Maybe I should strip off my clothes so we don’t waste any time. Before I can even unsnap my bra, Nash is back.

“She’s snoring.” He takes my hand and leads me to the couch.

Instead of laying down or even having me straddle him, he sits and pulls me next to him. Nash drapes his arm around my shoulder and picks up the remote. “Want to watch a movie?” He turns on the television and flips through the channels.

I study his side profile, trying to figure out his agenda. “Is that what you want to do?”

He clicks off the television and shifts so he’s sideways and faces me. “When you’re not at work and not watching football”—he winks—“what do you like to do for fun?”

“Getting naked with you is a lot of fun.”

Nash’s tongue darts out and moistens the middle of his lower lip. His dark eyes lock on my mouth, and I find myself doing the same motion with my tongue.

He blinks and shakes his head, as if warding off the lust, and returns his gaze to mine. “Before you met me?”

Hell, I don’t remember having fun before I met him.

Well, that’s a lie. I have a lot of fun with the girls and with Jackson.

But telling him I enjoy shopping, lunch dates with my friends, and dancing at nightclubs doesn’t make me sound very exciting.

I’ve never had fun with a guy, other than in the bedroom.

Even Jas–

Nope. Delete. Delete. Delete.

“I didn’t realize this question would stump you.” He toys with the ends of my hair. “Any hobbies? Do you like to travel?”

“Other than a quick trip to New York City after I graduated college, I’ve never left New England. And between work and helping my mom with my sister, there’s not a lot of down time to take up a hobby.”

“Tell me about her, your sister.”

My heart skips a beat. Jason never asked about her. Any time I had to cancel on him or showed up late or left his apartment early to be there for Danielle, he would act put out.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

I shake my head. “It’s not prying. Danielle is five years younger than me. She was born with Down syndrome and is the sweetest human being on the planet.”

“You’re close with her.”

I nod. “Our dad left us when she was a year old. Too much work and not enough reward. His words. I was only six, but I’ll never forget his words. Probably because he used to complain about her, about us, every day.”

“I’m sorry.” Nash reaches for my hand and interlaces our fingers. “That was a shitty thing for him to say. I can’t even imagine leaving Paisley, or any child.” He closes his eyes and winces. “Has he had any contact with you or Danielle since?”

“No. He never paid child support either. Mom didn’t want to drag the courts into something that would take her time and attention away from us, so she figured out how to raise two kids on her own.”

“And you stepped in to help her with Danielle,” he says, understanding my role.

“I had no choice.”