Page 78 of Mountain Daddy (Mountain Men #2)

Luther

“You hungry?” I ask Kendra as she steps out of the bathroom.

I’m sitting on the foot of the bed—chair already cleaned—wearing a pair of gray sleep pants and a white T-shirt. And Kendra is dressed in gray sweatpants and a white tank top.

I smirk at our matching outfits.

Kendra nods in response to my question, even as she lifts a hand to cover a yawn.

“Or do you just want to go to sleep?” I smile at how cute she looks.

Kendra drops her hand. “I’m fifty percent hungry. Fifty percent tired.”

“How about leftover pizza in bed?” I offer, feeling the same.

She perks up. “That sounds amazing, actually.”

I hold out my hands.

Kendra rolls her eyes as she crosses the room and takes my outstretched hands in hers.

I groan as she helps me stand.

“Need me to get you some Aspercreme, Old Man?”

She’s teasing me, but I’m tempted to say yes. “If you’re offering to apply it.”

Kendra swats at my stomach, and I catch her hand.

She’s not going to get lost walking with me to the kitchen, but I still slide my palm down until our fingers are entwined.

For the last few days, I’ve spent so much time thinking about Kendra, about what I should do, what’s right, that I forgot how good I feel when I’m around her.

I know nothing has changed in our situation. But we’re adults.

And as long as we keep what’s between us private until we decide what to do, then we aren’t hurting anyone.

With Kendra’s hand in mine, we step out of my bedroom and into the hall.

A door slams from somewhere downstairs.

I push Kendra behind me, putting myself between her and whoever just?—

A voice cuts through my fight mode.

A voice I’d recognize anywhere.

“Dad, I’m home!”