Текст книги "Faceoff"
Автор книги: Kelly Jamieson
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 9 страниц)
Chapter Ten
A distant low rumble outside the tent had Kyla lifting her head. “Was that thunder?”
“Dunno.”
She snuggled into Tag’s big warm body in the sleeping bag. He’d turned off the lamp and they lay there in darkness while outside the tent the wind howled in the trees in gusty bursts. Another, louder rumble told them the storm was moving closer. “It is thunder.”
A flash of light briefly lit the tent.
“I love thunderstorms,” she said, enjoying the feel of his arms around her, holding her against him.
“Ungh.”
She smiled against his chest and rubbed her fingers over his big shoulder. They’d talked a lot earlier, but apparently he was all talked out and ready for post-coital sleep. She could probably sleep herself, feeling so relaxed and satisfied. “I should go back to the cottage.”
“Don’t go.” His arms tightened. “It’s starting to rain.”
He was right. Big drops spattered on the tent, another flash of lightning illuminated them. Kyla counted in her head until thunder cracked. “Ooh, that’s getting closer. That was loud.” She liked storms, but she didn’t want to be running across the yard through one. “Are we safe here, Tag?”
“Of course.”
“There are trees all around us. What if one gets hit by lightning?”
“We’ll be fine.” He kissed her temple in a sweetly tender gesture that made her insides go all soft. “Want me to distract you again?”
“I don’t think you’re ready for that yet. You’re not a teenager anymore, you know.” His hand landed sharply on her ass and heat flared there. “Hey!” She wriggled against him.
“Keep that up and I’ll be ready, all right,” he growled.
The storm passed over them with rapid flashes of light, crashes and cracks that made the ground shake. “Wicked,” Kyla breathed, so glad she was wrapped up in Tag’s arms. There was no way she was going to sleep with that raging on outside the tent, so she just let herself enjoy it, snuggled into the sleeping bag and Tag’s body. He stroked a hand lazily up and down her back.
A complicated mixture of emotions filled her. Tenderness. Affection. Sexual satisfaction. Maybe when you put those all together it felt like love. But it couldn’t be love. They’d both agreed at the start of this that neither of them was looking for a relationship. This was about sex, about finally fulfilling one of her deepest, longest-standing fantasies—being with Tag.
It was nothing more than that.
Her chest ached a little at that thought, but she ignored it and squeezed her eyes closed. The fast-moving storm was now only faint flickers of light and muted rumbling, although rain drizzled down steadily outside, and she closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.
Day came early at this time of year, the tent growing bright shortly after five in the morning. Kyla blinked and turned her head to look at Tag, spooned around her, his hand resting on her tummy, her butt pressed into his groin. His eyes remained closed and she studied him, his long eyelashes, thick straight eyebrows, his square jaw deeply shadowed with whiskers. She gave a shaky smile at how beautiful he was and how moving it was to be there with him like that. How incredible last night had been.
The brightening light outside told her that the storm had long since gone and the sky was clear. She needed to get back to the cottage before people started getting up and realized she’d never come home. She started to flip back the edge of the sleeping bag, but Tag’s hand tightened on her stomach.
“Where’re you going?” he mumbled.
“Home. Before someone realizes I wasn’t there all night.”
He sighed and kissed her shoulder. “Damn.”
She gave a little huff of laughter. “I know.”
“I should get up and go for a run.”
“Good god, Tag. It’s five in the morning!”
“It’s good to go before it gets too hot. Come with me.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m going back to bed to sleep for a few more hours. Or six.”
He smiled against her skin. “Running’s good for you. You need more exercise.”
“I’d never keep up with you.”
“Okay, I’ll go again later. When you’re ready.”
“You’re insane.”
“I have to stay in shape. The off season isn’t for sitting around on my ass drinking beer.”
Warmth unfurled inside her and she touched his stubbly cheek. “As if you’d ever do that.”
“Seriously,” he muttered, rubbing his face into her palm. “You were trash talking me last night about getting old, but the truth is…I am.”
“You’re not old!”
“I’m not young either,” he said with a wry smile. “I have to work even harder than some of the young guys to be ready for training camp. And I swear every year it gets harder.”
“Oh Tag. You’re in amazing shape.”
One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Why thank you. I like your shape too.”
They lay there smiling at each other, cocooned in a flannel-lined sleeping bag in the slowly brightening tent.
“I’ll take you fishing this afternoon,” he said.
She blinked. “Fishing?”
“Sure. In the boat.”
“Um…okay. Maybe we could bring Emily.”
“No.”
She lifted one eyebrow and he gave her a sexy grin. “Don’t get me wrong. Emily’s a doll. But I want to take you fishing…alone.”
Memories of other fishing trips with the guys flooded back, how she’d tried so hard not to be horrified by the poor fish wriggling with a hook in its mouth, how the poor fish had died, how the guys had taken gruesome pleasure in gutting and filleting the poor fish and then had expected her to eat it. She’d almost been in tears, but as usual, determined to be one of them, she’d made herself do it. She did not want to go fishing. But if it was with Tag…
“Okay.” She kissed him quickly, then slipped out and found her clothes, cool and slightly damp from the morning air. Ugh. She dressed, aware of his hot gaze on her as she did so.
“Wear that black bikini,” he said. She paused, then hid her grin as she ducked out of the tent and jogged across the wet grass.
* * *
“So where are the fishing rods?”
Tag had just steered the boat into a small bay a few miles up the shore from Crystal Beach. A patch of reeds waved lazily in the afternoon breeze, the sun glinting off the water. Kyla had moved to the back of the boat and stood there with one hand on the back of a seat, balancing in the rocking boat.
“I didn’t bring any.”
She looked at him over one bare shoulder. She’d worn the little halter-topped black bikini as he’d asked, but also wore a pair of loose black board shorts over it. They hung low on her hips, emphasizing the smooth curves of her waist.
“You didn’t bring fishing rods? How are we going to fish?”
“We’re not. I hate fishing.”
She gaped at him. “You hate fishing?”
He grinned. “I’m happy to eat all the pickerel the others catch, but it’s really not my favorite thing to do.”
“Then why did we come here?”
He just looked at her.
“Oh.” Her mouth curved. “Really? In the boat?”
He cut the motor and silence surrounded them, save for the soft slap of waves against the boat. “We’re alone,” he murmured, moving toward her. “That’s all I care about.”
She laid a hand on his bare chest and smiled up at him. “You are a bad, bad man.”
“I know.” He bent and kissed her. She wore some kind of fruity lip balm that tasted sweet and he licked her mouth. “I did however bring towels, blankets and extra sunscreen. We wouldn’t want you to burn any areas that aren’t…ahem…used to sun exposure.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty pink.
“We should probably take care of that first,” he continued, reaching for a bottle of sunscreen. “I kinda like putting sun lotion on you.”
“I kind of like it too,” she murmured.
“Take your top off.”
She blinked at him, then surveyed the area around them. They were completely alone. She bit her lip. “This is kind of…public.”
“There’s no one else here. We’ll hear a boat if someone comes.”
She dragged her tongue across her bottom lip, then reached behind her for the fastener of the top. It loosened and she lifted it over her head. Tag’s breath stuck in his throat for a moment as he surveyed her naked, there in the boat, the sun gleaming on her dark brown hair, her skin smooth and golden, her breasts so firm and perfect. Her nipples puckered into tight brown points.
Tag’s dick had been half hard all day thinking about this and it hardened even more in his shorts. He squirted lotion into his hand, then rubbed his hands together before setting them on her chest. She gave a little moan as he massaged the cream into her breasts slowly, enjoying the slippery feel of soft flesh in his palms, the way her breath hitched as he rubbed over her nipples. There was something a little wicked about doing this out in the open in broad daylight.
“Pretty tits,” he murmured. “Very pretty. Now take off those shorts. And the bottom.”
Her cheeks even pinker, she unfastened the shorts and let them drop to the floor of the gently swaying boat. With her thumbs under the sides, she shimmied out of the bikini bottom and stood before him naked.
Ah holy hell. “Better do your back,” he muttered, squeezing out more sunscreen. He balanced his ass against the back of one of the seats and widened his stance to rub lotion into her back, all the way down to her sweet little butt. “Cute tan lines,” he commented. “You tan easily, don’t you?” She hadn’t had much color in her skin when she’d arrived a few days ago, all office-worker pale.
“I guess.” Her voice drifted in the afternoon sun, followed by a soft sigh of pleasure as he massaged her.
“Me too.”
“Do I get to put sunscreen on your ass?”
He chuckled. “That’s the plan, sweetheart.”
“Yay.”
He grinned, turned her to face him and finished off by rubbing cream onto her stomach and hips, as low as he could get, brushing over the little patch of dark curls. Fuck, this was turning him on unbelievably. “There you go. Should be good for a little while.”
She continued to cast apprehensive glances out at the water and he liked that she was a little on edge. That just added to the excitement. Although he had a feeling it didn’t matter where he and Kyla were, there’d be plenty of excitement.
He dropped his own shorts, exposing his throbbing cock to the sun and Kyla’s gaze and oh yeah, her touch. She reached for him immediately with both hands, looking at him with such awe and appreciation she made him feel like a god. He groaned.
“Oh yeah, sunscreen,” she whispered. He gave her his back and let her small hands rub him all over from shoulders and neck all the way down to the base of his spine where his skin prickled, and then lower. “Lean forward,” she directed him and he set his hand on the back of the seat and bent at the waist.
Her hands were playful and naughty, rubbing over his ass cheeks, then between, then lower, making him suck in a sharp gasp. When she touched his balls from behind, heat rushed through his body. He tried to rise and turn around, but she laid a hand on his back to stop him.
“Wait,” she said softly. “This is fun.”
Fun, oh hell yeah, wicked sexy fun. She tortured him with her delicate touches on his testicles, firmer caresses on his buttocks and then reached between his legs for his raging hard-on and gave a tug.
“Fuck!”
Her body pressed up against his from behind as she stroked him like that, the coconut scent of sunscreen invading his senses, the bright sun blinding him. He liked foreplay, but not this time. He pulled away from her, whirled around and grabbed hold of her naked body, all shiny from the lotion, hauled her up against him in a move that sent the boat rocking and kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, mouths sliding, tongues licking, their gleaming bodies gliding against each other.
He turned her around and eased her down onto the seat of the boat on her knees. “This is so crazy,” she said, gripping the back of the seat and glancing over her shoulder at him seductively.
“Crazy hot. Look at you, all shiny and naked.” He moved up behind her and nudged her thighs farther apart, revealing her sweet pussy. “So gorgeous, Kyla.” He drew his fingers up through her slit, testing. “And wet.”
She moaned. He spread her legs wider, one hand pressing on her back, and adjusted her position so he could find her entrance and slid inside, slowly, carefully. Christ, it only got better, hotter, every time. Her head fell back and exquisite pleasure streaked through him as she surrounded him in liquid heat. So fucking hot, scalding his dick. Then… “Shit.” He went very still, his body pulsing.
“What?”
“I forgot condoms. Fuck! I can’t believe that.”
“You knew we weren’t going to be fishing. How could you forget that?” Amusement tinged her voice.
“I’m sorry, Kyla.” He leaned over her and touched his forehead to her shoulder, fighting for air.
“Do it anyway.”
He went still.
“I’m on the Pill,” she said. “Lord knows why, I haven’t had a date in months. I won’t get pregnant. I always have safe sex.” She turned her head to look at him, one eyebrow raised.
“Me too,” he groaned. “In fact, I haven’t had any sex for quite a while.”
“Really? The hot hunky hockey player with all kinds of women after him?”
“I don’t have women after me,” he muttered.
Her hand reached back and slid over his hip. “I don’t believe that. But never mind that. Fuck me, Tag.”
She didn’t need to ask twice. With another ragged groan he pushed inside, into the sweetest, hottest pussy. “Oh yeah.”
She made hot little sex sounds as he filled her, pumped into her, her hands holding on tightly to the back of the seat. “Oh god, that’s so good,” she moaned. “So good.”
He stroked her butt cheeks, so soft, played a little between them as he had the night before, teasing her puckered little entrance. “I want to fuck you here, Kyla,” he muttered. He heard her sharp intake of breath. “Sometime. Maybe tonight.” A moan fell from her lips. “Oh yeah. Touch yourself, Kyla. I’m gonna come fast, I’ve been hard all day thinking about this.”
She slid her hand down to her clit and rubbed. “I like that,” she said. “You being hard all day thinking about me.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” The words slid out before he could censor them. “Ah hell…” He moved faster, his body bent over hers. He found her breasts and cupped them, squeezed them gently, tugged at her nipples. Then he wrapped his arms around her. She gave a soft cry and her pussy rippled around him.
Sensation climbed, then heat exploded inside him and flowed into her body. He bent over her and sank his teeth into her neck as their bodies shuddered together in a wild and violent climax.
“Holy shit,” he gasped moments later. His thighs quivered. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he swiped an arm across it before slowly withdrawing from her body. He collapsed onto the seat beside her, the vinyl hot under his ass, and reached for her hand. She too fell onto the seat, and, half sitting, half lying, they stayed there holding hands, the softly rocking boat echoing the lingering pulses of ecstasy in his body, lulling his sated mind and body to near sleep in the hot sun.
“Now I can say I’ve had sex in a boat,” Kyla murmured.
He smiled without opening his eyes. “Me too.”
“Like you’ve never done this before.”
“I haven’t. And seriously, Kyla…about all those girls…there aren’t any.”
“A couple of years ago I heard you might be getting married.”
He lifted his head and looked at her. “You heard that, huh.” He stared past her out at the never-ending surface of the water, stretching all the way to the horizon, pure and blue. “Well, I thought I might be getting married too. It didn’t work out.”
“Why?”
“Let’s eat lunch.”
“You brought lunch?” She sat up and reached for her bathing suit. He plucked it out of her hand. “Hey!”
“Stay naked a little longer. This is seriously sexy.”
She grinned. “Fine. But I can’t believe you remembered food, but not condoms.”
“I can’t believe it either. Let’s move up front.” He spread out a blanket and they reclined on it in the sun. He reached into a small cooler bag. “Pastrami on rye. Lemonade. And…” He pulled a bag of potato chips from a plastic grocery bag. “Old Dutch chips. You have no idea how much I miss these living down in the States.”
“Well, there’s one more benefit of being back home.”
“Definitely.”
“So tell me why you didn’t get married.”
Damn. She wasn’t going to let that go. He sighed. “Her name was Jovannah.”
“She’s from Phoenix?”
“Yeah. She manages a clothing store.”
“Mmm.”
He looked at her. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. And you’re right.”
She laughed and picked up the bottle of lemonade. “Blonde bimbo with big boobs? Really? I’m right?”
He couldn’t help it, he laughed too. Maybe Jovannah wasn’t such a sore spot any more. “She wasn’t really a bimbo. But definitely not as smart as you.”
She tossed her hair back and took a bite of her sandwich.
“We were together a couple of years. I thought it was pretty serious. Then I had that knee injury…don’t know if you heard about that.”
“I did.” Her eyes regarded him solemnly, attentively. All her focused attention on him made his chest go hot.
“I had to have surgery. I…well, it was stupid, the surgery went fine, but I was a little freaked out about it and worried that my hockey career was over.” He bent his head and studied the potato chip in his hand. “I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”
She didn’t say anything.
“So,” he continued. “I guess that kind of freaked Jovannah out too. Because it turned out my career was just as important to her as it is to me. In fact, more important than I was. She screwed around on me with another guy on the team. I guess she was making sure she had a backup plan if I ended up done playing hockey.”
“Bitch.”
He lifted his head. She met his eyes and she wasn’t even smiling.
“Yeah,” he agreed, and tipped the lemonade bottle up to drink deeply. “It was hard because I felt stupid. I should’ve known that’s what she wanted. I learned that lesson a long time ago.”
“What lesson?”
“That women were only interested in me because of what I do for a living.”
After two seconds of silence, she burst out laughing. He frowned. “What?”
“That’s not why women are interested in you! Are you kidding me?”
“No.” His frown deepened.
She leaned forward, now apparently oblivious to her lovely nudity. “You’re smart, gorgeous, funny. You’re fair-minded and ethical and loyal and trustworthy. Yeah, you’re…um…gorgeous…and super talented, but you’ve apparently never let that change who you are inside. Those are the reasons you have women all over you.”
He stared at her, the heat in his chest becoming a swelling softness. “Ah…” For a moment he had a weird sensation, like being high, like he was floating out of his body and then plummeting back to earth.
“And you have mustard on your chin.” One corner of her mouth lifted.
He grinned and swiped at his chin.
Chapter Eleven
The rest of the week passed quickly, with time spent talking to her mom and dad and to her brothers. Kyla got to know her little niece better and got to hold baby Caleb and play with him. She watched Tag and Scott, best friends their whole lives, reconnect and spend guy time together. She even spent time with Remi and Jess talking about girl things—and it wasn’t so bad.
And she spent every night in the tent with Tag.
The hardest times were when she and Tag were together with their families. She tried her best to ignore Tag despite the heated haze of lust that surrounded her every time he was near. And sometimes when he wasn’t. It was nearly impossible. Their gazes would catch and hold, sparks sizzling through her veins every time, her stomach doing a slow roll of lust, heat expanding around them. She’d thought they were doing a good job of hiding it though, even the sneaking into the tent every night, until Saturday afternoon, the day before she was supposed to leave, when she ended up in the Heller kitchen alone with Laura, helping prepare dinner to barbecue that night. Remi’d been helping them but had just gone to buy more wine.
“Okay, I have to ask you something,” Laura said. “It’s kind of personal, but don’t be upset.”
Kyla’s stomach tightened. What was this about?
Laura smiled at her. “You and Tag…is something going on between you?”
Heat swept from Kyla’s chest to her face and she knew she was blushing. Dammit. “Er…why do you ask that?”
“Just a feeling I have. You two have been spending a lot of time together this week.”
“Um…well, we all have.”
“I haven’t seen you disappear with Logan or Matt in the boat for hours to go fishing. And then come home with no fish. Or taking long walks on the beach. Or…” Her smile deepened. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Tag actually lie on the beach. But he has this week. With you.”
Kyla bit her lip and bent her head to the chicken breasts she was trimming, letting her hair fall over her face. She couldn’t lie to Laura. Was Laura upset about this?
“You know I’ve always thought of you as the daughter I didn’t have,” Laura continued, whisking up lemon juice and Dijon mustard for the marinade. She gave a little laugh. “Doug and I kept trying for a girl and look what we ended up with. Four boys.”
Kyla lifted her head to give Laura a smile, her words making her chest feel warm. “You love your four boys.”
“I do. But having you as almost part of the family was so nice. I liked having a girl around. Even though you wanted to be one of the boys.”
Kyla gave a choked little laugh. “I tried. I don’t think I ever really was.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” Laura said. “Clearly Tag doesn’t see you as one of the boys. Or even a little sister.”
Kyla paused. “Does that bother you?” Her body tensed, waiting for Laura’s reply. She couldn’t bear it if Laura was angry about this.
“No!”
Kyla’s gaze flew up to Laura’s face.
“Not at all! I think it’s wonderful.” Laura studied her and Kyla’s insides twisted. “I love you, Kyla, and if you and Tag…well, I’d love that too. So much.”
Oh no. This was worse than Laura being upset. This was Laura getting the wrong idea and getting false hopes about something that was never going to happen. Kyla dropped the knife and slumped against the counter. “Oh. Well, I’m not sure how to say this but…neither Tag or I are looking for any kind of relationship.”
“Oh.” Laura’s smile drooped a little. “I thought…”
What could she say? How could she make this better? How could she tell Tag’s mom they were just having hot tent sex every night, naked public sex in boats and long make-out sessions on the beach when they could get a moment alone?
They were also having long talks, sharing hopes and fears, talking about their futures…but never a future together. Kyla’s heart thudded slowly in her chest. “Laura. We’re both adults. Whatever this is…it’s going to end tomorrow when I head back to Winnipeg and…” Her voice got stuck, her throat suddenly thick and swollen. “And…” To her horror, tears sprang to her eyes. She met Laura’s gaze with an appalled silence.
“Oh no. Oh Kyla.” Laura immediately moved toward her and drew her in for a hug.
“I can’t…touch you…chicken hands…” She’d just been handling raw chicken and couldn’t touch anything. Laura gave a sniffly laugh and squeezed her, then drew back. She touched Kyla’s cheek.
“Are you okay, Kyla?”
Kyla nodded. “Of course! I’m fine. I never cry! This is so stupid. I don’t know what came over me.”
Laura grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her wet cheeks for her. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. “You probably don’t want to talk to me about it,” she said. “I’m his mom. But you could talk to your mom. Or even Remi. She likes you and she’s a very good listener.”
“I don’t need to talk to anyone.”
“Or maybe you should talk to Tag about it.”
Kyla’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No! There’s nothing to talk about. We both knew what we were getting into…” Well, there. She’d pretty much just told Laura they’d been boinking their brains out all week. She swallowed. “We’re just having fun, Laura.”
Laura nodded. “Okay.” But Kyla didn’t miss the disappointment that crossed Laura’s face.
Damn! She’d always thought their parents would be horrified if something like this happened. She’d never in a million years thought that maybe Laura wanted her and Tag to get together! Dear god, that was crazy.
Her insides churned as she returned to the chicken breasts, trying to focus on them. Just then Remi returned from the store. “I’m back!” she called cheerfully, setting the bags of wine bottles on the dining table. “They don’t have a big selection at that little store, but I got something anyway.”
But Remi apparently had instincts as good as Laura’s and she looked back and forth between Kyla and Laura as she unpacked the bags to put the wine if the fridge. Kyla forced a smile. “Great.”
“How’s the food coming? What can I do?”
“You can snap this asparagus,” Laura said with a smile as bright and forced as Kyla’s.
Damn.
* * *
It was their last night all together. Kyla and Tag were both heading back to the city on Sunday. They both had work obligations they had to get back to. So the two families had planned a big barbecue on the MacIntosh deck.
After they’d cooked and drank wine and eaten, they all sat on the deck. A blanket of pale gray obscured the sky, meaning rain was likely coming, but the evening air was still soft and warm. Then Kyla looked up to see her dad standing on a chair. “Dad! What are you doing?”
“I’m making a speech.”
She slouched back in her chair, waiting. She smiled and sipped her wine. Her dad was used to public speaking in his role as CEO, often traveling all over the world to give business presentations, so had no reservations about standing on a chair in front of the family to make a speech.
“I just want to say a few words while we’re all together,” he began. “It doesn’t happen very often anymore that all our kids can be home at the same time. Now our family is growing with Jessica, and grandchildren. The Heller family is growing too, with Remi here.” He smiled at Remi. “And maybe I’m not supposed to mention it, everyone has been tiptoeing around this all week, but Doug and Laura are going to be grandparents too.”
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Jase’s ex-girlfriend’s pregnancy wasn’t something anyone felt very comfortable talking about. Trust Dad to put it out there.
“That’s the truth, and even though it may not be ideal circumstances, I know Jase is going to be a great father and we’ll have another little one running around here soon. That child will be as welcome here as any. Just wanted you to know that, Jase and Remi.”
They both nodded, Jase’s mouth tight, Remi’s eyes bright.
“You all know that our family’s been through a rough time over the last year with Jenn’s cancer diagnosis.”
Another subject no one really wanted to talk about, another elephant on the deck, so to speak.
“So that just makes us extra grateful for this time together and for everything we have.” Dad paused to take a sip of his drink and Kyla suspected he was feeling a little emotional. “Having our whole family around us this week has been an incredible gift. That includes you Heller boys too,” he added with a smile. “All of us…Doug and Laura, Jenn and I…are so proud of all you kids. Not kids anymore. Grown adults, all of you successful and bright and happy. That means so much to us.”
Kyla looked around. There was Tag, Logan and Jase, big hockey superstars, and Matt just drafted into the NHL in the first round. There was her brother, VP at a big bank, the one who’d given her parents their first grandchildren, and Michael the tech entrepreneur making money like crazy.
And her. She looked down at her drink. This would have been the perfect time to celebrate her making partner. Her stomach tightened. It wasn’t a competition. She knew that. But she felt like the least successful of all of them in terms of her career.
Hell, her life overall wasn’t any better. She’d sacrificed so much working for the partnership, she didn’t have a husband or children or even a boyfriend. She sighed.
“So,” her father finished. “We just want to thank all of you for making the effort to be here, even though some of you have other obligations. When it comes right down to it, family is the most important thing and we know we’ve raised all of you right at times like this. So let’s drink a toast―to family.”
That old guilt nudged her again, at the fact that she’d almost missed this. Kyla lifted her drink in the toast and smiled and caught Tag’s eye. Heat speared through her again. Their eyes met and held and she gulped her wine. Family. She remembered the things they’d talked about this past week, his tough questions about her job and her future.
She was going back to work on Monday to resume that plan toward partner. But as that thought entered her head and nerves buzzed in her stomach, it was then she realized how incredibly different she’d felt this past week. How easy and relaxed she’d felt—no headaches, no sore neck, no stomach problems, no panic attacks. Well, just the one.
She’d laughed a lot, talked a lot, cooked and eaten and enjoyed food more than she had in a long time, exercised more than she had in years, swimming, waterskiing, running with Tag. She’d had a lot of very hot sex, which had also probably been very therapeutic. She’d had fun. The idea of going back to her workaholic existence suddenly seemed less appealing.
Her dad approached and smiled at her. “Hey, sweet pea.”
“Nice speech, Dad.”
“Thanks. I know it was hard for you to get up here this week. Just wanted you to know we appreciate it. Especially your mom. We worry about you.”
She sighed. She’d heard this before. “I know. You don’t need to. I’m determined to make partner, Dad. Don’t worry, I’ll live up to the rest of you some day.”
He frowned and tipped his head. “That’s not what I meant, sweet pea. I mean we worry that you focus too much on your work. You need to have a life.” He paused. “I’m not sure how you got the idea that we expect that of you. I mean…you’re an intelligent, talented woman. We know you’re capable of doing whatever you want in this world. But we love you no matter what that is, Kyla. If you make partner, we’ll be proud, sure. But if you don’t, we’ll still be proud. We just want you to be happy.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she was happy, but couldn’t say it. Because she was starting to realize…maybe she wasn’t.
