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I stalk into the room and stand behind her. “Morning,” I say. My voice is terser than I want it to be, but it is what it is. She stops laughing and turns her head at the sound of my voice.
“Ridge.” She breathes my name like a fucking caress.
“Didn’t know you were stopping by today.” Although I’d hoped she would.
“Yeah, just wanted to check in.”
“Dude, you fucking smell like little man.” Kent leans over and sniffs me.
“Yeah, we had a diaper malfunction so a bath was required, then he pissed on both of us so I just got in the shower with him. I used his bath stuff too, since I couldn’t use mine on him.” I shrug.
“I love the baby smell.” Kendall blushes.
“Fuck, that shit is a chic magnet. We need to get some,” Seth says.
“Good luck with that,” I say under my breath. Kendall hears me, though, because her eyes sparkle with laughter. Those blue eyes of hers light up the room. She’s fucking gorgeous.
“We should totally bring him out with us one night. The smell might work, but having the real thing with us? Guaranteed pussy, my man,” Mark suggests.
I reach over and smack him on the back at the head at the same time Kendall gasps.
“You can’t do that.” She turns to look at me. “You ever need a sitter, you call me before taking him with you.” Her hand is on her hip and she looks so damn sexy when she’s fired up. “I mean it. You cannot let them use him to get women in their beds.” As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she blushes a deep red. “I–I mean, if you want to use your son for that, I can’t stop you, but I would be happy to keep him . . .” She looks at the ground.
She’s embarrassed. By this time, I’m standing beside her so I turn to face her, her eyes still on the floor. With my index finger, I lift her chin so she’s looking at me. Only at me. “I would never do that.” I keep my eyes locked on those baby blues, willing her to believe me. She gives a subtle nod, and I run my thumb over her bottom lip. I would give anything to kiss her right now.
“Right, we’re going to unload the trucks,” I hear Kent say.
I don’t acknowledge them, just the fact that I hear their heavy footsteps leaving us alone. My eyes stay on her. I can feel her heavy breath against my hand. Those full lips of hers dying for me to kiss her. “I want to taste these lips,” I whisper.
A sound almost like a moan escapes her. “Ridge,” she murmurs.
I take a step closer.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea. You’re mourning, and I can’t . . .”
Fuck! She doesn’t know about Melissa. To her, it looks like I’m some douche who just lost the love of his life and is already hitting on someone else. I hear the guys outside, so instead of kissing her like I want to, I run my thumb over her bottom lip one last time before releasing her and stepping away.
“It’s not like that, Kendall. Now is not the time to get into it, but I want to. I want to tell you all about Knox’s mom,” I tell her honestly. There’s something about Kendall that draws me in. She’s got me wanting to tell her my entire life’s story, if it gets my lips over hers.
“Yeah.” She clears her throat. “I’m always here to listen anytime you need.”
The guys make a lot of noise, alerting us to their presence before the door slowly opens and they file back in the house. Reaching out, I grab her hand and give it a quick gentle squeeze before releasing her. “Soon.”
“Delivery just pulled in,” Tyler says, watching me closely.
“I better go. You have my number if anything comes up. Dad is back in town Friday.” She waves to each of us before rushing out the door.
Chapter 22
Kendall
What the hell just happened? I almost kissed him. I wanted to kiss him. I can still feel the rough pad of his thumb as it traced my bottom lip. He’s mourning and lonely, and I almost took advantage of that. Even knowing he’s hurting, I still want it. I still want to kiss him.
I’m going to Hell.
I arrive at work right at eight and it’s crazy already. The first hour of appointments all got here at the same time. It’s a relief really; being on the floor keeps my mind focused . . . Well, more so than it would be if I was just sitting in my office. The morning flies by, which I’m thankful for.
“Hey, you bring lunch?” Dawn asks.
“No, I left in a rush to check on the house.”
She laughs. “I can tell from that blush on your cheeks that you got to see the guys. One in particular?”
“They were all there,” I tell her.
“And?”
“And what?”
“And you would not be blushing just from seeing them. Grab your purse, we’re going out to lunch,” she demands.
I do as she says, hoping some fresh air will do me some good. We walk to the diner down the street. The place is packed, but we’re able to find a small table near the door. As soon as the waitress takes our order, Dawn’s on me.
“Spill.” She crosses her arms over her chest and sits back against the chair.
“They were all there. The house looks good, it’s coming along.”
“Kendall,” she says in warning.
I huff out a breath. “Fine. I almost kissed him,” I hiss.
A smile brightens her face. “You almost kissed him?”
“Yes, no, I mean I don’t know. We almost kissed. He’s mourning and lonely and raising this baby on his own he’s vulnerable, and I took advantage of that,” I whisper-yell at her.
“Okay, first of all, he’s a grown man. Yes, he’s now a
single father, but do you know the full story? How do you know if he’s mourning? He doesn’t look like he just lost the love of his life to me.”
“He has to stay strong for his son,” I say, exasperated.
She looks over my shoulder then leans in. “You wanted to kiss him.” It’s not a question, more of a statement.
“Yes. Yes, I wanted to kiss him,” I say, louder than intended.
It’s then that I feel strong hands on my shoulders and hot breath next to my ear. “I wanted it too.”
Ridge.
I look across the table at Dawn, and she’s got a smug look on her face. Bitch. She knew he was back there.
Ridge gently massages my shoulders as he and the guys say hello to Dawn.
“You guys want to join us?” Dawn asks.
I close my eyes and pray they say no. Not to mention that we only have a small four-person booth. There are seven of us now, and these guys are huge—no way they would fit.
“No room, sweetheart,” Mark replies.
“We can—” I kick her under the table. “Ouch.” She glares at me, as the guys laugh.
I can feel the burn of the flush of my cheeks for the second time today in their presence.
“I think we’ll just grab a seat at the counter,” Ridge says.
Dawn and the guys say “good-bye” and “nice to see you” and all that. Ridge still has his hands on my shoulders. I shiver when I feel his hot breath next to my ear. “We’ll get there, you and me. It’s going to happen, Kendall.” He kisses my cheek and then he’s gone. The warmth of his hands, the feel of his hot breath, the deep timbre of his voice, the woodsy scent of his cologne—gone.
Unable to stop myself, I watch him saunter off toward the counter. I don’t turn away until he’s seated. When I do finally pull my eyes from him, Dawn is smirking as she hands me a napkin. I raise my eyebrows in question.
