13
It had been a long day of cooking, but it was finally over. The wedding had come and gone, and they had survived. Thanks to Kelly. Miles knew it would not have gone smoothly if he had been in charge of everything. She handled everything with grace and allowed him to just focus on the food. While the bride had several complaints about everything she could think of, Kelly was able to diffuse every situation until the reception ended.
She was a godsend.
Emma was sleeping over at Noah and Jessa’s place, so Miles could deal with the wedding without worrying about her. Now he was leaning against the kitchen island with Kelly across from him, cake shavings sitting between them with extra icing slathered on it and a glass of wine in hand.
He handed Kelly a fork and sighed before stabbing a chunk of cake. “I have to say, this was probably the longest day of my life. Zero out of ten. Do not recommend.”
Kelly giggled and stabbed a chunk of cake as well. “I mean, it could have been worse. But I had fun.” She put the bite in hermouth and immediately closed her eyes and moaned. “Oh, my God, Miles. This is incredible.”
His dick hardened in his pants and jumped at her moan. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept with someone. After Emma was born, the opportunity just wasn’t there. He never wanted to pass her off to someone just so he could get laid. He hadn’t been completely celibate since her mom took off, but it had been nearly that long.
“Glad you like it,” he said, his voice coming out huskier than he wanted.
Kelly’s eyes met his, and she blushed. They both ate the cake in silence until Kelly finally set her fork down. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
Miles nodded. He suspected he knew where this was going. One of the first questions he always got from a woman was asking where Emma’s mom was.
“Where’s Emma’s mom?”
Bingo.
He sighed. “She just decided she didn’t want to be a parent. We were dating, and she got pregnant. She, Brooke, wanted to terminate the pregnancy, but I told her I wanted to keep the baby. We were young. I was twenty and she was nineteen. So she carried Emma to term and then signed all her rights over to me. Staying in Wintervale was never her plan. She always wanted to leave, and she didn’t want to be tied down with a baby.”
Miles held no ill will toward Brooke. He understood what he was signing up for when he asked her to have the baby. He heard about her occasionally from people around town since she had grown up here and still had ties here. But she never contacted him. Fortunately, Emma hadn’t asked about her much. Once in a while she brought up that she wished she had a mom, but she never directly asked about her. Miles knew it would eventuallybe something he would need to address, but for now, he was okay with just continuing on as they were.
“Wow. So you’ve been doing it alone since the beginning?”
He nodded. “Yes, mostly. My family helps a lot. They’re built-in babysitters who I pay with meals.”
She giggled. “Sounds like a great deal, to be honest. You’re an amazing chef.”
His cheeks warmed. He knew he was a good cook, but he always had trouble taking compliments. And she was no exception. “Thank you.”
They stared at each other, and the urge to lean forward and kiss her washed over him. After the kiss yesterday, he wanted it more than ever. And that terrified him. He reminded himself that she didn’t live here, and starting a relationship with someone who would leave soon was a terrible idea. But, damn, if she moaned again…
He cleared his throat. “So, my family has a standing family dinner every Sunday. My mom asked if you’d like to join us tomorrow, as long as everyone is feeling better. I believe she and my dad are on the mend, and they think they’ll be fine by tomorrow.”
“I’m supposed to fly home tomorrow afternoon.”
Miles couldn’t help the disappointment that flooded through him, but he tried to mask his features. “Oh. Okay.”
He wasn’t sure what else there was to say.Please stay. I’m not ready for you to leave.No, he couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to her. And the thought terrified him. Kelly was the first woman he had felt anything toward, outside of friendship, since before Emma was born.
“Maybe I can try to change the date? I need to see if everything is going okay back at home first. I can find out in the morning.”
Hope filled him, but he tried to push it down. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t get excited about something that likely wouldn’t work out. If he didn’t have a child, he could follow her to Colorado if he felt it was worth pursuing, but he wouldn’t uproot his daughter’s life for it. Emma came first, and her wellbeing was his top priority, even if it meant putting his life on hold for now.
Despite trying to suppress his feelings, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. There was no hiding it. “Yeah?”
She blushed and nodded. “I’ll call my family in the morning.”
Kelly tookanother bite of the cake and sighed. Who knew that vanilla bean and basil would make an excellent combination? She thought the bride was being completely insane when she requested some obscure flavor, but Miles pulled it off, and it was amazing.
Her entire body was tired, but she was still keyed up from the wedding. The whole experience had been exhilarating. She pulled it off. A wedding. And she could hardly believe it.
Another bite of cake and a moan slipped past her lips. She couldn’t help it. It was divine.
