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Which explained a lot more of what might have happened in Kendra’s childhood. “You started to care for your mother then?”
“I did. Someone had to. I didn’t think it was forced. I wanted to. I didn’t want to see her struggling. My father was such a jerk just leaving us to go with his friends. Things had to get done. We had to eat. I asked her to teach me. It turned into a nice bonding experience for us.”
That said everything he needed to know about her character. Her family came first without being asked.
“Which is nice and I get to experience some of that tonight.”
“I do make a killer lasagna.”
“I hope it doesn’t kill me,” he said, laughing.
“You know what I mean,” she said, waving her hand and smiling. “Moving on. I had to spend more time at home doing things. If my father wasn’t around, he wasn’t there to bring me to be with my friends. And I didn’t want to leave my mother alone long. When I got my drivers’ license my father decided it was better to move out.”
“You could be the family transportation now rather than him?” He couldn’t imagine a man doing that to his wife and child.
“Yes,” she said. “He paid child support, but it wasn’t the same as him living there. We got by, but things were slim for a while. We had my mother’s car and it became mine. I got a part-time job, and between that and caring for my mother, I didn’t have a lot of time for friends. Slowly the ones I had moved on.”
Money being slim was what made her be the way she was. He could see that now. She didn’t have to admit that and he wouldn’t ask her to.
“I’m not moving on,” he said. “I know your mother means the world to you and she is part of your life and you care for her.”
“Thank you for that,” she said, moving closer to him. She’d set her wine glass down and wound her arms around his neck. He liked she was making the first move. “It means the world to me you understand, but as my mother pointed out, I don’t need to care for her as much as I do. She wants me to have a life.”
He dipped his head down and put his lips to hers. “And having a life means maybe having a boyfriend?”
“Yes,” she said, kissing him deeper. Their mouths opened and tongues tangled. They danced a little around the room, their feet moving and shifting and his dick was growing like crazy in his jeans.
But she ended the kiss and moved back. He knew he wouldn’t get much more...at least not now. He wouldn’t ask either. “You brought the games, you pick first.”
She dipped her head down all shy like and reached for Scrabble without even looking.
It would force him to think and get his mind off the kiss they just shared.
13
Once Before
Hours later, Kendra had her mother’s words in her head that she should sleep with Ivan.
Her body was screaming at her to do it. Her brain was telling her to give it more time.
“I beat you,” she said, grinning. They’d played their third game of Battleship and there was still an hour to go before midnight. “I was starting to wonder if I could. You’re good at strategy, but I guess that makes sense with your career.”
“I’m going to get another bottle of water,” he said. “Do you want one?”
“Sure,” she said. They’d killed the bottle of wine an hour ago and she needed to stop anyway if she wanted to drive home. They both had two large glasses. One before dinner and then one while they’d been playing games.
He came back and handed it to her. “I was the Battleship master when I was a kid. It drove Devin insane he couldn’t beat me, but I haven’t played in years.”
“Guess you haven’t lost your touch,” she said, her eyes dropping to his hands. She had it bad. She wasn’t sure the last time she thought of sex as much as she was now.
It probably had to do with the fact she hadn’t had much male contact. Over a year easily. Good Lord, maybe longer.
“Why is your face red?” he asked. “Is it hot in here? I can turn down the heat.”
Oh man, she hadn’t known those thoughts were filling her face. “It’s nothing,” she said. “Must be the wine. I’m fine.” She’d have to get her mind off of Ivan and his hands. His body when it was pressed against hers when they were kissing.
It’d been a few hours since that kiss. She had to stop herself and move back or she might break her promise to herself to not sleep with him tonight.
