AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he’d slipped inside while the auction was still going on, he hadn’t expected to feel quite so out of place—and he most definitely hadn’t anticipated how glad he would be to lay eyes on Mitchell’s daughter.
She was wearing an odd choice for an outfit, an almost staid button-up white blouse and a pair of black slacks. Only her mild high heels even hinted at anything remotely formal.
Had it been disappointment, even anger, he’d felt then, it would have been easy enough to address. It certainly would have been a whole lot simpler.
Instead, what he’d noticed at that moment was that while the blouse was indeed somewhat plain, it did do a fine job of emphasizing the curve and shape of her breasts—something that, once again, he was not supposed to be noticing in one Kelsey Burke.
What was more, in the split second before she’d turned around, in that waning evening light, the subtle buzz of cicadas just beginning, the way the smooth fabric of her slacks cupped and molded to the pleasing swell of her round buttocks only made things all the more confusing.
And really uncomfortable.
You’re supposed to be mad at her, Max.
“I think you know the answer to that, Kelsey. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
She twisted slightly on her heel, one leg crossed in front of the other. “Would you have agreed to do this if I had?”
“Nope.”
“Then… that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“That’s a shit reason, and you know it.”
“I’m sorry?” She raised her eyebrows, sheepishly blushing. “The auction went great though, right? It wasn’t so bad…”
“That’s another thing—where did you come up with fifteen hundred bucks? You don’t even have a job.”
“Dad says ‘learning is your job,’” she muttered, a vaguely distasteful moue curling her lips.
“Answer the question.”
She glanced away. “I asked Dad for it.”
“And he just handed it over?”
“Not… not entirely.”
It was Max’s turn to sigh. “And that means…?”
“There was one condition.” She crinkled her nose, its adorableness he resolved never, ever to admit to Kelsey. He’d never hear the end of it if he did. “He said I… have to do what you tell me.”
“I see. Was this before or after I’d agreed to do the auction? Before our little deal?”
“God, you always have to do this…”
“Do what?”
A burst of muted laughter and whistling roared from inside the house, audible through even the closed front door.
“That… be so thorough.”
“Answer, Kelsey.”
“Fine, okay, it was… after.”
“That makes it worse, you know that, right?”
She nodded, gazing at the ground. It too was surprising in its adorableness. Bashful was a look he’d rarely seen on Kelsey, and despite himself, he found he quite liked it on her.
