Kerry blew a raspberry. “That’s life, isn’t it? Nothing ever lines up neatly. No, I know he’s not a partner to raise kids with, don’t worry. He’s been there, done that, has the tattered t-shirt to prove it. The two things are separate for me, I promise.” If she thought about it for a hot second, she could see how Owen could be a nice distraction from the tick tick tock of her biological urges. “And first things first…right now, my only burning desire is to cut loose for a night.”
“All right. Let’s go out. Life is short and your partying days might be numbered. We’ll make it a big thing. Text Sarah, call Lore. We’ll have a big ole girls night out in Owen Sound. Why not? And Sean and James will have a boys’ night here at home without me. It might need to wait a few weeks, though, if we’re going to find someone to cover both of our on-call shifts.”
“I can wait.” Kerry was surprised to hear how true that was when said out loud. She wasn’t actually in any hurry to go out and party. If anything, she wanted it to test herself, to double check that she might actually be moving on from that stage in her life.
Where Owen and his searing gaze could fit into the next stage…that remained unclear. But until she figured that out, she’d probably enjoy bumping into him around town.
Chapter Thirteen
Owen headed upstairsto the library thirty minutes before the interagency meeting. He checked the thriller stacks, but there was no sign of Kerry.
He hadn’t seen her in a week. Seven days of unnecessary drives down Main Street, of popping into Mac’s for coffee multiple times a day, and—once—even resorting to asking his brothers if they had seen her at the Hedgehog.
They hadn’t, but that lead to a whole heap of uncomfortable follow-up questions he immediately regretted opening himself up to.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Speak of the meddling jerks.
Adam: Kerry’s just arrived at the fire station.
Owen: We have a meeting.
Adam: Is that why you wanted to know if she was at the bar the other night? A “meeting”?
Owen: You’re grounded.
Adam: If only you still had that power over me.
Owen: If only.
Then he frowned.
Owen: Hey, why areyouhere?
Adam: I’ve said too much. *poof*
Owen pivoted around, searching for a window that overlooked the parking lot. Sure enough, there was Adam’s truck. And just a bit closer to the door, Kerry’s car. He should head downstairs and giving his baby brother a dose of his own meddling medicine. It was the Kincaid way.
But on the other hand…
His pulse thudded heavy at the base of his neck.
Whatever Adam was up to, he was going to get away with, because Owen wasn’t going anywhere if Kerry was on her way upstairs. He grabbed a book and leaned against the end of the stack, in plain sight. Just acting casual.
He’d touched her.
She’d been in his kitchen, and he’d touched her face. Need burned inside him, made worse by the fact that she was off-limits, at least for the time being.
Never before in his entire adult life had he wanted anyone quite like this. It was consuming and dangerous and it felt very good, deep in his chest. Likegood things come to those who waitkind of good.
Everything else on his Great Bachelor Plan list faded away, andget Kerry in his bedpulsed in neon letters instead. Of course there was still a crying baby in the room across the hall. A baby she had delivered just two weeks earlier. But in time.Soon enough.
It couldn’t come soon enough.
But when her dark curls bobbed into sight, Owen remembered that there were two of them playing this waiting game, and where he might be tangled up in his unholy desire to taste every inch of her, Kerry seemed completely composed as she stopped at the return slot and deposited her books, then checked out the bulletin board before slowly making her way in his direction.
“Early again,” she said by way of greeting. Her eyes danced, a lovely sparkle as she held his gaze, but that was it. No other outward indication that this was anything other than two colleagues catching up before a meeting.
He held up the book in his hand. “I’ve been waiting for this one to come out.”
