Monk stared, then dragged his gaze to Helia. Her eyes met his, and they both barked out a laugh.
Kendall ducked her head, her ears pink. Helia wasn’t having any of that, though. Wiping her eyes with one hand, she grabbed Kendall’s hand with her other. “Come on, Killer. I have a pound of bacon that’s awaiting your revenge. And remind me not to get on your bad side.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“How on earth do you know about Wham!? They were broken up probably before yourmotherwas even born,” Helia demanded. She and Kendall were in a heated game of Trivial Pursuit, but Collin was playing along purely for the entertainment value.
Kendall grinned as she slid the little pink plastic triangle into her game piece, completing the circle. “My mom hung out with a guy in a band for a while in Seattle. His dad was his manager and a pretty cool guy. Way into all kinds of music. We talked a lot.”
Helia flickered her gaze to Collin, whose eyes dimmed briefly in concern. Kendall had talked about being in Texas and Seattle, and earlier she’d mentioned living both in LA and on a ranch in Idaho. Helia had moved around a lot as a kid, too. She’d been a military brat until moving to Napa, though, and despite living in six countries growing up, there’d been a stability to their lives.
“Bathroom break,” Kendall said, hopping up.
When she closed the door of the powder room, Helia raised her eyebrows at Collin. “There’s not much I can do unless or until she trusts us with her mom’s name,” he said, keeping his voice quiet.
“Even when you find her, I’m not sure that being with her is the best thing,” she responded. “She’s exceptionally intelligent and seems tolovelearning. She deserves the chance to do that somewhere stable.”
She could see the agreement in Collin’s eyes, but a knock at the door cut off whatever he’d been about to say.
“Yeah?” Collin called, rising.
“It’s Carter,” came the answer.
Helia hesitated, then making a quick decision on how to buy them time to hide Kendall, called back, “We’ll, um, we’ll be there in a second.”
Collin shot her a questioning look, and she mouthed “Trust me.” His brows dipped but he remained still.
Helia darted to the powder room and knocked softly enough that neither Carter nor Jess would hear. When Kendall cracked the door open, Helia waved her farther inside. She took two steps back, bumping into the sink, her eyes wide with panic.
“We’ll get them away from the house,” Helia whispered, pushing aside the shard of pain lancing through her at Kendall’s fear. “Wait ten minutes after we leave, then head upstairs. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“You’re coming back, though?”
Another shard through her heart. “Can I hug you?” Helia asked. Kendall blinked, then nodded. Helia didn’t hesitate in wrapping her arms around the slight girl. “We will be back as soon as we’re done. Your memory is astounding, so I know you’ll remember this when I tell you,” she said before rattling off her phone number. “Call or text anytime.” Kendall gave a jerky nod. Because she couldn’t help herself, Helia gave her one more quick squeeze, then reached over and flushed the toilet. Kendall cocked her head in question, but Helia slipped out, not pausing to explain her plan.
When she returned to the living room, Collin stood where she’d left him, an almost identical look of confusion on his face. Without giving herself time to question the sanity of the plan, she stopped inches in front of him.
“Can I kiss you?”
Collin canted his head. They had chemistry, always had, probably always would. But with his history, she wasn’t about to lay one on him without his consent.
She gripped the sides of his flannel and pulled him closer, her lips to his ears. “The window shades are pulled. As far as they know, we’re in here together. Making it look as if we were in the middle ofsomething—if you know what I mean—is the most obvious way to explain the extra time we needed to open the door.”
This close to him, his subtle scent wrapped around her. She could lie to herself that the kiss was just to protect Kendall, but she wanted it, too. She wanted to know if the same hunger they’d felt all those years was still there. She suspected it was, but unlike her, Collin wasn’t a man to dive in headfirst without consideration. They were probably well balanced in that way, but in this moment, she needed him to decide fast.
His dark eyes bored into hers. She saw questions and doubts but also more. To her utter shock, he slid his hands into her hair, cupped her cheek, then tipped her mouth up and covered her lips with his.
Heat, desire, need, and want detonated through her as his mouth moved over hers in a kiss that felt far more real than even she anticipated. Sliding her hands up, she ran a palm over his beard, its silky bristliness surprising her, before spearing her fingers through his thick dark hair.
His thumb moved under her jaw, his hand wrapping around her neck as his other left her hair and traveled south, landing onher ass, pulling her closer. He kissed her as if he needed her for his next breath, as if he’d devour her if she let him.
And she desperately wanted to let him.
Only another knock sounded, this time sharper, harsher, than the first.
Collin jerked back, his eyes searching hers. Withdrawing her hand from the short strands of his hair, she drew her thumb across his damp lips. “I’m not going to lie, the idea started as a distraction, but I wanted that.” His eyes held steady on hers, and while she didn’t see regret there, a shadow lurked. “And I think you did, too,” she said before stepping away.
Opening the door, she intentionally made a production of running her hands through her mussed hair and pulling her sweatshirt around her body. “Sorry, we were in the middle of…” She shrugged. She wasn’t the least bit embarrassed by what had happened, but she hoped she blushed a little for show.
