Finally, he said, “You know how we have to throttle down?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Maybe storming in full throttle isn’t your best bet with her.”
No, it probably wasn’t. But I didn’t have a lot of time to ease into things. I had two and a half weeks before I was due back on base, and I wanted to spend themwithKenna, not chasing her. I wanted every morning—and night and afternoon and all the hours in between—to be like yesterday. I wanted her in my arms and in my bed.
But she was hardheaded and tougher to crack than a macadamia nut. The only time I’d ever been able to talk her into something she had her mind set against was if I made a bet out of it.
By the time I pulled to a stop in front of my family’s cabin, I’d run through a dozen different possible scenarios with Kenna. The only trouble was, I had no clue which one was the right one.
“Honey, we’re home,” I said, shifting the truck into park.
Caleb stepped out, shutting the door behind him. “Nice place.” He didn’t lift his sunglasses, but he didn’t have to for me to know he was assessing everything about the location, just like he would on any mission. “It’s quiet. Private.” He turned around and lifted his chin toward the heavily forested area at the back of the property. “That yours too?”
I nodded as I walked toward him. “Some of it.”
“Any climbing trails back there?”
I tossed him a quick grin, knowing exactly where he was going with this. “Used to be. Not sure how they’ve fared sinceKenna and I’ve been gone.” I lifted my eyebrows and jerked a thumb into my truck bed. “You wanna take a stab at it? I’ve got some tools in the back.”
“Thought you’d never ask.” Without another word, he grabbed his backpack from the truck bed and strode off toward the blanket of trees, a pair of loppers hanging at his side and a determined hitch to his gait.
I took quick stock of the exterior of the property, making a mental list of the items that were deteriorating or in need of repair. For the most part, the cabin was exactly how I remembered it, although it was a little worse for wear now. Momma and Lilah hadn’t spent much time there with the bakery keeping them busy all hours of the day.
While I’d been gone, I’d hired someone to take care of lawn maintenance, as well as a basic cleaning once a month to make sure no critters moved in to the cabin. But hiring people for upkeep on superficial things didn’t do much for the loose railing on the porch or the peeling exterior paint or the window screens that needed to be replaced.
I slid my key into the lock and opened the door, walking over the threshold and immediately sinking into memories made of quicksand. So much of my childhood had been spent here—with my family, of course, but also with Kenna. She’d been a near-constant fixture on our weekend trips to the cabin when we’d been young.
And then when we’d gotten older, we’d used it as our own personal getaway—a place to sneak off to and get up to all kinds of shit I hoped to God neither of our parents ever found out about.
I walked through the cabin, my eyes landing on every place I’d had Kenna’s lips on mine. In the kitchen, at the dining table, against the wall in the front entry. When I got to my bedroom, Iwas already half hard, but seeing the bed and remembering our last hours in it had me at full mast immediately.
Bracing my hands against the doorframe, I hung my head between my shoulders, closing my eyes and remembering what it’d been like to sink inside her for the first time—thetruefirst time. When there wasn’t a bet or an ulterior motive between us.
We’d both agreed to lose our virginity together, and while it had blown my fucking mind being inside a woman for the first time—especially since that woman had been Kenna—it was nothing like it’d been when we’d slept together of our own volition. For no other reason than we’d been attracted to each other. We’d wanted and needed each other. We’d loved each other.
I hadn’t said the words back then—she’d stopped me before I could—but I’d felt them. A thousand times over, I’d felt them. Had for years prior to that weekend before I enlisted. Had for years after my enlistment too.
A rumbling motor pulled me out of my thoughts, and I strode to the living room to peer out the window. Edna’s old beater Jeep that she used for mail delivery was sputtering down the gravel driveway before the engine cut off and the car crawled to a stop right in front of the cabin.
I stepped outside and jogged down the porch steps toward the car. The windows were down, and Edna was either talking to herself or she had company.
“Hey, Edna, you all right?” I asked as I leaned down and braced my forearms on the Jeep’s doorframe.
“Well, hey, sugar,” she said, reaching out to pat my arm, but I couldn’t focus on that or the rest of the words that came out of her mouth because the person sitting in the other seat drew my attention immediately.
Kenna.
She wasn’t even looking at me. Instead, she glared daggers at Edna, though the older woman either didn’t notice or just didn’t care. I let my eyes roam over Kenna, from her hair carelessly pinned on top of her head, to the low dip of her undershirt and the way it hugged her breasts, to her well-worn and ripped jeans. I wanted them all gone—every last article of clothing off her body so I could worship her skin like I’d been dreaming about for too damn long.
I cleared my throat and kept my arms braced on the doorframe, hiding my inconvenient and obvious erection from Edna’s scrutinizing gaze. “Did you just stop to chat, or do y’all need some help?”
“This damn truck,” Edna said without any heat. But then she seemed to realize how it sounded and slammed her hand on the dashboard to illustrate her anger. Anger that was totally vacant from her stare as she met my eyes. “Always breakin’ down on me! Would you be a doll and give us a ride into town so I can grab Frank and get him to come out and look at this pile of junk again?”
“Of course. Long as you don’t mind squishin’ together in the cab of my truck.”
“Oh, I’d have no problem at all snugglin’ up to you,” Edna said, her eyes alight with mischief.
