Ten minutes later, the kitchen smelled like lemon, and the countertops sparkled. I’d been instructed to take the trash out, and Kellie stacked the plates back in the cupboard. Somehow, I managed to keep my mouth shut when she opened the cupboard for the first time and started putting them away, remembering she already knew where it all went.
After a silent ride toward Kellie’s place, I turned onto her street, glanced across the console, and my heart almost stopped. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. Kellie was sound asleep, her head leaning against the window, her long lashes resting on her cheeks, and her pouty pink lips, the one’s I’d been dying to taste from the moment I’d found her in the garden, slightly parted.
Carefully, I pulled up the driveway before I tried to rouse her.
“Kellie. Kellie. Come on, pretty girl, we’re home,” I whispered, touching her arm.
“Mm-hmm,” she mumbled.
Climbing out of my truck, I rounded her side and opened the door, making sure my arms were ready to catch her if she fell. After unbuckling her seat belt, talking to her the whole time, she was conscious. Barely but still.
“Are you going to walk or am I carrying you?” I asked, knowing which one I was rooting for.
“Carry me,” Kellie practically purred, and I was pretty sure my heart stopped. I know my dick perked up and stood at attention. A fact that wasn’t helped when Kellie wrapped her legs around my waist and buried her face in the crook of my neck.
With my hands under her ass, I carried her across the lawn and up the front steps only to reach the door just as it was being nudged open.
Marianne stood there in her robe, her hair a bird's nest looking a combination of worried and tired. A combination I’d seen on my own mother’s face too many times recently.
“Jake?” Marianne squeaked.
“Hi, Mrs. Knight. Kellie…”
She didn’t let me finish. Instead, she just smiled and pushed the door open, letting me through.
“Still in the same room?” I asked as Kellie moaned in my arms before she took a sniff of my neck. At least I think she did.
“Yes.”
I carried Kellie through the house and into her bedroom. Not much had changed since the last time I’d been here. Only the fact that I’d been welcomed through the front door rather than sneaking through the window.
Once she was settled on her bed, I tugged off her shoes and pulled the covers over her before leaning down and kissing her forehead. I couldn’t help myself. If Marianne hadn’t appeared in the doorway, I probably would’ve laid down on the bed beside her, wrapped her in my arms, and never let her go. Instead, I murmured my goodnight and headed back out to my truck, knowing full well I’d just left my heart asleep inside.
I hadn’t seen Marianne follow me out, so when she spoke, she scared the daylights out of me. “Thanks for taking care of her.”
“Always,” I replied, meaning it.
“You’re a good guy, Jake. Whatever happened between you two, I hope you can work through it,” Marianne offered, and the flicker of hope I’d been clinging to roared to life. If I had Marianne on my side, I had a shot.
“Me too,” I confirmed with a shrug. “I love her. It’s as simple as that. I love her. And now I’m back, I don’t plan on letting her forget it.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” Marianne warned, and I got the distinct feeling she knew something I didn’t.
“Nothing good ever is. But Kellie’s worth fighting for, and I intend to fight.”
“She’s stubborn.”
“Oh, I know.”
“But she does love you.”
Marianne’s words cracked my heart wide open. With a grin tugging at my cheeks, I walked over to where she stood and wrapped my arms around her. “Good night, Marianne. I’ll see you soon,” I promised before skipping around to the driver’s side and sliding behind the wheel, feeling like I could fly.
“I bet you will,” Marianne replied with a wave before she headed back inside, and I made my way home, suddenly not at all tired.
ChapterFive
Kellie
