Page 19 of After You

His voice, expression, body language—everything was completely different from the night before. He looked completely relaxed now. Maybe even slightly happy to see her. Not overjoyed. That would be a lot to ask, of course. But he didn’t look angry or tense. Or surprised.

So he’d known she’d be here. And he hadn’t made a point of avoiding being here himself. That was…interesting. Maybe he had already decided they should act mature about this. Or maybe he really was over it all. Maybe his stomach wasn’t knotted and his chest wasn’t tight and his mind wasn’t spinning with memory after memory. And maybe his nipples weren’t tingling atall.

Hannah cleared her throat. “Hi.”

“Welcomehome.”

And that certainly didn’t sound like a guy who was angry or tense. Or uncomfortable.

This was her grandmother’s kitchen. Why did it feel like she was the guest?

Oh yeah, because she was. It was clear that Kyle was not only comfortable in the kitchen, but that he’d been here for a while. And that he had no problem seeing his ex-girlfriend/almost-fiancée while dressed in an apron. Which meant, this was nothing unusual.

“Thanks,” she finally replied. And realized she really needed to work on not sounding breathless when she talked tohim.

But then it got worse.

He crossed to stand right in front of her. “It’s good to see you,” he told her. And pulled her into ahug.

Hannah felt like her body exploded with sensations. She got hot and tingly and jumpy and melty, and that was all before she took a deep breath and pulled Kyle’s scent into her lungs. That so-familiar scent that made her feel safe and loved and happy and like anything was possible, and like she was the luckiest girl in the world, and like she would never be alone, never be scared or worried, because Kyle was there and hers and would always take care ofher.

And then, low in her ear, she heard him say, “We need totalk.”

She had no idea what to say or do with that. But he let her go before she had even managed to process lifting her arms, putting them around him, and returning the hug. That just seemed like way too much to accomplish with all of the feelings and memories and just Kyle washing over her. So there was no hope for her forming words.

Holy shit.She was in huuuuuge trouble.

“Can I help you with your bags or anything?” he asked, as if Hannah wasn’t on the verge of crying, melting, and hysterically laughing all atonce.

She shook her head. “I just—” She had to stop, clear her throat, and start again. “Have one. I can take it up. I just came to take Grandma to her appointment. With you. Later. Well, in a few minutes. I thought. But I guessnot.”

All of those actual words made sense, but she was babbling and sounded like an idiot. Hannah closed her eyes briefly, making herself breathe.

It’s Kyle. Pull yourself together. Be grateful he’s being friendly and civil. Stop acting like a twelve-year-old with a stupid crush.

She’d never been a twelve-year-old with a crush. Not even on Kyle. When she’d been twelve, she’d been into books and movies, and the only crush she’d had was on Brad Pitt. And that only lasted until he’d dumped Jennifer Aniston. She’d never looked at Kyle that way. They’d grown up together and were friends, nothing more. And then one day when she was fifteen, she’d sat next to Kyle in a committee meeting and within ten minutes, realized that she’d been missing the perfect guy right under hernose.

They’d clicked. He’d checked every box on her Mr. Right Checklist. And that had beenthat.

Interestingly, she’d never been breathless or had a hard time forming words around him before. He’d always been Kyle. He’d made her happy, he’d made her feel loved, he’d turned her on. But he’d done it all with things like…well, mowing the lawn. As stupid as that sounded. Kyle being Kyle had been what made her head over heels. Not things like smiles or a husky voice or hugging her or how he smelled.

At least, she hadn’t thoughtso.

“Well, if you need anything, let me know,” Kylesaid.

Alice came into the room, saving Hannah from responding. “Oh, you’re done with the pasta. Thank you,” she said to Kyle. “Did you want to clean up here before you go to the clinic?”

Hannah’s eyes flew to the counter behind Kyle. The counter that was covered with homemade pasta. “You made the pasta?” she asked, before she realized that the question sounded stupid.

He nodded. “Hope you likeit.”

“You made it for me?” Hannah asked. She immediately wondered if it was possible for her to run her questions through her stupid-filter before she said them out loud. Apparentlynot.

“Well, for Alice,” he said. “But she wanted it foryou.”

“Kyle’s been doing the pasta, and a lot of other cooking, for me for a while,” Alicesaid.

“Why?” Hannah asked. Just being within ten feet of Kyle, and his hard chest and wide shoulders stretching the soft blue cotton T-shirt he wore, was distracting her. She made a conscious effort to focus on her grandmother. “You’re not enjoying cooking anymore?” The kitchen had always been Alice’s haven.

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