Page 67 of After You

As was the surge of irritation he felt toward Alice. Why did those cupboards need to be cleaned? That was ridiculous. Alice didn’t need to be making Hannah get up there likethat.

And that was crazy—he was as protective of Alice as anyone.

Or so he’d thought.

He frowned, moving forward. “She has you scrubbing her cabinets?”

Startled, Hannah gave a little yelp and swung to facehim.

Kyle moved quickly so that when her foot slipped off the edge of the counter and into the sink, he was there to steady her. Of course, that required a hand on her leg. Her smooth, warm leg. His senses instantly registered everything about touching her, and he had to fight the urge to stroke his palm up anddown.

“You got this?” he asked, his voice rough.

“Yeah.”

Her voice wasn’t normal either. But it could have been because he’d scared the shit out of her. He took a moment before looking up at her. And even with that moment of preparation, he was slammed by memories from the night before. The way her hair had curled wildly over her shoulder, the silky heat of her mouth, the sight, feel, and taste of her breasts, her dipping her hand into her panties, the heat in her eyes, the sound of her voice and the little gasps and moans.

He swallowed hard. And backed away from the thigh he desperately wanted to lick. He looked up and their gazes collided. “Sorry I scared you. I should have thought of that before I said anything.”

She shook her head. “It’sfine.”

He felt his brows slam together. “It’s not. Why do people say things are fine when they’re not?” Like when she’d said she was fine after the car accident that now, three years later, still botheredher?

She frowned, clearly confused by his sudden irritation. “I didn’t fall on my ass and you didn’t mean to scare me, so it is fine. What’s withyou?”

He shoved a hand through his hair. Nothing was with him. Except that he was worried about a neck problem he knew almost next to nothing about in a woman who had quite clearly wanted him out of herlife.

“Nothing. I’m fine too.” See? People lied about that all the time. “Does your grandma know that your neck’s been bothering you? She shouldn’t have you cleaning her cupboardsout.”

Hannah’s surprised expression matched the surprise he felt shoot through him. He was dissuading Hannah from helping Alice? When had that ever happened?

“I mean, she should have asked me to do it,” he said. It wasn’t like he thought Alice should be climbing up there.

“She didn’t ask. I was looking for her ice cream maker and realized that it’s been…a while since these cupboards were cleaned and organized.”

Those high ones? Yeah, probably three or four years. Kyle hadn’t ever given them any thought. If Alice had tried getting up there or had asked him to, he would have realized they needed attention and would have taken care of it, but he spent his time putting out the little fires—catching her doing things she shouldn’t or anticipating the day-to-day things that would be tough for her. That ice cream maker? He hadn’t seen it in years, and he knew that if Alice wanted ice cream, she headed to TheStop.

But watching Hannah now, the smell of soap in the air brought back a wave of memories. They’d done these kinds of chores together all the time. To spend time with her, he helped her clean the house or do dishes or make meals. It fit them—they were together, but they were active and productive. Neither of them were really the sit-on-the-couch-for-a-two-hour-movie type. If they weren’t at Hannah’s house, they were at Alice’s or Ruby’s, or doing something at school—bake sales, fundraisers, club meetings.

Hannah hopped off the counter.

“The ice cream maker?” he asked.

She blushed slightly but nodded. “It just seemed…like something fun. We used to make homemade ice cream all thetime.”

Ah, being home was stirring up memories for her and making her nostalgic. That was excellent. Right on plan. “I remember,” he said, wishing that the nostalgia wasn’t as contagious as it seemed to be. He really wanted to make homemade ice cream with her. Fuck.

“I don’t suppose you could help me for a minute?” she asked.

Kyle felt his eyes widen.

“What?” she asked.

“You just…never ask forhelp.”

She started to reply, but pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I didn’t used to be very good atthat.”

“And now?” Kyle knew it was ridiculous to hate that there were changes in Hannah’s personality. Of course there were changes. It had been three years. She’d been living a totally different life in a big city far from home. And hell, learning to ask for help wasn’t some terrible thing. He hadn’t learned how to do it, but in general, he understood it was a good thing.

---