Page 5 of Keep On Loving You

It was a simple plan: Convince Andy that she didn’t believe in happy-ever-after, buthappy for right now.Seduce him in order to get the thought of him out of her system for good and move on.

And it had worked, too.

Almost.

They’d spent a very hot night together. But they hadn’t actually slept together. And the next morning, as if nothing had happened, they’d gone back to being friends. Just like she’d planned.

Only, instead of getting Andy out of her head for good the way it was supposed to, the exact opposite had occurred.

“You know,” Andy continued as they approached the trail map and leaned his bike against a tree. “I had never considered the idea of happy for right now before that…well, before you.”

He adjusted his pack, tightening the straps.

“And now?”

“I actually think you’re on to something,” Andy said. “Life doesn’t have to be so serious, right?”

“Right.” Kat nodded, not entirely sure what she was agreeing to.

They each mounted their bikes. “I guess what I’m saying is, I hope there isn’t any weirdness between us now.”

Weirdness?Not unless he considered the fact that it was taking all her self-control not to throw herself into his arms and feel his lips on hers again weird.Nope. No weirdness here.

“The only thing that you’re going to find weird is how badly I kick your ass today.” Kat flashed him a grin, and with a strong push of the pedal, propelled herself down the trail and into the trees before she showed him exactly how weird things between them could get.

Andy could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth were his own.

Happy for right now?

That had been Kat’s bullshit line when she’d shown upat his apartment for dinner, clearly determined for more. Not that he’d objected to it. Not at all. He’d lied to himself for years about his attraction to his best friend’s little sister. An attraction that finally came to a head for one amazing night. Thankfully it hadn’t gone any further than it had before he’d come to his senses the next morning.

Not that he even should have done what he had.

It didn’t matter how attracted he was to Kat. She was Craig’s little sister and that made her completely off-limits. Besides that, there were a million other reasons the two of them would never work. Most of which he’d had a very hard time remembering in the aftermath of their decision to bejust friends.

Not that it mattered. Kat clearly wasn’t having such difficulties. And that’s exactly why he was spouting a bunch of bullshit he didn’t believe. If she was okay with their decision to act like nothing had happened between them, then he could be too. Or, at least, he’d do a damned good job pretending.

He’d meant it when he’d said he hoped there wasn’t any weirdness between them because more than anything—well, maybe not quite as much as he wanted to kiss those plump lips—he wanted to enjoy their day together. It had been years since he’d been mountain biking, but the moment he’d sat on the saddle of his bike, it all came back to him. Especially when Kat threw down the challenge to him that he wouldn’t be able to keep up.

They chose a fairly easy trail to warm up on. Even though it was a starter track, Andy had to focus on the rocks,stumps, and tree roots to avoid making a fool of himself. It was the perfect distraction when otherwise he would have had his eyes locked on Kat’s tight backside on the seat in front of him and how even though she was pedaling hard away from him, he could imagine exactly how her body felt naked under his hands as he explored every inch of her skin.

Yes, it was definitely for the best that he didn’t let his thoughts drift into such dangerous territory.

They’d pedaled at a gentle pace down the easy track for a few minutes before Kat turned around and yelled over her shoulder. “Are you ready to eat my dust?”

There was no way he could see through her dark sunglasses, but Andy could picture the flash of a challenge that no doubt lit up her gaze. And Andy was ready for it. The words were hardly out of her mouth when he deftly changed gears and pushed down hard on his pedals before blasting past her on the trail. Behind him, Andy was sure he heard Kat mutter a string of curse words.

But he wasn’t naive. She’d be right behind him in seconds, and there was a good chance she’d overtake him completely. Kat was a strong rider, but so was he. He was more than up for the challenge.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long before Andy caught a glimpse of Kat in his peripheral and heard her call out a whoop of satisfaction as she caught up to him.

He saw the flash of red from her braid sticking out from her helmet as Kat cut in front of him and, with a spray of dirt, came to a stop a few feet up the trail. Andymaneuvered deftly so he wouldn’t crash into her before coming to a stop with a laugh.

“Damn.” He pulled his sunglasses down his nose, and she did the same. “You’re pretty fast, Kitty Kat.”

Was it his imagination that her eyes flashed when he used her nickname?

“Not so bad yourself,” she said. “For a city boy.”

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