Page 18 of Pillowtalk

“I’m sorry. It’s just so…second nature all of a sudden,” she said. “Talking about him, I mean.”

Aaron met her eyes. “I think it was me who brought him up.” He paused, carefully studying the way her lips twitched, the slightest shrug of her shoulders, and the nervous way her fingers picked off another piece of her food. “I’msorry. I know you said it’s been hard to be around people who knew him.”

Her back sank farther into the throw pillow behind her, and she shook her head. “For some odd reason, it’s not hard with you.”

He jolted back only slightly, the fact that she’d been so candid shocking him, not the words themselves. “I can say the same.” His admission was rewarded with a beautiful flush that ran over her neck and across the peekaboo of cleavage he could see beyond the open zipper of her hoodie.

She reached down to scratch her dainty ankle over the blanket. Charlie shifted slightly, his eyes dead set on her as he waited for her to share the treat dangling in front of his nose.

“You know, I think this whole storm is his fault.”

Aaron’s brow furrowed. “Who? Jared?”

She nodded. “I was a little snippy with him earlier.” She tore off a long piece of crust and lifted an eyebrow, silently asking Aaron if Charlie was okay to share.

Aaron nodded and watched as the husky gobbled it up without even chewing, but his mind was still on what Kennedy was saying. “You talk to him?”

She swallowed the bite in her mouth. “I can’t seem to stop. It’s what I miss the most.”

He inhaled, silently agreeing with her; talking to Jared was something he’d missed for a very, very long time.

The storm kicked up, and something crashed against the side of the B&B, jolting them both. Kennedy shrank into the blanket, and Charlie must have sensed her worry, climbing even farther onto her lap. Aaron didn’t know what compelled him to do it, but he reached over and patted her knee. The contact all but scorched his palm.

“It’s all right. These storms happen all the time. Probably just one of the screen doors.”

A flash of amusement touched her fearful eyes, her breathing somewhat labored when she spoke. “You sound like Jared now.” She grinned. “Always telling me everything was all right.” She gave the urn a pointed look. “Damn liar.”

Aaron half-smiled and squeezed her soft, bare knee before drawing his hand back. “Promise you, itisall right this time.”

Her eyes stayed on him while he frantically tried to guess what was going through her mind. She seemed touched, confused, worried, sad, relieved…all in the span of a few short seconds. It wasn’t until thunder crashed and lightning flashed right outside the window that they jerked out of their staring contest, allowing Charlie to think the rest of the “fluffernutter” was his.

Kennedy frowned at her empty hands as the husky swallowed the food, a grateful smile on his chops. Aaron couldn’t help but laugh at the turn of events.

“You want me to raid the pantry for you? See what Chels has got?”

She shook her head, her shoulders moving with silent laughter. “Maybe later.” She rubbed Charlie’s head, smooshing his cheeks. “I sure hope you enjoyed that, you little thief.”

Charlie clucked his tongue as he tried to get the peanut butter off the roof of his mouth. Aaron’s heart palpitated in a strange and foreign beat as Kennedy took it all in good fun. He wasn’t one to compare one woman to another, but he knew that if he’d been with Natalie tonight as originally planned, the reaction would have been massively different. It was strange to think that it was Kennedy’s arrival that had been the push he needed to end the casual fling—to endallfuture casual flings.

“Why are you here?” he blurted out, and Kennedy lifted a curious brow to him. “I mean in Lyra Valley.” His eyes fell to the urn before returning to her mesmerizing chocolate irises. “Seems a strange place to visit ‘indefinitely.’ ”

She took in a deep breath. “Jared asked me to spread his ashes over the lake. Apparently Chelsea knows it will take me that long to pluck up the courage to do it.” She laughed at herself. “It did take me a year to get myself out here.”

A thought prodded at Aaron—a thought he wasn’t sure he should be having. But if Kennedy had come sooner, he might not have been back home. He might not have ever met her. It was a rare instance when he thought that fate might be intervening, but he chased the notion away with an internal scoff. It could hardly be fate—that seemed too positive a word. Punishment, perhaps, that a beautiful and interesting woman would arrive just after him and his newfound conviction to find…well, a beautiful and interesting woman. Only she was Jared’s first, and while that might not mean something to someone else, it did to Aaron.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much about it,” he said. After all, it had been years before he finally plucked up the courage to do something he hadn’t been keen on doing.

Another round of thunder boomed overhead, and Kennedy jumped and then cursed at the ceiling. “Seriously, knock that off!” she scolded what Aaron assumed was a ghostly Jared playing with the weather controls. “I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”

Aaron watched, trying his best to keep his amusement under control. Kennedy’s shoulders slumped.

“Sorry. It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“You yelling at him?” He laughed. “Not in the slightest.”

“I can usually keep it to myself. But storms make me on edge, and you’re just so easy to relax around. It’s just all spilling out. Like I have no filter.”

“Yes,” Aaron agreed a little too readily. “I’m having the same problem, believe it or not.”

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