Page 20 of Pillowtalk

He chuckled. “You have an impressive amount of faith in people. Even ones who don’t deserve it.”

She let out a long sigh, slinking back into the cushions. Her lips pressed together as her eyes wandered over him, and he wondered if he looked as pathetic as he felt. He ached to know if she was only being civil, or if she honestly wasn’t that upset over how he’d hurt Jared. He couldn’t imagine it being the latter.

After a moment, she snatched up the urn and pushed it out at him. “Apologize.”

He sat back. “What?”

“You wanted to apologize. Here.” She shook the urn. “I will loan him out for the rest of the evening.”

Chuckles rose from the deepest parts of his gut. He wasn’t sure he wanted to touch the urn, so he only shook his head instead of coaxing it back to the coffee table. “Maybe later. When you are very much asleep.”

“Don’t want a woman to see you get all emotional?” she teased, but she set the urn back down.

“Yes,” he wholeheartedly admitted. “That is exactly it.” He patted Charlie, who was now sound asleep between them. “I will say I’m sorry to you, though.”

She jerked back. “Me? What for?”

He thought about the way he’d frozen her out at times…but he couldn’t apologize for that, because he intended on doing those very things when the power came back on. So he opted for the other thing he felt the need to apologize for.

“For hurting the person you loved.”

A smile crossed her lips briefly before an unexpected wall of tears rose in those dark, beautiful eyes. Careful not to wake the sleeping pup, she rose to her knees, making Aaron’s heart race under his cotton T-shirt. Her arms came around his shoulders, her body warm and soft, her touch a pleasant, comforting caress. Aaron lifted his hands to her waist, sliding them around her petite frame, accepting the undeserved hug, though he knew it could very well be the end of him.

“You are forgiven,” she said in a voice that was half-tease, half-genuine. Aaron grinned over her shoulder, burying his face into the space by her neck for just a moment. The deadly combination of coconut and lemon scent had his mouth pooling.

The second her hold loosened, Aaron took the hint and dropped his as well. Kennedy sat back on her knees, her face flushed, but brightly lit despite the dim light of the room. “I think I’m ready to raid that pantry now.”

He laughed, grateful for the change in subject and sense of purpose that would take his mind off how incredible she’d felt in his arms. He pushed off the couch and grabbed a flashlight, twirling it in his hand. “Keep your eyes out for Marshmallow Fluff,” he teased. “It’s a rare find around here.”

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