Page 9 of Pillowtalk

“Daytona,” Kennedy filled in with a nostalgic sigh. “I loved that condo.”

Aaron grinned, but it was a little lackluster at the reminder that Kennedy had been close to the Porter family. Probably closer than he’d ever been, especially in the latter years of Jared’s life. Forcing that discouraging thought away, he continued.

“Austin didn’t want to disappoint her, and he wasn’t ready to admit who he was yet. So he asked me to go instead.”

Kennedy’s brow rose. “What?” she asked through a laugh. “Did you?”

“Ofcourse,” he said with a laugh. “I was fifteen. And Chelsea…man, she was, you know…”

“Gorgeous?” Kennedy offered, which wasn’t a wrong description, just not the one Aaron was looking for.

“Yes, definitely,” he said. “But she was more than that. Funny, smart,older…In a town of very small numbers, she was number one on most guys’ lists.”

Kennedy’s lips turned up in a wide smile, one that had Aaron stuttering in his thoughts, wondering, if she’d been a Lyra Valley resident at fifteen, if his “number one” would have been different.

“Did you end up spending a weekend with your dream girl?” she playfully asked.

“She knew it was me before I even got out of the car.”

“Was it the dimple?” Kennedy asked with a tilt of her head.

“Dimple?”

“You have a dimple in your chin.” She nodded toward it. “I imagine you had less beard to cover it up at fifteen.”

Aaron’s brow furrowed as he ran a hand over his face. He wasn’t aware of a dimple, but there was a scar right where she was looking. With the five-day scruff, he could see how it could be mistaken for a dimple.

“Actually,” he said with a grin, “that’s a scar I got a few years ago from a well-deserved punch. So, nope, it wasn’t the dimple.”

Her eyebrows pulled together. “Then I don’t know how she told you two apart.”

He chuckled. “Demeanor. I was a little more anxious to kiss her than he had been.”

That got Kennedy laughing her musical laugh that Aaron was afraid he’d grow addicted to. He was lucky enough to be interrupted by a banging screen door downstairs, followed by a very loud Chelsea.

“Don’t you leave your shoes there, Grant Daniel Tea. We have a full house tonight. And after your shower I want you dressed nice and ready to see Kennedy, you got it? Hey! Are you listening to me?”

“I got it! Geez, Mom.”

“Oh, don’t you give me that….”

Kennedy pursed her lips to bite away at her amusement, but Aaron wasn’t able to do the same. His laughter rose from his gut, and he shook his head as he attempted again to find a Wi-Fi signal before he, too, got a reprimanding from Chelsea.

“Well, good luck with that,” Kennedy said, pushing off the wall and nodding at his computer.

“You leaving me for better company?” he teased.

“Not that watching younotwork isn’t fun…” she teased right back, adding a sexy wink that had the room momentarily spinning. When he came to, her grin was still set on her lips. “Chelsea promised me a spa treatment. I’m going to find out if that was just fancy words or an actual promise.”

He felt another laugh that came from deep within—a real and genuine expression of joy that he found rarer and rarer these days. He was beyond grateful for the brief amount of time he’d had with her, and since he planned on keeping his distance from now on, he had the uncontrollable desire to let her know.

“Well, it was really good talking to you, Kennedy,” he said, making sure his voice was steady and light. “Best conversation I’ve had in a while.”

She studied him, most likely trying to determine if he was teasing her again or being genuine. He dropped his gaze and returned to his work, not giving away anything in his expression. After a moment, he heard her feet shuffle across the floor and caught the bright green of her shirt in the corner of her eye as she started to descend the stairs.

“Me, too,” she said, throwing a wrench into his plan to keep his eyes off her. He lifted his gaze and caught the smallest of smiles on her pink lips before she turned and bounced out of sight.

It took a few long, silent seconds for Aaron’s breathing to return.

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