Page 27 of Only Temporary

He snorts at that and hands me the last plate before draining the water in the sink. “Bubble baths?” I rinse the plate and put it up before he dries his hands with a towel and hands it to me.

“Yes,” I say, somewhat defensively. “Men can take bubble baths, you know?”

He grins at me. Yup. My heart cannot take this man smiling at me. Not that I don’t want to see him smile, but it’s too intoxicating. It makes my heart do stupid things. He leans back against the counter with his arms crossed. “I’m sure they can, but I don’t remember the last time I had a bath. Not sure I ever have. All I remember are shitty showers with no hot water and trying to get clean and out as fast as I could.”

My heart pangs for a whole different reason now, feeling the shame coming off him, admitting that to me. I decide not to dwell on it. “Well, you have an amazing, deep clawfoot tub in that bathroom of yours. You should use it.”

He studies me carefully, and I can’t help but squirm a little under his perusal. “Not sure I’m the bubble bath type.”

I can’t help letting my eyes run over his strong, tall body. He’s long and lean but also pretty damn built at the same time. His arm muscles flex where he has them folded over his chest, his t-shirt stretched tight.

Phew. I was right. Itisgetting super hot in here, and it’s all I can do not to fan myself in front of him like a weirdo. “Baths are relaxing. I totally recommend it. Get you some Himalayan salts and maybe even some bubbles. Run it warm, and just sink into the suds.”

He’s watching me far too closely now, and my cheeks heat. And I know I’ve gone beet red. I wave him off. “Okay fine. What about a date?”

“With you?” He cocks his head to the side, studying me closely, and I nearly collapse onto the floor, so shocked by his question.

I sputter again, nearly swallowing my tongue. “W-what? You’re not... You aren’t.”

“Gay?” he supplies, and I nod my head exuberantly. My head bobbing like crazy.

“That.” Even though if I thought he was gay, I wouldn’t be asking him to date me. Nope. Cannot cross that line. I wouldn’t do that.

He’s still studying me very closely. “Are you? Gay, I mean.” He asks it far too effortlessly, like maybe he’s thought about it, but this is not a road we should go down. And by chance he’s not as straight as I thought, I cannot know that. I just can’t. My brain will stop working completely if he’s actually gay and tells me that.

“Yes,” I say quickly because it’s not something I’ll hide. “But it doesn’t matter. We can’t go out on a date.” I say it firmly, even though it kind of kills me to do it. Not that he was actually asking me that anyway. This conversation really got away from me. “I meant you going out on a date. With someone else. Not with me. Another person. Not that I wouldn’t want to go out with you, but I’m your social worker and...”Keep rambling, Phillip. Jesus.Thankfully, I manage to shut my mouth.

He smiles again and shakes his head at me. He either thinks I’m crazy or adorable, and I’m leaning toward the first one. “Oh.” His grin widens a little, and he shakes his head. “I don’t have time for dates, and I’ve never even been on one when I had time for it.”

“Why not?” I ask, my stupid mouth not working with my brain at all.

He just shrugs his big shoulders at that. “I saw how well dating and shit worked out for my mom. I hookup, or I used to sometimes. Mostly at parties... but when I got sober, I really only had the option of using apps.”

I want to ask him what kind of apps. Find out if these hookups are with lucky women or men, but thankfully, I stop myself. I cannot know if he’s interested in men or women or both. I don’t want to know. “I could watch the kids, if you need to... use an app,” I say coyly.

He gives me a shy smile and pushes off the counter he was leaning against. “You’re doing enough. I think asking you to watch the kids while I get laid is probably really crossing the line.”

I try not to think about him getting laid. What he’s like in bed. If he’s used to hookups and dating, is it usually just quick or does he manage to take his time? “Like we haven’t already done that.”

His smile is devastating. “Maybe I’ll try baths.”

“Oh really?”

He shrugs. “Gotta find ways to take care of myself, right?”

That—should not make me happy—but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t.

In fact, Kellan taking care of himself in a way that doesn’t involve other humans on an app—that makes me downright giddy.

THIRTEEN

“Do you mind? Move your bigass feet.” Raegan knocks my feet that were perched on the coffee table and just blows past me, clearly irritated by something and has been all evening. Honestly, I’m too tired to be too worried about teenage hormones.

Today was a long day, with way too many annoying customers who had to bitch about every single thing. I kick my feet back up on the coffee table and look over at Cason, who watched the whole thing happen. The two younger boys are already in their room for the night.

It’s Friday, which means tomorrow is blessedly Saturday, and I have the day off. “What’s her problem?”

He glares over at me, something seeming to click in his expression, and venom dripping from his eyes. “What’s her problem? Fucking really?”

---