Page 27 of Wrecked
He gave me a look that said it really wasn't any of my business and because I knew he was right, I nodded my head. "I should probably go. If I could get my clothes…?"
The knife in his hand stilled. "You're not leaving until you've eaten something. Your clothes are still in the dryer, but you're welcome to take a shower while you wait."
I was probably stuck in some weird dream from which I couldn't wake up. In my reality, there was no way Brett Carter would've carted me home and taken care of me. Glancing down at the shirt, I realized he most likely had to change me. Everything he was doing verged on being sweet, and I knew for a fact that this man didn't care for me.
That left only one question.
"I thought you hated me. Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
A pained expression pulled his brows together and drew his eyes closed. Brett let out a slow breath before he opened his eyes again. "I don't hate you, Kenzie." The softness of his voice wrapped itself around me like a blanket in the winter. "I was—I am—angry. I went to jailfor you. I never expected you to wait for me, but I at least thought that when the time came, you'd tell me to my face that you were moving on." He dropped the knife and raked his hand through his hair while he turned his back to me. "Look, let's leave the past where it belongs. You're here, for what, another night at most? I think we can be civil with each other until you leave, don't you?"
I was so confused by his statement. What did he mean? He was the one who broke up with me. I'd written him a letter a day, explaining that my parents had forbidden me to go see him. The one time I tried, I hadn't even made it past the front gate—my dad's connections stretched far. After seven months of not hearing a damn thing, a letter showed up out of the blue. I was so excited when I recognized Brett's handwriting on the envelope,but when I'd opened it, my whole life came crashing down around me.
…I could never live with you in my life ever again…
I swallowed down the lump in my throat that always came when I thought of that letter. I was good with not talking about the past.
"A shower sounds great."
Chapter 14
I was rooted to the spot as I watched Kenzie spin on her heelsand march down the short hallway. This whole situation confused the heck out of me. Why did she look so perplexed a few moments ago? I wasn't proud of the last things I'd said—or rather wrote—to her. If I could, I'd take them all back, but I thought that she'd at least have a little comprehension for where it came from.
By the looks of it, she didn't.
Shaking my head, I picked up the knife and continued chopping up the breakfast ingredients. Over the past years I'd nursed more than my fair share of hangovers and what Kenzie needed was a decent meal to replace all those lost nutrients.
The sound of water running caught my attention, and I did my best not to envision tiny droplets of water sliding down her skin or the way she looked lathering up her body. I swallowed down the string of curses that were on the tip of my tongue.
What was it with this woman that suddenly kicked my libido into high gear? I'd already had trouble focusing this morning when all of her softness was pressed up against me. And don't even get me started on how gorgeous she looked wearing nothing but a confused look and my t-shirt.
Somewhere between yesterday morning and me taking care of Kenzie, something had shifted, and my emotions were all over the damn place. One moment I wanted to yell at her for all the hurt she'd caused; in the next, I wanted to kiss her, long and hard, until she forgot the asshole waiting for her back home.
My grip around the knife tightened as the simmering anger came to a boil…again. I envied her ability to move on with her life, and I was pissed beyond belief that I was still so stuck in the past thatmy lifehad become nothing more than moving from one moment to the next.
I could deny it from here till Sunday, but the truth was, I wanted what Logan and Harper had. I'd always wanted that. As I scraped the chopped vegetables into a bowl, I recalled how easy it had been to plan a future with Kenzie in it. The moment I'd laid eyes on her, she'd become the center of my universe.
In my mind, we could weather any storm. It didn't matter that we came from different backgrounds or that her daddy didn't want us together. We'd had each other, and that'd been enough.
Until it wasn't.
I cracked the eggs one by one into a separate bowl, and after adding a little milk, I whisked them with more force than was necessary.
"Can I help?"
Kenzie's voice stilled my actions, and even though I didn't want to, I made myself look up. She was standing in the doorway, looking a little lost and a whole lot sexy. Thick, damp strands spilled over her shoulder, staining the fabric beneath it.
My teeth dug into the inside of my cheek as my gaze swept over her. It wasn't difficult to notice that she was sans bra and when I caught sight of all the leg she had on display—courtesy of my shirt ending mid-thigh—all I could think about was having them wrapped around me.
The need to stomp over to her and plunge my tongue into her pretty little mouth was almost unbearable. I wanted to run my fingers up her bare thighs and lift her onto the nearest surface where I could ravish her until my name left her lungs in a breathy whisper.
Shifting from one foot to the other, I was thankful that I was standing behind the island; there was no hiding how she affected me.
"I think I've got it." I feigned a cough to hide the hoarseness in my voice.
"What happened to your hand?"
I looked at my knuckles and shrugged, "Nothing."
