Page 83 of Stolen Kisses
I miss you.
His response came immediately.You, too. We’ll make up for it tomorrow night. Castaways for drinks? Then maybe my place for appetizers?
A winking emoji followed the text. She smiled at the innuendo, wanting to believe the implications of that comment. Hoping the sudden cooling of their sex life was just her imagination.
—
Thanksgiving Day in Blushing Bay came with all the traditional foods and seafood. Being a fishing town, some sort of fish was usually served right alongside the turkey. Or in place of the turkey in some cases. Krista and Joey woke up on Thursday and started cooking at daybreak. They usually went to their parents’ home in town and met up with aunts, uncles, and cousins that they hadn’t seen all year.
And today, for the first time in forever, Krista was bringing a man home with her. Most of her family knew Noah, but they didn’t know him as her boyfriend. Taking Noah home to “meet” the family in his new role was a step forward for them.
The timer on the oven beeped and Krista slid her hands into her charred oven mitts. She opened the oven and leaned back as a blast of heat met her face.
“I’ll do it.” Joey bullied her to the side and grabbed a dish towel. Then he pulled the large turkey out effortlessly and laid it on the table. “Since when did you start cooking the family turkey anyway?”
“Since Mom’s arthritis flared up. She doesn’t need to be doing this kind of stuff anymore.”
“You know she’s probably been up since earlier than both of us doing all kinds of other stuff anyway.”
Krista shook her head. “Well, at least this is one less thing for her to do.” Krista dipped to grab the aluminum foil from a lower cabinet and started wrapping things up to take to her parents’ home. “There. I’ve got to go get ready. Noah is picking me up in an hour.”
“You know Dad is going to grill him, right?”
Krista removed her apron and hung it on a hook inside the pantry door. “I’ve already warned Noah. Now that we’re dating, Dad will probably give him the whole speech about opening doors for me and not using curse words in front of me because I’m a woman.”
Joey snickered under his breath.
“You laugh, but he did that to my old boyfriend. And toward the end of the list of no-no’s, he’ll throw in not having sex before marriage and not getting married without asking him for my hand first.”
“Good grief. I’m glad I was born a son. I never got any of that. Dad’s speech to me was ‘always use condoms and don’t brag to your buddies about any of the details.’ ”
Krista wondered if there was any talk in that speech about making sure the condom didn’t break, and what to do if it did. Noah’s response seemed to be to freak out and then ignore it. “So unfair.”
Rolling her eyes, she headed down the hall to go change into a pair of brown, stretchy pants—so that she could eat as much as she wanted today—and a wine-colored long-sleeved shirt. She draped a silver necklace around her neck, regretful that she’d never found the golden fishing hook that Noah had given her so long ago. She guessed it was gone for good. It’d been five days and no one had found it. Or they had, but they were keeping it as their own lucky charm. She hoped it brought them as much joy as it had her over the years.
The doorbell rang and Krista scurried down the hall in front of Joey to open the door. She was so excited to see Noah, she could hardly contain herself.
“Hey,” she said, slightly out of breath from her race to meet him.
“Hey yourself.” He gestured at his attire. “Is this what you meant when you said dress nice?”
She surveyed his dark rinse jeans and tan-colored sweater, deciding that she had never seen a man look so sexy in a sweater. “You look terrific.”
He bent to kiss her cheek. “And you look delicious,” he whispered next to her ear.
“Supersonic hearing, remember?” Joey called from the kitchen.
“You did not just hear that, Joey,” Krista argued. She turned back to Noah. “He’s joking.”
“My sister is not on the Thanksgiving menu,” Joey said, proving her wrong.
Krista cringed and returned her gaze to Noah. “Did you get your water heater fixed?” she asked, trying to be casual.
He sighed. “No.”
“That’s okay. I showered this morning.” A grin ran through her lips. “Not that you’re inviting me to stay tonight.”
“I want you to stay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Ineedyou to stay,” he whispered to avoid Joey’s supersonic hearing. “I’ll pack up the food for your parents. You go pack an overnight bag for afterward.”
