Page 61 of Guarded Secrets
“I don’t want to go away,” Bruce protested.
Abby put her hand over her husband’s. “Only for a few days, Bruce, and I’ll be with you.” She addressed Owen. “Bruce’s sister lives in the Bay Area, and we’ve been thinking for a while we’d like to visit her while he still can. I can call her.”
“Do that. I’m taking Keeley to my house. She’ll be safe there.”
“Now wait a hot minute, mister. You’ve skipped a step or two. One of those steps being actually asking me if I’m willing to stay at your house.”
“You’ll end up there anyway.”
“Oh, will I?”
“Yeah, you will. I’m saving time.”
She was probably right, but he couldn’t stop a grin. She looked fucking sexy in a sweatshirt that kept slipping off her shoulder, then add to that, this was the first time she was the one acting grumpy. He wished they were alone so he could scoop her up and take her back to bed.
With her brows pulled down in a scowl, she took her phone from her pocket and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. Glaring at Owen, she spoke into the phone, “Delaney, give me a call when you get this. I might need to bunk at your place for a few days. PS, I hope the not-just-morning sickness isn’t kicking your butt.” She disconnected the call and arched her brow at him like a dare.
Abby rose from her seat. “I’ll let you two figure yourselves out. After I clean up the kitchen, I’ll call Carla. She’ll be happy to have us.”
Keeley rose to her feet. “Let us clean up, Mom. You go make your phone call.”
Owen stacked plates and brought them to the sink.
“No, I’ve got it.” Abby made shooing motions. “You both go on. I’ll let you know our plans after I’ve talked to my sister-in-law.” She paused. “You’ll still be in town so you’ll take care of Iggy?”
“Of course, Mom. I’ll check on him every day.” Keeley gave her parents hugs. “Talk to you later.”
Owen got the mugs he and Keeley had brought over, hooking them on a finger. He opened the door and followed her out. She stopped midway across the courtyard and turned, primed to blast him, and he had to fight the instinct to duck.
“Let’s get something straight, pal.” If words were bullets, he’d be a dead man. “If there’s a reason you think I should do something, you talk to me and explain yourself. Don’t talk around me, and don’t make decisions that concern me without my consent. I’m not in the Marine Corps, and I’m not a rookie police officer. You’re not the boss of me. Well, except at work, then you are the boss of me, but I still don’t take orders.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Okay, fine. You’re right.”
“You’re admitting I’m right?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t get used to it, princess. I want you safe, but maybe I could have gone about it better.”
The wheels were turning in her head and he figured she was deciding if she still needed to give him shit. Then she smiled and he felt like the sun had come out from behind a dark gray cloud.
She went up on her toes, whispering, “You’re forgiven,” before pressing her lips to his. He responded before he could stop himself. The mugs clanked together as he brought her flush against him, taking her into a deep kiss with the flavor of coffee swirling between them.
Still fused at the lips, she went back down to her heels, her hands gripping his arms. He was breathing heavily when they broke the kiss. Her grip tightened. “Wow. I’m a little bit dizzy.”
He shook his head. “Last night I told myself that we’d have one night. We’d have great sex and get it out of our systems, and then each go our separate ways before anyone got hurt.”
She pressed her fingers to her lips like she wanted to contain the taste of him at the same time the sunshine went out of her expression. “Right. You don’t want a relationship with me.”
“That’s not exactly right.”
“What exactly is it, then?”
The sound of a vehicle engine carried ahead of a black truck coming up the driveway.
“Not going there.”
“I think big strong Owen Hardesty is running scared because he has inconvenient feelings.”
He could feel his face settle in a scowl.
