Falling for the Wingman (The Kelly Brothers, Book 3) (5 page)

“When will they be arriving?”

“In about five to ten minutes.” She fixed a smile on her face as Miss Ada arrived with the menus. “What’s the special today?”

“Fried ham steak.”

“With your famous greens?”

“You know it, darlin’.”

Alex slid her menu to the end of the table without opening it. “Sold!”

Caleb, however, stared at the menu like it was written in another language. “I’m going to need a few minutes.”

“Take your time. I’ll be right over with those sweet teas.” Miss Ada stepped behind the counter to fetch their drinks, giving Alex a few seconds alone with him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m trying to figure out what I can eat here without paying for it later.”

“Oh, I forgot—you’re lactose intolerant, right?” She scooted next to him and peered at his menu. “I’d say go with the special.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I’m not a huge fan of greens.”

“You can get another side like fried okra or green beans, silly.” She playfully batted him on the nose as the bell above the door announced the arrival of a new patron.

Mrs. Patty Jefferies, one of her mother’s oldest friends, scanned the restaurant until her hard gaze settled on Alex.

Alex wrapped her arms around Caleb’s neck and murmured in his ear, “Time for another Academy Award–winning performance.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He nuzzled her cheek, his breath warming her skin. “But you still haven’t helped me decide what I want for dinner.”

She was tempted to tell him to forget dinner and go straight to dessert, especially once his hand started inching up her bare thigh. Using the menu to shield them from prying eyes, she leaned into him. “I’m still voting for the ham and greens.”

“And I’m telling you I don’t like greens.”

“I would recommend the country fried steak, but that has buttermilk gravy.”

“Um-hmm.”

Her breath caught as his other hand worked up the back of her shirt, tracing tiny circles along the base of her spine. Sweet Jesus, if he kept that up, she’d be hauling him back to her bed before dinner arrived. “It’s kind of hard to think clearly when you’re doing that, you know.”

“Now you know how I felt when you ambushed me with that first kiss last night.” He pulled back with a wicked grin that told her how much he enjoyed teasing her.

She whacked him with the menu. “Behave.”

By then, three more of her mother’s friends had join Mrs. Jefferies at the Junior League table, their heads all close together as they whispered at a frantic pace and glanced her way.

Alex resisted the urge to do a little victory dance. By tomorrow morning, the whole town would know about her and Caleb.

Miss Ada arrived with their teas. “Decide on anything?”

Caleb went to the menu, but Alex lowered it. “The Yankee wants to play it safe with some fried chicken and green beans, Miss Ada.”

“Hey now—” he protested, but she cut him off.

“I would love an extra side of fried okra, though, and of course, some of that yummy peach cobbler for dessert, please.”

Miss Ada chuckled and took the menu. “I’ll be out with your supper in a few.”

“Yankee?” Caleb asked once they were alone again.

“Last I checked, Chicago was north of here.”

“But do you have to act like the Civil War is still going on?”

“Shh!” She pressed her finger to his lips. “Some folks around here haven’t gotten the memo that it’s over.”

Two more ladies came into the restaurant, both of them Kourtney’s age, and immediately joined the chatter at the table.

Alex swung her legs onto Caleb’s lap and pulled him closer. “In a few minutes, one of those ladies is going to pull out her phone and tattle on us.”

“Then let’s give them something to talk about.” He made no effort to hide his hand on her thigh just before his lips covered hers.

Just like with last night’s kisses, a series of fireworks exploded inside her from the first second of contact and sent her blood rushing into her cheeks. But as the kiss deepened into something slow and sensual, the heat spread to other parts of her body. Alex ran her fingers over the newly shaved short hair along the base of his scalp, the scratchy sensation contrasting with the firm massage of his hands on her thigh and sending delicious shivers through her.

Damn, he knew how to turn a woman on. Maybe it was time to remind him they were only faking this relationship.

Or maybe he wasn’t into faking it anymore. She sure as hell wasn’t.

A disgusted huff came from the Junior League table, and Alex forced herself to end the kiss. “I thought we were trying to avoid the public make-out session.”

“Just following your lead.”

“Bullshit.”

“I like that you aren’t afraid to call me on that.” He turned her around so her legs fell off his lap and draped his arm around her shoulders. “And you were right about the phones.”

Sure enough, both Mrs. Jefferies and her daughter, Mindy, were each talking in hushed tones to someone on their cells. And judging by the number of times they glanced her way during the conversation, Mama and Kourtney were getting an earful of her “disgraceful” behavior. “I know how this town works.”

“And for that, I’m grateful.”

Two plates of steaming food interrupted them. “Here you go,” Miss Ada said as she set them down. “Now you show that boy what kind of good vittles he’s missing out on.”

“I sure will, Miss Ada.” Alex dug her fork into the sweet and sour greens and stuffed her mouth with them.

“I’m still not brave enough to try those.” He did, however, sample the green beans. After one nibble, he was devouring them. “I’ve always wondered one thing about you southerners. Why do you call the women here ‘Miss’ so-and-so?”

“Because we don’t want to get smacked on the back of the head for being disrespectful. It’s sort of how you always add ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir’ when you’re speaking to a commanding officer.”

“So if I start calling the owner of the B&B ‘Miss Martha,’ I won’t get pinched?”

“Not likely. You have a fine ass, Captain Kelly, and Miss Martha must genuinely appreciate it.” She grinned and added, “Maybe I should start letting you know how much I appreciate it, too.”

He caught her hand a second before she struck. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Should I do something else to the cute ass of yours?”

His eyes darkened with desire, and her mouth went dry. He was finally starting to see her as a sexy woman in her own right, not just Kourtney’s flat-chested little sister. “What are you suggesting?”

“Be a good boy and maybe you’ll find out.” She twisted her hand free and went back to her supper. “But first, you need to try Miss Ada’s greens.”

“Alex, I’ve already told you I don’t—”

She silenced him with a forkful of the dark emerald wilted greens. Miss Ada sweetened them with plenty of brown sugar and bit of balsamic vinegar, which tempered the bitter sulfur taste most greens suffered from. The smoky hint of bacon balanced them out and added a richness that only pork grease could accomplish. The result was something purely divine, and it was time Caleb experienced them.

His eyes widened, but he didn’t spit them out. Instead, he chewed for a few seconds, swallowed, and immediately went for her plate. “Hey, those aren’t half bad.”

She yanked her plate out of reach. “I told you they were good.” But after he made several more attempts to nab some from her plate, she conceded and let him have a few more bites.

“I can’t believe Kourtney never took me here,” he said after sampling the fried chicken and fried okra. “I never thought I’d enjoy Southern cooking so much.”

“Kourtney thinks this place is beneath her. She only comes for the weekly meetings, and then she never orders anything.”

Caleb chewed a bit longer. “Yeah, I’m surprised she came back to Jackson Grove at all.”

“I’m not. As much as she hates this town, she’s still royalty here. In her mind, it’s better to be worshipped in hell than be a nobody elsewhere.”

He swallowed as though the fluffy biscuit he’d been eating was month-old bubblegum. “But you don’t see it that way.”

“No, I like my place in town. I provide a needed service, and I’m at the point in my life where I’m comfortable being my father’s daughter and not the debutante Mama wanted me to be.”

“Your dad liked cars, too?”

“He’s the one who showed me how to rebuild an engine.” A twinge of pain throbbed in her chest when she thought about him. No one understood her like he had. “When he died, I used the money he left me to buy the shop. He’d always said my inheritance was supposed to be an investment in my future, and I couldn’t think of a better use for it.”

“Did he leave anything for your sister?”

“Of course he did. Kourtney also used her money to invest in her future, but instead of setting up a business, she spent it on a new nose, a new chin, and a new set of boobs.”

Caleb stared down at his plate and played with the little bit of food left on it. “She had that much work done?”

“Would you like me to dig up pictures of her from high school?” Alex angled her face into his line of vision. “Don’t act so surprised. A rack like hers is anything but natural.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…” He threw his fork down. “You’d think she’d use it on something a little more meaningful.”

“From her point of view, it was. Change her appearance until she’s practically flawless, catch the attention of a hot guy with money, move far away from Jackson Grove. That was what she wanted for her future.”

A wan smile tilted the corners of his mouth up. “And you think I’m the schmuck with money she was after?”

Alex paused, choosing her words carefully. “I can’t answer for her.”

“She must have mentioned something.”

Now it was her turn to play with what was left on her plate. She could deliver the killing blow right here and end Caleb’s interest in her sister, but if he left town now, it would end her chances with him, too. Besides, Kourtney was still her sister. “She mentioned that you came from a wealthy family and expressed some frustration that you refused to tell her why you wouldn’t claim the trust fund your father left you.”

“I’m surprised she even found out about it.”

“Kourtney’s smarter than most people give her credit for.”

“No shit.” He laid his fork down and pushed his plate away. “Just like your father, mine left us all a little something in case we needed it, but none us have except for Dan, who used it to pay off his med school loans. I may not be famous like some of my brothers, but I’m happy being a pilot. I feel like I’m doing something useful with my life, and I love flying. Besides, if I touched one cent of that trust fund money, I’d be kicked out of the Air Force.”

“They’d kick you out for having a trust fund?”

He nodded. “When you come into that much money, the Department of Defense thinks your interests would be diverted from your duty.”

Alex let out a low whistle. “That must be some kind of trust fund.”

“It’s enough to provide for a very comfortable retirement or maybe pass down to my kids someday. I don’t need it. I make more than enough for my own needs. Hell, I’m still driving my dad’s old car.”

“Okay, first off, that ‘old car’ is a classic muscle machine that gets me hot and bothered just from listening to the engine.”

“You get turned on by an engine?” he teased.

“Let me get behind the wheel and I’ll show you.” She gave him a playful nudge before turning serious. “Second, you should do what you love.”

“Even if it’s what made the woman I love leave me?”

A lump of bitterness rose into her throat. He was still in love with her sister. Alex took a breath, swallowed hard, and used those precious seconds to come up with a response that didn’t incriminate her. “Being a pilot is who you are. You said it yourself—you love flying, and you loved it long before you met my sister. You shouldn’t have to change yourself for another person. If you did, you’d only end up resenting that person later for taking you away from what you truly love.”

He stared her with a line furrowed between his brows as though her words had hit him on a level he hadn’t expected. She didn’t understand why, though. To her, it was nothing more than common sense.

But then, most of the world lacked common sense. Herself included. After all, she was the one trying to lure her sister’s ex into falling in love with her.

Thankfully, Miss Ada showed up to break the uneasy silence forming between them. “Y’all ready for dessert?”

Alex turned her attention away from the sexy man beside her and grinned. “Yep. Two peach cobblers, no ice cream on his.”

“You sure about that?” Miss Ada asked Caleb as she took their plates.

“Positive.” Once they were alone again, he said, “I’m surprised you remembered about my lactose intolerance.”

“It’s easy enough to remember, especially knowing what kind of discomfort it can cause you.”

His expression sobered. “You’d think so.”

Based on his reaction, she wondered how many times her sister had forgotten it.