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“Right, sorry. I was distracted for a minute by your buttons.”

Travis laughed.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Travis stood back and pushed the door open for her to enter. She took a deep breath; her cheeks were burning, but she rolled back her shoulders and reminded herself that Gracie wouldn’t be in labor forever.
Get your man, Kenna.

“Everything okay?” Travis asked, running a hand over his face and leaning up against the wall of his entryway, clearly keeping his distance.

Oh, maybe this was a mistake. Maybe women don’t do this, or I’m supposed to play hard to get, or—Stop!

“Yes, everything is fine. The thing is, Gracie, you know my dad’s goat?”

Travis nodded.

“Good, right. Well, she’s ready to have her babies and Paige is up at the farm, spending the night. Dad thinks the babies will arrive any day and I was just thinking before she delivered that it was time for me to put it on the table, you know?”

Travis tilted his head a bit as if he were trying to connect the dots and was getting lost somewhere along the way.

“I, okay, let me try to figure this one out. Paige told me about Gracie and that is . . . exciting. So, you drove down to tell me in person? I mean, I’m happy to see you again, it’s been a couple of hours. The part that’s really throwing me is the table. You want to put Gracie on the table?”

“No. I want to put ‘it’ on the table. You said on our date that once ‘it’ was on the table, you’d need a weekend. Remember?”

He nodded, smiling now.

“I don’t have a weekend because of Gracie, but I’d like, I want it on the table.”

His smile deepened, and Makenna just about melted as if he’d already touched her.

“Not like you to beat around the bush.” He waggled his eyebrows. “What are you trying to say, Makenna?”

She let out a huff. “Of course you’re not responding to my subtlety. I’m trying to be coy, cute even.”

“As cute as you are right now, I’m not really into that. I much prefer knock-me-over-the-head Makenna. Out with it. Why are you here, and please don’t mention the goat again.” He pushed off the wall and moved closer to her.

“Sex. I’d like . . . I’m thinking that we should . . .” His hands slid around her waist and, no matter how blunt, she could only find three words. “I want you.”

“Makenna,” he said again. This time, his voice was a little smoky and a whole lot sexy.

He pushed her purse off her shoulder and it fell to the floor with a thud, followed quickly by her jacket. He didn’t say anything and just looked at her.

“Are you . . . going to say anything?” He started kissing her neck.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve said enough for the both of us.”

“But, do you . . .” Her heart was thundering in her chest and then her stupid mind kicked in. What was this? What were they doing? Did he have a condom? Oh no, why was that video she watched in high school playing through her head at a time like this? The one where the stern voice says, “When you have sex with a person, you are having sex with everyone he’s ever slept with.” She always thought that was a creepy way to put it, but now that he was kissing her—Oh sweet Lord—she couldn’t shut off her mind. How many women had Travis slept with?

“Wait!” She shook herself free, and Travis closed his eyes and stepped back. “Shouldn’t you say something? I said that I wanted to put it on the table, that I wanted you. Don’t you think you should respond? Or not, right, maybe we just rip each other’s clothes off and go at it.”

Travis laughed.

“You’re laughing.” Kenna turned to pick up her purse, and Travis stopped her by holding her arm gently.

“I didn’t mean to laugh. You’re just so out of your element here and it’s incredibly sexy.”

“Oh, so you want me, too?”

He laughed again, pulled her into his warm body, buttons still in place, and kissed her in a way that told her Travis was definitely more of a show kind of guy.

“I do want you, but you need to think about this.” He touched her face. It was simple, but her entire body hummed. How did he manage that? His fingers ran down her neck and her arm before he kissed her again. Slow and soft, like she was delicate. Makenna had never been called delicate. Even Adam had always told her she was solid and if there were ever a zombie apocalypse, he wanted her on his side. Delicate felt incredible, right next door to cherished, and when Travis moved down her neck, pulling her into his warm waiting body, she felt herself step closer to the edge. She was going to fall for him; it was simply a matter of time.

She’d planned on maybe meeting someone sensible, someone she could love in a fringe sort of way. Relationships could work on the fringe; they didn’t all have to be dive in head first or cannonball leaps of faith. People fell in sensible, safe love all the time, but at the moment, Travis was kissing the sensible right out of her. Apparently, sensible wasn’t in her cards.

She pulled back and looked into his dark brown eyes. They were almost black, but they turned down at the edges, making them warm and a little tender. Travis was tender. Another detail she’d missed.

“What if I don’t want to think? What if I just want to feel and not worry or chart it out?”

“Then I’m probably your guy, but I’m not sure you can shut things off like that. Why don’t you come in and we can sit, I’m watching—”

“No.”

He looked confused.

“I’m here for sex.” Makenna almost laughed at herself. “I mean, yeah . . .”

He laughed. “You’re always coming up with the better ideas, aren’t you?”

She took his hand, gently pushed him into the big red chair only a few steps away, and climbed into his lap facing him.

“Makenna.”

“Yes,” she said softly, unbuttoning his shirt.

“I—” He reached out, pulled her shirt over her head, and froze.

Kenna felt his body shift and looked down at herself.

“What?”

“I, I—”

“Jesus, Travis, what?”

“Where the hell does someone who wears muck boots and jeans ninety days out of a hundred get a bra like that?”

“Oh.” She smiled and appeared to turn him on further by putting her hands to her breasts. “I like lacy.”

“Apparently.” He carefully touched the sheer, plum-colored bra. It was one of Kenna’s favorites because it was basically see through, save the small swirls of darker lace that covered her nipples. No padding and soft silky straps. She loved lingerie because of the way it made her feel. Light. Not much in Kenna’s life was light. Nice bras and panties were easy.

“Please tell me you’re into matching,” Travis said, kissing her shoulder.

“Oh, no. Sorry. Nothing but grandma panties down below. I’m a huge fan of cotton down there. Breathability and all.” She stood up and started unzipping her jeans. “I really like flowers, or I have this great pair with butterflies. Let’s see which ones I have on.”

Travis laughed as she made a big show of wiggling out of her jeans. With her back to him, her jeans slid off with surprising ease, not like a penguin, to reveal the matching lace of the cheeky panties that covered just enough. Thongs made her ass look weird, but cheekies worked some amazing magic that made her butt look just a smidge smaller. On her extra pancake days, Kenna needed that smidge.

She turned to him and would forever remember the look on his face. Even if things didn’t work out. Even if later on, she needed to pretend this night never happened so they could be civil for the sake of the restaurant or her ordered responsible life. Even if all of that came to pass and Travis wasn’t the lunch-making, stick-around man and he really was the party guy in line at Lux she’d pegged him for; she would forever remember the look on his face. Travis McNulty, sexy as all hell, was enchanted, not cool or sarcastic. Sure, his eyes skimmed her scantily clad curves and he was clearly turned on, but Kenna imagined Travis had seen many women in their panties before. Probably women who had clocked plenty more hours at the gym. The look he gave her seemed to hold more. He hadn’t expected this side of her, and surprising him turned out to be incredibly gratifying.

“You are so beautiful.” That was all he said, and then he stood from the chair and swept her up in his arms. There he went again making her feel delicate. “I need to take these off in a bed—my bed.”

He could see her go from playful and determined to uncertain the moment her hair fell across his pillow.
Holy shit, what am I doing?
He was out of his league, but she somehow felt so right that he couldn’t shut it down. He found himself needing her, and not just her body. She was so real and funny. For the first time since he’d met Makenna Rye, she didn’t seem unattainable. In fact, she was right there, half-naked on his bed and looking for him to simply show her a good time. So, why was he hesitating? He was all about a good time.

“Are you okay?”
Oh yeah, that’s super sexy, Mr. Good Time.

Kenna looked up at him, moonlight on her beautiful face and the curves of her body. “I . . . yes, I’m fine. Why?”

“Nothing.” Travis unbuttoned his jeans.

There were no sexy oohs and ahhs; she just quietly watched him. He could tell she was thinking, running through things in her mind he couldn’t even imagine. He didn’t know if she’d been with any other men since her husband. He wanted to ask, find out what he was dealing with, but she reached for him and pulled him down on top of her. He rested his weight on his forearms.

Her lips went to his ear. “It has been a very long time. I’m on the pill, but we should still use a condom. Other than that, I’m fine. I want you and I’m trying to enjoy this. I’ll sort the rest out later. Can that be enough?”

Travis wasn’t sure he could breathe. It was one thing to deal with to-the-point Makenna at work, but he’d never felt this level of honesty in his bed. She needed and she came to him, wanted him. The thought of it filled him with the same question she’d had. Was it enough that she wanted him?

He could give her this, show her passion, have fun, and then they’d see what happened, right? He had no idea, but she was waiting for an answer, waiting for him, so he opened the drawer of his nightstand for protection. Her eyes followed him and a little of her playful sexy returned.

“That’s more than enough, Makenna,” was all he said. Then, despite wanting her to stupid distraction, Travis took his time. He savored every minute of her hands on his body, the warm tangle of them together and soft moan of her voice, because he’d lied. He’d been with his share of women, but this was—she was—something more than he could even define. He had no idea what he was doing, but there was no way this one night was ever going to be enough.

Chapter Twenty-Two

I
t had been what felt like ages since Makenna had awakened in a bed other than her own. After the initial panic of wondering where she was and then where Paige was, she settled into the warm man nestled behind her. It was Monday morning, but still early, probably around five o’clock from the shade of darkness she could see through the window. Her father was dropping Paige off at school, but she quietly slid out of bed to call and say good morning. Grabbing the first piece of clothing she found on the floor, Kenna slipped it over her naked body, closed the bedroom door gently, and went into Travis’s living room. She was in his T-shirt, she realized as she waited for Paige to answer the phone. Her mind began trying to sort out the two worlds, her responsibilities vs. the smell of him, the pull of her heart, but right as she started to feel dizzy, her daughter’s voice came over the phone.

“Mama! Good morning, silly boots. Do you have your silly boots on yet?”

Kenna laughed and could tell her daughter was tired. “Not yet. How’s Gracie?”

“She’s so brave. We check on her all the time and Donk said we’re close because she started panning last night.”

“Panting,” Kenna corrected and then felt emotion build in her chest first. Paige was so alive and interested; it was spilling through the phone.

“Right, she was pant—ing. And me and Donk were talking to her and giving her love. Donk is a good friend to Gracie.”

“He really is.” Kenna’s eyes began to tear. “Did you get any sleep?”

“A little bit, but Donk said we are stopping at Libby’s for breakfast so I can fuel up.”

Kenna laughed and wiped her cheek. “Okay, make sure you get chocolate chips.”

“I will. How’s Popcorn? Did you feed him?”

She felt a tinge of guilt at her daughter’s assumption that she was home, which was silly. She certainly wasn’t going to share anything with a five-year-old.

“I did. He’s still sleeping.”

“Yeah, he likes to sleep in.”

Kenna laughed again and turned to find Travis standing behind her, arms crossed over his bare chest and smiling.

“I know he does. Okay, Peach, I have to get ready for work. Have a super day at school and I’ll see you at pickup.”

“Okay, Mama. I have more pictures to show you. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Kenna heard the kissing sounds coming through the phone. She returned a few and touched the end button. She turned to Travis and should have felt awkward standing in his T-shirt, talking on the phone with her daughter, but didn’t. “No babies yet.”