Zoey And The Nice Guy (Big Girl Panties #1) (17 page)

“Slow down,” he said.

She shook her head. “I can’t. I want you.”

“Open your eyes.”

She hadn’t realized they were closed. She opened them and looked at him. Into him.

“Say it again,” he said.

Her breath was ragged and shaking. She was shaking. “I want you.”

“Tell me I’m different, Zoey. Tell me I’m not like other men.”

“You know you’re different. You know what you’re doing to me. I’m sorry I never saw you before, Kellen. Come inside of me, please.”

His expression turned determined as he pushed all the way inside of her. They cried out together and then held each other, still and trembling for a long moment. “I can’t get you out of my head. I’ve never wanted anyone like this, Zoey.”

She dug her nails into his shoulder blades, and he began moving into her. Pounding into her. She gave herself up to his control in a way she’d never experienced before. There was nothing for her to do, no need for her to think as he brought both of their bodies to the height of pleasure and then sent them scrambling and gasping over the edge.

The shower spray hissed. Their panting breaths gradually slowed. They were collapsed on the floor of the shower, him on his knees between her legs, her splayed out in front of him with her back against the wall.
 

He leaned forward and kissed her. Their lips were familiar together now. There was no more tentative tasting. No more discovery. Only blissful ownership.
 

He leaned in and kissed her again. Then he turned off the shower and helped her to her feet. They dried off and dressed, casting bashful smiles at each other. He tackled her onto the bed, his weight a warm comfort, and made out with her for a few minutes.
 

When he at last rolled off, Zoey sat up and checked the clock. It was only noon. She stared at the time. “I feel like my whole life just changed. But we’re still in the same day as we were before.”

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “See, that’s about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s weird. I’m actually feeling nice.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll pass.”

She laughed and took his hand as he led her back into the kitchen.
 

Kellen propped his chin on his palm at the kitchen table. The kids were decorating their houses with candy, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Zoey. She, Addy, and Maya were all helping with the decorating. Zoey wasn’t even paying attention to him, but he couldn’t stop being aware of her. He’d feel her from now on. Everywhere he went, he’d feel her in his skin, in his bones.
 

What was this? Not love. Surely not love. Though, he didn’t know what else it could be. She’d completely knocked him out. It was like she’d said, his whole life had changed.
 

“So what’s changed?” Addy asked. She was lining the top of Sophie’s roof with cinnamon candies, so Kellen wasn’t sure who she was talking to.

“Who are you talking to?” Zoey asked.

“You guys. Maya says you want to be together and that I should relax about it. So, I want to know what’s changed. How do you go from hate and indifference to suddenly gazing at each other like puppies?”

Zoey sighed. “I think we just didn’t know each other before.”

“You had plenty of opportunity, but you were bound and determined to hate him and pretty much every man in existence. Now, all of a sudden he’s made it into your inner circle. It just seems abrupt.”

Zoey and Kellen both covered up laughs at the ‘inner circle’ remark.
 

“What?” Addy asked. Then she rolled her eyes. “God, you guys are sick. You know what I meant.”

“Having only recently made it into her inner circle,” Kellen said, with a wink at Zoey, “I’d kind of appreciate not talking this to death. It’s still unreal to me and I just want to relax and enjoy it.”

Zoey folded her hands over her heart. “Aww. You’re so sweet. Isn’t he sweet?”

“Alien abduction is the only scenario that makes any sense,” Maya said. “Some sort of bodysnatchers situation. Or maybe she’s turned into Stepford Zoey.”

“The question is,” Addy pondered, “Do we like Stepford Zoey?”

“She definitely doesn’t shriek as much. And she’s got a nice, pleasant aura about her.”

Zoey flipped them both off, and they laughed.
 

“There she is,” Addy said.

Zoey lowered her fingers before the kids looked up from their houses.
 

“So what are you doing here?” Kellen asked Addy. “Thought you were going to be with your parents through Christmas.”

“I just wanted a break.”

“Your folks doing all right?”

“Oh, they’re perfect. They’re always perfect.”

Kellen nodded. He knew Addy’s tone. They’d grown up together, all of them, and Addy had been a better friend than most. Certainly better than Zoey up until recently. He knew the power her parents had over her, and the way she simultaneously despised their perfection and wanted to live up to it.
 

He also knew that when she stopped making eye contact, she was upset about something. Her voice tone didn’t change. Just the fact that she suddenly became highly focused on whatever she was doing. Which, in this case, was piping swirly decorations on the side of Sophie’s house. “Went to dinner in St. Louis last night,” she said.

Kellen caught Zoey’s eye and for the first time, experienced that silent communication that lovers enjoy. She winked at him. “Oh?” she said to Addy.

Addy nodded and kept piping. “Saw the professor, so that was cool.”

“The professor? Really? Did he look hot?”

Addy huffed. “Would you stop? He’s not that good looking.”

But even as she spoke, her cheeks were reddening. Zoey shared another look with Kellen before returning her attention to Addy. “Did he join you?”

“No. He was on a date.”

“What?” Maya and Zoey both shrieked.
 

This was where Kellen got lost. The facts, as he knew them were: Addy worked for the professor; Addy and the professor weren’t dating; the professor was on a date last night. He couldn’t fathom why the women were reacting so dramatically.

“That bastard!” Zoey said.

Addy shook her head. “He’s not a bastard. He’s a single man who can date whomever he wants.”

“Who was she?” Maya asked.

“I didn’t know her,” Addy said. “She was beautiful.”

“He has no business dating. And behind your back like that!” Zoey’s face turned as red as her hair.

Addy didn’t answer, so Kellen was lost in confusion. Curiosity warred with self-preservation. Curiosity won. “I don’t understand. Why shouldn’t he date?”

Zoey and Maya honed in on him, their eyes round. He got the sudden sense that he’d asked the stupidest question on earth. “They have an understanding,” Zoey snapped.

“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know. Well, then, he was cheating?”

Addy sighed and shook her head. “There’s no understanding. He’s free to date whomever he chooses. It wasn’t cheating. I don’t even know why I mentioned it.”

“There is, too, and understanding,” Maya argued. “What about that time he acted all jealous when you were dating that soccer player? You broke up with that guy. You could have had a perfectly good relationship, but the professor didn’t like it, so you gave that guy up for him.”

“He never asked me to.”

“But he didn’t tell you not to. He’s been stringing you along for way too long.”

“No, no, that’s not right,” Addy said. “I mean, yeah, there’s some attraction there, but we both care too much for our careers to act on it. Besides, Joel wasn’t right for me. I didn’t break up with him just for the professor.”

Maya and Zoey shared a look and rolled their eyes. “So what did he do when you saw him?” Zoey asked.

Addy shrugged. “He was his usual, charming self. I introduced him to my parents. He introduced us to his date. Then we went to our table.”

Kellen watched the women exchange glances and grow silent. He didn’t understand. But he felt he’d already treaded too deeply into those waters, so he bit his tongue.

Addy’s phone beeped. She pulled it out, read her text, and turned red. Zoey and Maya were fixated on her.
 

“What did he say?” Maya asked softly.

Addy could only shake her head.
 

Zoey snatched her phone. “He says, ‘She was a colleague. It was a work date.’” Zoey’s grip on the phone tightened. “Well, that’s bullsh—crap, and I’m gonna tell him so.” She started thumb-typing until Addy took her phone back.

She typed out her own message, sent it, and pocketed her phone.
 

Kellen felt like he was watching a soap opera. He was on the edge of his seat, dying to know what Addy had replied. But no information seemed forthcoming and he was left with the somewhat less interesting gingerbread house show.

“When’s your mom coming, Zoey?” Maya asked.

“Christmas day. She’s supposed to stay in town for a couple of nights, but she said she’d get a hotel.”

Kellen thought Maya’s next breath sounded like a sigh of relief. “Do I get to meet her?” he asked.

“Well, big boy, by the looks of it, you’re not gonna have much choice.” Zoey jerked her head toward the window.
 

He stood and crossed into the living room. He pulled back the sheer curtain. Snow still fell steadily. It reached nearly the top of the tires on his truck. The drifts were much deeper.
 

Arms came around his waist and a warm cheek pressed to his back. “You’re stuck with me,” she said. “You’re all mine.”

He could totally drive home in that snow with his big truck. But if she needed an excuse to ask him to say, he’d let her have it. He said, “I can live with that. It just so happens I brought my overnight bag, just in case.” He turned and took her and kissed her. Then he sank onto the couch and brought her onto his lap. She covered his face in kisses and pressed her lips to his. He rubbed her back and waist, keeping his hands in neutral territory, but on her—always on her.
 

Later, Kellen went outside with the kids.

He, bundled in his coat and boots, stepped out into the snow and paused in surprise when he saw it was already shin deep; and still coming down hard. The kids tumbled into the front yard, squealing with laughter. He moved to the middle of the yard and started piling up snow for the base of a snowman. The kids joined in and piled on snow while he shaped it. By the time the bottom was finished, Zoey had come out to join them.
 

They rolled a big ball of snow for the middle, and a smaller for the top.
 

“Hey, I got something,” Zoey said, jumping up and running toward her garage. She came out with a small box and opened it up. Inside were a bunch of pieces: eyes, noses, mouths, eyebrows. They were like giant Mr. Potato Head pieces for a snowman. “It was gonna be a Christmas present, but you guys need it now, so—“

“Thanks, Aunt Zoey!” Matthew cried.
 

Kellen sat back and watched while they assembled a face for their snowman. Then he went inside to get his camera. He took pictures of the kids posing by Howard the snowman. After that, they agreed to have a boys versus girls snowball fight. So Kellen helped Matthew build a snow barrier to hide behind. Zoey and Sophie went straight to work making snowballs so that they wound up with more ammunition than the boys. But they had no defensive structure.
 

“You’re gonna regret that!” Kellen called.

“The best defense is a good offense. Ready, Sophie? Attack!”
 

Sophie’s snowballs flew in a gentle arc and landed in soft puffs. She missed them nine times out of ten. But damn if Zoey didn’t know how to throw. Her snowballs came in straight lines with intense accuracy and made an impact even through their heavy coats. Every time Kellen or Matthew popped their head up, they got hit.

“You seem to have forgotten that I took our softball team to the state championship, Kellen, my man!” she shouted before beaming him in the face with a snowball.

At last, the boys ducked down, their backs to their snow wall. “Okay,” Kellen said. “Can you hit her if you’ve got time and a clear shot?”

“Yeah, but she’s too fast.”

“It’s okay. I’ll lay down cover fire and give you a chance to really nail her. In the face with the biggest snowball you can throw. Can you do it?”

Matthew nodded and started packing up a snowball. Kellen built himself a supply of a dozen. Then he counted, “One…two…three…Go!” He got to his knees and started chucking snowballs as fast as he could. Because Zoey hit him first, and kept throwing, he couldn’t even get one across the yard. But then Matthew stood, took careful aim, and threw.

There was a satisfying smack as the snow splattered all over her face. She was stunned.
 

“Get her!” Kellen yelled. They abandoned their barrier and began throwing snowballs as hard as they could until Zoey was on her knees with her arms around her head yelling, “Stop! I give! I give!”

They stopped and laughed. Zoey fell to the ground and splayed on her back. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I let you down.”

“It’s okay. You did your best, Aunt Zoey.”

Matthew crowed over Zoey. “In your face, Aunt Zoey. Girls stink! Boys rule!”

“Uh-huh. That’s fabulous.” She was smiling, but her voice was dry. She was clearly exhausted.
 

The snow was falling so hard that her coat was already dusted over. Kellen knelt next to her and grinned. She reached up, grabbed him by the front of his coat, and pulled him down for a kiss. Their frozen lips quickly warmed. Somewhere in the background Matthew and Sophie cried, “Eww!” But then they ran off to play.
 

Kellen pulled back. Her lips were bright red against the backdrop of the snow. Her hair fanned out around her. Her eyelashes had snowflakes in them. The back of her left hand rested on her brow. “My God. Don’t move.”

“What?” She started to move her hand and he reached out to still it.
 

“Do. Not. Move.” He ran to the porch for his camera.