Page 19 of Return to You

“Yeah,” he paused before explaining, “I looked up a YouTube video.”

“A YouTube video?! It worked before, but now… Do you even know how to put this back together? Because I don’t. This isn’t a Lego project; I need that dryer!”

“Wow.” Kade stood from behind the machine and Ali’s legs went wobbly.

Kade McKnight was always disarming, but Kade McKnight first thing in the morning was almost too much to bear.

His dark hair was disheveled just enough to make someone, not her of course, but someone, think that it might look like that after he’d been rolling around in bed. The five o’clock shadow that he’d been rocking the day before was now a midnight scruff that somehow managed to score a gold in his sexiest feature Olympics. He wore a white cotton T-shirt that would be basic on your average man, but on Kade it became a work of art, perfectly chiseled like a marble statue of a Greek god.

No. Physical. Reactions, she reminded her traitorous cells that had all come alive with heated lust.

The intensity of his emerald stare forced her to step back, stopping only when she felt the cool surface of the wall against her shoulders and ass. His eyes pinned her there, just like his body had done in her dream. The small space they were occupying suddenly felt even smaller and she came to the conclusion that the drive to KJ’s class hadn’t been a fluke. Arousal induced claustrophobia was a real thing. This was the second time she’d suffered from it.

He leaned forward and splayed his hands on the top of the dryer as he spoke in a controlled, measured tone. “I was kidding about the YouTube video. Of course I know what I’m doing. I’d never touch anything I don’t know I can fix.”

Nothing he was saying was even remotely sexual, but her brain translated it as being just that. Maybe it was the confidence with which he spoke, or maybe it was the deep, rough quality in his voice, or maybe it was just the way he said the word touch, that lit up her body like a pinball machine in the hands of an arcade champion.

Swallowing proved difficult as her throat became constricted with pent-up lust. She broke eye contact then, knowing it was the only way to save herself from ending up on the floor in a puddle of desire. That’s when she saw her phone sitting on the washing machine. Seeing the device snapped her out of her swooning state.

It might’ve been early in the morning before she made it to bed, but she vividly remembered checking her email before her head hit the pillow. Next week was spring break, which was the start of Whisper Lake Rentals’ spring/summer season. She had eight days before the rental shop and equipment had to be ready. Her handyman, Amos, was scheduled to come into the shop today to work on the plumbing and general repairs. She’d shot off a quick checklist for him in way of confirmation yesterday and she’d checked to see if he’d responded to it. He hadn’t.

Amos did great work, but since he’d become semi-retired, getting him to show up for jobs had become something of a crap shoot. She remembered being irritated that up until three-thirty this morning she hadn’t received a message confirming their appointment. So, if she was sure that her phone had been in her room then, the question was how had it ended up here?

Ali took a step and picked it up as she voiced her inner musings out loud. “Where did…? How did this get here?” she asked.

“I took it,” Kade answered.

Her eyes flew to his, expecting him to be kidding. But his expression told her he wasn’t. What in the hell is he up to?

“You took my phone?” Ali asked with confused indignation. She shook her head dramatically and the motion caused a thick strand of hair to fall over her right eye.

It was everything he could do not to reach out and brush the stray lock of spun gold, tuck it behind her ear, and kiss the confusion off of her creased face. There wasn’t a shortage of moments that Ali looked perfect but topping the list for Kade had to be first thing in the morning Ali. Her face was just a tiny bit rounder than it normally was and that extra bit of puffiness did things to Kade. It made him want things he shouldn’t want. Things like waking up to that puffy face every day for the rest of his life.

“Technically, Ricky took it, but I asked him to. I didn’t think you’d appreciate waking up to find me next to your bed.”

A pink tint that rose on Ali’s China-doll cheeks did not escape Kade’s notice.

“Why did you have Ricky take my phone?” she asked, her voice sounding raspier than it had moments before.

“So you could sleep in. You needed the rest.”

All traces of soft puffiness were wiped clean and replaced with steel fury. “I needed rest?! You think you can show up after being gone for over a year and decide what I need?”

Fuck.

Mayday, mayday, this mission was going down in flames before he’d even made it to the drop zone.

“You have no idea what I need,” she continued.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he apologized and retracted his statement. “I don’t know what you need, but I asked the twins about your schedule and they told me that Fridays were your catch-up day.”

Fridays were her catch-up day. During the off-season she typically stayed home on Fridays and caught up on household duties and finances.

“The boys and I thought it would be nice if you got a day off and we pitched in to help you with anything you needed to get done.”

“Speaking of the boys, what time did KJ leave for school?” she sidetracked. “If he gets another tardy he’ll get expelled.”

“I dropped the boys off at seven-thirty. I borrowed the truck so Ricky wouldn’t have to walk with his project, I hope you don’t mind.” He always used the Whisper Lake Rental truck whenever he was here. In this sleepy town, the loud roar of the motorcycle was not appreciated.

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