Page 61 of Never Kiss the Bad Boy

“Dani—”

I don’t give him a chance to explain. I’m too mad. No, anger isn’t what I’m feeling. I’m not exactly in touch with all my emotions on a therapy-level, but this is hurt and embarrassment. I can distinguish that much, at least.

“Fuck you, Kyle,” I snarl as I leave him behind me, high-kneeing it back toward the house.

In the kitchen, I slam some dishes into the sink, needing to let this anger out somehow, and through the window, I see Kyle going back to the guys, who look worried about everything that just played out.

Kyle says something to them too quiet for me to hear through the back screen door, but I sure as shit hear Kathy shouting at them from her patio.

“You boys need to get back to work.”

Dwight and his guys start moving instantly, but Kyle holds out a staying hand toward them and they freeze.

“Mrs. Wilson, the conversation with the police officer took up fifteen minutes of their allotted lunch time. As that was work-related, they are owed that time and will be continuing their break until they get their full thirty. Also, they don’t work for you, they work for me, so do not tell my workers—my men—to do or not do a single damn thing. The only person you employ here is me, and that is limited to the scope of our contract. Understood?”

I inhale sharply. Kyle just put a huge target on his back, taking it from his crew and Dwight’s.

I can see the parallel that, in a way, that’s what he did for me too. The difference is, as their boss, Kyle’s responsible for his workers. He’s not responsible for me. The only person responsible for me is… me.

“Well, I never!” Kathy huffs, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. That’s the problem. She’s never been told no and has delusions of grandeur and importance. But Kyle’s verbal kickback does result in Kathy closing the door, or well, slamming it again, but it’s an empty victory.

Kyle turns back to the other guys, and they slowly start eating again, talking among themselves. I see them glancing at my back door, and though nobody makes a move to come toward it, thankfully, they’re grinning and laughing like this whole thing was quite the spectacle. I’m pretty sure they’re even reenacting it with Zeus playing the part of me at Kyle’s side, who is played by Frogger. Apparently, I looked like a raging bull about to rampage.

Honestly, I felt like one too.

At one point, Kyle flips Zeus off and glances toward the window above the sink like he can feel me glaring at him from my hidden vantage point. As I look at him, trying to figure out what just happened, I remember a song about milkshakes bringing boys to the yard, but I think my version of it is that my food seems to bring all the assholes to my yard. Literally.

And one asshole in particular.

CHAPTER 20

KYLE

“How many diapers do you think we should get?” Janey asks from the front seat of the Lincoln Navigator Cole insisted on buying her. Apparently, it got some safety rating thing that made Cole want to package his most precious cargo in it, and nothing else would do. Janey wasn’t happy at first, but I’ve seen the way she’s been running her hand over the leather console, so she’s definitely not unhappy about her new ride, which is a considerable upgrade from her previous tiny, yellow Subaru. “I feel like we should buy everything they have, but that’s probably the nesting talking.”

Cole glances in the rearview mirror to Kayla, who’s sitting beside me in the second row. I have no idea why he thinks she would know since she doesn’t have kids. Cameron has Grace, but she’s well beyond the diaper stage, and the rest of us Harringtons don’t have babies yet, so we’re not exactly knowledgeable on baby supply stockpiling.

Still, Kayla answers with certainty in her voice, “One case of newborns, two of size one.”

I cut questioning eyes her way, and she holds up her phone, showing me the article she pulled the information from with a smile. Of course, Kayla’s done her research. She wouldn’t be caught dead not knowing the ins and outs of everything that might potentially be asked of her.

Once we get to Costco, we enter with the masses of other customers, pulling two buggies with us. I take one and Cole takes the other, and we get started with Janey’s list.

“Okay, milk, eggs, diapers, and laundry detergent are that way.” She points. “Produce and bakery, over here.” She puts a hand on her belly and takes a steady breath. Cole instantly steps in front of her, his eyes filled with worry and this close to freaking out, but Janey waves him off. “I’m fine. He’s just being super active right now. Let’s do this.”

“Why don’t we divide and conquer?” Kayla suggests. “I’ll take Cole to do the diapers and stuff, and you and Kyle can do produce.”

Before any of us can agree or disagree, Kayla is dragging Cole away, talking him off the ledge he’s on. His concern for his wife is understandable, especially as she gets so close to delivery, and though Janey and Cole have a super-close, some might say codependent, relationship, he’s in real danger of spinning out with how much he’s hovering over her. He’s probably going to have a full-on heart attack when she actually goes into labor, and the nurses will end up taking care of him, not Janey and the baby.

Janey smiles as they walk away. “That was subtle.”

I watch Kayla and Cole turn a corner. “Yeah, Kayla’s known for her delicate, gentle nature.”

Janey and I meet eyes and then burst out laughing because if there’s one thing my sister is not, it’s delicate or gentle. She would probably have to look up the definitions of those words the way she did the baby list.

“Come on. If we hurry, we can sneak some peanut butter M&Ms in the cart before Cole sees.”

That’s enough to get Janey moving, and we grab a family size bag of candy on our way to the produce. She tears open the bag and starts nibbling on them but also selects some apples, strawberries, and a few salad kits before we hit the bakery. “Bagels and croissants… ooh, look at this cake!”

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