Page 65 of Tangled

“Seriously, Kane?” Tony speaks first, both of them clearly caught off-guard.

“Yeah.”

“Dude, you’ve never taken a woman home. Are you sure?”

As Drew questions me, the only word that comes to mind isyes. It’s true. Ever since I purchased the place, it’s only been for me. Drew and Tammy have been by, and my parents when they were down to visit. But never once—in the last three years—have I brought a woman back to my house. I’ve never wanted to—until Olivia.

I nod. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Fuck, he is in love,” Tony declares, completely serious. I gaze up at him from my seat and don’t have the desire to fight back this time.

Maybe he and Drew are right. Maybe I am on the way to falling in love with Olivia…

Chapter 29

Olivia

Finally feeling human again after a visit to urgent care over the weekend, I saunter back into work on Monday to a heap of papers to be graded and a mile-long to-do list. I’m so entrenched in work and lesson planning for two days, I barely come out of my classroom and pass out on my couch as soon as I get home, still recovering slightly from my cold.

Despite a few texts here and there, I don’t see Kane until Wednesday. Each night though, we talked on the phone or texted and he asked me more questions—the light ones that reveal more facts than anything. I love that he saves the deep ones for when we’re together so I can embed myself in his warmth I’ve come to crave and see every emotion grace his chiseled face as we share more pieces of ourselves.

I insisted he stay away until I felt normal, but the man was relentless about seeing me, bribing me with cupcakes and coffee. I held him off, but by the middle of the week, I caved.

“Hey, beautiful,” Kane greets me as he closes my classroom door behind him. He’s dressed in a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the top two buttons open. Navy blue slacks hug his muscular legs and highlight that narrow waist I can’t wait to explore again—knowing exactly what that sexy V leads to—and brown leather dress shoes skid across the floor as he makes his way over to me. His hair is casually styled and his beard looks better than ever. Damn, this man does things to my libido.

“Hi, handsome,” I reply just as he finally reaches me, grabbing me by the hips and pulling me into him.

“Are you no longer contagious?”

“Nope. I even sound like myself again,” I state while pointing to my throat.

“Thank God. I was beginning to think I was dating Kermit the Frog’s long-lost cousin there for a while.”

I suck in a sharp breath, playfully hitting him in the arm for his joke. “You take that back! I did not sound that bad. If anything, I sound more like a man when I’m sick, like my younger brother, or something.”

“Speaking of which, when do I get to meet your family?”

His question throws me off-track because I didn’t think we were at that point yet. Throughout our conversations this week, we talked more about our families. I learned he’s an only child and his parents still live in northern Oregon. And I explained my family dynamic to him, including my four best friends that my parents pretty much adopted.

But the holidays are fast approaching. Thanksgiving will be here in a few weeks, and then Christmas and New Year’s. I would love to introduce Kane to my family. I just didn’t know that was something he was considering.

“You want to meet them already?”

“I mean, if you don’t want me to, that’s fine. I just thought, might as well. I’m curious about the people that made you who you are,” he says while one hand comes up to caress my face, his calloused palm cupping my jaw as his thumb lightly touches my skin.

His inquisitiveness keeps taking me by surprise, coming from a man who was apprehensive about dating. He was the one I felt I would need to tread lightly around, ease gently into all of the steps of getting to know someone. Yet, suddenly, I feel like his increase in pace is all on his own accord. The look on his face solidifies his stance.

He’s not wavering. He’s not retracting. He’s standing strong in his interest in me.

“I would love for you to meet them. We have dinner together every Sunday. Maybe one of these nights you can join us.”

He kisses me on the nose and then retreats, leaving me desperate for more than just a peck. “Sounds perfect. So, what are your plans for this weekend?”

“Well, I do believe I owe you a date,” I smirk.

“Agreed. How would you feel about me cooking you dinner at my place?”

“Your place? Are you sure?” I know how Kane feels about his home, his place of solitude that he is ornately proud of. Every conversation where he’s told me about his house, he makes a point that it’s his getaway—his one place to escape to when he needs space from the world.

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