Page 74 of A Perfect Match
"I'm waiting for the right moment," I explain."Preferably when they're all in really good moods.Maybe after Mom wakes up and is back to normal."
Kru's expression softens at the mention of Mom."How is she doing?"
"Still stable.No change yet."I swallow around the lump that forms in my throat whenever I think about Mom in that hospital bed."But the doctors say they expect her to wake up within a few days, so that's something.And hey, I’ve got this big huge dirty barn to take my mind off things."
“I’m available to take your mind off things too, you know.”He winks up at me.
My cheeks heat up, which causes a big grin to blossom on his lips.He drops his cleaning supplies and starts up the stairs at the same time I thump down them toward him.We meet in the middle and he presses a kiss to my lips.
“I love it when you blush.”
The comment just makes me blush harder.I fist the front of his shirt, bringing him in for another kiss.“I love it when you make me blush.”
He searches my face for a moment, looking like he wants to add something else.Instead, he covers my mouth with his, pressing me against the wall.I smile through our kisses, the abandoned, woody scent of the barn mingling with the manly, cedar scent of Kru.A lightning bolt of happiness strikes me, splitting me down the center.This man.This project.This future.
Even while there are so many things that aren’t quite right, somehow Kru overrides it all.
When we break from the kiss, we’re breathless.My chest heaves as I search his face, wondering if he felt the intensity I did.
“Those were some of the best kisses I’ve ever had,” I admit weakly.
He nuzzles my neck.“Absolute same.You need to spend the night at my house tonight.”
He drags his drugged gaze up to find mine.Something heavy shudders between us.I can feel the steel of his cock pressed against my belly and I move against him slightly.He looks like he wants to say more, but before he can, the barn door slides open again.
"Piper?Are you in here?"
Bella's voice echoes through the barn.For a moment, I can’t understand what I’m hearing.Bella?In the barn?Kru and I exchange a panicked look and he steps down, away from me.Across the barn, both Bella and Jackson are inside the threshold.Bella’s watching me with eyes the size of saucers.
“Bella!”I call out cheerily.“What are you doing here?”
Kru waves.“Hey, guys.”
Bella’s surprise morphs into understanding.“Well, if it isn’t Piper and Hot Cleveland Hookup Landlord.”She crosses her arms over her chest, looking immensely pleased with herself.“This certainly looks like ‘nothing going on’ here.”
I groan and stomp down the stairs, Kru following me.“Bella!I really don’t need your shit right now.”
“Is that what you call me?”Kru asks with a half-smile, looking a little smug.
“It was once.Well, a few times.”To Bella and Jackson, I say, “What brings you guys to Barny?”
“Barny?”Jackson asks, Kru echoing him.
“It’s the barn’s name,” I say.
“You named it,” Bella says slowly.
“Yes.Because it’s deserving of a name.”I gesture around us, as though this explains everything.“Listen, I told Jerrica to turn everyone away unless it was an emergency, so I need to know how you made it out here.Did something happen?”
Bella dips her chin.“Nothing happened.I was just curious.The way she answered my questions made me think you were somewhere around here.And then she said she could only summon you in the event of an emergency.So I told her it was an emergency because I wanted to snoop.Jackson and I are going back to LA soon, I can’t have mysteries like this hanging in the air before I leave.”
I groan.“I should have given Jerrica clearer instructions when it came to the Keegan family.”
Jackson’s head is tipped back, looking into the rafters and all around.“Can I ask what you’re doing in Barny?Or is that an inappropriate question?”
“We’re in Barny because…I’m working on Barny,” I say.
Bella’s eyes round once more.“Oh my god.Is this for the business expansion you were talking about the other night?”
