Page 57 of Mine For The Winter

“And how was she then?”

Your daughter was beautiful. And she kinda kissed me. And I wanted to kiss her back until she couldn’t remember her own name.

“Angry,” Kris said wryly. “And pretty sad.” He swallowed, remembering her tears.

Paul winced. “I prefer angry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Paul shook his head. “She’s a good woman. The best.”

“I know.” Kris’ voice was thick. “I don’t know anybody better.”

“She wants to get a loan for my surgery. That’s why she was looking for those damn deeds. She’d arranged for a meeting at the bank.”

Kris looked at Paul. “For your knee?”

“Yeah. She’s insisting I get a replacement but it’s not going to happen. But try telling Kelly that.”

“She’s stubborn.” Kris bit down a smile.

“As a damn mule. She tells me she’s going to get the money from somewhere.”

OnlyFans. Kris blinked at the thought. Would she really do that?

For her dad? Yeah, she would. And he had to admit he admired her tenacity. She never gave up, she never stopped trying. Even when everything was loaded against her, she went down fighting.

The front door rattled. Then a second later a voice filled the hallway.

“Cole? Dad?”

Paul’s eyes shot to Kris’. “She’s not supposed to be home.”

Kris shrugged. “It’s okay. We’re not doing anything wrong. Just talking about the money.”

“Cole’s doing his homework,” Paul called out as footsteps padded down the hallway. “And I’m in here with Kris.”

“Kris?”

It was weird how much he liked hearing his name on her lips.

“Yeah,” he answered, his voice low. The door opened and she was there, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

And he stared back. For a moment there was nothing but electricity between them. She swallowed hard and he liked it.

“He came to talk about the Tavern.”

Kelly’s gaze hadn’t moved from him.

“To tell Paul it was fine. Our agreement still stands.”

“Until I pay you back.” Her voice was low.

He wasn’t going to fight her over that. Not now. He liked the peace between them too much. It had been a hard win and it felt good.

Too good.

“It’s quiet at the Tavern so I thought I’d come home and have dinner with you,” Kelly said, looking from her dad to Kris.

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