Page 17 of Tuck & Roll

“Yeah. That would be great,” he replied.

She cut two slices, put them on plates, grabbed a couple forks and headed back to the couch. Glancing at the T.V. she saw she missed the scary part.

Tuck accepted the plate she offered and chuckled. “I see what you did there.”

“What did I do?” She used her fork to cut off a bite and shoved it in her mouth.

“You hid in the kitchen until the scary part was over.” He took a bite of his dessert. “This is good.”

Not one to admit a weakness, she replied, “I was getting cheesecake. Are you saying you don’t want it?” She made to reach for his plate. He turned to the side, blocking her ability to take his dessert away from him.

It wasn’t until she leaned back on the couch that he finally relaxed and went back to eating his cheesecake.

After several moments of silence, she finally asked what had been on her mind since he arrived. “Why are you really here?”

He swallowed his food before he answered. “We went by the Red Oak Inn tonight and met up with Officer Miner. Found out what his problem was with the Sons. We need you to run a check on Police Chief David Whitener.”

“Oh, okay.” She should have known he wasn’t visiting just because he enjoyed her company. He was here to give her more work to do. She gathered the empty dishes and took them to the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher.

She returned to the couch, pulled her legs up, bending them to the side and hugged a throw pillow close to her chest. She expected he would get up to leave any moment now, having delivered his message and finishing his food.

“What are you doing?” He was bent over, taking his boots off. Did he plan on staying a little longer? She thought for sure he would bolt as soon as he’d eaten and delivered his message.

“Getting comfortable. Get up a minute.” He took her by the elbow and helped her up long enough for him to lay his long body out along the back of his couch. He then tugged her hand, telling her to lie down with him. He waited until she was situated on her side with him spooning her, then pulled the throw off the back of the couch and covered her with it. “Watch the movie with me.”

Kylie had no idea what was going on with the movie. All she could think about was the fact she was lying with Tuck on her couch. He was spooning her and he was playing with strands of her hair.

“If I told you I wanted to stop by and spend time with you, would you still have let me in?”

“What?” Her heart jolted in her chest. Was he serious?

“I used the excuse to pass on a message and to feed you as a way to get in the door so I could spend time with you.”

She had to be hearing things. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Because I’ve discovered I really miss spending time with you. We’ve kind of drifted away from each other and I miss the way we used to hang out.”

She was finding it difficult to draw a full breath with his confession. Tuck’s fingers stopped playing with her hair and she soon found herself lying on her back, with him lying half on top of her. The fingers he’d been using to play with her hair now softly, almost reverently traced along her hairline, down her cheek, cupping her face.

He took a deep breath. “What is that smell?”

“What?” she choked. Did she stink?

“I don’t know if it’s your shampoo or perfume, but I really like it.” He rubbed his nose along her neck, inhaling deeply.

“Um, thanks. It’s my shampoo. Gardenias.”

She didn’t realize he’d lulled her into a false sense of hope until he opened his mouth again. “You ever gonna tell me who the guy was that put his mark on your neck?”

Her whole body tensed at his question. “Why do you want to know?”

“So I can kick his ass for marking you up.”

Kylie couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. She shouldn’t find the thought of him still not remembering their night together so funny. She’d cry if it wasn’t so ridiculous.

Tuck’s hand slipped from her face to settled on her upper chest. He frowned, not finding anything funny with what he’d said. “What’s so funny? You don’t think I can kick his ass?”

“Oh, I’m sure you can kick just about anybody’s ass. I just think kicking this guy’s ass would be difficult considering who he is.”

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