Page 52 of Twice as Tempting

Emma smiled and handed Ava off to Zack. “So, how’s everything going with you two?” she asked, feigning innocence. Everyone knew that Emma and Kelly told each other just about everything, except…

“Damian’s coming with me to Florida for Thanksgiving,” Kelly blurted. There was a brief moment of silence, and Damian shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“Wow, bro. That’s a big step for you,” Zack said, grinning broadly.

Damian shrugged. “She asked, and I said yes.”

Kelly instantly regretted her outburst, but luckily, Emma jumped in to save her. “I have some news too,” she said.

“You changed your mind about marrying my doofus brother?” Damian goaded.

“Absolutely not. I’m going back to work, starting next week.”

“Really?” Kelly said. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Emma nodded. “Alex and my mom are going to take turns watching Ava, but I’m only going to work a few days a week. I don’t think I could stand to be away from her for much longer than that.”

Zack gave his soon-to-be wife’s hand a squeeze and gazed at her adoringly. Kelly loved the way that the two of them interacted. It was obvious how much they loved each other, but they also truly liked each other, which she found to be a rare combination. Kelly snuck a glance at Damian, and their eyes met briefly before he looked away.

“So,” Emma continued. “I thought that this would be good news for you, Kell, since you won’t have to work as many hours. Plus, that will free you up to help Damian with the marketing for his shop.”

When Kelly had quit her job with a marketing company and had gone to work for Emma at the bookstore, she had taken a significant pay cut. To supplement her income, Kelly had taken side jobs as a marketing consultant, with Emma’s full support. So far, it had worked out wonderfully, and Kelly was grateful to her friend for always looking out for her.

“That sounds great,” Kelly said, but when she turned toward Damian, he was already halfway across the lawn. “I wonder what’s up with him? I thought he’d be happy,” Kelly said.

“Do you want my opinion?” Zack asked, and when Kelly nodded, he leaned forward conspiratorially. “My brother’s in love, and it scares the shit out of him.”

Kelly stared at him with disbelief. “No. I don’t think so.”

“I think Zack’s right, Kell, and I’m not just saying that because he’s almost my husband.”

Kelly looked away from her smiling friends to where Damian stood next to his dad at the grill. “Well, if he’s in love, he sure has a sh…crappy way of showing it!”

Zack chuckled. “Give him time, Kell. He’ll come around.”

Kelly was about to ask Zack about Damian’s broken engagement when Alex swooped out of the house and announced, “Lunch is served!”

They all gathered around the picnic table, and Gracie proclaimed, “I get to say grace.”

The adults exchanged nervous glances, and then Zack said, “Ok, Gracie. Go ahead.”

“Dear God. Thank you that I didn’t have to go to school today. And thank you that Uncle Damian lives in Michigan now. Also, I want a baby cousin. Amen.”

There was an awkward pause while everyone’s eyes zeroed in on Damian and Kelly. They had all been holding hands, but Damian dropped Kelly’s hand like it had burned him. Damian opened his mouth to speak, but Zack beat him to it.

“Gracie, you just got a baby sister. I think you should be happy with that for right now.”

“Yeah, but Robby has four cousins, and he gets to play with them all of the time.”

“I’m sure you’ll have cousins someday too, Gracie,” Alex stated. “Now, let’s eat, everyone, before it gets cold.”

After that, they busied themselves with passing the plates of food, and the conversation turned to something else. Kelly purposely ignored Damian and tuned into Alex’s and Emma’s discussion about the wedding. The men started talking football, and the awkward moment was all but forgotten, except that Kelly couldn’t forget the way that Damian’s body had tensed up at the mention of a baby cousin or how earlier he had stalked off like he was disturbed about her helping him with his marketing plan.

Kelly tried to focus on Emma’s description of the wedding cake that they had ordered, but her thoughts kept returning to the stoic man sitting beside her. Why was it that when they were alone, he was caring and easy with his affection, but when they were around his family, he became closed off and distant? Maybe it wasn’t just his family. Maybe he would act the same way around her family too. She knew that he valued his privacy, but that was no excuse for acting the way he did. She hadn’t pushed him to do anything. In fact, she was the one who had advocated for them to take it slow. The more she thought about it, the madder she became, but she had no outlet for her anger. They were at a family picnic, and they were supposed to be having fun, damn it!

When they had finished eating, Emma offered to help Alex clean up, and Kelly jumped up too. She wasn’t going to spend another tense moment sitting next to him when she could be enjoying time with the ladies. As the women gathered up the dirty dishes, Kelly felt Damian’s eyes boring into her, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a glance. Instead, she followed Alex and Emma into the house and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of sight.

After their kitchen duties were done, Alex, Emma, and Kelly sat around the kitchen table, sipping iced tea.