Killian Read online

  Opal smiles. "She was great all night, but not as keen on staying over once it came time to go to bed. She needed her mom." Opal pauses. "You're looking quite handsome this evening, Killian."

  Suddenly I feel about as awkward and self-conscious as a teenager. "Thanks."

  "I'll let you get on home now," Opal says. I stand there as she piles Chloe's bag, pillow, and fuzzy blanket onto my outstretched arms, followed by three Barbie dolls and a stuffed dog.

  "Wait, I need Bones!" Chloe squeals, still in her mother's arms.

  "What bones?" I ask.

  "My dog! Bones!"

  "Ah, of course." I hand her the stuffed animal as Opal hands me a plastic seat. "And this is. . ."

  "For the truck," Lily says. "It's Chloe's booster seat. I left it with Opal in case of an emergency." She apparently notes the blank look on my face and laughs. "Don't worry. It's not hard to put the seat in."

  Chloe chatters nonstop on the way to Lily's place, apparently too hopped up on excitement and adrenaline to take more than a two-second pause between sentences. She peppers me with questions during the ride.

  "Are you bringing me to my house?"

  "Yep, he's driving us home, Chloe," Lily interrupts.

  "Are you going to help read stories?"

  "Uh… sure, if your mom says it's okay."

  "Sweet. Can I do your makeup?"

  "No." Lily and I blurt it out at the same time, and Lily starts laughing.

  "Where did you have dinner?"

  "At Killian's cabin," Lily answers.

  "You mean, like camping?" Chloe asks.

  "Sort of," I tell her. "My house is up on the mountain, so there's a lot of trees around. It's kind of like being out camping."

  "My mom says that sometime she'll take me camping. But she hasn't taken me camping. Are there animals at your house?"

  "Sure. There are a couple of deer that come up to the salt lick outside of the cabin, and I get elk out there sometimes."

  "There are deer at your house?" Chloe squeals. "I love deer. Mom says we have to drive slow at night because they jump out in the road."

  "That's true."

  "Do you have fish? Mom said that when we go camping sometime, she'd take me fishing, even though she doesn't like fishing because she doesn't like worms. But I pick up worms all the time on the sidewalk after it rains. Earthworms are helpful because they dig through the dirt."

  "Well, there's a creek near my cabin. There's a little fishing pond down at the park right in town, too, you know. If your mom says it's okay, I'll show you how to put your bait on your fishing pole and your mom won't have to touch any gross worms."

  Chloe squeals. "Can Killian show me fishing?"

  "Yes, he can show you fishing. Sometime."

  "Can I see the deer at your house? Is there a baby deer? I've never seen a baby deer, only in books. Baby deer are so adorable. That means cute."

  "Maybe sometime your mom can bring you up to the cabin and I'll show you the deer."

  "And go hiking?"

  Lily laughs. "Okay, Chloe, give Killian a chance to answer one question before you go on to the next one."

  "I don't mind." A couple of months ago, I'd say there was no way I'd be okay with getting peppered with questions by anyone, much less a seven-year-old, but there's something about the kid's excitement that's infectious. I never thought I'd say this, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than sitting up in my cabin all alone.

  Chloe ignores Lily. "Are you my mom's boyfriend?"

  "Chloe!" Lily exclaims.

  "Yes," I answer without thinking, and as soon as I do, I glance at Lily, whose eyes are big. Shit. I start rambling. "That's actually… I shouldn't have said that. You should ask your mom, because it's really her choice. I mean, I'm a boy and a friend and I'd like to be her… yeah. I'm just going to stop talking now."

  "Mom, is he?" Chloe chirps.

  I can feel Lily's eyes on me, and I think my heart is racing more than it ever has as I pull into her driveway and put the truck in park. "Okay. Yes, Chloe," Lily says, looking at me.

  "Does that mean you guys kiss? Sara's sister is a teeney-ager and she has a boyfriend and Sara says they kiss." Chloe drags out the word kiss and makes kissing sounds with her mouth.

  I laugh, but Lily's face turns bright red. "You're in first grade. Why are you guys talking about kissing?"

  I stifle a laugh as I get out of the truck, glad I can carry all of Chloe's stuff to the house and avoid any more loaded questions.

  It takes an hour for Chloe to calm down. She insists on reading another princess story, but this one is a warrior princess who slays monsters and dragons. My dramatic reenactment of a slain monster gets a bout of hysterical giggling from Chloe, which makes me feel like a million bucks.

  Lily puts Chloe to bed, and I hang out in the living room until she comes downstairs. "She's not asleep yet," Lily whispers. She walks over to the sofa and stands in front of me, her hands on her hips. "Boyfriend?"

  "I didn't mean to –" I start in my normal tone of voice, then drop immediately to a whisper. "I didn't mean to just say that in front of Chloe."

  She shrugs. "I guess the cat's out of the bag."

  I raise my eyebrows. "And you're okay with it?"

  Lily exhales audibly and answers with resignation in her tone. "I guess. I mean, I suppose I'll just have to be okay with people in this town knowing that my boyfriend is the hot, bearded, tattooed caveman who lives up on the mountain."

  "We all have our crosses to bear." I reach for her and pull her down onto my lap, her knees on either side of me. When she touches her lips softly to mine, my cock stirs immediately. Soon we're making out on the sofa like a couple of teenagers.

  Until there's a creak on the stairs.

  "Mom?" Chloe calls from the top of the stairway.

  Lily leaps off my lap like she's on fire, but trips, falling to her hands and knees on the floor just as Chloe bounds down the stairs. I reach for the nearest pillow on the sofa, hiding my rapidly-deflating boner and trying to look casual.

  "You're right, Killian," Lily says, looking at the floor. "This carpet really is more of a blue-grey than a blue. That is so interesting."

  "Why are you looking at the floor, mom?"

  I stifle a snort as Lily stands up. "You're supposed to be in bed, kiddo," she says sternly.

  "I know, but I had a bad dream."

  "You weren't asleep, so how could you have a bad dream?"

  Chloe shrugs. "I'm not tired."

  "Kid, you can hardly keep your eyes open. Come on. Up to bed."

  "But I want Killian to play a monster again." Chloe looks behind her mother at me and I shake my head.

  "Sorry. Even the monster went to bed," I tell her.

  Chloe groans. "O-kaaaay."

  "Let's go. Back in bed." Lily ushers her back upstairs, and it's a few minutes before she returns, flopping down onto the sofa beside me. "Are you sure you want to do this whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing? You understand that it means you're stuck with interruptions and non-stop questions and fleeting moments of privacy and hardly any spontaneity, right?"

  I pretend to ponder what she said. "Damn. You're right. Do you have the number for one of those college chicks that was trying to pick me up at the bakery?"

  Lily hits me hard in the arm. "Funny."

  A few months ago, all of those things would have been reasons to run for the hills. Now, they seem like reasons to stay, all of those things that make being around her interesting and unpredictable.

  "The boyfriend idea is growing on me," I admit. It's a far more nonchalant statement than I meant. Being with Lily is definitely growing on me. "Besides, I'm too old to just be dating. Or hooking up. Or whatever."

  She's silent for a long time before she stands up, taking me by the hand. "Do you want to stay?"

  36

  Lily

  "Come here," Killian whispers. His voice is quiet, even though when we tiptoed past Chloe's room earlier she was finally out, spra