But, more confusing than his attraction, was Kendra’s enthusiastic response, then the dizzying one-eighty she’d pulled when they hit the bed. Further consideration determined she’d purposely let it go that far to effectively prove her point. Hell, if she hadn’t called the screeching halt, heaven help him, brunette or blonde, he’d be in bed with her right now.
His pulse increased with the thought of her soft skin, even as something teased the edge of his memory. Unable to pin it down, a disgusted sigh escaped. He had to figure out some way to bank the desire that flared whenever she was near, or it would be a living hell around here.
He waited long enough to make sure his emotions were firmly under control before returning to the house. Silence reigned as he moved quietly down the hall to his room to change for bed. A quick peek confirmed the boys were sleeping, so Colton went to brush his teeth.
Squeezing mint toothpaste onto his brush, he allowed he owed Kendra an apology for letting his anger get the better of him. In the morning, he thought, sticking the toothbrush into his mouth—after she was dressed in something other than her pajamas, and he’d had a chance to regain his equilibrium.
By the third swipe of bristles over his teeth, the toothpaste made its way across his tongue, and Colton realized something was very wrong.
He yanked the brush from his mouth as his tongue began to burn. Spitting into the sink didn’t help. He spit again, hard, and turned on the faucet to frantically scoop water into his mouth. An accidental gulp down the wrong pipe started a coughing fit. Tears stung his eyes.
Finally, both hands braced on the counter, he stared at his reflection and took a deep breath to relax. Inspection of the tube of toothpaste came next. It looked normal…even smelled normal. He touched a finger to the tip and cautiously brought it to his tongue. It tasted normal.
“Well, what the hell?” His gaze lit on his toothbrush. Holding it to his nose, he pulled his head back. Tabasco sauce—flaming Haberano from the smell and taste of it. Then it hit him. In his mind’s eye, he pictured Cody and Noah, and shook his head with a hint of a smile. Those two rascals were messing with the wrong guy.
He headed to bed, planning retaliation to avoid the other, more sobering incident of his evening. That situation he’d figure out after he’d gotten some sleep.
****
Kendra stretched with a yawn, then did a double take when she saw it was after seven. She hadn’t slept this late in weeks, maybe even months. Even more surprising was that she’d slept at all given the events of last night. If there was any time she would’ve expected the nightmare—the horror of Jeremy forcing himself on her—it would’ve been last night.
When Colton had slammed from the room, she’d cried with relief. But those feelings had faded with his departure, and she was left with a throbbing ache as unfamiliar as the sensations he’d stirred before she panicked.
Even now, as she went to the bathroom to splash water on her face, she felt a small twinge of awareness, remembered the feel of his mouth moving on hers, his tongue gliding over her lips, the quivers when he’d kissed the pulse at the base of her neck.
Oh, God, she needed coffee to clear her head. Now. With a quick step, she made her way to the kitchen, only to pull up short in the doorway. Her pulse took off at the sight of Colton standing in front of the stove, mixing a batch of pancake batter. He wore a pair of crisp tan slacks and a white T-shirt that stretched across the expanse of his broad shoulders.
He turned to give her a brief accessing glance before facing the stove again. “Good morning. I was just about to start the pancakes before waking the boys. Maybe you could get them up?”
Kendra didn’t move as he poured pancake batter onto the griddle. Just like that? As if nothing happened last night? She supposed she should be grateful he was willing to forget it considering the whole fiasco had been her fault, but instead she felt…disappointed.
Oh, why should she care? So what if he was completely unaffected by what’d happened between them—that was actually a good thing, right?
She went to wake the boys, then returned to the kitchen and sat at the table with a mug of hazelnut brew. She’d debated changing out of her pajamas, but decided coffee was more important. Besides, after the look she’d seen on his face when he’d pushed off the bed last night, it wasn’t likely he’d be attracted to her again. A stab of regret hit somewhere in the region of her chest just as the boys shuffled in.
“Morning boys,” Colton said.
They mumbled a tired response. Colton flipped a pancake onto each plate at the table, including hers. There was general conversation of pass the butter, pass the syrup, then Noah cut his first bite and lifted it to his mouth.
“You guys remember to brush your teeth last night?” Colton asked from the stove.
Noah’s fork froze, and his gaze darted to Cody.
With a slight smile, Cody responded, “Yeah.”
“Good.”
Though Noah had a strange look on his face, Kendra thought Colton’s concern was nice. Odd, but nice. Another side of him she didn’t understand. She took a bite of food and almost groaned her appreciation. It was the best pancake she’d ever tasted.
Noah leaned over and whispered to Cody, “Taste ‘em.”
“You first.”
Noah shook his head, then startled in his chair when Colton put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Eat up boys, I made these special just for you.”
Kendra wondered what was going on as Noah took a tiny bite, then a bigger one. “They’re good,” he confirmed with obvious relief.
Colton chuckled. “Don’t be so surprised.”