“Sawyer!” Reagan squealed. Both Flick and Kai whirled around and she immediately knew, thanks to Sawyer’s sucking-a-lemon expression, he’d heard about their afternoon tryst. As Reagan ran to greet Sawyer, impressively well in those ridiculously high shoes, Flick decided that it would be a good time to retreat. Kai was on his way out of town and Flick didn’t have the foggiest idea why he’d come down to the bakery to say goodbye again. She thought that they’d covered all those bases last night.
They didn’t need to rehash it.
“I’ve got to go. Bye.Again,” Flick muttered to Kai. Without giving him a chance to respond, she spun away and yanked the door open to the bakery. Irritated, she walked up to the counter and her hands slapping the counter brought Tiffany, who was texting on her phone, to her feet. She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the front window where Kai, Sawyer, and Reagan were smiling at each other in the sunlight. God, he looked stunning when he relaxed, his smile open and warm. What she wouldn’t do to have him smile at her like—
He’s leaving, Sturgiss.On his way out. That was the deal.
“Replace the box of whatever she ordered,” Flick told Tiffany. “Take it out to her with our apologies.”
"Sure thing," Tiffany replied.
Flick scowled at her dog, who’d slunk into the bakery after her. He was looking up at her lovingly, a smudge of sugar on his nose. “You aren’t allowed in here, sunshine, and you know it.”
Rufus stared at the ceiling, deliberately ignoring her. “And because I can’t take you anywhere, because you embarrass the hell out of me, you’re getting nothing but kibble for a week, and you are definitely getting de-'naded.”
Rufus dropped to the floor, covered his eyes with his paws, and whimpered.
Instantly feeling guilty for taking her frustration toward Kai on her dog, Flick dropped to her haunches and rubbed his ears before dropping a kiss on his nose. “Right now, I’d like to de-nad your running buddy! Why did he come down here? What was the point? Just to torture me? Can we do that, Ru? Can we take him to the vet too? Maybe we can get a two-for-one special? Huh? What’cha think, bud?”
“Waaaaaaarrroooooooooooooooooooo!”
“You men! You all stick together,” Flick muttered, disgusted at his howl of anguish. With her dog, with Kai, with the entire day.
The bakery phone rang. Tiffany answered it and leaned over the counter, the receiver in her hand. “It’s your aunt."
“Of course it was.” Flick took the phone and snapped a quick hello.
“What are you doing about my house, Felicity?”
Being in a mood, Flick decided that a can of gas and a book of matches sounded like a fine idea.
Chapter Six
AbbyM:It’s Happy Hour at the Fox tonight, girls! Who is ready to PARRRRTY?
Sawyer’sFutureWife: Is Sawyer going to be there?
KevtheFighter: How many more times is Pippa going to have to beat Sawyer before he caves and admits that she’s a better pool player than he is?
What was a girl to do after surviving a long week? What was a girl to do on any Friday night in Mercy? Drink mojitos, of course, and Jack made the best ones around. She and Pippa arrived at the Smirking Fox just after eight and had promptly kicked Kevin and his firefighter colleague off the two bar stools at the corner of the massive, handcrafted L-shaped bar dominating the room. Everyone knew she and Pippa had first call on those seats. Kevin complained good-naturedly, but moved up a couple of seats and he bought their first round of drinks.
As well he should, since he’d dropped not one but two rescue kittens off at Flick’s house a few hours earlier. The tabby had bolted up a curtain and stayed there, hissing, and the other had climbed into the laundry basket, deciding to hide out under her dirty clothes. They’d come out when they were hungry or needed to pee. She hoped.
She also hoped that they weren’t tormenting Rufus or destroying the furniture while she was out painting the town a pale shade of pink.
The Smirking Fox was their local hangout, with cheap beer and a live band on weekends. It was a combination Irish pub, community meeting place, and pick-up joint. Everyone in Mercy, married or single and everything in between, loved the place. Since it was her brother Jack’s business and the only place they could dance, she and Pippa spent a lot of time at the Fox. They’d mastered the art of flirting with guys as their brothers, cousins, and friends kept a beady, overprotective eye on them.
As a result, leaving the SF with a guy for a night of unbridled passion took the skills of a Black Ops operative. Flick looked over at her gorgeous cousin and wondered about the comment Pippa’d made about her sex life yesterday. “So, when lastdidyou get lucky?”
Pippa, used to her conversational hand grenades, just rolled her eyes. “What the hell?”
It wasn’t rocket science. “Well?”
Pippa placed her drink on the bar and threw her hands up in the air. “Fee, we’re sharing a house. Don’t you think you would’ve noticed if I brought a guy home?”
Which meant precisely nothing; her sexual antics happened at Kai’s house. And just like that Flick remembered the assured slide of Kai’s tongue into her mouth, the heat and solidness of his chest against her nipples, his broad hand on her butt. Enough, she told herself. If she carried on thinking about his mattress skills then she’d spend the rest of the evening with damp panties. And she’d have an ache between her legs that would necessitate some self-love later, which would probably leave her even more frustrated since she’d recently experienced the wonderfulness of the real thing.
Determined to stop thinking about Kai’s scorching, bone-melting, inhibition-dissolving moves, Flick took a huge sip of her drink, swallowed, and pulled herself together.Think about something else, anything else.Gina’s obsession with filling her house with crap—she wasnotgoing to call it hoarding— would be an excellent distraction but completely off-limits. Actually, this was as good a time as any to talk to Pippa about the bakery, and her conversation with Moses. Hopefully, it would distract her from obsessing about Hot, Sexy, and Gone.