“You recover quickly,” she teased.
“Because you’re making me squeeze a lifetime into three days. But the party’s over now. I’ve exhausted my supply of condoms.” He dropped onto the bed beside her. “A guy who hasn’t had sex for three years doesn’t usually get this lucky all of a sudden. I wasn’t prepared.”
She laughed as she leaned over to kiss his shoulder. “There’s a store in town, isn’t there?”
“There is. If only I was willing to leave you long enough to drive over.”
She ran her fingers along his jaw as she gazed down at him. “We can’t stay inside the whole time I’m here. We have to leave at some point. You have that rehearsal dinner tonight.”
“True.” He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the gentle movements of her fingers. Then he opened them again. “Are you coming with me?”
“Am I invited?”
“Of course. Riley and Phoenix were planning to ask you to sing at the reception while they danced. Brandon texted me about it last night.”
“Did you tell them I’d be gone?” She seemed disappointed that she couldn’t do it.
He nodded. Only when the subject of her leaving came up was there any strain between them. But he knew, now that Derrick had devised a surefire way to put her back on top, she wouldn’t be happy in Whiskey Creek even if he managed to convince her to stay. And, to him, that would be worse than letting her go.
Lowering her hand, she glanced away as if she felt guilty for being the one who would eventually tear them apart. “Sure, I’ll come to the rehearsal.”
Kyle did what he could to banish their inevitable parting from his mind. “Good. Then I won’t have to handcuff you to the bed while I’m gone.”
She laughed. “That was my alternative?”
“Sounds reasonable to me. If you weren’t going with me, the only way I’d be able to tolerate being away from you would be to know you were home waiting for me, naked in my bed.”
“I’m pretty sure that would just encourage you to leave early.”
He kissed her neck, breathing in the scent of the soap they’d used in the shower as he did so. “Or maybe I wouldn’t make it over there at all.”
“I can’t say I’d blame you. After three years of celibacy, you’re making up for lost time.”
“What’s happening here has nothing to do with that,” he said.
“And how do you know?”
He smoothed her hair off her face. She was being playful, but what he had to say was completely serious. “Because I’m in love with you, Lourdes.”
She sobered instantly. “We just met, Kyle.”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“What about Olivia?”
“I think I got over her the second you stepped out of your rental car at the farmhouse. Until then...I just hadn’t met the right woman.”
“You don’t love her anymore?”
“I love her the way I should—as a sister-in-law.” How he could so easily give Lourdes what Noelle had always wanted, he couldn’t fathom. But there it was.
Her expression was troubled as she stared up at him. “Kyle, I...I had no idea this would go so fast.”
He tucked the covers around them. “Neither one of us saw it coming.”
“Will you hate me when I’m gone?”
“For breaking my heart?” He frowned. “Maybe for a while,” he teased.
26
Lourdes loved Kyle’s friends. They welcomed her warmly and seemed so natural and comfortable around her—even joked with her as much as they joked among themselves.
Of course, they were probably ecstatic that Kyle was finally showing interest in someone besides Olivia. Lourdes could see them nudging each other when he wasn’t looking. No one was saying anything about him—or her—out loud, but she could tell they were all excited that he seemed to be moving on.
They loved him...
Which meant she was about to break every heart in the room.