Free Lucky Break by Kelley Vitollo Page B

how familiar.
    Her arms immediately came up and wrapped around his neck. Her breathing pattern didn’t change, so he knew she still slept. It was stupid, but he couldn’t help but wonder if somewhere in her sleep, she knew it was him. If she wrapped her arms around him and sighed in contentment because she knew it was Kade and that he would take care of her.
    The front door was unlocked, so he went in and headed straight for her old room. When he stepped into it, it was like no time had passed. He had so many memories in this room—even some of holding her the way he was now.
    She sighed; her breath skirted across his neck. The urge to kiss her hit him again. Though it certainly didn’t take much for him to feel the pull. The scent of her skin or the plumpness of her lips. The way her eyes followed him sometimes. He needed to find a way to break that connection. Space , he reminded himself. They could be close without him falling back to the way things used to be.
    Before he did something stupid, Kade laid her down on the bed, grabbed a blanket from the chair, and pulled it over her. Then he watched her for a few minutes. She rolled over, made a sleepy little noise. Smiling, he shook his head—at himself or her, he didn’t know—and walked out of the room, wondering how it would feel to do those things he craved. If it might make Sidney want to stay.
    Or if he even wanted her to.
    …
    The next few days passed in a whirlwind. Sidney spent at least a couple of hours every day at Lucky’s helping Rowan, Kade, and a few others work on the place. Jace and Betsy hadn’t been back because of their day jobs, but the rest of them stayed busy.
    Things were still a little awkward between her and Kade. Not angry awkward, but the kind where she couldn’t stop admiring his muscles. The way his back flexed when he lifted something. The set to his jaw when he concentrated. Oh, and the way she remembered their near kiss over and over. She wondered what it meant, not only to her, but to him as well.
    Sidney glanced over at Kade while he worked, admiring the view. She was obviously attracted to him. A girl would have to be dead not to be, but how could he go at Mach speed from despising her to almost kissing her?
    He’d taken the time to carry her into the house. Yes, that probably came from his need to protect people, but she still felt it deep inside her. It made her feel special to know he would do something like that for her.
    Lucky’s was getting closer to the soft opening and she found that this upset her. She liked helping. Liked working and laughing with Rowan and enjoyed catching those moments where Kade let loose, too. It just felt good to be here with her old friends. To know that she had a piece in this venture that was so important to him.
    When her cell phone rang, she set down her coffee cup and reached for it. Aunt Mae flashed on the screen.
    Sidney stepped out of the room so no one could hear her. “Lucy! You have a lot of ’splainin’ to do!” she said instead of hello. I Love Lucy was one of Mae’s favorite shows; they used to watch it together.
    “Hi, dear. It’s good to talk to you, too. Everything’s great. Thanks for asking!”
    “I’ve been trying to ask how you were for days! You haven’t been answering your phone. I swear I was about to send out the National Guard for you.” And if it hadn’t been for the changing of the voice-mail greeting, she would have. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, Aunt Mae.”
    “Pssh. You knew I was fine. What’s going to happen to me on the road, huh? You just wanted to call and yell at me, and you’re mad I didn’t make it easier on you.”
    Aunt Mae had never been one to bullshit. And yes, Sidney had a bone to pick with her aunt and just like Mae, she didn’t intend to let the moment pass her by. “You’re darn right I want to yell at you! How could Kade Mitchell be living here and I not know it? Why didn’t you tell me? How long is he supposed to