Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,16
a microphone, making up games as she watched over Hannah and Tyler. She'd been their babysitter a lot of times, not that she ever should have been. As soon as their parents would leave, Kelly would usually sneak a friend in, or take them on a walk to the corner store, which they were not supposed to do by themselves. And that was before Kelly got a driver's license.
Once Kelly had access to the car, she and Tyler had been Kelly's unwitting chaperones on cruising nights to boys' houses. But even when Kelly was breaking the rules, she was also fun. She made up games and helped them build forts out of pillows, blankets and chairs. She had an imagination that wouldn't quit.
Hannah felt an ache even in her dreamy state. She'd loved Kelly so much. When she'd gotten old enough to know better, she'd realized that sometimes Kelly made mistakes; sometimes her reckless attitude was too much. Sometimes the fights between her mom and Kelly had been so over the top, she couldn't believe what either of them were saying.
She'd tried to mediate between them. She'd loved both of them with all her heart, and Kelly had been her sister…until she wasn't.
It had been much more difficult to hold onto the love, especially as the years passed, as she had to raise Tyler and keep her mom sober. She'd thought how Kelly might come back a million times, but it had never been like this.
Brett moved in her arms. "Mommy?" he questioned.
She tightened her embrace. "Go to sleep. You're safe."
He was instantly reassured and why wouldn't he be? She'd just said the same thing to Brett that Kelly had said so many times to her when she'd gotten scared in the middle of the night, and she'd turned to her big sis for comfort.
Kelly had probably said the same thing to Brett.
He was safe. But was Kelly safe?
She had a terrible feeling that her sister was nowhere close to safe. But she hoped she was wrong.
Chapter Five
Jake couldn't sleep, and the hours of the night seemed impossibly long. The couch was short and narrow with a rock-hard lump in the middle. The wind was shaking the cabin with heavy branches and pinecones pummeling the roof. But it wasn't the couch or the weather that kept him too fired up to doze off. It was Hannah; it was her kiss, her taste, the scent of lavender that he'd always associated with her.
He'd traveled all over the world, and he'd thought he'd put Hannah and Whisper Lake far behind him. But whenever he caught a hint of lavender, it was like she was right next to him again. But it had always been an illusion, a bittersweet memory, until tonight…
Tonight, she'd kissed him back. It had been an impulsive, reckless, possibly foolish move to kiss her, but it had paid off. Taken by surprise, she'd responded exactly the way he'd wanted her to. Actually, she'd responded in a way that had been completely unexpected. She'd kissed him as if she wanted him, as if she were starving for him. It had reminded him of the past, but it had also shown him a different side to her.
She wasn't the somewhat shy and sweet teenage girl who had been tentative and wary and a little unsure. He'd kissed a woman tonight, and he'd liked it even more.
They'd always had an unbelievable chemistry. And now they were as explosive as ever.
So, what next?
He wanted more, but she'd backed off when she'd come to her senses. She'd slammed the door shut between them. But she hadn't locked it. She would still try. He knew her well enough to know she didn't give up on a grudge that easily.
But something had changed. And that's what he'd needed to have happen. Since he'd come back to Whisper Lake two years earlier, he'd been trying to talk to her, to find a way to tear down her walls, to get back into her life. And she'd finally let him in. Well, the flat tire and no spare had done that, as well as Kelly's unexpected gift in little Brett. But now that he had a foot in the door, he wasn't taking it out.
He and Hannah had unfinished business, and he was determined to finish it. He couldn't continue living in a world where Hannah was a possibility. He needed to find out one way or the other if they could be together again.