All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,91
been on her feet all day, but they had water with them and stayed hydrated, and Hannah hadn’t once complained.
Then again, she never did.
She leaned against the side of his truck. “That was amazing. I really enjoyed being out here.”
“We’ll have to come out someday at sunset.”
“I’d love to. I’ll bet it’s incredible.”
“You know what I love?” he asked, moving in to slide his hands on her hips.
“No, what?”
He caught the fleeting look of panic in her eyes again, and even though he wasn’t intending to say those words to her just yet, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she wasn’t ready to hear them.
Dammit.
He pushed the disappointment aside, not wanting anything to ruin the day he’d planned. “I love the way you’re always so happy to dive into anything. Like this nature walk today.”
She smiled, and he saw the relief on her face that he hadn’t said the L-word to her.
“Oh, hey, this was fun. It was beautiful out there. Who wouldn’t enjoy it?”
Let it go, dude. She’s not ready.
They drove back to his place. Jackson was outside in the backyard, the puppy Edgar running circles around him.
“Want something to drink?” Kal asked her. “Iced tea or a beer or some water?”
“Iced tea sounds really good.”
He fixed them both glasses of tea, then they went out back.
“What’s up?” he asked his brother while petting Edgar, who furiously licked his hand.
“Fixing a problem with the pool filter.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
Jackson frowned and swiped sweat from his brow. “Hell if I know, but the pressure’s not working right.”
“Should we call someone?”
Jackson craned his head to look up at him. “Why would we do that when I can fix it?”
Typical Jackson response. “Okay, then. What can I do to help?”
“Bring me something cold to drink.”
“I’ll do that,” Hannah said, turning and going back in the house. Kal kneeled down and investigated the problem with his brother.
Within an hour they had the filter problem fixed. There was a major clog causing the filter to slow its process. They cleaned everything out, flushed the system, and now everything was back in working order.
“See?” Jackson said when they both stood and wiped their sweat away with towels. “I knew we could fix it.”
“Ever the genius, aren’t you?”
“And too cheap to hire help.”
Kal laughed. “That, too.”
Hannah had disappeared into the house, so while Jackson took a dip into the pool, Kal went inside to find Hannah at the kitchen table talking with Becks, who had come home from work. Edgar lay curled up at Becks’s feet, asleep.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re home early. How was work today?”
“Busy. And I have a hot date, so I didn’t schedule any tattoo appointments for tonight.”
“Does Jackson know about your hot date?”
“I hope so.” She wiggled her brows, then stood. “I’m going upstairs to take a shower.”
After Becks disappeared, Edgar along with her, Kal leaned down to kiss Hannah.
She licked her lips. “You taste salty. Did you fix the pool filter?”
“Yeah, all done.”
“Good.”
“Wanna come upstairs and change for dinner while I take a shower?”
“Sure.” She grabbed her bag and followed him up to his room. Kal closed the door and immediately stripped off his shirt, tossing it in the basket, then toed out of his tennis shoes, pulled off his socks and shrugged out of his shorts and underwear.
He turned to say something to Hannah. She was sitting on the bed staring at him.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just admiring you naked.”
He laughed. “Come get in the shower with me and you can admire me up close.”
“How can I resist?” She pulled her T-shirt over her head, shimmied out of her pants and kicked off her shoes and socks, leaving her in a hot pink lace bra and matching panties.
“Now those are sexy,” he said, coming over to reach around her and undo her bra with a flick of his fingers.
“You have such talented hands,” she said, smoothing her palms over his chest.
“Get in the shower with me, and I’ll show you just how talented my hands are.”
“This offer keeps getting better and better.”
She shrugged out of her panties and followed him into the bathroom. He turned the shower on and, as soon as the water was hot enough, stepped in, holding his hand out for her.
The water felt good running over his body. The trail had been hot, and it was a relief to wash off some of the sweat.
Hannah felt even better, especially when Kal rubbed his soapy hands all over her skin. Her body prickled with goose bumps as he