Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,75

If his clenched jaw was any indication, she was spot on.

‘You two are close?’

‘Very.’ She bit back a smile as she entwined her index and middle finger. ‘Like this.’

‘Right,’ he said, sounding like it was anything but as he snatched up the salad bowl and stomped towards the sink.

‘Then again, we’re all close, considering Harry is Alisha’s fiancé.’

Kody deliberately bumped her with his hip as he deposited the salad bowl in the sink. ‘You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you?’

‘As a matter of fact, I do.’ She pulled an exaggerated frown. ‘With you looking like this, I almost thought you were jealous.’

He carefully blanked his expression before speaking. ‘Stands to reason I’d be curious if you were dating anyone, considering they’d be in Isla’s life too.’

‘I’m not,’ she said, pinning him with a stare that conveyed she didn’t believe his BS about Tash letting a man into Isla’s life for a minute. ‘What about you?’

‘I’ve been on tour for the last fifteen months. It doesn’t leave time for relationships.’

‘So we’re both single and loving it.’ She rinsed off cutlery and separated the forks, spoons and knives into their respective dishwasher compartments to avoid looking at him in case he saw right through her lie. She may wear her single status like a badge of honour but she didn’t love it. Every time she served happy couples at the roadhouse she experienced a tiny stab of envy, and attending school functions as a single parent drew the inevitable pitying glances. But there were few partner prospects in Brockenridge; none she’d want Isla close to, that is. Though the last thing she wanted was Kody thinking she was a sad spinster.

‘Not sure if I love it so much,’ he said, rinsing off the last of the bowls and standing way too close to her at the sink. ‘It gets pretty lonely living on the road.’

Surprised by his honesty, she said, ‘It’s lonely here too, sometimes, but I keep busy.’

‘Busy doesn’t keep you warm at night though.’

Tash turned to find herself almost toe to toe with him. She could see the widening of his pupils, the flecks of caramel in the chocolate, and the tiniest of scars beneath his right eye that she’d kissed many times before. She shouldn’t have thought about kissing because that drew her focus to his mouth. The full, sexy mouth that could coax the most amazing responses from her, the mouth that crooned soulful rock ballads or belted out bangers, the mouth that had slayed her from their first hello.

As he moved infinitesimally closer, Tash had a second to put a stop to this madness. To back away. To make a joke. To laugh it off as an awkward moment between two old friends.

Instead, she stood there, frozen, as Kody’s lips claimed hers.

CHAPTER

27

Kody had always been impulsive. Running away from a foster home for the first time age nine, punching a kid for calling him a snivelling bastard at ten, stealing his first bike at eleven. Stupid, rash decisions.

Those had nothing on giving in to the impulse to kiss Tash.

The moment his mouth fused with hers, he wondered how such a foolish action could feel so right. Her soft, pliable lips melded to his, warm and sensual, making him groan deep in his throat. Increasing the pressure, he savoured the way she met him halfway, challenging, demanding, giving as good as she got. Then her lips parted and he was a goner. He cupped the back of her head, raking his fingers through her hair, deepening the kiss until he could barely breathe. Their tongues tangled, slow and sensuous, the sexiest damn thing he’d done in a long time.

Eager for more, he backed her up against the island bench and plastered his body to hers, leaving her in little doubt of how much he wanted her. But the moment their pelvises aligned, she wrenched her mouth from his and stared over his shoulder, unable to meet his eyes.

Their ragged breathing echoed in the silence of the kitchen. They didn’t speak. And when she finally raised her eyes to meet his, he knew her confusion and excitement and trepidation matched his.

‘Don’t expect me to apologise for that,’ he said, sounding stupidly gruff when all he wanted to do was kiss her senseless again.

‘I gave up expecting anything from you a long time ago.’

He didn’t deserve her retort and the stricken widening of her eyes told him she knew it.

‘That was way out of line and I’m sorry,’ she said,