A Late Thaw by Anna Blaze Read Free Book Online Page B

of kittens for her kids. He grinned. It’d probably work best if he showed up with a couple of the furry monsters and let the kids talk her into it.
    “You have a pregnant cat named Tom.” Kiley grinned. She was gorgeous when she grinned.
    “Yup.” He leane d closer, eyes on her pretty pink lips.
    She pulled away , her cheeks tinted pink. “Don’t you think we should talk about this? I mean, one night is kind of crazy and we can pretend it didn’t happen, but this—” She met his eyes for only a second before looking down at the cat.
    “Pretend it didn’t happen? You’re running away. You’re already running away again.” It was too much. Like a punch to the gut, it hurt too much.
    “Running…I just went to school.”
    He shook his head, kept his voice as calm as he could. He couldn’t lose her now, not after getting so close. “Stop it, Kiley. You can’t keep pretending not to know how I feel, not after last night.”
    “How you—what are you talking about?”
    “We’re good together, Ki. You have to see that.” He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to pull her closer.
    “Together? As in you and me, together?” Her eyes were bright and wide.
    The surprise on her face bothered him, but Cole plowed forward. “Don’t you think it’s time?”
    She stood up and started pacing. “Don’t I think it’s time? Me?”
    “Yeah, Ki. You and me.” He followed her back to the corner near the kitchen sink.
    She held her palms out in front of her chest. “Okay, stop this—whatever this is—you barely noticed I was a girl before last night.”
    “Of course I noticed you’ re a girl. You’re hot. You’re a hot girl. How could I not notice that?” He dragged his hand through his hair.
    Kiley stared at him for a moment as though she wasn’t entirely sure she could believe her own ears. “You never, ever acted like that.”
    “I asked you to the prom!”
    “You know that doesn’t count.” She actually rolled her eyes.
    “How does that not count?” He’d put on a clean shirt, bought flowers, and waited for her to finish her shift at the grocery store only to be shot down without any explanation.
    “Don’t. We both know that was a pity offer. Everyone in town heard my mom’s oh- so-helpful and humiliating hints about it. You felt sorry for me and threw me a pity offer.” Kiley said it as though even the words tasted bad.
    “That’s insane.” She’d been a little shy but always plenty cute. She could have easily had another date if she’d wanted one.
    “That was not a real offer.”
    “It was.”
    She stepped closer. Her chin was lifted and her eyes glittered with an unreadable mix of emotions. “You gave me dead roses!”
    “They were half off at the pharmacy. I thought it was a good deal.” He hadn’t realized they weren’t good ones until he’d overheard his mother chatting with a neighbor about those “sad pharmacy flowers”. Cole still wasn’t sure he could identify good flowers. As far as he could tell, women were just wicked picky.
    “Cole, seriously? You must have said ‘no big deal’ like three times.” She slouched dramatically and impersonated him. “‘So, I was thinking—no big deal—we could go together—no big deal.’”
    “Talking isn’t … I was a little intimidated, maybe, but I wanted to go with you.”
    “Intimidated ,” she repeated quietly before turning away and fidgeting with a kitchen towel. “You had another date within a day. You went with that cheerleader.”
    “Amber Sullivan. She asked me.”
    “And you accepted.” Kiley turned back and lifted her hands, palm up, as though she’d proven her point.
    Cole fought the urge to punch the wall. She was the most frustrating woman in the entire world. “You turned me down. You acted like I was being ridiculous for even asking. So yeah, when Amber asked —I said yes. I saw no reason to hurt her feelings.”
    “But you …you…”
    He reached over, put his hand on her shoulder , and