“So . . .” Both Kat and Cal began to speak at the same time, and then both chuckled.

Kat sensed from the moment Cal returned to the house that something momentous had happened that morning, even above and beyond Tobias’s apology and unofficial approval of Kat as an appropriate partner for his younger brother. Of course, seeing her in the altogether, combined with her judicious cursing, probably didn’t hurt.

Cal grinned at her, but his fidgeting contradicted his casual stance, so Kat offered him a lifeline. “You wanna go first? You seem to have had a big morning on the way to get breakfast.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t quite the quick trip I expected to make.” He fidgeted some more. “Let’s go outside on the porch.”

Once outside and settled in a slider, Kat waited for Cal to share what was on his mind.

“I was trying to find you doughnuts because I know you like them,” he began. “That led me on a wild-goose chase that ended at the Amish bakery on the other side of town. I took a shortcut to get back and ended up right in front of the house.”

“House? Oh . . .” Kat took Cal’s hand in hers. “The house.”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath, and then the words came out in a rush. “As soon as I realized where I was, I had to go, you know? I wasn’t going to, but it was right there, and I felt like visiting it was something I needed to do. Nolan and I had driven by right before they’d started the demolition, to fix in my mind what it used to look like. That was when we ran into the woman who wanted the aluminum awnings. On a side note, we need to go into town tomorrow. Um, anyway, today, standing in front of where the house used to be was . . .”

“Weird?” Kat volunteered.

“Surreal. I still don’t know how I feel about it.” He scratched his nose. “Anyhow, some sort of force must have been at play, because Toby pulled up right after that, and, well, you know how that ended.”

“Yes, now your brother knows that I’m a natural redhead.” Kat shook her head, but Cal just pulled her into his arms and laughed.

“So, Kat, I know we talked last night about this thing we have.”

Kat swung her legs over his lap and settled in with her arms around his neck. “Yep, we did. But we didn’t talk about where this was going, and you want to know.”

“Now I have to add ‘mind reader’ to your list of positive attributes, don’t I?” Cal tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “But yeah, I’d like to know where this is going, if it’s going somewhere.”

“I’ve been thinking about this, too.” Kat rested her head on his shoulder and felt his heartbeat pound out a rhythmic thump, thump, thump under the hand she had resting on his chest. The moment she said goodbye to him at the airport almost seven weeks ago, she’d begun thinking about what was next for them. It had seemed silly and even presumptive then, but now? “If you had an ideal life, what would you be doing?”

“Truth?”

“Truth.”

Cal gathered her hands in his and pressed his lips to them. “We would be somewhere, together, living someplace where we could go skinny-dipping anytime we wanted to and then make love on the back porch, someplace where you could find a job that fulfilled you and made you happy. Maybe even work together if that’s what you wanted. I honestly don’t care, Kat. I haven’t really thought past the ‘you’ part of this equation. I know it sounds completely insane, but—”

Kat sealed her lips over his.

“Stop,” she murmured against his mouth. “I don’t think it’s nuts. At least, I hope it’s not nuts, because I’m thinking the same thing.” She sat back and took a good look at him. “Donald Reynolds, who used to be the head of Reynolds Restaurant Group, right? He passed my name on to some people here. I mean, not here, but in Atlanta.” She took a deep breath, and then her words came tumbling out. “It would be the same thing I was doing in Boston. I, uh, actually have some informational interviews set up for Monday, just to feel the market out.”

“Yeah?” Cal’s lip twitched into a small smile.

“Yeah.”

“But what about Boston, darlin’? You have a life there, a house there.” Cal stroked the pulse in her throat with his thumb. “Surely . . .”

“All I have in Boston is a brownstone I could rent out, a handful of not-very-close friends, and an ex-husband who is probably going to prison.”

“Wait—what?”

“When Donald called to give me the contacts, he said that Topher was indicted for predatory real estate practices. That investigation we’d just been notified of had been ongoing for at least four years. He’s in a lot of trouble.” Kat ran her hands down Cal’s chest. “I’ll most likely have to go back to Boston at some point to be deposed.”

“And to get your stuff moved down here?”

“Yeah.”

“Or you could sell it and put all your stuff in storage because, hey, you know you want to spend the next forty years looking at all this mess.” Cal waved at the front of the house, where Kat could see three or four different paint colors, all in brilliant 1980s tones.

“We definitely have to paint the bedroom. That color is . . . eye-searing. I don’t even know how to describe that color.”

“Circus Peanut Orange,” Cal answered. “It’s actually called ‘Bonanza.’ There’s touch-up paint in the shed.”

Kat shuddered. “How have you been able to sleep in there?” she asked.

“I haven’t. I slept on the couch.”

“ ‘Sanitarium White’ isn’t much better,” she said as she eyed the walls of the great room, which really wasn’t that bad except for the actual furniture.

“You’d live here, though? With some changes?” He looked so hopeful, so vulnerable. He was breaking her heart.

“In a heartbeat, Cal. In a heartbeat.” She grabbed him in a tight hug and hoped he would truly believe her. She knew that he did when he slanted his mouth over hers; the kiss he gave her told her his answer.

“What do you say, Kat? Wanna begin by getting rid of some really bad window treatments?”

´*•.¸(*•.¸ *¸.•*´)¸.•*´

They spent the next few hours removing every set of mini blinds and all the balloon valances in the house. That initial project left Cal energized and ready to do more redecorating. He sauntered up behind her and stopped, taking a moment to admire Kat’s curvy rump still clad in the sleep shorts she’d been wearing—or not wearing—during breakfast.

“Are you staring at my butt, mister?”

“Maybe.”

Kat popped up, put her hand on her hip, and wagged her finger at him. “You are so flirty, Cal. I thought you wanted to get all the window coverings down?”

“I did, and they are.” He stepped into her space and slid his hands under those shorts. He rubbed up against her and whispered in her ear, “Do you want to stop in town and look at some paint colors before we head over to The Hemlock?”

Kat arched her back and ground against him. “That sounds fun. I like looking at paint colors.” She let out a little moan when Cal stroked her. “But, oh boy, I like this, too.” He slipped in a finger, then added another. “Oh, I really like this.”

Cal curled his fingers inside her. “I like those noises you make,” he growled in her ear. He was rock hard now, just from a few seconds of Kat letting him know how turned on she was. She squirmed on his hand and panted. He could tell she was getting close.

“Finish, Kat. Let me hear you.”

He nipped at her neck. Kat’s hands pulled at his hair and scrabbled at his shoulders while he ground his fingers deeper inside her core. But then she surprised him by pulling up her T-shirt and pushing down the cups of her bra to get at her peaked nipples. She grabbed his hand that was gripped on her hip and moved it to her breast. Cal followed her wordless instructions and pinched the taut peak, gently at first, then more aggressively when she demanded that he do it harder. She rode his hand, his fingers thrusting deep, until her legs began to quake.

“Give it to me, girl,” he growled. When he added the third digit and pinched hard, she keened with pleasure, and with a shudder that rocked her whole body, she did.

Ho.ly. Shit.

Kat twisted in his arms and crushed her mouth to his, murmuring her thanks between kisses.

“I was also going to suggest going to an antique store.”

Kat pulled back. “Antique store?”

Cal snuck another kiss. “Uh-huh.”

Then Kat got a glint in her eye. She tried to do that popped-hip stance but ended up stumbling and trying to play it off before she snickered and snorted. “Shower blow job? Double duty, buster.”

Cal considered the sexy, goofy-ass woman in front of him. “Deal,” he said and lifted her over his shoulder to carry his giggling queen up the stairs.