By the middle of Sunday afternoon Holly was sure she’d made the right decision to leave Kevin’s the night before, even though her heart didn’t agree. To help take her mind off it, she taken a break from working on the Johansen wedding and resorted to something she detested: cleaning.
She was vacuuming the living room when she heard a pounding at the front door. Killer had been barking at the vacuum cleaner, but now turned his attention to the door as Holly flipped the off switch.
Grabbing the doorknob, she wondered if she had the strength to tell Kevin no today, but when she opened the door she was surprised to see Megan. “Hi…”
Megan gave her an apologetic smile as she wrapped her hand around her very pregnant belly. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need your help.”
“Of course!” Holly said, her anxiety rising. “Are you okay?” She looked down at Megan’s belly. “Oh, my God. Is the baby okay?”
“Holly!” Megan stepped forward and put her hand on Holly’s arm. “I’m fine. I swear.”
Holly put her hand on her chest and took a breath. “You scared me half to death.”
“I know.” She cringed. “I’m sorry.”
She offered Megan a smile. “It’s okay. What do you need?”
Megan cocked her head to the side and gave Holly an exasperated look. “I’m surrounded by a bunch of guys next door and I need you to tell them I’m right.”
Holly’s breath stuck in her chest. “I don’t know. … Did Kevin put you up to this?”
“No. This is just a friend asking a friend for help. They’re insisting we keep the kitchen cabinets and paint them, and I need you to back me up that the kitchen needs to be gutted.”
Holly grimaced. “I don’t know. …”
A warm smile spread across Megan’s face. “Or you can agree with them. I just need an opinion I can trust.” Then she gave her a pout. “Please.”
Holly burst out laughing. “Does that work on Josh?”
“Yes, and usually Kevin, too. Will you help me? You can just come in, give your opinion, and then leave.”
“Okay.” But she regretted it the moment she shut the door behind her.
They walked side by side to Kevin’s house and Holly struggled to catch her breath. Her nerves were getting the better of her. She kept her gaze on the tree-root obstacle course, needing to focus on something other than the fact she was about to see Kevin. Why she was so nervous? Was she more worried about Kevin’s reaction when he saw her, or that she wouldn’t have the willpower to walk away?
She heard Kevin’s voice as well those of as several other men, along with loud banging. Josh was in the living room, prying the trim from the window. Megan walked past him like a woman with a purpose into the dining room, where Kevin was swinging a sledgehammer into the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen. A tall blond man stood next to him, shouting as he pointed to the light switch.
Kevin noticed Holly and stopped midswing, lowering his mallet. His eyes widened. “Holly…hey.”
Megan looped her arm through Holly’s, which Holly realized was probably Megan’s attempt to keep her from bolting. “I dragged Holly over here for her opinion. We’re going to settle this cabinet dilemma.”
Josh walked up behind them and all three men stared at Holly like she’d just walked out of a spaceship.
“I take it none of you knew I was coming over,” Holly finally said.
Megan squeezed her arm. “I had to hide my secret weapon. Now, not to put you under any pressure or anything, but what would you do with the cabinets?”
Holly dragged her gaze from Kevin’s now expressionless face and turned to face the cabinets. The kitchen was a complete disaster, but she didn’t feel comfortable telling Kevin to spend thousands of dollars to replace them. “Well…”
“Matt, the supposed expert here”—Megan dropped her hold and pointed to the man next to Kevin—“thinks they can be fixed.”
Matt protested, “Hey, I—”
Megan cut him off. “But I insisted that the kitchen needs to be gutted. I know you redid your house, which makes you my expert. What do you think?”
Holly had never felt more put on the spot, and she found herself searching out Kevin’s face.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “I want your opinion, Holly. You’ve done this to your house. You know what you’re doing.”
“I’ve only done one house. …”
He walked over to her, still holding her gaze. “If this was your house, what would you do?”
Somehow he made her feel like they were the only two people in the house, and that her opinion really mattered.
“Go on. What would you do?” He smiled and something in her heart melted.
She smiled back. “Gut it.”
He smiled, his face lighting up.
Her stomach squeezed as regret filled her. Why did he have to be her boss’s son?
“Well, there you go,” Kevin said, still holding her gaze. “We’ll gut it.”
“Okay.” Holly broke eye contact and turned to Megan. “If that’s all you need…”
“We ordered pizza,” Megan said. “You should stay. I’m, like, the only girl here.”
“I don’t know. …”
She looked back at Kevin. He gave her an understanding smile as he asked, “Holly, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.”
He led her outside to the front porch, and she suddenly wondered if he was taking her outside to tell her he didn’t want her to stay. But he eased her concerns as soon as they were out of his sister’s watchful eye.
“Holly, I’m sorry. I had no idea what Megan was up to.”
“It’s okay. I suspected.”
“But that being said, I want you to stay.”
She sighed. “I don’t know. …”
“I promise this isn’t part of some devious scheme on my end.”
She grinned up at him. “So Megan got all the devious genes?”
He laughed. “I suppose my mother would disagree.”
Now that she was here, she didn’t want to go back home to her empty house. She wanted to be here with Kevin and his sister—who was now laughing with her husband and Kevin’s friend. She wanted to be part of this. “Okay.”
He looked like he was about to reach for her, but he stopped himself. “Just friends.”
Holly nodded. “Friends.” Against her better judgment, she was willing to give it a shot.
She walked back inside with him, but then looked down at her shorts, sleeveless shirt, and flip-flops. “This isn’t exactly demolition attire.”
Megan’s face lit up when she saw Holly coming in next to Josh. “You don’t need demolition attire. You can sit with me and watch.” She gave Josh a sexy smile. “I’m watching my husband get hot and sweaty.”
Kevin closed his eyes and cringed. “Megan. Please.”
“What? How do you think I got this baby inside of me?”
“Oh, my God.” Kevin groaned. “Stop or I’m kicking you out—” He stopped and understanding filled his eyes. “Good try. You stay.”
“Then I want my husband to take his shirt off.”
Kevin laughed. “Fine. Josh, take off your shirt. Strip for us.”
Everyone started laughing, and Matt shook his head, wearing a huge grin. “I thought we were demoing your house, not auditioning for Magic Mike.”
“Speak for yourself,” Josh said, pulling his shirt over his head and starting to dance while he looked at his wife.
Everyone laughed again and the men got to work. The house was hot and the fans were set up, but with all the dust blowing around, Josh insisted that Megan sit outside. She grabbed the kitten from the basement and dragged Holly outside with her to sit in Kevin’s new lawn chairs.
They watched the kitten romp in the yard for several minutes before Megan said, “I want to apologize for my mother.”
“Oh,” Holly said, surprised. “It’s not like you can control your mother’s—” She cut herself off before she said too much.
Megan gave her a hesitant smile. “I know my mother. Trust me, I spent most of my life running from my mother. Kevin, too. But when I needed her the most—when my ex-fiancé showed up at my wedding to Josh—my mother got over the shock that I’d lied to her and she stood up for me.” She paused. “I know my mother puts on this front that she’s cold and calculated, but there’s more to her deep down. You just have to dig for it.”
Holly remained silent. She was positive Nicole would become a momma lion when it came to her kids, but if Megan was insinuating that Holly would see that side of her, she was mistaken. She’d given up that hope when Nicole had turned cold months ago.
“If you’ll just let me talk to Mom—”
And there it was. “No.”
Megan sat up and turned in her seat to face Holly. “Mom wants Kevin to be happy. If we tell her, she’ll eventually come around.”
“The keyword is eventually. You of all people know I need this job.” She paused. “My grandmother’s getting worse.”
Megan’s eyes widened. “Holly. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. “We’ve known it was coming. But that means I need the money I make with your mother more than ever.”
“But surely—”
“Megan.” Holly’s tone was sharper than she’d intended. “I know you want Kevin and I to give this thing between us a chance, but it’s not going to happen.”
Kevin walked out the back door, having shed his T-shirt, and Holly’s eyes were drawn to his bare chest. She could stare at him all day long and never get enough.
He gaze found hers and they stared at each other for several seconds before Megan interrupted.
“I take it you came out for a reason?” Megan asked.
Kevin tore his eyes from her and turned to his sister. “The pizza’s here.”
Josh and Matt came out the back door, carrying the pizza boxes and a cooler. They spent the next hour sitting in the backyard, swapping stories about Matt and Kevin and their friend Tyler. Holly realized she hadn’t hung out with her old friends in years. They had gotten married and started families, and Holly had let those relationships drift—but now she wondered if there was a nugget of truth to Melanie’s statement that she ran from relationships.
What if the reason she didn’t want to lie to Nicole about seeing Kevin was more about a fear of a relationship with Kevin and less about upsetting her boss?
“Hey,” Kevin asked softly as he sat down next to her. “Are you okay? You’ve been so quiet.”
“I’ve been listening.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Believe it or not, this is the best day I’ve had in ages. Thanks for letting me stay.”
“Holly, don’t ever question that I want you to stay.”
She knew he meant more than a friendly visit, and part of her was so tempted to stay for so much more. She had a feeling they could have something wonderful. But she couldn’t let herself go there. There was too much at stake.
She blinked to dry her eyes then stood. “I need to go home.”
Megan gasped in surprise. “Why?”
“Megan,” Kevin warned.
“I have more work to do on the Johansen wedding,” Holly said. “But thanks for letting me hang out today.”
Megan looked like she still wanted to protest, but Josh stood and reached out his hand to her. “Megs, we need to get going, too.”
Holly was relieved that Megan backed off, but as soon as she walked into her empty house, she wondered if she’d made the right decision.
Suddenly she was questioning a lot of decisions.