“Did you read through the questions?” Eliza asked Katherine when Lolo excused herself to get a soda.

Katherine nodded. “I removed the racy ones as well as those more couple-focused. The ones still in the deck are G-rated.”

“This is going to be a blast.” Lolo plopped down on the sofa next to Katherine. Her gaze shifted automatically to Eliza. “What are the rules?”

Eliza gestured to the older woman. “Katherine is the card expert, not me.”

Lolo smiled expectantly.

“It’s quite simple.” Katherine shuffled the deck with the skill of a Las Vegas dealer. “Each of us picks a card from the deck and we all answer the question.”

Lolo’s dark brows drew together. “How do you score points? How do you win?”

Katherine chuckled and patted the girl’s arm. “It’s not a win or lose kind of game. The cards help us get better acquainted.”

The skeptical look on the child’s face told Eliza that Lolo wasn’t convinced the game was worth her time. Eliza understood. She wasn’t keen on playing, either.

Kyle was the lucky one. She slanted a glance in his direction. Instead of focusing on his laptop and the important bid, she caught him staring. At her.

When she narrowed her eyes, he grinned.

Eliza couldn’t help it. She smiled back.

“I want to pick the first card,” Lolo announced.

Katherine glanced at Eliza. When she nodded her agreement, the older woman fanned the cards and held them out to Lolo.

Catching her upper lip between her teeth, Lolo scrutinized the cards as if a lottery win was at stake.

Eliza was on the verge of telling the girl to just pick one when Lolo slipped one from the deck.

She held it up. “Now what do I do?”

The smile Katherine offered her was indulgent, one a grandmother would bestow upon an adored granddaughter. “You read it.”

Lolo straightened and read, “What beliefs about being a female did I absorb from my father?”

Though the question appeared fairly straightforward, confusion blanketed the girl’s face. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“This is a more difficult one.” Once again, kindness infused Katherine’s voice. “How about Eliza and I answer? I believe you’ll understand once you hear our replies.”

Lolo hesitated, obviously reluctant to give up the chance to answer first. Finally, she nodded.

“Katherine, you go first.” It was a demand, not a request. Eliza needed time to formulate a G-rated reply. Her father wasn’t exactly at the top of her favorite-people list. Heck, he wasn’t even on the list.

“My father was very old school.” Katherine’s hands knotted together in her lap. “But we have to understand, that was partially due to the era he grew up in.”

Eliza waited, not about to let her cousin get away with skirting the question.

“He believed strongly that a female should be a wife and mother,” Katherine said finally.

“But you’ve never been married.” Lolo paused. “Have you?”

Katherine shook her head. “Being a wife and mother wasn’t my path to travel. Because of my father’s beliefs, it took me a long time to realize that the path I’d taken was the right one for me.”

Eliza was as surprised as Katherine when Lolo rested her head against the woman’s shoulder for several heartbeats. “I think you’d have been a fabulous mother.”

For a second, Katherine’s eyes swam with tears before she blinked them back. “Thank you, Lolo. Coming from you, that means a lot.”

When their gazes shifted to her, Eliza felt the burn from the hot seat. She could basically repeat what Katherine had said—and it would be true—but that felt like stealing someone’s answer.

She tapped her fingers against her lips. “My father had impossibly high standards, not only for me but for my brother as well.”

As Eliza said the words, she realized it was true. She wasn’t the only one Donald Shaw had pushed to excel. Ethan had felt the pressure, too.

“My dad believes females are innately inferior to men in the business world. Because of that, they have to work extra hard to succeed.” Out of the corner of her eye, Eliza saw Kyle look up from his laptop, obviously listening. She ignored him. “For as far back as I can recall, I was taught not to cry or show emotion. Those are signs of weakness. Even now, if I start to get too passionate about a topic, he shuts me down.”

Sympathy skittered across Lolo’s face. “I’m so sorry.”

Eliza shrugged. “It toughened me up.”

“My dad thinks girls are as smart as boys and that I can do anything I want.” Lolo studied her brother. “Isn’t that right, Kyle?”

“That’s right,” Kyle called out from across the room

“He sounds like a good man.” Katherine gave Lolo a supportive smile.

Lolo nodded. “He’s the best. I can’t wait for you both to meet him.”

Katherine lifted a brow. “Will he be coming to Good Hope?”

“He and my mom can’t wait to see Kyle’s new house.”

Katherine cleared her throat. “New house?”

For a second, Lolo looked confused. “This house.”

Katherine slanted a glance at Eliza, which she ignored. “Lolo, do you want to shuffle?”

The girl did a passable job, then, like Katherine had done, fanned out the cards for Eliza to pick.

Please let it be an easy one.

Eliza pulled out one and read, “Do any of your friends have a nickname for you?”

Olive Oyl.

The name flashed in the front of her brain like a neon sign in a sex club. Ignoring the image, she brought up a more recent one. “Kyle calls me E.”

Being known by an initial had rankled at first, but she’d grown to like it. Coming from his lips, it sounded like an endearment.

“He calls me Lo sometimes.” The smile that had blossomed on the girl’s face faded. “Prudie used to call me Rainie.”

“I imagine she still does when you speak with her,” Katherine said and waited for Lolo’s nod of agreement.

“What about you?” Lolo pressed the older woman. “Did you have a nickname?”

“Verna, Eliza’s grandmother, and Ami Bloom both used to call me Kate.”

A knife plunged then twisted in Eliza’s chest. Katherine had asked her not to call her Kate.

“I didn’t much care for the name.” Katherine spoke in an offhand tone. “But Verna called me that since we were small. When Ami began calling me that, I didn’t have the heart to ask her to stop.”

“Eliza calls you Katherine,” Lolo pointed out.

“That’s because I felt like I could be honest with Eliza and she would understand.”

Eliza sat back against the red brocade fabric, stunned. All these years, she’d thought Katherine had asked because they weren’t close.

“I believe we have time for one more question,” Katherine announced with a pointed glance at the deck.

“I like this game.” Lolo’s gaze slid from Katherine to Eliza. “I thought it might be stupid and boring, but it’s not.”

Taking the deck, Eliza shuffled the cards. When she held them out to Katherine, she realized she agreed with Lolo. The game wasn’t half bad.

Katherine tilted her head back so she could read through her bifocals. “If you could spend a whole day just having fun, what would you do?”

Lolo’s hand shot into the air as if she were in a classroom, the answer poised on her tongue.

Katherine pointed to her.

“I’d spend the day with Prudie.” The words tumbled from Lolo’s lips as if the vision was right in front of her. “I’d have Mom and Dad take us to Kentucky Kingdom. We’d ride the roller coasters, then spend the rest of the day in Hurricane Bay. We’d have snow cones and hot dogs and…”

Lolo’s voice trailed off as she no doubt thought about how close she’d come to losing her friend. She shook her head as if banishing the negative thoughts. “What about you, Katherine? Do you like roller coasters?”

Katherine only smiled. “I did when I was your age. Now, I think my special day would begin with sharing coffee and conversation with Eliza, then cards and dominos with my friends.”

Lolo appeared unimpressed. She turned to Eliza with a hopeful expression. “What about you?”

Eliza couldn’t stop herself. She slanted a glance at Kyle then back at Lolo. “I’d sleep late, take a long shower, then enjoy a leisurely breakfast.”

“That’s it?” Lolo frowned. “That doesn’t sound fun.”

“That’s only the beginning.” Though Eliza didn’t look in Kyle’s direction, she felt his gaze on her. “I’d take my kayak and go to Cave Point. I’d hike and explore some of the thousand-year-old caves by water.”

“Cave Point is beautiful.” Katherine practically sighed the words.

“Hiking? Kayaking?” This time, Kyle didn’t pretend to not be listening. “I never pegged you as the outdoorsy type, E.”

Eliza’s lips curved. “You know what they say about assumptions, Kendrick.”

“What do they say?” Lolo demanded.

Katherine patted the girl’s hand. “That it isn’t good to assume. Isn’t that right, Eliza?”

Eliza couldn’t stop the full-out grin. “That’s right.”

* * *

An hour later, Katherine and Lolo headed upstairs to bed. Lolo was excited to attend church—or rather, youth group—in the morning. Eliza knew she should follow. The alarm would go off way too early in the morning.

Instead, she returned to the parlor with wine and two glasses. She caught Kyle’s eye and lifted the bottle.

He shook his head, gestured to the laptop. “I’ll pass. I don’t drink while I’m working.”

“A pity.” Eliza splashed some into one of the glasses, then took a seat. Instead of returning to the chair she’d recently vacated, she chose the sofa. Crossing one leg over the other, she sipped the most excellent Cab and watched him work.

Kyle’s dark head was bent slightly, his eyes narrowed on the screen. As she let her gaze linger, memories of how it had felt to run her fingers through the soft strands surged.

She continued to sip her wine and watch him work. Eliza wondered if he’d noticed the electricity humming in the air. How long had it been since they’d made love?

An eternity. Her desire for a repeat performance was odd considering she’d once been convinced she was frigid. The accusation had been tossed in her direction many times when she’d fended off advances.

Eliza regretted saying she wouldn’t have sex with Kyle while his sister was in the house. Lolo was always in the house.

Still, a smart woman knew when to reconsider. There could be no harm in inviting Kyle to her bed, as long as they were discreet. Her bedroom suite was at the opposite end of the house from where Lolo and Katherine slept. As long as she didn’t cry out in ecstasy, they should be fine.

A warm flush infused her body, one that had nothing to do with the wine she’d just consumed. She could almost feel his hands sliding up her sides, callused fingers brushing the tips of her—

The feel of lips on her neck had Eliza jumping.

Kyle’s low chuckle had her bristling. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

His innocent expression didn’t fool her. “Giving you a good-night kiss?”

“On my neck?” The spot where his mouth had lingered still tingled.

“Bad aim.” He dropped beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. His blue eyes were as dark as the skies before a storm. “Let me try again.”

When his mouth closed over hers, Eliza wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him with all the passion she’d been storing up over the past fourteen days.

One kiss quickly morphed into two. Then she lost count. She was drowning in sensation. She wanted—needed—to be close to Kyle. Cursing the clothes that separated them, Eliza slid her hand under his shirt, dipping her fingertips beneath his waistband.

His hand clamped around her wrist.

“Not here.” The look he shot her was filled with regret. “Lolo could come down at any moment.”

“Seeing her brother naked might scar her for life.” In an attempt to lighten the mood, she chuckled. “But that’s what I want.”

“To see Lolo scarred?”

“No, silly.” She trailed kisses along his jaw. “To see you naked.”

“Let’s make that happen.” In one fluid movement, he was on his feet, pulling her up with him. “Just not here.”

She couldn’t keep from smiling. “My room happens to be available.”

The blood, which had been flowing through her veins like warm honey, sizzled when he pulled her to him for a long, lingering kiss.

Satisfaction surged. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

They held hands as they climbed the stairs. Eliza had never been one to hold hands with guys she dated. But she found she rather liked the feel of her fingers entwined with Kyle’s.

Neither spoke until they were in her bedroom with the door locked.

“I’ve missed you.” Kyle brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with one finger. His gaze never left her face.

“We see each other every day.”

He took her hand, once again linking his fingers with hers. Then, bringing their joined hands to his mouth, he kissed her knuckles. “Not like this.”

“I missed the sex, too.”

His eyes were like dark pools. “I missed kissing you. Holding you tight. Talking without feeling others are listening.”

“Me, too,” she surprised herself by admitting. She closed the last of the distance between them. “But we’re together now.”

Kyle slowly undressed her, stopping frequently to kiss and caress. Then she reciprocated. Though electricity snapped in the air, it was different this time, sweeter somehow.

They knew each other now. Knew the places where a simple touch could have the breath catching in her throat or cause him to groan out loud.

The familiarity wasn’t the only difference. This wasn’t simply two people who respected and liked each other satisfying physical desires. Not for her, anyway.

She loved Kyle. Loved everything about him. His intelligence. His optimistic nature. Even the way he cared about his family. He was confident without being arrogant, strong without being a bully. And she loved the way he made her feel so special.

The bedside lamp added a golden glow to the room. There was no rush, no hurry. His hands stroked, teased and tormented until Eliza wanted nothing more than for him to bury himself inside her and end the sweet torture.

“Kyle.” She moaned his name. “I want—”

His hand was between her thighs, talented fingers bringing her to the verge of shattering.

“What do you want?” he whispered in her ear as those fingers continued their ministrations. “Tell me what you want.”

“You.” The word came out on a half sob as she tightened her grip on him. “I want you.”