Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(58)

Kel clapped him on the shoulder. “Look at it this way. It’s too late to run now.”

Ivy slid him a laughing gaze, and when he flashed her a grin, she felt her heart catch. Damn. He was potent.

“Great,” Ethan muttered, making Kel laugh.

He had such a great laugh, one that somehow never failed to soften her from the inside out. As did watching his easy relationship with Ethan. She might not have had close relationships with any blood family to count on, but she could appreciate one when she saw it.

Ethan drew a deep breath. “Okay, so here’s where we’re at. We’ve got ten minutes before we all hide in the dark living room and give my wife the shock of her life.”

Kel nodded and turned to tug Ivy into the kitchen to get a drink. They nearly ran right into his mom.

She clasped her hands tight and smiled bright. Too bright. She was clearly every bit as nervous as Kel. “Son,” she said quietly. “I’m so happy you came.”

Kel had gone still, showing no reaction at all. Unless you knew him. If you knew him, there was the slight tightness to his mouth and the purposefully blank eyes.

Ivy “accidentally” stepped on his foot.

He sucked in a breath, “Me too.”

Ivy removed her heel from the top of his toes and smiled at him.

His mom’s husband, Henry, came up beside her, sliding an arm around her, extending his other hand to Kel.

There was a terribly awkward beat of silence as they shook hands.

“Good to see you,” Henry said. He looked down into his wife’s beaming face and smiled. “Very good.”

Kel’s mom was barely holding it together, fighting tears of happiness, and Ivy ached for her. For Kel. For all of them.

Then Ethan was coming through, hushing everyone, turning off the lights. And a few minutes later, Remy walked in and they all yelled surprise.

Remy gasped and . . . burst into tears. “It’s the baby hormones!” she wailed, hugging everyone. She cried all over Kel, who seemed to handle it like he’d done the exact same thing a million times before, just holding her tight and whispering something in her ear that made her sniffle and nod and hug him even tighter.

When Remy had gotten herself together, she turned to Ivy and squeezed her in a tight hug as well. “Thanks for bringing him,” she said.

“Hey,” Kel said. “Maybe I came of my own accord.”

Remy laughed. “Okay, sure. But now that you’ve spent a few weeks back here in your old stomping ground, can we all hope that you’re falling for this city again? Yeah? Maybe?”

“I don’t know.” Kel glanced over at Ivy and at the look in his eyes, she stopped breathing. “But I can tell you this. There’s a lot of things about this place I am falling for.”





Chapter 21




This is what you came for



A few hours later, Ivy was outside, sitting on the low brick wall bordering Remy and Ethan’s small backyard. She was sky gazing when she felt Kel come up behind her. Nudging her hair out of his way, he pressed his mouth to the side of her throat.

Her eyes drifted shut, and she might have moaned.

He nibbled his way up to her ear, which he nipped, and her knees actually wobbled. Turning, she cupped his beautiful face in her hands and whispered, “If you want the same thing I do, then we’re in the wrong place.”

With a knowing smile, he shifted to sit next to her, his muscular thigh warm against hers.

Smiling, she voiced the question that had been bouncing around inside her head through a very rowdy dinner. “Are you seriously considering staying here in San Francisco?”

“Depends.”

She turned to him. There wasn’t much light, just a string of white lights crisscrossed from the four corners of the yard, but she could see his face and the way he was looking at her, like he was happy to see her, to be with her, and it made her breath catch. “Depends on what?”

“On a lot of things.”

“Name one,” she said.

He met her gaze. “You.”

She stopped breathing, but did her best to play that off because just the thought that she meant enough to influence his decision scared the crap out of her. “Seems like a lot of power to give one person.”

“Let me help inform your response,” he said. “At the moment, your opinion matters more than anyone else’s.”

“But that can’t be true. There’s Caleb, who’s like your brother. And—”

“I know what Caleb wants from me. What I don’t know is what you want.”

“But it’s your life, Kel.”

“Yeah,” he said. “And I realize it’s way early to say this, but I want you in it.”

“Why?” she whispered, not sure if she was ready to hear his answer.

“Because you’re important to me.”

She’d never had anyone tell her such a thing before. And she must’ve looked as discombobulated as she felt because he smiled. “I told you I have feelings for you,” he said, “but I didn’t tell you why. You’re the most unique woman I’ve ever known.”

At that, she had to let out a little laugh. “I’m not sure unique’s a compliment—”

“To me, it’s the highest compliment,” he said. “It means you’re different, and I like different. You’re also tough, sharp as hell, and a huge smartass.”