The Feel Good Factor(15)

Gabe lifts his chin. “I can do it, Mrs. Keating.” He glances at Shaw. “Watch how it’s done.” Gabe takes a deep breath. “I miss my friend.”

Mom smiles, satisfied, gesturing to Gabe, then Shaw. “See?”

Shaw chews then huffs. “Fine, Mom. I miss the guy. But there’s a new guy who took his place, and he’s cool, so it’ll be fine.”

Mom smiles. “It’s always nice to make new friends.”

“Yes,” I chime in, “isn’t it wonderful after all this time that Shaw is finally playing well with the other boys?”

Mom stares at me. “Are you being sassy, missy?”

“Hmm. Am I?” I pretend to think about it. “Definitely,” I answer.

“And is sass the way to win a promotion?” Mom counters.

“I’m not sassy with the chief,” I say sheepishly.

“Then don’t be sassy with me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Arden grabs the conversational steering wheel. “Speaking of, what do you think about the new promotion that Perri’s up for, Mr. and Mrs. Keating? I’m so excited about the possibility.”

I cross my fingers. “Let’s hope it happens. I want it so badly.”

“All you have to do is be the friendly face of the department, keep up your impeccable record at busting scofflaws, and oh, what’s the last one?” Arden asks playfully.

Vanessa waggles her arms excitedly. “Oh, I know, I know! Call on me, please!”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously, guys?”

Arden points to Vanessa. “You want to do the honors?”

Dad sets down his burger, his hazel eyes curious. “This I’d like to hear.”

“Me too,” Mom says. “What’s going on now?”

Vanessa points animatedly at me. “Her boss wants her to enter a kissing contest.”

Dad arches a brow. “That one in Whiskey Hollows?”

“Oh my God, is everyone doing this contest?” I ask.

Mom gives Dad a flirty look, and I drop my forehead into my palm. “Please, dear God, please oh please tell me my parents aren’t doing the contest.”

But when I look up, they’re already lip-locked. He’s leaned next to her and is planting a big fat kiss on her lips.

Gabe whistles while Arden cheers and Shaw shouts, “Get a room.”

They break apart, and Mom bats her lashes. “We’ve still got it.”

“And I’m still going to need therapy,” I tease.

“Oh, please. I’ve always believed the best example that parents can set is to show appropriate physical affection in front of their children. Now, who’s your kissing partner? Also, don’t even think you can beat us in the seniors category.”

I crack up. “You’re right, Mom. I can’t best you there.”

She squeezes my dad’s arm then turns her focus back to me. “So, who is he? Have you met someone? Is there a new guy?”

“Please. I have no time for dating or relationships,” I say, though the truth is a little sadder. Men don’t ask me out much. It’s a power thing. Being a cop can intimidate people, so my dating life has been woefully limited to men I’ve met online, and I’ve simply never found a meaningful connection there. I affect my best carefree smile. “But who needs a relationship? I only need a kissing partner for the contest. I’m helping raise money for first responders.”

I flash back over the early afternoon kiss at the waffle truck. The shake-the-earth, rock-me-to-my-core, turn-me-inside-out-with-pleasure kiss. The can-it-please-be-Thursday-so-I-can-sneak-off-and-do-it-again kiss. A fresh wave of sensation curls through my body, warming me up. I try to shuck it off, since I do not need to get retroactively aroused at the dinner table. But damn, that man can kiss like a rock star. And I bet that man can do everything in bed like a rock star too.

“And you have a kissing partner,” Arden says, suggestively.

“She totally found someone to enter with,” Vanessa seconds.

Shaw laughs as he takes another bite of his burger, chuckling at me. “This I’m dying to know. I thought you were basically undatable, sis.”

I give him a sneer and a kick under the table. In the shin. He cringes, but quickly rearranges his features into his best stoic face.

Dad tsks. “Perri, do you really have to do that?”

I shrug, like the innocent I am. “Do what?”

“I know you kicked your brother under the table.”

“Can you blame me? Would you actually prosecute that, considering the mitigating circumstances—those being that Shaw is acting just like Shaw?”

Dad laughs. “Son, behave. Can you do that for me?”

Shaw sighs heavily, like it takes a ton of effort. “I don’t know that I ever have. Should I really start now?”

“You know what they say, Mr. Keating,” Gabe chimes in. “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and Shaw is most definitely an old dog.”

Shaw barks, then he turns to me. “Anyway, you haven’t dated anybody in the longest time. Do you have a secret lover? A brand-new beau? A hot new piece of man meat on the side?”

My mother heaves the most dramatic sigh in the universe.

Shaw holds up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, Mom.”