Luck of the Draw (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 1) (28 page)

She turned as one with the can of insecticide and Jim reacted as anyone would
—faced with a phobic woman armed with poison—he swung his arm to knock the can from her hands before she could do him any harm. It was only dumb luck he angered the stinging insect in the process.

“
Sh—!”
Jim cut himself short as he slapped dead the cause of his sudden pain. The can clattered to the floor, Kate squealed again and Liam stared at the whole spectacle from the doorway in avid, wide-eyed excitement.

“Oh
migod! Did you get stung? You got stung! Where’s the bug spray? I’ll get it.” Kate was already re-arming herself as Jim shook off the surprise of getting stung—on the upper lip, no less.

“It’s dead, Kate. I killed it. Save the spray, and I’ll take care of the nest after dark.”

“You’d do that?”

“Yeah. Though if you’ve got any ice, I wouldn’t mind. My lip is going numb.”

“Oh, no. Is that where it got you? I can’t believe all the bees around here.”

“Technically that was a hornet.”

He would have shrugged off her concern except she was even now touching his face with the lightest brush of her fingertips. They were soft and tender and took his mind off being nearly blinded with bug killer and taking a hit in the process. “Here,” he said, pointing to his upper lip.

“Mommy, kiss it! Her make it better!” Liam suggested helpfully.

“True. You could kiss it and make it better,” He teased.

Kate stared at his lips. “I, ah...”

“I wouldn’t refuse.”

“I, um...”

“Mommy, he hurt!” cried Liam.

“It’s okay, Bud. I think your mommy’s not sure it will help.”

“It will!”

“It really does hurt.” Like a son-of-a-bitch, but he wasn’t going to make a big deal of it. She looked miserable.

Which was about how he felt.

“Mom!” Liam all but yelled.

If he weren’t in so much discomfort, he would have found Liam’s concern for his welfare amusing.

Giving in to Liam’s insistence, Kate leaned toward Jim, her apology in her eyes, and brushed her lips over his.

“That’s not where it hurts,” he whispered against her lips.

He had to fight a laugh as her eyes shot open. “It’s not?”

“
Uh-uh.
You have to go deeper to reach the hurt spot.” He had no idea what made him tease her this way. But with her lips so close, her eyes so blue... he knew how good she’d taste. What harm was in a kiss?

She bit her lip. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You wouldn’t.” Then he realized, too late, she wasn’t talking about the hornet sting anymore.

“I already have,” she whispered miserably as she pulled away.

“Don’t.” He grabbed her elbow before she could retreat entirely. “I’m a big boy, Kate. I don’t need you to protect me.” His lips tilted. “I think I can handle a kiss. Bug spray in the eye, that’s another story.”

Her lips curved, the tension sighing out of her body. Her skin was warm under his fingers. Soft. He fought the urge to rub his thumb over it. He couldn’t think of a reason to keep holding her arm, so he reluctantly let it go and went to inspect the scene of the crime. Two black and yellow hornets lay on the floor in pools of insecticide. Poor devils.

“I don’t like bees,” she said.

“Hornets, actually,” he mumbled, trying to see... oh, yeah, just outside the window. He could take it out after dark. He stepped back and turned toward Kate again. “And I’m not feeling too warm and fuzzy toward them either.” At least that’s what he tried to say. It came out more like
I’m naw feewing too wam an futhy towar them eitha.

“Oh
God, are you swelling?” Kate touched his lip gingerly, staring at his mouth in a clinical, non-sensual way. He much preferred the look she’d given him a few moments before. “Are you allergic? Let me get you some antihistamine just the same. Are you feeling okay? Light-headed? Do you think we should take you to the ER?”

He shook his head and touched his lip, surprised at how
tender it had grown in such a short time. But he’d never had a reaction to any sting before. He’d never been stung in the face before, either.

She chewed her own sweetly full lip and shooed Liam out the door ahead of them. “Come with me. Before it gets any worse.”

Before long, he found himself on the couch clutching a bag of ice to his face. Kate brought him a bottle of antihistamine and a glass of water. “It says one to two every four hours.” She peered worriedly over the top of the bottle at him. “Better take two.”

He took the little pink pills, washed them down, and handed back the glass. “Bedda in no time,” he predicted. Half his face felt numb and
a bit stiff. He attempted a smile with the other half.

Liam sidled up beside him and peered intently at his face with all the subtlety of a three year-old. “Mommy’s kiss not work?”

Despite his condition, Jim laughed and ruffled Liam’s hair. “She ca thwy agin waher,” he suggested, giving Kate what he hoped was a friendly, albeit suggestive, leer.

Kate shook her head. “Incorrigible,” she murmured, although Jim saw her eyes crinkle with humor.

“What’s incorrbigible?” Liam wanted to know.

“Unable to be corrbidged,” Kate replied. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make fun of you.”

“I wath twyin to hep,” Jim said hoping for brownie points for being cutely pathetic. “Oh! Almoth forgot. Pitha on the porth.”

Kate stared at him blankly for a few moments before comprehension dawned.

He rested his head on the bank of the couch and closed his eyes. Not being a hero was tough on a guy.

“Y
OU ALIVE?”

Jim blinked at the face peering over the back of the couch and wrestled himself into a sitting position. The room was dim, the windows dark beyond the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

“He’s alive!”

How long had that antihistamine knocked him out for? A decade?
Jim yawned widely. “I’m what?”

“Liam, hush! Jim’s resting.” Kate hurried down the stairs, grabbed her son, and told him he needed to go brush teeth before Jim could ask again what the kid had said. “I’m sorry. I was on the phone or I would have kept him out of here. Was he bothering you?”

“No.” Jim yawned again. “No. He—” He shook his head to clear away the cobwebs, ran a hand over his face. “How long was I out?”

“A couple hours.”

“A couple—?” He peered at his watch. “Those little pills pack a big wallop, don’t they?”

“The good news is
—the swelling’s gone.”

He touched his lip tentatively. “You’re right.” He tested a half smile. “Guess that kiss did the trick after all.”

Kate’s cheeks grew pink as she perched on the end of the sofa. She picked at the fringe on an afghan that lay over the back of the couch.

He ran another hand over his face and swung his legs to the floor. “I can’t believe I fell asleep on your couch.”

“It’s okay. You were injured in the line of duty. Now that you’re awake, would you like some pizza?”

“Pizza? Oh, yeah. Sure.”

“I’ll get it started then I’ve got to get Liam to bed. He was waiting for you to wake up. He’s been worried about you.”

Jim turned toward Liam’s giant eyes. The kid hadn’t even been gone long enough to wet his toothbrush, but his concern was touching nonetheless. “I’m okay, Bud. Takes more than a hornet and a couple pink pills to keep me down.”

“You just like Snow White,” Liam said gravely.

“Snow White, eh?”

“He likes the dwarves,” Kate said.

Jim pushed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how much I’m like Snow White. I got knocked out, but a kiss didn’t wake me, now did it?”

“Yes, it did!” Liam said.

Confused, Jim looked to Kate for clarification.

She stood abruptly, her cheeks blazing. “I’ll get that pizza warming,” she said before shooing Liam out of the room to get into his pajamas.

Jim watched her retreat, a not unpleasant heat warming his own cheeks. Had Liam said what he thought he said?

Shaking off the residual grogginess, Jim went in search of the can of bug spray and a certain hornet’s nest he had a score to settle with.

By the time he was done, Kate had Liam down for the night.  They met in the living room.

“I didn’t know if you’d want any, but I made some tea,” she said.

A plate and mug waited for Jim on the coffee table.  “Sounds great. The hornet’s nest is taken care of.”

“Thank you.” Kate tucked her hair behind her ear, something she always seemed to do when she was uncertain. Funny how he already knew that about her.

“Hey, it’s the least I could do for passing out on your couch for two hours.” He sat down by the plate she’d set for him.

“It’s fine.” She sat down, too, and curled her feet under her on the opposite side of the couch, a mug of her own in hand. “Would you mind if I turned on the TV?”

“Go ahead.” He picked up his pizza for a bite. It felt strange, but pleasantly domestic, to be eating and watching TV with Kate. Nice. “Anything good on?”

She glanced at the clock over the fireplace. “Nine o’clock? I’ll see.” She made a face. “Some cops show. A documentary...” She flipped the channel again. “Oh!
Happily Ever After.
Do you mind?”

A smiling bachelor and a dozen glamorous women flashed by in the opening scenes of the popular reality matchmaking show.

Jim looked at her. “Seriously? This is what you want to watch?”

“You don’t?”

“Never seen it, to be honest, though Grams and Carter watch it religiously.”

“They do?”

He took another bite of pizza. “He watches for all the good-looking women, and she’s a hopeless romantic. Question is: why do you like it?”

“Who says I do?” she hedged.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Please. Liam’s in bed in under ten minutes flat? If you didn’t feel guilt-ridden to feed me, I’m guessing I’d be out the door, too.”

Her cheeks grew rosy as she sipped her tea. “Okay. Fine. I like it. I’m allowed one vice, aren’t I?”

He chuckled. “As vices go, I think it ranks pretty low. Still, I don’t see the draw. It’s not like you’re watching for the women unless you’ve forgotten to tell me something.”

She smiled shyly and shook her head, pulled her knees to her chest. “I don’t know. I guess I enjoy watching the dance of it all, you know? The thrill of getting to know someone new… the first time they say ‘I love you.’ I figure I can experience it vicariously through them.” She gave a little shrug. “Pathetic, huh?”

“No. Surprising.”

“I don’t see why. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to happen to me again. I’ve had my chance. So, now I watch other people fall in love.”

“You think that’s what’s going on? Who could possibly fall in love in such a short time?”

“You don’t believe it could happen?”

He shook his head. “The words are easy to say. Actually feeling it? I don’t buy it.”

Her head tilted. “You’re awfully young to be so jaded.”

“And you’re awfully young to feel your chances are all used up.”

She went silent, then, drank her tea.

“I’m not being jaded,” he said, not knowing why he felt the need to elaborate, but feeling a need to explain nonetheless, “just realistic. I’ve been in relationships that lasted a whole lot longer than a spring TV series, and I can say from experience, it’s easy to say the words. Meaning them is something entirely different.”

She muted the TV and set the remote between them. “When did you know you meant them?”

He chewed his pizza thoughtfully, knowing he was on the spot, then shrugged. “I don’t know if I ever did.”

She nodded. They silently stared at the characters on the screen for a few minutes.

“The thing is,” he found himself saying, “she said it first and it was just automatic to say it back. I didn’t give it much thought.” He let out a sigh. “They seem meaningless now. I don’t know if I could say them again.”

Kate frowned, her knees held tight to her chest, as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. “I don’t remember who said it first with Randy and me. After a while, he never said the words. It was always, ‘you know I love you,’ which
—now that I think about it—isn’t the same at all.”

She shrugged and dropped her feet to the floor. “Any surprise I like to lose myself in the non-reality of a reality show? Sometimes reality is
too
real.”

“There’s honesty for you.”

Her lips tilted wryly. “I suppose so.” He watched as she let out a long, soft exhale and turned to him. “So, speaking of honesty, tell me... what are you doing? Here, I mean.”

“Watching TV.”

“Honestly?”

He set his plate on the coffee table. “Honestly? I haven’t a clue. Maybe I’m hoping to get lucky again.” At her shocked expression, he continued. “Can you blame me?”