Effortless (5 page)

Watching them, I tilted my head. If my sister had had her way
last year, the two of them would have ended up together and I’d be
walking up on a couple, instead of a couple of friends. As his lips
curved into a small smile while he spoke softly—his hair a
distractingly charming mess—I could easily picture them as the
gorgeous pairing they would have been.

Raising my chin, I inhaled a big breath. That wasn’t what
happened, though. He’d never touched her. My sister had no idea
what his lips felt like, what he tasted like, what his fingers felt
like, what he sounded like when he was making love. She’d never
heard him say I love you. But I had…repeatedly.

That confidence pushing aside my lingering insecurities, I
meandered into the kitchen. They both twisted to look at me when I
stepped into the small room. Kellan’s small smile for her turned
into a wide one for me, his deep eyes brightening.

He smiled down at me as I slung my arms around his waist.
“Mornin’, sleepy,” he breathed, kissing my head.

Exhaling contently, I buried my head in his neck. “Good
morning.”

My sister sighed. “God, you two are adorable.” Smacking my arm,
she rolled her eyes. “It’s annoying.”

I smiled, laughing a little. “Good morning, Anna. Late
night?”

Grinning devilishly, she bit her perfect, red lip and cocked an
eyebrow just as expertly as Kellan could. “Oh, yes.” Her finger
shifted between the two of us. “And I can guarantee you it wasn’t
as cutesy as your night.”

I flushed and looked away from her and she laughed, her voice
throaty and seductive in a way that mine never would be. Kellan
laughed with her, squeezing me tighter. “I wouldn’t say our night
was cute, Anna.”

I flashed my eyes up to Kellan and smacked his chest, my face
reddening even more. While Kellan’s and my love life might be a bit
tamer than he was used to, and my sister for that matter, I didn’t
need him chatting about it. Grinning down at me, he said nothing
further and I relaxed. Kellan wasn’t exactly an open book, and he
generally didn’t talk about his life much. Thankfully, that
included our sex life.

Anna snorted and I looked back at her. Her face in a playful
grin, she said, “I know.” She poked my shoulder. “I know how hot
you guys can get.” My jaw dropped and my face paled. She laughed
and jerked her thumb towards the hallway. “My bedroom is only one
room away from yours, Kiera.” Raising her eyebrows, she leaned in
and muttered, “Maybe the two of you could remember that in the
future?”

I covered my face with my hand and twisted into Kellan’s body.
God, sometimes I did forget. Being with Kellan could just be
so…consuming. Chuckling as he held me close, rubbing my back,
Kellan causally answered her. “We’ll try and keep that in mind,
Anna. Thanks.”

Laughing, Anna rubbed my shoulder. “I’m just teasing you, Kiera.
Go ahead and scream away, I don’t mind.” As I peeked at her from
between my fingers, I watched her eyes rake over Kellan’s body.
“Lord knows I would,” she murmured.

Kellan chuckled again, shaking his head before kissing mine
again. Winking at him, she patted my arm again. “Well, I’m off to
bed. I’m beat.”

Twisting away from us, she started sashaying back to her room.
The tight pants she had on emphasized the curve of her hips. Anna
was definitely beautiful and provocative. Sometimes it was hard to
live with her never-ending perfection, but she was family, and
she’d swooped into my life when I’d needed her the most. She’d
helped me get back on my feet when both men in my life had dumped
me. She’d helped me find a place to live when I’d had nowhere to
go. She’d helped me heal my shattered heart when I was sure I
couldn’t. She’d even helped Kellan and I get back together. No,
whatever her eccentricities, I loved her.

I was smiling and shaking my head at her when she tossed back,
“I’ll be out like a light if you guys want to go at it again?”

I sighed as Kellan laughed. Pulling back to look at him, I
smacked his chest again. “Would you stop encouraging her?” He
smiled, still chuckling and I sighed again. “I wish the two of you
had a better hobby than trying to embarrass me.”

Twisting me around to face him, he placed a tender kiss on my
forehead. “Well, you wouldn’t have to worry about it at my place.”
Rocking my hips back and forth, our bodies touching and retreating
enticingly, he added, “Maybe I’ll just embarrass you back to my
home?”

Raising an eyebrow, he grinned crookedly at me. I wanted to
smack him again, but that look was too damn sexy. I ended up
kissing him instead, which, of course, made him chuckle.

Kellan stayed with me all afternoon, helping me go over
everything and anything that had to do with school. I was starting
my last year soon. I had everything ready to go, all my classes
lined up, all my books purchased, but going over my plan helped me
to not feel so nervous about it.

I don’t know why I was still nervous about the first day of
school. You would think that after sixteen grades, I’d be used to
it by now, but I wasn’t. That first day of school phobia had even
made me delay starting college after high school.

My mom and dad had been furious about that, but I’d just been
too nervous to do it. My mom had been going through a small cancer
scare at the time, a small lump found that she’d had to have
removed. Even though they’d protested, I’d taken the opportunity to
stay home with her while she went through treatments. She hated me
missing school, but it worked out for me. I got to take care of her
and delay doing something that terrified my eighteen-year-old
self.

She was one hundred percent better long before the school year
was up, and begged me to quit wasting my time with her and enter
late. I’d already deferred for a year, though, so I took all the
time I could.

I may have delayed for another year, but eventually Anna had had
enough and had marched me down to the office after my year hiatus
and forced me to get registered at the school I’d already been
accepted to—Ohio University. And of course, once I was there I was
fine. It was getting through the door that was the hard part for
me. I was working on that too.

But I suppose my delay had ended up being a good thing. I
probably wouldn’t have met Denny if I hadn’t taken that year to
lounge around my parents’ place. And then, if I’d never met Denny,
I definitely wouldn’t have ever met Kellan. Even though I hated how
we started, how much we’d hurt Denny, who was an incredibly good
guy who really didn’t deserve everything we’d put him through, I
was still grateful that fate had led me to Seattle, to Kellan.

Kellan thought my nerves were cute. He didn’t seem to get
nervous about much of anything. He could probably walk into the
first day of school, thirty minutes late, completely naked, and be
absolutely fine. I smiled to myself as I reconsidered. No, people
and places may not affect him, but feelings did. Telling me that he
loved me for the first time had sure scared him, probably worse
than all of my first day jitters combined.

Well, it was nice to know that he wasn’t impervious to
nerves.

I was majoring in English this year, a fact that Kellan teased
me about. He seemed to think I’d be better suited for Psychology.
Personally, I think that was because he wanted me to take another
class like my Human Sexuality course last year. He was sort of
incorrigible when it came to the baser instincts. Not that I had
much room to talk, at least, not when it came to him. I just
couldn’t stop myself from wanting to be all over him whenever he
was near.

After a full day of helping me map out everything, right down to
which path I needed to walk through in the quad, it was finally
time for me to go to work.

Smiling as we walked through the apartment’s parking lot, I
started to grab the keys from his hand. “Can I drive?” I asked
playfully, walking backwards in front of him as I tried to jiggle
the keys out of the death-grip he had around them.

Scowling wonderfully, he shook his head and jerked his hand
away. “No, you cannot.”

Stopping and putting my hands on my hips as he walked past me, I
stuck my lip out. “Why not?”

He took two steps and then stopped and walked back to me. His
mouth was instantly sucking on my pouting lip. I was instantly no
longer pouting. Against my skin, he murmured, “Because…that is my
baby, and I don’t share her.” He growled that to me and my breath
quickened.

“I thought I was your baby,” I managed to squeak out.

Smiling, he grabbed my hips and pulled me into his. “You are.”
His lips returned to mine, his kiss deep, territorial almost. When
I felt that familiar fire starting to ignite, when I was ready to
yank off that bothersome t-shirt and glorify his body with my
tongue, he broke apart from me and breathed, “And I don’t share you
either.”

As my body was a delightful, gooey warmth of sensuality, I could
have melted right there into the sidewalk. He laughed and finished
pulling me to the car. I—quite happily—scooted into the passenger’s
side.

Still smiling over his declaration of possession, it wasn’t too
much later that we arrived at my second home here in Seattle. Well,
third truly. Kellan’s place will always feel like home to me. Even
with all of the bad memories that lingered there.

Parking in the stall that his Chevelle frequented so often that
it was unofficially known as “Kellan’s Spot,” he shut off his
mechanical baby. If only he could turn me off so easily. I still
felt a little worked up. Not the best way to start my shift, and
that was probably the real reason why Kellan had done it. He may
call me a tease, but that boy enjoyed making me squirm.

I stepped out of his car right as he walked around to open my
door. He frowned that I hadn’t waited, then he held his hand out
for me. I took it, like I always did, and we walked hand-in-hand to
the large, rectangular building where Kellan found peace.

While Pete’s was comforting and familiar to me, it was sort of
solace for Kellan. He came here to play, to get away, to socialize,
to, at one time, pick up girls, and I think to shut off his mind
for a while. I’d disrupted that peace for him when I was working
here while we’d been suffering through figuring out our
relationship, but the serenity was back now and the lazy smile that
curled around his lips as we stepped through the door clearly
showed that.

Holding one set of the double doors open for me, he gallantly
led me in, kissing my hand as it extended away from him. He
generally did something physical when we walked through the door.
Sometimes it was a peck on the cheek, sometimes his hand snuck
around my waist, but there was always something. Some sort of
announcement to the room—
I was his
.

He’d wanted that when our relationship was secret, and now that
it wasn’t, he let everybody know it. Including the sulking
bartender who was watching us.

Rita had been here since Kellan first arrived, when he’d come
back from L.A. She’d had her sights set on him immediately and,
husband-be-damned, sometime in the past few years, she’d
successfully had him. It made me a little nauseous. She was at
least twice his age, over-tanned leathery skin, over-bleached
blonde hair, and a sense of fashion that left nothing to the
imagination. I’d never asked Kellan about their hookup. Honestly, I
didn’t want to know…ever.

Her lips twisted up when Kellan shifted his head to acknowledge
her. All he gave her was a slight incline of a greeting, but you’d
think he’d just walked up and licked her by her reaction. All
sultry smiles and hooded eyes that were, I’m sure, mentally
undressing him, she leaned over the aged bar that ran the length of
the wall beside the front doors.

Practically purring, she murmured, “Hey there, Kellan…Kiera.” My
name was clearly an afterthought.

I smirked at her and twisted to face Kellan. “I have to go put
my stuff away. Usual?”

I tilted my head and he ran a finger back through my hair,
tucking a lock behind my ear as he bit his lip. It was charmingly
attractive. “Yeah, thanks, Kiera.”

Smiling at him, I leaned up to kiss his cheek. Not satisfied
with a peck, he twisted and found my lips. My face heated, knowing
Rita, and a good portion of the rest of the room, was staring, but
I let myself indulge in a small moment of PDA. I immediately
stopped the moment when I felt his free hand come around to squeeze
my backside. Kellan didn’t always do subtle PDA.

Pushing his shoulder back, I pointed at him in warning.
Laughing, he shrugged and gave me an
I’m innocent
smile.
It was a complete and total lie, he was nothing near innocent, but
it was adorable and I rolled my eyes and laughed as I turned away
from him.

As I made my way to the hallway, I passed about five sets of
tables that all had their eyes glued on where we’d been by the bar.
The women at those tables alternated between him and me as he made
his way to the far back corner of the room near the stage where the
guys traditionally sat. I could feel myself being appraised with
every step I took. Self conscious, I kept my head down and walked a
little faster.  It was one thing for him to be admired by so
many people, it was quite another to be judged if you were worthy
of him or not. And by the leers and twisted lips I saw, it was
clear I was falling short of their expectations. Again, I tried to
not let it bother me, but the ego is a frail, tender thing.