And that was the thing about Kylie. She wasn't looking for a hero. Guys like Joe were used to women looking for them to solve all their problems, but Kylie wasn't like that. She was out there doing the work, trying to solve it herself. And hell if that didn't draw him in.
As did their explosive chemistry.
It made no sense. She was a huge contrast to the rest of his life. She created beauty with her hands and assumed the best about people. He'd been torn between annoyance over that and something that was just about the opposite of annoyance . . .
"It's a girl, right?" his dad said. "Christ, tell me it's a girl. Ted's son left his wife for some guy that wears eyeliner and nail polish. Don't know what the fuck this world is coming to."
Ed had been in his dad's unit. He was in a long-term care facility and had been since they'd both gotten back to stateside, but they kept in touch via texts. "There's nothing wrong with Kelly coming out as gay," Joe said.
"Well, Ed, asked for it, giving his boy a sissy name like Kelly."
Joe checked the lock on the window just for something to do rather than react to his dad's words. The doctor had told Joe on numerous occasions that his dad was angry at everyone equally, which meant he was an equal opportunity bigot. Not that this made it any easier to take. "Things are different now, Dad. Gender and orientation are fluid."
"So you wouldn't care if I started wearing makeup? Or got a boyfriend?"
"Not in the least," Joe said. "Mostly because I'm assuming you'd have to get way nicer to catch a man in the first place."
His dad surprised him by laughing. He was still laughing when he turned over in bed and gave Joe his back.
Joe left and drove through the city to Kylie's building. He knocked on her door and felt her looking at him through the peephole. He expected her to still be pissed at how he'd left her after Gib had showed up, so he was surprised when she spoke first.
"You over yourself?" she asked through the door.
He lifted a shoulder. "Pretty much."
"Good." She opened the door and that was that. No passive-aggressive retorts, no pouting, no nothing.
He'd never met a woman like her.
Ever.
He took in her appearance and went brows up. She was wearing a blond wig tonight, huge dark sunglasses, and a trench coat.
"Tell me you're butt-ass naked beneath that trench coat," he said. "It'd really turn my day around."
She crossed her arms. "I'm in costume!"
"I can see that," he said. "Slutty nurse? Oh please God, be the slutty nurse."
"Are you serious right now? I'm dressed in disguise so I can go to Eric Hansen's show and not be recognized."
Joe couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. And he couldn't stop either.
She narrowed her eyes at him and he tried to get it together. "Ah, shit," he said, swiping his eyes. "I needed this after the fubar day I've had."
"I'm not trying to amuse you," she said in her pissy voice. "I'm going into the gallery as a secret shopper."
"Kylie," he said, doing his best not to laugh again. He wasn't sure she wouldn't slug him. "I'm going in as a normal person."
"But you're not normal."
"Okay, smartass," he said. "I just want to look around and if I can talk to Eric."
"Fine. Then what's my part?"
"Part?" he asked.
"My motivation. Actors need motivation."
He looked her over from head to toe and had to shake his head to clear the heat. "Your motivation is going to be keeping me from getting into that coat to see what you're wearing beneath."
Her mouth went a little slack, as if maybe she was imaging the ways he might coax her out of that coat. Yeah, he thought. Go there, Kylie. Think about it. Picture it. It just might put them in the same boat.
But as fast as it'd come, her dazed expression cleared. She tightened the coat around her. "Is your mind always in the gutter?"
"Always," he said, and steered her to his truck. "You might want to remember that."
Thirty minutes later, they had a new problem. They were stymied by the fact that the showing was a ticketed event, sold out, and no amount of cajoling at the front entrance could get them inside. Joe was prepared to sneak them in through the back, but one look at the fancy-ass party being thrown inside told him they weren't dressed to sneak in. Plus he hated champagne and fancy froufrou food.
They'd just have to wait until the thing was over. To waste some time, he went through a drive-thru for Kylie, whose stomach he could hear rumbling in protest of the lack of food, and then he parked in back, where he eyed Eric's vehicle.
"What are we doing back here?" Kylie asked, inhaling her French fries.
"Stakeout."
She nodded. "How long do we wait?"
"Long as it takes," he said distractedly because she was sucking the salt off her thumb.
Then she sucked on the straw to her soda and he nearly had a brain aneurism.
"What's the longest you've had to wait?" she asked.
He met her gaze with some difficulty. The woman had the most gorgeous mouth he'd ever seen.
"Well?" she demanded, cracking through the lust and making him smile. She was impatient as hell. What is the longest I've had to wait? Well, let's see . . . he'd waited an entire year before getting his mouth on hers, but he was pretty sure that was way too revealing, not to mention not what she'd meant. "It won't be much longer."
"What if we miss him back here?"
"We won't. That's his car," he said, pointing to the Tesla Roadster on the corner. "He's not going anywhere without us knowing about it."
She slid him a look. "And as a bonus, by waiting back here you don't have to put on a suit."
He went brows up.
"Molly told me you hate to wear suits. That your idea of dressing up is tucking in your T-shirt." She smiled. "Molly's pretty funny."
"Molly has a big mouth," he said.
"Molly's amazing."
True story. Molly was amazing. Didn't mean he wanted his baby sister giving away his secrets. "What else did she say about me?" he asked.
"That heroes don't wear capes, they wear dog tags and camo, and that you and your dad are her heroes."
Ah, hell. "I'm no one's hero, Kylie."
Their gazes met and then hers dropped to his mouth. Great minds, he thought as she shifted closer in that sexy blond wig and the trench coat that was still fucking with his mind. He had his arm along the back of her seat and let his fingers stroke the soft skin at the nape of her neck.
She shivered and her eyes darkened, and that was all the invite he needed. He lowered his head to hers and-
She jumped back like she'd been stung by a bee. "Oh!" she said. "I almost forgot." She dove into her huge purse and came up with two penknives.
"I'm already armed," he said.
"What?" She blinked. "No, I'm going to teach you how to carve." She paused. "Wait. You're armed?"
"Yes."
"Are you always armed?"
"On the job, yeah."
She looked him over, her gaze slowing in certain spots that had him getting a little heated. "Where?"
"Kylie-"
She shook her head a little. "Never mind. Don't tell me. Carve. We're going to carve."
"Why?"
"So you can understand why I want my grandpa's penguin back." She then proceeded to pull two small blocks of wood from her bag.
"How much shit does that bag hold?" he asked in marvel.
"A lot, and that's the point of it." She also came up with a bag of chocolate kisses, grinning in triumph. "Dessert!"
He wasn't much of a dessert guy but she looked so pleased with herself. The chocolate went down sweet and so did the way she so carefully showed him how to hold the wood and how to carve. He opened his mouth to tell her he didn't have the patience for art but she bent over him, her brow furrowed in cute, bossy teacher mode. The long blond wig strands swept across his forearms and he forgot what he was going to say. He followed her instructions and they carved.
It was nearly impossible to make anything except notches in the wood but he did his best. After a few minutes, Kylie lifted her face to his, their mouths only an inch apart, hers smiling. "Wow," she said. "You're really bad at this."
No doubt. And something else he was-hard and getting harder by the moment. It was unbelievable to him just how uncontrolled he was around her. He had no excuse for it, but he was damned tired of fighting it. So he hauled her into his lap so that she straddled him, cupped her sweet ass in his hands, and kissed her until it was him letting out a groan for more, him sweating because he wanted her more than he could remember ever wanting anything, him actually losing his ability to keep vigilant and aware of his surroundings.
He stopped only when she put a hand on his chest and pulled back.
"Don't you need to keep a lookout?" she asked, as if she hadn't just completely rocked his world into next week.