And the time of your adult life.
That, too. She wondered if Landon had taken her seriously. If he'd really made a list. She had started one. There were three things on it. And they weren't all that adventurous.
A flash of movement to her right caught her eye and she turned her head. Landon turned his palm up and watched her, head propped on his other arm, one eyebrow raised over the rim of his glasses.
She shifted and laid her arm over the couch before resting her palm in his. Holding her hand, he turned his attention to the screen and they sat that way the rest of the movie. Occasionally, he would rearrange their fingers or rub her thumb with his, but he never let go. Once, he looked over and she met his heated gaze, saw in it the promises of things to come. The heat transferred from his body to hers, causing her palm to grow damp.
The movie credits rolled and he lifted a snoozing Lyon off the couch and murmured he was going to tuck him in. "Meet you in your room," he'd whispered before vanishing into his nephew's bedroom, Lyon in his arms.
That left her to walk to her room alone, contemplating her "fun-night stand" along the way. Heated kisses, the slide of sheets against their nude bodies. She shuddered and closed her door. Then stared at it, chewing her lip. She hadn't taken this gig to get laid. Hadn't, in her wildest imaginings thought for one deluded second Landon would agree to sleep with her. If she'd known then what she knew now, would she still have said yes?
More than once, she thought wryly.
But sex with Landon was about more than sacking a hot guy. Being with him would be a dream come true, a fantasy sixteen years in the making, a night of-
Gloria's scolding face popped into Kimber's psyche, and her brain registered a warning.
Oh. Right.
The point was not to make this into more than what it was. The point was to prove to herself once and for all she could have a fling. She didn't have to turn every relationship into potential matrimony. She could love 'em and leave 'em with the best of them.
Kimber chewed on a fingernail. This was ridiculous. She was as skilled at not getting attached as she was at knife-throwing. In other words: not at all.
Time to turn that around then.
She'd never find a husband if she kept smothering the life out of her dates. If she kept caging them into her world and not letting them breathe. A small part of her started to argue that she wasn't quite the Black Widow she'd just accused herself of being, but she shut down her defenses. She had to get out of this rut. And it was a deep rut. One mired with mud, and desperation, and the bones of her past relationships.
Tired of staring at the door like a desperate dog waiting on its owner to return, she went to the bathroom and fussed with her hair. She brushed her teeth again, checked her toenail polish, swept powder over her nose. She sat on the bed. Then laid on it. Then got up and remade it so that there were no wrinkles on the duvet.
She frowned at the door, then at herself, for waiting around like a good little maiden. Either Lyon was awake and being a bear, or Landon was taking his sweet time coming to her. Either way, she needed to find out what was going on outside of her room.
At the end of the hallway, both Landon's and Lyon's bedroom doors stood open, Lyon's nightlight glowing in the darkness. She was headed that way when voices echoed down the bisecting corridor, coming from the direction of the kitchen. She recognized Landon's low murmur immediately, and a secondary voice. A man's voice. Evan.
She hesitated, her face heating as she remembered the compromised conversation Evan had caught her in the middle of not so long ago. But since she was being brave and bold-ha!-she took a deep breath and entered the kitchen anyway.
Evan sat next to his son holding a crayon. Lyon swung his feet back and forth under the kitchen chair, filling in the spaces on a fresh coloring book.
Lyon looked up when she walked in. "Look, Kimber!" he shouted, no evidence he'd been out cold minutes ago, "Man of Steel coloring book!" He lifted the picture he was working on and showed her.
"Wow, does your dad know you, or what?" She cast an approving glance at Evan.
Evan winked at her. But not in a flirty way. In an I Know What You Did Last Summer way. She licked her lips nervously and flicked her attention to the island where Landon was leaning on his forearms.
"Did we wake you?" he asked. Oh, that dirty devil. He didn't smile, didn't waggle his eyebrows, but she could see the heat in his eyes, the slight twitch of his lips.
"I wasn't asleep," she answered as evenly as she was able.
He gave in and smiled, sending her pulse into a hectic rhythm. She bit down on her lip, studying the dip in his chin, the way his capable hands were folded neatly on the counter where he leaned. He may be trying to look casual, but she could see the rigidity in his spine. No, he was coiled. Ready to pounce. Ready to get the hell out of this kitchen.
A shiver climbed her spine but heated as it licked its way down. She pressed her thighs together to keep flames from gathering between her legs and setting her alight. The man could level her with a look. While she stood next to his unassuming brother and nephew.
Good Lord, Kimber, pull it together.
She was about to make an excuse about needing a bottle of water when Evan spoke.
"I'll just crash in Lyon's room." He addressed Landon, obviously picking up the conversation they'd been having before she interrupted.
"Are you staying tomorrow, too?" Landon kept leaning, his eyes trained on his brother. Somehow, though, she felt him watching her from his peripheral; knew he had a plan he was working out this very moment.
Evan colored part of Superman's boot orange and Lyon argued he was doing it wrong. He relinquished the orange crayon and accepted the red one. "I want to take Lyon to Navy Pier, but yeah, we'll be out of your place by morning. We'll get breakfast out, too." He nudged his son. "Chocolate chip pancakes okay?"
The boy's wide smile showcased his toothless gap. "Yeah!"
Her attack of lust faded as her insides turned to mush. She was going to miss this exuberant kid. Much more than she'd anticipated.
"I showed my new paintings to Gloria," Evan told her. She recalled her friend's earlier claim about how Evan was "hot with two Ts" and wondered if Glo had flirted with him. Probably. Glo was never one to hold back, and he was obviously a complete flirt.
"How did they turn out?"
"She loved them." His eyes held a guarded sparkle. Because Gloria appreciated his hard work? Or … something more? The way he'd said her name made Kimber think he and Glo might have discussed more than business … without clothing.
She felt a displaced stab of jealousy. She'd lost the opportunity to make love to Landon tonight. They might be able to sneak past Lyon, but Evan was another problem entirely.
"Glo has good taste," she said noncommittally.
Evan narrowed his eyes, his thick, dark lashes almost obscuring the blue. "So." He smirked. "What are you doing tonight?" The tone of his voice suggested he knew full well her intentions.
"I'm turning in," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "Just … came in to say good night." Yep. Just wandered down here to say good night to the Downey clan before returning to my lonely room. Alone. And by myself.
Landon stood from his casual lean against the countertop. "Lyon, how would you like to sleep in the bedroom with the giant bathtub?"
"Can I take a bath in it?"
Evan and Landon exchanged glances. "Up to your dad," Landon said, eyeing his brother intently.
"You mean the bedroom on the opposite side of the house." Evan pointed to the room beyond the kitchen. The only bedroom on that side of the house. "Instead of over there." He pointed in the other direction. "Where yours and Kimber's bedrooms are."
Her face grew warm with embarrassment.
Landon didn't balk. "Right."
Evan looked over at her and she swore she flushed twelve shades of red. They were arranging the sleeping situation around the fact that Landon and she were going to … going to …
Lord. She had to get out of this room. "Good night," she blurted.
" 'Night," Lyon said, not looking up from his coloring.
She knelt next to him before she went. "Don't forget to say good-bye to me in the morning, okay?" Lyon nodded and she kissed his cheek. He hugged her neck, and the feel of those small but strong arms made her chest tighten. She was going to miss this kid. Before her haphazard emotions got the better of her, she said a hurried good night to Evan, but didn't speak to Landon at all. He watched her silently, his face still and unreadable. Bravery gone, she ran for her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
The knock came fifteen minutes later.