And Then He Kissed Me Read online

  “It’s good to see you,” Kieran said slowly, his voice low enough so that Audrey swore she could feel the reverberations of it on her skin. “But we certainly can’t work together. I’m going to have to ask you to leave this position.”

  A roar started in Audrey’s ears. She reached out to the motorcycle to steady herself.

  Kieran Callaghan was not going to storm back into her life just so she could lose two jobs in two weeks. She was not going to just accept her pink slip and march out of here like the good girl everyone expected her to be. She was wearing eyeliner and stilettos, for crying out loud.

  Kieran might be inside this dealership looking altogether different, but, by God, so was she.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Audrey said. She straightened on the back of the motorcycle. “I don’t care what your job is here. Do whatever you want. But this? Right here? Is my job.”

  She marveled at the words coming out of her mouth. As if she spoke this way to people in authority all the time.

  “Audrey, listen—”

  “No, you listen. I don’t know who you think you are, but you’d better back off. Or there is going to be some serious trouble.”

  Kieran’s eyes flashed. “Are you threatening me?”

  He leaned in farther, and Audrey’s blood pounded. His strong jaw, his high cheekbones, his warm skin—it was all mere inches away. Some deep, reckless part inside wanted to throw herself against him, inhaling his scent and putting her lips on his like she had five years ago. Instead, she channeled her energy and looked him square in the eye.

  “Why don’t you find out? Asshole.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kieran Callaghan tried to focus on the fact that he’d just been called an asshole in his own showroom—twice—rather than admit to the overwhelming emotions that came with seeing Audrey Tanner again after all these years. He steeled himself against the searing heat flaming every one of his nerve endings. He forced himself to relax, to play it cool. He hadn’t anticipated running into her here, of all places, but that didn’t mean they had to be near each other for very much longer.

  The back of his throat tightened, the way it always did when he was gambling and on the verge of either a crushing loss or an enormous win. He gave her the same easy smile he used to give the other card sharks around the green felt table, and ignored his churning insides.

  I have to get her out of here, he thought, fighting the pull toward her. Good Christian mother of Mary, the woman looked like she’d just popped off the pages of a magazine—and not the kind they kept in doctors’ waiting rooms. Back in the day, he’d been unbearably turned on when she wore running shorts and a tank top. Now that she was clad in leather and tight jeans, he worried his hands might reach for her before his brain could tell them not to.

  “I’m not sure you understand,” he said, summoning every ounce of professionalism he had, “but this isn’t a negotiation.”

  “Then it’s a war,” Audrey shot back. “Because you cannot fire me.” Her brown eyes, normally warm and welcoming, were flinty with irritation and anger. She placed a hand on the lean space where her hip met her waist. He tried not to stare, tried not to imagine his own fingers on that curve, moving slowly upward to—

  “I am talking to you.” Her voice was tight with emotion. The sound of it echoed in the high-ceilinged showroom—a gunshot in what was supposed to be an oasis—and a few customers turned to stare.

  Kieran arched a brow, letting that be his only reaction. He didn’t want customers suspecting that anything was amiss. But underneath his leather jacket, his whole body was a jumble of nerves. He was going to have to get her off that motorcycle and into a space where they could talk.

  That is, if he could get control over himself long enough to get more than a handful of words out. Because seeing Audrey again was like being hurdled from a warm, dry room into a freezing hailstorm. It was shocking, jarring, and more painful than he’d like to admit. Emotions from the past pummeled him—guilt, affection, remorse.

  Five years ago, he’d ridden a Harley into White Pine during its annual Asparagus Festival, fallen head-over-heels for Audrey, and then left after two weeks.

  Since then, he’d worked hard to forget her, building a life for himself and letting five years of new experiences fill the space in his mind that she’d once occupied. He assumed he’d succeeded.

  The tightening in his chest at the sight of her was telling him otherwise. Audrey might look completely different, but her effect on him was exactly the same as he remembered.

  The only difference was that now he wasn’t a wild and reckless rider tearing up the open road and doubling down every chance he could. That was a lifetime ago, which meant that no matter what feelings were bubbling to the surface, he couldn’t let Audrey’s nearness affect him. He was a professional, dammit. And this was his showroom. No one called the shots in here but him.

  He was in the process of telling her to leave again when his eyes landed on the top of her bustier, and his words got lost somewhere between his brain and his mouth. Her breasts were practically sculpted over the top of the leather, forming twin mounds that had lust rolling through him in hot waves.

  “Up here, Callaghan,” Audrey said, pointing to her face.

  His eyes snapped to hers. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a professional manager, for crying out loud, not some horny teenager. “Get off the hog, and let’s go talk,” he said, trying to regain control of the situation.

  “No. You have no right.”

  “As this dealership’s advancement director, I sure as hell do.” His tone was icy, clinical. Underneath the bustier, she stiffened.

  “What’s an advancement director?”

  “I make sure new Harley-Davidson dealerships get up and running right.”

  “This one seems fine.”

  Her beautiful mouth, small and bow-shaped, was knotted tightly.

  He’d never seen her mouth in such a state. When they were together, she’d used her mouth to smile, or to kiss him so eagerly he thought he’d snap from the desire between them. He was long gone by the time she’d frowned that deeply, he supposed.

  Dammit, he should have expected to see her again instead of assuming he could avoid her. He should have planned better, strategized more. He could practically hear Lorne laughing at him for his stupidity. “You fuckin’ blockhead,” his boss would say, smacking him on the back of his head. And then he’d guffaw until Kieran was laughing, too, unable to help himself.

  “You think this is funny?” Audrey demanded. “You think it’s hilarious to come in here and threaten someone’s job?”

  “You already have a job,” Kieran answered, instantly refocusing. “You’re a gym teacher. You shouldn’t be here.”

  Audrey’s face paled. “That—that’s not the case anymore. I work here now.”

  The news surprised him; the broken note in her voice disarmed him. But he pushed past it. “Not for much longer you don’t. Get off the hog and follow me, or I’ll call security.”

  “No.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  He was reaching into his back pocket for his cell phone when she thrust her hand forward to stay his. The feel of her fingers on his skin had him seeing dark spots in his peripheral vision.

  “Wait.”

  He didn’t dare meet her gaze again. Instead, he stared at her fingers, at the short, trimmed nails that were so plain and practical in contrast to the rest of her. They were still a gym teacher’s nails, he thought, wondering what in the world had happened to Audrey to make her shimmy into tight clothes and sit on a motorcycle for pay.

  “I can’t,” Audrey whispered, leaning closer to him. Her scent reached him—fresh detergent and a hint of vanilla—and it was all he could do to keep his face a mask of indifference.

  “You can’t what?”

  “I can’t get off this bike. Literally. And I’m not misusing the word.”

  “You’re stuck?”

  “Somethi
ng like that.”

  “How’d you get on the bike, then?”

  Audrey pulled her hand back, and he noted its absence acutely. “I did a little shimmy thing, sort of pitching myself forward.”

  “So do that again, but in reverse.”

  “Well, I would except…” She tucked a piece of glossy brown hair behind an ear, stalling.

  “Except?”

  “I felt a button pop. On my jeans. And I’m afraid, if I do it again, that…” She lowered her eyes and studied the seat’s black leather. Kieran worked to keep a straight face.

  “You’re afraid that if you get up, your pants will fall down?”

  “Not fall down, no. They’re too tight for that. But split open at the front? Yes.”

  He could see her cheeks color, even under the makeup. It made the light dusting of freckles across her nose even sexier, if that was possible. He shook his head, trying to stay focused.

  “Well, that’s no problem,” Kieran replied casually, even though the idea of Audrey’s pants bursting open had his cock hardening against the fabric of his jeans. “We’ll just do this.”

  In one smooth motion, he scooped her off the Harley and into his arms. He shook his head when he saw her getting ready to protest. “You yell or whine, and I’ll carry you outside and lock the doors on you. You stay quiet, we can talk in the back room. Agreed?” He saw an angry muscle working in her jaw, but she nodded nevertheless.

  And then, just like that, Audrey Tanner was back in his arms.

  He’d been so sure that he’d be able to return to White Pine and avoid his past altogether. So how he came to be carrying part of it in the form of Audrey Tanner, how her arms came to be looped around his neck, how her smell was everywhere, intoxicating him as he stormed toward the back room, was a turn of events he could never have predicted. It was also a dangerous set of circumstances, and he never should have let it get this far.

  He had a job to do, dammit. He was here to build on his future—not relive the past.

  When he reached one of the back offices he kneed the door open, then placed her roughly on the floor. She stumbled a little in the heels, but righted herself, glaring at him. He was about to tell her to change clothes and get out of the dealership when he heard a pop. Something on the bustier came loose—he wasn’t sure what—and before Audrey could stop it, the front panel covering her chest slid downward. Her mouth made a horrified little O as her breasts sprang from their constrictive covering. Her nipples pebbled at the sudden exposure to cool air. Kieran got a hungry eyeful before Audrey scrambled to cover herself with a mortified “Oh!”

  Instinctively, he reached forward to help her. “I’m so sorr—” he started before she swatted his hand away.

  “Stop it!” she cried. “Get back!”

  Just then, Fletch Knudson walked through the office door, and pulled up short. His neat moustache twitched. His ice-blue eyes flicked back and forth between them. “What in holy hell is going on here?”

  “It’s nothing,” Kieran said, stepping away from Audrey.

  Fletch’s face was bunched with concentration, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. His gaze settled on Audrey.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  Audrey clutched the broken bustier to her chest. “No, of course not,” Kieran interjected. “It was just an accident.”

  “I’m waiting for her to answer,” Fletch said.

  Audrey’s knuckles whitened around her handful of clothing. Kieran realized right then that she held all the cards. Her hand trumped his.

  She could take him down with a smattering of words, could pretend this had been more than it was, and put his job at risk. Kieran forced his breathing to be steady—in and out, calm like it wasn’t the last play of the game—and tried to remember that the woman he’d lost his heart to five years ago had a blazing white soul, the stark opposite of his black one. She wasn’t like him; she wasn’t always calculating how to turn the odds in her favor.

  Audrey had been so kind, so willing to trust him and believe the best. But even her shining golden goodness—her love for her friends and family and her hometown, her faith in the people around her—couldn’t lighten the darkness inside him, though five years ago he’d wanted it to.

  Underneath the makeup, Audrey’s face was pale. “No,” she said, “he didn’t hurt me. It’s just a misunderstanding.”

  Kieran let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  “But I’d appreciate it if you’d tell him that he can’t fire me. I need this job.”

  Fletch’s face was slack with relief. “I’m glad this isn’t what it looked like. It’s Kieran’s call, though, about your job.”

  Kieran’s throat was dry. “I think—” he began, but couldn’t put the rest of the sentence together. Thinking around Audrey Tanner had suddenly become downright difficult.

  “Let her stay, Callaghan,” Fletch said. “The model we had lined up quit, and Audrey jumped in like a champ. She’s doing fine out there.”

  There was a time when a situation like this—one that knotted his thoughts and tied up his insides—would have had him running to the betting table. There, he’d place his money with the dealer, again and again, until nothing remained in his brain except the game. Except winning.

  Only, more often than not, he came out losing.

  Those days were behind him, thank God. Yet, even if he let Audrey keep her job, he couldn’t allow her to think that being here was a good idea. Being around her was a reminder of a past he needed to forget. He had a new life to keep on building, and in order to do that, he had to get her gone. Even if it wasn’t today, it would have to be soon.

  He pulled himself up to his full height—six foot three—and stared down at Audrey. Her hands shook as they held the broken leather tight against her chest. But, to his surprise, she didn’t back away from him. Instead, she lifted her chin and stared at him square on. Audrey might have the same goodness illuminating the inside of her, but she was different than the woman he knew five years ago.

  “If you stay, then you stay out of my way,” he growled at her, working hard to sound intimidating. “Understand?”

  “Or you can stay out of my way,” she replied, her brown eyes narrowing. “Last I recall, I was here first.”

  Kieran was getting ready to dress her down with a lecture about still being her boss, but Fletch stepped in. “All right, you two. Enough. Let’s call it a truce. Audrey, you’re done for the day. Go on and head home. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  With a final glare at Kieran, Audrey walked away—one hand holding up her broken pants, and one hand gripping the broken bustier. She tilted her chin high enough to make him wonder what in the world had happened to the Audrey he knew—the fresh-faced gym teacher who had stolen his heart with her feet placed squarely in practical running shoes. Why she was now clad in makeup and leather at a Harley dealership was beyond him.

  Apparently he had a lot to learn about the new Audrey Tanner.

  Not that he would afford himself that luxury.

  He clenched his fists and steeled his resolve. As much as he might want it to be different, the most important thing to know about Audrey Tanner was the simplest thing: He was going to have to stay as far away from her as possible.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Audrey hung up her new clothes in the dealership’s back closet and felt a small pang as she walked away from them at the end of her shift.

  She tried to push the emotions aside. It was silly to think that just changing your outside could change your insides.

  But she couldn’t deny she felt different after a day of looking like someone else.

  She slid into her car in the parking lot and stared at the beige interior. It seemed so dull after the glossy colors and shining chrome of the dealership. She wondered briefly about getting one of those mirror balls that hung from the rearview, but she could already hear her sister, Casey, telling her it was ridiculous. Inefficient. Excessive.

  She could
n’t even imagine her sister’s reaction when she told her about the new job. She swallowed, figuring she’d just avoid that topic altogether for a while.

  The image of clean-cut, handsome-as-ever Kieran filled her mind as she pulled away from the dealership. Her skin flamed at the memory of being carried off the dealership floor in his arms, and of her bustier flying open minutes later. Her stomach flipped at the raw power of being in his arms, of being close to him again.

  Careful, her brain cautioned. She took a calming breath. She wasn’t about to let five years of pain disintegrate like paper on a wet sidewalk. Kieran was an unhappy part of her past that didn’t vanish easily.

  Good for me for calling him an asshole, she thought. She giggled involuntarily. What had come over her? It was as if stepping into the clothes was stepping into someone else’s body. It was a person Audrey didn’t know very well, but someone with whom she was excited to become more acquainted.

  A spring wind whipped through town as she headed into Lumberjack Grocery to get food for tonight’s Knots and Bolts recipe exchange. The crisp air snapped the American flag outside the library as she turned down Main Street. When she stepped out of the car, the wind pulled at Audrey’s already tousled hair.

  She headed for the bakery, hoping to grab something prepared. She’d had plans to bake raspberry bars for tonight, but the unexpected turn of events today had meant all the baking ingredients were still intact at home.

  Her thick-soled running shoes hardly made a sound on the grocery store’s tile. Her track pants didn’t pinch at all. She wondered suddenly what it would feel like to stride down the smooth floor on her stilettos, the fringe on her leather sleeve fluttering. She was so lost in thought that she nearly crashed into Evelyn Beauford head-on.

  “Oh, excuse me,” Audrey said as their shoulders bumped. “I’m not watching where I’m going.”

  Evelyn’s eyes seemed to widen along with her smile. “Goodness, Audrey! I’m not sure I would have recognized you if we hadn’t collided. Have you done something new with…your hair?”