Kurt grabbed her hand and started to backtrack. “It’s too close. That covered bus stop a hundred feet back is the safest thing around.”
Kelsey nodded, needing no convincing after that flash. The individual splashes became a downpour twenty feet before they reached the bus stop. “Holy crap, this rain is so cold!”
She felt lost when they made it inside and he let go of her hand. The rain was coming in at an angle, so they huddled as close to the back wall as possible in the narrow space next to the bench.
Using his thumb, Kurt brushed a drop of water off her cheek. As much from his touch as from the run, Kelsey’s heart pounded louder than the rain.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head. “No, not anymore.”
He was staring at her, not the rain. Thunderstorms are on the top of his list. He should be watching the storm, she thought.
How long had it been since he’d been with someone? she wondered. He might have been on active duty, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t had opportunities. But he didn’t seem like the type to get laid just to get laid.
Her mind was racing. She needed to focus, but he was staring at her as though he couldn’t see anything else. Say something, Kelsey. “Want to try mine? It’s not quite as sweet.” Seriously? That was the best you could do?
“Yes.” He sat his cup on the bench and reached for hers. Their fingers brushed, and a jolt of electricity raced up her arm.
She blinked in confusion as he set her cup next to his. When he turned toward her, his gaze was on her lips. He slipped one hand into her hair, gently cupping the back of her head above her neck. With his other hand, he traced her lips. She wanted to keep her eyes open, to know when the kiss was coming, but they closed involuntarily as his fingers moved lower, tracing her neck and sternum. Her lips must have parted because she felt his thumb return to her mouth, brushing over her lips and connecting with her teeth.
Then he shifted and his lips pressed against hers softly, as if seeking permission. She opened her mouth in reply, and the kiss intensified. It was like nothing she’d ever felt, the sweetness of his mouth against hers. His lips were firm, and he tasted so damn good. His hand left her neck and slipped underneath her sweater, caressing the skin at the small of her back.
Kelsey’s knees were turning to jelly. She draped her arms over his shoulders, lost her fingers in his hair. Please don’t ever let him stop. The kiss deepened, and his tongue met hers. Their bodies pulled together like magnets.
She was getting lost even further when he pulled away abruptly, stepping back just far enough to break the magnetic connection. “You’re wrong,” he said, his voice thick and husky. “It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Then he started kissing her again, and Kelsey was fairly certain nothing would ever be the same.
Chapter 15
Spotting Megan’s Enclave in the shelter parking lot at seven o’clock the next morning brought the same sweet relief as when Kelsey had painstakingly finished the 5K run she’d signed up for on a whim last year. Better yet, the lot was otherwise empty. No one else was here. She couldn’t think of a time when she’d needed her friend’s advice more than at this moment.
Unlike on the last several days, Kelsey turned off the ignition rather than letting her bright-yellow Corolla idle while she zoomed inside to put away whichever dog she’d brought home. She stepped out and stretched her exhausted and overworked body, then popped open the back door to let Millie, a senior golden retriever and last night’s companion, clamber out.
After giving Millie a quick potty break, Kelsey headed inside to find Megan sitting crisscross on the floor in the front room in a patch of sun. Chance, the shelter’s resident blind Cairn terrier, was snuggled on her lap. He looked as content as could be, curled around Megan’s swollen belly, his head and hind legs draping off onto the floor.
“I was wondering if you’d been by already,” Megan said. “Seems like you’ve been keeping longer and longer hours the last couple days.”
Chance lifted his head off Megan’s lap, sniffed the air a second or two, gave a quick wag of his tail, then dropped back into cuddle mode. Chance might be blind, but he knew the staff by scent and sound. Normally, he was quick to greet Kelsey at the door, but Megan’s undivided attention had proved too much of a distraction.
“I won’t argue that, which probably explains why it feels more like a month than a week since I’ve worked a full day here.”
Megan’s smile was sympathetic. “Are you in a big hurry, or do you have a few minutes?”
“I’ve got some time,” Kelsey said, thinking of all the things she hadn’t shared during her and Megan’s short phone calls the last few days. And then there was last night. Just skimming the surface of all that had happened a mere few hours ago would take more time than she could afford to be away from the Sabrina Raven estate. “Let me get Millie put away, and I’ll be right back.” Kelsey picked up on the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee halfway to the kennel doors. “Thank God you started the coffee. I didn’t take the time at home. I’ll grab a cup and be back in a sec, and I’m guessing you don’t want one?”
“No thanks. I’ve had my morning herbal tea,” Megan said. “Quitting caffeine wasn’t as hard as I feared it might be, though if I wasn’t brewing up a baby, I doubt that would be true.”
“Better you than me,” Kelsey joked as she headed into the back with Millie. She got the sweet-tempered golden set up in her run,
