Celina (Connelly Cousins #1) (21 page)

The judge seemed to be expecting them, and welcomed them warmly into his home. Mrs. Kelley’s eyes were twinkling when Kyle made the introductions. She ushered them into the cheery yellow kitchen and pushed a huge plate of cookies their way.

“Go on then,” Mrs. Kelley encouraged.

“Are these what I think they are?” Kyle asked, a hopeful gleam in his eye.

“Yes,” admitted Mrs. Kelley. “If I remember correctly you used to be quite fond of my chocolate chip cookies, Kyle.”

He smiled, and Lina couldn’t help but laugh at the way her sexy biker husband-to-be transformed into a little boy right before her eyes. He took a bite and his eyes closed in pleasure. “Ah, you still make the best, Mrs. K.” The older woman blushed and beamed at him, humming as she turned her attention to pouring coffee. Kyle looked at Lina and winked.

His grin was so contagious that Lina smiled right along with him. He was comfortable here, she realized, more at ease than he typically was in public. It was easy to see that both the judge and his wife had a soft spot in their hearts for Kyle, too.

Lina accepted a cookie. “Mmm, you’re right,” she agreed.  “These are amazing.”

“Told you.”

They settled around the table, chatting amiably about topical things.  When Judge Kelley and Kyle started talking motorcycles (apparently Judge Kelley had a classic Indian Chief Kyle had restored for him), Mrs. Kelley turned to Lina.

“You’re Erin Connelly’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Did you know my mother?”

“I did. I used to work at your grandfather’s diner when I was just a young girl. Of course she was Erin O’Leary then. It was an awful thing that happened. Your mother was a fine woman.”

“Thank you.” Lina sipped her coffee. Nearly five years had passed, but she still found it difficult to talk about.

“So how do you know Kyle?” Lina asked, changing the subject.

Mrs. Kelley shifted slightly. “We met Kyle shortly after he moved to Birch Falls. He did some odd jobs around the house for us.”

Kyle chuckled. “It’s okay, Mrs. K., Lina knows I’m no choir boy.” He looked at Lina. “The first time I met Judge Kelley was in his courtroom. Let’s just say the good judge took pity on me and put me to work instead of in jail.”

“Pity had nothing to do with it,” Judge Kelley said firmly. “It was common sense. You don’t think I can tell a good seed from a bad one?”

“The judge got me a job at Mo’s, too.”

“You needed a positive outlet. After I saw what you did with my Chief, I knew you had a gift, son.”

Kyle looked away. If Lina didn’t know any better, she would have sworn he was embarrassed by Judge Kelley’s praise.

“Well,” Judge Kelley said, bringing his hands together, “let’s get down to it, shall we? I’m supposed to tell you that marriage is a big step, and not to be taken lightly, but I think you already know that. Kyle, I’ve always been fond of you, son, and I have to say, I think you’ve made a fine choice in this young lady.” Kyle smiled; Lina blushed. “So, the only thing left to do is get you two hitched. Are you ready?”

“What? Right now?” sputtered Lina, caught by surprise.

“Yeah,” Kyle answered, capturing her hand and entwining their fingers.  “Not having second thoughts are you?”

“No, of course not. But these things take time, don’t they?”

Kyle grinned wickedly. “Sure. But when you know a judge, things get expedited. Three days is all you need.”

“You just proposed yesterday.”

“Sure, but I stopped here before going up to the cabin. Judge Kelley took care of everything?”

“
Before
you came to the cabin?”

“I wasn’t planning on taking no for an answer, Lina.”

If she hadn’t been his all along, she would have been in that moment. “Kyle, are you sure?”

“I have never been more sure of anything in my life, Lina.”

Warmth bubbled up through her heart. All she’d wanted was to be with him, but he was offering her the whole package. She’d be a fool not to take it.

“Then I guess there’s no reason to wait, is there?”

Kyle’s face lit up and he pulled her toward him for a kiss. Even though it was relatively chaste by their recent standards, Judge Kelley discreetly turned his attention elsewhere. So did his wife, but she was smiling.

“Oh, you two are so perfect for each other,” she twittered, and Lina swore she saw tears welling in the older woman’s eyes. “And you are going to make such beautiful babies.”

Lina flushed to the roots of her hair, but Mrs. Kelley didn’t seem to notice, busily moving off to stand beside her husband. When Lina met Kyle’s eyes, her breath caught at the possessive, purely male look she saw there.  

Judge Kelley cleared his throat, and without further ado, they got on with it.

Kyle and Lina were married right there in Judge Kelley’s kitchen. The judge called over his next door neighbors – a lovely older couple - as witnesses. The entire ceremony took less than ten minutes, and was simple and straightforward. It suited them, and Lina couldn’t imagine anything more romantic. It was the perfect culmination of the last few days. Kyle worried that she would feel she had missed out by not having a big wedding, but she assured him repeatedly that she wanted no such thing, requesting instead that they have a cookout up at the lake and invite their family and friends.

Lina’s only regret was not having Johnny or Michael at the service, but Kyle promised they’d stop by Johnny’s that evening. With a few hours to kill they swung by the house to pick up more of Lina’s things, then to Amy’s to share the good news. They didn’t stay long, managing a relatively quick escape with the promise to return another time to celebrate properly. As it was, they were quite anxious to return to Kyle’s house and officially consummate their vows.

L
ina’s personal items were dropped by the door, forgotten the moment they entered the house. Kyle insisted on keeping with tradition by carrying his new bride over the threshold, and he barely got the door kicked behind him before she was tugging his shirt over his head.

The first time they made love as man and wife was right there on the floor inside the front door. The second time was when he held her against the wall between the living room and the bedroom. By the third time they were comfortably ensconced in his bed.

The afternoon passed in a blur, and it was soon time to get ready to head out to Johnny’s. They showered together – making love under the double-headed shower fixtures – before finally feeling spent enough to make it through the next several hours. Kyle left Lina in the bedroom while he padded into the living room to retrieve her things.

With a towel wrapped loosely around his waist and his hair still dripping, he wasn’t prepared to receive visitors. So when he picked up Lina’s overnight bag near the front door and turned to go back, he was stunned to see Jamie sitting on his sofa, watching him with an unreadable expression on his face.

Shit
, Kyle cursed under his breath. He’d forgotten all about Jamie. He hadn’t contacted him to tell him he’d found Lina safe and sound, or anything else, for that matter. Then again, Jamie had left out a few important details of his own the last time they’d seen each other.

“Jamie. Wasn’t expecting you.” Kyle tightened his grip on Lina’s bag.

“No, I guess you weren’t.” Jamie gave him a half-smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. His gaze pointedly fell upon the discarded clothing just inside the door. “The door was unlocked. You should be more careful, Kyle. Anyone could just barge right in.”

“What do you want, Jamie? I’m a little busy right now.” The timing sucked. Kyle did not want to have this conversation wearing nothing but a towel while Lina was naked and waiting in the next room.

Jamie rose from the sofa and walked slowly toward the front door. Any hopes that Kyle had of him leaving quietly were dashed when Jamie bent down and picked up the red silk thong lying there. “I’ll say. Very interesting sound effects from the shower. She sounded really hot. Was she, Kyle? Was she hot?”

“I think you should leave now.”

Jamie ignored him, turning toward the bedroom. “After you left, I went back to the Book Shoppe to talk to Celina’s friend, Amy. She had a lot of interesting things to say. Do you want to know what she said, Kyle?”

With two long strides, Kyle placed himself between his brother and the room beyond. Jamie continued without waiting for a response. “She said you and Lina were dating, but I knew she had to be mistaken. You don’t date women, right? You just fuck them, isn’t that what you always say?”

Kyle clenched his jaw and his fists. “Enough.”

“Did you find
Lina
, Kyle?” Jamie was too calm, his voice too even. Kyle watched him closely, eyes intense.

Jamie laughed, a hollow sound that didn’t ring true. “Of course you did, didn’t you? She was like fresh meat. Perfect for a hungry predator like you, huh, big brother.”

Shit
. He should have called Jamie. Should have warned him. But it was too late for that now, and this was neither the time nor the place to get into it. “That’s enough, Jamie. Leave now. We’ll talk about this later.”

Jamie’s face turned red with rage, his expression thunderous. “You just couldn’t leave her alone, could you? You
knew
how I felt about her and you went after her anyway! How did you seduce her, Kyle? Did you whisper sweet nothings in her ear, make her promises you have no intention of keeping, hmm? How did you manage to get her into your bed?”

“He asked me to marry him.”

Kyle closed his eyes and exhaled when Lina’s voice spoke up from behind him. He glanced over as she stepped up beside him and slid her small hand into his.

“Lina.” Kyle warned, but she squeezed his hand and remained where she was. “It’s okay, Kyle. He deserves to know the truth.”

Jamie’s expression went from pissed to incredulous. Kyle didn’t miss the flash of lust in Jamie’s eyes as he pinned them on Lina. He couldn’t blame him. She wore one of his shirts, which fell down to mid-thigh, the sleeves rolled up multiple times to expose her hands. Her hair was tousled and damp, already forming those big, loose curls. Her face – no, her entire body – was visibly flushed, like she’d just spent the afternoon being thoroughly and repeatedly loved.

Kyle stood taller and glared at his brother in clear warning. Just that quickly, Jamie’s eyes went back to angry again.

“
I
asked you to marry
me
, or have you already forgotten?”

“I don’t love you, Jamie. I couldn’t accept.”

“But you love
him
? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.” Lina’s voice rang clear as she looked up at Kyle with love in her eyes. “With all of my heart.”

Jamie openly gaped at her, then threw up his hands and laughed. “Don’t you realize that nailing you was like grabbing the golden ring for him? What, did he tell you he loves you? Like he’s probably told the hundreds of other women he’s slept with? I thought you were smarter than that.”

Kyle took a step forward, but Lina was faster. Her hand shot out and slapped Jamie across the face.
Hard
. Kyle winced. He knew first-hand how much one of her slaps stung.

Rage flared in Jamie’s eyes along with the glowing red skin on his cheek. Kyle reached out and pushed Lina protectively behind him.

“I thought you were different, Lina,” Jamie seethed. “I thought you were special. But you’re no better than the rest of his whores, are you?”

This time Kyle did get to Jamie first and slammed him up against the wall, Kyle’s forearm applying pressure against his windpipe. Kyle leaned in close. “Never talk about her like that again,” he growled.

“You can’t marry her, Kyle.”

“Too late, Jamie. I already did.”

Jamie looked at Lina, expecting her to refute what he’d said, but one look at her face told him that it was true.

“Fucking hell, you’re serious!”

“Apologize to
my wife
, Jamie, and then get your ass out of here until you can speak to her with some respect.”

“You fucking married her...” The words trailed off to a whisper as the wind left Jamie’s sails, his eyes filled with disbelief. Jamie sagged against the wall; if it wasn’t for Kyle’s arm he might have slumped to the floor. Kyle released him slowly.

“Yeah, Jamie, I did.” Jamie searched his brother’s eyes, looking for the truth.

“Why, Kyle? You could have had any woman you wanted. Why her?”

Kyle couldn’t answer that. He could no sooner explain that than he could any other miracle, because that’s exactly what this was. He didn’t know why, didn’t know how, but for some reason, Lina had come into his life and changed
everything
.

“Never thought I’d see the day, bro, but then, I always knew she was special.” Jamie’s expression went flat, his eyes turned cold. He glanced over at Lina, who remained just outside the bedroom, arms crossed in front of her, worrying her bottom lip. “Congratulations, Mrs. McCullough. Or should I say, Sis?”

“Jamie, I never meant to hurt you.”

His jaw clenched and he turned back to Kyle. “I gotta go, man. Enjoy your honeymoon.” Jamie opened the door and walked out without looking back. Soon after, they heard a car door slam, followed by the sound of him peeling out of the driveway.

“That’s not how I wanted him to find out,” Kyle said, blowing out a breath. Lina crossed the room and put her arms around his waist, infusing him with her warmth. It felt so good, just having her with him. He pulled her close and rested his chin on her head. “I sure hope your brothers take it better than he did.”

“It doesn’t matter what they think, Kyle. If they’re smart they’ll be happy for me. If not, then they can go and - ” Exactly what Lina thought her brothers could go and do was left unsaid. Kyle cut off her words by cupping her head in his hands and kissing her with all of the passion and possession that he felt for her. When he pulled away, she had a dazed look in her eyes, similar to the one she had right after they made love.
He
did that to her. Not Jamie. Because she belonged with him, not his brother. There was no longer any doubt.