13. Rules Of Dating

13

RULES OF DATING

" I owe you an apology," Van said on Saturday afternoon.

"You do?" Kelsey asked. "Come in and explain to me why."

They had no specific plans today, but she'd told him to come over around two and that was what he'd done.

After he'd spent most of the night lying in bed and replaying their few hours together.

Frankie came charging him from the nap the puppy had been taking.

He picked the little fluff ball up and gave him a few pets and then set him down.

"I was a little rough last night."

She laughed and lifted her eyebrows at him.

"So?"

"So," he said. "That was wrong of me."

This time she let out a big sigh. "Van, am I going to have to let you in on a little secret?"

"Maybe," he said, scratching his chin.

"Sometimes a woman likes it that way. Not the leave you bruises or inflicting crazy pain kind of rough, but the kind of sex where you both lose control."

He frowned. He couldn't remember ever losing control like that with a woman.

Did that mean something?

Probably, but he had too many other thoughts in his head now to analyze that.

"I didn't treat you like a lady," he said.

She burst out laughing and was almost bent over with it at this point.

"It doesn't mean I'm not one, but you don't have to treat me like I'm fragile. I can assure you I'm not that."

"I never thought that ," he said.

"Good," she said. "I liked what we did last night. I liked that I was a little stiff and sore. When I got home a hot bath took care of that."

Now he felt like shit.

"Sorry," he said.

"Don't be sorry. I just said I liked it. Not sure what is going through your mind right now that you're worried about it. Is it because you're business partners with my father? Do you think he might be upset if he knew what we did in your room last night?"

His face must have turned bright red because the next thing he knew she had tears running down her cheeks she was laughing so hard.

"Glad you find amusement in this."

She pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sorry this time. You're being sweet and here I am laughing at you."

"Sweet?" he asked.

His dick was all but retracting into his groin at those words.

"Don't be offended," she said. She pulled back from the hug and threaded their fingers together and tugged him into her living room. She sat and he was forced to do the same since she still had a grip on his fingers and yanked him down.

He at least avoided sitting on her.

"Hard not to be," he said.

She put her head on his shoulder and his heart raced more than it had in his life.

And he'd had a lot of shit happen in his life to cause his heart to thump in his chest.

But this little blonde-haired beauty had a tug on him he wasn't sure he'd ever thought he'd experience.

"Relax," she said. "You told me to do something last night and I did it. I didn't have to do it the way I did, but you know, I kind of lost control. I think that was a good thing. It sure the hell felt like it to me."

"A great thing," he admitted.

"There you go. Besides, I don't think most ladies know the rules of dating. You wouldn't want someone snobby like that, would you?"

"Hell no," he said.

"Okay. Let's put it behind us. Unless it's going to hinder you in the bedroom going forward. If that is the case then we need to hash it out more so I'm not worried about that."

He snorted. "No. No problems there."

"You know I'm going to have to test it out to be sure. We'll hit my sheets before you're on your way home tonight."

Which meant he wouldn't be spending the night and was glad it hadn't come up that he should.

He wasn't used to doing that. He liked his space and privacy.

"Is that a promise?" he asked.

"Yep. But I'll leave you on the edge of anticipation before we get there. Did you have anything you wanted to do today? We didn't get to see the lighthouse because we had Frankie with us. He can stay home while we go out to do something today."

"How long can you keep him crated?" he asked.

"There is that sweet side of you thinking of that."

"I'd think it's only human," he said.

"He's good for about four or five hours if he's sleeping. I'll put one of those little piddle pads in there if he has to go."

"You said there are some lighthouses on the island," he said. "How long does it take to go to them?"

"Not long," she said, grinning. "But you can't get in them. Most are closed and roped off. It's the historical property of the island. Actually. One is open in the summer only. Not sure of the hours, but we can ride by and check it out."

"Then let's go do that," he said. "We can figure out the rest of the day as it comes."

She let Frankie out to do his business, then set a pad in the back of the crate and put the puppy in there after giving the white and copper dog a few smooches on the nose.

There was a time in his life not that long ago Van would think that was gross, but he'd never owned a dog before.

Frankie did seem like a king that was nice and clean. He didn't even want to ask about the amount of grooming or brushing she did to that dog. As long as he wasn't asked to do it, he didn't care.

They climbed in his truck and she directed him where to go.

It was about twenty minutes away and he got a good idea of the landmarks and locations of things on the island.

"Do you like your job?" she asked.

"Being a nine-one-one operator?" he asked.

"It's the only job I know you've got. I don't consider the business ownership with my father since you just found out about it."

"True," he said. "It's fine. You don't get shot or stabbed at it."

"Thank God for that," she said firmly. "Do you miss being a detective?"

His head went back and forth. "Yes and no. It was that childhood dream I had. My mother encouraged it."

His father didn't. Told him he could do better in life than putting his life on the line for peanuts.

His father was a manager in a manufacturing plant. Made good money and got to boss people around all the time. Right up his father's alley.

Adam Harlowe even offered to get his son a job there if he'd gone for anything other than criminal justice.

"Did you do it for her or you?"

"For me and to make her happy," he said.

"Sounds like you were close to her," she said. "I'm close to my entire family. I'm a daddy's girl but spend more time with my mother."

"Which makes sense since you work together. What about your brother?"

"Being a twin has a whole different type of closeness. He's married now. I expect they will start having kids soon. I love Hadley. She's a sweetie and perfect for Duke."

"I never really thought much about people finding a perfect mate," he said.

"You haven't lived on Amore Island long enough," she said, laughing.

"Obviously not," he said.

"You were very calm with me the day I called," she said.

"Which is part of the job," he said.

"I have to say I'm stunned you decided to do that. I know they need people on the police force on the island."

He wasn't surprised that she'd brought that up.

"Mac asked me," he said. "He knew my background."

"Why did you say no?" she asked. "You wanted a change of pace and something to keep you busy while you figured out what to do about your inheritance or was there more to it?"

He was positive if he didn't give the complete truth she'd fish it out of him at some point anyway.

"That was part of it," he said. "The other part was I'm not sure how I'd react in the field. Was I going to hesitate or would I be jumpy? I had every intention of returning to my job in Wichita and then I got that letter from my grandfather's attorney. It gave me an option."

One that he was relieved to have even though he was shocked and pissed at the same time to read what it'd said.

"Options are good in life," she said.

"They are. I want to learn about the hotels. I'm not sure I've got a lot to offer for them, but it's not as if I have to work or do anything by the sounds of it either."

"I think Barry left a lot of the running of everything to my father," she said. "But...the hotels always need security. With your background, have you thought of that?"

"No," he said. "I suppose that is something your father and I can talk about. I'm sure he has it."

"Security cameras and people on staff. Sure. But is it what it should be? Do they have someone overseeing that other than my father? No clue. I'm going to be selfish and say that my father works more than he should. My mother too. At some point they are both going to need to cut back and settle down."

"I didn't picture him the type that was going to do that any time soon," he said.

She sighed. "Not likely. And all those businesses he owns will come to Duke and me."

That hadn't crossed his mind either.

Shit. If he and Kelsey parted ways, he'd still have to deal with her.

Nope. Not letting his mind go there for a number of reasons.

"Do you want to do that?" he asked.

"It's not about wanting it, but about our legacy. What our parents did for us. Which your grandfather did for you. Duke and I will figure it out when the time comes in a far, far future. I'm not stressing too much."

"I'm trying not to stress at all. I thought island living would wipe that away."

She turned her head and smiled at him, then patted his leg. "It can do that if you want. You can go about your life as you were weeks ago. Go to work, go home and sit on the deck and look at the water alone. Let my father run things and get your money. Nothing else has to change."

"It already changed the minute I met you," he said softly.

She didn't reply to that but continued to smile.