Desire After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel by Marie Force Page B

talk about where they were going and how their relationshipwas about more than just sex, which was a step forward in his mind. What else mattered?
    The final stragglers left the bar shortly after midnight, and fifteen minutes later, Chelsea was ready to go.
    Kevin held her coat for her and then put an arm around her shoulders as they walked to his car. She rented a tiny, cozy house in town, so they didn’t have far to go to get to her place.They’d fallen into a comfortable routine over the last few months, spending time together every night at her place, which gave his sons the full run of the house he had rented for the three of them.
    He and Chelsea rarely spent a full night together, and sometimes he rolled in after three or four in the morning. Maybe his sons were pissed about that, too, since he’d made them come home ata reasonable hour until after they graduated from college and got their own homes. The three of them had been living together again since the fall, when they’d come out for Laura’s wedding and ended up staying for the winter—Kevin because he’d needed to regroup after the split with Deb and his sons because their cousin Mac hired them to work for his construction company for the winter.
    After a short drive, Kevin followed Chelsea into her house, removed his coat and went into the kitchen, where she poured a glass of wine for herself and opened a beer for him.
    “Thanks, hon.” Since he’d had only two beers much earlier and was still fine to drive, he downed a hearty mouthful and leaned back against the counter to look his fill at the gorgeous woman who’d captivated him socompletely. He certainly hadn’t expected that when Chelsea invited him to come home with her one night in September. At that time, he’d figured they might have a fun one-night stand, and that would be that.
    But that night had turned into three of the best months of his life, and he was in no rush to see it end. As recently as last night, he’d tried to talk Chelsea into committing to more,but she wanted to wait until his divorce was final to make any decisions. After Christmas, his first order of business would be to get in touch with Dan Torrington about speeding up the divorce.
    “You want to talk about it?” she asked as she worked her fingers through her hair, releasing the braid she’d worn to work.
    “Talk about what?”
    “Whatever’s bugging you.”
    “Nothing’sbugging me. I’m fine.” He forced a smile for her benefit. “Tired.”
    “Just last night, you told me you want more than a hot roll in the sack, but when you’re obviously upset about something, that’s not my concern?”
    He stared at her, stunned by the forthright statement. That sort of communication had been missing in the latter years of his marriage, and it was one of many things heappreciated about Chelsea. Kevin put down the beer and took a few steps toward her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes. “You are so much more to me than a hot roll in the sack. If you don’t know that by now, I need to do a better job of telling you so.”
    “I’m not fishing for compliments, Kevin. You told me last night you want us to be about more than sex. You haven’tbeen yourself tonight, and I’m asking why.”
    He appreciated the effort she was making and was encouraged that she’d taken what he said last night to heart. “It’s nothing to do with you. It’s the boys… I’ve been sensing a little pushback from them.”
    “About us?”
    “Among other things.”
    Her brows knitted the way they did when she was thinking something over. “Hmm.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It’s just… Don’t take this the wrong way, but you know they aren’t boys anymore, right? They’re fully grown men, as are you, and all of you are free to do whatever you want, within reason, of course.”
    “I do know that, but old habits die hard. I’ve always called them ‘the boys,’ and I probably always will. And I