Killian: A West Bend Saints Romance by Sabrina Paige

June and Cade arrive with their kids, and all hell breaks loose as the kids noisily tear into toys on the floor. It's loud and chaotic as Luke brings out plate after plate of food while we're seated around a big farmhouse table in River and Elias' dining room.
    "Who would have thought the Saint boys, West Bend pariahs and assholes extraordinaire, would have landed such awesome women?" Elias asks, raising his beer bottle in a mock toast.
    "Language," River warns, glancing at the kids at their small table a few feet away.
    "I'll drink to that," Silas agrees, "but Tempest landed me, so it's really the other way around. I was the catch."
    Tempest slaps him on the arm.
    Looking around at everyone laughing and talking, I get that same pang of something that I got before at Luke and Autumn's place a faint sense of longing for what I've been missing.
    I've never had anything like they have. Even Luke, who's always been a runaround, seems perfectly content with Autumn. They're all living normal lives with people they care about. I thought I was smart, keeping people at arm's length. Maybe I'm the stupid one here and they're the ones who have it all figured out.
    Then June's boy walks over and grins up at me.
    "He likes you," June says.
    "Obviously his sense of judgment is impaired," Elias jokes.
    "Hey, kid." He squints, apparently scrutinizing my beard. Alright, maybe this kid thing isn't so bad after all. Then the kid gets a weird look on his face.
    And vomits all over my lap.
    "Oh, shit." June rushes over.
    Never mind. The whole no-kid no-wife solitary lifestyle is definitely a win. And vomit-free.

16

Lily
    " M ommy isn't upset , Chloe," I reassure her as I turn down Main Street toward the bakery. "I'm just trying to think of all the things we have to do."
    "You're frowning. When you're upset, you get those lines in your forehead."
    "What?" I glance in the rearview mirror. Oh God, she's right. When did I get so old? There are lines in my forehead the depth of canyons. I should get some face cream or stop worrying about the bakery all the time. Either one would probably work. "I'm not upset. I'm just concentrating really hard."
    "Okay, mom. I don't look upset when I concentrate."
    Touché.
    There's a lot to be stressed out about when it comes to the bakery. It hasn't been doing badly. Our numbers are steadily improving, but those rough couple of months when we started means I maxed out both of my credit cards to keep us afloat. And that's not counting the small business loan I took when I bought this place.
    Nobody said running a business was easy, but that freezer is the most recent of my problems, since that little noise it was making turned into a bigger noise yesterday afternoon. As of last night, it was still running when the handyman stopped by to look at it. His diagnosis was that it was old and I needed a new one as if I have extra cash lying around the bakery for a new freezer.
    My heart skips a beat when I pull into an empty space in front of the store, because I recognize the truck parked outside. When I test the bakery door, it's already unlocked. Opal and Killian's voices drift from the back, clear as day.
    "Miss Opal! Hey Miss Opal, I want to tell you about the caterpillar I found yesterday!" Chloe bounces through the front of the store and disappears into the kitchen, the door swinging on its hinges behind her.
    Even though I know Killian is here, I still stop short when I reach the kitchen and see him. He's wearing a jeans, work boots, and white t-shirt, sweat causing it to cling to his muscles in places. Basically, he looks like he stepped off the pages of Super-Hot Repairmen Magazine. That explains the surge of heat that rushes through me at the mere sight of him.
    Opal clears her throat. "Before you say anything –"
    My gaze lands on the tools in Killian's hand. And the freezer door that's off its hinges and propped up against the far wall. I look back and forth between Killian and Opal in disbelief.
    "Now, Mr.