The Mummy Makeover / Mummy for Hire: The Mummy Makeover / Mummy for Hire

“I’m overscheduled on Monday,” he said as he tossed the towel aside. “Let’s make it Tuesday evening here at the club and skip the morning run. We can add cardio to the strength training.”

“Sounds fine.” A chance to sleep in a bit later, yet Erica couldn’t help but wonder if the kiss had something to do with the schedule adjustment. If maybe he’d decided coming to her home wasn’t such a grand idea.

“About what just happened…” he said, fueling her suspicions. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“No big deal,” she said as she backed toward the door. But it had been a big deal. Something she would have a lot of trouble ignoring. Something she’d have to learn to ignore, because as he’d said, it wouldn’t happen again. Yet she couldn’t help wishing that it would.

“When’s it okay to kiss a boy, Mom?”

Erica had to brake hard before she ran right through the red light. Surely her daughter hadn’t witnessed the kiss she’d shared with Kieran. No way. Stormy had been waiting by the front desk when she’d sought her out at the club. “What brought that on, Stormy?”

She glanced at Stormy to see her shrug. “Me and Lisa were talking about it today at the mall. She said she’s been thinking about kissing a lot and she says she’s ready. So when is it okay to start kissing?”

Lovely. After her up-close encounter with Kieran’s talented mouth, that was the last thing Erica needed to think about right now, especially while navigating a moving vehicle. “It depends, Stormy. Maybe when you’re fourteen or fifteen.” Or twenty-five, if Erica had her way.

When Erica guided the car into the subdivision, Stormy asked, “How old were you when you kissed Daddy the first time?”

Uh-oh. This could definitely come back to bite her. Jeff had been the literal boy next door, her very best friend, until the summer before junior high when they’d locked lips in the cornfield, a rite of passage for every farmer’s daughter. “I was a little older than you.” But not by much.

“Where did he kiss you?”

“At the farm.”

“No, silly. I meant was it on the cheek or on the mouth?”

She shot through the stop sign before lifting her foot from the accelerator to prevent a citation. “On the lips.”

“Was it a French kiss?”

At this rate, she was going to take out a few mailboxes before she made it the remaining two blocks to the house. “Sounds like someone else has been thinking about kissing.”

“Maybe,” Stormy said quietly. “I’ve been thinking about kissing this boy at school.”

Just one more block, Erica. “Does he want to kiss you?”

“Lisa says he does.”

Hold the wheel steady. “Does this boy have a name?”

“Randolph James Hillyard. We call him R.J. He lives by Lisa.”

Great. Her daughter’s first crush—a rich little lothario. She turned onto their block and sent a quick look Stormy’s way. “Are you two going steady?”

Stormy wrinkled her nose. “Huh?”

Obviously that whole concept was passé. “Are you two a couple?”

“He’s going to be at the party next Friday.”

She pulled into the driveway much faster than necessary and managed to stop before plowing into the garage door. “What party?”

“Kaylee’s birthday party. Don’t you remember?”

No, Erica didn’t, but then her mind had been wandering quite a bit lately. After putting the car in Park and turning off the ignition, she shifted to face her daughter. “This is a boy-girl party?”

Stormy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Mom. We’re too old for baby parties.”

Erica didn’t consider not quite eleven as too old for anything except perhaps a tricycle. “I might not remember you mentioning this party, but I do know I haven’t given you permission to go.”

Stormy put on the pouty face that she wore so well. “I have to go, Mom. Everyone in the fifth grade’s going. It’s not like Kaylee’s parents won’t be there.”

Erica found little comfort in that fact considering she’d only met Kaylee’s mom maybe twice. “I’ll talk to her parents and then I’ll let you know if you can go. Okay?”

“Okay.” Stormy fell silent for a moment before she asked, “Was Daddy the first boy you kissed?”

He’d been the only boy she’d kissed until they broke up for about five minutes their senior year of high school. She’d made the mistake of going out with Bobby Frank Feldon after a football game, a boy who had fast hands and no respect for girls. After that night, she’d appreciated Jeff even more, and they never spent a moment apart again. “Yes, Daddy was the first boy I kissed.”

“Do you miss kissing him?”

Until tonight, she hadn’t given kissing much thought. She’d intentionally not thought about it for several years, because if she did, she’d only be inviting the familiar ache, the sense of loneliness she’d tried so hard to discount. “I’m missing my favorite TV show, so let’s get into the house.”

Stormy scooted out of the car while Erica retrieved her gym bag and followed her inside. She was incredibly tired, extremely hungry and somewhat bewildered. Things were moving too fast in her life, with her relationship with her child and her indisputable attraction to a man who was basically off-limits.

She wondered if Kieran had given her any thought since she’d left the club—given their kiss any thought. More than likely, he’d probably blow it off and go about his business, never to think about it again.

“That was one hot redhead you were ‘working out’ with, Kieran.”

As predicted, Kieran would be forced to defend himself before he’d even entered the door of his parents’ house. He’d already given himself a sufficient chastising for letting things get out of hand with Erica, and for reliving that kiss over and over in his mind most of the previous night.

“I told you, Aidan, she’s a client. End of discussion.”

“If you say so.”

At least his brother had enough class to make sure no one else was standing in the driveway before he’d started hounding him. Speaking of driveways…the minute he’d pulled up, he’d noticed the place wasn’t the usual parking lot. “Where is everyone?” Kieran asked as he followed Aidan up the steps to the porch.

“It’s just me, you, Corri and Dad. Devin’s on call and Stacy’s at her parents’ house with the boys,” he said. “Since J.D.’s with his dad, Jenna and Logan went away for the weekend.”

“Which means she’ll be pregnant by tonight.”

Aidan laughed. “Probably. Anyway, Kevin’s—”

“Not around.” Nothing new there. Kieran never expected to see his twin at family gatherings these days. “Where’s Mom?”

“She went over to Mallory’s to deliver chicken soup because Whit and the girls have colds, and that means we get sandwiches.”

“No pot roast?” Their mother’s cooking was the high point of Kieran’s week and one of the primary reasons he made an effort to be there.

“No pot roast today. But I don’t care as long as the twins aren’t here to expose the kid to a virus.”