Matthew's Choice

“No!”

Jessica flinched.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off, but I don’t know how long I’ll be there.” No way was Jessica going to Cedar Grove. He could just see her in his mother’s tiny frame house. No amount of paint or chrome and fancy furniture would transform it into something other than the four-room, white-clapboard dump that it was. And even though it wouldn’t matter one way or the other to Jessica, he wasn’t quite ready to show her how he’d grown up. “Not this time. There’s the boy to consider, and I don’t even know if Mariah will make it.”

“Oh, Matthew.” She put her arms around him. “That’s all the more reason for me to go.”

He stilled. Jessica could be quite stubborn when she wanted to be. “Maybe next time.”

“But—”

A plaintive meow interrupted her. Matt had forgotten the kitten.

Jessica glanced toward his bedroom. “Where did you get that kitten? And what are you going to do with it?”

Good question. Jessica certainly couldn’t take it, because of her allergies, not even for the two days until the animal shelter opened. “Maybe Clint will take it.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Tell me about you and Allie. You two seem very close.”

“We grew up together, went to the same college.” His hometown wasn’t the only thing Matt wasn’t ready to tell Jessica about. “Sweetheart, I have a lot to do, and I need you to leave so I can do it. I’ll call you tonight after I see Mariah.”

She patted his cheek. “I could help you. You know, clear the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher...”

“Thanks, but you would be a distraction.”

“You mean, like this?” Jessica slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

He leaned into the kiss...until the kitten intruded again with another insistent meow. He eased his lips away from hers and he turned her to face the door. “Yes, like that.”