Dinner With Kaylee's Family

“Mr. Webb invited me to have dinner with them.”

Paige made a raspberry sound with her lips. “Here I had hope for you.” She already had her phone out. “Who to invite,” she muttered as she stared intently at the screen. An impish smile appeared on her face as she quickly began typing on her phone. The little goblin was up to no good again, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

Leaving the two, I headed upstairs to my room. I shot a text to Kaylee’s dad telling him I was interested in tagging along if the offer was still good. His text came back almost immediately with the time they were going to leave. The man had way too many emoji’s in his message. Seeing I still had a few hours until I needed to head over, I read for an hour before taking a shower and getting dressed. Not knowing where we were going, I made sure to dress up. Couldn’t go wrong with a button-down and slacks. Mom and Dad were already gone when I headed downstairs. I heard talking and laughing coming from the den. Paige wasn’t alone.

Car keys in hand, I glanced into the room as I passed. Paige was sitting on a guy's lap, his hand moving under her shirt. Her attention wasn’t on him, but the other two guys who she was chatting with. It was like she was pretending the guy feeling her up didn’t exist. A few steps brought a different angle and I recognized the guy whose lap she was sitting on. It was her ‘boyfriend.’ Poor bastard. I doubted he was going to get any action tonight considering she had two other guys over. My sister’s attention was completely on one of the other guys, her hand rubbing his inner thigh. Her boyfriend being over here was easy enough to understand, but I couldn’t believe she had managed two others. She was like some deity in there being worshiped by superstitious fools. There were all completely enraptured by her and she was eating up their attention with gluttonous fervor.

Pushing all that from my mind, I stepped outside and locked the door behind me. One twenty-minute car ride later, I was standing at Kaylee’s front door. My hand hesitated over the doorbell as I wondered if this was really a good idea. Things still were in an odd place between Kaylee and me.

Before I could overthink things, I hit the doorbell. Kaylee’s father answered it a few moments later. He wore a large smile as he stepped aside, inviting me in.

“Glad you could make it, Scott.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” I said as I awkwardly shoved my hands in my pockets.

“Scott?” My eyes traced my name back to the source. It was Kaylee. She was… stunning. It wasn’t often I saw her going all out. Tonight was one of them. Her black dress left her white shoulders exposed. It hugged tightly to the curves of her body, hips swaying as she gracefully walked down the stairs. My eyes hovered on her red lips as she spoke. “What are you doing here?”

I didn’t answer right away. How could I? My lungs refused to work and I was critically low on air. The makeup made her eyes more irresistible than they normally were since it highlighted one of her best features. Her hair was done up into a fancy bun. To my surprise, the teal highlights were gone. Dark blue ran through her blond hair in their place.

Realizing I was ogling her, I cleared my throat. I was glad I dressed up some. “Your dad invited me.” She looked over to her father, who was grinning ear to ear. There was something to that look, like someone who hated surprise parties having one sprung on them. “Is that… not okay?”

Whatever thoughts she was conveying vanished when she smiled at me. “Of course it’s okay.”

It was like she was floating. Each step was poised and the way her hips moved as she walked... It was enthralling.

“You look… uh… what I mean is…” My tongue was a knot. Why couldn’t I compliment her? It was simple. ‘You look stunning.’ Or maybe, ‘You are beautiful.’ Anything. Words failed me.

Even if the words failed to come out properly, Kaylee smiled, understanding my intention. “Thanks.”

“Your dad didn’t mention where we were going. Glad I dressed up,” I said, happy to move on. Sometime during my word fumble, her dad had left, leaving just the two of us standing in the hallway.

“Mom’s favorite restaurant,” she said with a nervous brush of her hair. It was a bit confusing to see her nervous. This was like school all over again. The look-but-not glances and the awkward air between us. I’d been wishing things would change between us for years, and now that it had, I was frantically trying to get things back to how they were. Maybe that’s why I was so afraid of change in the first place. It rarely allowed itself to be tamed, let alone controlled.

“Kaylee,” I began, her eyes finally meeting mine longer than a few seconds. “About the—”

“Scott! How wonderful to see you. It’s been a while.”

So focused on Kaylee, I jumped slightly at the new voice. Turning my head, I found an older version of Kaylee walking towards us. Age did nothing to diminish her beauty. Even though they shared similarities, her mother had always made me uncomfortable. Behind her blue eyes was a wealth of life experience that gave them a harder edge. She kept her hair longer, though it was tied up in an equally ornate bun tonight. While Kaylee had an athletic grace behind her movements, her mother dripped sexuality. The confidence of a woman who knew she was attractive and comfortable to use that advantage to the fullest.

“Mrs. Webb,” I managed just before she closed the distance between us. Her hand ran up my arm before snaking over my shoulder. In seconds, she had her body against mine, sucking me into a hug. Like Kaylee, she was short, her hair tickling my nose. She smelled of a summer field of flowers. Like always, her hug lingered a second longer than socially acceptable. At least, that’s how it always seemed to me. Releasing me, there was a faint mischievousness in her eye. Like she knew her presence made me uncomfortable and took pleasure in teasing me. Even though she was no longer hugging me, she was still close. It was like she was hovering, practically touching.

“How many times do I have to remind you, Scott? Call me Lisa.” Her eyes ran over me. “You look sharp tonight.”

Feeling the heat in my cheeks, I scratched at my temple as I tried to fight off the feeling of being judged. “Glad I uh… dressed up a bit. I didn’t know where we were going so… Better to be overdressed than under.” I noticed her hand was lingering on my arm and it took a conscious effort to not stare at it. Or the gracious amount of cleavage her black and white dress was allowing. It was one of the few defining differences between the two. Kaylee hadn’t that particular trait from her mother. While sexy in her own ways, Kaylee lacked the… assets… to pull off the dress her mother wore.

I didn’t mind one bit though. Daring didn’t suit Kaylee.

“Mom?” Kaylee said, stepping forward. Her mother’s gaze lingered on me just long enough to be awkward before turning to her daughter. “Maybe we should get going?”

Her smile was an easy one with a twinge of amusement. Probably because Kaylee had stepped between the two of us. It was subtle. She hadn’t actually stepped between us since her mother was a bit too close for that, but the way she angled herself made the intent clear. Kaylee was facing away from me, making it hard to see what expression she wore. It was clearly one that amused her mother. “Of course.”

My eyes lingered on the older woman’s curves as she walked away. I may not have had any desire to act on certain feelings, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate nice things.

And there was a lot to appreciate about Lisa Webb.

Kaylee stepped in front of me, blocking my view and snapping me out of the trance I had fallen into. I smiled, covering my embarrassment. Had she caught me staring?

“You’re going to love this place,” she said, taking my hand and leading me into the house. She went on about the food, gushing about the quality and range of their menu. Most of it was in one ear and out the other. My attention was on the warm hand against mine. Kaylee didn’t let go until we were separated at the SUV. I held the door open for Kaylee, and she rewarded me with that beaming smile of hers. Her father had done the same with his wife before we switched sides and got in ourselves.

It was small talk all the way to the restaurant, dominated mostly by Kaylee’s mother talking about her trip overseas. For me, my attention was on Kaylee. She was intoxicating and her outfit was incredibly distracting. It didn’t take longer than a few seconds of looking at her to get my heart racing.

This was going to be a long night, but I had no regrets about accepting her father’s invite.