Page 26 of Keep On Loving You
“You’re freezing, Kat. You need to get dressed.” Charli’s voice grew closer. “Let me grab you something from the?—”
The door opened a crack at the same moment that Kat hollered.
“No!”
“No?”
Kat covered with a laugh. “No,” she said. “Don’t go inthere. I know you’ll freak out because it’s totally unorganized. And besides,” she continued, “my coziest sweatpants are downstairs in the laundry room. Do you mind grabbing them? I think there’s a hoodie down there, too.”
Andy was pretty sure he was standing right next to a shelf full of hoodies and cozy-looking clothes, but it wasn’t as if he were going to offer any of them as suggestions. If Charli found him naked in her little sister’s closet, there would be questions. Too many questions. And with a family as close as the Carlsons, there was no way that news of his naked presence wouldn’t get back to Craig.
And if his best friend found out he was fooling around with his baby sister, well, there wouldn’t be any coming back from that. He’d lose Craig, who was more like a brother to him than a friend, and there was no way he could risk that. After his parents died, Craig was the only real family he had. He couldn’t lose him. Especially considering they were only having a little fun.
It wasn’t serious with him and Kat. It was a silly little arrangement between friends. Nothing more.
Andy had almost convinced himself of that, too, when the closet door flew open to reveal Kat, wrapped only in a towel, standing in front of him.
Despite the tenuous situation they were still in, he reached for her, unable to keep his hands off her, especially when she was half naked and her hair was dripping wet around her shoulders, but she stepped out of the way.
“Go,” she hissed. “To the spare room. When you comeout, pretend you were in the shower or something. She can’t know.”
He nodded and did as he was told, because she was right. Charli couldn’t know.
Thankfully, Kat lived in a two-story unit over her hair salon, with the bedrooms on a separate floor, which meant that Andy could slip into the spare room undetected while Charli was downstairs.
He took the opportunity to have a shower—a cold one—before getting dressed and joining the ladies in the living room, thirty minutes later. Kat was cuddled under an impossibly huge, fluffy blanket. Her sister had brought takeout and a selection of pastas that were spread out on the coffee table.
“Hey, Charli,” he said as he entered the room. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
She greeted him with a hug.
“I see you’ve come to look after our little patient.”
“I sure did,” she said.
Charli gave him a strange look. Or maybe it was just his imagination.
“But she tells me that you’ve been taking very good care of her.”
That was an understatement. If given half the chance, he’d take even better care of her, too.
“I only did what any good friend would do.”
From the couch, Kat lifted her eyebrows and shook her head.
“Well, it’s nice knowing she was being looked after,”Charli said. “I brought dinner in case you haven’t had a chance to eat. But I was actually going to head out soon and check on Craig, Lucy, and Meredith next. Poor things have been so sick.”
“It sounds awful,” Andy said. “I’m sure they appreciate you looking in on them.”
“It’s what I do. If it’s not my baby and husband, it’s the rest of this family.” Charli grinned before turning to Kat. “Are you okay? You have everything you need?”
“I do,” she said. “Thank you for rescuing me from the bathtub.”
Charli laughed. “I’m just glad I was here.” She looked at Andy. “That would have been awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“So awkward.” He tried to sound unaffected but wasn’t entirely sure he was pulling it off.
“Okay,” Charli once more focused on her little sister, “you ate, you’re warm, and that pill I gave you will help you get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully, you feel better in the morning.”
