AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her stomach growls in response. “Let’s. I didn’t actually eat a lot of mine either.”
I steer her toward the food court where we select full meals instead of finger foods. After finding a place to sit, we dig in. At some point I catch her staring at me.
“What? Is there something on my face?” I reach for a napkin to wipe my mouth.
Kenya smiles and shakes her head. “No…it’s just that… I can’t believe I’m admitting this out loud, but I’m not a fan of the contacts. I prefer your green eyes way more.” She ducks her head and forks food into her mouth, leaving me to stare speechlessly at her.
My heart thumps hard and fast against my ribs. It’s small, barely a compliment, but it means a hell of a lot to me.
“Hey, Kenya, when we get back home, will you let me take you out on a real date? I feel like up until now, we’ve circled around having one without really having one and there are other things I want to share with you that don’t involve my biological parents.”
“I…” She averts her gaze.
Her hesitation is a knife thrust to my liver. I open my mouth to tell her never mind when she firms her lips and nods, a gleam of determination darkening her brown eyes.
“Yes, I’d like that. Look.” She stares at her plate rather than at me. “I know I’ve been unfair to you, pushing you away when you’ve been totally honest and upfront about what you want.”
Guilt rears its ugly head at her description of my truthfulness when there’s one big secret I haven’t told her. I should admit it now that we’re alone.
“I think I’d like to give this thing with you a shot, but doing what we did that night…”
Her words take me aback and instead of doing what I know is right, I take the opening she provides. “I understand. That night was a one-off. To be fair, as much as that night completely rocked my foundations, that’s not what I think about whenever you’re around.”
Kenya jerks her head to look at me.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’m not calling you a liar, but that night was pretty epic.” Horror flashes across her face and I can’t help the smile that grows on mine. She smacks her forehead. “Of course it was epic for me. It was my first time. You had to give me instructions.”
I take her hand in mine until she meets my gaze. “It was epic for me, too. For the record, you didn’t need that much instruction to blow every experience I’ve ever had out of the water. But when it comes to that night and seeing you every day, watching you concentrate on your work or smiling or even when you’re on the losing end of one of your grandmothers’ arguments… those moments are what I crave now.”
Her hand twitches in my hold. “Since you’re being honest,”—
That damn word again!Acid churns in my gut.
—“I like having someone…youin my space while I work. At the best of times, people’s shifting and the small noises they make will break my concentration, but your presence never did that. Weird, right? Because I sensed you were there, but I think you actually helped me flesh out a character arc that had been troubling me for a long time.”
“Does this mean we have to wait until we return to Escondido Bay to do date-like things?”
A small smile peeks at the corner of her mouth. “I guess not. What do you have in mind?”
I glance around at all the men eyeing her as she sits beside me. “First, I’d like to hold your hand. Before you ask, I have an ulterior motive, but it’s not my only reason. Although I want everyone here to know I’m your somebody, I also want something tangible to make it real to me.”
She leans toward me and whispers with a secretive smile, “I think you should probably put your arm around my shoulder then. That way the message will be even clearer to the women who’ve been staring daggers at me all night.”
“I can make that happen.” I rise and she joins me to dispose of our containers.
The first room we enter after eating isn’t as full as the lobby, so we go around the booths. The world is beautiful. I have the girl of my dreams hugged to my side and she’s open to dating me. When she stiffens under my arm, I punch myself for the self-congratulatory party in my head.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“That’s the booth for Studio Z97. Can we leave?”
“You still haven’t heard from them?”
She shrugs, her attention on her feet. “It’s alright. Rejection is something all artists have to face.”
“But they didn’t reject you.” Anger grows inside me at the disrespect. “I’ll be right back.”
