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Adrenaline shot through her. Damn that Dominic. What was he up to?
Twenty-One
Jason took a long time finishing his shower. He struggled to collect himself. Pushing Kendra wasn’t going to work. He knew that about her. This wasn’t the right time anyway. They were both spent from the long day. Honestly, that conversation with Colleen felt like an eon ago. He didn’t know why the wedding question had popped back into his mind.
But it had, and he’d been too relaxed to stop it.
That doesn’t mean you have to go there. You know where the lines are. Don’t fucking cross them and things’ll be fine.
Would they, though? As he toweled off his hair, he knew that depended on what “fine” meant. If he wanted things to continue just as they were, things would be fine. If he wanted any kind of change, maybe not.
It’s hard because you’re changing the game on me.
Message received, Kendra. Loud and clear.
He ambled into the bedroom, towel around his hips. Kendra was in the midst of powering down her phone.
“Are you sure you want to do that? You might get some emergency calls tonight.”
“You know I’m not the town manager, right? Everyone’s where they’re supposed to be for the night. If there’s an emergency, that’s what nine-one-one is for.”
“Right.” He groaned and checked his own phone, then the pager from the fire department. “There’s a good chance I’ll get some kind of call tonight.”
She set her phone face down on the nightstand, then stretched out one long leg for the always sensual moisturizing process. Ordinarily he loved watching her smooth lotion into her skin. He’d even helped her with it a few times.
But right now, he wasn’t in the mood. Something was off. He was off. He wished he’d never brought up the “plus-one” invitation. He’d bumped against one of her walls and it didn’t feel good.
He went to the window to close the blinds, and noticed that Holly’s bike was gone. Right—she was spending the night at the Blue Drake with the seniors. “I didn’t see Holly once today.”
“Doesn’t she have that Indigenous Arts class on Tuesdays?”
“Right. Is it Tuesday? Jesus, I lost track. Have you noticed anything off with Holly? I think something’s bothering her and she won’t talk about it. You know how much she loves to vent. Has she said anything to you?”
With one knee bent so she could reach her calf, Kendra shot him a cautious glance. “Why would she say anything to me?”
So she had. And Kendra didn’t want to betray her confidence.
That was good news. At least Holly was talking to someone responsible, someone other than her fellow teenagers.
“Why not? She likes you.”
Kendra shrugged one slim brown shoulder. “I think that’s thanks to my free burger for every ‘A’ policy at Alvin’s.”
He stretched out next to her, his towel still firmly wrapped around his hips. He didn’t want to get distracted by lust right now. Something had shifted between them since the shower. He thought about how she’d been powering down her phone when he walked in.
Had someone reached out to her that she didn’t want to talk to? Someone from London, perhaps?
Keeping his tone as casual as possible, he said, “Have you heard anything more from Dominic? Any more moves on the chessboard?”
The pink tip of her tongue peeked from between her lips as she focused on the sleek brown length of her shin. “I don’t really know what he’s up to.”
Which didn’t exactly answer the question.
“So you talked to him?”
Her sharp glance made it clear she wanted him to back off. “I had one phone conversation with him, but he made no sense, and I haven’t answered his texts since then.”
His stomach dropped. So Dominic was texting her. That was the kind of thing that happened during “rebounds,” right? The former partner sometimes reappeared. Sometimes they wanted to get back together. Sometimes they actually did get back together.
