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She remembered the moment when she and Dominic had reached that point in their relationship. They’d gone out to dinner after a meeting with the lawyer helping them with the contract.
They’d gone to an upscale Asian-fusion place, the kind that left her longing for her father’s jambalaya.
Dominic was fired up about everything—the business, the lawyers, the contract-in-progress. And them. “How many people in this restaurant would love to be us right now? We’re young, we’re hot, we’re going places. It’s all right there ahead of us, all we have to do is reach out and grab it.”
“Grab what? Maybe more of these teeny tiny mini spring rolls pretending to be an appetizer.”
He barely laughed at her joke, which happened a lot. He was always looking ahead to the next point he wanted to make instead of listening to her quips. “Success. Life. Money. Everything. We can do this, Kendra. We can be those people. The It couple.”
His enthusiasm swept her right along with him.
“I always wanted to be the ‘It Girl.’ When I was younger, I wanted to be the Beyoncé of business. But now Beyoncé’s a business queen herself, so…” She shrugged and looked around for the waitress, who was barely bigger than one of those spring rolls.
“I’m serious, Kendra. You and me. Think of the possibilities.” He swept a hand through the air. “Billionaire. CEO. Power couple extraordinaire.”
A shiver went through her. It sounded like he was talking about marriage. “Are you…is this a proposal?”
“Sure, maybe. Eventually.” He leaned forward, eyes ablaze with promise. “Would that be so strange? An expat Canadian and a princess from Minnesota?”
“Princess? My dad’s the only one who ever called me a princess, and he’s biased. I’m about as practical as it gets.”
“And that’s why I love you. Smart, practical, beautiful, you’re the complete package.”
Her heart melted under his intense gaze. “Did you just say you love me? You’ve never said that before.”
“And now I have. Do you love me?”
Somehow she’d imagined something more romantic for a declaration of love. You’re practical, she reminded herself. You’re not a romantic. “Maybe?”
Dominic put a hand to his heart, as if she’d aimed a bullet there. “Don’t break my heart, princess.”
“It’s all good, Dom. We’re perfect together.” That must mean love, right? “I do love you. You’re the most exciting man I’ve ever known. And all of those things you said before, the power couple, the It couple, I want that. I want to show the world what I can do.”
“What we can do. Together.”
She nodded as he clasped his hands around hers. Everything would be so much easier if she was doing it with Dominic. She could take on the world as part of a couple instead of as one single Black woman.
If a small part of her mourned the disappearance of her own personal dream, the one in which she strode up on that awards stage alone, she didn’t dwell on it. She was practical that way.
And Dominic…
Maybe she hadn’t been in love at the beginning, but he’d become the center of everything. Her dreams, her life, her heart. Getting dumped by him had devastated her. Could she ever trust a man with her heart again? Did she want to? What was the point? If anyone had ever been perfect for her, it was Dominic. They had the same goals, the same dreams. Since that relationship had imploded, what hope could any other relationship have?
Which brought her back to Jason. Changing the game…was she ready for that? Would it mess everything up?
So she didn’t answer the phone when he called. She sent him a quick text saying that she was very busy with the kitchen construction all day.
All night too?
Need to catch up on sleep, you sex maniac.
Immediately, she wished she could take back that text. Mentioning sex just brought back all the delicious memories of the past few weeks. Sex with Jason gave her so much—adventure, escape, comfort, release.
Was it distracting her from more important things, like her future? Since she’d lost the town manager job, she hadn’t done one thing to look for something else. She was just…here. Running her father’s restaurant. Going nowhere.
“Kendra.” Someone was snapping their fingers to get her attention. She looked up from her phone to find Brenda, a teacher at the middle school, standing before her. All she knew about Brenda was that Galen Cooper had a massive and supposedly secret crush on her. Understandable, with her flowing auburn hair and her sunny optimistic smile. “Sorry to disturb you, you must have a lot on your mind.”
“I was thinking about sex.”
