“I—well, I knew—I was asked to—”
“Whatever you need to tell me, just say it. Really, I’d rather it just be out there than sitting here trying to figure it out myself.”
I looked at her cautious and expectant expression, and exhaled roughly. “I’ve known you were here. I knew the day you interviewed with my dad.”
Kennedy nodded slowly. “I figured.” When I didn’t go on, her eyebrows rose. “Is that really all you needed to say?”
“No. No, it’s not. I’m just struggling with finding a way to tell you this without it sounding . . . how it sounds. And besides the fact that I’ve known for days that you were here, I’m still having trouble actually grasping that you are here.”
“That makes two of us,” she muttered. “Well, like I said, I’d rather it just be out there. So say it any way you can, and we’ll figure out a way for it to sound better than however it comes out.”
My mouth curved up in a smile. “I’ve known you were here since Friday, but I knew you were here a few days before. I mean, I didn’t know it was you, but I . . . knew.”
“You’re right. This is sounding bad.”
I rolled my eyes at her teasing tone, and decided to just say it rather than slowly building up to it. “I work for your uncle Eli.”
“No shit,” she breathed in disbelief, her wide eyes growing even larger.
“He’s been like a mentor to me for years, and I’ve worked for him since before I even graduated college. He called me into his office last week to tell me about you and Kira. There was another guy there, Mason—”
“Wait!” Kennedy sat up in the booth and leaned over the table. “Mason was there? My uncle Mason?”
“If it’s the guy who looks like he takes steroids, then yes.”
She stared at me for a few seconds before relaxing, but her confused expression deepened. “I’m sorry, I can sort of understand you working for Uncle Eli. I mean, it’s weird; don’t get me wrong. Way too coincidental given our past, but things like that happen, I guess. My uncles hate each other, though, I can’t imagine them in the same room to talk to you . . . especially about Kira and me.”
I laughed softly. “Yeah, the hatred was clear in the office. And trust me, you aren’t the only one who finds this weird. Eli was telling me about the two of you and how you weren’t happy you were here. They wanted someone to introduce you to people, they were hoping you’d make friends and enjoy California a little more.” Kennedy scoffed and I sent her a look showing my agreement. “I said no at first. But Eli’s never asked for anything from me, and he’s helped me through a lot. I told them my dad was looking to fill a few spots at the gym, and I would try to get you two an interview, but I still wasn’t happy about any of it.”
“I don’t blame you. We’re kind of hard to handle individually. Both at the same time? I almost feel bad for you.”
My lips spread into an amused grin, but I stopped myself from commenting on the fact that I’d handled her easily enough a year ago. “It wasn’t that. It was the way they were talking about you two. They made you seem . . . like you didn’t know how to socialize. I kept looking at it like they wanted me to babysit you.”
“Hmm. How sweet of them,” she said sarcastically.
“I was at the gym when you came in for the interview, but I’d been in my dad’s office and left when you were still interviewing. But then you came in to work, and I walked out of my office when you were both standing there with Eli in the hall. I thought I was losing my mind when I saw you. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that you were the niece that I was supposed to help meet people.”
Kennedy let my words hang in the air for a few moments, then nodded once and cleared her throat. “Okay. This is still weird—too weird. But what I want to know is, if you’ve known I was here since Friday, why are you just now approaching me?”
A short, hesitant laugh left me, and I took my time figuring out my answer. “Because I didn’t know what to do about you being here. I denied it at first, and then was in shock that after a year you were close enough to touch again. I kept wondering if you would remember me . . . that led to me again wanting to know why you left, and then I just got mad. I was mad you left, I was mad that I was being put in a position to be near you when there was a possibility you wouldn’t remember me or want to be near me, or you would be the sister who had a boyfriend. I went back and forth between telling Eli that I knew you and that I was the wrong person to help you, but eventually I decided that I couldn’t have you this close and not try to talk to you again. After that, it took a few days to finally figure out how to approach you without scaring you . . . but I still did it the wrong way. Obviously.”
“We can’t tell my uncle. There’s no logical way to explain how I could’ve met you before this, and there’s no way in hell I’m telling him or the rest of my family the truth.”
“Okay.”
“And we can’t tell your family,” she added. “I wouldn’t be able to face them again if they knew.”
I looked away for a second and tried to brace myself for her reaction to what I was about to say. “My dad knows.” Kennedy’s eyes widened, and I said, “The truth. I told him today.”
“Oh my God,” she said on a breath.
“My sister won’t know, neither will my mom. But I have a different relationship with my dad than most people. I tell him everything. He’d already known about you last year, and I knew there was no way he wouldn’t eventually put things together.”
“Your dad thinks I’m a whore, Liam!” she whispered harshly, her eyes darting around to make sure no one was listening to us. “I can’t go back to that gym now.”
My eyes narrowed at her assumption. Sure, my sister would automatically think something along those lines because that’s just the way she was. But it was pissing me off that Kennedy would think I’d make her out to seem like a whore. Then again, we still didn’t know each other.
“No, he doesn’t. That’s the last thing he thinks, I can assure you. And yes, you can go back to the gym. He was mad I hadn’t told him before he hired you, and was worried you would both quit if I talked to you tonight. So if anything, he’s on your side right now.”
Kennedy shook her head slowly, her eyes on me, but not seeing me. Our food was brought to the table a couple minutes later, but neither of us made a move to touch it, and Kennedy still looked like she was somewhere else.
“Well,” I said, and cleared my throat, breaking the silence between us. Her eyes finally focused, and I decided that now was the time for me to leave everything up to her. “That was what I needed to tell you. Being in the same city and being connected by your uncle was purely coincidental. You and Kira working for my dad wasn’t, although my dad didn’t think he would hire the two of you before you came in for the interview—so I don’t want you or Kira to think you got the job because of your uncle or me. Dad really liked you both. But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t try to talk to you without you knowing how this all came about. Regardless of what happened between us after I approached you in the gym, I knew it wouldn’t be fair to you to let you go on thinking that we had just run into each other out of pure coincidence.”
“I appreciate you letting me know, and I appreciate dinner,” she mumbled as her eyes became unfocused again. After a few beats of silence passed, she straightened and looked directly at me. Her next words held no emotion. “But as I said earlier, nothing will come of us. This is not that moment where everything changes and we realize we’re meant to be together. That night last year was fun, but that’s all it was . . . a night.”
From her detached words and the way she immediately looked down at her plate and began eating, I knew there wasn’t one ounce of Kennedy that even believed the bullshit she’d just given me.
5
June 3
Kennedy
AS SOON AS dinner was over, Liam drove me back to the condo as a heavy silence fell over us. I still wasn’t sure what
to think about the fact that he was here . . . right next to me. Parts of that night in Vegas had been replaying in my mind since I first saw him that afternoon. And every single one of them left me wanting one thing.
More.
But I couldn’t. Not wouldn’t . . . couldn’t. From what I remembered of him, and what I was already seeing in just speaking to him today, he was the kind of guy who had me letting down walls faster than I’d originally been able to build them, and had me willingly giving up every ounce of control to him. And I hated that feeling. I was the type of girl who had to be in control at all times. I was the way I was because I stayed in control. There had only ever been one other guy in my life who had made me feel the way Liam did, and it had ended in a disaster. Liam would be no different.
The second Liam had pulled the car up in front of my building, I offered him an abrupt “thanks” and stepped out. Anything more, any extra time with him, and I would start forgetting why I couldn’t explore possibilities with him—for the thirtieth time in just a handful of hours.
As soon as I was in the condo, Kira was racing out of her room and up to me.
“You ditched me, traitor!”
“Seriously, ‘holy shit’ isn’t big enough for today! Tell me what happened!”
“You tell me what happened!” I demanded as I walked over to fall into a chair at the kitchen table with Kira not far behind. “I don’t even know how to begin wrapping my head around all of this!”
“Seeing as I wasn’t there with you two, I can’t. Just start from the beginning and I’ll try to help you fill in the hows.”
“The how is the easiest part,” I mumbled, and rubbed a temple with my fingers. “He works for Uncle Eli—”
“No shit?”
“That’s exactly what I said. But, yes, he does. Apparently he doesn’t just work there . . . they’re really close. Liam said that Eli’s his mentor. Apparently Uncle Eli and Uncle Mason both approached him about us moving here and needing to meet people or get jobs. They wanted Liam to help—”
“So he already knew that you were here? I bet he jumped on that chance before they could get out the question!”
“Kira! Let me explain first, then you can cut me off however much you want to.”
Kira sat back in her chair with her hands raised in surrender, but her face still showed how eager she was to hear everything.
I finished telling her the rest of my conversation with Liam at the restaurant, and true to Kira’s personality, she didn’t let me get more than two sentences out at a time without interrupting and throwing in her own assumptions about what happened next. The entire playback of Liam’s explanations ended up taking about twenty minutes longer than it had when he’d been the one telling it.
“So that’s it,” I finished, and let my head fall into one hand while the other slapped down against the table.
“What?” she asked quickly, and sat up. “That can’t be it. Didn’t you guys talk about Vegas? Did he try to set up something to see you again? Don’t leave out the best part! I need juicy details in my life.”
“You don’t get plenty of juiciness from your phone calls with Zane?”
Kira’s eyes widened, then dropped to stare at the table. Back home we could never do anything to get her to shut up about her relationship with Zane, but I couldn’t remember her talking about him once since we’d been in California—unless it was to complain about their being apart. Just before I could ask what her solemn look meant, she shook her head and glanced back up at me.
“Come on, Kennedy! You can’t tell me that there was nothing else said. You talked about this guy for months, and suddenly he’s here? There’s no way you didn’t make plans to see him again.”
“Oh, I have no doubt I will see him again. Since we work at his dad’s gym, I know he’ll probably use that as a way to see me. But I told him nothing was going to happen with us. I said Vegas was just a night, and nothing more.”
“What? Bullshit; no, you didn’t!” She sat there staring at me in shock before stuttering out, “Ken—I don’t—what do—why would you say that?”
“I said it because nothing can happen. I cannot let a man like Liam Taylor into my life.”
“Well, why the hell not?”
“Speaking of Zane!,” I said loudly, ready to talk about any other subject, “you haven’t been talking about him much lately, and it is impossible to miss the way you’ve been staring down all the guys at the gym. It’s your turn to spill the details.”
“I have not been staring them down,” she said defensively.
“Ha! Yeah . . . yeah, you have. And you’re beyond smiley and happy when we’re there. I’m also pretty sure I heard one of the guys asking for your number today. Did you give it to him?”
“Of course I didn’t! I have a boyfriend, Kennedy.”
“Yeah, who is on the other side of the country and who you don’t talk about anymore. I agree with Mom, I think this is the perfect opportunity for you to see what other guys can be like.”
“No. I don’t want to know what anyone else would be like.”
I exhaled heavily and gave her a look that let her know I thought she was making a mistake.
“How about this? If you date Liam—and I mean date, as in relationship—then I will spend time away from my relationship with Zane for the rest of the time we’re in California to give other guys a shot.”
“That is not happening! I can’t be with someone like Liam!”
Kira shrugged and grinned victoriously. “Well then, I guess we can both stay just the way we are.”
“Kira,” I groaned as she stood up and walked toward her room.
“Good talk, sis!”
“I hate you too,” I called back, and grumbled to myself. I’d have to tell Mom and Dad I failed at the Zane thing again.
“ARE YOU BUSY tonight?”
I glanced up at the guy currently waiting for his protein shake two days later, and gave him a coy smile before going back to acting like I was very into making his drink so I wouldn’t have to give him an immediate answer. I’d seen him every day since Kira and I started work at the beginning of the week, but today was the first day he’d gotten bold in our short conversations. They had been the typical “Hi, how are you?,” which led to the rest of the necessities that made up a polite conversation with any stranger—but that had been it.
I’d known today would be different the second he’d walked up and said, “I was hoping you’d be here today.” After that, our conversation had been filled with flirting on his part, and kicking up the polite factor on mine—and in his defense, he’d been damn good at his game and was nice to look at. He was never cheesy and never overeager, just always spoke with the perfect amount of I’m-interested-and-want-you-to-know. He looked like he was in his late twenties, and had dark hair that was already starting to gray at the temples. The combination was oddly fascinating, and mixed with his sure smile, it had me wondering if he’d ever had a girl turn him down. The only problem for me was I couldn’t get a certain someone out of my head.
Just as I opened my mouth to give him a noncommittal answer, that certain someone answered for me.
“Actually, she is busy. But she won’t be busy with you.”
My jaw dropped and I sucked in a large gasp and hissed, “Liam!”
Liam looked over at Mr. Smooth Talker—I never could remember his name—and gave him a challenging stare. “The girls are here to work, not get picked up by the members of the gym.”
Mr. ST didn’t back down. Actually, his smile grew confident. “I’ll gladly wait until she’s off work to ask again, if that would make you feel better.”
“I’d rather you—”
“Liam!” I hissed again. “You can’t answer questions for me, and you are being beyond rude right now.” Looking up to Mr. ST, I flashed him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, just ignore him . . . I try to. What did you—”
“Are you really going to go somewhere with him? No. No, you’re
not, and we already have plans.”
I couldn’t stop my face from falling in horror over the way Liam was acting. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since he dropped me off after dinner the other night, and was too shocked by the way he was taking over the conversation to actually continue trying to talk to Mr. ST.
“Are you kidding me right now?” I roughly slammed Mr. ST’s drink down in front of him, but never took my eyes off Liam. “You honestly think you can just come in here and act like you have a say over my life? Did you not hear me on Wednesday? And why the hell would I go anywhere with you after what you just did?” I bit out, gesturing to the other guy standing in front of me.
“Wait. Has he been bothering you?” Mr. Smooth Talker asked, and Liam barked out a hard laugh.
“No, he’s not bothering her,” Kira chimed in. “This is just how they are. And, unfortunately, we do have plans with him tonight. Enjoy your drink!”
“Kira! Shut up!” I don’t know what it was about Liam that had me talking like this, but I still hadn’t stopped hissing. As much as I wanted to apologize to Mr. ST and say that I would go anywhere with him, as long as it pissed off Liam, I couldn’t look away from the man who hadn’t left my mind for two days. “You are really something, you know that? It’s just too bad I didn’t know the kind of guy you were a year ago!”
Liam leaned over the counter; his arctic-blue eyes glistened with amusement. “I don’t think that would’ve stopped you, Moon.”
Words failed me, and I made a really unattractive, girly screech. It was also possible that I stamped my foot, but I didn’t want to think too much on the fact that I was now acting like a five-year-old throwing a fit.
“Okay, you two. Take it outside.”
I turned to look at my boss at the sound of his voice, and pointed at Liam. “I hate your son!”
Brandon sighed and raised his eyebrows as he looked at Liam. “Yeah, well, he has that effect on people sometimes. Go finish telling him how much you hate him outside.”