by Joanna Blake
"Yeah, of course."
He felt horrible. Like he was losing something precious. She didn't want him to call her though. What the hell was he supposed to do?
He trailed her down the stairs to the front door of the suite. The place was empty thankfully. All the half naked bodies had moved to greener pastures.
"Can I kiss you goodbye?”
Her eyes lifted to his and she nodded. Once.
He walked over to her and pulled her towards him. This time he kissed her with every trick he'd learned over the years. He wanted her to remember this. She kissed him back with as much feeling as he was giving her. He growled and pressed her against the wall.
A few minutes later he realized she was gently pushing against his chest. He stared down at her tiny hands against his shirt and realized she was trying to step away from him. He dropped his arms.
“Goodbye, Kendall. And thank you for everything.”
She smiled at him. Then he watched her walk out of the suite and out of his life. He’d known all along she was a good girl. He hadn't realized she was a virgin. He had come on too strong, scared her off. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
It was only when he got back upstairs that he realized she'd left all the gifts he'd bought her behind.
Even the necklace.
A few hours ago he’d felt like the possibilities were endless. He’d thought he might have met someone real, someone he could be with long term. Maybe forever.
He picked up the necklace and stared at the ruby heart in his hand.
Then he made a fist around it.
Chapter 24
Jessica
Way to go, Jessalina.
Jess stared out the window into the desert. The bus got in at 6 PM. Then she'd have to have someone come and get her. The bus stop was absurdly far from her home in Los Feliz. She fished out her phone and stared at it.
She had 47 messages. She opened her FB. 115 alerts. Her email. 77 unread. Not to mention the missed calls.
What the hell?
She stared at her page in horror. Her phone had checked her in all over Las Vegas. The rides at the Stratosphere had TAKEN PICTURES of her on the rides.
Pictures of them.
Oh my God.
She stared at the picture of Kendall and her on the Insanity. He looked a little scared actually. She couldn't help but smile. They looked like they were having a blast.
No, it was worse than that.
They looked like a couple.
She shut her phone and covered her face with her hands. She was an idiot. She’d blown it with the ultimate dream guy.
All because she was so certain he was going to hurt her.
Why hadn't she given him her number at least? Left it up to him whether he actually followed through? He was famous, yes. He could have his pick of thousands of women. But he really liked her. She knew it. There was no doubt in her mind.
Well, he did until this morning.
There was no way he liked her anymore. Not after what she'd done. She wouldn't blame him if he even hated her a little bit.
She'd run out on him, plain and simple. There was no use denying it.
And now she would never see him again.
Coward.
First she downloaded and deleted the pictures off FB. Then she went through her texts and emails, answering the most urgent ones. The whole time, she was fighting off tears.
Lisa texted saying she'd be happy to meet at the bus station, providing Jess gave her the gory details. Jess rolled her eyes and shoved her phone back in her bag. She leaned against the glass, pulling his shirt up to her nose and inhaling deeply.
It still smelled like him. Clean and healthy and good.
She curled on her side and stared out the window, wondering how the hell she'd made such a mess of everything.
Chapter 25
Kendall
Why did he feel like something was missing?
Kendall had been feeling it for days. Ever since she’d walked out on him. At first, he believed he was actually forgetting something important. His phone, or his keys or something.
But no. It was her.
Jessica was the one who was missing.
Kendall had his eyes closed, ignoring everyone around him. In Tempo was doing publicity at Sirius Satellite Radio in New York City, plugging the concert happening at Madison Square Garden in couple of nights. The guys were in their element, joking around with the DJ's in the waiting room before they went into the studio. Davie was a big fan of Howard Stern but he was already gone for the day.
"Red bull?"
Kendall cracked an eye and shook his head. Gerald threw his arm around him.
"Come on puddin'! Cheer up already."
"What's wrong with you anyway?"
Tom sat on his other side, staring at him like he was a bug. Gerald started playing with his hair.
"You know, Tom. It's that girl."
“The cute little one?”
He shrugged them off.
"Lay off guys."
"Jeez so touchy. Why don't you just call her?"
"I can't. I don't have her number."
"Hell, is that what's bothering you? Perry, come here man."
Their manager had been staring at the mini bar in the waiting room. He shuffled over to them.
"What's up?"
"That girl- the one from Vegas with the big-"
"Shut up!"
"Yeah, I remember. Cute as a button."
Kendall glared at them.
"Yeah that's her. Kendall here has the hots for her. Didn't nail her apparently."
"Awww… Does Kendy Wendy have a crushy wushy?”
“Not helping guys.”
“Be a man and go get her!"
"I would if I could. I don't even know her last name."
Perry grinned at him, popping the top off a diet soda.
"I do.”
"You do?"
"I do. I needed it for the flight register."
Perry toasted him with the can.
"Please tell me it's not Smith."
Perry laughed.
"No, it's something else. Sheffield I think. I got it in my folder back at the hotel."
Kendall pulled out his phone and opened the FB app. He hardly ever checked it anymore but it was a good way to keep in touch with family and friends from back home. A lot of them were having babies already. He'd started calling it 'Baby Book.'
He typed in Jessica Sheffield. There were quite a few of them. He scrolled down the first page and down the next.
Holy shit.
There she was.
It was that easy. Her big blue eyes were hidden by a pair of oversized sunglasses. She obviously didn't really want anyone to get too good a look at her. Her wall was covered in comments that read like a tabloid though.
'What are you doing in Vegas, you bad girl?'
'Kendall Jackson? DO TELL!'
He grinned and scrolled down. All the comments were new. She'd been deleting them every couple of hours apparently. He could have warned her that people would have found out.
But where was the fun in that?
He spent some time poking through her pictures. Her privacy settings must be off. He'd have to tell her how to fix that asap. He was looking at an adorable picture of her from college, wearing a baseball cap and face paint at a sporting event when his screen froze. Then the whole page disappeared. He searched for her again but she was gone.
She'd literally just deactivated her account.
It didn't matter. He knew her name and he knew she worked at an animal hospital in Beverly Hills. He could find her now. No problem.
Just like that, the empty feeling disappeared.
Kendall stood up and walked out of the room. Perry chased him out to the elevator bay.
"Where are you going man?"
"To the airport.”
"Why?"
Kendall didn’t stop walking.
"Because I’m flying b
ack to LA."
"But we have a concert in three days!"
He grinned at Perry, pressing the elevator button to go down.
"Don't worry, Perry. I'll be there."
Chapter 26
Jessica
Liquid brown eyes stared at her, full of emotion.
"There, there Dandy. This will all be over in a few minutes."
Jessica held the miniature pincher gently as she withdrew blood from his back leg. She pressed firmly as she withdrew the needle, handing the samples off to the waiting vet tech.
"We'll see what the blood work shows, but judging from his lack of appetite and weight loss, I think we might want to start him on a kidney diet right away."
Dandy's mom nodded. The poor woman looked worried sick. She was one of the people who truly treated their pets as children. Jess smiled encouragingly and handed her some free samples.
"Here, take a few cans to try until we sort this out. Some people mix in hard boiled egg whites. They are super easy to digest but still have protein. We already have urine and blood. We should know in just a few days. Try not to worry."
Jessica smiled as the woman collected her dog and was shown out of the examination room.
Cathy ran down the hallway and into the examination room. She was whispering so loud the whole hospital could hear her. Jess grabbed spray and started wiping down the scale and the table, even though it was the vet tech’s job.
They were swamped today and everybody was pitching in to keep the appointments moving. A couple of emergency visits had thrown off the whole schedule. Things were finally quieting down now, thank Goodness.
She even had time for a quick break. Maybe even enough time to get something to eat. As usual, she was starving.
"Jess! Oh my GOD- he's here!"
"What are you talking about, Cathy?"
"Kendall freaking Jackson."
Jess stood perfectly still, blinking at her friend. Her stomach dropped out of her body and hit the floor.
SPLOOSH.
"What? What is he doing here?"
"He's here to see you. I mean, his dog is. He - uh - has an appointment. Crazy, right?"
Oh God. He was here to see her. He must be.
"I'll be right out."
"Take your time. We are all enjoying looking at him- he's gorgeous!"
Jessica washed her hands and patted her face with cool water. She checked her hair and makeup. Not that she was wearing much, other than the faintest hint of lip gloss and mascara. The tint on her lips was all gone anyway. She pulled the sheer gloss out of her scrubs and dabbed a bit on. She patted down her pony tail.
She sighed. She was definitely not looking sexy. She looked like she was at work. Which she was. Maybe he was just there in a professional capacity.
Cathy had said he had a dog…
Yeah right. He probably rented it.
She walked into the lobby. There he was, standing there with a leash loosely clasped in his hands. A scruffy looking mongrel sat at his feet.
She hadn’t believed it until she saw it. Kendall Jackson had a dog. And he was here, waiting to see her.
She took a deep breath and walked forward.
"Hi."
He smiled at her and her bones turned to jello.
"Hi."
"If you'd come this way please."
He followed her into the examination room. Then he just stared at her, not saying a word. She pulled on a fresh set of gloves.
"I thought you were in New York."
"I was. I have to go back tomorrow actually."
She frowned. Did he come back for her? That was silly. He had a dog, and he was here to see a doctor. Any doctor would do. She knelt down in front of the dog, trying to buy time to sort out how she was feeling.
"And who do we have here?"
"She doesn't have a name yet actually. I just got her from the pound."
She stared at him. She’s been right. He was playing some sort of joke on her.
Had he adopted a stray just to- what? Get to see her? That was insane.
"They were about to euthanize her. I couldn't let them do that."
"So you were just hanging around the pound when this eleventh hour rescue went down?"
He opened his mouth and shut it. Then he gave her the look. She tried to resist it but she couldn't.
The look that said I came here to see you.
The look that said I did it for you.
The look that said I want you.
"You know why I was there, Jess."
"I do?"
"Alright. I'll spell it out for you. I met this girl I really liked. I thought she liked me too. But for some crazy reason she ran out on me without leaving her phone number."
"So you adopted a stray dog. Makes perfect sense."
"It does?"
"Yes."
She smiled at him. She couldn’t help it. How was she supposed to resist?
"Good. Because for a minute I thought I was going crazy."
She laughed. She couldn't help it. He was adorable.
"Let's see how this unnamed little lady is doing."
She called for a vet tech and they lifted the elderly dog up onto the table for the examination. As soon as it was on the table, it slobbered it's tongue up the side of Jess's face.
"Hey now, I just met you!"
The dog sat back on her haunches and offered up a paw. Jess took it somberly, shaking hands.
“Well, I guess now that we’ve been properly introduced…”
The dog licked her again and Kendall laughed.
“Am I allowed to do that too?”
She gave him a stern look.
“No, you are not.”
Chapter 27
Kendall
…And she’s a doctor.
The cutest girl he’d ever laid eyes on and she was an actual doctor. He hadn’t really believed it until that moment, but it was true.
She was incredible. The kind of girl he could bring home to his mama and his little sister Beatrix.
Actually, after all these years he was pretty sure his mama might faint. Bee on the other hand would make sure to get out all his awkward baby photos and regale Jess with embarrassing stories.
Yeah, instead of sex fantasies, now he was having chick fantasies.
Kendall watched as Jessica examined the dog. He felt so many conflicting things at the moment, it was making his head spin.
First of all, he was impressed. He hadn't really been able to picture the adorable little sex kitten from Vegas as a real doctor. But damn if she wasn't. She was good too- he could tell she knew what she was doing.
Not only was she putting the dog at ease, but she was putting him at ease too.
She moved quickly, not lingering too long over any one thing that might make the dog nervous.
So yeah, he was impressed.
But more than anything, he wanted to kiss her.
"Okay, so your unnamed friend here is about seven years old. Slightly malnourished but in otherwise good health for a senior. We will know more when we get the test results back."
She was tapping away on the computer.
"We really need a name for the animal though."
She turned and gave him a funny look. He realized he was grinning goofily at her.
"What?"
"Pizza. Come have pizza with me. Or pancakes. Veggie burgers. Whatever you want."
She sighed deeply.
"Kendall…"
"Come on, you can name the dog if you want. Just come out with me tonight. Now. As soon as possible."
She chewed her lip for a minute. He just waited. Finally she rolled her eyes at him.
"Okay, fine. I get off in a half hour."
"Great. I'll be outside… um, loitering."
She looked a little bit alarmed at his enthusiasm. If she had any idea what he'd gone through to get her to this point, she would probably run. He had to make sure that didn't happen.
Not until he got a chance to wor
k his magic on her.
"Pepperoni."
"What?"
"Let's call her Pepperoni for now. Make people think twice about where their meat comes from."
"Great. I love it. Come on Pepper, let's go for a walk."
Chapter 28
Jessica
Way to go, Jess. Out of the frying pan and into…
She chewed her lip, her leg jangling nervously.
What the hell was she doing? She’d called things off to protect her heart, and now she was in even greater danger. Because now, he had a dog.
The fact that he’d rescued an old dog and not a cute little puppy was only making things worse. She liked him. A lot.
And she wasn’t going to be able to fight it this time.
Jessica was sitting in Kendall's car again. Only this time it was an SUV and not a sports car. He had two cars apparently.
Of course he did.
He was a celebrity. All celebrities had two cars. He could have five cars for all she knew. Or twenty.
They pulled to the curb in front of Mulberry Street Pizza. Jessica stared out the window, trying not to panic.
She felt Pepperoni's cold wet snout pressed up against her ear and giggled. She sobered immediately. If she went in there with him, someone would see them.
Besides, they couldn’t leave Pepper in the car. As a vet, she hated hearing that anyone still did that. They had no idea how dangerous it really was.
"We can't leave her in the car."
"It's okay. I'll just get us something to go. We can eat it at my place."
He looked at her with his big green eyes.
"That's okay, right?"
She nodded and watched as he jumped out of the car. He was extremely eager to get her back to his place.
She didn't have a hard time imagining why.
This time she knew already she wasn't going to be able to resist him.
He'd flown all the way back here after tracking her down. He'd gotten a dog for Christ's sake. That was hard to ignore. Besides the fact that she'd missed him horribly since she left Las Vegas.
