by Taylor Hart
No, she knew why. Kyle Bones had gotten into her head. When he hadn’t wanted her to go, she’d suddenly wanted nothing more. So stupid! She’d changed her mind just to spite him.
And what could she do now? She couldn’t go back in there and turn it down. She still wasn’t sure if she had the job at the radio or not. How would it look if she changed her mind again and said she didn’t want the trip? Ugh! She stomped her foot and turned to go meet her bus.
Kyle was already there, casually leaning up against the brick wall, looking at his phone. The man could be on the cover of a Men’s Health magazine. His black T-shirt was one of those tight ones, and his muscles were so defined. Butterflies thrummed in her gut.
Looking up from his phone, he locked eyes with her.
Her heart rate went up another notch. What the freak was she doing?
“Hey.” Sliding his phone into his pocket, he sauntered toward her.
“Hey.” With effort, she actually sounded calm. At least, it was a lot calmer than she felt.
A lazy smile filled his beautiful face, highlighting a dimple in his left cheek she hadn’t noticed before. Why was she noticing that? No, no, no.
He gestured to the parking lot. “Which car is yours?”
“Oh.” As if she was broken from a trance, she shrugged. “I was going to walk down to the bus stop.” She wasn’t embarrassed she didn’t have a car. What was the point? At the University of Miami, she could bike the campus easily. Plus, she had her roommates, who both had cars and never minded giving her rides or even letting her use theirs. And of course, there was always Uber.
Frowning, he shook his head. “What if I give you a ride and we discuss the details of our date?” He looked at his phone. “We’re scheduled to leave the airport at eight tonight.”
Kennedy’s pulse quickened. Luckily, she wasn’t scheduled to work this weekend. She thought she might have a freak out. “It’s not a date,” she growled, running her hand over her face. It’s a trip.”
“Right,” he said, and he flashed her a smile like he’d won her at the fair.
“I never should have agreed to this.”
“Sure, you should have. It’s going to be fun.”
It was more than unsettling to be this close to him. He probably had five or six inches on her, and he was … she thought of the beach and how ripped this guy was. “O-kay.” She felt a bit swept away.
He nodded to a red Mustang made in an older style. “Let me give you a ride.”
“No.”
“Why not? It’ll give us a chance to talk, and then you don’t have to take the bus.”
She sighed, searching for a reason not to but failing. After all, she was going on a trip with him for three days. “Fine.”
He pulled out a key, unlocking the car and tugging open the passenger-side door for her. His green eyes settled on her face. “I wanted to tell you I’m glad you decided to come.”
“The only reason I agreed is because I don’t want Ray Ray to think I would turn down a trip. I mean, would he want to hire some girl who would do that?”
“Whatever. So should we go back in and tell Ray Ray to do the raffle again?”
No. She couldn’t do that. She really wanted this job.
“What do you want to do?” Kyle let out a long breath and crossed his arms.
The man was huge. Not necessarily height-wise, though. She thought of him without a shirt on again, and it made her nervous.
“I’m not a stalker.” He sounded defensive.
Unable to stop herself, she let slip a tiny smile. “That’s what stalkers say.”
He grunted. “What are you gonna do? Come or don’t come. It’s your decision.”
She frowned and thought about her roommates saying she never had fun, never had adventures. She figured such a high-profile raffle must be safe or the radio wouldn’t touch it. “Do we have a chaperone or something?” she asked, feeling silly.
“I think the fine print stated if the woman wanted a chaperone, she could bring one.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Do we need one?”
Annoyance flared through her. What was it about this guy that bugged her so much? She thought of last night when he’d asked her to get ice cream. Why had she turned him down? Even worse, she’d thought about him all last night. Couldn’t get him out of her brain. “I don’t need one,” she said, and slipped into the car and slammed the door shut. Not like she had anyone to bring as a chaperone anyway.
Kyle ran around the front to get in his own seat and started the car. He shifted the car into gear—it was a stick shift, she noticed. He backed it up and started out of the parking lot. “So let’s talk about it. We’ll be doing the concert in Jackson, but what else do you want to do?”
“You said you had it planned.” She put her hand to her head, feeling a headache coming on. “I don’t think I should go.” The thought of being with him all weekend overwhelmed her. Now, her ex’s face was rushing through her head, and she thought of getting hurt. All her insecurities were bubbling up.
“It’s just three nights. Then I’ll send you back here, and I’ll be going to California. No big deal.”
“Mm-hm. Three nights,” she sneered.
Kyle slammed on the brakes. “What is it?” Tires squealed behind them, and someone laid on the horn.
Kennedy gestured at the road. “Go!”
“No, tell me why you don’t want to go out with me!” he barked. They might as well have been alone in the park for how much attention he paid to the world around them.
The car behind them honked again.
“Drive!” she insisted.
His jaw was set. “I want to know why you keep turning me down. I want to know why you wouldn’t want to go spend three nights in Jackson having fun!”
The horn kept honking. Kyle rolled down his window the old-fashioned way and put his arm out the window, gesturing for the person to go around him. The car did go around him, but honked furiously as he went.
She couldn’t believe this. “Go!” she shouted. “You’re acting like a spoiled child.”
A smile spread across his face. He put his car into park and crossed his arms. “You left me on the dance floor the other night in the middle of a good song. Then, yesterday, when I showed up, you refused to go get ice cream with me. Today, you sold me out on the radio about Cassidy. So you deserved it and you kinda started it.”
“That’s your defense? ‘You started it’?”
“This is ridiculous. You agreed to the trip. So why are we still talking about this?”
She felt jittery and nervous. “Please go.”
“Not until you tell me why you don’t want to go.”
“Fine! One objection is that you’re spending way too much money on this date. You should just donate the money to Sparring for Vets, not spend it.” She’d thought of this earlier. Part of her hated when so much money was spent on stupid things by rich people.
“What?”
“It’s unnecessary to take anyone. Just donate the money.”
“I’m locked into this. It’s too late now. Someone is going to Jackson.” He sighed. “Preferably the woman who agreed to go on public radio.”
This man put her on edge. No, not just on edge—this man was throwing her off a cliff, and she was free-falling. “I hate it when people flash their money around,” she muttered, remembering how her own medical bills had forced her grandmother to sell the house and move into an apartment. “Would you just go?”
“Nope.” He grinned at her, and she could tell it was a fake grin. “Plus, just so you know, I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth or anything, okay? So just chill.”
“Go.”
“I can do this all day. Tell me the real reason you don’t want to go out with me.”
“No!”
“I asked you for ice cream, and you wouldn’t do that, which wasn’t flashy. Why wouldn’t you go?” he demanded.
“Oh my gosh! It’s like you’ve never been turned down
before.” She turned away from him and muttered, “You really are a Prince Charming that puts a spell on everyone.” She thought about how Carrie had acted like he was.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She pointed at him. “You haven’t ever been turned down, have you?” Russell had mentioned that the women always fell for him, but to have never been turned down? For real! “You’re cocky and arrogant and annoying. I’ll tell you that.”
More honking.
She tapped her foot. They had to get going. “Look, I’m going to Jackson. So just drive.”
Giving her a bored look, he turned to her. “Drive where?”
“I don’t care, just go!”
A huge smile crossed his face, and he threw it into drive and took off with a jolt, almost hitting a car that had been trying to get around him.
The other driver honked and flipped the bird at them.
Kyle cackled. “Chill out, dude!”
He and Kennedy burst out laughing. She giggled as Kyle revved the engine and passed the guy who had flipped them off.
The guy flipped them off again as they zipped by.
She laughed harder, feeling happier and lighter than she’d felt all day. “Oh my gosh.”
Kyle accelerated and turned onto the freeway, shaking his head. “Some people are so rude.”
With one last giggle, she said, “So where are you going?”
“Uh, I don’t know. You didn’t tell me where you live, but I was already laying into the gas. I had to go somewhere.”
“I have to get ready for the trip,” she told him. There really wasn’t much to do, because she hadn’t had plans this weekend.
“I’ll get you home.” He grinned, and then he snapped his fingers. “First, let’s go get mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
She put her hand out the window, still nervous but kind of excited at the same time. “Fine.” Suddenly, this trip was looking a whole lot better.
Chapter 7
It was absurd, really, how much Kyle liked sitting on the boardwalk on Tahiti Beach across from this uptight blonde girl, watching her eat the double-scooped waffle ice cream cone. She’d only wanted one scoop, but he’d bought her two. He’d bought himself two as well. Now, they were sitting outside the shop on chairs on a boardwalk next to the beach. People around them were laughing and chatting.
They ate in comfortable silence. Since her concession to go on the Jackson date and their breakaway on the freeway, they hadn’t talked much. Ice cream dripped down the side of her cone, and she turned her mouth sideways to lick the drippings.
Kyle cleared his throat and stood, feeling like his face was on fire. “I’ll get you napkins.”
When he came back, she took them and was actually smiling.
“She smiles.” He sat, and the metal chair almost toppled over.
“Hey, I actually smile a lot.”
He sputtered, then coughed. “Bull.”
She laughed and leaned back, looking happier than he’d ever seen her.
Note to self: feed this woman mint chocolate chip ice cream frequently. He caught himself. Why was he taking notes? Even though technically they were only eating ice cream, he counted this as another date, but he wouldn’t mention that part.
He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Hey, why did you say I was Prince Charming back there? That made no sense.”
In between licks, she said, “I do smile, but … I just guess I don’t smile that much at men. I don’t really want to talk about it. The Prince Charming comment was something Carrie said the first night I met you.” She rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. “Nothing.”
“Hmm.” Clearly, it was something, since she’d brought it up. He had figured she might want to talk about it a little, but he wouldn’t press it. “What do you want to talk about?” he asked, trying not to give her too much attention. He focused on his ice cream so he wouldn’t scare her off.
It was funny for him to think about a new strategy with her. Most women who hung around him wanted all his attention. In fact, Russell had told him in one of their “not sessions” that it was too easy for Kyle to get women.
Too bad none of them meant anything. He felt bad about that. It just hadn’t been the same with anyone since Cassidy, which made him feel vulnerable.
Kennedy pushed some of her hair over her shoulder. After the car ride with all the wind, her hair had been swept back in an attractive tangle. “I guess we can talk about this trip that I still can’t believe I randomly won.”
“The universe plays with us sometimes, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.” She focused on her ice cream. Scrunching up her nose, a look of regret washed over her face. “Listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought up your ex-fiancée. I was trying to impress Ray Ray, and look what the universe did to me.”
It surprised him how easily she apologized, but the interview had still gone below the belt. “It’s fine,” he said, schooling his expression to a neutral one. “Not like it hasn’t been in the papers before.”
Her eyes met his, and he saw something in them—sadness. “I am sorry.”
It made him uncomfortable, and he didn’t want pity. “It’s fine. Let’s talk about this date.”
“Trip,” she corrected.
“Right.”
“You talk about it since it’s you who keeps wanting to go on it. And I don’t know why you want to go out with me so bad.” She sounded a bit defensive.
He thought about her arm and what Russell had said about her parents. He tried to be deliberate with his words. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re a talented, fun woman.”
She snorted.
Not liking that she didn’t sound convinced, he looked up from his ice cream. “You are.”
“According to Russell, you can have your pick of women, and Carrie would agree.”
“Russell said that, did he?” He would have words with Russell later.
She pointed at him. “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Why would you, a kinda hot older guy, want to go out with me?”
“Hey! Kinda hot?” He pretended to be hurt. “And I’m not that much older.”
She giggled, and he instantly felt better. He figured if he could make this girl giggle, then he was doing something right. “Okay,” she said, “you may be way hot, but how old are you?”
Self-consciously, he cleared his throat. “I’m twenty-nine.”
She coughed. “I’m twenty-two.”
He grimaced. Seven years. Maybe it was quite a spread. “It’s not like you’re under eighteen.”
Kennedy sputtered. “Wow, so that’s your standard? As long as she’s at least eighteen?”
“No.” He sighed. It was stupid, but it struck a chord. “Does age matter that much after eighteen?”
With a chuckle, she licked the ice cream off her lips and checked her phone. “When are you taking me home?”
“Just chill,” he said, bothered that she hadn’t answered his question. “We’ll get you home to pack in plenty of time to pack.”
“Fine.”
“Is there anything particular you want to do in Jackson?” Kyle wanted her input, because he honestly didn’t know much about her except she loved to surf and she wanted to be a radio DJ. Which he thought was cute.
“Are you really gonna be that guy?” She scrunched her face and winced.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I get the sense you’ll tell me what I’ve said that has repulsed you so intensely.”
“Intensely?” Her lips curved into a smile.
Unable to stop himself from smiling when she smiled, he tried to put on a serious face. “Yes. You just acted like I was some horrible ogre for asking you what you’d like to do.”
She sighed and finished the waffle cone.
He was happy she’d eaten all of the ice cream. How many of the women he dated would ever have an ice cream cone, let alone a double waffle, and eat it all? He found it refreshing. “Why is it so awful
to ask?”
She swallowed and bopped her head from side to side. “It’s a trip, but since you keep insisting it’s a date, I’ll tell you. Carrie, Jenna, and I all talk about how we go out with these guys, right?”
He furrowed his brow, picturing a line of guys at their apartment door with flowers and candy in their hands waiting for a date with them.
“You get to the car, and they ask, ‘What should we do?’” She said it in a really horrible imitation of a male voice.
He frowned and thought about dating from a girl’s perspective. Had he done that? Probably, maybe too often. “Hey, it’s not like I’m not flying you to Jackson, but we’ll have the whole day before the all-stars event.” He snapped his fingers. “How come the pressure to plan dates is always on the guys?”
“Because you asked.” She looked kind of superior about the whole thing.
Finishing his ice cream, he crumpled the napkin that had held it and reached out for her. “I have ideas. I told Ray Ray the main things.”
A real smile appeared on her face. “Good,” she said, plunking her own napkin into his hand.
“Good,” he said, standing and easily tossing the napkins in the trash. “Walk with me for a sec. I need to do a bit more of research on you before I drop you off at your apartment.” Yes, he liked this because he got to spend more time with her.
“O-kay.”
Gesturing to the beach, he said, “Let’s take our shoes off and walk on the beach for a bit.” He flashed her a smile. “I have to get to know you so I can develop the perfect trip for you.”
Not moving for a second, she crossed her arms. “Is this where you get me to divulge some highly classified secret?”
He found this funny, since he’d had to tell Ray Ray the mission was classified today. “Yep. In fact, that’s the truth. I was sent on a mission to get all this classified information you have.”
They left the sidewalk and started down the sand toward the ocean.
Her lips quirked into a smile. She shook off her flip-flops and picked them up.
