by Powers, Jade
“Lucky guy. Maybe you should let me vet him,” Drew held the door open, his fakey smarmy sales smile plastered on his face. Kendra wondered if he had ever attempted a real smile in his life. Maybe he didn’t know how.
“I can take care of myself,” Kendra sailed past Drew, hoping her speed would discourage him from following.
“Hey, aren’t you going to tell me about him?” Drew was like a puppy dog, running after her. Once again, Kendra felt annoyance stirring. Somehow Drew’s attentions felt like nails to a chalkboard. She alternately wanted to flee or swing a punch, depending on the day.
“Look, my personal life is just that. I appreciate you covering for me while I was on vacation, but that doesn’t entitle you to the details of my life,” Kendra would have closed the door to her office, but Drew was on her heels.
“Sensitive, huh? If you’re going for a married man, I’d watch out. You know that sort of thing never works, and when stuff like that comes out, no matter how much of a secret you think it is, people judge you.”
“Before you start any rumors, he’s not married. I have a lot of work to catch up on. If you will excuse me, please close the door behind you on your way out,” Kendra said. She opened her calendar and picked up the phone, purposefully dialing the number to her own home. She didn’t need Drew hovering, and it would have taken too long to look up any other number.
Kendra hung up the phone as soon as the door clicked shut, but murmured hello in case Drew had hovered by the door. She flipped on her computer. Today was a day to be left alone. When she saw the pile of emails waiting, Kendra locked the door to her office.
After setting up appointments to show two houses and catching up on correspondence, Kendra spent a good ten minutes daydreaming about Scott. The door rattled as if someone had turned and pushed. Only then was there a knock.
Kendra sighed. She called out, “Just a moment.”
Drew would be on the other side. She knew it without having to open the door, but that was why she locked it. Drew had a nasty habit of walking into Kendra’s office, even when the door was closed. He did it to Kendra alone, his crush making him insufferable.
When she opened the door, Drew was pouting. He asked, “Lunch?”
“No, thanks. I’m going to pick up Millie.”
“I could have kept her at my place. I don’t know why you don’t take advantage of my help,” Drew reached out as if to brush Kendra’s cheek, but she stepped away from his gesture before he could touch her.
“Drew, you need to back off. I already told you I’m not interested, and I have a boyfriend now.”
“It’s not like that. I’m just expressive.” Drew lifted his hands with that helpless angelic smirk that made Kendra want to punch him. He had a nasty habit of pushing the boundaries and then acting surprised when someone pushed back, as if he were only joking or it was all in good fun. Some things weren’t funny or in good fun. Just once, she wanted to snap him in the eye with her right hook. That would teach him what no meant.
“Sure. It’s partly my fault. I haven’t been clear before, so let me be clear now. Don’t touch me. Don’t touch my shoulder. Don’t greet me at the door. Don’t follow me around. But especially, don’t touch me. We’re business associates. I appreciate your help with my vacation, and I’m willing to cover your vacations, but that’s where it stops.”
Kendra wanted to walk out of her office, lock the door, and head to her car, but that would mean stepping past Drew. Instead she stood tall and in the entryway, so the sneak couldn’t get into her office before she shut the door. Even if she did warn him off the instant before, Kendra didn’t trust Drew to listen.
Some men needed a wide berth. Kendra knew the minute she shared an office with Drew to keep a healthy distance. She never let him get close to her. When he tried she stepped back or put some piece of furniture between them. So far, she’d managed to avoid all touches but the initial handshake and the time he put a hand on her shoulder when they were walking into a meeting at the same time.
No matter how many times she turned him down, Drew kept asking. His dad owned the company, probably one reason Drew felt so entitled, and why Kendra hadn’t been as blunt until today. Drew wasn’t the ugliest guy in the world, but his eyes were set too close together and his self-importance knew no bounds. Kendra couldn’t wait to call Scott as they agreed earlier. He’d be home in five hours.
SCOTT AND KENDRA SPENT the next six months in a sweet courtship built on common interests and mutual history. They spent weekends hiking or drove to the beach in Westport and walked for hours, filling the time with joy.
It was in August on a Monday evening that Kendra brought Scott back to her place. She wasn’t getting much sleep now that he was in her life. She couldn’t get enough of his presence, his affection. His kisses were sweet, with a gentle urging that touched Kendra from the inside out. His fingers coursing down her cheek broke Kendra’s last defense. She knew without a doubt that she loved Scott.
Kendra said, “Make love to me.”
They had been on this couch plenty of times before. They’d made out. They’d cuddled and petted. This was the first time Kendra had asked for more.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Scott pulled back, his warm brown eyes searching hers. He held her like spun sugar, as if she would crumble in his arms.
In those arms, she felt like a goddess, golden and revered and served.
“I’m sure.”
Kendra led Scott to the bedroom. She slowly unbuttoned Scott’s shirt, teasing him with kisses. She caressed his warm brown skin, the color of maple syrup, and drew him closer as their kisses deepened.
He was everything she needed. Kendra felt hungry in her soul for Scott. She didn’t know that making love could feel so full, so true. This was what it felt like to have sex with someone she loved. It was amazing. Even more so, because Kendra realized that this was the first time she had ever touched anyone she loved.
No one before had warmed her heart.
Exploring Scott’s body, Kendra felt free. With other men, she had always worn a t-shirt or stayed under the covers. With Scott, she felt utterly open.
As if he could read her mind, Scott said, “You are so gorgeous.”
“You’re not bad yourself, Mister,” Kendra teased.
Scott kissed Kendra’s shoulder, then nibbled his way to her breasts, his tongue teasing her nipples, and arousing her in ways she hadn’t thought possible. She gasped with hunger, unsatisfied and insatiable.
Her fingers tickled their way to his penis. She circled him, bringing him to fullness. Scott unwrapped a condom while Kendra brought him to a point of unbearable need. When they finished, it was with the explosion of a thousand fireworks.
Kendra couldn’t believe the strength of her joy. She thought the moment would last forever. With a hand on Scott’s arm, Kendra closed her eyes, her heart so full she could not speak.
This was love. In some ways it was less than she thought it might be, and oh, so much more.
Chapter 6
THE MORNING AFTER, Kendra and Scott ate oatmeal and blueberries, exchanging sweet smiles across the breakfast table. Kendra imagined Scott with a hint of gray at his temples, maybe with a pair of reading glasses, although he wasn’t a newspaper guy, so what would he be reading? She grinned.
“What?” Scott asked.
Kendra’s cheeks dimpled. No way would she tell the truth. She said, “Just thinking about your boxers.”
Not even close to the truth. Scott didn’t need to know she was aging him thirty years. It wasn’t a complete fabrication. Those cartoon dogs on Scott’s boxers were hilarious.
“I am hurt. You should be thinking of me without boxers,” Scott waggled his eyebrows, sending Kendra into peals of laughter.
“Honey, I’ll be thinking of you without boxers all day long,” Kendra said.
They kissed and hugged before going to work, just like a married couple. Kendra loved the lingering scent of Scott’s cologne o
n her jacket as she drove away. He belonged to her. God, he smelled fantastic.
WHEN KENDRA ARRIVED at the office, for once Drew wasn’t watching for her at the door. Like the annoying buzz of a fly who suddenly ducks outside, Kendra didn’t realize how bothered Drew’s presence had become until it was gone. She joyfully pushed through the office door. The receptionist chair was empty, unusual for a Tuesday morning.
No matter. Without slowing down, Kendra strolled into her office, ready to hang her coat, stash her purse, and get started. There, in her chair, Drew was on her computer. She rounded the desk before he could react fast enough to close the screen. He was looking at her calendar, the one built into her email.
Damn him. He’s been reading my email. Oh my God. For how long? She sent personal messages back and forth to Scott.
“What the hell?” Kendra’s hands were clenched into fists.
Can’t hit the boss’s son. Kendra reminded herself.
Drew proved that a husky man can move quickly when he skidded the chair back, his face an awful shade of fire engine red, even his neck, though that was mottled with white spots. “I wanted to take a week off in November and was just checking to see if you were free.”
Kendra’s adrenaline soared. She swallowed her rage and stepped out of the way so that Drew could flee from her office. She said, “Just ask.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
The man had never moved so fast. He was out of her office and down the hall, slamming the door to his own office before she could say, “Liar.”
For the rest of the week Kendra didn’t see much of Drew. Maybe catching him going through her office was a good thing—soon enough he would be up to his old tricks, and a few new ones.
DREW WAS WAITING AGAIN the next Monday morning. Kendra still hadn’t cured him of greeting her at the door on Monday. Creepy! He thrust open the door with a slight frown, holding it open for her and said, “You’re late.”
“I had a client.” Which was true and scheduled for that awkward morning time on purpose. Since the client’s schedule allowed an early morning or late evening walk through, Kendra picked the time that would get her out of her routine, hopefully disrupting Drew as well.
Sniffing the air with an injured sigh, Drew said, “Will you go with me to Dad’s barbecue this weekend?”
God. Not again.
This was the second time Drew wanted Kendra to be his plus one for a company function. She hated being put in such an awkward position. Not to mention he had been going through her computer just a week ago. The hubris.
“I’m not attending this year,” Kendra said. Imagining Scott in his dog boxers and nothing else, Kendra decided there were a thousand different things she’d rather do. That is, one thing she’d rather do in a thousand different positions. Were there a thousand positions? She was going to find out.
“It’s mandatory.” Drew followed Kendra to her office. God, it was getting worse with every passing week. What would it take to push Drew away?
“I have plans for Saturday.” Kendra unlocked her office, a habit she had acquired after Drew’s violation of her space.
Drew trailed Kendra, grabbing the chair she kept for clients and throwing himself into it with a dramatic sigh before she even put her purse down. Kendra was tempted to just walk down the hall to the bathroom and ignore him completely. But she wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to search her things again.
Instead Kendra tossed her purse into her drawer and turned on her computer. She lowered herself into her chair. She needed to buy a few plants for the office, maybe a pair of spider plants to give it a more welcoming feel. She could put them on the desk to block the sight of Drew when he sat in that chair.
“It’s a few hours on Saturday. When are you going to realize that I’m the better man?” Drew’s mouth hung in an upside-down curve that gave him the look of a bull dog. The man had no tact.
Kendra did not want to deal with Drew. Love was inexplicable. The lack of love equally so. At some point last year, Drew was a coworker that she liked. She’d pick up a coffee for him if she grabbed one for herself. While she and Scott had gone from friends to something else, so had she and Drew. Now, Kendra couldn’t stand to have Drew in the same room.
Was there a way to be more blunt than blunt? Why was it impossible for some guys to take the first step and ask a woman out while other guys couldn’t take no for an answer. She needed a sledgehammer, but then murder would only get her a prison sentence and Scott wasn’t the type to fall in love with a murderess.
With a sigh, Kendra stared at Drew. Drilled into him with the same dark look she gave animal abusers and sales reps. In her coldest, frostiest, ice bitchiest tone, she said, “Stay away from me. You hardly qualify as a man. A brat has more manners.”
After a moment of shocked silence, Drew held up his hands in a gesture of peace-making, “Sorry. Sorry. I know I crossed the line there. Look, I’m just trying to get back to where we were. So where is he taking you on Saturday?”
“That’s none of your business.” Kendra didn’t trust Drew. Something in his questioning, in his incessant sneaking, the way he waited for her to arrive, the way he asked her about Scott; Drew felt like a damn stalker. And she wasn’t about to give up personal information about herself or Scott.
Kendra’s email popped up. She scooted her chair closer to the screen, “Drew, I need to get to work.”
Drew’s face turned all kinds of red. Engage bitch mode. Kendra used to care if she embarrassed him. Now? Not so much. She felt relief when he flounced out the door, taking his sense of entitlement with him.
Kendra spent the next twenty minutes responding to emails and planning her week. Sure enough, an email about the barbecue had dropped into her inbox with request for an RSVP. Not mandatory; although Drew was spoiled enough that he just might be able to work his father into personally requesting Kendra’s attendance.
Just a few minutes before Kendra was set to leave for a showing, one of the other agents dropped in. Deborah wasn’t a close friend, but Kendra got on well enough with her. “I hear you’re skipping Saturday for a hot date, you breaker of hearts, you,” Deborah teased.
Kendra shrugged, “You know how it is. When you fall in love, there is never enough time.”
“Going anyplace special?”
“Yeah. Breakfast at Jessie’s Café at eight and then we’ll hike the carbon river trail on Mount Rainier.” Kendra’s monitor finally blinked off. She said, “I’ve got a showing in an hour. Gotta run.”
Deborah stepped out of Kendra’s office just ahead of Kendra. She accidentally ran into Drew who was lingering outside.
“Were you spying on us?” Kendra asked. From behind Drew, Deborah shook her head, warning Kendra not to make an issue of it.
“No. I just happened to be passing by.”
Kendra pulled her door tight, locking it behind her. If not for Deborah, she might have unloaded on Drew.
“You don’t have to do that.”
Kendra didn’t care if she humiliated Drew. Not any more. People hadn’t called her the ice bitch at AIT for nothing. When people needed to be put in their place, Kendra could do it. Hand on her hip, she said, “If I hadn’t caught you going through my email, I wouldn’t feel the need.”
Something Kendra never learned, that might have helped her in this situation, was that not everyone else played by the same rule book that she did. Not everyone had a sense of fair play. Not everyone had honor.
As she stalked off, her head held high, Drew watched with rage.
Chapter 7
IT WAS A WARM NIGHT in the high seventies. Not many people in the area had air conditioning. It was impractical for the seven nights of heat in summer. Kendra wore a sundress with flats. They were going to Marcello’s Fine Dining to eat expensive seafood and watch the sun set over the ocean. Scott wore Dockers and a short-sleeved button down shirt.
Kendra had never imagined falling in love. She had longed for it, but the people who aske
d her out always had an agenda or weren’t her type. Like Drew. She supposed he might have been considered good looking, but he had that weasel-like smarmy attitude that made her grind her teeth. As she had for the past year, she brushed another encounter aside and focused on what was in front of her, Scott and a menu.
Scott chuckled as he looked out over the water and said, “Life is good.”
It was a calm evening with seagulls soaring around the bay. Gentle waves rolled across the water, swelling along the rocks. There were no white water splashes here in the protected harbor.
“Did you have a good day today?” Kendra asked. After six months, they had gotten past the discovery phase of their relationship.
“I spent all day looking forward to seeing you. I can’t say it made the day go faster, but it was a sweet relief when work ended and fun began,” Scott joked. He added, “I hope you left room for dessert. They have a toffee cake beyond imagination.”
“For Marcello’s toffee cake, I’ll make room,” Kendra said. Even if it would take two extra hours at the gym to burn it off, she would enjoy the evening.
They did enjoy the evening, and as promised, the confectionary was beyond compare. As they finished dessert, a beautiful woman, manicured to perfection strode into the restaurant and up to Scott’s table.
“Scott? I thought you were on a mission? Who is this woman? What the hell is going on?” The woman’s hair was coiffed to perfection, but with a head bob and index finger, she let everyone in that restaurant know how she felt.
Scott’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Kendra felt a flush of indignation and anger. Was Scott two-timing her?
He said, “What? Who are you?”
The woman acted as if she didn’t hear him and turned on Kendra. Her index finger shifted, waving back and forth in front of Kendra. It was a wonder she could walk in those heels, but the dress she wore was elegant. Kendra could definitely see Scott going for a woman like that. Her voice rising, the woman asked Kendra, “Who are you? This ain’t no business meeting.”
