“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.”
Brenda’s sea-green eyes went wide. “Then I’m really sorry to interrupt.”
Kendra had to give her credit for rolling with it. “If you had to explain why sex with a rebound is better than sex with an ex, what would you say?”
“I’d say it depends on the person.”
“Right. Of course. But in general, maybe it’s because a rebound isn’t as serious, so you can just have fun and not put so much pressure on it, or—”
“Kendra.” Brenda waved a hand in front of her face. “As much as I’d love to talk about sex for the rest of the day, I’m actually here to get my grandmother’s things. Do you know if it’s okay to go into the rooms yet?”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.” She blinked herself back to a semi-rational state. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Not because of sex. Well, somewhat. Anyway, yes, you can go ahead. Just step carefully. How is your grandmother doing?”
“She’s a little shell-shocked. She’s never been on the news before.”
“Oh wow, is she the one Jason carried out of the building? Mrs. McMurray, who reminded him she gave him a C while he was rescuing her?”
Brenda laughed. “Yes, that’s my granny. She gets feisty around handsome men.” Brenda adjusted her grip on the cardboard box she was carrying. “Anyway, she’s going to stay with me for a while, until I’m sure it’s safe for her to come back here. I always wanted her to live with me anyway, but she wanted to be around people her own age. Her words, not mine. The real reason is that she thought I’d have an easier time dating if I didn’t have a live-in chaperone. She called that one wrong. God, listen to me blab on about grandmothers, when we could be talking about sex.”
Kendra laughed as Brenda headed for the wing where the rooms were located. She made a mental note to get to know Brenda better. The redhead had a better sense of humor than Kendra had realized. Did she have any idea that Galen Cooper had such a crush on her? Probably not, because everyone in town had a soft spot for Galen and no one would want to betray his secret.
“Kendra.”
That deep voice sent an automatic thrill through her. She turned to see Jason, wearing his official fire chief uniform. She saluted, a completely involuntary gesture solely attributable to her lack of sleep. “Chief Mosedale.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Are you okay?”
“Tired. I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”
He lowered his voice to bedroom level. “When did you leave this morning?”
“Oh…early.” She wasn’t exactly sure of the time, but it had still been dark. Back at home in her own bed, she’d tossed and turned the rest of the night. “Are you here to sign off on the gas line?”
“Yeah, I got a guy checking it out. Thought I’d come see how it’s going with the new kitchen.” He gazed around at the construction mess. “Work in progress?”
“We’re getting there.” She gestured at the workers mounting the triple sink into the countertop, which was currently balanced on two sawhorses. “We still need the water and gas hooked up. The fridge and chest freezer were easy. They’ll have to do without a garbage disposal for the time being. The head cook came by and said everything looked functional enough. How are things on your end?”
“After the inspection, our part’s done, unless someone here manages to set something on fire.” The joke didn’t quite land right. She could see a seriousness in his eyes that wasn’t normally there. Her heart sank.
They were going to do this. Did they have to do this?
“Can we talk somewhere more private?”
Crap. “Jason, I am not in peak conversation condition. I only got a couple hours of sleep and my all-nighter days are long gone. All-nighter days? Does that even make sense?” She shook her head, trying to focus. “See? This just isn’t a good moment. I need to save my brain cells for things like gas line clearances.”
He looked down at the floor for a moment, as if debating with himself. Then back up, his blue eyes more clear than she’d ever seen them. “Be honest with me, Kendra. Do you really think anything would be different if you’d gotten more sleep?”