Get a hold of yourself. This wasn’t her, this shaky emotional wreck.
Or maybe it was, and she’d never given herself permission to feel all the devastation Dominic had inflicted on her heart.
Fucking Dominic. Why couldn’t she just banish him from her mind for good? Why did he keep lurking inside there like a freaking jack-in-the-box?
She must be starting to hallucinate, because she could swear she heard his voice. One of the delivery guys must have a similar fake-British accent. And a very similar baritone. Even the slightly superior tone he used reminded her of Dominic. Who in this town would sound remotely like a sophisticated boarding school business whiz from Toronto?
Curious now, she stepped into the dining room, then stopped dead. In the middle of the sawdust and power tools and workers and recycled appliances stood the one and only Dominic Robb.
Twenty-Four
Jason took a few beats before he left the music room. Kendra hadn’t exactly rejected him. She hadn’t been coherent enough to reject him, which on the one hand was weird, because she was Kendra, but on the other hand gave him room for hope.
He knew that Kendra had a habit of digging in on her ideas about things. It could be hard for her to change course. She thought of their relationship as temporary, nothing more than a casual in-between sort of thing. A fun diversion until the next important relationship came along. Getting her to change her mind might be a challenge.
He’d give her plenty of time to think, plenty of time to wrap her head around the fact that his feelings had changed. Then he’d try again. And again, unless he got a flat-out “no, get out of my face.”
But if she could just see what he saw, that they filled in missing pieces for each other, that he loved her, that he believed in her, that he saw her completely, flaws included, and loved everything about her. And that he believed in himself now. He knew he could give her what she needed, now and forever, if only she could accept his love.
She didn’t reject you, he repeated to himself as he strode back toward the makeshift kitchen. That’s something. For now.
But as soon as he walked into construction zone, all his optimism shattered like a third-grader’s piñata.
Kendra was standing with a man who could have stepped out of an article on “30 hotshots under 30.” The way he held himself made the entire construction zone look like a backdrop—the daring developer posing with the worker bees. His crisp white shirt set off his stunning good looks, accentuating his dark brandy skin and amber eyes. He wore a jaunty smile that seemed to say, “come away with me, I’ll give you the adventure of a lifetime.”
It had to be Dominic.
Had Kendra mentioned that Dominic was biracial? Jason couldn’t remember. Somehow that fact made him feel even more unsettled. He could understand a lot about Kendra, but he could never know what it was like to be Black. Dominic could.
And he was here. Why?
Kendra seemed to be in some sort of trance state, staring at her ex as if she wasn’t sure he was real. And as if she couldn’t think of what to say. Very unlike Kendra. He remembered her strange reaction to the news that Dominic had sabotaged her. She’d buried all her anger and tried to outguess him.
What exactly did this man do to her?
Everyone else had stopped what they were doing, as if a show was about to start up and they didn’t want to miss anything. That was another anomaly. Under normal circumstances, Kendra would never let all work come to a stop under her watch. Maybe she needed an assist.
He strode to join the two of them. “Can I help you? This is a construction zone, it’s not safe for visitors.”
Dominic flicked him a glance, then turned back to Kendra, as if Jason was barely worth his time. “No worries, old chap, I found what I’m looking for.”
Kendra finally startled out of her trance. Without looking at Jason, she addressed her ex. “What in the world are you doing here, Dom?”
“I went to the Blue Drake first. They told me you were here.” He slid another look at Jason, who folded his arms across his chest. He wasn’t going anywhere until Kendra told him to. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Lake Bittersweet Fire Chief Mosedale.” It felt good to say his full title out loud to this business-hipster-model.
“Well, Chief Mosedale, nothing’s on fire at the moment, but we’ll let you know if that changes. Or come to think of it, maybe we won’t.” He winked in a way that was both charming and smug. And was that a British accent?
Jason wasn’t a violent person, but he wanted to smash the guy’s face in. He’d never wanted to punch a guy the way he did right now. His body trembled with the effort of holding himself back. Volcanic, that was how he felt. Like he could erupt in boiling molten rage if that guy fucking winked again.
“It’s okay, Jason.” Kendra put her hand on his forearm. Maybe she sensed the fury coursing through him. “I got this.”
Her touch burned into his arm. Scalded him with longing. But her gaze was firmly fixed on Dominic. And the man knew it, judging by the smirk tugging at his lips.
Jason didn’t say another word. He turned on his heel and went in search of his crew. Do the job, get the hell out. He couldn’t be in the same space as that prick for one more second.
He was barely aware of signing the certificate of inspection. Didn’t recall getting into his truck and driving back to the firehouse. Whatever he put in the report he filed, who knew? Everyone kept a wide berth from him. He was grateful for that. Ordinary conversation seemed utterly impossible.
He shouldn’t have told Kendra how he felt. Especially right before her ex showed up. Talk about bad timing. It was like fate was laughing in his face. Oh, you think you have a chance with her? Dream on, lowly human.
Oddly, it wasn’t his conversation with Kendra that kept running through his mind. No, it was long-ago comments from his parents that were doing that. Not everyone can be a superstar. Don’t set your sights too high. Be realistic. Do you really think you can handle that class? Or that after-school job? Or band practice?
Or woman? Maybe he really was stupid after all. Stupid enough to aim for the stars and land flat on his face.
Kendra wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but a short time later, she found herself driving Dominic into Lake Bittersweet. His aftershave filled her Lexus with the scent of Armani and crushed dreams.
An Uber had dropped him off at the nursing home. An Uber from Minneapolis. She didn’t even want to know how much that must have cost. He’d booked himself a suite at the Bittersweet Inn. When she’d asked him for how long, he’d refused to say. That made her nervous. His very presence made her sick to her stomach. Her head was still in a fog and she desperately needed some sleep.
“Let’s make a stop at the Blue Drake,” said Dominic. “I want to meet your parents. Besides, that place is beyond even what you described. I need photos of that gigantic duck up on the stage.” Dominic kept behaving as if everything was normal, and his magnetism made it hard to resist. But she had to draw the line somewhere.
“Absolutely not. My mother’s in Arkansas and you can’t meet my father.”
“Why not? He always sounded like a real character.”