So close.
“Kenley,” she hisses my name, scrambling to catch up to me and hook my arm with hers. “Am I crazy or does that man lookjustlike Knox Marley?”
Of course, she recognized him. Even with his shades and backwards baseball cap, that silhouette is undeniable.
“Um,” I stall, undecided on how to let this play out, “yeah, he does lookjustlike him.”
“Isn’t that your truck?” She’s still whispering but the way she’s trying to have a two-woman huddle on the sidewalk while it’s still light out isn’t exactly inconspicuous.
“It is.”
Her eyes turn to saucers. “Isthatthe man you met at the concert?”
“Yep.” I try to smile. Meanwhile, I can see Knox’s smile start to falter. And not because of Cheryl’s odd behavior. Because he can tell something is off. With me.
This should be reason enough to push all my doubts back to the dark burial grounds of heartaches past, but somehow, I just can’t let myself do that.
“Girl, no wonder you were glowing when you showed up here tonight.” She laughs, entirely unaware of the fact she sapped all the light I had before right out of me.
“Can we talk more later?” I cut in before she starts to expound on whatever thoughts she’s now having about my wild fling with a rock star, or rock star look-a-like. I’m not entirely sure where she landed on that and I’m not looking to clarify at the moment. “He’s going to ask what we were chatting about as it is.”
She releases me and starts to step back. Walking backwards to her car, she jabs her pointer finger in the air in my direction. “Tomorrow! All the details!”
I nod. I’ll tell her tomorrow. I’ll decide on details later.
This time, she gets in her car without further ado, though I do hear her giggling until the driver’s side door shuts on her.
“Meeting didn’t go as smooth as you hoped?” Knox takes a stab at my expression. I get the feeling he knows it has nothing to do with dance mom duties. He’s just trying to get me talking.
“It was fine.” I force a smile. As soon as I do, I know he can see right through it. So, I add, “I think the last few days just finally caught up with me.” It’s not a lie. Even if I’m making implications that make it seem like one.
He slides one arm around my waist, pulling me in to rest my head against his shoulder as he starts to walk us over to the passenger side door. “Then it’s a good thing all we have planned this evening is tons of food and relaxation.” He presses a kiss to the side of my head. “Maybe after you get a little rest, you can tell me what’s really going on,” he murmurs into my ear. Before I can answer, he’s holding the door open for me and gestures for me to get in. He doesn’t expect an answer. Hell, he doesn’t even want one. Yet.
“Vanilla Bean was still open,” Sloan announces as soon as I’m inside the truck. “We got a bunch of cupcakes for dessert.”
“What’s a bunch?”
She grins. “You’ll see.”
Knox lands in his seat, catching the tail end of our conversation. “We had to,” he says matter of fact. “Sloan said they changed their hours and now the place is always closed when you go by. You’ve been missing out on cupcakes for months.”
“You bought enough to make up for months’ worth of cupcakes?” I don’t know if this prospect concerns of delights me. Vanilla Bean is the best damn bakery in town. Maybe the entire county. Still, that’s a lot of sugar. And Knox could try to be a little less fucking wonderful.
“We got a bunch of healthy dinner stuff too,” Sloan chimes in again. We’ve covered the importance of maintaining a proper nutrition to sweets ratio in life. She knows what I need to hear.
“Good.” I sigh, melting into my seat. “I’m starving.” Then I close my eyes and pretend to rest while Sloan and Knox continue their chatter.
An hour ago, I would have loved this. I would have soaked it all in and reveled in the bliss of hearing my daughter bubble over with enthusiasm as she fills him in on the ending of the book she’s been reading. Apparently, she finished it while on a break at dance tonight.
“What do you mean they both die at the end?” Knox sounds both horrified and amused. Horrified at the ending, amused at my daughter’s antics as she talks about it.
“I meanthey both die at the end.”
“That’s a terrible ending.”
“No!” I can just picture her face as she says it. “It was amazing. If I hadn’t been sitting in a room full of people, I probably would have bawled my eyes out. In the best way possible.”
Knox almost lets out a snort. “How can you bawl your eyes out in the best way possible?”
