Soon, I’m in front of her townhouse.
Being the perfect gentleman, I get out of my SUV and open her door. I help her out, then grab her luggage from the back.
Kendall leads the way up the steps. As she unlocks the front door, I open my mouth to ask her where we go from here but hesitate. Before I can actually get any words out, Kendall grabs the handles of her two suitcases and sets them inside her doorway.
My heart pounds hard in my chest as she stands in front of me.
"Thanks again for everything. I'll see you in a week at Cami's wedding. I know how busy you’ll be until then." She gives me a sweet grin. “If you get a spare minute and wanna chat, you know my number.”
I nod and keep my thoughts to myself. "Yeah, absolutely."
"Drive safe," she tells me, then steps inside and gently closes the door.
I’m frozen in place. Not allowing my pride to be bruised, I go back to the car and try to replay everything that just happened between us.
We had sex before we left the cabin. Held hands in the car. I kissed her in the coffee place. Then I walked her to her front door.
Was she waiting for me to make the next move? Hug and kiss her goodbye? Tell her I’d call her later? Before I could say or do a damn thing, she acted like she couldn’t get away fast enough. Was this her way of letting me down easy? Were we playing pretend up until the last minute when we went our separate ways?
Fuck me. I wish like hell I knew what she was thinking, but now I have to get my mind focused back on work.
I drive across town to the hospital—my home away from home basically.
Grabbing my badge, I walk inside the double doors and scan into the restricted area. Nick’s waiting for me with a clipboard and a handful of files. As soon as he spots me, he starts talking.
"How many third-degree burns did you guys treat on Thanksgiving?" I ask curiously.
He gives me a pointed look. "More than we expected or had staff for."
“Damn. Not a good year for turkeys or ovens.” Once I'm fully caught up, I head toward the door. "I'll be here tomorrow morning at five. I'm ready to get back to work."
"Hope so. We're ready to have you back. I realized how much we need you around here." Nick smirks.
"I appreciate that, sir. See you in the morning," I say, then walk out the doors.
On the way back to my condo, all I can think about is Kendall. If I did text her, what would I even say? I don’t want us to make any decisions over text messaging, but I know I won’t have time to see her before the wedding.
The next time I see her, I won’t be a chickenshit and hesitate. Whatever the outcome, I just need to know if she felt what I did. There's enough time between now and the wedding for me to figure out what I'm going to say.
After I get home, I jump in the shower, then order a pizza. When it arrives, I nearly inhale it and wish Kendall was here to enjoy it with me. I’ve gotten quite used to having her near and hearing her little comments about everything. I try to watch TV, but my mind wanders way too much. When I stop on the Hallmark channel, I shake my head and chuckle at what I'm seeing on TV. Two people are snowed in together at a cabin and can't stop flirting with each other. Our story is literally a corny Christmas romance, but hopefully, we get our second chance like the characters in this movie.Chapter Twenty-OneKendallONE WEEK LATERI haven’t seen or talked to Ryan since he dropped me off last week, so I’m a nervous wreck. Tonight’s Cami and Eli’s wedding rehearsal, and afterward, they’re hosting a dinner. We never discussed what would happen with us once we left the cabin, but I didn’t expect radio silence. I froze with what to say the day he dropped me off. He looked like he’d wanted to say something, but when he never did, I lost my confidence and just blurted out he could text me if he wanted. It was like we went from being a couple, holding hands in the car and talking, to awkward goodbyes. Though he’s probably working double shifts to catch up, having no communication with him at all has been driving me crazy. I almost texted him a few days ago, but I didn’t want to sound needy.
Hey? What’s up? Remember me? The woman you banged for two weeks? So are we just gonna pretend that didn’t happen or…?
So instead of sounding like an idiot, I said nothing at all.