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“Hi,” she says. “I’m Kenna Burch.”
I pause in the middle of shaking hands with her. “Kenna Burch, class of 2009?”
She nods, narrowing her eyes at me. “Do we know each other?”
“I’m Bailey Ross,” I say. “We had World Civ 105 together.”
“Well, hot damn,” she says, smiling. “Nice to see you again, Bailey.”
“Did everybody here go to the same damn college?” gripes Cooper.
“Not everybody,” says Kenna, though I’m pretty sure the question was rhetorical. “But there’s a few of us. How do you know these two?” she asks me, waving a hand between Cooper and Drew.
“Bad luck,” I say. Cooper snorts. Drew goes still.
Kenna laughs. “I like you,,” she says, patting my arm. Kenna looks at Drew, pointing a thumb back over her shoulder. “Ty’s looking for you. I think he was headed back to the buffet.”
“Ah. Duty calls,” he says mildly. Drew finishes his drink, sets the glass on the bar, then kisses my cheek. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Will you be all right by yourself?”
I’m about to mention that I’ve somehow managed the last twenty-nine years just fine, but Cooper speaks up.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” he says, innuendo pouring out of every word. “She’s in good hands.” Kenna’s eyes go wide. Drew looks like his head might explode, but he’s told me more than once Ty Wilkes is not a man to be kept waiting. He stalks off.
Good thing Drew and I aren’t really a couple. I’d have to take him down a peg or two for that “will you be all right” nonsense. But it’s all pretend.
Even the kissing. Especially the kissing. So don’t get any ideas, girl.
Kenna accepts her glass from the bartender and slides into Drew’s abandoned seat.
“So Bailey,” she says, surveying the room. “Are you competing next week?”
“What, the cooking competition?” I ask. Kenna nods. “No.”
“Why not?” asks Cooper.
“Um, because.” I stammer a little, completely caught off guard “Reasons?”
“You cook, right?” Cooper asks.
“Well, yeah, but—”
“You should enter,” says Kenna. “It’s going to be awesome.” Cooper nods his agreement.
“Aren’t there some rules against me competing?” I ask. Not that I’m actually considering this. It’s a silly idea. Sure, it might be fun, but there’s no way I can take the time off work for it. “Because I’m… with Drew, I mean. Dating Drew.”
Bet your ass I’m going to blame the stammering on the wine and not the fact that I keep thinking about Drew’s body pressing against mine. That, or the night Cooper and I—
“You mean because Drew works for Sizzle? Nah, you’re clear. That rule only applies to employees and their spouses or immediate family members,” says Kenna, waving a hand.
“I’m surprised you’re not already competing,” says Cooper.
“Why’s that?”
“You always talked about running a catering business,” he says. “Is that not what you’re doing now?”
“I work at a bank,” I say, feeling lamer than the lamest lame who ever lamed. I’d all but forgotten that. It was all I’d talked about after high school, having a catering company. I still cooked for people from time to time but it wasn’t something I usually got paid for.
How could I have forgotten that? And what does it mean that Cooper remembered?
