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“What? What’s wrong?” Kennedy asked, not sure what she’d said to garner that reaction.
“If you and Seb got together and got married, we wouldactuallybe sisters!” Laura exclaimed as she wiped a tear that slid down her face.
"I think you might be getting ahead of yourself.” I assumed she might be emotional because she was pregnant.
As much as Kennedy would love to actually be her sister, dating Seb would definitely be backsliding. She’d been off the Captain Fix a Bro wagon for six months now and she didn’t plan on getting back on. From what Laura said over the past few months, Seb had been in a pretty bad depression over his career possibly ending. Even if she hadn’t known that background information from her friend, she saw the pain in his eyes. A huge part of her wanted to kiss him and make the dark clouds in his eyes disappear, but that wasn’t her job. She didn’t want to be with a broken man, she wanted to be with a completely whole man who would add to her life.
“Come on, you two have someseriouschemistry. You guys have not been able to stop staring at each other.”
It was true, they had kept making eye contact. She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him. And who wouldn’t be? Tall, dark, and tattooed with a killer smile and dreamy eyes. What woman would be able to resist that?
“Well, in fairness, you and Knox have sort of been in your own world so…” Kennedy deflected.
Knox and Laura had barely touched their food and it wasn’t because the couple had been engrossed in conversation, at least with the rest of the table. They’d been whispering sweet nothings, cuddling and kissing. Their behavior was not due to them just tying the knot, either. They were always like that. Which Kennedy loved for her friend. But had to admit, as sweet as it was to witness that sort of true love, it was hard not to feel like a third wheel around it. Having Seb there was nice, not only because of how he looked, but also because she had someone to exchange glances with and carry on a conversation.
Not that they’d talked much. She’d found herself being a little shy around him, which was something she hadn’t suffered with since she was a kid. In high school, she’d taken a Toastmasters class and it had helped her a lot. Now she could talk to anyone about anything. Well, unless the subject was herself.
Small talk was her specialty. Maybe that was the problem. With Seb, even the most banal conversation felt more intimate. It’s like they’d somehow skipped the entire small talk phase. When he looked at her, there was an entirely different conversation going on between them that had nothing to do with the words they were speaking. And it felt more honest and real than words.
Laura’s phone buzzed in her purse and she pulled it out. “It’s Knox making sure I’m okay. We better go back.”
Kennedy nodded, happy to see her friend so happy.
Laura hooked her arm through Kennedy’s as the two walked out of the restroom into the foyer. “I can’t believe Seb is Hot Wet Crotch Guy!”
“Shh,” Kennedy hushed her friend even though they weren’t close to the table. She didn’t want her to slip and say something in front of Knox, or worse Seb.
When they got back to the table only Knox was there and all the plates had been cleared. He stood and said, “Kennedy do you mind giving Seb a ride back? I got a room in the city for a mini honeymoon.”
“You did?!” Laura was clearly surprised.
Knox nodded and Laura threw her arms around her new husband’s neck.
“Hope that’s okay,” a deep voice sounded behind Kennedy and she jumped as she turned around.
“Where were you?”
“I had to use the bathroom.”
That meant he could have overheard Laura calling him ‘hot wet crotch guy’. From the twinkle in his eye, she thought there was a very good possibility he had.
8
As Kennedyand Seb walked down the street toward the parking garage, Seb’s palms dampened. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was about to get into a car, or if the moisture on his hands had something to do with who he was about to get into a car with.
He’d hoped his cross-country trip would have worked as exposure therapy for his newly developed driving anxiety, but he’d white-knuckled it the entire drive from Whisper Lake to Chicago this morning.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t trusted Knox behind the wheel. His brother was an excellent driver. And as sure as he was that Kennedy was as well, the thought of spending the next couple of hours white-knuckling it again was more than he could face.
Seb wasn’t sure if Kennedy was nervous as well, but she’d been talking a mile a minute since they left the restaurant, about the weather, the city, the food they’d just eaten. He loved listening to her voice and didn’t think he’d ever get tired of it but at this moment, all he heard was the swooshing of anxiety in his head.
His heart sped when Kennedy pulled the keys out of her purse and pressed the fob. The white Mercedes SUV beeped as the backlights flashed.
“Do you mind if I drive?” Seb interjected over Kennedy’s small talk.
She stopped and blinked up at him. He wasn’t sure if his request was what had taken her off-guard or if it was the fact that he’d rudely interrupted her.
“You want to drive mycar?” she clarified, her expression blank.
