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When she lifted her head and saw Keaton, her full lips pulled in a wide smile and Seb’s chest constricted painfully. She wrapped her arms around his cousin in a hug that might only be friendly but made Seb want to get off the stool, stalk over there, throw her over his shoulder, and carry her out of the restaurant.
His reaction shocked him. He wasn’t really a caveman sort of guy. The majority of his relationships had been casual. He was never in one place long enough to build any sort of a connection that would be strong enough to expect someone not to date other people since he was gone so much.
But he wasn’t in a relationship with Kennedy. He had no right to feel the feelings he had. This woman had done something to him that he couldn’t explain. She was all he could think about. Every time he left his apartment, all he did was wonder if he would see her. And every time he did see her, it felt like a punch in his solar plexus.
“Hey man, are you going to work while you’re in town. There’s a back piece I’ve been wanting to get,” Liam asked, pulling his attention away from Kennedy and Keaton.
Seb turned back to the bartender. “I’m taking some time off. But I’ll let you know if that changes.”
Liam nodded.
Seb knew that his response had been clipped and that he might have come off sounding like a dick. He should have explained that he’d been in an accident and that was the reason he wasn’t inking, but he didn’t want to. Every time he said it out loud, it became more real. And that was a reality he didn’t think he was ready to face.
When he looked back toward Kennedy, he saw his cousin heading back his way and a man walk in who was clearly there to meet her.
She was on a date.
Nowthatwas a reality he knew he wasn’t ready to face.
* * *
Kennedy watched as Keaton made his way across the bar back to Seb, who she’d felt staring at her the entire time she talked with his cousin when she heard someone say her name.
“Kennedy.”
The deep voice should have made her feel…something. Nerves. Excitement. Anticipation. Even curiosity. Instead, she felt completely and totally ambivalent.
When she turned and saw Dan standing there, she had to admit he was even more attractive than she remembered. It was the scruff on his face. She’d never been a fan of a clean-shaven man. She was a sucker for a five o’clock shadow which was exactly what Dan was rocking now.
“Hi, Dan.”
He leaned down and kissed her on her cheek. She held her breath, hoping that the moment his lips touched her cheek there would be a zip, a zing, a zap. But there was nothing. It was so platonic itmight as well be a cousin or brother kissing her cheek.
Not that she had a cousin or brother. Since both of her parents were only children and she, too, was a solo sibling, she’d never had any peers her age who were family.
She’d always wanted that sort of camaraderie, but never experienced it. She hoped that if one day she was lucky enough to find her Mr. Right, that he would come with a big family and when they had kids her children would have lots of cousins to grow up with.
Like Sebastian Savage.
No. She couldn’t think like that. She’d spent the entire day working at Laura’s shop anticipating another sighting of Seb. Every time a dark-colored SUV drove by, her heart had skipped a beat thinking it was his Escalade and he was going to pull into the back lot. By the time she locked up, she was emotionally exhausted from the constant level of anticipation that had been running through her veins.
It wasn’t healthy. She wasn’t in high school with a crush. She didn’t have time to obsess over him and doodle his name on notebooks. Although, when she’d used Laura’s name to sign for a delivery, as Laura had instructed, She had to admit, writing the last name Savage had felt a little thrilling.
When the hostess came back from seating the party that was ahead of them, she smiled as she grabbed two menus. “Right this way.”
“Shall we?” Dan held out his arm, indicating for her to go ahead.
Kennedy walked in front of him and felt tingles spread up the right side of her arm. The sensation had nothing to do with the man she was on the date with and everything to do with the man seated at the bar staring at her.
Why did her body always want what wasn’t good for her? Over the years of counseling, she’d thought she’d managed to get her body’s unhealthy response to bad boys under control. Turns out, she was wrong.
When they reached the table that sat beside a large window overlooking the lake, Dan pulled out her chair for her.
He had manners. That was another box checked.
As she lowered down in her seat, she wondered if maybe meeting Seb was the universe’s way of testing her. Maybe she had to prove to the universe or to herself that she did really want the Mr. Right not just Mr. Right Now. Maybe Sebastian Savage was the ultimate test of her resolve.
If that was the case, she was determined to pass with flying colors.
