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“How many times do they get it right.”
“Hmm, I guess that depends on what you mean by getting it right.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, not sure he was following.
“I have a theory about them.”
“You do?”
Kennedy nodded and shifted in her seat, so she was facing him. “Yeah, I think maybe they set thewrongpeople up just to make therightpeople do something about it.”
“Oh, that’s interesting.”
“Like for example, with Jessa, who owns Mane Attraction. Right before her and Ethan, who is now her husband, started dating, he responded to a disturbance call at an open house I was doing. There was no disturbance. The next week, I finished a sunrise yoga class on the south side of the lake, I came back to my car and I had a flat tire. Ethan just happened to be there fishing, so he helped me change it. A few days later I got a call to meet a potential new client at an address that ended up being a home he was house-sitting at. And a few other random, butnot-random things happened like that. My theory is, they never thought I was going to end up with Ethan. They used me because they knew Jessa does my hair and I’d tell her about it. You know, maybe that would light a fire under her.
“And it’s not just me that has been used as bait. Before Knox came into her life, it happened to Laura quite a few times. She’d have these failed ‘meet-cutes’ with people who ended up falling in love with their soulmates, months, sometimes weeks later.”
“So you don’t think they were actually trying to set me up with Amelia?”
“I don’t have any proof, but, no, I don’t think so.”
“Who do you think they’re actually trying to set me up with?” Seb took his eyes off the road and glanced at Kennedy.
When their eyes met, she licked her lips nervously and turned back to face the front of the car. “I don’t know. And I don’t know if I’m right.”
Seb returned his attention to the road but noted the shift in energy between them. It had gone from light and playful to something else. That happened a lot when he was near Kennedy, one second, they’d be joking around laughing and the next it was something more…intense. He felt like he could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
Not that he wanted to cut it, if anything he wanted to lean into it.
* * *
Kennedy stared out the windshield and read the Welcome to Whisper Lake sign and the countdown in her head started. They would be pulling up to her house in just a few minutes, which meant her time with Seb was almost over.
She’d been on a date with a man who met nearly every single thing on her Man Wish List, yet she wasn’t the least bit disappointed when their night abruptly came to an end. Getting the text that Laura was in labor at the hospital had given her a graceful exit from a mediocre date.
Then at the hospital, a doctor she’d had a crush on formonthsshowed interest in her, and she forgot all about him when Lori announced that they could go back and see the babies.
But whenever her time with Sebastian Savage ended, she felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach.
Neither of them had said anything since she’d told him she didn’t know who the Needlepoint Mafia was trying to set him up with. She hadn’t answered because the only person she wanted it to be was her. She didn’t want to put any ideas in his head about other available women in Whisper Lake.
She glanced over at him and wondered if he thought she was delusional or just had way too much time on her hands if she was coming up with conspiracy matchmaking theories.
He’d offered to take her back to the restaurant, but she’d said it was fine to drop her off at home because she’d planned on going for a walk in the morning and would grab her car then. That was the excuse she’d given him and herself. But if she was being honest, she wanted him to bring her to her house. Because she wanted him to know where she lived. And if she was going full fearless-inventory on her intentions, she would have to admit the other reason was because she wanted him to come inside with her.
As they pulled up to her three-bedroom craftsman, her heart was pounding wildly in her chest.
Don’t invite him in. Don’t invite him in. Don’t invite him in,she repeated the mantra in her head over and over again.
She just needed to get out of the car. That’s all. There was no future with her and Seb. Not because of the list, but because he wasn’t emotionally available, he didn’t plan on staying in town, and he wasn’t looking for any type of commitment. That’s basically what he’d told Amelia.
Those were three huge red flags. Her head knew that. Her hormones and heart were wearing rose-colored glasses so the flags looked pink, not red.
She had so much adrenaline, or arousal, or anxiety rushing through her she was light-headed. Dizzy with anticipation, she took a deep breath. The only sound in the cab of Seb’s truck was their combined breaths.
Kennedy realized he must be wondering what she was doing, why she wasn’t getting out and going inside, and told herself to snap out of it.
“Thanks again, for the ride.” She reached for the handle on the car, but Seb stopped her.
