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I tried to ignore the doubts dancing along the edges of my thoughts time and again. Normally, I would’ve had a conversation with Kenan about this. Yet this one thing felt too personal, even before this pesky chemistry had flared up between us.
I took a breath as I waited to check out at the reception area at this busy office in Juneau. This fertility doctor was busy. A part of me felt like I was giving up on something by doing this now, but I didn’t want to contemplate that.
I took care of my payment and left the office, slinging my purse over my shoulder as I stepped onto the sidewalk in Juneau. The downtown area here was cute, with colorful signs and shops.
I had a good excuse for being here. We had a meeting with one of our smaller distributors in Juneau to sign an updated contract. Blake was also down here for this, checking in as usual.
I walked down the sidewalk and was startled when I heard my name. Glancing up, I saw Kenan and Blake approaching. I masked my surprise and tried to quell the jolt of fiery recognition that sizzled to life inside me.
“Hi!” I stopped in front of them. “I didn’t know you were coming,” I said to Kenan, trying to keep my voice casual.
“Blake wanted some company. We’re touring a new building for the expansion since our brewer from Fireweed Harbor is moving here.”
“I didn’t know you were thinking about that.” I shifted my attention to Blake.
“I just thought of it this morning. I heard from the distributor that one of the breweries here is closing up shop, so I thought I’d check out the location.”
“Did you have another appointment?” Kenan asked.
I glanced over my shoulder, biting back a sigh. “Oh, nothing much, just an annual appointment.” I shrugged.
My answer had to be good enough. I hoped. Kenan had always been nosy, so I hoped he took my answer at face value and left it alone.
I glanced at my watch. “Well, we have an hour. Have you guys had lunch?”
“Nope,” Blake replied. “We just came out from the location and saw you, so we crossed the street to meet you. Should we grab lunch together?”
“Sure. There’s that soup and sandwich place right down the street.” We fell into step together and began walking. “What flight did you guys take down this morning?”
The frequency of flights out of so many smaller communities was unique to Alaska. Although Fireweed Harbor had a population of roughly four thousand, flights came in and out of town to Juneau and several other smaller communities in Southeast Alaska every other hour. That wasn’t unusual at all.
I remembered traveling with my father to the Bethel area of Alaska. By any stretch, it was a very rural area. Over one-hundred flights bounced in and out of that tiny town daily, fanning out to the array of Alaskan Native villages in the area.
A few minutes later, we were seated at a small table in the café. It was small enough that I could feel the heat of Kenan’s presence beside me. I wished I could order my hormones to behave, but they weren’t listening to reason.
I’d foolishly thought maybe giving in to this crazy conflagration of chemistry burning between us would help tamp it down, as if it would burn up quickly to ashes. Instead, it seemed only to have fed the fire. My body knew what it felt like to give in. It felt very, very good.
I silently groaned. I hated my constant worry that people would notice. I tried to tell myself our friendship would mask it.
After we had ordered, Blake was talking about something. I honestly wasn’t paying attention. “Quinn?” he prompted.
“Yes?” I whipped my gaze to his.
“I was just asking if everything was all lined up for the contract,” he clarified.
“Oh, of course. They sent over the final one. We could’ve signed it electronically, but you know how I like to look at the final version.”
“I know,” Blake replied. “For local stuff, I prefer to do the in-person thing. I feel so disconnected otherwise.”
“Agreed. As long as the weather’s good, I don’t mind traveling. I’ll be back in the office in Fireweed Harbor within the hour after our meeting.”
Kenan’s knee bumped mine, and it felt like a jolt of lightning sizzling up my thigh. The server stopped by the table to deliver our drinks, and I slid my gaze to Kenan’s, narrowing my eyes because I was confident he had done that on purpose. He winked before sliding his palm onto my thigh.
I nudged him hard with my knee in return. I should’ve known better. He moved his palm farther up my thigh. I was wearing a pair of jeans tucked into boots, nothing risqué. I ignored him. I forced the conversation onto a particularly dry human resources issue because we were in the midst of updating policies at the corporation.
Unfortunately, Kenan kept his palm on my thigh. His touch felt like a brand with heat suffusing me. I refused to nudge him again with my knee because I knew that would only reinforce the distraction.
At one point, I saw Blake’s eyes flick from Kenan to me curiously, and I prayed he wasn’t picking up on anything.
