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“I’ve already wasted enough time,” she said, ducking beneath my arm. She slid into the Range Rover, shutting the door quickly and firing up the engine.
Unbelievable.
She rolled down the window before she reached the gate. “I’m sorry. I have to go. I’ll get my stuff later.”
Vincent popped his head out of the guard shack. But when he saw my face, he quickly disappeared once more.
I gnashed my teeth and watched as her car disappeared into the distance. I debated going after her, but I had a feeling that would only upset her more. So, I went inside and showered, trying to make sense of it all. Kendall’s decisions. My own. Everything.
When I caught sight of the backyard, my eyes went wide. Kendall’s dress and my shirt and pants were strewn across the grass. I picked them up, tossing my shirt in the trash before dropping the other garments into my laundry bin.
I checked my phone again and again throughout the morning, but there were no missed text messages or calls from Kendall. I’d reached out to her, letting her know to call if she needed anything. But judging from this morning and her continued silence, I had a feeling she wouldn’t.
She’d been in my bed only a few hours ago, and now she was gone.
Perhaps I should’ve been relieved. With other women, I would’ve been. But all I felt was a gaping hole. A realization that everything had changed and nothing would be the same. And the idea of my life without Kendall felt even emptier than it had before.
When the security alarm chimed three times then twice, I jogged toward the front door. “Kendall. Oh, thank god,” I said in a rush.
But when I rounded the corner to the foyer, it wasn’t Kendall. It was Jude.
“Dad?” He scanned my features. “Is everything okay?”
“Um. Hey, Jude.” I cleared my throat. My heart was fucking racing, and I thought I was going to be sick. “What are you doing here?”
He tilted his head to the side. “You invited me over for brunch. So we could look over the numbers for the team. Remember?”
Fuck. Fuck!
“That’s right.” I clapped a hand on his shoulder and ushered him inside, my gut twisting with guilt. “Come in. Come in.”
“You seem…flustered.” His expression betrayed concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I, uh—” I shoved my hands into my pockets. What a fucking mess.
I felt guilty as fuck about what I’d done. And I knew Jude would lose it if he ever found out. And then there was Kendall. I was unsettled by how we’d left things this morning. She’d been in such a rush. And I worried about her and her mom.
But I couldn’t tell Jude all that, so I said, “I’m worried about Kendall. Her mom was admitted to the hospital.”
“I hope everything’s okay,” Jude said. “When I talked to Emmy recently, she said Kendall’s mom was going in for another round of treatment soon, but she’d been doing well.”
“Hopefully this is only a minor setback,” I said.
“Yeah.” He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with orange juice. “They’ve been through a lot. That’s why I’m really hoping Kendall will take the job with the Leatherbacks.”
“Not likely,” I said.
“Really? I thought she’d be excited about it. Seems like it’d be right up her alley.”
I shook my head, trying to maintain a calm façade. “It’s not what she wants.”
“She told you that?” he asked. When I nodded, he said, “When? I thought you were going to offer her the position last night.”
“I did. And she declined it.” This morning. After I’d slept with her. I took a deep breath, feeling completely out of control.
Jude set his glass down on the counter with more force than was necessary. “Well, we’ll just have to change her mind, won’t we?” He smoothed his palms over the surface.
“Jude.” I rubbed a hand over my face, wondering what the hell I’d been thinking. “I don’t think she’s going to change her mind.”
