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“Which is why this is better thanDirty Dancing.”
She made a face at him, and he laughed and gave her a kiss. This was good. This was comfortable and familiar, and a perfect beginning to their fresh start.
But something was missing.
“When’re you going in?” she asked him.
“I should leave soon.” He paused, reading the silence. “But you don’t want me to.”
“I never said that.”
She did want him to go, actually—this odd distance between them was much easier to handle when he was actually distant, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to say that either.
“I know they don’t need me for anything today, but if I want to make a mark at this place, I have to show up when they don’t ask for me.”
“I get it, really.” She sat up straighter. “I just hate that I’m not making that mark with you.”
“So come with me.”
“What?” She looked at him. “We can’t just pretend I work there, babe.”
“We can see the show. Have some drinks.” His cocky grin came out, the one that always made her melt. “I want to show you off.”
It was tempting, and an evening at Vivez would get them out of this house, off the couch. But she couldn’t go to Vivez yet. She didn’t want to be introduced to all of her talented future coworkers as merely an extension of Kevin.
“Next time I walk into that place, I want to belong there,” she said. “Talk me up in the meantime. Get them ready for me.”
He winked. “I don’t think they’ll ever be ready for you.”
She told herself she was imagining the disappointment that flickered through his smile.
As Kevin got up from the couch, Hayley said, “I was thinking I might go to the bar tonight.”
“The Squeaky Lion?” He frowned, confused. “Why? You’re not on shift tonight.”
“I need to apologize to that guy. Nick.”
He relaxed. “The one with the wheels?”
“The walker, yeah.”
Kevin chuckled. “That’s sweet, Hal, but you don’t need to go out of your way just because he can’t walk.”
“It’s not that,” she insisted, standing up. “It’s not just that.”
“I know, I know.” He held up a hand. “Sometimes I forget I live with the nicest woman on earth.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Kevin shook his head gently. “It’s why I love you,” he said. “I just don’t want you thinking you have to go. Don’t chain yourself to other people’s expectations.”
“I’m not,” she said firmly. “I just want to fix this.”
“Then you go make that guy’s night, babe.” He kissed her forehead. “Have fun.”
A minute later, she heard him scoop up his keys from the table in the hall as he headed out the front door, to the new family that didn’t include her. She took her phone from her pocket, hesitated, then called the number at the top of her favorites.
Denise Vincennes answered immediately. “How are things in sunny Columbus?”
