by Codi Gary
He flipped off the dome light and pulled back onto the road. Kelly stopped crying, instead staring at the passing dark outlines of the pine trees.
Chris had refused to kiss her because he didn’t think she wanted him.
Or, Chris was just being nice because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings. I was practically sexually harassing him, which would have been really bad if we weren’t friends.
She just needed to forget all this craziness and go back to thinking of Chris as her friend. No muscles under tight T-shirts. His eyes weren’t even that pretty and he didn’t smell that great.
She could do this.
Chapter 16
On Friday, Kelly sat at her desk across from Veronica, a stack of papers to her right. She was reading over the final menu for the Valdez wedding, which included a chicken and beef dish, spicy rice, beans, and a signature drink of sangria that they were calling a “Telejandro Forever.”
Kelly smiled as she set aside the menu for the Valdez wedding and met Veronica’s nervous gaze across the desk.
“I’ve got to say, V, I am really impressed with the effort you’ve put into this wedding. In just two weeks, you have handled everything to the bride and groom’s satisfaction, and my own.”
Veronica beamed at her as she gathered up her binders and notebooks. “Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate you giving me this chance.”
“You cousin told my new assistant when she was leaving the other day that you were made for this kind of thing.”
“I just want her to have the perfect day. By the way, how is Samantha working out?”
Samantha was Kelly’s new assistant. Kelly had hired her on the spot when she’d come in for her interview because the girl had already finished college with a degree in hospitality and was looking for an entry level position in order to learn about wedding planning. Veronica had been training her in between her bridesmaid’s duties. It had been a pretty smooth transition, but with a place like Something Borrowed, Kelly was used to the high turnovers. Most women only stayed the summer or a year tops.
And with Samantha’s plans to eventually start her own business elsewhere, Kelly figured hiring her bought her another year.
“She’s good. Gone home for the day, which is what the two of us should do now.”
“Amen to that. Are you seeing Hank tonight?” Veronica asked.
Kelly shook her head. “Hank needed to go back to LA for a top-secret audition, and won’t be back until next week. But that reminds me, can you still come by tomorrow and help me slap stickers on the little mason jars for the Townsend wedding?”
“Sure, that’s fine. How many are we doing?”
“Three hundred and ten to be safe.”
Veronica shook her head. “Aren’t they loaded? Why can’t they just buy cute wedding favors like other rich people?”
“No idea, but it isn’t a question we’ll be asking them,” Kelly warned.
“I know, I know. Hey, what is going on with you two? I know the rule is no fraternizing, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you when you aren’t paying attention and I think he likes you for real.”
Kelly didn’t want to hear that Hank might have real feelings for her. She liked his company, the fun and flirty banter, but even if Hank was interested in more, she wasn’t.
“Hank is fun, and I enjoy his company, but we live very different lives. Even if I was willing to bend and break the rules, I don’t see much of a future there.”
Veronica shot her a pointed look. “You know, boss, sometimes you have to live in the now and stop thinking about anything further than that. Tomorrow isn’t promised, after all.”
“Thank you, Facebook Meme.”
Veronica laughed. “All right, I am out of here before you take back every nice thing you just said.”
“I would never take back an honest opinion.”
Kelly smiled as Veronica escaped from her office, realizing that there really wasn’t anything to rush home for, except to feed Pepper. No Friday plans except a couch with her name on it.
Considering a week ago she’d had a potential date and her best friend tell her that he wanted the first time they kissed to be special, it was kind of a letdown. Not that she’d gotten to experience the actual date. Hank had cancelled their dinner plans last weekend for an emergency with his agent, but he’d texted her constantly, even called her a couple of times at night. She really liked him, but she wasn’t lying when she said she couldn’t see a future there.
Of course, Veronica had a point about seizing the moment.
Kelly noticed the green message light flashing in the corner of her phone. She picked up her phone from the desk and slid her thumb over the screen. A message from Chris was waiting for her, and when she clicked on it, it was a picture of Chris lying back on his couch. On his chest was Fungi, pronounced FUN-GUY by Chris, curled in a ball with a smile on his furry face with a text attached.
He hasn’t left me alone since I got home.
Kelly thought it was funny how in love Chris had become in so short a time. Despite the kitten’s fungal infection, Chris never skipped a chance to hold his new pet.
You don’t look too unhappy about it.
She slipped her phone into her purse, and set her computer bag on her desk. She slid her laptop inside and shut off the light to her office as she left the room. It was past eight according to the lobby clock, and she was so ready for something easy for dinner and bed.
She didn’t really want to cook, but the only alternative was Subway or takeout from Shotgun, and she’d had both multiple times this week. She just wanted to go home, get into her jammies and relax.
When she arrived at her house fifteen minutes later, she went upstairs first to slip into her pjs and out of her silk camisole and pencil skirt. She trotted down the stairs and back to the kitchen in her tuxedo cat pajama bottoms and a black tank top.
Now, for food.
As Kelly searched, she found the motherlode in her cupboard. A package of Kraft Mac and Cheese. She was thrilled to check the fridge and find milk and butter inside.
Perfect dinner. Easy and delicious.
While her water boiled, she fed Pepper, who was winding his way around her legs dangerously. Then, she washed and cut up an apple, so she could at least pretend she was trying to eat healthy. She chewed on the sweet crunchy fruit as she poured the noodles in. Her phone beeped and she picked it up with her free hand, as the other popped another piece of apple in her mouth.
It was a message from Hank.
Hello, Beautiful. What are you doing tonight?
Making mac and cheese and going to bed. I am so tired, everything looks like a pillow, including my kitchen counter.
LOL
Kelly smiled in response, although she wasn’t exaggerating. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until she’d walked through the door.
She drained the pasta into a colander and carried it back over to the pot, dripping water across her tile floor. She’d get to it in a minute. She didn’t like to clean and prepare food at the same time.
Once she’d stirred in everything, she poured a healthy portion into a bowl. She set her pot in the sink, then pulled the bottle of ketchup from the fridge and grabbed a spoon from the drawer.
She’d eat, watch an episode of something on Hulu, and then head to bed. Who cared if it wasn’t very exciting?
Suddenly, her foot hit something slick on the floor and in a flash, she remembered the pasta water she’d meant to wipe up. Without thinking, she reached out to keep herself from falling.
The good news was, she didn’t fall. The bad was that her arm was lying across the still hot burner as the oven had been the closest thing to catch herself on.
“Ow!” She screamed, jerking her arm off and turning it over to examine the damage. She stared down at the thick lines that spanned her inner wrist
and forearm. It was like a brand across her skin, and although the initial hurt was gone, a terrible throb beat right where the burn was.
She slowly eased over to the sink. Kelly turned the faucet to cold water and as the stream fell across the burn, a painful breath hissed out through her teeth. The cold water soothed the sting for several minutes, until the frigid water itself became unbearable. Finally, she shut off the water and walked carefully across the floor, so she could get to the burn cream in her first aid kit in the kitchen cupboard.
She found it easily and carried it into her spare bathroom. Kelly sat down on the toilet and stared down at the angry blisters and peeling skin that had risen up on her arm. She’d never had a burn this bad; was it second degree? She had no idea what the criteria was, so she’d have to Google it.
After she put some of the burn cream on, she figured it would be fine. She’d get her dinner and go back to her originally scheduled program.
She walked back down the hallway and found Pepper on the counter, licking her mac and cheese greedily. He opened his mouth wide and an orange cheesy noodle disappeared down his throat.
“Pepper!” she yelled.
He threw his head up and when she took a step toward him, he jumped off the counter and sauntered out of the room, as though she was no real threat.
Kelly’s eyes filled with tears as her arm began to throb.
Her dinner was ruined, her arm hurt like a son of a gun, and her plans of relaxing on the couch with a little binge-watching fun were destroyed.
She grabbed her phone off the counter and went to the couch. There was another message from Hank, but she ignored it and scrolled down. She could call her mom and dad, but since they lived in Arizona, alerting them to a possible medical emergency would just cause them undue worry.
Kelly spun through her contacts and pressed call when she found Chris’s name.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey.”
“Hi. So, I just burned the crap out of my arm.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I slipped in the kitchen and instead of just falling on my ass, I grabbed onto the top of the oven, and my arm landed across the piping hot burner.”
She could hear Chris’s breath hiss out. “Jesus, Kelly, how bad is it?”
“I really hurts. It didn’t at first, but now it is throbbing, and the skin is peeling.”
“I’m on my way over.”
“Wait, I haven’t even told you the worst part.”
“What is the worst part?”
Kelly’s sniffle ended in a wail. “I was making mac and cheese and left it alone to put burn cream on my arm and Pepper ate it.”
Chris coughed, and she had a feeling he was laughing. “What a dick.”
“Right?”
“So, you’re telling me you’re hungry too.”
“Uh huh.”
“I’ll take you for food on the way to the ER.”
Kelly’s stomach twisted. She hated hospitals. “The ER? Why do I need to do that?”
“Because it sounds like you have a possible second or third degree burn and those get infected really easy. It needs to be seen.”
She sighed, too tired, hungry, and hurt to argue. “Fine.”
“Take some pain meds and hang tight. I will be there soon.”
Chapter 17
“Well, that’s going to be an awesome bill,” Kelly said as she walked ahead of him into her house.
He sighed heavily. “You know, that is the fourth time you’ve said that in three hours.”
“I’m sorry, but I was feeling much better after the two ibuprofen I took kicked in. I could have waited until tomorrow when my doctor opened up.”
She flipped on the living room lights and when Pepper opened his eyes slightly, she gave him the finger. “You’re on my list, kitty cat. No pounce treats for you this week.”
Pepper yawned widely and stood up, kneading the couch cushion. Chris would have almost said the cat was giving her bedroom eyes.
“Don’t you try to seduce me with cuteness. You ate my mac and cheese. In some houses, that is punishable by kicking your butt outside to fend for yourself.”
Chris shut the door behind him and locked it, holding onto his patience by a thread. “Stop threatening the cat. First of all, they are empty threats because you would never put Pepper outside, and second, he cannot understand you.”
“Oh, he understands that I am pissed off for wasting the time and money at the ER when I’d have lived just popping pills and applying my own burn cream.”
“Or, you could have woken up in excruciating pain with an infection. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“If it was your two-thousand-dollar bill, you might be thinking a little differently.”
Chris made an irritated, guttural sound as he took the grocery bag of ice cream they’d bought on the way home and headed for the kitchen. “No, because you could have waited and ended up with a thirty-thousand-dollar bill when the infection spread to your liver or something, so how about you knock off the attitude?”
Kelly sat on the couch, her breath whooshing out of her lungs. “I’m sorry. I just feel so stupid about the whole thing. I knew that water was there, and I still slipped because I didn’t want to stop my meal prep to wipe up the floor.”
Chris came back into the room and handed her a bottle of water. “Here, stay hydrated. It was an accident. Could have happened to anyone.”
She scoffed. “Come on. You never make mistakes like that. You’re always perfect.”
Chris sat next to her and put his arm around the back of the couch. “I’m perfect?”
Kelly turned her head and he watched her full lips dip into a frown. “Yeah. You were our high school valedictorian, you went off to kick ass at law school and I bet you already have your retirement account doubled by now.”
“My account has doubled, but I set up your retirement too, so it’s probably pretty close to mine. Plus, you got your business degree and make a fantastic living doing what you love. So how am I any better than you?”
Her voice was heavy with emotion as she responded, “I don’t know. I just feel like I’ve been wasting time, and I realize that I’m going to be thirty-two in October. I spent my twenties buried in Something Borrowed, and I have nothing else. My friends have all moved away or are caught up in husbands and babies.”
“You have the Buzzard Gulch project.”
“That’s true, but still, it’s just another extension of Something Borrowed.”
“And I don’t see how you feeling as though you’re wasting your life has to do with me being perfect?”
“Because at least you’ve tried things. I’ve never left Sweetheart, not even on vacation. You’ve been to Europe, Australia, and South America.”
He’d been to more continents than that, but didn’t want to make her feel bad by correcting her.
“You could have come on that senior trip with Ray and me.”
She turned on the couch, so she was facing him. “Are you kidding me? My mother was already freaking out because she knew Ray and I were fooling around. She’d have never let me go because she was convinced I’d be kidnapped and murdered by a billionaire for sport.”
Chris hoped she hadn’t noticed his wince when she mentioned sex with Ray. Of course, he knew it had happened, but he didn’t want to hear about it, even vaguely. “You realize that is the plot of Hostel, right?”
“Exactly. It was the last time I suggested we watch a horror movie together. She obsessed over it for months, and started researching human trafficking for hunting purposes.”
Chris laughed. “Still, you could travel now.”
“By myself? Color me pathetic.”
“You have girlfriends.”
“Who all left to go to college and
explore the world.”
“You’re just determined to complain tonight, aren’t you?”
Her cheeks turned bright red. “Sorry. I’m just…I want some excitement.”
“And getting a second degree burn on your arm isn’t thrilling?”
“No, dumbass, it is not.”
Chris wrapped his arms around her and pulled her toward him, being careful of her gauze-wrapped arm. “You know, if you want to go somewhere, you could always ask me.”
She relaxed against him with a laugh, her warm breath coming through his T-shirt and burning across the skin of his chest.
“You want to go with me to exotic locales?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Come on. I came back to Sweetheart because you wanted me to. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you.”
Chris realized the implications of what he’d just said a moment before she lifted her head and met his gaze.
“There isn’t?”
His heart rate kicked up a notch, creating a steady drumming in his ears. Before he could really think about the repercussions of what he was doing, he cupped her face in his hands.
“No.”
Chris sensed her body leaning toward him and his hands slid down her neck and shoulders. They stopped on her biceps and rested there.
“I think that you are the smartest, funniest, and caring person on the planet, Kelly. You’re something special.”
Kelly closed her eyes and he met her halfway, their lips fusing together clumsily. Her hands buried in the front of his shirt and their mouths opened in unison, their tongues dancing with swift, tangled strokes. Chris had fantasized about kissing Kelly thousands of times, but doing it was so much better. Tasting her warm, sweet mouth on his. Touching her supple skin. Hearing the melodious sound of her heavy breathing between the brief breaking of their lips.
It was fucking paradise.
Kelly’s arms came up and he felt them go around his shoulders right before she pulled away sharply, a strangled gasp escaping her mouth.
“Dammit!”
He realized she’d put her injured side of her wrist down on his shoulders and winced. “Are you okay?”