Speed Dating (17 page)

D
YLAN WOKE
with a leaden feeling in his gut. In the half-waking stage, he was conscious of something bad hanging over him and it took him a minute to figure out what it was.

Then it hit him. Kendall.

He was losing Kendall.

Why did she have to tell him she loved him? Then she’d gone straight to her room and shut the door leaving him feeling frustrated, foolish and somehow lonely. He’d been so tempted to follow her, to beg her to stay, to beg her to make this relationship of theirs more serious than a few kisses. She loved him, after all.

Maybe, if she was really his girlfriend, he could talk her into staying. She didn’t want to go back to that company that didn’t stand by her or appreciate her, and he hated to let her humiliate herself like that. Here, she was needed, respected, valued by the whole team and by a big chunk of the fans.

Dylan had everything to offer her but his love in return. Somehow he already knew that it wasn’t enough. Kendall was a romantic, an all-or-nothing woman, and what he had to offer was pretty much nothing. It had been clear to him last night during that excruciating dinner with his parents that there was something geneti
cally wrong with the Hargreaves. They were cold, unable to connect on that soul-deep level that Kendall obviously believed in.

He rolled out of bed and stomped into the shower, knowing that her best bet for finding a soul-deep love was to look far away from him.

He wasn’t sure how she’d be this morning after the things they’d said to each other last night, but to his relief she seemed very much as she usually did first thing in the morning. Cheerful, energetic and all pulled together. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee in front of her, reading a magazine.

“’Morning,” he said.

She rose and went to pour him coffee. “Good morning.” She wore cream-colored jeans, a sleeveless green T-shirt with a scoop neck and a stylish belt. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and she smelled like lavender. He noticed that her skin had an extra glow and wondered if she’d forgotten her sunscreen yesterday.

He sat across from her at the table, pleased to find the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as he’d feared. In fact, their talk and her declaration that she loved him might never have happened.

“I’m hoping you’ll show me your land today.”

“Sure.”

“But first I’ll make you breakfast.”

“You don’t have to cook for me, Kendall.”

She gave him her sweet smile. “I know. But I have to do something to stay busy. Besides, I like to cook.”

Since their conversation of last night was still fresh in his mind, he didn’t call her on it, merely said, “I like my eggs cooked in bacon fat and runny.”

“How do your arteries feel about that?”

“Kendall, you serve me any of that fresh fruit and organic granola crap and I swear you’ll be sorry.”

She glanced at him and he could have sworn she blushed.

“Hah,” he said, watching her closely. “You were planning to, weren’t you?”

“I’m not saying I was, and I’m not saying I wasn’t. But olive oil is a lot healthier than bacon fat.”

“If I want to taste olives, I’ll eat olives.”

“You are hopeless,” she said, opening drawers. “I don’t suppose you have an apron?”

“Oh, yeah. I use an apron all the time. Pink, frilly thing.”

She muttered some more and then dug out a couple of checked cloths for drying dishes and wrapped one around her waist.

She rattled pots and pulled stuff out of the fridge and he poured more coffee. He was trying to decide whether to head outside and get the tractor out or sit in here and watch her work when the phone rang.

He scowled at it.

“Want me to get that?” Kendall asked.

“It’s probably somebody I don’t want to talk to.”

“You should get call display.”

“Never got around to it.”

It rang once more and, shaking her head, Kendall reached to answer it.

“I’m not here,” he told her as she picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

Her voice was all crisp and businesslike, like a telephone operator. Then, instead of getting warmer, her
tone crisped even more, like flash-frozen water. “Yes, he’s here.”

She handed him the phone.

“I said I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”

“It’s Ashlee,” she said.

“Oh.” He took the phone. “Hey, Ash. What’s up?”

“Harrison had to work and I’m bored,” his ex-wife told him. Every word was a pout.

“Too bad.” He didn’t have a lot of sympathy. What did she expect, marrying a guy who got his jollies throwing family men out of work?

“Oh, Dy, what was I thinking?”

“Hell if I know. If you’d asked my opinion I’d have told you not to marry the guy.”

He heard her sigh, long and dramatic. “I want him to be more like you.”

“No, you do not. You are the classic grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side type. Ash, you divorced me. For good reasons.” He was getting tired of these conversations, tired of terrific women who weren’t getting what they needed from him because he didn’t have whatever they were looking for in him to give.

“I know. When I’m with you, I want you to be more like Harrison.”

A chuckle was surprised out of him. “If you’re looking for sympathy, you came to the wrong guy.”

“I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m looking for company. Harrison’s gone to work, and I don’t have anything to do.”

Warning signs strobed across his brain. “I promised Kendall I’d show her my land today.”

“Oh.” She sounded deeply disappointed. “I’ve seen your land.”

“Yeah. I know.” Also, he hadn’t invited her out here.

“Can you come for lunch?”

His immediate impulse was to say no, but he paused. “Is Harrison going to be there?”

“No. I told you. He has to work.”

He should stay a long way away from Ashlee, but then Kendall was going to have lunch with his sister despite his obvious wishes to the contrary. Kendall also wasn’t going to be around much longer to deflect Ashlee. Maybe it was time he told Ashlee once and for all that he was a man from her past, all right, and he’d be staying put in the past. He couldn’t give any decent woman a future.

One evening with his own family had him realizing that Dy wasn’t short for Dylan, it was short for dysfunctional.

He felt a little sorry for his ex-wife. She sure could pick ’em. Since he had a pretty good idea that having lunch with the man’s wife would drive Harrison ballistic, he found one more reason to go.

“Sure. I’ll drop Kendall off for her lunch date and then swing by your place. Around noon?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be here all day, bored out of my mind.”

“Are you making lunch?” If she was, he’d have to go out to eat first.

Ashlee giggled as if she’d read his mind. “I’m still the worst cook I know. I’ll get Hettie to make something.”

He got off the phone and found Kendall staring at him, bacon sizzling so loud it sounded as if it were having a temper tantrum. Kendall looked to be in a similar mood.

“Ashlee invited me for lunch at her house.”

Kendall shook her head.

He made a desperate gesture. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Why don’t you invite your mother to go along with you? She and Ashlee can try and patch the marriage back up. You’ll make both their days.”

He put on more coffee, trying not to notice how homey this was and how nice it was to have a woman around who liked to cook. She suited the place, he thought, watching Kendall. Even though she was irritated with him, she managed to move efficiently around the kitchen, cracking eggs and dropping them into the sizzling pan like a seasoned pro. He could manage scrambled eggs in the microwave, which was one meal more than Ash could cook. He doubted his mother even knew where the kitchen was.

Funny how you could miss something you’d never had.

The coffee was brewed and Kendall was deftly plating his breakfast when the phone rang again. “Maybe it’s Harrison challenging you to a duel,” his housemate said, sounding as if she’d dipped her voice in sugar.

Since she let the damn thing ring, he answered the phone.

“Hargreave,” he snapped.

“Hargreave back at you,” said the no-nonsense voice of Mary Beth on the other end. His sister was as emotionally stunted as he was, but at least she’d been smart enough not to marry.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?”

“I’m stuck in court. There is no way I can get away for
lunch today. Unexpected problems. Can you tell Kendall?”

“Sure. You want to speak to her?”

“No. Don’t have time. Ask her to leave a message at my office and we’ll reschedule. I’m free tomorrow or Thursday.”

“I’ll tell her.”

“Hey.”

“What?”

“As weird as last night was, I liked seeing you again.”

They weren’t one of those touchy-feely families, and he knew she was saying a lot more than her words conveyed. “Me, too.”

He thought she’d already hung up when she said, “I missed you.”

“Me, too.”

“Later.” And she was gone.

He hung up slowly, thinking it was time he and Mary Beth started spending more time together. In spite of how screwed up the whole family dynamic was, he had a deep affection for his sister.

“What was that all about?”

“Mary Beth says she’s sorry but she had to cancel lunch. Some legal thing got in the way.”

“Okay. And you’re smiling because…?”

“You just witnessed big-time family bonding.”

“I’m overwhelmed with the emotion of the moment.”

“Now, you’re starting to sound like me.”

Toast popped up from the toaster, and she deftly scooped two pieces and buttered them. “I am really happy that you and your sister realized how much you care about each other.”

“You could see that? Really?”

“Yes. You didn’t say a lot to each other, but you have a strong bond.”

“I guess we do at that.”

“Your parents, on the other hand…”

He snagged a piece of toast, crunched half of it and then waved the other half at her. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said around the toast.

He called Ashlee. “Listen, Ash, Kendall’s date canceled on her for lunch, so we’re both coming.”

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was his breakfast chef waving her arms. A spatula she held in one hand looked as though it might do some damage.

“But…”

“Ashlee, she’s my houseguest. I can’t leave her home alone.”

“Yes, you can,” Kendall shouted so loud he had to put his hand over the mouthpiece before Ashlee heard her.

“I thought we could talk, the two of us.”

“We can talk and this way we’ll have a chaperone in case Harrison hears about it.”

“Who cares what Harrison thinks?”

“He’s your husband, Ash. You picked him. You should at least try and make this thing work.”

He ended the call as soon as he could, then sat down, pleased with the way events were turning out, to enjoy his breakfast.

Kendall didn’t look nearly as pleased. “Why did you say I’d go? I am not going to a very inappropriate lunch with your ex-wife.”

“See, that’s the brilliant thing. With you there, it won’t be inappropriate.”

“Grow up!” She banged his breakfast down so he could see the yolks of his eggs jiggle. Exactly how he liked them.

“You promised me,” he said to her. “You promised. Two more weeks—that’s all I’m asking.”

She continued to glare at him. “Then what are you going to do, Dylan? Once I’m gone? Who’s going to protect you from the big, bad ex-wife then?”

He glared right back at her. “There’s stuff going on here you don’t know anything about.”

“Of course I know what’s going on. It’s a classic love triangle.”

“I’m not in love with Ashlee,” he yelled.

“Then why do you keep playing her games?”

“Can we drop this and eat?”

She sank into her chair and draped her napkin across her lap.

He dug in to eggs that were perfect, with the unmistakable smoky salt taste of bacon fat. The bacon was crisp, the way he liked it, a fact she must have filed away when he’d ordered in restaurants. He slathered more butter on his toast to mop up every last bite.

“Kendall,” he said, “this is great.”

“Thanks, but it’s only bacon and eggs. Not too much of a culinary challenge.”

She spooned up some of that no-fat fruit yogurt she liked so much. She’d sprinkled granola and fruit over top. She’d snuck some of the fruit onto his plate but he decided to look on it as decoration. He did manage to chug down the fresh-squeezed orange juice, though, just to show he wasn’t completely opposed to healthy food.

He got to the end of the juice and said, “Yuck.”