Chapter Seventeen
Kennedy Noelle
Well, someone dig me a hole and bury me in it.
That was awkward. My sister was clearly trying to flirt with Beckett, but I can’t be mad or say anything, because she’s working through a break up and I don’t want anyone to know I know him.
I don’t need her knowing I made a mistake and had a one night stand with a guy who used me then discarded me like trash.
I find Lunden organizing dresses and assigning hangers and labels.
“Want some help?” I huff.
“Sure. Rough night?” Lunden hands me a coat hanger. I pick up a dress from the pile on the table and hook it on the velvet hanger.
“You could say that.”
“So, shall I pretend I didn’t see you making out with the hot security guard behind the curtain earlier?”
My eyes widen in horror. “You saw that.” My words come out all panicky and squeaky.
Lunden gives me a mischievous grin. “No but thank you for confirming that’s what you were doing.”
“Lunden,” I scold. “What did you see exactly? Please tell me Clarice didn’t see anything.”
“No, don’t worry, girl, your secret’s safe with me,” she reassures. “I saw you disappear behind the curtain, and from the way that man eyed you all night, I assumed something happened. So, tell me everything. Who is he?”
I place the coat hanger on the rail and pick up another one along with a dress. “You know that guy I met last Christmas?”
"Mr. One Night Man? The runner?”
“Yeah, that guy. Well, that’s him.”
Lunden waves her coat hanger in the air. “That’s him, and what did he have to say for himself?”
“Well, he keeps begging me to hear him out, but I don’t know. I can’t do that again. He hurt me. I made a fool of myself.”
“I think you should hear him out and then fuck him again. Just to get it out of your system.”
I tutt. “What? Lunden, be serious.”
“I am, have you seen him? Either you fuck him, or I will.”
The thought of her being with Beckett ignites a flame of jealousy inside of me.
She tilts her head to the side. “At least give the guy a blowjob?”
I look at her deadpan.
“Ken, I’m joking. I would never, but you absolutely should.
It will give you some closure. You haven't even been on a date since him.” I let that reality sink in.
I haven’t because I haven't been able to move on from that night for many reasons. I can’t.
"You hear what happened? I let him fuck me, stick his tongue inside of me and then he just upped and left without a word. What must he think of me? I’m so embarrassed. ”
“Girl, we all do stupid shit in the heat of the moment. It is what it is,” Lunden says casually.
“Lunden, I let him spit champagne in my mouth, who does that?” I hiss.
I shudder with embarrassment. I begged him to fuck me. No wonder he upped and left me.
“So what? I once let two guys take it in turns to eat a snicker's bar out of my cooch. We all do stupid shit.”
My eyebrows shoot up so far they feel like they are touching my hairline. “You let two guys do what?”
She waves a dismissive hand. “A story for another day. My point is, we all do things we are not proud of, but at least hear the guy out. The truth has to be better than the thoughts that run through your head, trying to work out why he left without a word.”
She’s right. I know she is. But my pride is getting in the way. I swore I would never let a man make me feel like shit after what Carson did to me.
“I’ll take your silence as confirmation that I’m right.”
I give her an eyeroll. “Maybe,” I mumble.
“The way I see it, Ken, you have two options. One, walk away and forever wonder, or two, hear him out and go from there. You have nothing to lose with option two but everything with option one. It’s your choice…”
It’s almost midnight before I step out onto the New York streets with Lunden to catch a cab home. The freezing air hits my cheeks and has me reaching for my gloves in my pockets.
“What a night. Shall we DoorDash a pizza so it’s there for when we get home?” I link my arm with Lunden as we walk down the sidewalk toward the row of waiting cabs.
"Ugh, yes, with extra pepperoni,” I say on a moan, my stomach grumbling at the thought of hot food.
Just as she opens the door to the cab, I hear my name being hollered. I look over my shoulder to see Beckett jogging up the sidewalk, now dressed in a long dark coat.
“Kennedy, wait, please.” I signal for Lunden to give me a minute.
“Beckett, I’m tired. I need to go home.”
“Have dinner with me,” he says, and it’s not a question.
“It’s almost midnight,” I reply.
“Then have breakfast with me.”
He takes my glove-covered hand, and even through the fabric I can feel the heat of his touch.
“Please, give me a chance to explain, and if you are done, then well, I’ll just have to find another way to earn your forgiveness.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, debating what to do.
The passenger window of the cab rolls down. “You’re on a meter, sweetheart, what will it be, you in or out?”
I look at Lunden in the back seat, who begins making a blowjob action with her hand and mouth.
I roll my eyes and mumble, “Seriously. I’ll meet you at home, Lunden.”
“Good girl,” she calls from the cab as the driver rolls up the window and speeds off.
“Okay, explain,” I say, releasing my hand from his and folding my arms across my chest.
“Right here,” he says, looking around the empty New York street. Only the twinkling lights from the Christmas tree outside the building and the street lights give the area we stand in a soft glow.
“Yes, then I can catch a cab and get home.”
“Okay, fine.” He clears his throat. “I wasn’t a hundred per cent honest with you about my name and what I do, and that’s not because I don’t want to. I legally can’t, but I’ll share with you what I can.”
“I’m listening,” I say, curious where he’s going to go with this.
“My real name is Tyler, Tyler Beckett. I do own a security company, and I am a former special forces soldier, but I am still on their reserve list, and I get called up for specialized operations.”
I uncross my arms and let them fall beside me, softening my stance, the weight of his words slowly sinking in. His name’s Tyler, and he’s in the special forces?
“That morning, I got a call. You were fast asleep, and I didn’t want to disturb you.
I needed access to my laptop and private military documents, so I headed to the hotel lobby.
I had orders that I needed to deploy within six hours.
I went to get us some coffees and a mahogany cake for your birthday, to surprise you and try and find a way to tell you I had to leave, but that I wanted to see you again, because there wasn’t a chance I could just have that one night with you. ”
I stare blankly at him, too stunned to speak, doing my best to process his words as I mentally replay the events of that morning.
“When I got back to the room, you were gone. I asked at reception, but they said you had checked out. I didn’t think that by taking my bag it made it look like I had left you.”
I swallow hard. “Beckett, I… I thought you’d just got up and left. I thought that you had regretted what happened, maybe gone back to Casey.”
“God no, never. Me and Casey were done. I could never regret what happened between us.” Relief washes over me, hearing he doesn’t regret our night, because I could never regret what happened, but I can’t help but feel like I was abandoned.
“You hurt me, Beckett.” My voice grows thick with emotion. I cried more tears than I care to admit over a man I had only known for such a short time, but we had a connection, and I thought he felt it too.
“I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to track you down, but I was on operations for nearly ten months. I got back, and had to find a new place to live, and things with my business went crazy. I always planned to look for you, angel.”
His voice grows softer as he steps toward me, closing the space between us, and when he cups my jaw, like a habit I don’t think I want to shake, I melt into his touch.
“You have been all I’ve thought about. There's not been a day where I woken up and thought of you. I should have known you were never going to be one night and I know there are a hundred reasons why this shouldn’t work, or couldn’t work and we don’t know each other all that well, but I want to change that.
Please, give me a chance to make it up to you. ”
He brushes his nose with mine, and my eyes flutter shut.
“Kennedy, just give me one more chance, one more night to make things right,” he pleads, his tone verging on desperate.
I let his words register and, without second-guessing my decision, I press my lips to his and throw my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, allowing myself to get lost in him.
Snowflakes land on our cheeks as we devour each other, his large frame encasing me, making me feel secure, wanted, safe. Feelings I have craved since that night with him.
He presses his forehead to mine, his thumbs stroking my cheeks, and I know I need to decide where we go from here.
“So, Kennedy, what will it be? Will you give me one more night?”
To be continued…