5. Kendra
KENDRA
Later that day, once I arrived at the office and checked my calendar, I dialed my boss. Henrik almost always worked from home. I put him on speakerphone. My sister wasn’t here, so I wasn’t concerned with bothering her.
After I told him about Tyler’s offer, Henrik scoffed. “The guy must really want to get back in management’s good graces.”
I frowned, not liking the implication. “That’s not why he’s doing it. He seems like a generous person.”
“I’ve met guys like him. Everything they do is planned.”
“He hasn’t asked me to report this to his management or anything. It doesn’t matter anyway, right?”
“No it doesn’t. You have the green light from me, but can you fit it into your schedule?”
I grimaced. “I’ll find the time for it.”
“Okay, I see you’re on top of everything.”
“Yes, yes I am. I’ll put everything in motion.”
After hanging up, I immediately texted Tyler.
Kendra: Hey, superstar goalie. I spoke to my boss, and he says no problem. When can the kids come on Thursday?
Tyler: You tell me. I’m flexible.
Hmmmm, just how flexible are you, Mr. Goalie?
Oh my God, I have to get these thoughts out of my system.
I tapped my pen against the table, trying to figure out what the best way was.
Usually I’d talk my sister’s ear off, but she’d left early to practice her favorite sport: shopping.
I’d never gotten the shopping bug since we’d been so utterly broke growing up, even pinching pennies for food.
But Emma learned to make the best of thrift stores when she was twelve. She had a gift for that sort of thing.
I texted her on the off chance she might see it.
Kendra: Can I call you? I need to SPILL IT.
That was our code whenever we needed girl talk.
Emma: I’m on the train with bad reception.
Kendra: Call me when it gets better.
Emma: Nooooooooo. I need to know now.
I chuckled at my sister’s enthusiasm. She was my best friend. As kids, we only had each other, and I believed that made our bond stronger.
Kendra: I’m having all sorts of sexy thoughts about Tyler Maxwell, and I have no clue how to get them out of my system.
Tyler: I have some ideas.
Of course, Emma would have ? —
I did a double take when I noticed the sender’s name. A knot locked in my throat. I felt a bit light-headed. Had I accidentally texted him? Obviously, yes. My thumb was shaky as I pressed the Back button so I could review all conversations.
No, damn it. The texts with Emma were right there. I must have accidentally tapped his name.
Tyler: Shall I share them?
I laughed nervously, sitting lower in my chair.
This can’t be happening.
Kendra: Sorry… I meant to send that to my sister.
Tyler: But you sent it to me.
Tyler: Maybe you should share your thoughts with me, so I have a clear picture.
I prided myself in always finding a sassy comeback, but my mind was blank right now. Well, no, it was full of embarrassment. I was completely out of my depth.
And just when I thought nothing could be worse, Tyler’s name popped up on the screen. He was calling.
I bit the inside of my cheek, considering what on earth to do. I couldn’t ignore the call, that was for sure.
Come on, Kendra. Pull up your big girl panties. You got in this mess all by yourself. Now get out of it.
Taking a deep breath, I answered.
“Kendra!”
“Tyler… hi. Umm, look, I’m sorry about the message. It was meant for my sister.”
“So you said. Lucky me that it landed in my inbox.”
“Lucky?” I asked, feeling totally out of my comfort zone. All I knew was that my pulse sped up again, not because I was nervous but because I was talking to him .
“I’m attracted to you, Kendra. Very attracted. Your message just fueled my imagination.”
I licked my lips, toeing off my shoes and curling my legs under me as I resituated myself in the chair.
I laughed nervously. “I’m feeling super embarrassed right now.”
“Why?”
“This never happens to me.” And it was really unprofessional. Even though my work and office were informal at best, I still held myself to certain standards.
“I’m honored to be the first.”
I laughed again, feeling maybe 10 percent less nervous. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to put me at ease or flirting, or both. Of course, there was no way women hadn’t come on to him before—he was a professional hockey player! A celebrity! Something I needed to remember.
“There’s no chance to get you to share those sexy thoughts, huh?” Tyler asked.
“Nope,” I confirmed, feeling a bit of my trusted sass coming back to me. Thank God. I thought I’d lost it for good.
“I can bide my time.”
He spoke in a lower tone, one that sent chills across my skin. I still didn’t have my wits about me, so it was best to end this conversation. It was awkward, and if it lasted any longer, it would just get more uncomfortable.
“Umm… as soon as I put everything together for the pool excursion, I’ll text you. But I’d like to hang up now.”
“No problem. I didn’t want to put you on the spot.”
Hmm, I wonder what the purpose of the call was, then? But I didn’t ask.
“And, Kendra? If you change your mind about sharing those thoughts, you can always text me.”
I let out a sound somewhere between a yelp and a giggle. God help me, I wasn’t myself when it came to this man.
I was still on edge, though feeling oddly giddy.
Tyler Maxwell was the hottest man in Chicago. The most successful goalie in the national hockey league. He had the world at his feet.
And he was attracted to me .
Was this a good thing or a bad thing? He probably had a trail of broken hearts behind him, and I didn’t want to be one of them.
I wasn’t going to get to the bottom of my conundrum today, so instead, I chose to bask in this giddiness that was filling me.
I turned on my favorite playlist on Spotify and tapped my feet to the rhythm of the music while I got to work.
Once I had a tentative schedule, I sucked in a breath and messaged Tyler.
Kendra: Thursday at three work for you?
Tyler: Yes it does.
A few seconds later, he sent another text.
Tyler: I can’t wait to see you in a bikini.
I blushed instantly. He liked to play dirty, huh? Ha, the joke was on him. I wasn’t going to wear a bikini. But I had an inkling I’d find out exactly how dirty Tyler liked to play on Thursday anyway.
I focused on work after that, trying not to think about him too much.
In the afternoon, Emma and I went to a hardware store to look at tiles. I wasn't buying anything today, but I just wanted to get an idea of what was on the market and within my budget.
"Damn, I'm dreaming of a day when I'm not broke," I said, looking longingly at some amazing tiles with a Portuguese design on them. They were three times the price of most of the others.
"Hey, that day will come. I have it on my vision board," Emma said. She had future plans on this thing. It was really working for her.
We were walking at a slow pace. The shop was super crowded, but that was okay. We weren't in a hurry. We just stopped whenever we saw something interesting, took pictures, and moved on.
"Hey these tiles remind me of the ones we had in the apartment we moved in after Dad died.” She pointed to blue tiles. I could see the resemblance.
“You’re right. They look similar.
“You were such an awesome sister. You spoiled me rotten even though we had nothing. Remember those amazing lemonades?"
I smiled. "Hey, it was all in the honey. You loved it because it was sweet."
"Yeah, obviously, but you were so good at helping me with homework and even super inventive to keep me from freaking out about the visits from Miss Spooky."
I stared at my sister. Miss Spooky was what I’d dubbed the social worker who came to our place, mostly on surprise visits when Mom was working.
The neighbors alerted her that we were unsupervised, and I used to hide with my sister when she knocked at the door.
Sometimes she left after knocking a few times, but we couldn’t fool her every time.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, when you asked me to play under the table and not make any noise. Remember that one time when you said we were having a contest of who could keep still for longer, and at the end of it, the winner would get a chocolate chip cookie?"
I was stunned. I’d hoped my sister wouldn't pick up on the fact that I was basically making her hide, but it seemed I’d failed.
"Okay. Wow. I'm sorry. I honestly hoped you wouldn't notice why we were doing that."
She shook her head. "Don't beat yourself up about it. It was a tough time, and you did your best."
We made a round of the whole store, and I noted the name and barcode of the tiles that were within my price range on my phone.
"I think I'm going to have to stick with basic ones," I said, pointing to boring white tiles. "But why not? I could make them seem interesting with all sorts of accessories."
"They remind me a bit of those public pools. And speaking of the pool, are you looking forward to seeing Tyler naked?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
I almost choked on my inhale.
"Hey, almost naked,” I replied when I’d recovered. “Almost being the operative and very, very important point."
"Right, okay, almost naked," Emma said with a grin. "Still looking forward to it?"
I sighed, shrugging. I couldn't lie to my sister. "Well, who wouldn't? I bet the man's a work of art."
"Yes, I bet that too.”
“But he's super good at flirting, so clearly he has lots of experience with women, and honestly, I don't want to get into all that."
Emma pointed at me. "But you said this thing he’s doing for the kids is swoonworthy, right? That's your kryptonite."
"Hey, can you not remind me of that, please?"
She smirked. "Why? Does it make you change your mind? Want to flirt back?"
"Oh, I already went there with my message."
"No, that was involuntary. I don't know if it counts.”
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, in Tyler's book, it does count."
“Ha! Then your little pool trip will be even more awesome than I’m imagining it. I’m requesting a full report, obviously.”
I chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”