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“Kate told me about one woman so desperate for his attention she showed up on set wearing a trench coat and nothing else,” Tess says.
I choke back a horrified laugh. “What!”
“It’s true,” Tess insists. “What’s also true is that his relationships, if you can call them that, never seem to last very long.”
While they go back and forth on the women Joel has dated, I take the opportunity to steal another look his way.
He’s still standing in the same spot, a stillness in his posture, like he’s taking everything in.
All around him are pockets of people talking and laughing, but he seems removed from it all.
Something about the lonely, solitary picture he presents causes my throat to tighten.
And then a glamorous, brown-haired woman in a tight red dress loops her arm in his and tilts her head to smile radiantly up at him. It takes me a few seconds, but I finally recognize her. Farah. She works at one of the hair salons on Main Street.
It hits me then that I’ve seen him date brunettes and redheads, but I’ve never seen a blonde woman on his arm. Ever. Is that what he meant when he told Kate I wasn’t his type?
Joel liked Kate enough to ask her out and I’m the complete opposite of Kate—in looks and personality. No wonder he didn’t find me attractive. The knowledge leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.
I look away from Joel and Farah, and take another gulp of my champagne, trying to wash away the sting.
I don’t want to think about Joel anymore. It’s too beautiful and magical an evening to allow him to spoil it for me.
Aaron joins our circle, looping an arm around Tess’s waist and pulling her to him. “Are you giving Kenzie a hard time, love?” he asks in his gruff way.
A blush steals over my cheeks. I’m still a little tongue-tied around Aaron.
It’s not simply his good looks and confidence that intimidate me.
The memory of all those phishing tests he subjected us to when we all worked together at Amell Greetings remains fresh in my mind.
Although Tess laughs it off, I often feel as though I’m about to fail another test with him.
“I would never give Kenzie a hard time,” Tess maintains, looking up at Aaron in wide-eyed innocence. “I leave that to Sofia.”
Sofia’s eyes narrow. “Real nice, throwing a friend under the bus.”
Tess playfully bumps her shoulder. “You know the bus will fare worse than you.”
“It’s all fine,” I assure Aaron, swallowing when he turns those cool blue eyes on me, like he knows I’m covering for them. Another test I didn’t pass, I realize.
Except he doesn’t call me on it. Instead, the tiniest hint of a smile grazes his lips, and the tension leaves my shoulders. He’s definitely more easygoing since falling in love with Tess. Married life suits him.
“Relax,” Sofia tells Aaron airily. “We’re just watching out for Kenzie.”
Two glasses of champagne buzzing through my veins gives me enough courage to say, “You don’t need to watch out for me.”
Sofia points her glass at me. “Kenzie Anne Ellis, you get way too emotional and sentimental at weddings. And because this is Kate’s wedding, there’s a strong possibility you’ll get swept up in all the romantic sentiments and end up with Bobby again.”
Aaron’s lips set in a grim line. “I thought I saw him loitering around.”
“You know, he wasn’t all that bad—” I start to say.
Sofia is swift to cut me off. “Yes, he was. He stifled you. He never got you.” She wrinkles her nose. “And having any kind of conversation with him is like sitting in the middle seat on a fourteen-hour flight.”
A waiter appears bearing a tray of canapés. After selecting a goat’s cheese soufflé, Tess asks, “Tell me the story again of how you and Bobby met.”
I smile at the memory. “We were walking on opposite sides of the street to the mailbox. It was a windy day and my letter flew out of my hand to land in the middle of the road. Bobby didn’t hesitate to run out into the road to retrieve my letter.” I sigh. “It was a brave, romantic gesture.”
Sofia rolls her eyes. “It’s not as if he risked his life.”
“There was some risk,” I argue.
“Holly Close is one of the quietest streets in Brown Oaks,” Sofia states. “His only risk was tripping over a mobility scooter.”
“Looks like they want us to take our seats,” Aaron says, motioning in the direction of the guests slowly filing into the banquet room. “And for the record, I think Kenzie is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”
He winks at me and I flick him a grateful smile. “I’ll see you guys in there. I need to head to the ladies’ room.”
The three of them wander into the banquet room and I make my way slowly down the hallway.
An ache of loneliness expands in my chest. I don’t need the restroom, but I want a moment to myself.
Sofia is right. I’m feeling restless and overly emotional.
With Gideon and Kate now married, all my friends are paired up.
Although Matt’s not at the wedding due to an overseas business trip, he and Sofia are another madly-in-love married couple.
My friends have all found their happy endings.
I’m twenty-nine and more than ready to settle down with my own forever love story.
“Hey, Kenzie.”
My footsteps falter. Blinking rapidly, I push away my swirling emotions and turn around. “Hey, Bobby.”
He looks tall and handsome in his suit, his dark hair styled carefully and a little longer than he usually wears it.
I watch him glance furtively over his shoulder, and I know he’s looking for Sofia. When he doesn’t see her, relief snaps his spine straighter.
“You look lovely,” he tells me.
Bobby’s gaze is filled with admiration and my heart swells at the compliment. “Thank you.”
I put a lot of effort into my appearance today.
I’m wearing a sunshine-yellow dress that hugs my body in all the right places.
My blonde hair tumbles down my back in long, loose waves.
I’ve squeezed my feet into nude heels that Tess insists makes my legs look a mile long.
My lips are painted a pale pink, my eyes have more mascara than usual, and rose-gold studs decorate my ears.
Bobby can’t keep his eyes off me.
“You look like summer,” he says finally.
I try not to deflate. It’s not the most eloquent remark, but Bobby likes things simple. His favorite season is summer.
We parted ways nearly two months ago after dating for three months.
It was a mutual decision, although I allowed Bobby to officially sever the relationship, which had been flatlining for a while.
Neither of us had said “I love you” and Sofia is totally justified in slapping a DO NOT RESUSCITATE label on us.
“Are you still illustrating greeting cards?” Bobby asks.
“I am.”
We slip into easy small talk as I give him a brief update on what I’m working on and he fills me in on what’s happening at his office. Conversation was never a problem with us. Although our talks don’t venture into deep topics, at least there are no awkward pauses.
And then Bobby touches my arm. “Do you want to talk somewhere more private?”
I catch the nervous shift of his eyes down the hallway, as though he fears Sofia might suddenly appear like some avenging angel.
I know he’ll feel more at ease talking to me in private, especially since I have it on good authority (Tess) that Sofia threatened Bobby with dismemberment to a strategic body part.
But I also recognize that look in Bobby’s eyes.
My ex-boyfriend is hoping not just to talk. That look says he wants to kiss me.
No is on the tip of my tongue. After all, there’s a wedding dinner that will start in about half an hour and my friends are waiting for me.
But what sticks like cement in my memory is Bobby’s offhand comment that I was too boring for him and he wanted more excitement out of our relationship.
Although he hadn’t meant to be cruel, the words had hurt. They still hurt. But the way Bobby’s currently looking at me, he seems to have forgotten his previous verdict of me as boring.
I’m suddenly overwhelmed by a raw need for connection.
Even if it’s with an old boyfriend. Actually, it’s probably better that it’s Bobby.
I’ve kissed him before. Many times. We can indulge in a nostalgic kissing session that I know won’t lead anywhere, but that will help me feel desired, if only for a little while.
“Where?” I ask in a whisper.
His brown eyes light up in approval. “How about the storeroom?” he proposes.
I know the storeroom he’s referring to. I’ve attended a few conferences at Brown Oaks Hotel and every resident knows that the small storeroom—which also doubles as a luggage room—is never locked.
I’d snuck in there a couple of times with Sofia and Tess when a presentation went on too long and we needed an escape.
What Bobby’s proposing sounds clandestine and adventurous. The champagne fizzing through my veins likes it. In all honesty, this is as daring as it’s going to get for me. Shy, insecure, good girl Kenzie is now off duty.
“The storeroom sounds good,” I tell him.
“We probably shouldn’t go in there together,” Bobby says. “How about you go first? I’ll head to the restroom, wait a couple of minutes, and then meet you there.”
“Okay.”
With nervous anticipation winding through me, I find myself walking down the long, empty hallway, turning the corner, and then slipping into the storeroom.