CHAPTER 39
Kennedy
“I’m nervous,” she said.
“Don’t be. You’ll be fine.”
“Cam, it’s River. I really like her.”
“She really likes you, too, which is why you’re going on a date. Just be yourself. She already likes you.”
“Does Lacey have any insider tips for me?”
“Lace?” Cameron said.
Kennedy didn’t hear anything on the other end of the phone at first, but then, there were sounds, like something was being moved and set down.
“Um… Hi,” Lacey said.
“Hey, Lacey,” Kennedy greeted. “This isn’t weird at all.”
Lacey laughed and replied, “No, it’s not.”
“She wants insider tips on dating River,” Cameron said. “I put you on speaker.”
“Oh, wow,” Lacey said.
“I was just kidding. Well, I was half-kidding.”
“I’m not really the person to ask, Kennedy. River and I didn’t work out, remember?”
“But you did in the beginning.”
“I’m not sure the beginning is what matters the most if you’re hoping for it to last. Look, River is a good person.
She wears her heart on her sleeve most of the time, even when she doesn’t realize it.
She didn’t with me toward the end, which was how I knew that something was wrong with us.
She loves that damn candy shop more than most things in the world, and she liked you enough to light up whenever you walked into the room that weekend.
I watched it happen. Just be yourself, like Cam said, and it’ll be fine. ”
“Thank you,” Kennedy replied. “She’s supposed to pick me up in a few minutes. I’m ready, but I don’t know where we’re going, so I’m second-guessing every choice I’ve made so far.”
“Have you two had the talk about being out in public?” Cameron asked.
“I told her we should go someplace as private as possible just for now. I don’t want people to think you and I were cheating on each other,” she replied.
“Yeah, me neither. We’ve been keeping a low profile,” Cameron said. “Just go out and enjoy yourself, Ken.”
“Oh, and River likes to be the one to, like, open doors and stuff. She’s chivalrous. You can tell her if you don’t like it, but if you do like it, she’ll do it forever.”
“Do you like that stuff?” Cameron asked, which was obviously addressed to Lacey.
“Okay, I’m hanging up now,” Kennedy said just as the doorbell rang. “She’s here. I have to go. Bye. Thanks.”
She hung up, lowered her phone to her side, and took a deep breath before she tucked her phone inside her purse, carried that with her, and opened the door.
“Hi,” she said when she saw River standing there, wearing a suit. “You’re…”
“What?” River asked. “I’m what?”
“You’re wearing a freaking suit.”
“It’s just a blazer with a tie, and these are the best pants I own. Shit. Did I get this wrong? I dressed up. Should I not have?”
“You look… hot,” Kennedy stated. “Like, really hot.”
“Oh,” River said and offered a shy smirk. “Thanks. You look hot, too. Though I feel like I should tell you that you look beautiful, which you do. I like you in dresses.”
“I remember,” she said, recalling River’s hands moving all over her dress when they’d made out in her kitchen while they were supposed to focus on making things for her to sell. “And you look amazing. That’s what I should’ve said. I just didn’t expect you to dress up.”
“Why not? It’s a first date.”
“I don’t know. I like you in white T-shirts.”
“Well, that’s good because I wear T-shirts, like, ninety percent of the time. But I can clean up.”
“I can see that,” Kennedy said.
“Ken?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I come in?”
“Oh, right. Wait. Why?” she asked as she motioned for River to come in.
“Sorry, that sounded rude. I just meant that this isn’t really my house.
I can give you the tour if you want, but it’s not my stuff.
Just my clothes and things like that. Did you want a drink here or something?
I have wine and some soda, I think. My assistant shopped for me. I’ve been keeping a low profile.”
“Nope. I was hoping you’d let me in so that we could have our date.” River turned then, bent down, and when she turned back around, she was holding a picnic basket in front of her. “I thought we could have a picnic if you have a blanket and a backyard.”
“What? River…”
“I know we can’t exactly go out and be us just yet.
I also know that with you in any dress, I’d want my hands all over you.
Considering how good it felt to touch you at the shop, I didn’t want to risk doing something stupid until we can be out there and be ourselves.
So, I made us something to eat, and I thought we could keep a low profile together… here… tonight… on our date.”
Kennedy smiled and said, “That is the best idea. Thank you for doing this. For the record, it won’t be for long. And I don’t want to hide this. You know that, right?”
“I do now,” River replied and walked inside.
Kennedy closed the door behind her, locked it, and then nodded for River to follow her through the foyer, into the living room, and toward the sliding glass doors
“We should talk about that. Not tonight; it’s a first date. But what do you want to do?”
“About what?” River asked.
“Us.”
“I want us to date,” River said. “And if that works out, maybe I’ll get to be your girlfriend.”
“And you know what that would mean, right? We don’t have to get ahead of ourselves here, but when I start working again, I’ll have things I have to go to, and sometimes, I might want my girlfriend or partner there.
Then, there’s the fact that just walking around together would get cameras aimed in our direction, and it can be a lot for someone who is not in this business to deal with. ”
Kennedy went to pull open the back door after unlocking it.
“I’ve got it,” River said and pulled the door open for her before she opened the screen door next.
Kennedy remembered what Lacey had said about River being chivalrous, and she liked it.
“And I don’t care about that, Kennedy,” River added.
“I’ll stand back and hold your purse. I can do the pictures or whatever, if you need me to, but I’m good being out of the spotlight and letting you have all of it.
I bet I’d be one hell of a purse holder.
” River set the picnic basket down on the grass beyond the small patio and looked up. “Shit. There’s a pool?”
“Yeah. I haven’t used it yet,” Kennedy said. “But if you want to later, you can go for it.”
“I didn’t bring my suit because you didn’t tell me you had a freaking pool here, Kennedy,” River replied.
“Silly me. I thought our first date would be dinner and a movie, and I didn’t think to tell you about the kidney-shaped pool in the backyard of the house I’m renting.”
“I’m very disappointed in you,” River teased.
Kennedy chuckled and remembered, “Shit. The blanket. I’ll be right back. I’ll steal the one from the couch. Drinks?”
“In here.” River pointed to the basket. “Champagne and water. If you want something else, though, you can grab it.”
“You got champagne?”
“Ken, what about this being a very important first date for me is confusing to you?” River asked with a lifted eyebrow.
“Maybe I should change… A dress on a blanket might not–”
“Don’t you dare,” River interrupted.
“Okay,” Kennedy replied with a smile and hurried back inside to grab a blanket.
Minutes later, they were sitting on it, and River was pulling containers out of the picnic basket.
“You made all of this?”
“Most of it. I didn’t make the cheese.”
Kennedy laughed at the joke.
“You can, though; can’t you?”
“It’s not that hard, depending on what kind you want to make. It mostly just takes time. But are we really talking about making cheese right now?”
Kennedy laughed and thought that already this was the best first date she’d ever been on.
River poured champagne for them, and it ran over the tops of the plastic flutes and into the grass.
They laughed and toasted to their first official date.
Then, they ate cheese and crackers, along with some jam that River had picked up, before they started on the pasta dishes that could be eaten cold.
“When did you have time to do all of this?” she asked as River packed up their entrée containers and pulled out yet more of them.
“I had Cal cover for me, and I was in my apartment for most of the afternoon.”
“You didn’t have to do all this, River.”
“I wanted to. Here. I made us dessert, but I also brought you this.” She held out a box that Kennedy recognized from the shop. “And this.”
River held out a clear plastic bag that was also from the shop, and inside the bag were pink and blue striped candies.
“Are these…”
“I controlled the sour this time, so you should be fine. Lemon lime.”
“You made these for me?”
“Actually, I made them for the shop, too. I called them a mystery flavor, and people have been buying them. I’m thinking of doing more of that. Maybe a yellow and green candy that’s strawberry or cherry-flavored or something, and then I can put them into a variety bag.”
“Thank you. And that’s amazing. What’s in here?” she asked and opened the box. “Fudge?”
“I make twelve kinds regularly, so I got you a small piece of each of them. That way, you can try them without having to come in.”
“River, thank you, but I like coming to the shop.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You didn’t think so?”
“You ran out the first time.”
“Babe, I got recognized, and no one knew I wasn’t with Cam anymore. I didn’t want anyone to think I was cheating on her with you. Cameron could’ve handled it, and honestly, worse has been said about me recently, so I would’ve been fine, but I didn’t want anyone to think anything bad about you.”
“I can handle it,” River said. “Whatever they throw at me, I don’t care. I have you. I have my shop. I’m good.”
“You have me, huh?”
“You know what I mean,” River said. “I’m not trying to get ahead of myself here. I just meant that right now, you and I are doing this, and this is what I want, so I’m good. I don’t really care about what trolls on the internet think or say.”
“Well, I like your shop, River, so once a little more time has passed, I won’t mind being recognized there, but I’ll hang out in the back with you anytime you want if it means I get to spend time with you.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Going to the shop with you,” Kennedy replied.
“God, you’re clingy, aren’t you?” River joked and went to open another container.
Kennedy laughed, leaned over, and rested her head on River’s shoulder.
“Dessert. I hope I got it right. There was some interview that you gave once where they asked you a bunch of questions about things you like and other stuff.”
“Video?”
“Yeah.”
“Vogue.”
“Okay. Well, you said that tiramisu was your favorite dessert.”
“It is,” Kennedy confirmed and looked down into the container. “You’re amazing.” She kissed River’s cheek. Then, she moved her lips to River’s ear and whispered, “And this is the best first date I have ever been on.”
“You don’t have to say that,” River replied.
“I wouldn’t if it wasn’t true, River. I mean it.” She tugged on River’s skinny tie. “Hey, come here for a second. I haven’t kissed you properly since you arrived.”
“The kiss comes at the end of the date, Kennedy. Everyone knows that.”
“You’re really going to say no to kissing me right now?”
River turned to face her and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever turn down kissing you.”
“That is a really good answer, River Ervin,” she stated before she leaned in and pressed her lips to River’s thin ones.
Kennedy herself had fuller lips, so kissing River felt like a perfect fit in some meant-to-be kind of way that normally would have her freaking out, but not this time. When River’s hand moved to her thigh, she let her tongue slip into River’s mouth.
“So glad I didn’t turn down that kiss,” River told her a minute later, with her hand still on Kennedy’s thigh.
“Me too,” she replied. “So, dessert now? More of that after?”
“Yes, please.”
“River, can you stay over?” she asked, feeling a bit vulnerable right now. “I don’t know what time you have to be at work tomorrow, and I know you like staying in your apartment because it’s easier, but–”
“I can stay,” River said. “And I got a new AC unit for my place in case you maybe wanted to stay over sometime.”
Kennedy laughed and said, “So, you think I’m a diva, huh?”
“Honestly, while it was a little about you, it was mostly about me.”
“How so?” she asked and ran her hand over River’s neck, massaging it a little.
“I saved every penny for years and still had to ask Cal to help me with money to get my small business loan, so even though I’ve turned profitable since, I was still being frugal with everything except take-out because sometimes, I’m just too tired to cook.
Then, the other day, I realized that I don’t have to do that to the same degree anymore and that I also deserve to splurge a bit every so often, so I got a new window unit, and it works really well.
I do not intend to stay in that apartment forever, though.
I just didn’t really have a reason to move. ”
“Lacey?”
River shook her head and replied, “I hate to say it, but no.”
Kennedy nodded and said, “So, if I wanted to stay over tomorrow night or some other time in the future, I could, and I wouldn’t burn up? That’s what you’re saying?”
“That’s what I’m saying, yes,” River replied with a little laugh.
“Good to know,” she said and rested her head back on River’s shoulder.