It wasn’t his responsibility, but guilt still wrapped around his throat and squeezed. He didn’t want to be the reason she never let out her wild side again.
Kendall tensed, a sure sign that she was no longer asleep. She slowly lifted her head, her green eyes wide. “Hi,” she whispered.
“Hey,” he whispered back. This, as much as everything else, felt intimate. Like they were the only two people left in the world. He had no business liking it, but damn it, he did. “You sleep okay?”
“Uh… Yes?” She inched back from him, and he released her. “Did I… Did I drool on you?”
He couldn’t help grinning. “Only a little.”
“Oh god.” She flopped onto her back and threw an arm over her eyes. “Every time I think I can’t be more mortified in front of you, I go and prove myself wrong. At least I didn’t snore?”
Really, it was too easy. “Just tiny little snores. They were cute.”
She lifted her arm and shot him a look. “You’re messing with me.”
“Yeah.”
“Thank goodness.” She let her arm flop back down. “Do I want to know what time it is?”
Time. The one thing he both needed to and desperately didn’t want to focus on. Alex glanced at the clock again. If she left now, he could get packed and make it to the excursion departure with plenty of time. He considered the woman in his bed, considered what waited for him back home…
And made a decision.
“You mind if I make a call real quick?”
“Go for it. I’m going to…” She waved her other hand in the vague direction of the door.
It should be exactly what he wanted, but he shook his head. “Stay. Unless you have plans already.” He hesitated. “Or don’t want to.”
Kendall sat up, seeming unaware of the way the sheet slid half down her breasts, teasing him with the very edges of her pink nipples. “I can’t tell if you’re being polite or if you really want me to stay.”
Fuck, she was killing him.
Alex climbed out of bed and reached for the phone. “I wouldn’t ask you to stay if I didn’t want you here.”
“Okay.” She considered him. “I’m going to borrow your toothpaste, though.”
“By all means.” He waited for her to go into the bathroom and close the door to dial the bar. Despite the early hour, it only rang twice before Cherry answered. Alex barely let her get the greeting out. “I need an update. A real one.”
Cherry huffed out a breath. “Good morning, Alex. It’s so nice to hear from you again despite the fact you’re supposed to be on vacation.”
“Cherry.” He sank enough warning into his tone to have her growling at him.
“Yes, things are fine. Just like they were fine last night. Just like they’ll be fine for the remainder of your vacation. For god’s sake, Alex, it’s summer. People are too busy suffering from heat exhaustion to cause trouble, and even if they could work up the energy, I have a full staff that you trained who are capable of handling it.” She paused and her tone went a little soft. “You need this, okay? So stop being a pain in my ass and go actually enjoy yourself.”
She made it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world. “It’s not that simple.”
“It’s exactly that simple.” He could almost picture her stern frown and the way her perfectly penciled eyebrows had to be drawing together right about now. “Alex, go find yourself someone to have fun with for a few days. You never know what could happen in the time you aren’t chained to this business. Live a little.”
He didn’t tell her that he’d done more than enough living in his teens and early twenties. That his bullshit antics had put Pop in the hospital with a fucking heart attack. Cherry wouldn’t understand. No one ever did.
But she had a point on this note. “If anything changes, you will call me.”
“Alex—”
“You will call me.”
She sighed. “Yes, fine, if anything suddenly goes sideways, I’ll find a way to get a hold of you.”
He shouldn’t take her word for it. In fact, he should be packing right now. But Alex found himself saying, “Okay.”
“Goodbye, Alex.”
“Bye.” He hung up just as Kendall opened the bathroom door. She hesitated, as if the few feet between the door and the bed were too much when they’d both been wrapped up in each other all night. But she seemed to steel herself and padded naked to the bed. “Give me two,” he said.
“Sure.”
His misgivings didn’t disappear as he brushed his teeth. Alex half hoped that Kendall would be gone when he finished and make the choice for him, but he couldn’t ignore the relief at seeing her sitting so primly on his bed. He grinned. “Morning.”
“Morning.” She gave him a smile of her own. “You had to call out for work?”