Alex held out her chair and waited for her to sit before he sank into the chair next to her. “I know.”
She started to change the subject, but stopped “I don’t even think they’d pepper us with a bunch of questions or anything. Maybe back in college, but I’d like to think we’re beyond that now.” She hesitated, but he just watched her with those serious blue eyes and she found herself talking freely. “Though maybe that’s because we’re not as close as we used to be.”
“Am I keeping you from them?”
She shook her head. “No. Honestly, you’re probably saving them from me. All everyone wanted to do on this vacation is relax, and if left to my own devices, I’ll have us planned down to the last minute.” She waved a vague hand. “It makes me feel more in control to have a plan.”
“Aw, sweetheart.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You seem to be doing just fine without a plan.”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” She managed a smile. “Honestly, I probably should have dragged my sisters on this cruise, too. Well, not Gretchen. She’s living in happily married bliss, and I doubt my brother-in-law would appreciate my taking her on a singles’ cruise.”
“What are you sisters like?”
“Totally different from me.” She laughed, thinking of them. Grams always called them three peas in a pod, and she might seem them that way, but no one else did. “Gretchen is about as perfect as a person can be. She’s strong and stubborn and always knows exactly where she’s headed. Marley is the exact opposite. Anything resembling long-term commitment makes her break out in hives. I don’t think she’s stayed in one place longer than a year since she graduated high school.”
Alex grinned. “They sound cool, but I definitely prefer you.”
His easy words warmed her right down to her soul, even as a little voice in the back of her mind whispered not to make this into something it wasn’t. They were indulging in a vacation fling. End of story.
Right?
Chapter 9
Kendall didn’t mean to stay the night in Alex’s room. She really didn’t. But somehow dawn came and she was naked and wrapped up with him. Again. She blinked into the low light of the room, an unfamiliar panic squeezing her chest. It was too easy being with him. Too perfect. He respected her boundaries, didn’t think she was uptight and a bore, and was beyond amazing in bed. Rationally, she knew this was what a vacation fling could be. No drama. No complications. Just pure fun and bliss.
It didn’t change the fact that she could only turn off her brain for so long. It felt like every single doubt and insecurity and worry she should have had over the last couple days decided in that moment to create an avalanche designed to bury her.
What was she doing?
She’d dragged her friends on this cruise, ended up providing them with the opposite experience she’d promised, and then promptly abandoned them to ride the cock of a near-stranger. Oh, Alex didn’t feel like a stranger any longer, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d only known him a few days and she’d known her friends over a decade at this point. It shouldn’t have been a tough decision on who she spent her time with.
She had to get out of here now, while Alex still slept, or she’d forget all about her duty to her friends and spend the rest of the day in bed with him. Again.
God, she was the worst friend ever.
Kendall carefully slipped out from beneath Alex’s arm and then climbed off the bed. She hesitated and, even though she knew better, she looked back. The sight of him caused something in her chest to clang uncomfortably. He was so attractive even while asleep, all lean strength and a surprising vulnerability. Without those blue eyes seeming to read her thoughts, he looked younger, less world-weary. It made her want to climb back into bed, to tease the covers down past his hips, to take him in her mouth and…
No.
No.
She spun around and closed her eyes. She could do this. She just had to walk away. They’d probably see each other again—Kendall didn’t think she could keep from seeking him out—but she had other priorities to see to right now. She yanked on her dress and slipped into her sandals. At last moment, she doubled back and scrawled him a quick note on a pad of paper next to the bed. There. That would help, right? She hoped so.
As she stepped out into the hallway, she froze at the sight of a familiar person edging into the hallway with the same furtive movements Kendall currently enacted. Benjamin. Their eyes met over the short distance between Alex’s room and the one he’d just left… the next door down. Is that Alex’s friend’s room? No way to know without asking, and the deer-in-headlights look on Benjamin’s face discouraged any kind of questioning. So she tried for a neutral expression and gave a little wave.