Page 48 of Wildest Dreams

“Hi, Pierre,” she says, sounding a little defeated.

“Kendall, I’m so sorry about how the morning ended.”

She sighs. “It’s okay. I should’ve thought about setting an alarm.”

“No, it’s entirely on me. I don’t want it to put a damper on the night we had. Everything was magical until I overslept.”

She’s quiet for a moment and I find myself holding my breath again.

“It was,” she finally says. “But we need to be more careful going forward. My phone has been blowing up all day.”

“I agree. I’m just happy you’re not mad at me.”

“Of course not.”

“Listen, I have tomorrow off. Do you want to do something?”

“Yes! I actually have a great idea for a date. No one will see us, I promise. Let me get everything set up and I’ll text you the details. I also have a surprise for you.”

“I can’t wait.”

After I hang up the phone, I take a long sip of my beer. I didn’t realize how tense and worried I’d been all day.

I lean back and close my eyes, consumed with the memory of Kendall’s skin on mine.

* * *

Iwake up to a text from Kendall letting me know that Patsy and her husband will be at the house to drop off a boat around lunchtime.

My heart skips a beat. If this is her idea of a perfect date, we must be soulmates.

I pick out some light clothes to wear, then have a cup of coffee on the deck while I check my email. There are no fewer than five from Belladonna excoriating me from the day before. There is also a note from my agent about not getting a reputation for tardiness, and an email from Marina asking if she can see me today to go over some lines.

I delete them all.

At noon on the dot, a pontoon boat captained by a guy with a mass of curly dark hair pulls up to the dock. I walk down the steps, on the lookout for Bertha, and wave to him as he ties up the boat.

Patsy startles me when she comes around the corner of the house from the driveway, hair curled, wearing heels and a white dress covered in lemons. “Hi, Pierre!” she says. “We’re just dropping the boat off!”

“Thank you! I’m looking forward to taking it out.”

“Y’all have fun!”

I go back inside to wash my coffee cup when Kendall texts me to let me know she’s outside. I notice she still doesn’t want to come in.

The thick, humid air slaps me in the face as soon as I open the door to meet her. I pick her up and spin her around before kissing her. She looks amazing. She’s wearing a white sheer cover-up over a pink bikini with flip-flops. Her hair is pulled back and she doesn’t have a bit of makeup on her face. This is exactly how I like her—natural and effortless.

“I’m so happy to see you,” I say.

“You just saw me yesterday.”

“Yeah, but I was afraid the way I left and everyone seeing it would freak you out.”

“It did, but I’m trying to get better at letting things go. Speaking of which,” she says, digging through her purse. “This is for you.” She hands me a tiny memory card in a plastic case. “They turned out really well.”

“We took those for you.”

“This is a copy. I want both of us to have them.”

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