Page 83 of Fit for Love

“Yes.Birthday.”As if to prove it, I display my wrapped gift—a phone case I personally created for him from denim, canvas, and quilted cotton.

“And which of the menus are you going to be ordering from?”she asks.“Basic or adventurous?”

I sigh.“Basic, please.”

She hands me the menu in question with a slight wrinkle of her nose.“Right this way.”

She leads me past a display of desserts that are made to look like regular, everyday objects and into a big room with tables filled with people—some very familiar to me, like Mom and Dad, and some I’ve only seen at Cameron’s other birthdays.

“Ken-doll!”my father shouts.“Come, we saved you a seat.”

Shit.My brother is sitting with them also, which means I can’t spare Ashton from a full-on “meet the parents” experience.

Forcing a smile to my lips, I kiss everyone and wish Cameron a happy birthday before handing him his gift.

“Thanks, sis.”He unwraps the case, and everyone oohs and aahs as my brother ceremoniously takes out his phone and replaces his generic case with my creation.

“What do you think?”Dad asks him.

“Love it,” Cameron says.Turning my way, he kisses my cheek.“Thanks again.”

“So…” Mom looks around.“Where is your boyfriend?”

I grab a glass of water and take a big swig.“For the love of Manolo Blahniks, please, pretty please, don’t call him that when he shows up.He’s not my boyfriend and never will be.He’s only here because Cameron wanted to talk shop with him today.That’s all.He’s even bringing a co-worker—who, before you ask, also isn’t my boyfriend.”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Mom says.

Cameron looks at the entrance.“Is that him?”

I turn.Tall, blond, ridiculously handsome, and impeccably dressed—check, check, check, and check.“Yeah,” I manage to say in a casual tone, as though my heart isn’t suddenly dancing a jig in my chest.

“And who is that with him?”my brother asks, his voice sounding odd.“Is it his actual girlfriend?”

Great question because the beautiful blonde who walks in with Ashton is not acting like an employee at all.For starters, she punches Ashton’s shoulder and rolls her eyes at something he says.Ashton then offers her his arm, and she places her slender hand through the crook of his elbow before they walk inside.

Finally—and most telling of all—there’s something protective about the way he stares down any man who goggles at his… whoever she is.

And no, I don’t want to rip her pretty hair out.At all.

“If that guy isn’t your boyfriend, why do you look so jealous?”Mom asks pointedly.

“I do not.I’m just surprised, is all.When he said he was bringing his CTO, I imagined a dorky dude, not a fashion model.”

And that surprise is definitely what’s responsible for the bizarre tightness in my chest.

“Isn’t that sexist?”Dad asks.

“Sure is,” Mom replies.“But in Kendall’s defense, women can get very catty when jealous.”

How is that a defense?And… isn’t that even more sexist than what I said?

“Hi,” Ashton says as he and the model reach our table.

I leap to my feet and do my best to act like a normal human being.“Ashton, meet Mom, Dad, and my brother, Cameron.”

“Hello, Kendall’s dad.”Ashton shakes Dad’s hand.“And mom.”He kisses her on the cheek—and she looks like her menopause has unpaused.

“Happy birthday, Cameron.”He shakes my brother’s hand and hands him a wrapped box.

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