As for Kade, Kendall would have to rely on Lexie to persuade her husband to leave the past where it belonged and embrace the future.
* * *
After leaving her father’s house, Kendall had planned to go straight home and spend the night alone. She had things to do at her apartment, like bookkeeping for her dog-walking business that she hadn’t had time to finish this afternoon, and there was unfinished laundry to be folded. And as much as she loved being with Julian, she figured it was a smart idea to spend time alone, too.
Except after an evening with happily married, expecting-a-baby Kade and Lexie, Kendall had the urge to show up on Julian’s doorstep and spend time with her own man. She also couldn’t wait to share the positive response she’d gotten about her school plans from her family. It was a novel experience, to have someone other than Lexie to turn to when she had news.
Instead of heading home, she took a cab from Penn Station to Julian’s apartment. She’d have to go home later because Waffles was alone, but she had time to stop for a visit.
She knocked on his apartment door, and he answered right away, wearing an old pair of sweats riding low on his hips and a gray tee shirt, his delectable forearms on display. Steve ran up by his side but waited politely behind the door. Julian had obviously been working on training, and she was impressed.
“Kendall!” he said, his shock evident in his voice and expression.
“Surprise!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, inhaling his seductive masculine scent.
After an evening of watching her sister and her husband be all cuddly and lovey-dovey celebrating her pregnancy, after not being able to share the real news she had of her own, that she and Julian had found… well, not love, not yet, but something real and with potential, she wanted to be as close to him as possible.
She braced her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, covering his mouth with hers and sliding her tongue between his parted lips. She was feeling particularly brazen and braver than she’d been in a while.
She broke the kiss, and he brushed her hair off her face. “Kendall, we need to talk.”
“Later. I want you and I’m in no mood for conversation.” She ran her hands over his shirt-covered chest, starting at his nipples, whic
h puckered beneath her hands, then slid her palms to the waistband of his sweats.
His cock was thick, bulging behind the heavy cotton material, and her mouth watered at the thought of getting her mouth on him at last.
“Kendall—”
She pulled on the white tie holding up his sweats when he grasped her wrist.
“Are you playing hard to get?” she asked, leaning in to lick his bare chest.
“Is this your girlfriend?” a female voice asked.
“Who is that?” Kendall glanced behind Julian to see a young woman studying her with curiosity. “Is that your sister?” As Kendall asked, she started toward the girl.
“No, it’s not. Look, like I said, we need to talk.”
Kendall stiffened, suddenly unsure of herself and her place here. After all, she’d shown up unexpectedly, and she and Julian hadn’t discussed exclusivity, but this girl was so young, and things between Kendall and Julian were so intense.
Trust.
Don’t jump to conclusions, she warned herself, despite the fact that their rocky past was running through her mind and warning her to be careful.
“Okay… talk. Or introduce us.” She gestured to the brunette watching them intently.
“Alex, can you give us some privacy?” he asked.
“Fine.” She raised her hands in defeat and headed back toward… the bedrooms. Steve trotted after her.
“Where is she going? Better yet, what is she doing here? And who is she?” Kendall asked.
Julian placed his hand against the small of her back and led her toward the couch in the den. “Let’s sit.”
She stepped away and settled into the far corner of the sofa. Distance would enable her to hear what he had to say and process it without being distracted by his sexy nearness.
Julian sat down, twisting his hands. “Back in my drug days, I was friends with a guy named Billy Walker. Alex is his sister.”