“Yeah, I own a bar in Dawson’s Creek.”
Her eyes went wide. “Dawson’s…Creek.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s ridiculous and the locals get a kick out of it, but we precede that TV show.”
Kendall grinned. “Cool.”
“I sort of unofficially inherited it when my grandfather retired and moved to Mexico a few years back.” Though, truth be told, he’d run the business for longer than that. As Pop used to be so fond of reminding him, he wasn’t a young man anymore. He’d taught Alex everything he knew about running the place, and the business degree had filled in the gaps.
Kendall tucked the sheet around her and gave him her full attention. “Tell me about it.”
This wasn’t part of the plan. Sex, yes, but making small talk? Alex still found himself climbing into bed next to her and reclining against the pillows. “When I was a kid, it was pure dive bar. The kind of place where people drink themselves stupid and brawl when the night goes on too long.” He grinned. “But most of my good memories from childhood are wrapped up in that building. The cigarette smoke that seemed to permeate everything. The sticky bar. The rolling laughter of good-natured ribbing between men who had been friends longer than I’d been alive. And, through it all, Pop held the center, as steady as gravity.”
“Sounds like an interesting place.”
He laughed at her dubious expression. “When I took over managing it, I started shifting things around. We still get the regulars during the day, but it’s more of a hipster kind of place in the evening with fancy drinks and tiny food.” The regulars had a special menu that wasn’t available to anyone else, because he’d be damned before he drove them out while he worked at elevating the place. They might bitch about the laws against smoking inside now, but they still showed up like clockwork.
“Fancy drinks and tiny food.” Kendall tilted her head to the side. “I can’t see it. You’re not really the fancy drinks and tiny food kind of guy.”
“You think so?” He tugged gently on a strand of her hair. “How would you know?”
She opened her mouth, but seemed to reconsider what she’d been about to say. “That’s fair. I’m afraid I’ve made some assumptions about you from the beginning that weren’t very flattering—or true.”
Her words stung a little, but they had no reason to. She wasn’t the first person who’d looked at him and thought that he was trouble. Good for one thing or another, but not the kind of guy a woman kept around for longer than a few nights. Not the kind they saw themselves walking down the aisle to or raising a family with. He forced a laugh. “You aren’t the first.”
“Doesn’t make it right.” She worried her bottom lip. “You’ve been nothing but amazing to me, and honestly I don’t deserve it.”
That wasn’t the truth. “Sweetheart, why wouldn’t you deserve it?”
“Because I was so rude to you. Seriously rude. And then…” She shook her head. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Alex laced his fingers through hers and brought their linked hands up to kiss her knuckles. “What do you do?”
“I’m the assistant sales manager for a trio of hotels in New York.” She made a face. “It’s the same job I’ve had pretty much since I got out of college. I should have seen more upward movement at this point, but I keep getting passed over for promotions.”
They’d gotten unexpectedly heavy for so early in the morning. He should turn the conversation to lighter things, but he didn’t like the way her expression fell when she talked about work. “Do you like the job?”
“Yes. I mean, most days aren’t totally terrible. I like dealing with the long-term contracts and the satisfaction of knowing that my work is helping the bottom line.” She shrugged. “I just feel… stagnant. Like somewhere along the line, I got into a rut without realizing it and now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it.”
He couldn’t fix her life. It wasn’t his job to even try. That wasn’t the role he was meant to play in her life. But they had the next six days, and he could leave her better than he’d found her. “I have just the distraction.”
Her lips curved. “That’s one hell of a line.”
“Is it a line if it’s the truth?” He tugged on her hand, and she allowed him to urge her up to straddle him.
Kendall laughed, the lingering tension dissipating as she settled against him, “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
* * *
Kendall never would have considered herself sex-crazed, but after spending the day in Alex’s bed, she feared the term fit. Every time she started to feel awkward about staying so long, or wonder if she should leave, he’d slide a hand between her thighs or move down her body, trailing kisses in his wake, and she’d put off going back to her room for a little while longer.