Kissing Kendall Read online

  Alex ran his hands from her hips to her ass and down to her thighs. He took her weight completely, spreading her a little more so he had full control. He rolled his hips, rubbing his cock against her center. Pleasure sparked through her, gathering with each long drag of him. She moaned against his lips. She couldn’t help it. If he just kept doing that, she would burst apart at the seams. So close…

  He didn’t stop. He kept kissing her like he’d never get enough of this, and driving her inch by inch toward an orgasm that rolled over her like a tidal wave. It sucked her down, down, down, and she was vaguely away of shuddering and clinging to him and Alex pressing tightly against her again, letting her ride him and the aftershocks in turn.

  Reality slammed into her the second her feet touched the deck. Oh god, what did I just do?

  Alex saw that, too. He watched her scuttle back from him and gave a grim smile. The fact she could see her lipstick smeared across his mouth only made her feel worse. She shrugged out of his jacket and all but threw it at him. “I have to go.”

  “You should try to turn that big beautiful brain of yours off from time to time. You enjoy the hell out of yourself when you do.”

  She couldn’t quite dredge up the energy to argue with him, not when her body still sang from that orgasm. Especially not when she ached for more. If she let this keep going, would he take her back to his cabin? Would he undress her with that confident, steady way of his and lay her down on his bed and…

  She shut that thought down fast, but nowhere near fast enough. It was all too easy to transpose his pressing her against the wall to his pressing her against a bed. His hands on her body, his mouth kissing her everywhere with the same thorough way he kissed her mouth.

  “You should go back to your cabin.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Go back to your cabin, Kendall.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, which only served to smear the pink color across his jaw. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to kiss you again.”

  “Would that be such a bad thing?” she whispered. Why was she asking him that? He’d given her an out, the exact thing she wanted. She should be fleeing right now without looking back, not peppering him with questions that might lead to him touching her again.

  “It wouldn’t be a bad thing.” The growl in his voice had her drifting a step closer to him. He held up a hand. “But I’m not about to contribute to a memory you use to whip yourself with. I’ve done enough of that already.”

  She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that he was wrong and she wouldn’t do exactly that.

  She couldn’t.

  Kendall forced herself back a step, and then another. “I guess this is goodbye?”

  He laughed harshly. “Go. Before we both change our mind.”

  She made it another step. “What if that happens? We change our mind?”

  “If you change your mind, Kendall, really change your mind, then I’m going to take you to bed.” He shrugged his jacket on. “But not tonight. Go, sweetheart. Go get warm and let this shit settle.”

  She went.

  Chapter 3

  Alex spent the night alternating between a truly outstanding case of blue balls and dreams of a certain brunette all wrapped up in him. He still couldn’t believe he’d sent her away. She might have been conflicted, but she wanted him. She wanted more. He’d wanted a whole hell of a lot more, too.

  But Pop’s lessons ran too deep to make that particular mistake. Even now, Alex could hear the old man’s voice in his head, rasping from a couple decades’ worth of whiskey and cigarettes. He’d quit both when he took over raising Alex, but the rough tone lingered.

  If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a fuck no.

  He shoved the covers off and lurched to his feet. One of the few perks of this trip was that Pop had sprung for two cabins, so Alex hadn’t disturbed Lucas with his restlessness. He’d promised to try and enjoy the next week, and he couldn’t do that with thoughts of Kendall dancing in his head. He could still feel her body molding to his hands, her center practically scorching him through his pants, her mouth moving desperately against his.

  Alex brushed his teeth, but he swore he could still catch the lingering sweetness he tasted on her tongue last night. So he did it again. And a third time just for good measure.

  A quick glance at the clock told him it was barely five in the morning. Too early to go knocking on Lucas’s door, looking for a distraction. Just as well. He wouldn’t make for good company until he burned off some of this energy.

  Alex paused by his bag. Yeah, he’d promised to embrace the vacation mentality, but that didn’t mean he’d stopped worrying about the bar. A lot of shit could go wrong in twenty-four hours. Hell, a lot could go wrong in a single hour. They didn’t have much in the way of bar fights these days, not like when he was a kid and Pop catered to a slightly rougher clientele. In the last five years, Alex’s renovations and careful marketing had boosted the atmosphere enough that they now brought in the upper-middle-class folk who lived around Dawson’s Creek. Pops wasn’t quite trendy, but it skirted that edge enough that he’d nearly doubled its annual earnings.

  Rationally, he knew a week wasn’t enough to dismantle everything he’d built. That didn’t stop him from reaching for the phone and going through the process to call home.

  It rang twice before a cheery female voice answered. “Thank you for calling Pop’s. What can I do for you?”

  “How are things going, Cherry?”

  “Alex?” Instantly, the welcoming note in her voice disappeared. “What are you doing calling? You’re supposed to be on vacation.”

  Guilt flared, but he smothered it. “I’m just checking in.”

  “The whole place burned down in the night.”

  Even though he knew she was joking, something clamped tight around his chest. There wouldn’t be anything left if that happened. Nothing to rebuild. The insurance money would go to Pop, since it was his bar, and while Pop would never hang Alex out to dry, he most likely wouldn’t want to rebuild.

  Alex would lose it.

  “Alex?” Cherry sounded worried. “Honey, I was just kidding. You’re being an overprotective papa bear, and it’s cute and all, but you really need to unplug and stop worrying about this place. I have it locked down.”

  He still couldn’t quite calm his racing heart. “You know I worry.”

  “Just like I know that you haven’t taken an actual day off since Pop moved down to Mexico. Go, Alex. Drink too much. Snorkel with dolphins or whatever they do on those outings. Make out with someone pretty. Just live. Everything will be exactly as it always is back here.” She sighed. “I’m hanging up now.”

  “Bye, Cherry.”

  The line clicked and he set the phone down. Instead of making him feel better, more assured that things would roll along just fine without him, he had a whole new set of things to flip the fuck out about. If something like that happened to the bar, he’d lose everything.

  Again.

  He scrubbed his hands over his face. Why the hell had he agreed to come on this fucking vacation? It was a mistake. Surely Pop and Lucas would agree with him once he laid out his argument? Tomorrow, the ship would stop in Orlando and Alex would catch a flight back to Dawson’s Creek. Simple as that.

  But neither Pop nor Lucas would be up at this point, so he went in search of the gym. He thought better while in motion, and he knew his friend and grandfather well enough to know that he’d have to create a solid argument for them not to give him endless shit about this.

  The gym was empty when he walked through the door, which was just as well. Alex didn’t have it in him to deal with another person right now. He considered his options and moved to the free weights. First legs, then he’d do arms and some core, and then he’d be able to think straight.

  He made it through three sets of his leg routine and had just laid down on the bench for arms when the door opened. Alex bit back a sigh. With his crappy his luck was going, it ju
st stood to figure that he wouldn’t last a whole workout alone. He lifted the bar into the air and began slowly lowering it to his chest and lifting again. Matching his breathing to the steady movement was as close to meditation as he ever got, despite Cherry insisting that he could benefit from it.

  To his right, a treadmill started going and quickly picked up pace. Even though he knew better—it was shitty gym etiquette—he couldn’t help a glance in that direction.

  He almost dropped the bar at the sight that greeted him. None other than the little brunette whose memory tormented and taunted him in turn. Kendall. She had her attention on the mirror lining the wall in front of the treadmill and she frowned like she wanted to run that other version of her into the ground. From her hesitance last night, he would have pegged her as someone who shielded themselves with layers of clothing to avoid notice. He would have been wrong. She wore bright pink shorts that hugged her ass and highlighted the strength in her legs. Her sports bra had more straps than seemed required and was a show-stopping orange. She’d pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and it swung with each steady step as she picked up her pace.

  He’d thought she was gorgeous before in the sundress. Sexy in his leather jacket while she was wrapped around him like his favorite T-shirt. Alex didn’t have words to describe how good she looked now.

  Burning in his arms let him know that he’d held the weight in a half-lifted position for too long. He grunted a little as he pushed it the rest of the way up and onto the rack. No way could he concentrate enough to ensure he wouldn’t hurt himself with this sight greeting him.

  He also couldn’t sit there like a fucking creep and stare at her ass while she ran. She obviously hadn’t seen him, or at least hadn’t registered that it was him. Alex looked around the room. There was no way out that wouldn’t force him to walk directly past her, and if he tried to sneak, then he’d really look like a creep.

  Alex sat up and wiped his face with the towel he’d grabbed from the spot near the door. Only one way through this, and it was to stand up and walk out of here like he wasn’t fighting his body’s reaction to this woman he’d barely exchanged a handful of words with. A woman who now had sweat glistening against her skin, taking his thoughts down paths better left untrod.

  He stood slowly. If he was a better guy, he wouldn’t keep staring, but Alex couldn’t quite tear his eyes away from her. He’d barely managed to lift them to her face when she looked up and their gazes clashed in the mirror. Kendall missed a step and slammed the big red button to stop the treadmill. She yanked out her headphones. “What are you doing here?”

  The animosity in her tone stopped him short. This was awkward, sure, but they hadn’t parted on bad terms last night. Right? He’d thought so, but now he wasn’t so sure. Alex lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I was working out. Same as you.”

  “There are laws against stalking. Lots and lots of laws.”

  Irritation flared, getting the best of his self-control. “Whoa there, Turbo. I was here first. It’s not my fault you didn’t look around before you started running, but it’s not like I snuck in here with the sole purpose to surprise you. If anyone is stalking, it’s you.”

  She propped her hands on her narrow hips. “A likely story.”

  He had no business drifting closer to her. None at all. “Are you pissed because you lost control last night? Or because I stopped us before we got what we both wanted?”

  Her jaw dropped. “What? You… Why… No. I am not pissed at anything. I don’t even know you. Last night was an aberration and I’ll thank you never to speak of it again.”

  An aberration, huh?

  Maybe she didn’t do shit like make out with strangers. That was fine. He didn’t, either. Not anymore. But he could see the way her attention kept drifting to his mouth, as if she couldn’t help herself. And her nipples now pressed against the thin fabric of her bra. She wanted him, even if she’d probably throw herself through the glass door before she admitted as much.

  A perverse part of him wanted to stay here and keep needling her until they ended up against a wall again and made a liar out of her. Instead, Alex moved to the door. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

  “That’s it?” She sounded so affronted, he barely held down a grin.

  He half turned as he pushed the door open. “Yeah, that’s it. You don’t want me to speak of it, consider the subject muted. Have a nice vacation, Kendall.” Alex left the gym and headed for his cabin. Whatever this thing had been between him and Kendall, it was over. He didn’t get off on convincing reluctant partners into bed, and if she wasn’t reluctant, she was at least conflicted. Alex had pursued enough self-sabotage in his teens and early twenties to last a lifetime. He wasn’t going to play a part in someone else’s similar path.

  Especially not when he had every intention of getting off this fucking ship in Orlando and catching the first flight back to Dawson’s Creek.

  Kendall finished her run in a fury that resulted in her fastest six miles to date. Even that wasn’t enough to lift her mood. Not when she had the image of Alex tattooed into her brain. When his gaze had dropped to her breasts, to the clear indication of her arousal, she’d thought for sure he’d close the distance. That he’d take her mouth, maybe haul her over to the bench he’d just vacated and lay her down. That they’d get back to doing what they had been the night before, picking up right where they left off.

  Instead, he’d left.

  She unlocked her cabin door and pushed it open, but before she could walk in, the door next to hers opened. Grace stuck her head out, her dark eyes wide and panicked. “Kendall!”

  Kendall froze. “Is everything okay?” If there was a problem, she could focus on fixing that instead of on the confusing feelings that plagued her whenever she thought about Alex. Which was nonstop since last night. “What can I do?”

  “My clothes,” Grace whispered. “I don’t have vacation clothes.”

  “Uh… why don’t you have vacation clothes?”

  “Aubrey took my pants.”

  To be honest, it sounded like something Aubrey would do, at least before life kicked her in the teeth after college. A little kernel of hope blossomed in Kendall’s chest. Maybe this trip wasn’t such a disaster after all. She tried to dampen her delight at having something besides herself to focus on. “Then we’ll get you some clothes. Give me thirty minutes to shower and get dressed and we’ll go, okay?”

  Grace nodded. “Okay.”

  As soon as she stepped into the small shower, Kendall’s mind betrayed her. She closed her eyes and the memory of Alex’s body against hers had her going from zero to nuclear in half a second. She pressed her lips together, trying to banish him. It didn’t work. Not when she swore she could still taste him, could feel his strength holding her in place as he drove her relentlessly toward orgasm. If he managed that without either of them taking off clothes, what could he accomplish if they were naked?

  She skated a hand down her stomach and paused. She shouldn’t. Masturbating to a fantasy was fine when she had time on her hands and didn’t have a friend waiting for her. Doing it to an actual person she’d just had a conversation with this morning? Wicked. Wrong. So naughty, she could barely stand it.

  Kendall let her hand continue its southern journey until she stroked her clit. With her eyes closed and the water cascading over her sensitive skin, she could almost imagine it was Alex’s hands on her instead of her own. More. She needed more. She pressed a finger inside, but it wasn’t enough. She’d known it wouldn’t be enough even before she did it.

  She opened her eyes. Somehow, the fact that she was on a time limit, that she shouldn’t be doing this for half a dozen well-documented reasons, only made it hotter. She turned off the shower, gave herself the barest wipe down, and walked naked to her suitcase. She’d packed her vibrator on a whim, telling herself it was just in case of emergencies.

  Well, if this didn’t count as an emergency, she didn’t know what did.


  Kendall laid on top of her comforter and spread her legs. Instantly, her memory of Alex morphed into something more. She pictured him spreading her thighs wider and pressed the vibrator to her clit, pictured him looking at her like he had last night, all shadows and temptation and desire. And then he lowered his head and kissed her between her thighs.

  She came with a muffled cry, riding out the vibrations that somehow weren’t as good as she was sure Alex’s mouth would be. Kendall gasped and rolled to the side, all but flinging her vibrator away. What was she doing? She didn’t do this. Any of this. It had to be the pheromones on the ship or something they were pumping into the air ducts to ensure everyone acted as foolishly as possible.

  She dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of high-waisted shorts and a button-down top that she tied around her waist, revealing a tiny sliver of skin. As she dragged a comb through her hair, she tried to tell herself that she wasn’t hoping to run into Alex.

  After pulling on her sandals, she headed to Grace’s door to knock. Her friend barely let Kendall’s knuckles make contact before she hauled the door open and stepped into the hall. “Let’s go.”

  “Sure.” Kendall fell into step next to her, hoping like hell that she wasn’t blushing as hard as the heat beneath her skin suggested. No way could Grace know what she’d been doing a few short minutes ago, but she felt like it was written all over her. A scarlet letter of sorts, one she couldn’t help wanting to repeat over and over again.

  Alex’s words from last night echoed through her, deep and dark with a hint of growl. If you change your mind, Kendall, really change your mind, then I’m going to take you to bed.