I watched my phone like some kind of teenager. Would Kenzie call me? Why wasn’t Kenzie calling me? Who didn’t have a cell phone these days?
Kenzie, that’s who. And that’s why I spent two days staring longingly at my phone, waiting for it to ring.
Well, if I wanted to see her again, it was clear I wasn’t going to get anywhere sitting around the house waiting for her. And I wanted to see her again. I tossed the baseball up into the air and caught it as I sat at the kitchen table. If I was going to go find her, I should make it look like a coincidence and not the desperate action of a horny man. She already had enough of that from the way she rolled her eyes at that grump, Mac.
I didn’t want her looking at me the way she looked at him. So I needed a plan. Should I conveniently run into Ruby again at the hardware store, or just go buy fries and a Coke for an afternoon snack?
I was a grown ass man. This was ridiculous.
I set the ball down, grabbed my coat, and headed out the door. I wanted to see her. Why was that so hard to admit? I had faced down the enemies of our nation, and I was getting nervous to face down one curvaceous woman whose eyes and lips had replaced the nightmares in my dreams.
After pulling into the parking lot at the Burger Jeff, I sat in my truck. This was stupid. Maybe she didn’t want to see me. Maybe I needed to take the hint that she hadn’t called because she wasn’t interested.
“Well, she can tell that to my face,” I said as I unbuckled and climbed out of the truck.
The smells of greasy burgers and French fries assaulted my senses as I walked inside. Scanning the dining room, I didn’t see Kenzie.
“Can I help you?” the young lady behind the counter asked.
I stared up at the menu board, pretending to be uncertain. I needed to stop playing games with myself, with strangers. “Yeah, large fries and a Coke. Is Kenzie around?”
“She’s already left for the day.” She gave me my total.
I paid and moments later, I had a paper bag with my fries and a cup full of Coke. “Do you know if she’ll be in tomorrow?”
“You haven’t figured her schedule out yet?”
I shrugged. “She doesn’t have a phone. I don’t know how else to get ahold of her.”
“Well, I’ll tell her you came in.”
I nodded my thanks as I headed out. I made it all the way to my truck before it occurred to me that her coworker didn’t know my name. How would Kenzie know who had come to see her? Did Kenzie have a lot of men coming in to find her? I knew about Mac. And now they could add me to that list.
It felt like a wasted trip. No Kenzie, no way of getting in touch with her. Grabbing a handful of fries, I shoved them into my mouth and chewed while I thought. Picking a direction at random, I drove.
Without a goal, I meandered around Flat Rock. If I were going to stay here, make this little town on the side of a mountain my home, I should at least be familiar with the area. At least, that’s what I told myself as I aimlessly drove around, keeping my eyes open for Kenzie or Ruby on her skateboard. There were plenty of roads here without sidewalks and that seemed deserted. But I knew an empty country road could turn a corner and be in the middle of a neighborhood full of homes and shops.
I drove past an old, broken-down car on the side of the road. I thought the city towed that kind of thing. As I passed it, I saw someone stand up on the other side of the vehicle. There was something familiar, even though I barely caught a glimpse of them in my peripheral vision.
I scanned my rear-view mirrors. That looked like Kenzie.
I stopped the truck. The driver in the car behind me leaned heavily on their horn. I started driving again, my blinker on and looking for a place I could pull into so I could turn around.
It seemed to take forever before an opportunity to turn around presented itself. I had to turn around twice. Once to drive back to where Kenzie was broken down, and a second time to be on the same side of the road.
She looked up eagerly as I pulled my truck in behind her car. Her eyes were rimmed with pink. She brushed her cheeks. And when I stepped out of the truck, recognition put a smile on her face.
She was in my arms again, hugging me.
“Oh, my God, Tate. I can’t believe it’s you.” There was a hitch in her voice. She had been crying.
I wrapped my arms around her back and stroked her hair. I held her for a long moment, not wanting anything to get in the way of the feeling of her pressed against me.
“What happened, Kenzie? Did you break down?”
From the age and state of her car, I think I better understood why she didn’t have a cell phone. Kenzie didn’t have a disposable income for anything beyond the bare minimum.
As she sniffed, she pushed out of the embrace.
I was tempted to gather her back against me, keep her safe and comfortable.
“Stupid flat tire.”
“Do you have a spare? I can change it for you.”
She stepped back and wiggled her key into the lock at the trunk. “I’m supposed to have one here.”
The trunk popped open. Kenzie began moving a box of random items to the side. I pulled up the trunk lining. Nestled into a well in the back were a full-sized spare, a jack, and a tire iron.
I hefted the items out. Bouncing the tire on the pavement a few times to confirm it was good, I got to work.
“Thank you. You keep showing up just when I need to be rescued. You really are my hero.”
I wedged the jack under the frame and began cranking it up.
“Is that why you haven’t called me? You’ve been waiting for me to come rescue you?”
She laughed. I really did enjoy the way that sound tickled my ears. “I honestly thought you would have come by work.”
“Like the rest of your suitors?” I quipped.
“Suitors? You mean stalkers. And that would only be Mac. What makes you think there are other people coming to see me? I mean, other than Ruby.”
I shrugged. I pulled the tire off. “You’re going to want to take this to the tire shop on the road toward Redding, see if they can patch it.” I let the tire fall to the ground with a wobble. “I don’t know, something the girl at the Burger Jeff said this afternoon when I asked about you.”
“There’s a used tire place on the other side of town. He’ll be able to patch it for me,” she started. “That was probably Latisha. She was messing with you.”
“Is she your friend?”
“Yeah. She knows that Mac comes in and bothers me. Maybe she was trying to put you off, you know—”
“Protect you,” I finished her sentence. “That’s a good friend.”
“She is, I think,” Kenzie said.
“You think?”
“She hasn’t been there very long, and I don’t do much outside of work.”
“You don’t go out? You should be going out to the clubs, drinking and dancing. Having fun with your friends.”
“I have to take care of Ruby,” she pointed out.
“Ruby is old enough to take care of herself now,” I said.
“Well, drinking and dancing cost money. And my budget is shot to hell this month. And now I have to get a tire fixed.”
“Then you should let me take you out.”
“Tate,” she started.
I really liked the way she said my name. I worked through the growing lust in my body by shoving the spare tire into place and spinning the lug nuts down before tightening them.
“I’m asking, that means I pay. And unlike the assholes I keep seeing online, I don’t have any expectations. You won’t owe me anything.”
She hesitated before continuing. I glanced up to look at her. She was blushing. The pink across her cheeks was charming.
“I told you, I don’t do Valentine’s Day.”
“Then go out with me on the thirteenth, or the fifteenth, or later. You don’t have to go out with me on Valentine’s Day exactly. And we don’t have to call it a Valentine’s date. Are you going to make me beg?”
She giggled.
I grabbed the tire and tried to move it. It felt secure enough. I got to my feet and stretched before bending down to lower the jack. Once the car was firmly on the ground, I finished tightening the lug nuts the rest of the way. I brushed my hands together before picking the flat up and hauling it into the trunk of her car.
Kenzie picked the other tools up and put them back into their places before pulling the trunk liner back into place. She left her hands on the closed trunk and stood there for a long moment, not moving.
I wanted her to look at me. But she didn’t.
“You know, Mac thinks we’re dating. And Latisha told Ruby about how you swooped in and saved me from a date with him. So now Ruby thinks we’re going out.” She turned and leaned against the trunk, not coming close to me at all. “You know, she wanted me to go buy a new dress for our date.”
I chuckled. “You don’t need a new dress. Maybe something other than your work uniform, but I don’t care if you show up in ratty jeans and a T-shirt.” Actually, her ass in a pair of jeans would be exceptionally hot.
I held my hand out to her. She slipped hers into mine. I pulled her back against my chest. “All those people expect us to go on a date. It would be such a shame to let them down.”
“It would.” She tipped her face up to mine. I dipped my head to kiss her.
Somebody yelled, “Get a room!” and blared their car horn at us.
Kenzie jumped away from me as disappointment replaced the anticipation that had been building in my veins.
