He smiled softly, a smile that went all the way to his rich chocolate eyes. “Good for you, Kendall. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you,” she said, mortified when she realized how breathy her voice sounded. Clearing her throat, she added, “What about you? What have you been doing?”
“Same thing as you. Though it’s safe to say I lack the single-minded determination.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Just that I haven’t been driving well. Some days I just wake up and wonder if this is it . . . struggling and never getting that championship win, that holy grail of racing.”
“Some drivers never get that. It doesn’t mean you weren’t successful.” Kendall paused, wondering what else she should say. The truth was, she and Evan didn’t know each other anymore, and she couldn’t tell if he was really discontent or just expressing frustration.
But while she gathered her thoughts, he shrugged and grinned. “Listen to me whining. Guess I don’t have much to complain about. I wouldn’t have made a good pastry chef either.”
So he didn’t want to go deep. That was fine. Kendall was just so glad they were talking like this, normal, relaxed, that she wasn’t about to push it. “Oh, I don’t know. You made me a cake for my eighteenth birthday, remember? It was chocolate and it was awesome. A little lopsided, but it tasted like heaven.”
The gesture had been as sweet as the chocolate.
But Evan gave her a sheepish look. “I have a confession to make. I tried to bake you a cake, and it was a disaster, so I bought another box mix and paid Eve twenty bucks to do it for me.”
Kendall laughed. “Are you serious? Well, damn, and here I thought you were a whiz in the kitchen. But I think I’m flattered. At that point in our lives, twenty bucks was serious cash.”
“Very true. And the kitchen is not a room I excel in. On the other hand . . .”
Oh, she knew that look. Kendall held her breath, her heart ramming against her rib cage. “Yeah?”
When the hell had his hand dropped onto her knee? And why wasn’t she shifting away from it?
“I definitely know my way around the bedroom.”
CHAPTER FOUR
THE minute the words came out of Evan’s mouth he figured he had just veered into scumbag territory, but he was drunk, and Kendall was smiling at him, and it had just flown out before he could stop it. Here they were, having a friendly conversation for the first time in years and he had to go and ruin it. But that was precisely why he had said it . . . it had been so long since he’d seen her in anything more than passing, and that had always been laced with animosity.
Sitting here, legs close, chatting intimately and openly, he had just been overcome by how beautiful she was, and the flirt had just popped out.
Drunk or not, he knew he needed to apologize.
But before he could, Kendall said, “I remember that even more than I remember your chocolate cake.”
Damn.
“In those days I probably had more enthusiasm than skill, but being with you made it easy, Kendall.”
“It was definitely easy, alright.” Her tongue moistened her lips. “I didn’t know I could feel that kind of pleasure until you.”
“I was scared to screw it up since I was your first . . . I wanted it to be good for you.”
“It was.”
Her eyes had darkened with the same lust he was feeling, but also with tenderness. The combination had Evan’s gut twisted up, feeling like he’d landed squarely back in the past, when they had been together and he had been happy. Being loved by this woman had been a damn fine thing.
“I have never regretted it was you. Not even after the way it ended.”
Evan swallowed hard against the emotion that was crawling up his throat. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. And trust me, I never regretted it either. Even when I was pounding on your front door, I wouldn’t have traded that for never having met you.”
“I guess that’s good at the same time it’s tragic, huh?”
Yeah. But he’d spent enough time wondering, regretting. It was time for a new chapter in their story. “We can only go forward, not backwards. No sense in beating ourselves up any more than we have.”
“Oh, I can always find ways to beat myself up.” Kendall gave a slight smile then shifted her leg so it was alongside his.
Evan knew he probably shouldn’t be this close to her, shouldn’t be stroking her thigh right above her knee, but it felt so natural, the expression on her face triggering his response. That was the way she’d always looked at him, like he was the only person in the room, and while he knew he didn’t have the right to still touch her, it felt like he should.
“Don’t beat yourself up about this or anything else. We were kids. It was overdramatic and dumb. Just remember that I loved you.”
The minute those words left his mouth, Evan suddenly realized that he needed to get the hell out of there. Needed to put distance between himself and her dewy pink lips, her cle**age, which had matured in the last ten years, and her tender, lust-laced eyes.
Especially when she said in a breathy voice, “Oh, I loved you, too.”
That wide gaze, the warmth of her body, the sexual tension in her voice had him leaping off his bar stool. Time to go before he said or did something totally and completely stupid.
“That’s probably a good place to leave this, Kendall, before we manage to find a way to irritate each other again. I should go. Thanks for coming out. I’m really damn glad you did.” Evan pulled out his wallet and dropped some cash on the bar.
“I’m glad I did, too, but I don’t think you should drive home, Evan. You have had quite a few drinks.”
He wanted to deny it, but it was the truth. “I’ll call a cab.” He sucked down the last of his water and pulled out his phone. “I’ll just look up the number.”
“I can give you a ride. I only had one beer.”
Damn it. Evan gripped his phone hard and fought temptation. It was the polite thing for her to say, right? It didn’t mean anything at all. Nothing suggestive or sexual or anything beyond casual friendship. Just that she didn’t want him to die or get cited with a DUI. She’d offer any idiot she knew a ride, including this idiot.
“It’s not a big deal.” It wasn’t. He needed to not make it one. Punching buttons on his phone, he tried to focus on finding the cab company’s number.
“Don’t be stupid. I’m giving you a ride.” Kendall stood up, grabbing her purse off the bar. “I just need to pay for my drink.”