“You’re kick-ass all the way around.”
“Why thank you.” She took the towel from him and wrapped it around herself. “Umm. I’m so relaxed. I don’t think I’ve been this relaxed in a year.”
Evan didn’t bother to put a towel on, he just strolled out into the room still naked. “Sleep and an orgasm. Best things I can think of to relax and re-energize.”
“What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“Seven A.M.”
“We’re on the same flight then, I imagine. Damn, that’s early.”
Evan lifted the duvet cover and shook it, forcing the remaining salt and a stray fry off of it. “Guess we really should go to sleep.”
They crawled into bed together, both smelling like bubbles, with the underlying scent of sex on them. “Can you set the alarm on your phone?”
“Yep.”
He reached for his phone and pushed some buttons while Kendall yawned and shucked the towel she was wearing, dropping it to the floor. She didn’t normally sleep naked, but she felt so warm and delicious and satisfied, it seemed appropriate for her mood.
Then he was pulling her into his chest, and Kendall breathed deeply, wrapping her leg over his.
“So, I hate to ruin the mood, but I have to ask, Kendall.”
She stiffened a little. “Ask what?” she said suspiciously as she looked up at him.
“What happens when we get home? Is it like last time, where I don’t see you for days?”
It was a conversation they had to have, but dang, she didn’t want to ruin the mood. Nor did she want insecurities to come flooding to the surface, yet they already were. She didn’t know what he wanted, if anything, and she did not want to be the first one to admit out loud that she would like to be together, in whatever way they figured out how to do that. She didn’t want to not see him. That much she knew.
“It’s complicated.”
But Evan shook his head. “Not really. You either want to spend time with me or you don’t.”
When put like that . . . “I want to spend time with you.”
“Good. Because I want to spend time with you. Hell, I want to date you. But we can call it whatever you want. I just want to know that when I wake up in the morning, I have the right to expect to see you that day, and when I go to bed, it’s you I say good night to. I just want to get to know you again.”
Put like that, it sounded so simple. So easy. “I’d like that, Evan. I really would.”
“Good.” He tilted her chin up to him. “So now kiss me good night.”
“Bossy,” she muttered, but annoyance was not what she felt as she raised her lips to his and softly kissed him.
What she felt was pure happiness.
EVAN blinked in the bright sunlight as he and Kendall stepped out of the hotel lobby to catch their ride to the airport. Frankie had arranged a private car for them. “Oh, my God, it’s bright,” he said, lifting his arm to shield his retinas.
Kendall was turned, gawking behind her. “There’s like six famous people in this hotel lobby right now. I’m counting three actresses, one actor, one lead singer of a rock band, and I think that’s a basketball player, given his height.”
Evan tried not to wince when the flash of cameras went off in front of him. “That explains the paparazzi. And smile, because guess what? You’re famous, too.”
He needed coffee and he was pretty sure he looked like shit given he was running on about five hours of sleep. Not that anything was going to spoil his mood, since Kendall had pretty much agreed to date him. But he hadn’t been thinking about paparazzi. Unlike Hollywood types, drivers weren’t always as easily recognizable. But these were clearly pros who took shots of everyone who looked like anyone. They’d figure out what to do with them later.
Which would hopefully be nothing.
“Smile for who?” Kendall turned and stopped walking.
“Just smile. No big deal.” Evan raised his hand in a wave at the cameramen snapping their picture. “How are you all doing this morning?”
They were probably used to scowling and being punched, so he got some friendly waves and hellos.
“What are you in LA for?” the one asked.
“Commercial shoot. Heading back to Charlotte now. Have a good one.”
“Thanks, you, too. Can we get a pic of the two of you? Kendall Holbrook, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Kendall’s smile didn’t look particularly natural, but she did manage one.
And she didn’t pull away when Evan put his arm around her as they posed.
Evan pulled away and gave another wave, before opening the door to the car waiting for them. He handed their bags to the driver then tipped him. Frankie was frowning at both of them as they climbed into the car. She was like an older version of his sister, which was frightening.
“That was weird,” Kendall said as she clicked her seat belt in place. “They wanted to take my picture.”
“Why is that freaking you out? People want your picture all the time in Charlotte.”
“But that’s Charlotte. This is LA.”
He didn’t get what the difference was, but he was used to it. His phone rang and he knew from the ringtone that it was Eve. “I’m sorry, I’d better answer this. Eve has called me like seven hundred times since yesterday.”
“Sure.” Kendall looked back behind them as they pulled out, like she still couldn’t believe that anyone had wanted to take her picture.
“Hello?”
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I’m good, thanks for asking. How about yourself?” Evan leaned back against the seat and wished coffee would magically materialize in his hand.
“Don’t be cute with me. Carl wants to have a meeting with you this afternoon in his office. You know it’s going to be about Sunday and that little pissing match you had with Elec.”
Evan winced. That probably hadn’t been the most brilliant thing he’d ever done, getting into it with Elec both on the track and off. But tempers flared between drivers sometimes, brothers or not, everyone knew that. “What time?”
“As soon as your ass touches down in Charlotte. Drive straight to the office. Let me know when you land and I’ll meet you there.”
Evan reached over and took Kendall’s hand in his own. He squeezed her soft fingers and tried not to sigh. Reality was back. Big-time.
“Alright. Talk to you later.”