Chapter 6
Kennedy
Oh hell.
He was getting out of his truck, and he did not look amused.
“The Silver Fox has landed,” Karlton muttered under his breath.
Dante approached our table, and I couldn’t help but appreciate his lean yet muscular body.
The man checked every last thing off the list that a woman could want.
Tall.
Athletic.
Broad shoulders.
Sculpted.
Protective.
Don’t ask me how someone could look protective, but Dante did. He looked like he could kick the ass of any of my past boyfriends. He may be a Silver Fox, but you could tell he took care of himself. Well.
“Silver Fox Ninja, up close and personal. And you said this day sucked, Kennedy.” Karlton pushed his sunglasses on top of his head and surveyed Dante from head to toe. Blatantly.
I had at least tried to nonchalantly check out Dante. I was sure that Karlton was seconds away from pulling out a magnifying glass and asking Dante to take his shirt off.
“What the hell are you three putting Molly up to?” he demanded.
I could add his husky and captivating voice to list of things that could melt off panties.
Karlton leaned back in his chair and pushed his glass back over his eyes. “I’ve contracted her to help with a little project that I’m doing.”
I held back a laugh at Karlton’s ability to make his haphazard project sound like something that was actually important.
“Your project involves Roman and who he’s dating?” Dante asked skeptically.
Karlton crossed his legs and folded his arms over his chest. “It’s rather pertinent to my plans.”
I scoffed and covered my mouth with my hand. Karlton shot me a look telling me to put a sock in it. I cleared my throat, trying to get a handle on my soon to be erupting case of the giggles. It was working.
For now.
“Don’t you have some baking to do?” Sage asked Dante.
Sage had spoken to him, but his eyes were trained on me. I turned my head toward Sage who was sitting on my left, hoping he would get the clue that he didn’t need to be looking at me. I had never been formally introduced to him, but I knew about him from all of the stories that Karlton had regaled me with.
“That’s what I’m supposed to pay you to do.”
Oh hell.
Sage looked like she was ready to explode as soon as the words left Dante’s mouth. She shot up from her chair, grabbed her coffee cup off of the table, and stormed into the café.
Dante crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Molly smugly. “You might want to tell your girl to take a chill pill.”
Molly plopped down in the chair that Sage vacated and sighed. “I’m going to have to deliver your cookies to you from now on. There’s no way that Sage is going to let you come into the café now without assailing you with frozen flying cookie dough pucks.”
He shook his head. “And now I’m the bad guy.”
He had been a dick to her, but Sage wasn’t really the nicest to him, either.
“She’ll be fine,” Karlton replied. “She’s just upset about my idea.”
My gaze fell on Karlton. “I highly doubt that is the problem,” I snickered. I don’t think anyone would want to be in my shoes right now.
Karlton scoffed. “Girl, please. Everyone would love to sit back and have someone take control of their love life. I am providing you a huge service, and you have yet to even thank me for all of the things I’m doing for you.”
“Wait, wait. Rewind and tell me why you need to find her a date?” Dante’s eyes slowly scanned me over with a smug smile on his face.
I had no idea what he was thinking. He either thought that I was a lost cause or he actually liked what he saw. “It’s just a decoy.”
He tilted his head slightly, confused even more.
“You know what, I’ll just go over to the Powerhouse and talk to Roman. I’m sorry to have brought you into this, Dante,” Molly rambled. She had been resistant when Karlton hissed at her to make Dante stop, and now she was climbing back into the quiet shell where she tended to retreat when uncomfortable.
“Nope,” he replied. “You’re not going to get out of this that easily.” He pulled out the chair next to Karlton, spun it around, straddled it, and pointed at Karlton. “Spill.” He had, of course, pinpointed the right person who was going to gleefully tell all. Karlton could talk to a brick wall and be content. He had already been telling everyone who he could get a hold of about his brilliant plan and how he was going to save my non-existent love life.
“Vivian Kramer.”
I rolled my eyes. That was how he was going to start this, with my mother’s name and that was it?
“Kramer Realty Group?” Dante asked.
Oh hell. He had heard of my mom and dad before. Just great. He was going to think I was some trust fund baby and completely write me off before he even knew anything about me.
Why I was concerned about this was beyond me, because I barely knew anything about him and his opinion of me shouldn’t be a concern. No one else's opinions mattered to me, but for some reason, his did.
Karlton smirked and glanced at me. “You’re popular, sugar.”
I rolled my eyes. Only Karlton would be excited about the thought of being known for something that had nothing to do with him. “Not me,” I muttered. It was times like these that I would change my last name. When it came down to it, I loved my parents, but I hated everything about them.
“Our dear Kennedy here is their one and only daughter.” Oy vey. “Her mother is constantly on her back asking when she’s going to quit the yoga studio and settle down with one of their stodgy old friend’s kids.” Karlton frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You really think you can fool her parents into thinking that Roman and her and dating? If anything, she’s going to alert the police and never let Kennedy leave the house.”
“I don’t live at home.” I quickly averted my eyes. Shut up, Kennedy. Did Dante need to know I didn’t live at home anymore? Think before you speak. “Good to know.” His voice was low, and the words meant more than what he said.
“Well, I’ve been searching for forever, and he’s the only likely candidate that I have right now. Well, I should say that is the only candidate that Kennedy didn’t shoot down.”
I hadn’t shot it down because I was sick of saying no and all I wanted to do was head home and not think about this disaster for the rest of the night. I was fine knowing that this wasn’t going to work at all. Karlton may have the best of intentions, but this was quickly becoming a crash and burn. “It’s been two days, barely, and just because I didn’t say no out loud about Roman, doesn’t mean I didn’t say it in my head.” Roman was definitely good looking, but you could also tell that he was a player with no intention of settling down.
Karlton snapped his fingers at me and pursed his lips. “Shh, I’m telling the story.”
Dante chuckled and kicked back in his chair. He raised his arms and crossed them on top of his head. “I’m listening.”
“We need a man who is going to check off everything that Vivian thinks her daughter needs, all the while, he’s just a decoy allowing Kennedy to keep running the studio and living her boring little life the way she wants to,” Karlton explained.
“Can I ask what kind of life her mother wants her to have?” I could tell he was interested in what was going on, and I was worried he going to somehow get in on the action.
“The life most dream of, but the lovely Kennedy wants no part of it,” Karlton spoke like I was crazy for wanting a life where I worked hard instead of the one where everything was given to me. “So we must fool her mother before Kennedy spikes her after dinner cognac and ends up behind bars.” He leaned forward toward Dante. “She’s beautiful, but horizontal stripes are no one's friends,” he whispered.
Molly cackled, and I rolled my eyes. It always came down to appearances with Karlton.
Dante lowered his arms to his sides. “Well, y’all are crazy, and this shit isn’t going to work because I know that there is no way in hell that Roman is going to agree with this unless there is something in it for him.” Dante’s eyes scanned my body, indicating that the payment that would be needed would be something I wasn’t about to give up. “Besides, I don’t think you fit what he is looking for at the moment. He’s on a quest for the Holy Grail.”
Molly tilted her head. “Holy Grail?”
He chuckled and slid his sunglasses over his eyes. “Talk to Kellan about it, if he’ll even tell you.”
“Quest?” Karlton clapped his hands together and bounced in his chair. “If it is anything like what I am helping Kennedy with, I am the man for the job. I could totally turn this into a lucrative business.”
Dante stood up and shook his head. “You’ll have to talk to Roman about that when you bring up your decoy idea.” He sounded skeptical, and my head was screaming no even more than it was before. “Good luck with your mom, Kennedy.” He tipped his head to Molly and strutted back to his truck.
After he pulled out of his parking spot and the brake lights of his truck disappeared, I reached over and smacked Karlton. “What in the hell was that? Do you really need to tell everyone my business?”
He scoffed and brushed me off. “It’s not like I told him some huge state secret. I figured maybe he could help us convince Roman. Relax, sugar. That man isn’t going to tell anyone what I just said.”
I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. There was no way Karlton could actually know that, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. “Can you just refrain from telling everyone you meet my life story from now on? I’ve worked my ass off to distance myself from my parents, and all you keep doing is throwing me in their direction.”
It should be easy to tell my parents to stay out of my business, but it wasn’t because at the end of the day, they were still my parents and I did want them to be proud of me.
Molly put her arm around me and rested her head on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll talk to Kellan and see what he thinks of Roman getting involved with this.”
Oh great, another person who was going to know how pathetic I was. “Thanks,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Well,” Karlton stood up and grabbed his bag off of the table, “I need to get back to the laundromat, collect my money, and head home for a little me time. It’s been ages since I had a facial, and I think after my day of hooking you up, it’s only right that I pamper myself tonight.” He left with a flip of his wrist to us and strutted down the sidewalk.
“You really want me to talk to Kellan about Roman? I could just tell Karlton that Roman isn’t down with it, and then maybe he’ll just let this go.”
I turned to Molly and sighed. “I don’t want to do this, but I can’t help but see that maybe this will help. Maybe not forever, but it will keep my mom off of my back until I can figure something else out. Maybe moving to Alaska would chill her out.”
Molly giggled. “Well, it probably won’t chill her out, but moving to Alaska will more than chill you.” She reached out and patted my arm. “Is she really that bad, or is she just being a mom?”
I loved Molly. She was fun to hang out with, but she was also a bit on the shy and reserved side. Plus, she always saw what other people didn’t.
My hands wrapped around my iced macchiato, and I leaned back in my chair. “My mother has the best of intentions, except what she intends to push me towards is nothing that I want.” I’d never talked openly about my mom to anyone before. All Karlton knew were the surface things that anyone could see from the outside looking in.
“So what exactly does she want for you that you don’t?”
“She wants me to be successful, get married, have kids, and be a stay at home mom who spends every waking minute worrying about what everyone thinks and giving off the impression that my life is fabulous while, in reality, I’m miserable.”
“Well,” Molly drawled. “You are successful. Zen Yoga was rated the number one yoga studio in town.”
I scoffed. “According to my mother, Zen is anything but what she wants me to do. When I say she wants me to be successful, I mean marrying some rich old guy and spending all of his money like it were my own.”
Molly sighed. “Well, that doesn’t sound completely unappealing. Do you have to sleep with the old guy, or will he just give you his credit card and you’re good to go?”
I laughed and shook my head. “With those dirty bastards, they’d probably never let me out of the bedroom.”
Molly cringed and shook her head. “Well, I can see how that doesn’t really appeal to you. It’s nice to have money, but when it comes with creepy guys and unsavory things to do to keep it, I can see how you would be more content at Zen.”
“Don’t even get my mother started on Zen. She still can’t believe I saved up and started it. She hates that place, but without her, it would never have happened. She always gave me a ridiculous allowance growing up. One that a kid would never be able to spend, so I saved a huge chunk of it and managed to buy Zen outright. When she found out, I swear she was going to have a heart attack.” I flitted my hand in my face and raised my voice, “My daughter should not be slithering all over the floor and working for a living.”
Molly busted out laughing, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. My impersonation of my mom was really spot-on.
“I didn’t know that there was slithering going on over there. I might have to try to get over there and see for myself.”
I took a sip of my coffee and nodded. “Lots of slithering and breathing.”
“Do you breathe like Powerhouse does, by screaming and grunting your ass off?”
I smiled and shook my head. “That would be a negative. It’s rather quiet while we breathe. Grunting and screaming kind of ruins the mood.”
“Hmm, maybe I might suggest to Kellan that he tries yoga so he can see the side of quiet breathing,” she laughed.
“He’s more than welcome to come over, although I don’t think he would be one to enjoy it.”
Molly hummed under her breath. “You’re probably right.” She stood up and grabbed the empty cups off of the table. “I need to go see what Sage is up to. Dante riles her up so much, it’s crazy. I’ll talk to Kellan tonight and see what he has to say about Roman.”
I rose from my chair and grabbed my wallet off the table. “Sounds like a plan. Who knows, maybe by tomorrow, Karlton will be over this and onto his next crazy idea.”
“Maybe,” she laughed. “He does seem to have a bit of a scattered thought process.”
“Most definitely,” I agreed.
I crossed the parking lot over to my car and beeped open the locks. After Karlton and I meandered around the mall, I managed to make it back to the studio in time for my two o’clock class and then Karlton had summoned me again over to the café to have a pow-wow with Molly and Sage.
It was more like Karlton going on and on about how he was the best matchmaker and how he could try to make this a business. We didn’t actually talk about me or his plan until two minutes before Dante drove by.
Dante seemed skeptical of using Roman, and I couldn’t help but think the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t know any of the karate hotties very well, but Roman seemed to me to be the one who was a player. Not exactly boyfriend material to take home to Mother.
I slid into my car, started it up, and groaned when I saw the time. It was already after four, and I still had to head to the grocery store to refill my fridge. It had been dangerously empty the past few days.
Ketchup and pickles were not going to be enough to survive on.
I steered the car towards Cook’s on East Street and turned up the radio. The nineties station was always on in my car, and I couldn’t help but jam out to all of the ridiculous pop songs they played. When the Backstreet Boys sang, you did what they said and rocked your body right.
After bobbing along through three epic nineties classics, I pulled up to Cook’s and recognized Dante’s truck in the row in front of me.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I felt like a complete loser knowing I was so pathetic that I couldn’t even get my own date. Debate time. Did I drive across town to the other grocery store or suck it up and pray that I was able to dodge him in the store.
He was likely down the health food aisle, and while I was into yoga, I tended to head more towards the frozen section for bagels and pizza.
Confession time. I ate like a college student going on a two-week junk food binge. I was luckily graced with good genes and managed to keep a relatively svelte figure without having to kill myself in the gym each day.
The one thing that I gladly accepted from my mother.
I grabbed my wallet and phone and marched into the grocery store. My eyes scanned the checkouts, making sure he wasn’t there, and I moved directly to the frozen food section by cutting down the baking aisle.
I was halfway down the aisle and giving the wobbly wheel on my cart the stink eye. “Always pick the shitty one, Ken,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Hey, you!” I heard shouted.
I looked up and came face to face with Dante. Son of a bitch!
My eyes darted around, wondering if I could make an escape.
“Kennedy!” He was motoring his way toward me.
There was no way I could turn away from him without looking like a complete bitch. He had actually said my name so I couldn’t play it off as I didn’t know he was talking to me.
I came to a screeching halt, took a deep breath, and waited for him to get to me.
Lord, help me.
**********