Rhylee started talking about the previous owners and how sad they’d all been when the campground closed, but Danny struggled to focus on that conversation.
His entire body was focused instead on Kenzie, wishing she was the one doing the talking. She just stood next to her cousin, her eyes warm and her cheeks slightly pink.
He’d give anything to know what she was thinking.
* * *
When Kenzie had said she’d probably see Danny around, she hadn’t meant in the middle of her grocery shopping trip with her nosy, extremely extroverted cousin at her side.
All she could do was hope Rhylee didn’t say anything to embarrass her because she felt flushed enough as it was. If her cheeks got any hotter, one of them would surely notice.
“You have a laptop, though, right?” she heard Rhylee ask, dragging her back into the moment. “So you can work from anywhere? That must be cool.”
Hoping the movement was hidden by the grocery carts, Kenzie shifted her leg and kicked her cousin in the ankle in warning. If Rhylee was thinking what Kenzie thought she was, she might have to run her down with the cart.
“In theory, yes,” Danny said, not appearing to find anything odd about the question. Maybe, being an author, he was asked questions about his writing process all the time. “But I also have a desk and chair set up the way I like them. There are notebooks and sticky notes. I have a giant whiteboard. The laptop might be the most important tool, but it’s not the only one.”
That definitely sounded like, if not a rehearsed answer, than one he gave a lot. And it was an answer that, once again, reinforced the fact Danny being up here was merely temporary. Before Rhylee could go any further down whatever train of thought was running through her mind, Kenzie decided to step in.
“We should get going,” she said. “I’ve got a lot to get done this afternoon, and I’m sure you guys are really busy getting everything set for this weekend.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” He sighed. “It was nice to meet you, Rhylee. And it’s always good to see you, Kenzie.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon,” she said, and then she not only started pushing her cart passed him, but she used her other hand to tug Rhylee’s along.
Her cousin made it two aisles before she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Kenzie would have bet it was only one, so she was thankful for that. “So what’s going on there?”
“What do you mean?”
Rhylee gave her a “don’t even try that with me” look. “You know exactly what I mean.”
Kenzie sighed. “So I have a little crush on Danny Kowalski. It’s not that big a deal.”
“Alittle crush? I don’t think so. You’ve got it bad for that man, and I’m pretty sure he’s also got it bad foryou.”
“If you got all that from him saying hello to me in a store, we need to talk about old Mr. Lemmons talking to you for the entire length of the breakfast food aisle. There might be a marriage proposal in your future.”
“Please. Old Mr. Lemmons didnotlook at me the way Danny looked at you.”
Secretly, of course, she wanted to believe Rhylee was right. The idea the attraction was mutual made Kenzie want to stick her face in the ice cream freezer to cool off, but she didn’t want her cousin to know that. Rhylee could be relentless when it came to pushing Kenzie toward something she thought would make her happy.
“You need to get that man naked,” Rhylee said, and Kenzie almost ran her cart into a rack of clearance wine.
“Stop that,” she said in a fierce whisper, looking over her shoulder. “He could have been behind us. Or in the next aisle. You’re incredibly loud, you know.”
“Maybe you two need the help,” Rhylee shot back, in the closest she could manage to a whisper.
“I don’t need help.”
“Clearly you do.”
Kenzie spun to face her and leaned close so she could keep her voice low, but very firm. “Look. My life is here. I get up, I wait tables all day, then I go home, go to bed, and then get up and do it again. He’s been very clear about not havinganyinterest in being up in this part of the state on a more permanent basis, therefore it doesn’t matter if I have it bad for him or he has it bad for me. It’s a nonstarter, sostop.”
This time she only made it one aisle. “I wasn’t suggesting you marry the man, Kenzie. A few dates isn’t that big a deal, and you haven’t been serious about anybody since you and Hunter broke up. You’re too young to be alone all the time. It’s not good for you.”
No, having her heart broken a second time because a man didn’t want to share the life she was living wouldn’t be good for her. “He’s not here for long, so let me savor my crush in peace, please.”
“There’s no reason you can’t have a little fun while he’s here. You definitely don’t have enough of that.”
