Page 53 of Saving Graces
“The orgies backstage have slowed down a little now I have a wife and kids,” she said drily and Kinsey grinned.
“And Brynn’s groupies?”
“I have them murdered,” she said lightly. “It’s very effective.”
“Oh shit, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, raising her eyebrows and Savannah - thank god - laughed.
“You’re a good deflector,” Savannah observed, neatly bringing them back and Kinsey realized she absolutely wasn’t getting off this hook. “So no girlfriend, then?”
“No.”
“You’re not into relationships?”
“Oh, no, I am,” she said. “But I’d rather be alone than be in one just for the sake of it.”
“You’re waiting for The One?”
“I don’t think I believe in The One,” Kinsey said honestly. “That’s just not how life works. But I’m looking for someone I can really connect with. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Savannah let that hang in the air for a while.
“Of course you’ll be touring sooner or later,” she said eventually. “That brings its own challenges when it comes to dating.”
“Yeah. That’s why my last relationship ended,” Kinsey revealed. Savannah Grace was not the only one who could be casually calculated in a friendly conversation.
“She couldn’t take it?”
“It was too much for her. Me being away a lot.”
“Some people just really need someone to be there for them all the time,” Savannah said and Kinsey had a crystal clear realization she was being worked with, not against.
“That’s true,” she said. “For me though, I liked the space. For it to be all on when we saw each other,” she bit her lip, “and then the rest of the time, you know, because I also like monogamy, I think it’s kind of nice to have the room to miss someone. You get to crave them when they’re not around and then, when you’re actually together you get to really appreciate it. It suits me more than when you have to be all up in each other’s faces all the time.”
“Sounds like you should be dating someone who’s also busy and super independent,” mused Savannah thoughtfully and Kinsey bit back her smile.
“We should head back,” Rosalie finally interjected, her eyes fixed on the path ahead, clearly about to die from all the subtext. “Didn’t you say we were doing lunch at one, so Brynn could make her conference call right after?”
“You’re right,” Savannah said. “I do need to head back. You guys could go on without me though?” she suggested.
“Lunch sounds good,” Kinsey jumped in before Rosalie had to. “I’ve already walked for a couple of hours.”
“Well,” Savannah looked at her, her eyes extremely innocent, “I know you’re young and full of endless stamina but I suppose we should still feed you anyway, just in case.”
Kinsey didn’t dare meet anyone’s eye after that but Rosalie breathed out in a way that suggested that Emmeline’s presence was the only reason she hadn’t pushed Savannah into the lake.
Chapter Sixteen
That night, right after they’d all finished dinner, Rosalie excused herself for the evening, claiming excessive tiredness after a day outdoors. Kinsey watched her go, trying to hold in her smile. Happily, everyone else seemed keen to head into their own private spaces too, so Kinsey didn’t have to try to think up an excuse for why she also, urgently, had to go upstairs.
She passed Rosalie’s closed door on her way to her room and for a split second she wavered, thinking of the pleasure that was so close she could almost taste it. Instead, she went to her own room and got ready for bed, showering and putting on a pair of simple panties and a t-shirt and laying back on top of the covers with a book. She read the same damn sentence over and over, but it was less than half an hour until there was a tap at her door. She bit back her smirk.
“Come in?” she said politely, putting her book down open on her stomach.
The door cracked open, and there she was. Oh fuck, she wore that little silky robe again. Kinsey’s stomach clenched as she glimpsed her pale thighs. Rosalie looked at Kinsey with a small crease between her eyebrows as she took in the scene.
“Oh,” she said. “Am I disturbing you?”
Kinsey smiled.
