Page 61 of Help Wanted

Terrified.

Once he’d come up with a plausible excuse as to why his parents couldn’t stay at his house during their visit, he left the hospital to find Kenley.

He called again, and left a message.

“Look, I’m really sorry about what happened at the hospital. Can we talk? Please call me back. I’m sorry.”

He pulled up in front of her apartment and knocked on the front door before going to the back. Her car wasn’t there, but maybe she’d parked somewhere else.

After ten minutes, he decided she wasn’t hiding inside her apartment. She really wasn’t home.

He’d blown it, and now he couldn’t even find her to make things right.

As if he had a clue how to do that even if he did find her.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re not making a big deal out of this scene at the hospital as a reason to push him away because you’re scared?” Liss asked before licking her fork clean. Once they’d both completed their fork-gasm, she’d told her ex-coworker the story. Leaving out the part about her being a virgin.

There was no reason to make her friend choke on perfectly good cheesecake.

“No. Of course not.” Kenley made a snorting sound in an effort to make Liss feel ridiculous for considering such a thing. Though… “Yes. Maybe.” She changed her answer. “I started thinking about all the things that could go wrong if it didn’t work out between us.”

“You’re worried about losing your job?”

“Right.”

“He can’t fire you if you refuse to have sex with him again. It would be illegal.”

“I’m not concerned so much about not wanting to have sex with him again. I don’t think that will be a problem. It’s more about the dynamic in the office. Maybe he won’t fire me, but if it’s uncomfortable, we’ll both be miserable. Surely he wouldn’t encourage me to stay under those conditions.”

“I think you’re talking to the wrong friend.” Liss was not a relationship person. In fact, Kenley didn’t remember a time when she’d dated the same guy more than once. Still, she didn’t feel comfortable talking about it with Vanessa and Rachel who were cover models for Marriage Weekly. She didn’t need the added stress of how to move things to the next level when she was panicking on the level she was already on.

“Do you know of anyone who’s done this and had it work out in the end?” Kenley waited.

“No. No one.”

“Damn.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure.” Kenley shook her head. “I sure liked the sex.”

“Was it your first time?”

“How did you know?”

“You rarely dated, and you were the only female in the office who didn’t complain about the strange noises and facial expressions of the guys you’d had sex with.”

“I still have no point of reference on that front. I liked Zane’s noises and facial expressions. Well, maybe not the horrified shock part.”

“Congrats on reaching the new plateau.”

“Emotions sure do mess up a good thing.”

“Amen.” She nodded as Kenley’s phone buzzed again. She had been avoiding Zane’s calls. She didn’t know what to say yet. “Do you like this job?”

“Yes.”