As he hung up his phone, he leaned forward and said to the driver, “Can you swing through a drive-thru for a coffee? I’ll give you an extra ten bucks.”
“Sure, buddy, no problem.”
“What’s up?” Kendall asked Evan.
“Carl has requested a meeting with me today. Eve says it isn’t good.”
“That’s interesting,” Frankie said, glancing up from her BlackBerry. “Carl wants to have a meeting with Kendall as well.”
“Maybe he just wants to tell us how cool we are.” Evan tried to smile, but he suddenly felt a little nervous. “What time is Kendall’s meeting?”
“Tomorrow morning at nine A.M.”
Kendall gave him a worried look that he was certain reflected his. “When’s yours?”
“I believe the phrasing was ‘as soon as your ass touches down in Charlotte.’”
Her eyebrows shot up, but she covered her look of horror quickly. “I’m sure it’s no big deal. Your sister is overdramatic, your mother even says so. Don’t worry.” She leaned over and kissed him. “And I’m here if you need to talk . . . or anything.”
Which made the potential end of his career suddenly seem not very important at all.
WHEN Kendall turned her phone back on after landing in Charlotte, it immediately buzzed with a text message from Tuesday.
U & Evan???? Call me.
Kendall frowned at the screen on her phone. What did that mean?
“I need to take a cab straight to the office,” Evan told her. “Did you drive here or take a cab?”
“I drove. Are you sure you don’t want me to give you a ride?”
“No, it’s out of your way, and something tells me it would raise eyebrows if you dropped me off.”
Kendall shifted her carry-on bag on her shoulder. “We’re not keeping this relationship a secret, are we? I don’t want to take out a billboard ad or anything, but I’d kind of like to be able to go out in public from time to time.”
“Of course it’s not a secret.” He winked. “I just may take out a billboard ad. ‘Kendall is Hot.’ That’s what it will say.”
“Very romantic.”
“I thought so.” Evan leaned in and gave her a kiss. “See? Public display of affection. Trust me, if you’re cool with it, I will tell anyone and everyone that we’re an item.”
Which kind of made her heart swell in an embarrassingly girly fashion. “That’s not necessary. Let’s just be normal.”
“Normal. Got it. Now I’m off to face the chair. Be careful going home and call me later, okay?”
“Okay. Good luck. Let me know what happens.”
He gave her a cheerful wave as he stepped into the taxi queue, and Kendall kept walking to the parking garage. Sometimes she wished she could be more relaxed, like Evan was. He took so much more in stride than she did. She was worried sick over this meeting in the morning.
Yet not worried enough to suck all the glow off her sex-filled night. She and Evan were dating. How insane was that? Yet she was so freaking giddy, goofy, shout-it-out-loud happy.
Feeling the need to share it, she called Tuesday.
“Thank God you called, I totally need to talk to you.”
“I need to talk to you, too. I slept with Evan again and it’s so—”
Tuesday cut her off mid-gush. “I know. You know I’m on the gossip sites every day, hell, every hour practically, for news to write my blog. Well, there are pics of you and Evan coming out of the hotel in LA together.”
Kendall frowned at her surroundings, the parking garage huge and dark. Where the hell had she parked? “So? We saw the paparazzi. They were camped out waiting for real celebs and they caught us.”
“Yeah, but they seem to have the impression that the two of you are dating. A couple.”
“We are.” And she couldn’t help but grin in the sea of parked cars as she said those words out loud.
“You are? I thought you just had sex. Big difference, sister.”
“I know that! I’m not sixteen. We’ve talked, and we want to try this . . . being together, that is.”
Though they hadn’t really defined exactly what that meant. But Kendall didn’t care at the moment.
“Oh. Really? Are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” she said in annoyance. “Don’t be a killjoy. Just be happy for me. And I’d rather the press think Evan and I are dating than randomly shagging.”
“But you’ve done both.”
“So? No one needs to know my business, but if they’re going to know my business, I’d rather it be that we’re dating than just hooking up.” Starting down a row she thought looked vaguely familiar Kendall felt her pleasant mood slipping away. “Why does it feel like you’re not on board with the idea of me with Evan?”
“I don’t know you and Evan as a couple. I’ll reserve my opinion until I see the two of you together.”
“Or you could just trust that I’m not a total moron and can make decisions on who to date all by myself, and they might actually be good choices. Imagine that.”
“Don’t be upset. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound bitchy, it’s just I worry about you. You guys have a history and, well, a very complicated working relationship. I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I’m fine. And this has nothing to do with our careers. It will all be fine.”
But even as she spoke the words, she wondered if she was deluding herself just a tiny bit.
EVAN stared at Carl, equal parts outraged and appalled. “Excuse me?”
“I am strongly advising you against dating Kendall Holbrook.”
It took Evan a second to swallow his anger, then he said carefully, “I don’t believe it’s anyone’s business but my own who I’m dating.”
He wanted to glance over at Eve and see how his sister was digesting this bullshit, but he didn’t want to break eye contact with Carl. He understood the game, realized that everyone’s money was on the line every week, but this was ridiculous. They owned his car, not him.
“If you were dating a cute blonde waitressing down at the sushi joint or a lawyer or a teacher, I’d agree with you. But another driver? Think about it.”
“I don’t see what difference it makes.”
“Which shows me your judgment is already compromised.” Carl leaned forward on his desk. “Just take your dick or your heart or whatever body part is involved out of it and see it from my perspective. You offended a whole set of fans last year by accidentally taking a potshot at a dead driver. You’re having your worst season in the cup series ever. You did better as a rookie, for Christ’s sake. We lost a major sponsor. Just this past Sunday you got into it with your own brother, and you came off sounding like a spoiled brat.”