“And what are you?” I ask, reaching for the magazine, but she doesn’t give it to me.
“I’m a Foxy Fireball. I know how to pleasure and be pleasured. I’m not afraid to ask for what I want in and outside of the bedroom, and I’m fun to date. I’ve got to say, I have to agree with both assessments.” She snorts.
I tilt my head, realizing how true both probably are. Kendall’s the type of woman who says what she wants and typically gets it. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly how she was in the bedroom too. Just thinking about her dominating me makes me hard as fuck, and I have to adjust myself. Hopefully, she doesn’t notice.
“So where’s the lie in the survey because it seems legitimate to me, Distant Diva,” she sing-songs with a chuckle. “You know, I could help you with that.”
I swallow. “With what, exactly?”
“Your relationship issues.”
I let out a bark of a laugh, but I’m also convinced she probably could. “Last time I checked, I didn’t need a love therapist.”
With a popped eyebrow, she grabs the pen she used to mark the survey as if she’s getting ready to take notes. “You sure about that?”
I chuckle. “Most of my relationships end because I work too much. You know that, Kendall. Women want attention, and I’m married to my job. Until I find someone who can appreciate me when I’m around but allows me to do the work I’m passionate about, I’m sure I’ll be single forever. And that’s okay with me.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Maybe. Maybe not. When you’re in love with someone, you want to spend time with them. Maybe you just haven’t actually been in love, but rather in lust?”
“You could be right,” I admit, contemplating her words and the truth that’s in them. Though when I think back to the time my ex, Rachelle, and I spent together, it’s hard for me to place if it was love or if I just liked the idea of being with someone. I do get lonely.
Kendall stands up and stretches. “It’s so gloomy in here.”
“Yeah. I know. We should probably figure out lunch soon,” I say, checking my watch.
She nods. “True. I wonder if we should try to eat some of the things in the fridge.”
“It’s a toss-up because if the power comes on, none of it will be wasted. If it doesn’t, we’ll lose it all. What’s in there that we could salvage?”
“Without a way to cook it, not much.” She sighs. “You don’t have any camping gear anywhere around? A random iron skillet we can throw in the fire?”
This causes me to laugh. “Not that I know of, but we could always check in the cabinets. Mom always stored all her old shit here. There might be a cast iron or a Dutch oven.”
“We could eat the lunch meat I bought. And we’ve got cheese and mayo too. I’ll make us some sandwiches if you’re up for that,” she tells me as she walks toward the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around her.
“Yep, might as well eat what we can,” I say. “But you have to be quick and grab everything fast so we can try to save what we can.”
Kendall stands in front of the fridge and closes her eyes.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m trying to remember where the hell I put everything because you said to be quick.” She gives me a half-smile.
I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the counter watching her. She takes the blanket from her shoulders and hands it to me, then as if she were moving at hyper speed, opens the fridge, pulls out the food, and slams it closed.
She grabs two plates and the loaf of bread that won’t last us but a handful of days at this point. Carefully, Kendall squirts on the mayo, then stacks meat and cheese a mile high. My eyes go wide.
“I’m not letting this mesquite roasted turkey go to waste,” she says, putting everything back in the fridge, then grabs some potato chips from the pantry. She sets plates on the bar, and I place her fluffy blanket back on her shoulders. “Thanks,” she tells me.
“Welcome.” I sit next to her. “Wow,” I say, taking a huge bite. “This is really good.”
She snickers. “What kind of lunch meat do you eat?”
“The packaged stuff. I don’t have time to wait at the deli.”
Kendall places her hand on her chest over her heart. “You should invest in food delivery because the ingredients are worse than what Cami eats in her snack cakes.”
“Point taken,” I admit. We finish, and I clean up.
Going to the living room, Kendall grabs the notebooks and pencils she brought with her and sits by the windows. The cabin has a lot of natural light. Otherwise, we’d be in the dark other than the light produced by the fire. I grab my iPad, turn down the brightness, then continue reading an article about medical research done earlier this year on the mutation of the virus.
After an hour, I glance over at the fire and get up to maintain it. Kendall’s busy sketching something so after I add some logs, I walk over and see what she’s doing.
“You can draw?” I ask, bending over and noticing the snow-capped mountains in the most perfect detail I’ve ever seen.
She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and grins. “It’s just a little hobby I picked up when I was a kid.”
“I’m impressed,” I say wholeheartedly. The shading on the slopes and cedars is incredible. She hasn’t left a detail untouched. At first glance, it looks like a black and white photograph.
“You’re just saying that.” She tugs on her bottom lip and something sparks between us.
“No, I’m not. You should know I don’t give frivolous compliments. You’ve got a real talent with this. I had no idea,” I say.
She laughs. “Well, maybe one day I’ll draw you like one of my French girls.”
I lift an eyebrow and shake my head. When I turn around, I can’t help but smile.
After a few more hours, the sun begins to set in the distance, which means we’ll lose the little light we had. I grab candles and place them around our space, then light them.
Kendall gets up and throws her hair into a high ponytail. “I really wish I could take a shower. Wash my hair. Soak my weary bones. Put on a face mask and use a bath bomb.” She lets out a frustrated groan.
“I was wondering when high maintenance Kendall would arrive,” I tease.
“I shower every single day, Ryan. You don’t understand how much torture this is for me right now.”
“And it hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours yet.” I chuckle then continue,
“We’ve done nothing but lounge around and eat. You’re not dirty, just being dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” she questions. “Just wait a few more days, and you’ll get to meet that side of me,” she warns with an evil grin.
I clap my hands together and look up at the ceiling. “Please let the lights come on before that happens.”
Kendall rolls her eyes, grabs her phone, and turns it on. She lost in her text messages and every few minutes looks at me and laughs. This can only mean one thing–she’s talking to my sister. I try to ignore her though my curiosity nearly eats me alive. I’m sure Cami is excited we’re here together.