Just my luck. You know I love a man who works with his hands.”
“Right. That’s why you always kill them in your books.”
“Okay, weren’t we talking about you?” Mia said with faux exasperation.
“Yes, please!” she whined. “What do I do?”
“Honestly, Syd, you’re going to have to wait and see what happens. It just happened and then you were interrupted. I say see how Kyle acts once his boss is gone and it’s just the two of you.”
“It’s never going to be just the two of us. I’ve got Haley to worry about!” And then it hit her. “No, it can’t happen.” Sydney was a little surprised at how disappointed she felt. “I can’t even think about getting involved with anyone—even if it is just a fling. There’s way too much going on in my life, and hey, I’ve gone much longer than this without having sex. I’ll survive.”
“How long has it been?”
“Remember Chet?”
“Chet the cheater? Ugh…I’d almost forgotten about him.” She groaned. “Oh, God. Have you seriously not had sex since then? That was like…”
“Over a year ago. Yeah.”
“Oh, girl. You are seriously more than a little primed for some action.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Then maybe you should…”
“No,” she replied firmly. “Nothing can happen with Kyle. I can’t let it. It’s not just me anymore. I’m responsible for another person who solely looks to me to take care of her. And I don’t think Kyle’s the kind of guy who would be interested in getting involved in this kind of situation.”
Lord knows he wasn’t interested in settling down years ago…
“But he kissed you!”
“I know. And I kissed him back. It was just…a moment. Nothing more.” She sighed with relief. “I’m so glad we talked about this. If left to my own devices, I would have agonized over it for far too long. This way, I know what I have to do moving forward. Thanks, Mia.”
“I really don’t think I did anything…”
“You did. Trust me.”
“I’m not so sure…but you know what you should do?”
“What?”
“Girls night out,” she said almost solemnly. “Make some calls. Rally the troops. Call the babysitter and get out for a couple of hours for a little you time.”
“I don’t know. And Haley’s a little too old for a babysitter…”
“Syd, you aren’t going to be any good to her if you don’t take care of yourself too. Make the calls. Promise me you’ll do it.”
It was something she’d been contemplating but had put off because there always seemed like more important things to do. But maybe Mia was right. A night out with some good friends could totally help her put things into perspective.
After a moment, Sydney finally replied, “Okay. I promise. Now tell me again how many books are coming and how many boxes there’ll be so I can make sure I’ve cleared enough space for them.”
6
It didn’t take a genius to know Sydney was avoiding him.
For three days Kyle had barely said more than a handful of words to her. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true—he had updated her on the work on the office and gave her the plans for starting the master bedroom next week, but they were never alone. It seemed like all of a sudden, everyone she knew in Magnolia Sound was showing up and hanging out at the house.
All. Damn. Day.
Every. Day.
When he showed up in the mornings, she was busy with Haley or on the phone with someone. After breakfast, the two of them started going out every day doing all their back-to-school shopping before Haley went to gymnastics. The first day they did that, Kyle thought it would be the perfect time for the two of them to talk—or kiss again—but her friend Linda had shown up and spent the entire afternoon. The following day started out the same, but once Sydney came back from the Y, she was on the phone with someone from Mia’s office and spent the rest of the day trying to figure out computer programs. After listening to her curse with frustration, two more of her friends had shown up to help her.
And he swore they had formed some sort of female wall around her so he couldn’t even get a glimpse.
That’s when he got suspicious.
Today, he wasn’t taking no for an answer. They were going to talk and he wasn’t leaving until they did. It was already Saturday and he was putting in the extra time he’d talked to Jake about, but he knew he’d go crazy if he had to wait until Monday to make