Guilty By Association

Chapter 13 - Tender Moments

Chapter 13 – Tender Moments

 

After peacefully sending Joe, the two truck driver, away with her car, Kelsey went to the flower pot and started digging. Alex just watched her curiously for a little while before she got up with a set of keys in her hand.

She held them up for Alex to see. It didn’t take long before he put two and two together and chuckled. “Let me guess.” He slowly said. “That was your back-up plan?” Alex asked, pointing to the direction the tow truck had gone off in.

A blush crept up on Kelsey’s cheeks and she gave him a brief nod. “You didn’t answer your phone.” She said, defensively. Accusing. It wasn’t her fault. If Alex had just answered his phone when she called, like he was supposed to, Kelsey might not have needed to go to such drastic measures.

“I’m sorry.” Alex apologized, surprising Kelsey. She hadn’t expected him to apologize to her. “I’m sorry.” Alex apologized again. “But I have a proposition for you, that is, if you’ll accept it.”

“Accept what?” Kelsey wasn’t convinced.

“My sister’s wedding is on Saturday. Will you accompany me?” Alex asked, sincerity in his voice. Kelsey blinked. Will you accompany me? It surely wasn’t romantic like Will you go on a date with me? Or will you be my date? Kelsey shoved that thought out of her mind before it ended up into something crazy like will you marry me? Kelsey tried to push that thought out of her mind. He’d kissed her, not proposed to her.

Maybe if they lived in the Victorian era, Kelsey would be compromised by now and Alex would have to marry her, but unfortunately, they lived in a more tolerant time period.

Kelsey was nodding before she even realized it. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Alex repeated, sounding hopeful. “You’ll come with me?”

Instead of responding to his question, Kelsey decided to ask him one in return instead. “Do you do this with all the girls you save? Ask them to your sister’s wedding?”

Alex gave Kelsey a loop-sided smile, one that took Kelsey by surprise and needed a few seconds to recover from it. “I only have a handful of sisters, Kelsey. And two of them are single, so far. If I asked a girl to my sister’s wedding every time, I either have a ton of sisters, or my sister’s been married a ton of times. Neither of which is the case.”

“Well, in that case…Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” Kelsey nodded. “I’ll come to your sister’s wedding on Saturday.” Alex smiled, but it wasn’t full-blown. “Is there something else?” Kelsey asked.

“Well, there’s this thing on Friday, too.” Alex said, not quite meeting eyes with Kelsey.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. It took a second for her to realize why Alex’s behavior was so different. Normally, he was up-front, always straight to the point. Right now, he was being evasive, almost beating around the bush. His confidence was being overpowered by something else. Kelsey couldn’t help but laugh once she’d realized what it was.

“What?” Alex narrowed his eyes at her.

“Are you feeling nervous?” Kelsey asked with a small, cheeky smile on her face, because she was pretty sure Alex was nervous. And if he was nervous, it had to be because of her. She was positive that most guys didn’t kiss girls they got worried about. Normally, the most intense thing was a hug. And now, he’d asked her to his sister’s wedding. If Kelsey didn’t know any better, she’d think that Alex liked her.