Drawing Hearts

by J. M. Jeffries

  “Pretty remarkable.”

  “Thank you.” She sounded impressed. He liked that. Once he had that computer operating, he discovered what it could do and he’d decided to write his own game, which he’d distributed to his friends. And from there, he’d started his own company. In the years since, he’d worked in gaming, then moved to apps for smartphones, then into computer security, and his latest endeavor had been using computers to design prosthetic limbs. He’d immersed himself in his business until his father became ill. That was when he realized he was missing out on life.

  “Have you fixed it yet?” Kenzie asked.

  He chuckled. “This is going to take more than a few minutes.”

  “How much time?” She glanced at her watch. “I’m meeting my niece, she’s teaching me to barrel-race.”

  He sat back in surprise, looking her up and down at her very fashionable dress, stiletto shoes and chunky necklace. He was having a hard time seeing her on a horse, wearing jeans, plaid shirt and cowboy boots.

  “I know.” She patted him on the hand.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

  “I can tell from the look on your face you are trying to picture me on a horse wearing boots and a Stetson.”

  “No...no... I wasn’t thinking that exactly.”

  She laughed. “Sure you were. Just remember, I’m the girl with three older brothers. I may look like I stepped out of the pages of Vogue magazine every day, but at heart I’m pretty much a tomboy. Though I’m a tomboy with style.” She posed, one hand on her hip and a flirty look on her face.

  He tried to imagine her on a horse, but the image failed to materialize.

  She held up a hand. “Wait a moment. I’ll show you.” She walked to one of the bedrooms.

  Lost in a cloud, unable to take his eyes away from her, he watched her body sway back and forth gracefully. The door closed with a click and he turned back to the laptop. If he was going to solve her problems, he was going to need his computer with him and her distracting beauty gone. The challenge excited him. He hadn’t felt excited in a while.

  The bedroom door opened and Kenzie reappeared wearing jeans, a white shirt, red leather cowboy boots and a matching red hat. She posed for him like a runway model. For a moment he thought his heart would stutter to a stop. She walked back and forth, her hips swaying and he couldn’t catch his breath. She looked adorable, delectable and so sexy he wanted to kiss her.

  “You certainly look the part.” What he really wanted to say was that she looked absolutely stunning, but they’d just met and that would be inappropriate.

  “Of course I do. I don’t play at being a cowgirl. If I’m going to dress like this, I’m going to know how to flaunt it.”

  She sported the look just fine in his estimation. He felt a huge thud in the area of his heart and for the first time in his life he was willing to fall into lust. Oh, hell, he was going to fall in lust with her.

  No. No. He didn’t have time to be in...whatever. He still had his life to figure out and her software problem. He went back to contemplating how he would fix her software...or her.

  He turned back to the computer. He felt her behind him, the heat of her body like a solar flare. “You’re hovering,” he said, half turning to glare at her.

  “I’m fascinated by what you’re doing.”

  “I’m just playing to see where the glitches are. I don’t have my applications here to start working on the fix. I’m going to need your laptop for a couple hours.”

  “I’ll be gone for a couple hours. Take all the time you need.”

  He nodded and closed the laptop, tucking it under his arm. “You know, I’ll have access to everything on your laptop. I’ll know all your deepest, darkest secrets.” He’d already figured out she had no password protection set up.

  She laughed. “Yeah. You’re going to find out I play Warhammer.”

  That surprised him. “So do I.” He’d never met a woman who liked adventure gaming.

  She tilted her head at him. “We’ll have to team up some day. You, me and my brothers. They get pretty intense.”

  He had the feeling she could best them all.

  He walked to the door and she opened it to let him out. She leaned against the edge of the door and gave him a smile that practically melted his insides.

  “You’re not what I expected.”

  “What did you expect?” he asked.

  “Horn-rimmed glasses, plaid shirt and socially awkward.”

  His eyebrows rose. Ten years ago he’d been exactly that—horn-rimmed glasses, plaid shirt and socially awkward. Laser surgery corrected his vision, a stylist helped with his wardrobe and experience conquered his awkwardness. He knew he tended to be introspective, but having millions in the bank had made him a target for women who had been throwing themselves at him for years, and he’d become adept at recognizing and avoiding them. “I’m sorry I wasn’t what you imagined.”

  “You’re better.” She grinned mischievously, a flirting sparkle in her eyes.

  Again, he felt a tug on his heart. He didn’t know how to respond to that. He liked her directness, but unpredictability lurked behind her dark eyes. He held up the laptop. “Hopefully I’ll have this ready for you when you get back from your lesson.” Or not. He wondered how long he could drag out fixing her software just so he could be near her. He wanted to be near her.

  * * *

  Kenzie watched him walk down the hall toward his suite. She really had expected geek extraordinaire. The fact that Reed Watson was a very handsome man made her tingle. She wanted to run her hands through his shaggy blond hair and kiss him. She’d never been attracted so strongly to a man on a first meeting.

  Not even Sam. He’d worked his way up through the executive ranks at Saks and eventually landed as the director of marketing. They’d had a lovely time over the years, but Sam wasn’t into commitment. He’d been quite emphatic about making sure she understood his feelings from the beginning.

  Sam had warned her she’d hate Reno and he wasn’t giving up his job to follow her. How could she back away from her career for a backwater town when she’d been all over the world and seen the best fashion the world had to offer? He was wrong. In the time she’d been in Reno, she’d come to love it. The town wasn’t jaded or as self-important as Vegas. Reno knew what it was and reveled in its frontier-town mentality.

  Anything was possible. Look at Miss E., Kenzie’s grandmother. She’d taken a classic hotel and casino and made it new again. She’d got her family back together, and no one was unhappy. Hunter and Lydia were having a baby. Nina and Scott would be getting married soon. Donovan and Hendrix were cooking up a storm. Even though she was the odd one out, she was used to being the only girl. Besides, she wasn’t ready to settle down.

  Her cell phone rang and she went back into her suite to answer it. Rapid French overwhelmed her.

  “Slow down, Monique. What is going on?” Monique Benoit designed her own line of casual wear that had grown very popular over the past few years. Kenzie had discovered her and suggested that Saks offer her a contract for her designs. She’d always been able to spot the up-and-coming designers and talk stores into showcasing their lines.

  “That woman,” Monique snarled. “I hate her.”

  “What woman?” Kenzie cradled the phone against her ear with her shoulder while she poured herself a glass of iced tea.

  “That Anna. The one who replaced you. I cannot work with her. She is an...an imbecile.”

  “She came highly recommended.” Sam had campaigned for the store to hire her, replacing Kenzie. “I’m sorry she’s not working out with you.”

  “She is not you, Kenzie.”

  “I’m sure she’ll work out if you give her some time.”

  “I don’t know,” Monique said, her tone resigned. �
��I like working with you.”

  “And I with you. Your clothes are selling well here.” Kenzie had opened a small store in the hotel spa for Monique’s line. “I know it’s not like having your lines in Saks, but Reno is growing. I think you should consider expanding your lines with your own stores.”

  “I think on it, but I’m not ready yet. I have no...worries about you in Reno. It is this Anna I have uncertainties about.”

  “She’ll work out, Monique,” Kenzie soothed. “Change requires a period of adjustment. Talk to Sam. I’m sure he’ll help.”

  “Maybe.” Monique sounded dispirited.

  Kenzie wondered just what Anna was doing that upset Monique so much.

  “Come to Reno and play for a week,” Kenzie offered. “I’ll show you around and we’ll explore. There’s some great hiking here.”

  Monique, like Kenzie, was a hiker. She would love the mountain trails, the hot springs in unexpected places and the beautiful vistas.

  “I will think on that,” Monique said before she hung up.

  Kenzie tried not to let her friend’s conversation bog her down. Everyone she’d worked with in New York would adjust to the new buyer. She was sure Anna would work out. She might not have Kenzie’s intuition about things, but she would learn.

  Chapter 2

  Maya sat on her horse as though born to the saddle. Kenzie knew how to ride. As a tween she’d been horse-mad and Miss E. had arranged for her to have riding lessons. For a while as a child, Kenzie had thought about being a cowgirl working on a ranch, but fashion won out.

  Maya was turning into a little fashion plate all by herself. She wore black jeans, a pink shirt with red fringe and matching pink boots. A pink Stetson sat on her head. She’d wanted a pink saddle, but her mother, Lydia, had said no.

  Kenzie watched Maya race her horse around the barrels. Hector Ibarra, her teacher, sat on the fence, his booted feet hooked around the bottom rail. Patti, Hector’s daughter and Maya’s best friend, sat on her own horse out of the way.

  Kenzie wasn’t all that interested in barrel racing; she just wanted to bond with her niece.

  “Good time,” Hector called when Maya finished the course. “You’re going to be competition racing in another couple months.”

  Maya preened, grinning happily. Kenzie remembered being nine years old and loving the attention after doing something right.

  Kenzie pulled up to the start line, and when Hector called time she kicked her horse into a gallop and raced around the barrels. Her time was terrible, but she enjoyed herself and knew she’d never be a pro.

  After the lesson, Maya and Kenzie walked their horses back to Maya’s home.

  “I can’t wait for my baby brother to be born,” Maya said.

  “I’m sure your mother feels the same way,” Kenzie replied with a laugh. “She’s getting kind of tired being pregnant.”

  “She told me once the baby is born the hard work starts.”

  Kenzie had absolutely no experience with babies. “When they’re first born they just eat, sleep and poop.”

  “Ick.” Maya turned into the driveway leading up to her house. Her dog, asleep on the front porch, came to her feet and trotted down the driveway to greet them.

  Kenzie enjoyed Maya’s company. In fact, until Maya had come into her life Kenzie had never been around children.

  They walked their horses to the barn and dismounted.

  “I want Mom and Dad to name the baby Sylvester,” Maya said as she unsaddled her horse, draped the saddle over a saddle tree and reached for a brush to groom her horse.

  “Sylvester! Sweetie, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Kenzie unsaddled her horse and started to groom it. “Where did you get a name like Sylvester?”

  “In a book. I like the name. I think it sounds noble.”

  Kenzie shook her head as she groomed her horse. Dust billowed up with each stroke of her brush. The animal’s tail swept back and forth and its eyes closed as it relaxed.

  “Sylvester is better than plain old Christian.” Maya lifted a front hoof and slid a pick under the shoe, cleaning the dirt and mud out. She had to learn to take care of her horse as part of the price of ownership.

  “I think Christian sounds like a wonderful name.”

  Maya simply frowned.

  They put the horses away in their stalls, made sure they had plenty of fresh water and alfalfa hay in the manger, and headed to the house.

  Lydia lay on the sofa in the family room while Hunter puttered about the kitchen grilling chicken. Seeing Hunter so domestic amused Kenzie no end. He’d always been the first one to dare everyone to climb a tree, to vault over a fence or to jump off the roof into the pool. Lydia had tamed him. Kenzie had never seen him so happy.

  “Need some help?” she asked.

  “Toss the salad,” he ordered, pointing at a bottle of dressing.

  She did as instructed. He whistled as he brushed a final layer of flavoring on the chicken legs with the special marinade made from their chef brother Donovan’s secret recipe. The rising scents of the marinade and the cooked chicken made Kenzie’s mouth water. She’d eaten in five-star restaurants all over the world, but they didn’t even begin to compare with Donovan’s cooking. His fiancé, Hendrix, made such mouth-watering desserts that the hotel couldn’t keep anything in stock in the diner and the main restaurant.

  “Any signs of a baby yet?” Kenzie put the salad on the dinner table.

  Lydia pushed herself to her feet and waddled across the family room to the dining table. “I’m so ready. I don’t think I have another three weeks in me.”

  Hunter laughed. Maya pulled out a chair for her mother. Lydia sat down heavily with a faint groan.

  “I hear you met Reed Watson today.” Hunter set the platter of chicken in the center of the table and sat down. He forked a chicken leg onto Lydia’s plate and then another one onto his. He slid the platter closer to Maya who used her fingers to grab a leg. Lydia frowned, but said nothing.

  “He’s going to do his magic on my laptop.” Kenzie reached for the grilled broccoli and a baked potato.

  “He’s one of the foremost specialists on internet security in the country. I heard he was asked to lecture at the War College in Rhode Island.”

  “Miss E. told me that. He’s kind of cute, too.” Kenzie filled her salad bowl. Heat curled up inside her at the memory of his warm hands and blue eyes. She’d so wanted to push the tangle of blond hair off his forehead she’d had to clasp her hands behind her back.

  “And he’s single,” Lydia put in with an arch look at Kenzie.

  “Just because you two lovebirds are still in the throes of marital bliss doesn’t mean I have to be, too. I don’t have time for the love mojo. Besides, Scott and Nina are next up in the marriage queue.” And then probably Donovan and Hendrix. That was enough marriage for her. She wasn’t looking for that special someone in her life. Not after Sam. He’d burned her. He’d hurt her in a way she didn’t like to think about. Though the image of Reed hunched over her laptop almost made her sigh.

  “I know that face,” Hunter said.

  “What face?” Kenzie worked to relax the frown.

  “The ‘I hate dudes’ face.”

  “I don’t hate men,” Kenzie said. “I just don’t like men who think a woman’s career is less important than theirs.” Or who took credit for ideas not their own. The first time Sam had stolen one of her ideas, he’d been so apologetic she’d forgiven him on the spot. She’d tried to tell herself she loved him and he loved her, but still it seemed that every time she came up with something interesting, somehow it would end up being his idea. Until their last fateful argument.

  “You sound like someone hurt you,” Lydia said.

  Kenzie had confided in Nina, but had not felt as if she’d known Lydia
enough to tell her. Now that she’d learned Lydia was a kind, nurturing person who wanted others to be happy Kenzie wanted to unburden her soul, but not now with Maya in the room. Maybe later.

  “I was. Now I’m just angry.” Kenzie finished her salad and sipped iced tea. She refused to dwell on Sam’s betrayal.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Hunter asked curiously.

  Kenzie shook her head. “Talking isn’t going to do anything.”

  “It might make you feel a little better.”

  Kenzie didn’t want to feel better. She wanted to feel angry. Anger motivated her. She would show Sam she would be okay.

  Later, on her way out to her car, she received a text from Reed. Have some ideas I want to run past you. How about dinner?

  She texted back, Just had dinner. How about a drink?

  He responded. Eight in the bar.

  She agreed. She would have time to shower and change into something else. She enjoyed being a cowgirl, but she didn’t want to look like one all the time. And the boots made her feet hot and sweaty. She drove back her thoughts on what she would wear that would made Reed Watson’s eyes shine with approval.

  * * *

  Reed waited in the bar, anxious for Kenzie to arrive. He noticed his palms were sweating. It had been a long time since a woman made him sweat. The feeling was exciting as well as disarming. A lot like Kenzie herself. A waitress appeared with a glass of wine. She set a napkin down on the table and then the glass on top of it. The stylized logo of the Casa de Mariposa decorated the center of the napkin. For a moment, he could only stare at it. He owned a casino. He wanted to pinch himself. How had this happened?

  A glance around showed the bar was almost full. The chiming of the slot machines outside gave him a thrill. He owned slot machines, a roulette table, a bunch of blackjack tables, and God knew how odd that felt.

  He’d met Miss E. when she’d taught a poker class in Las Vegas. He’d been fascinated by her lecture. He’d gone back several times trying to figure out the different odds of the game. Finally she’d started giving him private lessons. And when the poker tournament had come along, he’d been happy to sponsor her, certain she’d win the Casa de Mariposa. Even Lydia, who’d also sponsored her, had been surprised. And now the three of them were co-owners.