Inseparable

by Brenda Jackson

  Hell! Why was he staring at her chest? And after the mental beat-down he’d given himself today, why was he still looking at her with yearning in his eyes again? What happened to Reese, the man who was nothing more than her best friend?

  He cleared his throat. “I heard you prepared dinner. I also heard you made enough to feed just about everyone within miles of here. I’m sure Tanker appreciates getting a night off. You couldn’t wait for Sunday, uh?”

  She threw her head back and laughed, and the sound seemed to float in the air on this incredible wave of clouds. It was the same air he was inhaling, and it was causing a shudder to rip through his body.

  “I don’t mind cooking. And besides, come Sunday I don’t know what shape I’ll be in after partying all Saturday night.”

  He hadn’t considered that, he thought, walking her into the house after handing the reins for Rollins over to Joe. But then he’d never known Alyson to give a wild party. She’d given one last New Year’s Eve and he would be the first to admit it had gotten a bit rowdy, but that was to be expected. The one she’d given a few months before that for her sister’s birthday had been rather tame. Her parents, who were strict when she was growing up, had been there, which is probably the reason no one was bold enough to cut loose.

  He picked up the aroma of lasagna the moment he entered the house. He’d had her lasagna several times before and she knew it was his favorite meal. “Hmm, something smells good in the kitchen,” he said.

  “I hope you like it,” she said, licking her bottom lip with her tongue.

  Why were his eyes following the movement of her tongue again today? He was tempted to tilt his head to the side and concentrate on it even more. “I know I will,” he said, knowing he needed to escape her presence, to see why he still had a few screws loose somewhere in his head. “I’d better go get washed up for dinner.”

  “All right. By the time you get back, everything will be ready.”

  He headed toward the stairs, taking them in quick strides while thinking he needed to focus all his energy on making sure he kept all his immoral thoughts to himself.

  Kenna moved around the kitchen trying to calm the frenetic energy that was making her heart beat like crazy in her chest. The horse ride was supposed to make her relax, but once she’d moved beyond the trees and seen Reese talking to Joe in the distance, all she could think about was that he was home and she couldn’t wait to see him, to tell him about her day and to hear how his day had gone.

  “I wasn’t expecting this.”

  She spun around when Reese returned to the kitchen. Her eyes roamed over him and the first thought that entered her mind was that she wasn’t expecting this either—at least not the way he was looking now. When he’d said he needed to wash up, she hadn’t expected him to shower and change. But he had, and the results were impressive. Not that he’d looked bad before, since Reese was a good-looking man to begin with. But for some reason the rays of sunlight coming through the window hit him at an angle that accentuated the deep, rich brownness of his skin and the long lashes covering his dark eyes. Standing in his bare feet, he slowly slipped a shirt on over his bare chest, covering the low-riding jeans that braced his hips.

  She’d seen him shirtless before, so that wasn’t the problem. It was the total package that was throwing her hormones off balance.

  Kenna did her best to suppress the rising heat as she turned back to the cabinet to retrieve the wineglasses. “I don’t know why you weren’t, Reese. You know I don’t half-step when I do anything,” she said. Since he had left that morning, Kenna had managed to make over his kitchen with an Italian-themed decor. Blade’s wife, Samari, was a mix of Italian and African-American, and had been more than happy to drop off a few items to help with the transformation.

  “You might as well sit down and dig in,” she said, moving quickly across the room with the glasses in her hand. For crying out loud, I need to find a boyfriend, and fast, she thought, trying not to stare too hard at him.

  With the grace of a man quick on his feet he crossed the room to take his place at the table. “Need help with anything?” he asked at the same time he began pouring wine into their glasses.

  She gave him her best smile. “You’re doing a great job at that. Just don’t give me too much wine. If you do I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.”

  “A far cry from what you did last night,” he said, handing her the casserole dish filled with lasagna. “I hope the movie last night was worth it.”

  She shot one dreamy-eyed look his way. “Are you kidding? It was Idris Elba—who I can watch any time day or night—although I’ve seen that movie at least three times already.” However, now was not the time to tell Reese that Mr. Elba had nothing on him.

  “A toast.”

  She glanced over at Reese and lifted her glass. “To what?”

  “To your move to Houston, your new job and to our friendship, which will last forever.”

  Her stomach made a somersault at the last part of the toast as guilt gnawed at her conscience. If he knew what her thoughts had been lately, he wouldn’t be so quick to toast their friendship, she thought. Before she could dwell on it, Reese clinked his glass to hers, sealing the toast.

  The question that immediately went through Kenna’s mind as she sipped her wine was how was she going to make sure their friendship did last forever?

  Reese couldn’t sleep. He had tossed and turned most of the night and now he felt thirsty, like his throat was dry and he needed water to quench it. He got out of bed and was about to go downstairs in the nude when he remembered he had a houseguest. How in the heck could he forget, when he had gone to bed with thoughts of Kenna on his mind?

  He had enjoyed dinner with her and he thought her Italian meal had been great. They had talked during dinner and then later over wine had talked some more. He had shared with her how Madaris Explorations was teaming up with Remington Oil to do a major project that would take him out of the country for a couple of weeks.

  Slipping into his jeans, he left his bedroom, but noticed the light from one of the spare rooms at the end of the hall. It was one of the rooms he hadn’t furnished yet and he mainly used it to store his workout equipment for whenever he found the time to use it. Lately, it was easier to just join Blade, Slade, Clayton and several of his cousins after work at the fitness center that had recently opened on the ground floor of the Madaris Building.

  He walked toward the room and noticed the door was slightly ajar. He glimpsed inside, and at that moment his breath caught. Kenna stood in the middle of the room wearing an oversize Houston Texan T-shirt he had given her last year, painting a canvas. The T-shirt barely covered the upper part of her thighs. And it was pretty damn clear she didn’t have anything on underneath. No bra, no panties. Nothing. Her beautiful legs were long and smooth, complementing her rounded hips and luscious thighs.

  His gaze moved upward to Kenna’s upper body. She had nice breasts. Although he’d never seen them bare, he knew they were firm and ripe. And he knew they were the real thing. He couldn’t say that about Alyson or some of the other women he’d been involved with.

  Although his focus was on her, Kenna’s focus was on her painting. When a lock of hair fell close to her eyes, she pushed it away, lifting her arm so that the T-shirt inched up higher on her thighs. Gracious.

  He drew in a deep breath when the beat of his heart increased. Okay, this attraction to Kenna was utterly ridiculous—totally out of line. Wasn’t it? In a way it was and in a way it wasn’t. He was a man, after all. But it was only lately that he’d begun to look at Kenna through the eyes of a red-blooded, lustful man who had more on his mind than just friendship. And that was wrong, especially since she didn’t expect or want anything else from him than what they already had.

  He felt an erection, hard and tight, press against his zipper and slowly backed up and headed in the opposite direction toward the stairs. Not only did he need a glass of water, it had to be a tall, cold glass that would not onl
y soothe his throat but also cool his body.

  “So what do you think of this, Kenna?”

  Kenna glanced over at Christy Madaris and the dress she was holding up to her body—a body that any woman would practically die for. Christy had gorgeous legs that looked good in anything she wore. But then the total package included a very beautiful young woman with naturally red hair and a vibrant smile.

  “For me, or for you?” Kenna asked smiling.

  “Does it matter?” Christy said, tossing curls from her face. Already the mother of a beautiful little girl, A.C., who looked just like her, Kenna had heard Christy and her husband, Alex, desperately wanted another child.

  Kenna studied the outfit, a flattering soft blue dress. She had seen it earlier and noticed it came in her size…but she knew it would look so much better on Christy. “I like it but…”

  Christy raised an eyebrow. “But what?”

  “My hips might be too much for it.”

  “Nonsense,” Christy said smiling. “You have just the right hips for it and with your small waist it will fit perfectly. Go ahead and try it on. I know it will look good on you.”

  Kenna hoped so, too. At first she didn’t think she’d be excited about the party. But since it was for her, and she knew she would be the center of attention, she wanted to look her best. Knowing the way Alyson’s mind worked, she figured there would be plenty of eligible men there, which was definitely what she needed. Hopefully, she would like at least one of them and would want to get to know him better. She desperately needed diversion from thinking so much about Reese.

  She hadn’t been able to sleep last night, so she had gotten up and painted instead. Even when she was wielding her paintbrush, she had thought of him in ways she should not have. She had awakened when he’d gotten up to get ready for work. She had been tempted to go down and join him in a cup of coffee before he left, but decided to leave well enough alone. Right now he was a temptation she’d rather not deal with.

  A half hour later, she and Christy left the shop with the dress in a shopping bag. The short and sassy number had looked better on her than she’d expected. Even some of the customers had complimented her when she’d stepped out of the dressing room for Christy to see. There was something about the cut of the dress and the way it fit snugly around her small waist and hugged her hips that made her feel sexy without looking too provocative. It was a dress that would probably tease a man in a subtle sort of way. It wouldn’t knock him across the head at first, but would chip away at his resolve until there was nothing left of his self-control.

  Knowing she would be on the hunt for a man at the party on Saturday, the thought of any man losing self-control because of her only made her smile.

  Chapter 8

  “I’m ready, Reese.”

  Reese turned at the sound of Kenna’s voice and immediately became transfixed. He stared at her totally mesmerized, wondering who in the world this gorgeous creature standing before him was.

  They had gone out together a number of times and she’d always looked good, true enough. But tonight she didn’t just look good, she looked ravishing—all five-foot-seven of her. From her head all the way down to her stilettoed toes. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen her in heels that high, but he would be the first to admit that her shoes did awesome things to the shape of her legs.

  Her outfit—heaven help him—had heat radiating from every part of his body. At that moment he was too awed to even try to rein in his sexual attraction. It was too intense. He’d always known she had delectable curves and a voluptuous body, but when had both become so alluring they would make a man’s jaw drop to the floor and weep. Lordy.

  She saw him staring, smiled, and then twirled around and said. “Well, how do I look?”

  He swallowed. When she’d twirled around in the short blue dress he could actually hear the swish of soft silk against her skin. He was certain he hadn’t imagined it. Instead of answering her question he had one of his own, but had to swallow again before he could ask it. “Where did you get that dress?”

  Her smile widened. “I bought it yesterday when Christy and I went shopping. And you never answered my question about how I look. Do you like it?”

  It definitely looked good on her and oh, yes, he liked it—a little too much. There was no doubt in his mind that any man who saw her tonight would like it as well. How could one dress make a woman look cool and elegant and hot and luscious at the same time?”

  “Reese?”

  He blinked and she lifted a perfectly arched brow, something else that was new. Her eyebrows always had a natural curve but now they had a seductive slant over her eyes. When had that changed?

  He decided he would answer her first question before asking another one of his own. “You look good as always. And yes, I like it.”

  She squealed with happiness and laughed before rushing across the room and slipping her arms around him to give him a hug.

  Moments later he held her back, lifted her chin up to study her features and then asked. “Your eyebrows are shaped differently?”

  She chuckled, pleased that he’d noticed. “Yes, Christy introduced me to the guy who does her brows. Don’t they look neat?”

  Yeah, they looked neat all right. What they did was emphasize her beautiful eyes, making them look soft and seductive. “Yes, they look neat.” What else could he say?

  “Come on, we don’t want to be late,” she said, tugging on his sleeve and pulling him toward the door. If only she knew how her touch was making him feel, hard and achy, she would let go of his arm.

  “Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked, tempted to dig in his heels. He wasn’t sure he was ready for anyone else to see her tonight. He knew the thought was crazy, but that’s the way he felt. He not only felt protective but also downright possessive. It didn’t make much sense, yet he felt that way.

  “Because the party is for me and I shouldn’t be late.”

  He thought he’d refrain from telling her that according to Alyson they were already late. She’d called twice. Evidently people had begun arriving early and were ready to party.

  “We’re taking your car instead of the truck,” she said, interrupting him as she glanced at the vehicle parked out front once they were outside.

  He frowned, not sure if it was a good idea or not, especially since he would have to watch her climb in and out of his Mercedes sports car in that dress. A few moments later when he opened the car door for her he knew it was definitely a bad idea. The moment her backside touched the leather seat, the hem of her dress raised an inch too high, showing a pair of gorgeous thighs. He suddenly had a fleeting thought about just what he could do with those thighs.

  Something hard twisted his gut as he visualized it. This wasn’t just any woman he was having lustful thoughts about. This was Kenna—his best friend. She was the one woman in the whole entire world he admired, trusted and respected. What kind of Kool-Aid had he been drinking lately, and whatever the flavor it had to have been spiked. A shudder rippled through him at the thought of how his mind had gotten warped ever since she had arrived on his doorstep a few days ago and he hadn’t come to his senses since.

  “Do you have a problem with my shoes, Reese?”

  He blinked and shifted his gaze upward toward her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because you’re staring at them.”

  She thought the reason he was staring was because of her shoes. She had no idea he hadn’t made it past her thighs. Besides, he had checked out her shoes earlier, and quickly came to the conclusion that on her feet they made her legs lethal. “No, I don’t have a problem with your shoes,” he said, deciding to leave well enough alone.

  He walked to the other side of the car and slid inside.

  “Then why were you staring at them?” she said.

  He shrugged as he buckled his seat belt. “You usually don’t wear heels that high,” he said.

  “Yes, I know,” she said, giving him a conspiratorial w
ink. “Tonight I plan to enjoy myself.”

  “And those shoes are going to help make that possible?” he asked as he backed out the driveway.

  “For what I have in mind, yes.”

  The words were spoken with determination, in a voice belonging to someone who had her mind made up. He struggled not to stiffen. Just what were her plans for tonight?

  For the time being he was better off not knowing. He tried to concentrate on his driving as he maneuvered over mostly barren roads as he drove toward the interstate. The distance from his home to the hub of Houston was about twenty minutes. Usually, he enjoyed the ride, but tonight he was feeling tense, and all because of the woman sitting in the seat next to him.

  She was wearing a different perfume, he thought. He had picked up on it. His gaze narrowed on the road. What the hell was going on with him? But the bigger question was what was going on with Kenna? He glanced over at her when he came to a stop sign. “Nice perfume.”

  A smile spread across what he thought was a pair of incredible-looking glossed lips when she glanced over at him. “You noticed?”

  How could he not, when he wanted to inhale her right there? “Yes, I noticed.”

  Her smile widened. “Good.”

  He lifted a brow. “And why is that good?”

  She chuckled. “Because when it comes to women you can be slow about noticing some things, Reese. That means if you of all people noticed my perfume, there’s still hope.”

  Hope for what? It took all he could do not to swear under his breath. He decided to change the subject and not dwell on the party. “You haven’t forgotten about Luke’s grand opening next weekend, have you?”

  She shifted in her seat and he heard silk rub against skin again. The sound made those lustful fantasies return to his head. He quickly shoved them aside.

  “No, I haven’t forgotten,” she said in what he thought was a sexy and husky voice.

  “I’ll take care of our plane tickets.”