by Karen Renee
“Yeah,” she said in a breathy voice.
“Good,” he grinned. “See you soon.”
Kenzie
MY EVERY INSTINCT WAS to bang my head on my desk, but I resisted. He totally called me out. I didn’t have to contact him personally, but I had. And he knew I wanted more than just to hear his voice.
Gah!
Seemed I needed to heed my own words to Aubrey: I should’ve done better because I damn sure knew better. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to ruin this before we had a ‘full date’, as he put it.
For some bizarre reason, I wanted to tell him about my morning conversation with Aubrey. That really was crazy on my part because if he’d been the man I was supposed to meet last Friday, he wouldn’t even know I had a daughter at this point. Yet, here I was, dying to lay it all on him. I had to keep myself in check.
“Earth to Kenzie,” Lydia called, standing a foot from my desk.
“Sorry, I was in my own world.”
She sat in a chair across from me. “I could see that. The expression on your face tells me I don’t want to be in that world. So, what are you freaking out about?”
The chime for the door dinged and I shook my head. “It’s all good, Lydia. I’m not freaking out, and I’ll keep my cool so I don’t scare away any customers.”
Her eyes narrowed at me, but Mr. Baer walked toward us.
My brows furrowed. “Is something wrong, Mr. Baer? Lunchtime is normally your busiest time of the day, so what are you doing here? Not that we’re not happy to see you.”
He chuckled. “My nephew is watching the cart, and it’s a slow day since it’s likely to rain. But, I forgot to get more quarters yesterday.”
I looked out the window and noticed it had started to sprinkle. My guess was that Brute wouldn’t be dropping by on his bike.
Sheree called from the counter, “We got plenty of quarters, and I’d be happy to help you, Mr. Baer.”
He shuffled away.
I expected Lydia to return to her office, but she gave me a hawkish look. “You can talk to me, Kenzie. But I’ll leave you alone.”
Any other time, forty-five minutes would whiz by me, but today, waiting on Brute to swing by, they dragged. The fact I paused to glance at the door every time the chime went didn’t help. When the door chimed again, I forced myself to focus on my email. That was until Lydia cleared her throat meaningfully.
I gave her my big eyes but schooled my features when I noticed Brute standing next to her. He wore his leather cut, along with a long-sleeve cerulean cotton shirt and a pair of well-worn jeans. As built as he was, Lydia looked like a shell of herself standing next to him.
She gave me a look that said she knew why I had been freaking out earlier. “I believe Mr. Vaillant is here for you, Ms. Whitehall.”
I locked my computer and grabbed my purse. “I’m taking my lunch break, if that’s not a problem, Lydia.”
She shook her head while giving me a knowing smile. “See you in an hour.”
When I drew near Brute, he shifted so he could wrap his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “How you doin’, Kenzie? You sure were off in your own world, babe.”
I leaned into him as we walked. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
He chuckled as he led me out the door. As I suspected, he wasn’t on his bike, but he’d parked his truck around the corner of the building and out of sight of the windows even though there were plenty of open spaces.
“Why’d you park way over here?”
His arm guided me so my back faced the truck. “So none of your nosy coworkers watch me do this.” His lips met mine for a kiss which started out gentle but quickly turned forceful. I went up on tiptoes to slide my arms around his neck. His arms went around my waist and held me tight.
This was crazy. Him kissing me fired me up and his words from last night hit me. He was right. I did light up when he kissed me. If I wanted to play things cool with him, this was not the way to do it!
I lowered to my normal height, which pulled my lips from his. “Well, it’s nice to see you, too.” I mumbled, looking at the hem of his cut.
He laughed. Then his fingers lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes. “Don’t get shy around me, gorgeous.”
I turned my head thirty degrees, but his fingers forced my face back to him.
“Don’t you deny it, baby. Thought you heard me when we met.”
I smiled. “I did. You said not to give you any lip about it. That doesn’t extend to skeptical looks.”
His face came closer and I noticed his dark stubble. If he’d shaved this morning, I’d be surprised. He smiled fully and I noticed he had a dimple.
“Now it does,” he whispered.
After a long blink, I smiled and said with mock petulance, “Fine.”
He chuckled, opened my door for me, and waited for me to climb into his truck. If I’d known I’d be climbing into a Ford F-150 today, I wouldn’t have worn such a tight dress. Luckily, the fabric had some elastic in it and I was able to get in without tearing the slit. When I looked down at Brute, his eyes were rapt on my ass.
He glanced up at me, his eyes hot. “Really like your suit, babe.”
“It’s a dress,” I blurted.
“Whatever. It’s fuckin’ hot on you.”
He slammed my door and rounded the hood of the truck shaking his head. What he had to shake his head about, I wasn’t sure, but I suspected it had to do with my ruffle-waist belted dress that looked like a suit, but wasn’t.
Once behind the wheel, he closed his door and leveled a look at me. “You make your work clothes look that good, babe, I can’t wait to see what you wear tomorrow night.”
“That’s putting some pressure on me, Brute.”
He chuckled. “Serves you right, because you’ve damn sure put pressure on me. And I’m used to pressure being relieved, not building like it is.”
“Okay,” I mumbled.
He shook his head. “Don’t read into that, lady. I’m just saying, you’re doing a number on me, and we’ve only kissed. Been a long damn time since that’s happened.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I do light up when you kiss me. It’s embarrassing.”
He reversed out the parking spot and motored us toward the road. “Don’t be embarrassed. That shit’s a turn on no matter what anybody else thinks.”
“What?” I asked reflexively. I didn’t actually want any explanation, but he shot me a look with a lop-sided grin.
“You light up with a kiss, I can’t fuckin’ wait to see what you do when I suck your clit.”
My eyes widened with surprise, but that was overpowered by the heat scoring straight to my clit and my nipples. He talked this dirty when we weren’t in bed, I couldn’t imagine how he’d speak when we were.
I hadn’t realized how quiet I’d been until he asked, “Cat got your tongue?”
I pressed my lips together, and looked at him from the corner of my eye. “Suppose that’s one way to put it.”
He’d yet to pull into traffic, and vehicles zoomed by us steadily, so he didn’t have to focus on the road. His brown eyes skated up and down my face. Then he tipped his head back and laughed really loud. My body lurched toward his when his hand darted out to my neck and dragged me toward him. He kissed my temple. “You’re too fuckin’ funny, Zee.”
I grinned up at him. “I aim to please.”
He shook his head, focused on the oncoming traffic and took us to lunch.
MY BELLY THREATENED to burst from my dress, I was so full. Brute had warned me I wouldn’t get a bigger or better burger anywhere in town. It was definitely the biggest burger I’d ever eaten. As I leaned back in my chair, Brute’s lips twitched like he fought smiling at me.
I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes. “Don’t get full of yourself, mister.”
Across the table from me, he raised his hands in the air. “Didn’t say anything, Zee.”
I nodded and stared off into spa
ce.
He seemed to be staring into space too, but then he asked, “Why’d you really call me?”
His ability to see right through me scared me as much as it excited me.
“I... I feel like it’s oversharing. I mean, I shared too much last night when I told you my girl wants me and her Dad to get back together.”
He shook his head. “Not oversharing, Kenzie. Last night or now, so hit me with it.”
I told him how I explained to Aubrey that when people broke up they should remain broken up.
He nodded as he chewed a french fry, but his facial expression said he wanted to argue with me.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Just thinking you over-simplified things.”
I picked up the last bite of my pickle spear and pointed it at him. “She’s six. Believe you me, simplifying things is the name of the game,” I said, popping the pickle in my mouth.
His lips pressed together for a long moment. “I wouldn’t be so sure. My parents separated when I was seven, maybe eight. I knew more than they thought I did. Though they assumed I didn’t hear them yelling and arguing. You’re right to make sure she doesn’t have false hope of you and your ex getting back together, but not every break-up is final.”
Part of me wondered if Brute didn’t hold on to a portion of his boyish outlook with those words. At the same time, though, I understood him. Neither Veronica nor Caleb had shared what spurred the whole thing, so for all I knew with the right counseling and enough work it could be worked out. Possibly.
“You might be right. Seeing as I’m not part of that situation, I can’t speak to any of it. But, since papers have been served and Veronica said she was moving, it’s better to keep Aubrey focused on what’s real.”
He leaned forward, putting his thick, sinewy, tattooed forearms on the tabletop. “You’re right, babe. I’ve only got my own experience to go on. And what sticks with me is Mom and Dad splitting, not as much Dad and his second or third wife.”
I couldn’t hide the disbelief in my voice. “Did you say, ‘or third wife’?”
He grinned. “Yeah. Second wife, I wound up with two stepsisters, and while that only lasted two years, those years were more than enough.”
My brows furrowed. “Why’s that?”
He shook his head and exhaled heavily. “I was fifteen, almost sixteen, when they moved in with us. I hated the idea of having stepsisters. The fuck of it was that when Dad and Tori split up, it hurt me because I loved Stephie and Susan. Though I never told either one of them that before they moved.”
I closed my eyes because I knew they held way too much pity and it would bother him. That was heartbreaking and endearing at the same time. I opened my eyes and gave a feeble smile.
“Did you ever tell your sisters—”
He shook his head. “Don’t have sisters.”
I tilted my head meaningfully. “You have stepsisters which are sisters in their own right. Did you ever tell them how you felt?”
He shrugged. “Don’t matter. Stephie’s engaged to Har, and Susan’s in Jacksonville.”
I stared at him so long, he added, “Har’s my MC brother, and he got engaged the day we met, babe.”
It seemed oddly appropriate for his stepsister to be engaged to his motorcycle club brother on the very day we met.
With a nod, I asked, “Do you still love your stepsisters, even if you don’t think of them as that anymore?”
He sighed while giving me a serious look. “Don’t know if it’s you or what, but you got a way of putting us on heavy topics, Zee.”
That was deflection if ever I saw it, so I gave into it. I shrugged with a smile. “Sorry, Sam.”
“It’s all good, Kenzie.”
Chapter Five
Testing My Restraint
Brute
Brute dropped Kenzie off at the bank and drove away looking forward to picking her up Friday night. It had been a long time since he’d dated, but getting to know her was becoming addictive. He liked that she’d called him to have lunch. She was practically an open book, it seemed.
With nearly an hour to kill before his next appointment, Brute drove back to his office. He wouldn’t be able to stick around long, but paperwork never stopped.
When he pulled into the parking lot, his eyes sharpened on a black Audi parked in front of his office door. As he opened his door, Callie Gauthier high-tailed it to him. Her dark hair lifted when the wind kicked up and he noticed she was wearing a camisole without a bra along with her dark-wash skinny jeans.
“It’s about damn time, you showed up. Detective Tovar said you aren’t cooperating with them.”
He edged away from her, in order to shut his door. “Hard to cooperate when I haven’t seen Wreck in over a year. Not like I can conjure him out of thin air, Callie.”
She kept quiet and folded her arms under her breasts.
He wouldn’t let her distract him. “Anything else? I got work to do.”
Her eyes narrowed even as she leaned toward him. “Yeah, you can tell your assistant to get some manners. She’s rude.”
His lips twitched, as he thought that was reason enough to give Meg a raise. “I’ll advise her.”
She reached up, pushing on his shoulder, but he stayed still. Her lips curled with disgust. “You motherfuckers are covering for him. I knew you wouldn’t do right by Layla.”
He crossed his arms. “That’s bullshit, and you know it, Callie. Don’t put your hands on me again. We’ve done everything we can for her. Hell, you didn’t have to pay for her funeral as I recall. All the Riot brothers chipped in for that.”
She sneered. “The least you fuckers could’ve done since it was a Riot brother who killed her!”
He exhaled slowly. “You don’t know that. But, rehashing this doesn’t bring her back and it doesn’t make Wreck magically appear. Unless, you’ve got a remodel or some general contract business to conduct with me, we’re done here.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, but he didn’t care. He unlocked the office door and went inside.
Meg had only started working for him two weeks earlier, but she’d done him a world of good. He had six message slips on his desk and a folder with a bid she’d worked up for his approval before submission. The proposal looked decent, but he wanted to give it a closer look before signing off on it.
As he picked up the messages, the front door opened, and Meg walked in. “Thank God that lady left. Geez, she’s the worst. I mean, I get losing a sister that way is awful no matter what, but God! She acted like you knew what happened when I’m pretty sure you don’t.”
He tipped his chin down in agreement. “You’re right. I don’t know what happened to her sister, though the police think a man I know did it. Problem is, I haven’t seen him since before the murder.”
She leaned against the door jamb. “Seriously? That’s a real mystery. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it on the news or anything.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “It’s been over a year. It was all over the place when the crime was fresh.”
“That’s sad.”
“It is,” he muttered. He picked up the folder with the proposal in it and waved it. “This looks pretty good, but I gotta look at it closer before I give you the go-ahead. Thanks for working it up.”
She grinned. “Thanks. Did the two o’clock cancel? You’re cutting it close.”
He checked his phone and cursed. “Callie took way too much of my time. Were any of those phone messages urgent?”
“Nah.”
“All right, I’ll get to them this afternoon.”
THE PROSPECTIVE CLIENT’S home had light brown fiberglass siding and a shaker-style roof. A mini-van sat in the drive and he wondered if there would be any kids around, or if the owner would push him for time because of school pick-up.
Thinking about meeting a stranger’s child made him think about Kenzie’s daughter.
In the past he’d shied away
from women with kids, but a small part of him was looking forward to meeting this girl. Probably because he related to her wanting her parents to work things out.
He knocked on the door. A middle-aged man wearing business-casual clothes answered and invited him inside. They exchanged small talk while the homeowner led the way to the master bath he wanted remodeled.
A little boy popped up from behind a couch. “Hello! I’m four. Are you going to fix Daddy’s bathroom?”
He chuckled. “Hey, bud. I’m gonna take a look.”
“Can I come?”
The man made a dismissive noise, but Brute said, “Absolutely. You can show me what needs to be fixed.”
“Everything works, it’s just—”
Brute lifted his chin. “I gotcha. You said on the phone you want a remodel. Whole bathroom, you’re sure?”
The boy zoomed ahead of them while the home-owner slowed. “I think so. Price will be important. I’d like a shower stall, but also want an estimate without changing the tub, just to compare on price.”
“No problem, man. Let me get some measurements and see what we’re working with.”
In the bathroom, the boy stuck to him like glue and he found it funny.
“What are you looking in the cabinet for? Mommy didn’t like me looking in the cabinets.”
“Gotta check the pipes under the sink, little man. And your mommy sounds like a smart lady. You don’t need to be in the cabinets at your age.”
“I don’t think she’s very smart because she doesn’t like us any more.”
He shot an apologetic look at the homeowner, who nodded in understanding.
As Brute unhooked his measuring tape from his belt, the boy jumped up. “I have one of those! I’m gonna get it.”
“Evan,” the father admonished, but Evan raced away.
“Sorry for bringing up his mother,” Brute muttered as he noted the measurement, then entered it into his phone.
“Don’t be. Hell, it’s only because she left that I’m doing what I should’ve done to this bathroom back when I bought the place.”