by Kat Martin
Kenzie told herself it was none of her business. Reese was the boss. He could do whatever he pleased.
He pulled the Rover to a stop on Jackson Street in front of a narrow blue house with white trim. The cottage sat on tall stilts with a carport underneath. An upstairs deck accessed the front door.
They climbed the stairs to the deck and Reese knocked. Since infidelity was a tricky subject, Kenzie was taking the lead.
The door opened and a blonde with big hair and even bigger breasts stood in the opening. She was wearing pink flowered yoga pants with high-heeled sandals and a low-cut pink tank that showed everything but her nipples.
She had blue eyes as big as the rest of her assets and they ran over Reese as if she wanted to lick him like a lollipop. He took a step back as if he could feel the impact of that lusty stare.
Kenzie eased a little in front of him. “Hello, Suzy. I’m McKenzie Haines. We spoke earlier. This is Reese Garrett. He was aboard the Sea Titan chopper that went down.”
“Come on in.” Suzy stepped back, and they walked into a messy living room with bare wood laminated floors and an overstuffed blue velvet sofa and chairs. An open kitchen at the end of the room showed dirty pots and pans on the counter, but they were neatly stacked.
“You want something to drink?” Suzy asked. “Maybe a beer or a Coke or something?”
“I’m okay, thanks,” Kenzie said.
“What about you, handsome?”
Faint color rose beneath Reese’s tanned cheeks. It took a lot to unsettle him. Kenzie almost smiled.
“I’m fine,” Reese said. “We wanted to talk to you about the crash. We were hoping you might be able to help us.”
“Sure. Why don’t we all go into the living room? You don’t mind if I have that beer, do you?”
“No, not at all,” Kenzie said. “You know, now that I think about it, I’ll take you up on your offer and join you.”
Suzy grinned and seemed to relax, which was exactly Kenzie’s goal. She carried two beers into the living room and handed one to Kenzie, who sat on the sofa next to Reese.
“So what can I do for you?”
Kenzie smiled. “We’re trying to gather a little information. As I said, Reese was one of the passengers. We’re trying to figure out what went wrong. As a Sea Titan mechanic, your husband’s name came up.”
“Tex doesn’t work on the EC135. That was the model that went down. And he wasn’t even there the day it happened.”
“We just need something to go on,” Reese said. “We’re exploring different avenues.”
“What does the crash have to do with Tex, anyway? Like I said, he wasn’t at work. He was off fishing with one of his buddies.”
Kenzie took a sip of beer. It was cold and bubbly and tasted better than she expected. “His name surfaced because of Craig Bigelow, the copilot. When Craig’s name came up, so did yours.”
“Which indirectly connects Craig to Tex,” Reese added.
Suzy went silent.
“Craig’s a good-looking guy,” Kenzie continued, having seen his photo on Facebook. “We thought...kind of wondered if he had ever, you know...come on to you?”
Suzy glanced away. “Craig’s married.”
Kenzie had also seen Tex Lovell’s photo on the net, not big and burly, like the image his name conjured, but slightly built, shorter than average, and wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses.
“Sure, he’s got a wife,” Kenzie said, “but a lot of married guys have a bad situation at home, you know? They don’t get what they need. It’s not really their fault they stray. That is, if they meet an attractive woman and she isn’t getting what she needs, either.”
Suzy shrugged. “Craig might have come on to me a few times. A lot of guys do. I mean, you see what I look like. Guys love blondes with big boobs.” She looked at Reese as if she hoped he was one of them, but Reese was a master of self-control and his expression remained bland.
“So what did Tex think about that? I mean, if he knew Craig was hitting on you...?”
Suzy started nodding. “Okay, I see where this is going. You’re thinking Tex might have done something to the chopper because he was jealous of Craig.”
Suzy was smarter than she looked.
“Is that possible?” Reese asked.
Suzy’s gaze shifted back and forth between him and Kenzie. “I can tell you two have a thing, so I’ll be honest. My husband likes to watch. He doesn’t have a problem with me and another guy. He encourages it. Works for both of us.”
Kenzie felt as if her chair had just dropped through the floor. “I...umm...see.”
“That it?” Suzy asked.
Kenzie managed to nod. “Yes, I guess it is.”
Suzy flashed a smile and rose from her chair. “You two ever get bored with each other, give me a call. Maybe we can work something out.”
Kenzie set her beer bottle down on the coffee table and she and Reese both rose from the sofa. “Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, Reese is my boss, not my boyfriend.”
Suzy’s lips curved into a smirk. “Whatever.”
Anxious to leave before things got worse, Kenzie crossed the room to the door.
“Thanks for clearing things up,” Reese said as he stepped out onto the porch.
Suzy winked at him, flashed him a smile, and closed the door.
They got back in the car and Reese started the engine.
“I don’t think it was Tex Lovell,” Kenzie said as the Rover pulled into the street.
“Doesn’t look that way. Lovell’s motive has pretty much disappeared.” Clearly Tex wasn’t the jealous type, which meant he had no reason to want Craig Bigelow dead. Or at least none they knew about.
“I wonder why Suzy thought we were together,” Kenzie couldn’t resist asking.
Reese flashed her the same smoldering glance she had seen the night of the benefit, heat and need and something more, a combination that made her stomach lift alarmingly. Then it was gone, replaced by his usual distance and control.
He shrugged those wide shoulders. “Woman like Suzy, who knows.”
But Kenzie worried that Suzy Lovell had noticed her attraction to Reese that she worked so hard to hide.
She wondered how much longer she could hide it from Reese.
* * *
They were on the highway back to Houston when Kenzie phoned home. Reese listened as she spoke to her grandmother, asking about Griff and her grandmother’s day.
Florence replied, and Kenzie smiled. “We just finished. We’re on our way back to the apartment.”
Her grandmother said something. Reese caught the blush that rose in Kenzie’s cheeks and wondered what her grandmother had said.
“I’ll be home tomorrow for sure, Gran.” She waited a second for Griff to come on the line. “Hi, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.” Griff must have asked about the weekend. “Don’t worry,” Kenzie answered. “We’re all still going to the museum on Saturday, just like we planned.”
The love she had for her son was unmistakable, and Reese felt an unexpected longing. He had wanted children badly. After his bitter divorce, that had changed.
“Your dad called?” he heard Kenzie say. The color leached from her face. “It was nice of him to ask, but you have a playdate with Tommy, remember? His mom invited us over to use their pool.”
Griff must have agreed because she relaxed back in her seat. “I’ll call your dad, explain why you can’t make it. Maybe you can see him next weekend.” Griff said something. “All right, have fun. I love you, honey. See you soon.”
Kenzie hung up and tipped her head back against the seat.
“I take it your ex wanted to spend Sunday with your son.”
She sighed. “I’ll have to tell Griff about the custody suit—or Lee will.”
“How will Griff take it?”
“He won’t have to.” Reese changed lanes, passing an SUV traveling slower than the rest of the traffic. “Wilcox will make sure it doesn’t happen.”
“I hope so.”
Drew Wilcox was the best family lawyer in Dallas. Reese was fairly certain he could win Kenzie’s case and she would be able to maintain custody, but nothing was ever certain.
His gaze slid toward her, settled on her mouth. He imagined the feel of those soft pink lips under his, and heat burned through him. He needed a drink, he thought, or a woman. Anything that would send his thoughts in a different direction.
If it weren’t for the stop he planned to make in the morning at the Harris County Jail, he’d have the jet fly down early, take them back to Dallas tonight. But he needed to follow this last lead to its conclusion.
He wearily rubbed the back of his neck as the apartment building appeared ahead. Pulling into the driveway, he parked and turned off the engine, breathed a sigh of relief that the long day had finally come to an end.
TWELVE
Kenzie sat on the sofa in the living room of the Houston apartment. It was 7:00 p.m. The long day over, she had changed into a soft yellow, loose-fitting knit top and a pair of dark brown yoga pants, slid her feet into a pair of kidskin slippers. She poured herself a glass of the white wine she’d found in the refrigerator and took several badly needed sips.
She should have relaxed. Instead, she sat on the sofa like a statue, listening to Reese as he moved around in his apartment, getting ready for the evening he had planned. With every minute that passed, her nerves stretched tighter.
She was good at her job. Better than good, and she loved it. But there was only so much she could take and today she realized that she had reached her limit.
Sure, the job paid a top-notch salary, but she could always find another place to work. She likely wouldn’t earn as much, but there were adjustments she could make to the way they lived, and she had a little savings to tide her over until she found another position. If she had to, she could find a cheaper place to live in Griff’s same school district.
Reese’s footsteps sounded on the carpet and she imagined him in his crisp white shirt and perfectly tailored designer suit, imagined how handsome he would look and what his date would think when she saw him.
She thought of them enjoying a meal together in an elegant restaurant, then Reese taking her home. Her throat tightened. She imagined him kissing her, the woman kissing him back.
She blocked the rest, the part she couldn’t bear to think about.
With a deep, fortifying breath, she rose from the sofa. She wasn’t a masochist. She had done her best to subdue her emotions, but she had failed. She had feelings for Reese and there was no longer any way she could ignore them. It wasn’t fair to Reese—or to her. Her ambivalence finally over, her mind made up, she resolved to do what she should have done sooner. It was time for her to quit.
Her hand shook as she set her wineglass down on the coffee table and started across the room. She couldn’t wait any longer. Not another minute. It had to be now, before her courage failed.
Her legs felt unsteady as she marched out into the hall, down the corridor, and stopped in front of Reese’s door. Her heart was throbbing, her chest squeezed tight. She ran her fingers through her hair, shoving it back from her face, taking a moment to steady her nerves. With a last deep breath, she knocked on the door.
If Reese had delayed, she might have weakened, turned around and run back the way she had come, but all of a sudden he was standing there looking down at her from his superior height, which, without her heels, made her nearly a foot shorter than he was. He was dressed exactly as she had imagined, except his suit coat was gone, the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up, revealing his muscular, tanned forearms.
“Kenzie.” His intense blue gaze swept over her, noting the pallor of her face or the pulse hammering at the base of her throat, maybe both. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Come in.” He stepped back and she caught the scent of Paco Rabanne, the cologne he favored, a combination of cinnamon, wood, and leather.
“Your color doesn’t look good,” he said. “There’s a wet bar behind the paneling. Sit down and I’ll get you a drink.”
“I’m...I’m fine. I just need to get this over with.”
His features shifted from concerned to wary. “All right. Tell me what’s going on.”
She swallowed, gripped her hands together in front of her to keep them from trembling. “I’m quitting, Reese. I’m giving you my two-week notice. I won’t just abandon you, of course. I’d never do that. I’ll come in whenever you need me until you find a replacement, but I’m quitting. I’m going back to Dallas tonight.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t just quit and leave. You don’t even have a ride to the airport.” He urged her over to the sofa, but she didn’t sit down.
“The jet’s picking us up in the morning,” he continued reasonably. “If something’s happened—if you have a problem at home—I can get the plane to fly in for us tonight.”
Her throat tightened. “There isn’t a problem at home. The problem is me, Reese. I’m the problem.”
“What is it, Kenzie? Tell me.”
Her eyes burned, began to fill with tears. She drew in a ragged breath. “I have feelings for you, Reese. I’ve done everything in my power to ignore them. I’ve managed until now, but I can’t go on any longer.” She shook her head. “It isn’t your fault. You’ve never done or said a single thing that wasn’t absolutely professional. The problem is mine, and as hard as I’ve worked to deny it, I can’t pretend anymore.”
Reese didn’t move, just stood frozen, staring at her as if she’d turned into another woman, someone he had never seen before.
Embarrassment slid through her, but she refused to stop until there was no way she could possibly turn back. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized how deeply she had come to care for him, how totally impossible it would be to continue working for him.
“I don’t know how it happened,” she rambled on. “Little by little it just did.” The tears in her eyes slid down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, but I can’t keep pretending it doesn’t bother me when you look at me without the least bit of emotion, like I’m a piece of furniture that just takes up space in the room. I can’t arrange your dates for you then imagine the two of you together. I can’t go on this way any longer.”
Reese’s beautiful blue eyes seemed to burn right through her. Suntanned hands reached out and caught her shoulders.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you’re standing here saying the exact same words I’ve wanted to say to you. You can’t pretend anymore, Kenzie? Well, neither can I.”
And then he pulled her into his arms and his mouth came down over hers.
For several seconds, shock held her immobile. When a rush of heat slid through her, desperation, longing, and a coil of hungry need all poured into the scorching kiss she returned.
Reese groaned. Cupping her face in his hands, he deepened the kiss, turning it hotter and wilder, and somehow unexpectedly sweet.
“Reese...” The whispered word came out on a sigh when he broke the kiss long enough to press his mouth to the side of her neck.
“I have feelings for you, too, Kenzie. I know I shouldn’t, but dammit, I do, and I’m tired of pretending those feelings don’t exist.”
Reese kissed her again, ravaging her mouth, his lips softer than she had imagined and at the same time firm enough to take complete control. The kiss was everything she had yearned for and more. But she hadn’t forgotten this was Reese. To him she was just anothe
r woman, another conquest.
Trembling, she pulled away. “Are you...are you sure you want to do this? What...what about your date? She must be expecting you.”
“I canceled.” His eyes remained on her face. “Last night, too. You’re the woman I want, Kenzie. It took me a while, but I finally figured out no other woman is going to erase you from my mind.” He took her mouth again, plundered it, drew her to the length of his long, hard frame.
Kenzie moaned. No other man was going to erase Reese from her mind, either. She craved him, hungered for him in a way she had never known before. She reminded herself this was Reese and whatever he felt for her wouldn’t last.
It didn’t matter.
Not tonight.
Making love with Reese was the only thing that could set her free. The only thing that could purge him from her heart and mind. Maybe afterward, she could move on.
“I didn’t know,” Reese said, pressing soft butterfly kisses to the corners of her mouth. “You never gave a single indication I meant anything more to you than just your employer.”
He meant more. Too much more. She went up on her toes and kissed him, a wet, hot, searing kiss that told him how much she wanted him. Her fingers were unsteady as she unbuttoned the front of his starched white shirt and pulled it free of his slacks, ran her hands over his six-pack abs and the lean bands of muscle on his chest.
“Reese...oh, God. I’ve wanted to touch you this way for so long.”
Hard muscle bunched beneath her fingers. Reese kissed her again, briefly this time, caught her hands and held them immobile in both of his.
“We don’t have to do this now, Kenzie. We can start over, take things slow and easy, get to know each other.”
But Kenzie already knew Reese. She knew he was a man of honor, knew how much he loved his family, how well he treated his employees, even his competitors. She knew that although he dated a lot of women, he was always up-front with them and never took advantage.