“Kaju-yaya? What the heck is that?” Kiki rubbed her hand down her face. She really was clueless with this kind of stuff.
“Kajukenbo is a martial art from Hawaii. Sam’s a black belt and taught us this move after she flattened Zeke.” Rafe pressed the heel of his hand over his eye, then peeked from the other at her. His head had to be throbbing. “I haven’t shown you that security feed yet?”
Kiki shook her head. She’d remember if she’d seen the graceful Samantha Greene take her tough husband out.
Rafe laughed, then quieted to a moan. “It’s a good one. I’ll show you later.”
He pushed to his knees, shook his head, then stood up with a slight wobble. Would he be okay? Kiki scrambled to her feet, prepared to catch him if he fell again.
“Right now, I’m going home.” He moved his head from side to side and winced. “Maybe if I whine to Piper, I’ll get some sympathy.”
Lena snorted. “One look at you, and Piper will go all Florence Nightingale on you.” She tipped her water bottle toward Rafe. “You can thank me later.”
“With this killer headache, I don’t think I’ll be thanking you at all.” Rafe lifted his hand as he headed for the door. “Good match.”
“Any time you want a good thrashing, you know where to find me,” Lena hollered after him.
“Whatever,” Rafe scoffed. “I could take you.”
Lena chuckled, took another drink, then inspected Kiki like she contemplated how to decimate her next victim. “What are you wearing?”
Kiki glanced down at the matching skort set. What could Lena possibly find wrong with it? So what if it was cute? It happened to also be functional.
“What?” Kiki lifted her hands in confusion.
“Nothing.” Lena rolled her eyes and set her bottle on the floor. “Just don’t come crying to me when mat burns cover your legs.”
Kiki wrinkled her nose. She hadn’t thought of that. She shrugged. She ended up with those, no matter what she wore.
“Okay. I won’t.” Kiki clapped her hands together. “All right, master of all things diabolical. I want to learn that fancy move.”
Lena just shook her head and chuckled.
“Come on, Lena.” Kiki hated the whiny sound of her voice. “I’ve been working with you for months. Can’t you at least show me what you did? It didn’t look that hard.”
Kiki held Lena’s gaze as she approached, not willing to show any sign of weakness. Lena circled Kiki, poking her in the shoulder like she was checking for muscles. Lena stopped when she got in front of Kiki and crossed her arms.
“It’s not a rookie move, Cookie.” Lena lifted her eyebrow. “You have to advance toward your opponent in order for it to work. Think you could handle that?”
Kiki swallowed the doubt in her throat and nodded.
“All right. Let’s train.” The smile that spread across Lena’s face looked more predatory than friendly.
Kiki’s palms slicked with sweat. She could do this and prove that she was tougher than some flaky pastry. She just hoped she survived the next hour without breaking something.
Five
Kiki rolled her shoulders as Lena turned to stir whatever magic she cooked on the stove for dinner. Kiki didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she hurt. Everywhere. Lena had put her through the wringer before she attempted to teach her the super-duper, bring-down-men-in-one-hit move. Kiki doubted she could ever pull it off, but she’d focused on everything Lena said, hoping through some miracle she could actually do it.
Then, after she’d grabbed a yogurt and apple in the lounge, she’d gone to the corral to help Derrick. She hadn’t known what to expect, but spending the next hour talking softly to the horses while Derrick curried and checked their injuries hadn’t been it. He’d said it had taken him the entire time she’d been with Lena to coax the poor girls into the stables, and he just needed her to hold their bridles so he could tend their wounds. Her cheeks heated, remembering his off-handed comment about her sweet voice soothing the scared mares.
Unlike the hour with Lena, she hadn’t wanted that time in the stables to end. She’d tried to shake off the weight of disappointment when Derrick had said he didn’t need any more help. She really didn’t want to muck out filthy stalls, even if every minute with him and the mares had been more settling than any she’d had in a long while.
So, she’d come back to the house, washed the sweat and grime off of her, and put on her flirty summer dress that flared when she spun and her cowgirl boots. She desperately needed to tap into her Texas roots. It wasn’t the toe-curling cowboy with a soft spot for helpless animals that had her blaring her country music, longing to do a little two-stepping. Not at all. She’d just been away from home a little too long and wanted to remember the fun she used to have before her world crashed down around her.
She tapped her foot, bouncing her shoulders, and sang along to the Zac Brown Band’s Chicken Fried as she chopped the sweet peppers for the salad. She had mastered the art of salad making since moving to the ranch. After several inedible dinners and a near house fire, the others had let her focus on putting together the salad for her contribution to dinner most nights. Other nights, she’d order something in.
Boot Scootin’ Boogie came over the speaker, and Lena groaned. “I don’t mind country as a whole, but this honky-tonk stuff is just too much.”
Kiki put the knife down and spun twice to her phone and pressed the next button. Sold by John Michael Montgomery came on. Kiki smiled and kicked up her heels as Lena covered her ears.
“For the sake of our friendship and your safety, please change it.” Lena glared at Kiki, though the smirk on her lips negated the look.
The front door opened as Kiki danced back to her phone.
“Come on, party pooper. This is great music.” She clicked her screen to skip to the next tune in the shuffle.
“Hey! I like that song.” Derrick came through the front door covered in dirt and looking exhausted. “Reminds me of the fairground dances after the rodeos in high school.”
“Lena’s against dancing, having fun, and fantastic music.” Kiki smiled as she spun in the open space of the living room as the intro for Flatliner by Cole Swindell beeped.
One of Kiki’s favorites, the fast pace always made her body move. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands as she danced, pretending she was in the dance hall back home. Colorado was cowboy country just as much as Texas was. Maybe she could find some place here to go dancing.
A warm hand spread across her lower back as another grabbed one of her hands. She jumped, her eyes flying wide open. Derrick twirled her into a two-step as he flashed a smile down on her.
Oh, boy.
There went her heart, jigging right out the door.
“Care to dance?” He pulled her up to him, one hand on her back and the other holding her hand against his chest.
Her head felt light, and her smile could probably be seen from Mars. “Absolutely.”
“Hang on.” He winked, then pushed her out while grabbing her free hand and twisting their hands over her head so she ended with her arms crossed over her chest and her back up against him.
“Whoop!” She laughed as he spun her out and back in and out.
Her cheeks hurt from smiling as he threw her this way and that, sending her behind his back and pretzeling their arms. Derrick’s deep chuckle slid to her toes, and if she wasn’t moving so fast, she swore they would curl in her boots.
“You go, girl!” Lena hollered from the kitchen where she clapped them on.
Kiki stared up into Derrick’s eyes as he pulled her close and two-stepped a circle. His gaze held a twinkle she hadn’t seen before. Then, as if he’d caught his breath or was ready to steal hers, he spun her around so many times she lost count. His hand slid behind her neck, and she dipped almost to the ground. He pulled her up with his hand still cradling her head, spun her once, then dipped her the other way, even lower.
Man alive! Could he dance or what?
The song had one more chorus, and she desperately wanted it to last longer. He opened his arms wide and spun her around, stopping with their arms tangled between them. He gazed at her through the hole their arms created, and her breath caught in her chest. Was his brain running wild like hers? Probably not. He sent her through a series of spins, her bobbed hair and skirt flaring wide.
She closed her eyes to bring herself back to reality, willing her traitorous heart to stop pounding from his closeness. Her eyes popped opened as he dipped her low, his face inches from hers. The song ended and both their chests heaved as he leaned over her. Her phone unfortunately chose that moment to play It’s Your Love by Tim McGraw. Her cheeks turned hot with the sappy words about love sending a shot right through her.
She licked her parched lips and tried to control her breathing. She could not let her crush on Derrick come out into the light, not if she wanted to find her place among this family of friends. His eyes darted to her lips, then his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
He jolted her up and spun her back to the counter before letting her go. “Welp, I stink like I rolled in the compost pile. I’m off to shower.”
Her nose wrinkled at the pungent smell that she hadn’t noticed when he’d held her in his arms. He threw his head back and laughed, saluting to Lena as he jogged downstairs to the guys’ floor like it was just another day at the ranch. Maybe to him it was, but to her, she felt like a high-schooler again and the star quarterback had just said hey to her. Kiki leaned against the counter so her knees didn’t give out from under her.
“That Derrick.” Lena shook her head as she turned back to the stove. “He’s always been the first to swing a pretty lady around the dance floor.”
Kiki forced a laugh out as her heart tumbled to her toes like a rock kicked off the mountaintop. There was no reason whatsoever for her to get all depressed over the fact that she was just one of Derrick’s many dancing partners. That was more than okay with her.
Liar, her heart whispered to her brain.
Yeah, so? Her brain feebly countered.
She shook her head as she went back to assembling the salad. It was definitely time for her to find some diversions away from the ranch. Especially if she wanted to keep her worn out heart intact.
Six
Derrick rubbed his belly as he made his way to the theater room, glad for a relaxing night doing nothing. Lena’s baked salmon was the best. They weren’t entirely sure what she did to it, but it was always five-star delicious. Davis especially loved it, being the fishing fanatic that he was.
“Davis is going to cry like a baby when he realizes he missed your salmon, Lena.” Derrick chuckled as he walked toward the movie cabinet to grab the remote.
“Mom sent an entire cooler full of fish.” Lena jumped into a recliner, tapping something into her phone. “I plan on making a big feast next time everyone is home.”
“Great. Then we’ll never have salmon again.” Derrick grumbled.
It had been several months since one or more of them hadn’t been away on some job. Right now Davis and Tina were searching for a lost teenager over by Estes Park with Scout, Tina’s Belgian Malinois, a retired military dog that had needed a home. The missing kid’s parents had hired help from the private sector, not trusting the local authorities to do a thorough job. Cooper was out in Hawaii doing some kind of reconnaissance for Zeke. Sosimo and June were in Texas working on something to do with her latest invention. Jake was glued to Chloe as she did her summer tour of music festivals. Rafe was who knows where … probably bowing down at Piper’s feet somewhere.
Derrick scowled as he glanced at the movie options. Though he loved that his friends had found happiness with wonderful women, the dynamic at the ranch had shifted from bachelor mayhem to couple paradise. It left him, Davis, Cooper, Lena, and Kiki out flapping in the wind. Sure, all the roommates had a lot of fun together and everyone on the ranch often hung out, but when Davis and Cooper went for a job, if Derrick wasn’t working himself, that left him with a bunch of women. He liked ladies as much as the next man, but never having sisters growing up hadn’t prepared him for suddenly getting three in his late twenties.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Kiki snatched the remote from his hand and squeezed between him and the movies. “No shoot ’em up movies tonight.”
Kiki looked up at him with her big blue eyes that rivaled the wide-open Montana skies he remembered as a child. Okay, so Kiki couldn’t be counted as a sister. The feelings she stirred up definitely wouldn’t fly in a family dynamic. Unless the circumstances were marital. Then, the thoughts swirling through his head definitely would fly—like stratosphere-high flying.
“What?” Derrick couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about.
She placed her delicate hand on his chest and the remaining thoughts he’d been gathering together fizzled to nothing.
“Please, no shooting or blowing up or punching faces movies tonight.” Kiki shook her head. “I can’t take any more violence today.”
Derrick glanced at Lena and spread his hands wide in question. “What’s she talking about?”
Lena’s smile bordered on cruel satisfaction. “Cookie walked in on me flattening Rafe and knocking him out cold.” She shrugged. “I think it jarred her.”
Kiki jammed her hands onto her hips. “It wasn’t just that Kimjomama move.”
“Kajukenbo,” Derrick and Lena said at the same time.
“Whatever.” Kiki threw her hands up. “Then, I had training, bashing my fists into the bag until they hurt. Next, came keeping those poor mares calm so Derrick could fix them.” Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat. “Besides, I’ve watched hours and hours of your movies, and when we aren’t watching movies, you all are beating each other up over a football game or mock combat. Heck, even your card games get intense. I just want one night where I can laugh and maybe, heaven forbid, get goosies.”
“Goosies are overrated,” Lena scoffed.
Derrick didn’t know what the heck goosies were, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be watching something that could cause them. Kiki placed her hand on his chest, and tiny bumps rushed along his skin from her point of contact. Oh … goosies.
He took a step back and bowed to cover his unease. “I give all movie choosing rights over to you.”
“Really?” Her eyes darted from him to Lena and back. “You two are going to let me pick?”
Did they really run so ramrod over her that she didn’t think they’d let her choose a stupid movie? Some friends they were. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, trying to erase the discomfort her question brought. Had he become a bully in their friendship, always forcing his way?
He’d had a brilliant afternoon. With Kiki’s help, tending to the horses had been easy rather than the fight he’d expected. Shoot, her peaceful whispering to the mares had slid into his gut and settled his frazzled nerves that always zinged for days after a rescue. When he’d come in and swung her into his arms, it had been the perfect cap to a successful day. It wasn’t her, not really. Two-stepping with any dancer as talented as Kiki would’ve made him happy. Most likely.
Derrick plopped on to the couch, determined to be a better friend to Kiki than he had been. She paced in front of the movies, mumbling something to herself. The crinkle in her forehead was adorable, like the movie she picked was a matter of life or death. His eyebrows furrowed. Maybe to the soft-hearted woman it was.
“So, bad day?” Derrick pulled the handle to the footrest and reclined back.
“Huh?” Kiki stopped her pacing.
Man, she really was focused.
<
br /> “You had a bad day?”
“No, not really.” Kiki began pacing again. “Actually, it was pretty good. It’s just seeing Rafe laid out like he was and spending an hour learning how to neutralize an unknown enemy kind of rattled me.”
Lena snorted, earning a glare from Kiki, which Lena missed with her head buried in her phone. “You are far from neutralizing anything, let alone an enemy.”
Kiki’s shoulders slumped, and Derrick wished he could knock Lena over the head. Kiki wasn’t ex-military like the rest of them. Up to last fall, she’d been nothing but a pampered socialite, someone they’d most likely be hired to protect. He admired she was trying to become stronger and had moved from under her parents’ influence.
Kiki shrugged and clicked the TV on. “I may not be able to counter an attack yet, but I will.”
He hoped she never had to.
“Speaking of training.” Lena lowered her phone and looked at Derrick. “I’m starting a new assignment tomorrow. I have the good fortune of posing as a nanny. It looks like it might last a while. Think you could take over Kiki’s training for me?”
“Oh, no.” Kiki shook her head, her brown hair flying out around her shoulders. “Derrick has enough on his plate. I don’t want to bother him with that.”
“I don’t mind helping.” Derrick held Kiki’s gaze, hoping to convey he wanted to. While he was at it, he’d make sure her training was up to par.
She stared at him, making his core heat and his skin itch. She nodded, then took a deep breath like she was preparing for something.
“Okay. You can train me, but only if you let me help you too.” She bit her lower lip.
Was she nervous he’d refuse? He honestly wasn’t sure how she could help him, but whatever she suggested, he’d go with.
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, two things actually.” Kiki twisted her hands in front of her. “One, I know funding your rescues has been a struggle. I’d like to help. Either show you how to make your accounts grow or manage it for you, if you’d like.”
Convincing Derrick Page 3