by Lori Foster
“You seen Mort?”
Having no idea who Mort might be, Reyes lied, “He usually shows up later in the day.”
“Tell him I was lookin’ for him, yeah?”
“And you are...?” For certain, they hadn’t come to his gym to work out, but then again, it’s why he had the place, so cretins like that could pass along info.
“Hoop.”
Novel name. “You got it, Hoop. You want to leave a number?”
“He has it.”
Reyes looked back at Will, who manned the desk. “You see Mort come in, tell him to call Hoop.” Then he walked away from Will’s confusion, because Will had no idea who Mort was, either.
Satisfied, the two-bit thugs left.
Reyes waited until they were out of sight before he went to Will. “If you see anyone named Mort, let me know.”
Will had learned not to ask questions, so he just nodded. He was a good worker, always showed up, and because Reyes paid him extra, he knew to keep his mouth shut and his eyes open.
The mystery woman regained his attention.
Guessing that she wouldn’t linger much longer, Reyes moved toward her through the crowd. Occasionally he answered a quick question for a patron, all the while keeping his gaze on her.
He was pretty sure she felt his attention, but she didn’t look at him again, not until he reached her.
Lips tight—very plump lips, he couldn’t help noticing—she pulled out her earbuds and draped the cord around her neck.
Damn it, he never hesitated to speak his mind with women, but with her being so unapproachable, he floundered.
With a resigned sigh, she looked up at him and asked politely, “What?”
“I’m Reyes McKenzie, owner of the gym—”
“I know who you are.”
She did, huh? But he noticed she didn’t introduce herself. He rubbed his neck, shifted his feet like a friggin’ schoolboy and waited.
This time she rolled her eyes before saying, “Kennedy Brooks. I’ve signed up for a year, but if there’s a problem with my membership—”
“There’s no problem.” Surprised him, though. Most didn’t choose the yearly option. In this part of town, people sometimes didn’t know from one week to the next if they’d have money or time. Most of his clientele was fluid, which was how his father had planned it. Lots of people coming and going made it easier to catch information from the street.
He’d tell Will to let him know from now on whenever they sold a big membership.
“Kennedy.” Somehow the name fit her. She probably stood five feet five, making her damn near a foot shorter than him. “You need any help?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
He should have walked away, but he didn’t. With Sterling’s certainty in his mind, Reyes said, “If you want to defend yourself—”
“Just getting in shape.”
Complete BS. She’d said it too quickly, and she didn’t meet his gaze. “I don’t think so.”
She’d just been ready to punch again but paused at his reply. Slowly, she turned to face him. Crossing her arms and cocking out a hip, she looked him over with mere curiosity.
No interest. Nope. Just like...she wondered why he was still bothering her.
Reyes sighed.
She half smiled. “Why do you say that?”
“I’ve been watching you,” he explained, hoping that’d lead into more.
“I noticed you watching,” she replied, with no invitation to extend the conversation.
Well, too bad for her.
“I was watching because I see the difference between getting in shape and learning how to fend off attackers.”
“Huh.” Very sexy lips curled. “Well, that confirms something for me.”
For whatever reason, he found himself stepping a little closer to her. “What’s that?”
Her chin lifted. “You’re not a mere instructor.”
Her insight nearly blew him over, but he quickly recovered. “I already told you, I own the gym.”
“So?” She rolled a shoulder. “You’re more than a mere gym owner, too.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Her lips were really distracting, especially when curved in a superior smile.
“You think you’re the only observant one here? No, Mr. McKenzie, I notice things, too.”
“Reyes.” Mr. McKenzie was his father, for Christ’s sake.
“Like you listening in to those young toughs. I noticed that, as well. Did you hear anything insightful?”
Well, hell, this lady was dangerous. “I give my attention to everyone who comes in.”
“Yes, there’s attention, and then there’s listening in on a conversation to ferret out info.” She gave his own words back to him. “I see the difference. So, Mr. McKenzie, how about you mind your business and I’ll mind mine, and we’ll get along just fine.”
Well... He really had no idea how to react to that, so he merely saluted, said, “Carry on,” and stalked away. He wasn’t running, but it did feel like a strategic retreat.
This time he felt her gaze drilling into his back.
Later, he’d give Sterling hell. For now, though... Kennedy intrigued him even more. He couldn’t get her off his mind—and the fact that she didn’t pack up and leave immediately, that she stuck around, glancing at him every so often, felt almost like a dare.
Or an invitation? Not likely.
He wouldn’t act on it anyway, not yet. He didn’t want to be a creeper who bothered the clients. But he wondered if she reconsidered her stance, maybe she’d approach him next time.
It was a nice little fantasy, one that included him getting his hands on that plump backside... Shaking his head, he retrieved his cell phone and sent Cade a message about what he’d heard. Four guys probably didn’t mean anything, but a farm in Aspen Creek might. Never hurt to share the tidbits he heard.
He’d just finished when Will called out to him. “Hey, Reyes, you have a call.”
As he headed to the desk, he decided it was time to get his mind off a certain prickly-but-somehow-sexy woman. He wasn’t a glutton for punishment like his brother.
Yet even as he made that vow, his attention wandered back to her. He needed things with Adela and Mattox to blow; that’d give him something else to focus on.
While speaking with the head of a youth group about sponsoring a field trip, he deliberately turned his back on Kennedy. When he heard the front door open, he jerked around and saw her walking through it, her gym bag in hand.
Even while keeping up with the phone conversation, Reyes tracked her movements through the big front window. She scanned the parked cars, up and down the street, her gaze watchful. Made sense for the neighborhood, but he sensed it was more with her, like an ingrained wariness.
Most people took safety for granted; clearly Kennedy did not.
Reyes saw the moment her attention snagged on something out of range of the front window. Frowning, she tossed her bag into a little red compact, relocked the car and headed slowly, cautiously along the sidewalk and out of view.
What the hell?
Too curious to ignore it, he wrapped up the call so quickly he bordered on rudeness, ending with, “Sorry, something’s come up, but sure, I’d be glad to sponsor. Just give the details to Will. Thanks.” He handed the phone to Will, then hurried out the door just in time to see Kennedy walk between the two buildings.
All kinds of shady shit happened in the alleys. Never mind that it was the middle of the day, or that he wore only shorts.
Reyes went after her, his stride long and fast—until he spotted her kneeling next to some garbage cans. Behind a broken-down cardboard box was...a very mangy cat.
“Careful,” he said softly, already moving forward to join her.
“Shh,” she replied
without looking up, as if she’d already known it was him. “He’s scared.”
Reyes could imagine. The cat, who had probably once been white but was now too messy to tell for sure, had very strange eyes, one pale gray, the other mustard yellow, and a little...googly. Mud and filth streaked his face, and part of his tail was missing.
He hunkered back, eyeing Reyes.
“Do you think we can catch him?”
Staring at her, Reyes asked stupidly, “Catch him?”
“He’s hungry,” she cooed.
Cooed.
For him, she’d been all snippy and smug, but for a mangy cat—And then he heard a softer, squeakier little sound. Ah, hell. Resigned, he let out a groan.
“Shh,” Kennedy said again.
Her bossiness made him grin. “That’s not a tomcat.”
She didn’t look at him, only asked, “No?”
“You don’t hear it?”
“What?”
“Kittens.” The tiny meows came again—very nearby, in fact.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth forming a soft O. Then she breathed, “Kittens.”
Yeah, he knew exactly what that expression meant. Either way, he’d have helped the cat, but kittens changed the manner he would have used.
When she started to stand, he said, “No. Don’t start looking for them yet. They’re close by, but we might spook the mama if we disturb them before we’ve won her over.”
Trusting him, at least on that, Kennedy nodded. “Right.”
Reyes considered the situation. “If she’s nursing, she needs to eat.”
“I was trying to figure out how I’d sneak in a cat, but a cat with kittens?” Kennedy turned to him. “Where I’m staying, pets aren’t allowed. What are we going to do?”
We? Minutes ago she’d told him to buzz off, but now they were working together? Okay, he’d take it. “If I can corral her, I can put her and the babies in my office for now.” Responsibility for the cats would give them a neutral link, one that might bridge the divide so she’d tell him what she was up to, and whose ass he needed to kick for her.
“Would you really?” Excited now, she smiled at him, a genuine smile that made him want to lick her mouth.
Down, he ordered himself. “Keep an eye on her while I go find a box. I packed food for later today—we might be able to use it to lure her in.” We. He used that word, reinforcing it for her.
And she didn’t object.
But that was a little too easy, so he wanted it confirmed. As he stood, he asked, “You will be back to help me figure this out, right?”
“You know I come to the gym nearly every day. Of course I’ll be back.” Just then, the cat crept out enough to butt her head into Kennedy’s extended hand. “Aw.”
The lady looked very different when she was being all gentle and sweet. She looked a little too appealing, in fact.
Maybe seeing all that overblown chemistry between Sterling and Cade was starting to wear on him. Not that he wanted anything that substantial...but it did have him looking at Kennedy differently.
Before he said or did something stupid, he went inside to get what he needed. He returned with a nice-sized cardboard box, a plush towel in the bottom of it and half of his chicken salad croissant.
Kennedy had the cat nearly in her lap at that point. “After this, I’ll pay for her food and whatever else she needs.”
No way would he commit to that. “Let’s just see how far we get today, okay?” He held out the sandwich.
Kennedy gave him an incredulous look over his bait. “Croissant? You?”
What did she think, that he sustained himself on Cheez Whiz and beer? “It’s delicious—but I didn’t make it.”
Her brows leveled out. “Ah, girlfriend?” Then on the heels of that, with a darkening frown, she asked, “Wife?”
That particular acerbic tone caused a laugh that startled the cat.
While she won the scraggly thing over again, Reyes said around a big grin, “No girlfriend, definitely not a wife.”
Her jaw flexed over the way he stressed the word, but she said nothing. It took only seconds to locate the kittens in a torn bag of trash. Reyes carefully transferred them into the box. There were only three, thank God. He double-checked, looking everywhere. The mama, still on Kennedy’s lap, went alert and immediately started fretting...until she found the food.
Making a sound somewhere between a purr and a growl, she devoured it but still kept her eyes on Reyes. She ate the entire sandwich, croissant roll and all, which made him realize just how hungry the poor thing had been.
When she finished, she went into the box with her kittens, circled once, then lay on her side to lick her paw while the kittens nursed.
Yeah, that melted even his own heart a little.
Standing close to his side, Kennedy whispered, “She was starving.”
He glanced down at her, then had to look away again. He’d never seen a woman with quite that particular mix of tenderness and sympathy.
“She’ll be fine now,” he assured her, slowly closing the box so she couldn’t leap out the minute he moved her. He was about to suggest that Kennedy walk with him, one hand on the cardboard flaps, until he got the animals inside, but his phone beeped, and when he checked the message, he saw it was go time.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WATCHING STAR STIR awake from her nap was a distinct pleasure, one that Cade wanted to enjoy every day for the rest of his life.
She still had a towel, now lopsided, on her head, and a hickey on her shoulder. He lightly brushed his fingertips over the mark.
The core of his basic nature was to protect his own, and she was his now, whether she’d accepted that as fact or not. Eventually she would. He’d see to it. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
On a sinuous stretch, she murmured...and settled again.
Knowing he’d caused her exhaustion with sexual excess left him aching with renewed lust—and love. The urge was to cradle her close, coddle her, spar with her, train her, make love to her and then start all over again. Conversations, meals, showers, danger, sex... Sharing with her made everything better.
It struck him that he needed a lifetime of that, a lifetime with her.
The emotional overload left him combustible, agitated and needing her again. He curved his hand around her shoulder, absorbing the satiny feel of her skin, the warmth.
Her lashes barely lifted. “Cade?”
Smiling at her, he said, “You taste so good I’d prefer to have you for lunch. But since everyone will wait on us...”
Eyes popping open wide, she stared at him in blank surprise. “Lunch?”
Damn, she was a sweetheart with that comical confusion on her face. “Bernard has outdone himself, and he’s waiting for your praise.”
“Bernard,” she repeated, before coming up to one elbow and groaning. “It’s time for lunch already?”
“You’ve been asleep awhile.”
She reached up to keep the towel on her head. “But I never nap.”
Leaning in, Cade whispered, “Guess the awesome sex tuckered you out. I gave you two big Os, if you recall.”
The fog left her gaze and she grinned. “Of course I recall. Sex with you makes up my favorite memories.”
Severely disliking how she worded that, he clarified, “Reality.”
“What?”
“Us, together. That’s reality, not a memory.”
She softened, her lips curving. “You do like to say confusing things, but if everyone is waiting, I need to make myself presentable instead of trying to figure you out.”
She made to get out of the bed, but with a kiss, Cade took her down to the mattress again, his chest against the soft cushion of her breasts, one leg thrown over hers to keep her still. He searched her gaze, determined to gain an admission. “Tell me you understan
d, babe. Say that you like our relationship.”
“You kidding?” She ran her fingers along his jaw, around his ear to his nape. “Course I do. I’m not dumb.”
That answer didn’t really satisfy, either, but then, short of her telling him how much she cared, no answer would. Cade gave her a firm kiss. “Dad checked my stitches, bitched because I’d pulled one, and redressed it. If he says anything in front of you, ignore him.”
Blanching, she whispered, “Your dad knows what we were doing?”
Cade almost choked on his humor. Because teasing her was so much fun, he used the same hushed tone she’d had. “Yes.” Scorching heat rushed into her face, leaving her cheeks blotchy. The grin broke through. “He knows we were sparring.”
Relief took away her starch. “Not nice, you butthead. You knew what I was thinking.”
“I couldn’t resist. Seems to happen a lot where you’re concerned.” With a last firm kiss to her mouth, he rolled out of the bed, then hauled her up. “Bernard has hot roast beef sandwiches with caramelized onions on crusty bread—that’s the description he insisted I share, along with the warning that you’ll want to enjoy it while it’s hot, so hustle up. Lunch is in fifteen minutes.”
“Ack.” Beautifully naked, she darted around him, already whipping away the towel. “You should have told me all that five minutes ago!”
Sitting on the side of the bed, Cade listened to the blow-dryer and smiled with bone-deep satisfaction. Had he done this much smiling before Star? He didn’t think so. For most of his life he’d been driven. Driven to buck his father’s dictates, then to succeed in the army, and now to right wrongs for women and children exploited by traffickers.
Singular focus kept him on track, or at least it did before Star. Now he enjoyed thinking of her, seeing her, touching her. He’d always do the best he could, but responsibilities had moved aside to make room for pleasure.
To make room for Star.
When the noise quit, he found himself saying, “I have a decent place of my own.”
The door jerked open and Star stood there, still naked but now with her hair loose the way he liked it. She stared at him a moment, then stalked forward to get clothes. “A place other than this apartment?”
