of all, you aren’t putting anyone out. I should have thought of doing it myself, but I didn’t. So maybe Alyson has the right idea after all.”
She took a sip of her milk. If for one minute he thought Alyson wanted to throw this party for anything other than her own selfish reasons then he needed to think again. And now that she knew why Alyson and Reese had split, Kenna figured the woman had a good reason for wanting her to meet other people.
Fortunately for Alyson, her little plan just might work. In order for Kenna to rid herself of all these crazy, far-out fantasies she’d been having about Reese, she needed to meet someone, and the sooner the better.
She glanced up at him. “Yes, maybe she does have the right idea.”
Reese bit into his cookie. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Kenna was having second thoughts about moving to Houston, even though, like he’d said, the offer had been a good one.
He of all people knew how Kenna felt about change. When she’d told him about the offer, he had all but talked her into taking the job, mainly for his own purely selfish reasons. She was his best friend and he wanted to have her close by. Why? So he could look after her, of course. Without him around, she would work fifteen-hour days and not take care of herself. Being only a few miles away and in the same city was a lot better than being a hundred-fifty-plus miles away in another city. He’d never regretted the times he’d made the drive or took a flight to Austin to see her. But still…
“Want some more milk?”
He glanced over at her. “Yes. Thanks.”
He watched as she lifted the pitcher and poured the milk into his glass. “So what about that guy you were seeing, Curtis Purcell?” he asked. “The two of you didn’t want to do the long-distance romance thing?”
He wondered why he was asking her about it when he hadn’t asked about him for months. She hadn’t brought up Purcell either, which had been just fine with Reese, since he didn’t care for him. Come to think of it, he’d stopped liking him the night when he had shown up at Kenna’s house to surprise her, only to discover she was out on a date with Purcell. Reese had let himself in, made himself at home and had been there when Purcell had brought her home.
The man had kissed Kenna good-night when she got out of the car, but hadn’t bothered walking her to the door. How tacky was that? As far as Reese was concerned, a gentleman not walking a woman to the door after a date was downright disrespectful.
She glanced over at him. “No. Why do you ask?”
“Just wondering.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why, but he decided he would ask another time. He finally realized that for the first time in eleven years, neither of them was involved with anyone else.
He glanced at his watch as he stood. “I’ve got a few things I need to take care of before we leave for town.”
“All right. I see you’ve got a new guy working for you. I looked out the window and saw him earlier.”
“Yes, his name is Clark Lovell and he started today,” Reese said. “Already I can tell he’s one that keeps to himself. He doesn’t have much to say, but he can handle a horse and can rope a cow and that’s what Joe needs.”
He paused a moment. “And just so you know, Joe is going to ask you about fixing Sunday dinner.”
She smiled. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
He chuckled. “I figured you wouldn’t. You’re such a soft touch when it comes to the ranch hands. I’ll be back to pick you up at three.”
“Okay.”
He headed for the door and then turned back after grabbing his Stetson off the rack. “I know you’re still wondering if you did the right thing moving to Houston, Kenna. If you ask me, I think it was the right decision.”
He walked toward the door, hoping that on that particular subject she believed him.
Chapter 4
“I’m ready, Reese.”
Reese turned around, and Kenna’s knees nearly buckled from the force of his gaze. Why was he looking at her like that, she wondered, as his eyes roamed over her from head to toe. “Is anything wrong, Reese?”
His gaze returned to her face. “No, nothing’s wrong. Is that a new dress?”
“No.”
He inclined his head. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Kenna chuckled as she reached for her purse off the table. “Probably not. You don’t go shopping with me, so you’ve never seen my entire wardrobe. Is something wrong with it?”
“No. It looks nice on you.”
Her heart thumped in her chest at his compliment. “Thanks.”
Her heart kept right on thumping as she followed Reese to his SUV parked out front. She breathed deeply, trying to get a grip. It wasn’t her that had attracted Reese’s attention, but the dress itself. Usually she wore slacks, and that was probably the reason he’d been taken aback by the dress.
He opened the door and she eased inside. When he hesitated, she glanced up at him. “Okay, Reese, what’s wrong now?”
“Nothing.”
Kenna frowned slightly when he closed the door and then walked around the front of the SUV to get inside. He backed up and pulled out of the driveway without saying a word.
“I’ll introduce you to the new guy when we get back,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.
She glanced over at him. He had changed his shirt and was wearing another pair of jeans. As always, he looked good. “Okay,” she said. “I went out to the bunkhouse earlier and got a chance to talk to Joe a little, but he wasn’t there.”
“Who?”
“Your new guy.”
“Oh. I guess he was out tending the herd or something.”
Usually when Reese wasn’t attentive it meant his thoughts were elsewhere. She decided to give him time to sort out whatever was bothering him. There was probably something going on at the ranch that needed his undivided attention.
While he was quiet, she would use the time to think about the phone call she’d gotten from Leon, one of the police officers she’d worked with in Austin. According to him, Curtis Purcell had shown up at the station looking for her. He claimed he had dropped by her house and found it empty and wanted to know if she’d left a forwarding address. She had, but Leon wouldn’t give it to him, not until he checked with her first. She instructed Leon not to give Curtis her new address or her new cell phone number if he returned. How long had it been? Three months? He hadn’t tried contacting her in all that time. Why did he suddenly want to see her now?
“You okay? You keep sighing over there.”
Kenna glanced over at Reese. “Yes, I’m fine. But a friend of mine, a police officer back in Austin, called to let me know someone was looking for me today. He went by my place and saw that I’d moved out.”
Reese’s brow lifted as he glanced over at her. “Who?”
“Curtis.”
Reese trained his eyes on the road ahead, but not before Kenna saw his expression tighten. “What did he want?”
“Not sure” was her response.
“Let me guess. He wants to be the comeback kid.”
Just like Alyson. She bit down on her lower lip. “I’m not sure what he wants, Reese, and I don’t plan to find out. I told Leon not to tell him anything. Besides, if he really wants to find me you’ll be the next person on his list. He knows how close we are and that you’ll know where I am.”
“I