But he treated you like crap.”
“He did not! He didn’t walk me to the door that one time and you were ready to hang him up by his toes for it.”
“Damn right. And you never said why the two of you called it quits,” he continued, bringing the SUV to a stop at a traffic light.
“You never asked,” she said, giving him the same response he’d given her about Alyson earlier that day.
He glanced over at her. “Okay, now I’m asking.”
She looked straight ahead out the windshield for a few moments while nibbling on her bottom lip. She turned back toward Reese. “He pulled a Terrence Fairchild on me.” She hated bringing up the guy who’d been her boyfriend in college. The one she’d assumed she would marry one day.
A deep frown settled on Reese’s face. She knew he was remembering the incident. He had been there for her. “You caught Curtis in bed with another woman.”
She shrugged. “Not exactly.”
His frown deepened. “Then what exactly?”
She paused a second. “I caught him in bed with another man.”
Reese’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tight he felt it might crumble in his hands. When he suddenly hit the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of them, he pulled off to the side of the road and killed the ignition. At that moment he wished he could kill someone else instead—namely Curtis Purcell.
Furious, he unbuckled his seat belt and twisted around in his seat to face Kenna. “Why in the hell didn’t you tell me? And don’t you dare hand me that crap about me not asking.”
He figured his tone along with the anger etched in his face painted a real good picture of just how mad he was, and that now was not the time to get cutesy on him. He was definitely not in the mood.
She nervously licked her lips and his gaze was automatically drawn to her mouth. Why was his gut clenching and why did he suddenly feel this hard lump in his throat?
“I didn’t want to bother you about it. It was around the time you got your promotion to foreman and I didn’t want to say anything that would rain on your parade, Reese,” she said in a soft voice that pleaded for understanding.
His anger subsided somewhat. “So you went through all that alone?”
She shrugged. “Once the shock wore off, I could have kicked myself for not picking up on it earlier. I ignored all the signs that he was on the down-low. He was a former pro football player, for Christ’s sake. He acted really macho and he had dated lots of women before. I was mad with myself as much as with him for falling for his line. In the end, I asked myself the same question I’d asked myself a number of times before. Why me?”
Reese took in a deep breath. Yes, why her? He could only shake his head as he recalled the men who, over the years, hadn’t appreciated what an incredible woman she was. He would hate to think that more than a few of them had a screw loose, but seeing was believing. He couldn’t understand why any man didn’t appreciate Kenna. She was a good woman—the best. And he wasn’t just saying that because she was his best friend. He knew it was true.
“So you want to give me any dating advice?” she asked.
He snorted. “Dating advice? Hell, I’m not totally together either, when you consider the number of girlfriends I’ve had over the years myself. But then you wear your heart on your sleeve.”
She frowned. “I wasn’t in love with Curtis, nor was I in love with Lamont. I believed I was in love with Terrence during the two years we dated. But the older I got, the more I realized I wasn’t really in love with him. I liked the idea of being in love, if that makes any sense.”
No, it didn’t really, he thought. But he’d talked to enough women in his family to know that they sometimes looked at things differently than men. “What about Lamont? The two of you dated for more than a year. I didn’t ask before, but I’m asking now. Why did the two of you split?”
She did that lip thing again with her tongue and the same as before, seeing her lick her lips did something to him. Crap! What was wrong with him? Granted he hadn’t been with a woman since his breakup with Alyson five months ago, but still, this was Kenna for crying out loud. He’d seen that nervous habit plenty of times over the years, so why was he suddenly lusting over the one woman he shouldn’t have the hots for?
“He was jealous of you. Like Alyson, he didn’t believe the ‘we’re just friends’ line either. The first time he brought it up I gave him the benefit of the doubt, since I’d be the first to admit our relationship is a bit unorthodox. But I warned him that if he accused me again that things were over between us. Unfortunately, he didn’t take me at my word.”
Reese slowly shook his head as he buckled his seat belt again and started the car. He really didn’t know what to say. When he glanced over at Kenna, he immediately knew what she was thinking. He cut off the ignition again.
“Look, Kenna, don’t even think it. We agreed years ago that if we met someone and it got serious, if that person couldn’t deal with our friendship it would be their loss and not ours. Are you having second thoughts about that?”
“No, but a part of me can’t help but sympathize with Alyson. The two of you would still be together if she hadn’t gotten it into her head that I was a threat.”
“Maybe and maybe not. It’s a bad idea for any woman to get it into her head that she can decide who my friends are. And as far as Lamont thinking we had something going on, then he was a fool. I never liked him anyway.”
“Have I ever dated a guy you did like?”
“No.”
He waited to see if she would ask him why and then exhaled slowly when she didn’t. Had she asked, he wouldn’t have been able to give her a reason. He just hadn’t liked them. “So what do you think Purcell wants with you?”
“Who knows? He might want to try to convince me that finding him in bed with another man wasn’t all bad and that we can work things out and get back together.”
Reese snorted. Purcell was really stupid if he actually thought that. He’d heard how some women would accept their man even after finding out they were on the down-low. But he knew for sure that Kenna wasn’t one of them.
“After your meeting with Clayton and Syneda, and mine with Dex, we can stay in town and grab dinner. And if you’re up to it, we can also do a movie. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great,” she said, smiling.
He smiled back at her. “Good.”
Chapter 5
“Mr. Madaris is in court now, but Mrs. Syneda Madaris will see you in a minute,” the receptionist said.
“Thanks.” Kenna sat down in the plush chair and glanced around the office. She had been inside the Madaris Building several times, but this was the first time she had visited the law offices of Madaris, Madaris and Madaris. Since Blade had gotten married, his wife, Samari Di Meglio Madaris, had joined Clayton and Syneda at their law firm. Kenna could just imagine Clayton, the only man, having to deal with his beautiful, opinionated wife, who was a lot to handle, plus his cousin’s gorgeous, exotic-looking wife, Samari, whose hot Italian temper could flare at a moment’s notice. Things could get pretty damn interesting around here.
While she waited, Kenna recalled the conversation she and Reese had shared during the ride over. After asking if she was interested in dinner and a movie, things had got pretty quiet between them. They talked about attending Morehouse’s homecoming in a few months, and about how Luke’s rodeo school, which was scheduled to open in two weeks, was doing. Reese hadn’t invited her to go with him, and she couldn’t help wondering if he intended to invite Alyson.
Kenna had received an invitation