Right from the Start (18 page)

Did she really want to make that choice?

Setting down the phone, she slid it across her desk until it
was out of easy reach.

No, she did not want to become a shrew, but she also thought
the most important man in her life besides her father should be available when
she needed him.

That wasn’t entirely fair, since he usually was.

Then again, she was pretty low-maintenance.

Okay, okay. To be fair to Nathanial, he was entrenched in a big
case at the moment. It wasn’t his fault she was needy right now, simply
unfortunate timing.

That acknowledgment didn’t change the fact she was needy.

There was only one way to purge this fascination with Will, and
that was to involve herself with the man who was her life partner. They hadn’t
been friends with benefits, as they’d called it, since that last trip to
Florida. She didn’t know what Nathanial had going on right now, but he’d always
been there for her in every way.

Except today.

Kenzie stood and prowled the edges of the room, glancing out at
her view of Main Street. The sun had started to set, lengthening the shadows
from the direction of the courthouse. The streetlamps wouldn’t cycle on for
another half hour at least.

She was agitated and edgy and needed a distraction. Of all the
nights not to have a class scheduled... That left unpacking another room since
she was already prepped for tomorrow’s meetings. But renovations made her think
of Will, so no help there. It wouldn’t kill her to go home and take care of
everything she’d been ignoring because of this move.

Just the thought of being alone in her head right now brought
on a mild wave of panic.

Which left friends.

Beelining for her desk, Kenzie sent a bulk text to Fiona and
Jess.

Kevin’s tonight, PLEASE!

She depressed the Send button and envisioned sitting around a
table in the busy bistro, talking nonstop and sipping wine, with all the
distractions of diners coming in and out for Kevin’s anticipated nightly
specials.

The phone vibrated. Not a text but a call. Kenzie answered it
before she even knew who it was.

“Okay, Kenzie. You haven’t had two SOSes in the past five
years, now all of a sudden I’m getting two in a month. What on earth is going
on?”

Fiona.

“Just drowning in the sludge of my thoughts tonight,” she said
lamely because that’s exactly how she felt.
Lame.

“I know the sound of man trouble,” Fiona said sagely. “What on
earth is going on with you and Nathanial?”

Funny how she jumped straight to Nathanial and asked exactly
the question that Kenzie had been avoiding. But why would she think anything
else. Who else would be in her life but Nathanial? How long had it been since
Kenzie had another date?

“No, no. It’s nothing like that. I’ve got some other stuff
going on, and Nathanial isn’t available because he’s in court.”

“Hmm. Sounds like a problem to me. Just saying.”

“Fiona,” Kenzie warned. She was
not
in the mood for a lecture. “I don’t need any more things to worry about tonight,
thank you. I needed to vent.”

“Cody and I have tickets for that fund-raiser at Mission
Children’s Hospital tonight. I’m on my way to meet him now, but I’ll bag. I’m
sure he’ll understand—”

“Absolutely not. You do not cancel your plans to rescue
me.”

“Oh, God, Kenzie. This sounds serious. I don’t mind. Cody is
way more excited about hearing Dr. Yovino speak than I am. Trust me.”

“I appreciate that, but go have fun. I’m glad someone has a
cocktail dress in her night.”

“How am I supposed to have fun when I’m going to worry about
you?”

“No worrying. I am fine. I mean it.”

“Tomorrow night? I get off work at eight. We can meet up at
Kevin’s then. Sound good?”

“Sounds great. I’ll look forward to hearing about Dr. Yovino’s
presentation,” she added to sound upbeat.

The pediatric cardiologist had been active and visible in
gaining recognition for the Mission Foundation and all their various causes.
Surely he’d be an interesting speaker. And then there’d be the pricey dinner and
probably dancing... Fiona had a life, and a man. And they were doing things
together. Like a normal couple who didn’t work all the time.

That was the problem with her and Nathanial—they’d prioritized
wrong. Their relationship should be first, work second....

“All right, then. I’ll text you during dinner to find out how
you’re doing.”

“Have fun.”

“See you tomorrow night.”

Kenzie disconnected the call. See, she had friends who cared,
and the call did make her feel a little better. She checked her texts to see if
Jess had responded, but no luck. Probably still at work.

Kenzie considered calling Geri, but she already knew what Geri
would say.

“If you thought the problem would go away
on its own then think again because it doesn’t work that way, and I already
weighed in on the solution.”

Geri
had
delivered a verdict. Fiona
would encourage Kenzie to pour out her heart while Jess would come up with an
abundance of ideas to tackle the problem. Nathanial was the one who would make
Kenzie feel better by being there.

They could pick one of the ongoing home improvement projects at
Kenzie’s house to work on, chatting companionably while they worked. Or they
could head to Nathanial’s house and blow off the world by popping in any Jason
Statham movie, which were Nathanial’s favorites. Or
The
Matrix.
He could watch those over and over again. Not the last of the
trilogy, though. He didn’t even own that one, deeming it an unworthy conclusion
to the series.

Whatever they did, things would feel right in her world again,
and this overwhelming urge to pour her heart out would subside. Which was good
since she couldn’t share this problem with him, anyway.

That thought stopped her cold.

Why wouldn’t she share her feelings with Nathanial? Because
he’d warned her against getting involved with Will?

Kenzie considered that as she headed back to the window. The
streetlamps were still dark, but a car cruised past with its lights on. What on
earth was she doing? Why did waking up to Will last night suddenly throw her
into such a tizzy when she wasn’t the tizzy type?

Ugh!

She’d spoken with her parents before dinner, but made another
call just to hear a voice. “Hey, Mom. I forgot to ask how bridge went
today.”

“That’s sweet of you, Kenzie. We made five tables happen.”

There was a sigh in that statement, so Kenzie asked, “Trouble
with your group?”

Mom launched into a tale about the amount of work she put in
coordinating the tables, who could sit with whom and who bickered when they were
together. By the time she’d worked her way through all the confirmation phone
calls and buffet issues to all the trouble one cancellation caused and people’s
thoughtlessness about not making their own replacements, Kenzie was nicely
distracted and pretty convinced the need to rant was a genetic thing in the
James family.

“Your father told me I should resign and let someone else take
over,” Mom said.

Kenzie had been about to suggest the very same thing, but
guessed by Mom’s tone that her reaction to Dad’s suggestion hadn’t been
favorable. Instead, Kenzie said, “Is it possible to ask for some help?”

“
I’m
the help. Marianna coordinates
the group all winter while your father and I are in Florida, so I give her a
break when we’re home.”

“Sounds like you both need some more backup.”

“Hmm. I’m sure Marianna would agree, but I’m not sure the sort
of help we’d get would be very productive. The last time we asked the ladies to
step up, the club didn’t meet for months. I hate to see the group disband
entirely. Some of us have been playing together for nearly thirty years.”

“Is eliminating a table or two a possibility?” Kenzie asked as
a beep sounded in her ear. She glanced at the display.

Jess.

“Got another call coming in, Mom. I need to take it. I’ll call
you in the morning. Sweet dreams.”

“Thanks for listening, Kenzie.”

“Love you.” Someone got to rant tonight. That was
something.

Clicking over the call, she hoped against hope Jess would
accept her invitation. “Hey. Thanks for getting back with me.”

“What’s up? Your text sounded urgent.”

How a text could
sound
urgent was
up for debate. “Need some girl time.”

There would be a problem getting together with Jess, but Fiona
had already declined. Kenzie would risk it. She was that desperate. As long as
they filled Fiona in on the details she’d missed, they might minimize the
fallout.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t. I’m covering for Professor Wheaton
tonight, and class won’t let out until ten.”

“Good for you.” It was a wonderful opportunity for Jess, who
was an adjunct at a private college north of town.

“Yeah, I’m excited. But I’m surprised you didn’t have a class
yourself.”

“No, no class tonight I’m afraid.” Everyone had a life but her.
When had this happened? She prided herself on maintaining balance in her life,
on
practicing what she preached,
but right now she’d
been abandoned by everyone who mattered.

“Listen, Kenzie. I don’t know what’s up, but I know something
is. Why don’t we meet up for Tara’s tribal dance class tomorrow night and then
hit Kevin’s after? Solid plans. Don’t worry about Fee. If she can make it,
she’ll be there. If not, it’s just you and me.”

“Fiona said she’d be available after eight. I just spoke with
her.”

“Perfect, then. What about you?”

It took Kenzie a moment to recall her calendar. That was never
a good sign. “I’m okay. No class tomorrow night.”

“Great! Then it’s a date.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Kenzie disconnected, grateful she had something to look forward
to even if it didn’t solve tonight’s problem. And she did have friends who
cared, even if they did have lives.

And she didn’t.

Why
didn’t she have a life? And why
hadn’t she noticed until right now?

Self-reflection was not going to work tonight. She needed to
redirect, distract herself. Then it hit her.

Thanks to Jess, Kenzie knew exactly what would make her feel
better. She probably felt as if she was coming unglued at the seams because her
workout routine had fallen to the wayside with all the relocating and
renovations.

An oversight that would end this very second.

* * *

W
AS
THAT
MUSIC
?

Will paused in the middle of bolting a T-bar to the track in
the original ceiling and strained to hear. He’d had to replace the grid in this
room, wouldn’t get around to inserting the panels until he was done.

Once again he appreciated the contractor who’d created this
crawl space, which was coming in handy for all kinds of reasons.

They’d left the barre and mirrors untouched in this room, had
refinished the floors and painted the walls. He hadn’t known why and hadn’t
asked, had only been relieved that Kenzie could mark one room as complete on her
list.

The Kenzie of the never-ending lists.

But below him now was Kenzie as he’d never seen her before,
hair pulled back in a ponytail, exposing her face in an unfamiliar way, every
delicate line pronounced, the slender length of her neck unhindered by the
distracting waves of red hair that teased her shoulders with every move.

She wore only some skintight black thing that seemed to have
been poured on the way it clung to every inch of her slender curves. Her arms
were bare and a pair of tiny pink gym shorts rode low on her hips, ornamentation
because they didn’t cover much of anything. In fact they really only drew his
gaze to the tight curve of her bottom peeping out above long, long thighs. He’d
died and gone to heaven. Reason gnawed through the physical haze of the moment,
or tried to. That adult Kenzie had talked about warned his inner child that if
he wound up in city lock-up, he’d be leaving Sam at Melinda’s mercy. He lay on
the catwalk, barely breathing, the worst sort of Peeping Tom. He refused to wind
up a report on the eleven o’clock news.

This just breaking...city councilman Will
Russell has been arrested on charges of alleged voyeurism...

He meant to slip the panel back in place, sure she wouldn’t
hear him over the music, but then Kenzie bent forward, stretching her splayed
hands toward the floor, flashing him with her tight backside. His hand stopped
of its own accord, his blood suddenly crashing through his veins, his attention
entirely focused on her amazing agility as she conducted a series of moves
designed to stretch various muscles and expose her for his viewing pleasure.

There was no possible way that any normal man could watch a
beautiful woman move this way and not think of sex. And not only was he a normal
man, he was suddenly a horny one who had been ignoring that part of his life for
a very long time.

Every shred of integrity urged him to pull the panel into
place. A moment of immediate gratification and he wouldn’t be able to look
himself in the mirror in the morning. Not to mention the risk...

Then Kenzie moved to the barre, first hanging from it as she
crouched low in front of the mirrors then hooking a trim ankle and beginning a
series of moves that brought every part of her body into play. Will knew exactly
why this room had remained virtually untouched.

Her private studio.

Where he was an uninvited guest.

But every poised motion of her hands, fingers outstretched,
made him imagine her fingertips lightly brushing his skin.

Every graceful sweep of her bare arms made him imagine how she
might slip them around him to pull him close.