Right from the Start (27 page)

He remembered the stage in the big hall that had graciously
supplied the square footage for classrooms and remembered that Kenzie was more
than a dancer. She was a performer.

She knew he was up here, and she danced for him.

He knew it with a gut-wrenching certainty. Every sense ground
to a stunning stop until he could no longer hear the creak of the catwalk or the
steady strains of the music.

There was only Kenzie.

And the way she moved. Her body so pliant, her motion earthy as
if her dance was a seductive ritual. Her tempo quickened. He couldn’t say if the
music did because he only followed the rhythm of her body, the music of
arousal.

Red-gold waves whipped over her face as she swept forward to
touch the floor with outstretched fingers in an impossibly fluid move, then
soared back again to reveal the swell of her breasts, rising and falling with
the unrestrained intensity of her dance. Again then again.

Then she leaped forward in a graceful jump before compacting
her body tightly on the floor to begin a different sort of dance. She rolled
over sinuously and stretched her legs, never losing her rhythm but presenting
her body from new angles as she arched upward, braced on an arm, breasts lifting
skyward, hair flowing behind her to graze the floor.

She presented such a sensual display, from the way her mouth
parted around her breaths to the flexing muscles along her legs. He was so
caught up in the sight of her that he wasn’t prepared when she spun around and
lifted off the floor, stretched her arms upward.

Toward him.

Their gazes collided across the distance.

Her gold-flecked eyes half-hooded with invitation. His surely
dazed by the effects of her dance.

Desire was all over her face, and he had never wanted more in
his life, would never want more.
Ever.

There was no thought of resisting. He had no thought left in
him. No reason. No fight.

He’d been fighting for so long already.

Rolling off the catwalk, Will hung suspended for a moment
before dropping down through the empty grid.

He landed in a crouch that vibrated through his joints, and for
one breathless moment they faced each other, assessing. Her arms still
outstretched. She didn’t shy from her desire though it left her vulnerable. His
pulse faltered as he realized with one flash of blinding clarity the course he
committed to.

Once he touched her, he wouldn’t have the strength to deny her,
or himself.

And he wanted so much more than a glimpse.

So much more.

Then he was on his knees, gathering her into his arms, kissing
the breathless sighs from her mouth as she melted against him with a need as
great as his own.

They began their own dance of exploration. Their mouths came
together, and he drank in the taste of her, the warmth of her mouth, the
intensity of their shared breaths.

They’d fought their need for so long.

Skimming his hands along the curve of her neck, he touched her
with complete freedom, trailing his palms along her shoulders, and down her bare
arms. Twining his fingers into her hair, he coaxed her head back until all the
smooth skin of her throat lay exposed to his touch, and he kissed her there,
too. He dragged his mouth over her smooth skin, tasted her the way he’d
fantasized about for far too long.

Resting light hands on his shoulders, she swayed backward to
grant him greater privilege. His name broke from her lips as he nibbled at the
hollow between her neck and shoulder then trailed his mouth down the smooth
expanse of her chest.

She shivered.

Her hands fluttered around his shoulders, his neck, finally
cradling his head and guiding his descent with an encouraging pressure that
proved her need. He tasted her quickening pulse, the desire that made her
tremble as he inched his tongue beneath her collar, hinting where he’d like to
explore.

But Will couldn’t resist the lure of her kiss for too long and
lifted his face to hers again, caught her mouth.

Oh, could this woman kiss.

Her soft mouth slanted across his, so warm and eager. She
teased him with inviting strokes of her tongue, brushed their mouths enticingly,
and shared her breaths. She met every hungry stroke of his tongue with a demand
of her own.

And Kenzie wanted.

Her need revealed itself in the way she sighed his name, in the
way her kisses grew hungrier and her hands began to roam, in the way she arched
against him, a full-bodied motion that brought his body to aching response.

Molding his hands over her bare shoulders, he explored with
her, the feel of her skin, much more tantalizing than in memory.

The straps of that clingy dance thing she wore got in his way.
So he slid them over her shoulders. She lifted her arms through and brought them
around his neck, arching backward until her breasts crushed his chest, and he
could feel her heartbeat join his, beating in tandem.

There was no reasoning between them, no rational arguments or
good intentions. There was only this moment and the feel of her against him,
those bare arms draped around his neck, the swaying motion of their bodies
together. Their own dance.

Then he explored the length of her, learned the bow of her
spine, the indent of her waist, the smooth curve of her bottom. And he couldn’t
help but anchor her closer, cradle his arousal against her warm body. She
responded by rocking back and forth, taking advantage of their closeness.

He groaned out her name, a broken sound.

Kenzie.

Then he started peeling away layers of the clingy thing she
wore, revealing her body inch by luscious inch, her skin pale in the soft light,
so sleek and enticing.

His hands felt clumsy in the awe of the moment. This was
insane. There was no place to make love.

There was only the two of them.

And a moment that could be theirs.

He wanted to see her reflected in all these mirrors. He wanted
her underneath him. Or against him. Or on top of him.

He wanted to wipe away the last vestiges of her calm until she
came unglued in his arms.

He only wanted Kenzie.

And when they were finally both naked,
finally,
Will pulled her on top of him.

Finally.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

K
ENZIE
COLLAPSED
OVER
W
ILL
,
too weak to open her eyes. All she could do was cling to him, boneless, because
if she let go, she’d roll right off his lap and tumble into an undignified heap
on the floor.

What had she been thinking trying to seduce the man...
seducing
the man inside her studio? She hadn’t been
thinking. She’d been acting. With
gumption.
Besides,
there weren’t many other places to make love. The sofas in the reception area or
her office, maybe?

But either of those would have meant relocating, and there had
been no stopping once Will had dropped through the ceiling, put his hands on
her...

They were still locked together, her sitting on top of him, the
quiet only punctuated by the ragged sounds of their breathing. His chest rose
and fell sharply, and her heart throbbed almost painfully. Resting her cheek
against his shoulder, she drank in the feel of him, all male, overwhelmed with
the proof of how incredible they were together.

Right.

Kenzie finally opened her eyes and had to blink several times
to make sense of the decadent sight they made in reflection. His glossy hair
against her pale skin. Her bare arms draped around his broad, broad shoulders.
Her knees tucked around his hips, holding him close.

The sight made her tremble again.

He noticed because he braced himself on one arm, and slipped
the other around her waist, supporting her. He was such a caring man. Such a
beautiful man, outside and in. From all these angles. She pressed a kiss to his
silky hair, couldn’t resist.

Kenzie had always liked kissing. But she especially liked
kissing Will. She liked the way his kiss reached all the way down into the deep
inside of her and awakened places she normally didn’t notice, made her hum with
anticipation.

She liked kissing him.

And she liked making love with him even more.

A sigh slid from her lips, the sound of contentment.

Tipping his head, he met her gaze, those clear eyes half-hooded
and searching. He looked raw around the edges, exhausted and spent with his
mouth unsmiling.

So utterly handsome, though his expression was
not
one of a man who had just made her body tingle, a
man who had come unglued in her arms the way he’d made her come unglued in
his.

His expression was all pensive concern.

“Now we’ve
really
complicated
things between us.” His throaty whisper broke the quiet.

Ah, he didn’t stop caring for even an instant. Not even sitting
here naked with their intimate places pressed close. Kenzie wondered if he knew
how to stop caring.

She hadn’t realized how hard he’d been struggling to resist
this,
resist her.

Through the filter of their lovemaking, she recognized so much
of his struggle in his gentlemanly concern for her, in the careful way he’d been
shielding her from the unique pressures of his life, the challenges that had
molded and shaped him into such a caring, committed man.

She pressed her mouth to his softly, unable to resist.

“Only if you don’t trust me to make my own choices. I know
what’s best for me, and I know what I want.”

To be with Will.

* * *

W
ILL
LEANED
AGAINST
the wall and
inclined his head toward Kenzie’s side door. He hadn’t been here since last
night when they’d made love in her studio, when they’d done the only thing they
could do—give in to need and table the consequences until they could make time
to figure things out.

Until
he
could make time.

“Knock, will you?” he told Bob’s nephew Jason, who had been
coming every night to give Will a hand.

Jason shifted a worried glance between Will and the door then
knocked sharply. Kenzie’s car was the only one in the lot, which meant she
didn’t have a class. The sun hadn’t gone down yet, so he stood a chance of
getting her to answer the door.

He controlled his breathing while they waited. This was crazy
and still wasn’t sure how he’d gotten himself in this situation.

Jason knocked again, harder this time. “Are you sure you don’t
want me to drive you.”

Will shook his head, grateful for the distraction. “I need you
to get those light fixtures up. Are you sure you’re good with that?”

“Piece of cake, man. Don’t worry. They’ll be up by the time you
get back.”

That confidence alone was enough to make Will nervous.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any choice but to leave Jason to finish the job he
should have been finishing.

The door cracked open and Kenzie appeared, looking somehow
angelic silhouetted in the light from the hallway behind her. “Hello, may I
help—”

“Kenzie, I need a ride,” Will said abruptly.

Her expression transformed at the sound of his voice, and she
pulled open the door. The instant she saw him, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Judging by her expression, he must look like hell. He was
sweating a lot. That much he knew. “Would you mind giving me a lift to the
emergency room?”

Her gaze riveted to the hand he cradled against him. “Ohmigosh!
What happened? Are you okay?”

“Hurt my wrist.”

“He slipped off the ladder and broke his fall with his hand. It
looks broken.” Jason filled in all the details that made Will sound like the
total idiot he was.

“My right wrist,” Will said lamely. The wrist he needed to do
absolutely everything from install the fixtures in the classrooms to brushing
his damned teeth. “Can’t drive.”

“He won’t let me take him.” Jason shrugged. “Sorry to bother
you.”

Kenzie shook her head at the kid, clearly flustered. “No
problem at all. Let me grab my purse. Do you want an ice pack? I have a first
aid kit.”

“No,” Will said at the same time Jason said, “Tried that.”

Kenzie glanced between them with a scowl meant only for
him.

“Thank you but there is no way anything is touching my wrist.
Period.”

She didn’t bother arguing but vanished inside, and Will asked,
“You have my keys, right?”

Jason patted his pocket.

“Then if I can’t get back before you’re done, just lock up and
go. Keep your phone on in the morning, and I’ll catch up with you to get the
keys back.”

“Just call, man. I’ll bring them by. If you want, I’ll ditch
afternoon classes and help out around here.”

“Thanks.” Will meant it. Closing his eyes, he willed himself
not to fall down. God, he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. And
he was starting to feel sick. Not even the temperature drop of a mountain night
was doing a thing to cool him down.

And he was standing around here like an idiot with only two
days left. That’s all the time he had to wrap up everything so Deanne could
start moving in and to get the place functional for the walk-through. If he
worked around the clock and pulled every guy he could from every job site, he
still wouldn’t be finished, even if he hadn’t done the stupidest damned thing
imaginable.

He couldn’t even turn over the ignition of his truck with this
hand, and if they put a cast on...

“You okay, Will?” Jason asked.

“Yeah.” That single word was about all he could manage.

Then the door opened and Kenzie said, “We’ll take my car.
That’s it over there.”

The lock rattled then Will had Jason on one side of him and
Kenzie on the other, helping him to the car. He sank into the front seat and
promptly shut his eyes again.

Will heard Jason say, “Just wanted to say sorry about the
outlet, ma’am.”

“I appreciated your help,” Kenzie said warmly. “The drywall
looks great.”

Will really liked that about her.
Kind.
That was the word he’d use to describe her. She cared about
everyone who crossed her path. Whether she cared for a few seconds to say a nice
word to a kid who’d screwed up, or for a lifetime like she had with her
not-at-the-moment loser
friend,
she genuinely cared
about the mood she left a person with.

She would be the only woman he’d want around Sam. One who would
see all the good stuff. Sam might not have found his words yet, but he had a
wicked sense of humor and contagious laughter. He might need time and tools to
figure out everything going on around him, because it all came at him at once
without filters—which would be overwhelming for anyone—but he was the most
loving kid. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, like having Sam throw his
arms around Will’s neck and hug him with that absolute abandon.

Kenzie would appreciate those things, too.

Will must have dozed—no real wonder since he couldn’t remember
the last time he’d slept all night—because he didn’t remember hearing her door
shut or the car take off, but he awoke to the sound of the engine humming
steadily.

“Kenzie.” He didn’t open his eyes.

“We’re almost there.” Her voice was soft, a familiar beacon in
the drowsy darkness. “You doing okay?”

No, he wasn’t okay. His wrist throbbed so hard he might be
sick, and then wouldn’t she be sorry she offered him a ride? “I respect you to
make your own choices.”

“We don’t have to discuss this now.” He heard the exasperation
in her voice. And the humor. That was there, too.

He tried to laugh, but his own voice came at him from a
distance. “If not now, when?”

“Will—”

“I’d rather talk about us than obsess over everything I could
be doing at Angel House if I hadn’t slipped and fell.” One stupid misstep.

And he had given
her
a safety
lecture about using the heat stripper late at night. She must think he was a
joke.

“I’m going to trip at the finish line.”

“What exactly does that mean?” she asked.

“It means that, because of my carelessness, all this work will
be for nothing.”

She didn’t reply, so he turned, forced his eyes open.

While he’d been asleep, the sun had set and now he could see
her in profile, her features glowing in the light of the instrument panel. She
had that mildly amused look on her face, the one where she humored him. Not
exactly the response he’d been going for. He’d made crazy love to her one night
only to need her to rescue him the next.

That’s exactly what this felt like.

“I can’t believe this is happening.” He wasn’t sure if he was
referring to his wrist or the fact that he wanted to lean over and kiss her.
He’d always known getting in the confines of a vehicle with her would be death
on his restraint.

Then again, after last night, his restraint was moot.

“Okay, then, let’s talk about us,” she said.

“I liked making love with you.”

That got a better response. “I liked it, too.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you. It’s just that it
wouldn’t be fair. You get that, right?”

“Fair to whom?” she asked. “Sam? I know I don’t have a lot of
experience around children, but I like them. I really do. Especially Sam.”

How did she even come up with that? Of course he knew she was
good with kids. He’d seen her with his son already. “I’m not talking about Sam.
He likes you. He’d fall in love with you if he got to know you better.”

Just like his father had.

There,
he’d thought it. Brought it
out into his consciousness. He’d done exactly what he’d sworn he’d never do
again. Of course, through the fog of pain, he heard some nagging voice pointing
out that the third time might actually be a charm. His common sense countered
with, “Three strikes you’re out!”

“Who’s out?” Kenzie asked.

Man, he was screwed up. He was confusing what was going on in
his head with what was coming out of his mouth. Or was she just messing with
him? He couldn’t think past this damned throbbing in his arm.

“I need an acetaminophen. Got any?”

“Afraid not. Left my bottle at the office in the first aid kit.
How about we ask the doctor for something when he checks out your wrist? Sound
good?”

“Sounds good.” His arm sure didn’t look good. Even looking at
the way everything from elbow to fingers swelled made it throb more.

“Will, who are you worried about being fair to?”

“
You.
I told you this.” Or had he
only thought that, too?

“So, you don’t think you can be fair to me because you’re so
busy because of your life with Sam. Do I have that right?”

“And my business, and Angel House, and the city council.” He
dragged a hand across his brow. Great. He was still sweating and now he was
clammy. Why was he suddenly so cold? Was the air-conditioning on? He reached
toward a vent. Nothing.

“But what if your devotion to your life and all the people in
it is one of the things I love about you?”

That stopped him. He frowned.

“What if I love the way you love your son, with your whole
heart and soul? You’re moving mountains to give him opportunities. And what if I
love how generous you are? You could have moved those mountains just for Sam,
but you’ve made sure others benefit, too. And not only the people you know at
Angel House, but you’re making sure autism gets noticed in the government, so
people you don’t even know, people who are dealing with the things you and Sam
are, can benefit, too.”

She made that sound like a lot bigger of a deal than it
actually was. “Kenzie, I had to run for city council to push Family Foundations
otherwise we couldn’t get in this building.”

A hint of a smile played around her mouth. “And what if I love
the way you’re so committed to helping people, that you don’t even realize how
special what you’re doing is? What if I love that about you, too?”

“What’s your point?” If she’d made one, he’d lost it in all
those words.