“May I help you, ma’am?”
The words, spoken with a slight accent, made Kenna turn around. An easy smile touched her lips when she saw it was Reese's new employee. Tall, lanky and probably in his late thirties, she thought there was an intensity in the darkness of his blue eyes. “No, I’m fine. I thought I’d take Rollins out for a ride,” she said of the horse Joe had saddled for her earlier. “I’m LaKenna James, but everyone calls me Kenna,” she said, extending her hand to him.
“And I’m Clark Lovell. I just started working for Mr. Madaris a couple of days ago.” He paused a second and then asked. “Will you need an escort when you ride out?”
“An escort?” She chuckled. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m used to the ranch. I’ll be fine.”
“You come here a lot?”
“Um, enough. Reese and I are good friends.” She wondered why she’d said that, then shrugged and figured that since most of the other men were aware that the two of them were friends, she might as well set the record straight with Clark from the start about the nature of her relationship with Reese.
“That’s what I heard—that you and the boss are good friends. Well, I’ll be seeing you. Good day, Miss Kenna.”
“Good day to you, too.” She watched him walk off. Reese had said the new hire didn’t have much to say to anyone, and that he mostly stayed to himself. Well, he’d certainly been talkative with her just now.
She used a stepstool to get in the saddle on Rollins’s back and led him out of the stables. It was a beautiful day, and she figured a horseback ride would do her good since it was something she enjoyed doing. Reese had given her her very first lesson years ago.
When she’d awakened that morning, her brain had felt sluggish from so little sleep, but once she got moving she was fine. She had slept until almost ten before going downstairs to prepare toast and coffee for breakfast. After breakfast, she went back upstairs to unpack the rest of her things. It didn’t take long, since most of her belongings had been organized and labeled.
She had taken a break from unpacking to enjoy lunch with Joe, a widower whose wife had died almost ten years ago. He’d brought her up-to-date on how his married daughters were doing and had proudly showed her recent pictures of his two grandkids.
Joe said Reese usually came home around five o’clock, so she decided to prepare dinner. She had cooked lasagna—one of Reese’s favorites. Luckily, she didn’t have to buy groceries, since all the ingredients she needed had been in the pantry.
As she rode away from the stable, she waved to the men she knew who were out tending the herd. Compared to Whispering Pines, Reese’s uncle Jake Madaris’s spread, Tall Oaks ranch and all the land it encompassed was relatively small. But as Kenna rode farther and farther away from the main house, it didn’t seem so small after all. Every so often she would look up at the trees, remembering when Reese had first brought her to his ranch and how the first thing she’d noticed was the oak trees that were so tall they seemed to touch the sky. She had mentioned it to Reese, which is why he’d named his ranch Tall Oaks.
As she rode, Rollins maintained an easy, comfortable gait, which was probably the reason Reese had picked the horse for her. One day she would convince Reese to let her ride Blue Bay, his personal stallion.
When she’d first met the family she had been amazed that all the Madarises knew how to ride, and that a few of them, like Reese’s brother Luke, were expert horsemen. Luke had been a big rodeo star and still competed from time to time. But since he’d gotten married, he’d devoted most of his time to his rodeo school.
Reese had yet to mention anything about his brother Luke’s rodeo school opening, so she could only assume he was taking Alyson. And when he did get around to mentioning it to her, she would play it cool. She’d let him know that she would be meeting someone there as well—a blind date or someone. He didn’t have to know the entire truth. But in this case, her explanation would have to work.
She checked her watch. By the time she rode back to the stable, Reese would be home or arriving shortly. He had texted her earlier and said he had a surprise for her. She couldn’t wait to see what it was. He knew how much she liked surprises.
The party was in two days, and she had called Reese’s cousin Christy to see if she wanted to go shopping with her. Christy’s husband, Alex, a private investigator, traveled a lot but was available for babysitting duties, so their shopping date tomorrow was all set.
Christy was an award-winning investigative reporter who had cracked an international kidnapping ring that was smuggling runaways out of the country as part of a sex-slave trade. Christy herself had gotten captured during the investigation and Alex had rescued her. It had sounded like an adventure at the time, but now she was certain neither Christy nor Alex had thought so then.
“C’mon boy, let’s go home,” she coaxed Rollins, tightening her hands on the reins to make him turn around and head back. “Let’s go home and see Reese.”
Talking to Joe, Reese heard Rollins before he saw Kenna, and turned to glance toward the open plain. He could make out the horse and rider in the distance. And then when the pair got closer he saw her.
Kenna was riding like the skilled equestrian he, Luke and Chancellor had taught her to be. Sitting straight in the saddle, head held high and looking forward with her hands holding the reins tight, she let the animal know who was in control. Rider and horse were moving together in almost perfect rhythm.
He could still remember that summer right after her grandmother had died. She’d had nowhere else to go, so he had invited her to come home with him and stay at his parents’ house. Having a woman in the house besides his mother had been something he, his father and brothers had to adjust to.
Luckily, Luke was on the rodeo circuit and out of town most of the time. But his younger brother Chancellor—whom everyone called Chance—had been home on leave from army ranger training, and Emerson—who’d been away at college—was also home for the summer. It had been during the couple of weeks around the Fourth of July when the Madaris family held their family reunion. Everyone was home and the place was like a madhouse. But in the end, he’d known that with all the craziness Kenna had enjoyed her visit.
He leaned against a post and stared at her. The last time she’d ridden Rollins her hair had been flying in the wind. This new short haircut would take some getting use to, but he liked it. He especially liked the way it framed her face. She was wearing jeans and a halter top, with big hoop earrings dangling from her ears. He thought she looked hot and it had nothing at all to do with the temperature. The closer she got, he began to recognize the glint of mischief in her eyes. He almost held his breath when she brought the horse to a full stop in front of him.
“Did you intend to run me over?” he asked, smiling, gazing up at her as he helped her off her horse. Boy, did she smell good. She never put on too much perfume. It was always pleasing to his nose, never overpowering.
“Nah, I’m just glad to see you,” she said.
Why did her words send his heart pounding in his chest? And why was her smile nearly stealing his breath? And where in the hell did that heated rush that raced up his spine come from?
“I fixed dinner,” she said excitedly, and he tried not to notice how cute she looked. He swallowed. Was she even wearing a bra? He could swear he saw the outlines of her nipples pressed against her halter top.
Hell! Why was he staring at her chest? And after the mental beat-down he’d given himself today, why was he still looking at her with yearning in his eyes again? What happened to Reese, the man who was nothing more than her best friend?
He cleared his throat. “I heard you prepared dinner. I also heard you made enough to feed just about everyone within miles of here. I’m sure Tanker appreciates getting a night off. You couldn’t wait