Her lifted brow and the slight curve at the corner of her mouth said she’d caught my ogling. And that, just maybe, she didn’t mind it. “I need to check and make sure the creek didn’t get too high.”
“Are you Havenbrook’s creek keeper now?”
She blew out a laugh and shook her head. “I’mElla’skeeper. She’s always runnin’ out there to play, like you and I used to. It’s grown in a lot more since then, though. I wanna make sure she’s as safe as she can be.”
And that was just another item on the long list of ways Kenna gave back, niece or not. In the short time I’d been in Havenbrook, I’d seen her giving selflessly multiple times. Did she even realize how generous she was without asking for anything in return?
I hooked a finger through her belt loop and tugged her close, until our lower bodies were pressed together. And, shit, I hadn’t thought that through because my cock woke up at the contact like a gunshot had sounded.
Leaning down, I brought my mouth close to her ear, breathing in the scent of her I’d missed so damn much. “What do I have to do to get an invitation to go on this adventure with you?”
She froze, every part of her going still with the exception of the shiver that ran through her body. Was she even aware she was tilting her head toward me, as if aching for my touch as much as I craved hers?
“I don’t know…” she said, her voice quiet and breathless. And damn, I liked that a hell of a lot. My cocklovedit. “You think you can hack it in those woods?” She pulled back enough to meet my eyes. “It’s kind of a mess out there. A lot of shit to wade through.”
There was something in the seriousness of her tone that made me think she might be talking about a lot more than just the wooded area of the Haven estate.
Unable to help myself, I reached up, swept her hair behind her shoulder, and cupped her neck, my thumb pressing lightly against her pulse point. I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers, even the slight contact sending a jolt of electricity humming through my veins. “I think I can keep up.”
She stared at me for a beat, her gaze flicking down to my mouth before meeting my eyes again. She licked her lips and then pressed them together, nodding once. “Well, come on, then.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HUDSON
Kenna tugged me behind her,down the steps and to the east, her stride focused and purposeful as she led us toward the brush.
I couldn’t count how many times she and I had explored these woods when we’d been younger. At one time, we’d had a dozen paths running through that part of the Havens’ property. How we always found our way out, I had no idea.
“You ever think what a miracle it is that we never got lost out here as kids?”
She squatted next to what appeared to be a Canada goldenrod, carefully studying it, before pulling out a blue flag and affixing it to one of the stems. “All the time, actually. That’s why I do this.” She stood, swiped her hands on her pants, then continued deeper into the woods.
“Why you do what? These flags?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me about them,” I said, tugging on the variety of colors poking out of the top of her backpack. “Y’all do scavenger hunts out here or something?”
She glanced back at me with a small smile, the sun shining through the trees setting her dark hair aflame. “Hardly. Ella andI are pretty much the only two who come back here. In this part, anyway.”
“She’s a lot like you, isn’t she?”
Her smile grew. “Yeah.”
“So, you put these out for her? Why?”
“Your momma ever tell you about the scare we had with her a few years ago?”
I thought back to all the information my mom had been feeding me—at my request—for years, but I couldn’t remember anything about Kenna’s nieces coming up at all. “Not that I can recall. What happened?”
She blew out a long breath and stopped to pick up a fallen flag, reaffixing it to the correct bush. “The little shit took off on us. She was maybe five? Definitely not old enough to be in here by herself. She and I had been going into the woods for a couple months, explorin’, and Ms. Independent that she is thought it’d be okay if she dipped inside without lettin’ anyone know.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. She was missin’ for a couple hours.” Kenna’s head dipped and she swallowed, her voice shaky when she said, “Scariest hours of my life.”
“Did y’all call in the search and rescue team?”
