What would happen if I actually kissed her?
They’d burn the place down, and then she’d hate him for destroying the very thing he’d been brought to save.
“Why is it called Bumpy Road?”
“Because we added cookie dough chunks and brownie bites.”
“Hmmm.” He went through the sampling routine, taking his job seriously instead of flirting with his wife. He needed to keep the end goal in mind, and that was re-establishing himself as a contributing member of society who could hold down a job. After his second bite, he nodded his head. “I’m not usually one for chewing my way through a scoop of ice cream, but that was good.”
Her cheeks spread in a broad, mischievous smile.
“Don’t even tell me what that says about me!” He mock glared.
“All right. If you don’t want to know that you have classic tastes in women as well as a petulance for keeping secrets, I won’t tell you.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Her eyes danced. She put the spoon in her mouth upside down and closed her eyes, doing the job that came second nature to her.
Nash had to work harder at the whole tasting experience. Maybe when Kenzi wasn’t around, distracting him with her quick wit, charms, and graceful movements. Maybe then he could taste the ice cream, because right now she drowned everything else out with the way she looked at him from under lowered lashes.
When he finally had the wherewithal to pull his eyes away, his ice cream had melted in the cup.
* * *
Nash accepted the folder Kenzi held out. “I had Liz put these together today. They include all the information Raquel had the team gather on the state of the company—except the appraisals. They won’t be ready for another couple of weeks.”
“Okay.” He thumbed through the pages, noting the charts and graphs were in a decidedly downward trend. A slow trend, but downward nonetheless.
“We’ll skim through that first before going into the upcoming decision they’ll have to make.” She rearranged papers and folders, shoving several into a container marked “To File.” Her office was large but made smaller because of the sheer number of flowers.
“Do you rent space to a greenhouse?”
She smirked in a rather attractive way before continuing on. “Raquel will be in the meeting. I plan to give her time to present her side. If she’s as honest with them as she was with me, I think we’ll have it in the bag.”
“Mrs. Westport?” asked Liz from the doorway.
Kenzi continued to clean off her desk.
“Mrs. Westport?”
Kenzi still didn’t look up.
Nash cleared his throat. “Darling, this lovely assistant of yours would like your attention.”
“What?” She glanced up. “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?”
Nash turned so Liz couldn’t see his face, and widened his eyes. “Your name is Mrs. Westport, is it not?” He spoke low and with a teasing lilt to cover the uncomfortable feeling in the room.
Kenzi recovered well. “You bet it is, babe.” She blew him a kiss before turning her attention to her assistant.
Nash bit his cheek to keep his chuckle inside. Each time he tried to push her buttons, Kenzi came back with flair. It made him want to see how far he could push her before she melted in his arms. He wanted to—but he wouldn’t.
“Myrtle is on line three. I tried to tell her you were unavailable, but she insisted.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got a few minutes.” She reached for the phone. “Can you wait a second in case she needs something?”
Liz crossed her hands in front of her and waited patiently.
