Ben, who was clocking out while talking on the phone, simply pointed to the front door. Nash calledthanksand kept right on going. The driver opened the door to reveal a pair of long, sultry legs in cherry-red high heels.
Nash pulled back on the accelerator and sucked in a breath. He was really starting to like cherries, cherry ice cream, cherry-red shoes on lean legs that went on for miles and miles. His heart rate kicked up as if he were running every step of those miles.
Kenzi leaned forward and wiggled her fingers. “Hi there. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten our plans.” There was no trace of the kiss on her face, no embarrassed blush, no looking up through lowered lashes. They might as well have never brushed lips by the friendly and yet formal way she regarded him.
“Nope. No. Not likely.” Nash stumbled over his denial. Smooth man. Real smooth. “I was caught up in something with Charlie.”
Kenzi scooted across the seat to make room for him.
He could feel his pulse in his neck and prayed his collared shirt would hide the throbbing beat. “Can we turn the air conditioner up?” he croaked at the driver, Mick. Thank goodness Mick was there. His presence ensured that their conversation would stay to surface subjects like the weather or the traffic—topics he would happily discuss, because they brought on no embarrassment.
Mick complied, and cool air blasted Nash’s face. He breathed right in the spray, grateful for air that wasn’t tinged with Kenzi’s expensive perfume. The scent accentuated her skin perfectly, becoming an intimate, sensual experience.
Kenzi raised the shaded partition, blocking Mick’s ability to hear their conversation. Nash sat deeper in his chair and silently cursed.Mick—stay with me, man!With each inch the glass rose, Nash’s hopes for skimming the surface of conversation with Kenzi sank.
“So, we kissed.”
Nash’s stomach tightened as if he’d been sucker punched. This was the exact conversation he’d wanted to avoid, and Kenzi dropped it in his lap.
Kenzi touched his hand, sending shock waves through his body. She pulled away quickly, as if she too had felt the rivers of electricity running through his veins. “It happens, Nash. We’re two attractive adults who work and live in close proximity; we were bound to have some physical manifestations of that.”
The brush-off didn’t sit well with Nash. They hadn’t kissed that long, maybe five seconds, and yet it had been the most profound five seconds of his life. In that breath of a moment, he’d felt things for Kenzi he hadn’t believed existed—like complete and utter devotion. How could she be so calm about the kiss?
He tried on his cocky grin. “You think I’m attractive?”
“What?” Her face turned Bing-cherry red. “I didn’t say that.”
“You said we were two attractive people—which, by the way, I agree with. But that also means you find me attractive.”
She sputtered. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“Then you don’t think I’m handsome.”
Her hands gripped the butter leather seat. “Yes, you are handsome.” Recovering slightly, she rolled her eyes. “Ego much?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I thought we should be clear. Communication is key to a happy and successful marriage.”
The car pulled to the curb, and they waited for Mick to open the door.
“Then you got that the kiss was just a kiss?” she asked, a note of panic in her voice as her eyes darted to the door that would open any moment. “We can’t let a small mistake get in the way of our bigger goal.”
Instinctually, Nash leaned closer where he could see the panic circling her irises. He brushed his finger over her neck, feeling the up-down movement as she swallowed—completely transfixed by the effect his closeness had on his wife. The air between them grew thick with desire, and the current passed between them, ready to sweep him away if he’d just let go.
“And we don’t need to avoid each other just because we happened to have …” Her eyes dropped to his mouth and she moistened her lips.
“Kissed?” he filled in for her.
“Yes, that.” She leaned slightly forward just as the door opened. The suffocating California heat flooded the vehicle and seemed to grab the back of his collar and pull him away from Kenzi. Perhaps his good sense was stronger than his impulses. He could only hope, because it would take all the strength he could muster not to kiss her again—especially when she looked at him like he was the man he wished he could be.
His heart skidded to a halt before dropping to his ankles. Therein was the problem. He wasn’t the man he saw reflected in her eyes. Kenzi was a billionaire heiress of an ice cream empire, and he was nothing. He owned a mid-sized sedan and had a storage unit full of pretentious furniture, but he had nothing of value.Hewasn’t even valuable enough—the damaged goods that he’d become—to offer himself to her.
Therefore, there would be no more teasing, no more avoiding, no more than a professional relationship that accomplished the goals set forth in the marriage contract. He clambered out of the car and offered his hand to Kenzi. This time, when her fingers slid against his palm, he steeled himself against the current of charm and fascination.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.” He motioned for her to precede him into the restaurant. Instead of enjoying the view as she walked in front of him, he kept his gaze just over her shoulder. He would be a model of self-control. Besides protecting Kenzi from her sisters, he would protect her from himself. She deserved more than him and his regretful past.
