Leah handled his communication. Usually, he called when he was late with his mortgage payment or her half-siblings needed braces.
Her phone pinged.
I didn’t raise you to take off when things get hard.
There it was. You’re just like your father, Kenzie.
I’m saving my career. That was what she wanted to type. But she didn’t.
She was waiting for the perfect time to approach Tucker about the song again. Once she found out what made him tick, what would convince him to do this for her, she’d work her magic.
Everyone had a button to push—a way to get them to do what they didn’t want to do. The key was figuring it out and convincing them without letting on to what you were doing.
Some might call that manipulation. Kenzie chose to call it a mutually beneficial arrangement. Everyone walked away happy.
Her phone pinged again.
Electing not to respond to me is juvenile. I raised you better than this.
A light sweat formed along her hairline, and not because the heater in the airport was on and she wore a thick coat. No, there was only so much passive-aggressive nitpicking a girl could take. But she only had one mother. And Moira had done her best to get Kenzie where she was in life. Her warped idea of success as a parent meant her daughter was a household name.
She reread her unsent message.
Having a great time with Tucker! Have fun at your party. No cell service at the ranch. Call Leah if you need anything. She knows how to reach me.
She needed a break. Her mother could go through Leah. Kenzie pressed send on the aneurysm-inducing message.
Deep breaths. She turned off her phone and shoved it into the pocket of her coat.
“Your mom again?” Tucker sat beside her and handed over a disposable cup of hot chocolate. He’d wrapped a flimsy paper napkin around the sides.
A thin coat of snow and ice stuck to his Carhartt sweatshirt.
“It’s always my mom.” She held the top of the cup to her nose. The aroma of chocolate tickled her senses. “Where’d you get this?”
“There’s a cart with coffee and stuff over there.” He jerked his chin toward a little trolley by the TSA office.
“I don’t think they meant that for us.”
He shrugged. “Shoulda put a sign on it then.”
One hand on his cup, he stretched the other arm behind her.
The hot chocolate called her name.Kenzie. Be bad, Kenzie. Do the things you’re not supposed to do. You’re on vacation, Kenzie.
There was no way she could drink anything with both dairy and sugar. She’d puff up like…well, her coat.
Still, she could smell it. She stuck her nose over the rim, inhaling the decadent scent of powdered cocoa product and dry milk mixed with water.
Heaven.
Tucker took a swig out of his own cup, a dab of chocolate at the corner of his lips. He licked at it.
Her belly took a little dive. Her cheeks heated. And she experienced internal tingles totally inappropriate for baggage claim.
“You going to drink that or just have a love affair with it?” he asked, his arm still behind her head.
“What are you talking about?” She angled herself toward him.
