Page 19 of Her Devoted HERO

Kenna gritted her teeth then got herself together. Maybe she needed to come from this at a different angle.

“Mr. Evans, are you here representing the Navy?” Kenna asked.

“No Kenna. I’m here in an unofficial capacity. When Rosalie called and introduced herself I was immediately intrigued, I remembered seeing her in movies, in fact, I had quite the crush on her.” Dex smiled at Rosalie who was lapping up his compliments like a cat with a bowl of cream.

But no matter how hard Kenna stared at the man, she could see nothing but sincerity radiating from him. It didn’t hurt that he had come to the house wearing slacks and a polo shirt that fit his body and accentuated his broad shoulders and strong biceps. Kenna didn’t blame Rosalie for her admiration. Hell, she was having a hard time not staring. Then there was the fact that he didn’t seem to be bothered by the eight hundred and fifty yippee dogs that ran around the table. Right now, he even had Smooches in his lap!

“I was blown away at the idea of who I would be working with on this team,” Dex said looking around the table. Everybody sat up straighter. “All of you have made an impact here in San Diego. Anything I can do to help would be an honor.” Then Dex turned to Kenna. “But the cherry on top is Ms. Wright.”

Did he just say cherry on top?!

He grinned at her. What a flirt! “Rosalie couldn’t sing your praises high enough. She said that I would be working very closely with you to administer the funds. She said that you are her right hand and work as a nurse at Sharp Memorial in the oncology department. Not to mention raising your son all on your own. As soon as you walked out onto the patio, I was looking for angel wings.”

Somehow the man had known that she was Poppy because he hadn’t been surprised at all when she had walked out. Granted she wasn’t all made up and looking like her glamorous picture, but still, her name was Kenna, and she looked close enough that he had to have put it together, and he hadn’t acted surprised.

Rosalie must have told him. Shit! She needed to nip this in the bud. Like she thought she had three nights ago.

“Rosalie, we still have to coordinate your re-writes with your editor, this project is going to require more time than I have to give. I can only work my normal Wednesdays and Saturdays. I don’t think I can co-chair this with Mr. Evans. I’m so sorry.”

She shot Rosalie a meaningful glance.

“Buddy has agreed to help me on my memoir and pick-up some of your other duties while you’re working on this project,” Rosalie piped up.

Buddy grabbed his Monster Energy drink and gulped down a huge swallow, trying to avoid Kenna’s glare.

“Buddy, I would have thought with your running such a large online business, you couldn’t spare the time,” Kenna bit out.

He took a huge bite of his quiche, then pointed to his full mouth and shook his head, indicating he couldn’t answer. Coward.

“Then it’s settled, you’ll have time to work on this. I’m looking forward to it, Ms. Wright,” Dex said smoothly.

“Call her Kenna,” Rosalie inserted. “She never stands on ceremony.” Rosalie turned to the others at the table. “Now let’s get down to brass tacks. How does two million sound to start?”

Kenna rolled her eyes.

Dex smothered a laugh.

***

Dex had never been in an office with a white shag rug and a pink couch before. Even the desk chair was upholstered in pink. At least the chair he was sitting in was white. He expected to see a white Persian cat slink around his feet at any moment. Well, what else could you expect from someone who had once been a James Bond girl? Rosalie was a character, and she was willing to spend two million dollars to matchmake for her girl. Kenna had to be pretty special, but then he’d already guessed that.

His Poppy was pissed. It looked good on her. She shot daggers at him and Buddy all through the meeting. The looks she had given Rosalie were more gentle. Dex liked that. She’d shown piss and vinegar as well as kindness and compassion. Then there was the way she treated the three women and two men who headed up the San Diego homeless shelters. She’d been terrific with them. She’d ticked off her questions, and figured out immediately which ones were already well-funded, which ones had their shit together, and which ones needed the most help. The woman could probably organize a war zone if need be.

She scheduled walk throughs of the missions next Saturday. Now he was in here cooling his heels while she was taking a break to go to the powder room. He would bet dollars to donuts that she was busting Rosalie and Buddy’s chops. Buddy was getting a full-on knock down, whereas Rosalie was getting guilt.

The door of the pink office flew open. A cat sprinted in before Kenna, it was a Siamese, chased by the five teacup poodles who barked madly.

“Out!” The poodles screeched to a halt, butts hitting the rug. They looked at Kenna. She shoved them out the door. The Siamese cat watched with a smug look of superiority. After she shut the door, Kenna turned to Dex and crossed her arms over her chest.

“SailorBoy, you knew it was me. I call foul. I told you this was a no-fly zone.”

Her hair was coming out of her ponytail, and her face was flushed. She was adorable.

“I’m here to help the homeless,” he said innocently. He’d perfected that look with his grandma Helen.

Kenna scowled. “I have a fifteen-and-a-half-year-old son. Your innocent act doesn’t hold water. I can’t get out of this because Rosalie signs my checks. You have to bow out.” Kenna plopped down on the pink couch, and the cat jumped on top of her. She started petting it even as she glared at Dex.

“Poppy, I’m not going to bow out. I’m going check out the homeless shelters with you next Saturday.”