Chapter 12

Dec

I'd been coming home earlier and earlier this week after spending my mornings fishing. I told myself it was because of the stifling hot summer weather, but it was mostly to see what else Kenna had thrown away. She'd had a dumpster delivered to her driveway on Monday, and every time I came home, she had more shit piled in it.

My phone dinged with an incoming text from Harley before I even shut off the engine. He'd been bugging me daily about scheduling a boat day with Kenna. This was exactly why I hadn't been in a hurry to introduce the two of them. Harley would make everything more complicated just because he loved to see me pissed.

Harley: Last chance, jackass. If you won't invite her, I'll do it myself tonight.

Me: Fuck off.

Me: Don't contact her.

Harley: You have until seven tonight.

Me: I hate you.

Harley: Nah. You fucking love me, bro.

I sent him the middle finger emoji and slid the phone in my pocket before getting out of the truck. I didn't need my best friend brokering a date with a woman for me.

Kenna's door swung open and she exited the house, backside first in those hideous sunshine shorts. I squinted, trying to make out what she had in her hands. Then I started chuckling. The woman was dragging long green and gold sheets of wallpaper with jagged edges to the dumpster. Stepping over the hedge, I met up with her when she came back up the porch stairs empty-handed, tendrils of auburn hair sticking to her sweaty neck.

"If you would have just waited another thirty years, that wallpaper might have come back in style."

Kenna's head came up and she shot me an out-of-breath smile. "I already talked to the sixties and they don't want their wallpaper back." She stepped inside the house and I paused.

"Need an extra hand?"

She grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, both of us letting out a soft sigh as the air-conditioned air hit us. I tried my best not to notice the way her nipples reacted to the arctic breeze through the T-shirt she wore. "Don't we need to leave for the boat club soon?"

We'd been spending every afternoon there, getting familiar with how everything ran and what needed fixing. Kenna mostly stayed in the office, harassing Irene to the point that the old woman was spending most of the day chain-smoking outside in the heat.

"Yeah, but we have another hour or so. And I'm free labor." I spread my arms wide and Kenna's gaze dipped down for a split second before she spun away.

"If you're up for it, I'm stripping wallpaper in all the bedrooms."

I followed behind her, appreciating the way her hips swayed as she climbed the stairs. It wasn't my fault for staring. The height of the stairs put her gorgeous ass right in my field of vision. Kenna hadn't been here long, but she was already starting to fill out from when she'd first arrived in Sunshine Key. Her pale skin even had a faint hint at a tan.

There were other changes too. The woman I'd met in Mel Cheatum's office had been pricklier than a cholla cactus wrapped in a nun's habit. This Kenna, the one who wiped her dirty hands on her T-shirt and reached up over her head in the first bedroom we came to and yanked a strip of paper off the wall, acted nothing like her. She'd warmed up to not only me, but Char and Harley and even Mel.

I grabbed the corner of the next piece and gave it a steady yank down the wall, getting my own strip of paper. We moved in companionable silence, each of us ripping off what we could and leaving the more heavily glued pieces for later. When we had a large stack of ripped wallpaper between us, I scooped down to pick it up, Kenna grabbing the smaller strips that fell out of my arms.

As we walked back down the stairs to the dumpster, I cleared my throat. "Hey, huh, would you want to go out on my boat tomorrow? Harley can get the day off and we can float around some of the keys you haven't seen yet."

I didn't know why I was nervous. It wasn't like I was asking Kenna out. Hell, I couldn't remember the last time I asked a woman out. Maybe before fame hit and women threw themselves at me without me having to make an effort? This definitely wasn't a date. This was just some friends getting together on my boat. I did that all the time with Harley and sometimes that included whatever woman he was dating at the time. This would be no different.

Kenna opened the front door so I could walk out ahead of her, strips of wallpaper trailing behind me. She jumped over the paper and followed me to the dumpster. "Sure. That sounds like fun. It'll give me a day off from house renovation."

I dumped my load into the dumpster and waited while she threw the smaller pieces in too. When we headed back inside, she shook her head and laughed.

"What?"

She closed the door and turned toward me. I. Would. Not. Look. At. Her. Nipples. They played a game of peekaboo, disappearing when we went outside and then flaring again when we stepped back into the arctic air. They were driving me to distraction.

"My mom always tried to get me to play hooky with her instead of going to school. Not once did I agree."

I frowned. "You liked school that much?"

Kenna folded her arms across her chest and I used every muscle in my body to pull my eyeballs upward instead of down. "It wasn't that so much. I just didn't trust my mom. If she had her way, I would never have gone to school and instead become a hippie with her. Of course, we would have ended up on the street without a penny to our name, but that never seemed to scare her into keeping a job."

Damn. I thought I had it rough growing up with a single parent, but Kenna hadn't even had one responsible parent. I put my hand on her arm, intending to console her, but once I got a feel of her silky skin, I found my hand rubbing up and down her arm. Kenna's eyes flared and I was highly aware it was just the two of us in the house. Alone.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, meaning I was sorry she didn't have a parent to count on. Sorry that she had to grow up way before she should have had to. Sorry her ex-husband had just been another person in her life who didn't treat her right.

Kenna flashed an overly bright smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I turned out okay. I mean, look at me! Divorced, home falling apart around me, unemployed, and riding a bike to the grocery store."

I gripped her arms with both hands, pulling her into me. She dropped the smile instantly and inhaled sharply as our bodies collided. She felt so slight against me, the top of her head not even coming to my chin. She was so small but she was bravely building a life out of the wreckage. There was nothing about that to make fun of and I couldn't listen to her beat herself down.

Her face was just inches from mine, all that thick auburn hair streaming down her back as she gaped up at me. "Let's skip the boat club today so you can get more done on the house. I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight. Wear sunscreen."

And then I let her go, exiting the house and swearing under my breath while I climbed over the hedges. I should have stayed to help her with the house, but I didn't trust myself. Because right then, with her soft skin under my hands and her breasts smashed against my chest, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to claim that mouth and taste what made her so resilient. I wanted to bend her over my arm and kiss away every single memory of her asshole ex-husband.

And that would only lead to trouble.

I spent the entire night talking myself out of whatever the hell I'd been thinking yesterday when I yanked Kenna against me. There was zero room in my life for a relationship with my next-door neighbor. My head understood it but other body parts of mine weren't getting on board with it. I spent most of the night awake and pissed off, which didn't bode well for my mood today.

So when Kenna came bouncing out of her house in a pair of tight cutoff jean shorts with frayed edges dancing around her bare thighs instead of the shapeless Sunshine Key tourist shorts, I almost turned right back around to go inside my house. There was no way I could be out on the boat with her all day in those shorts and not stare at her ass. Did that make me an asshole male with impulse control problems? Most likely. And yet I knew myself. I'd simply have to wear reflective sunglasses and hope Kenna couldn't see where my gaze was directed.

"Hey! Should I bring a cooler with drinks?" Kenna called out from her porch, oblivious to the little problem I had brewing. She sported thin swimsuit straps peeking out from under an emerald-green tank top. Her hair was piled on top of her head and she carried a straw-colored wide-brimmed hat in her hands.

"Already packed," I tossed back, getting into the truck and refusing to look at her. "Fuck me," I whispered to the inside of the cab.

Kenna wrenched the passenger side door open and I felt like an asshole for not assisting her up like I'd been doing every damn day since she'd come to town. But I knew if I touched her, I'd pull her into me and there would be absolutely nothing I could say to myself to stop me from kissing her this time.

"I made cookies last night." She put a cookie tin on the console between our seats, shooting me a happy grin. "Justin never let me make cookies. Said it wasn't good for my waistline."

My jaw clenched harder than a gator's when they found a small animal on the banks of the water not paying attention. "We could fly out there and inflict pain on that asshole, you know."

Kenna laughed. "We should. Those papers he sent the other day were the first negotiation lobbed over. He wants the house, both cars, and all the furniture except my grandmother's antique chair. Seems equal, right?"

I turned the truck on and backed out of the driveway, happy to latch on to a feeling other than total lust. Kenna's ex-husband sounded less like a piece of work these days and more like a psycho villain from a movie. "We could knife all four of his tires."

Kenna nodded enthusiastically. "We could put hair removal cream in his shampoo. He has a total pinhead and would make a hideous-looking bald guy."

That made my lips twitch into the first smile of the day. "Let me guess, he has Italian loafers?"

"Of course he does. Only the best for Mr. President."

I grimaced. "He's a politician?"

Her head tipped back and the sound of her laughter made today a thousand times better. "No! Can you imagine? No, he was president of his fraternity in college."

"How many polo shirts did he own?" I could just imagine his type.

Kenna shot me a look. "Let's put it this way. He took the bigger of the two closets in the primary bedroom of our condo."

"Total loser," I grumbled.

"Agreed."

We stayed in happy silence all the way to the marina where Harley was already on the Afishinado, getting everything ready for a day at sea. Carl was on the dock, being more of a nuisance than a help. This time I helped Kenna out of the truck, careful to keep my gaze averted and my touch brief.

"Who's the hottie?" Sam called from the concrete picnic bench.

I rolled my eyes, assuming Kenna was about to unload a barrage of scathing remarks on the old man. Instead, she jutted her hip out to the side and gave him a sexy, playful pose. My gaze instantly dropped to her ass in those shorts, seeing the crease where each cheek met the top of her thighs.

"Hurry up, loser!" Harley shouted from the boat, startling me.

I quickly averted my gaze and grabbed the cooler out of the back of the truck. Harley helped Kenna board the boat and I took the line from Carl once I placed the cooler behind the captain's chair.

"Don't let the gators get ya!" Sam shouted as we backed away from the dock.

Kenna snapped her startled eyes in my direction, but I shook my head. "He's joking. Those are the gator boys, Sunshine Key's troublemakers."

She slumped back against the seat and strapped on her hat. "Thank God. I think I might freak out the first time I see one."

"Don't worry, Kenna," Harley said over the sound of the motors, leaning across the aisle and getting far too close to Kenna. "We're just going to tour a few keys and maybe throw a couple lines in and see what's biting. You ever fish from a boat before?"

Kenna's laugh rang out. "Not only have I not fished from a boat, I've never fished!"

Harley, laughing with her, reached over and put his hand on her arm. Not quite out of the wake zone, I shoved the throttle down and banked right, throwing Harley back in his seat with a thud that made me smile. Of course, Kenna almost slid right off her seat, but I was ready for her, reaching across and putting a steadying hand on her hip. As I straightened out, she shot me a thankful look. I swiveled my head the other direction and sent a death glare to Harley. The fucker just burst out laughing.

The tour of the keys went well. Harley kept his hands to himself and we were able to show Kenna all the good areas for fishing and sunbathing, depending on what one liked to do out on the keys. I had to remind her to put on sunscreen again when her shoulders started to get pink. By the time we ended the tour at our favorite honey hole, Harley had Kenna agreeing to thread a worm on her hook.

I let him show her how to get her hook ready and even how to toss the line into the water. But when he didn't move away afterward, just stayed hovering around her while her line floated, I stepped up and tossed my head at him.

"Get your own line going, jackass."

Harley smirked at me over Kenna's head, knowing exactly what had gotten under my skin. Kenna looked up at me from below that wide-brim hat, a soft smile on her face. She hadn't bothered with makeup today and she looked years younger with the hint of freckles dotting the bridge of her nose.

"I just thought of something. If I catch a fish, do I have to eat it?"

The smile bloomed fast and furious, a single thought echoing around in my brain. I like Kenna Ryan.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, sunshine. We can just toss it back if you prefer."

Harley threw his line in the water and sidled up to Kenna's other side. I sent him a glare, but he ignored me on purpose. He nudged her with his elbow, his stupid eyebrows wagging. "Hey, Kenna. You into boys from Tennessee?"

Kenna laughed. "Why are you asking, Harley?"

My idiot best friend shrugged his shoulders. "Just curious. If you are, I wouldn't mind taking you out to dinner. You know, just showing you around to the nicer parts of Sunshine Key."

Now I was pissed. I stepped around Kenna and wedged myself between the two of them. "Ignore him. I can take you to all the fancy restaurants if that's what you want."

Harley snorted behind me. Kenna pressed her lips together and put a hand on her hip, nearly dropping the fishing pole until she rested the end of it against her hip.

"Are you kidding me right now? I will not be used as some sort of whose-dick-is-bigger ploy between you and your best friend, Dec Boggs." She took that hand off her hip and shoved me backwards, crashing me into Harley.

Kenna spun on her bare feet and marched to the other side of the boat with a huff. Harley and I had to duck to prevent us from being decapitated by her swinging line. I looked over at Harley. He'd rolled his lips in to keep from laughing.

I had the same trouble. A confident Kenna was something to behold. She definitely wasn't the same angry, broken woman she'd been when she first got here. I had a feeling I was just starting to get a glimpse at the real Kenna Ryan, and I was hooked.

Chastised, I headed for the back of the boat to get my own fishing rod, but leaned into Kenna's ear before I passed her. "Sorry about that." I straightened, but then shot over my shoulder, "And mine's definitely bigger."