Читать книгу The Husband List - Cindy Kirk, Cindy Kirk - Страница 8

Chapter Two

Before her lips could meet his, Keenan gently but firmly moved Mitzi back from him. Her eyes, which had started to close, flew open. “Wha—”

“I didn’t want you to feel obligated.” He gestured with his head toward the berries.

Mitzi rarely blushed, but she recognized the heat crawling up her neck. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy had turned away one of her kisses or she’d been so completely impulsive.

Impulsive, most certainly. Completely impulsive, no.

“You’re right.” She flashed him a bright smile. “I don’t know what came over me.”

He skimmed his knuckles down her cheek. “I don’t know what it is, either, but it’s damn enticing.”

The gentle touch reignited the desire hovering just below the surface. But darn if she was going to make another move on him.

She didn’t have to because, before Mitzi could utter a word, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her with surprising tenderness. His lips were warm against hers, and he tasted of spearmint.

Confused—and slightly dazed—Mitzi glanced up at him. He must have seen the question in her eyes.

“We kissed,” he said, in a low rumbling tone that made her belly jitter, “because we wanted to kiss. Not because of berries and leaves.”

Which meant she couldn’t blame her response on the mistletoe. Maybe a little on the full moon hanging like a large golden orb in the sky. Or on the intoxicating way he smelled. Or simply because she wanted to see what it was like to kiss an ex-con.

She jerked back at the realization of whom she’d just locked lips with, whom she’d enjoyed locking lips with, whom she wanted to kiss again.

Red flags popped up so fast it made her dizzy. After her football-player fling, Mitzi had promised herself she’d get serious about finding someone appropriate. She’d agonized over the criteria that had to be met before she would consider a guy relationship material.

After all, she had a gene pool trying to pull her down. From the time she was a teenager, she’d found herself drawn to boys who liked having fun a whole lot more than they liked studying. Guys with flash but no substance.

Guys like Keenan McGregor? She didn’t know him well enough to make such a judgment, yet how could she not? It was a self-preservation kind of thing.

Unlike her sister, who now had three kids by three different men, Mitzi’s vision for her future never included struggling for every penny or having a kid before she was out of high school.

She’d stuck to the straight and narrow. Studied, worked hard and got out. Her life was just as she liked it. Mitzi wasn’t going to let anyone—even a handsome ex-con—pull her off course.

* * *

Keenan saw it in the beautiful blue eyes the second she dismissed him. He wasn’t sure why she’d wanted to kiss him—though he knew she had—when he obviously wasn’t her usual kind of guy.

Understanding didn’t stop the twinge of regret that settled like a lump of clay in his belly. Something told him, given the chance, they’d have enjoyed each other’s company.

Keenan reminded himself Mitzi wasn’t the only woman in Jackson Hole. If he was looking for a woman. Which he was not. He’d barely arrived back in town. He hadn’t even had time to unpack the bag sitting in his sister’s guest bedroom.

On Monday, he’d start his construction job. When he got off work, he’d look for a place to stay so he didn’t inconvenience his sister and brother-in-law any further. Despite Ryan and Betsy’s assurance that he was welcome to stay indefinitely, the desire to make his own way, to begin to rebuild the life he’d lost, was a burning need inside him.

“I suppose—” Mitzi began.

“I should mingle.” Keenan shoved his hands into his pockets, forcing a calm tone. He let his gaze skim over her once more then smiled. “It was good getting to know you. Thanks for the welcome-home kiss.”

Before he could embarrass himself by telling her to give him a call if she was ever free or something equally lame, he shot her a wink and sauntered back inside.

* * *

Mitzi watched in stunned disbelief as the man she’d been prepared to brush off opened the French doors and disappeared from view. Her impromptu speech of dismissal had been fully formed on her lips but he’d spoken first.

Irritation bubbled inside her. She clenched her hands into fists. He’d not only walked off, he had the audacity to wink at her.

Well, no man walked away from Mitzi Sanchez in such a cavalier manner. She was going to go inside, seek him out and tell him to his face that—

She paused, even in her anger realizing the irrationality of her plan. What could she say to him that wouldn’t make her sound like a kook? Or worse yet, desperate?

Taking a couple of deep, steadying breaths, Mitzi turned back to the rail and gazed over the lush lawn. Deep in her thoughts, she didn’t immediately notice that her friend, Kate Dennes, now stood beside her.

“You’re quite the party animal tonight.” Kate rested her hands on the rail and cast a sidelong glance in Mitzi’s direction.

“I needed air.”

“I saw you stroll out here with Keenan.” Kate’s expression gave nothing away. “Then he came back inside alone.”

“He wanted to mingle.” Mitzi could have cheered when her voice came out calm and offhand. “I preferred to stay out here a little longer.”

Kate nudged Mitzi with her elbow. “He’s quite a hunk.”

Mitzi lifted a shoulder in a little shrug. “I suppose. If you like the type.”

The smile faded from Kate’s lips. “Type?”

“Arrogant.” The moment the word slipped past Mitzi’s lips, she felt a pang of regret. As if she’d said something bad about a friend. But then she reminded herself that Keenan wasn’t a friend. He wasn’t anything more than a guy she had kissed under a full moon.

Kate inhaled sharply. “I hope that won’t be a problem.”

Mitzi shifted her body toward her friend, cocked her head.

“Joel hired him on the basis of everyone’s recommendation.” Kate chewed on her lip. “Customer service and teamwork is important to him. If Keenan has a bad attitude...”

Mitzi knew there were no secrets between Kate and her contractor husband, Joel. Once Kate was alone with her spouse, she’d share what Mitzi had told her. Keenan would have one strike against him before he even started his new job.

That would be my fault.

“He’s not really arrogant,” Mitzi said quickly, then felt heat rise up her neck at Kate’s assessing look.

“That’s what you said.”

“We kissed then he walked away as if it meant nothing,” Mitzi huffed. “Pissed me off.”

The serious look in Kate’s eyes faded, replaced by something that resembled amusement. “Did you say you kissed him?”

Mitzi scowled. “Is something wrong with your hearing?”

“You just met.”

“Kissed, Kate,” Mitzi sputtered. “I didn’t hop into bed with him.”

Kate searched Mitzi’s eyes then gave a little laugh. “You wanted to.”

Mitzi started to deny it then chuckled. “He’s hot.” She lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. “Just not my type.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re still focused on that football player.”

Mitzi took a glass of champagne a passing waiter offered, and then enjoyed one delicious sip before answering. “That cheating snake? Get real. I’m not about to chase one mistake with another.”

Kate took a sip from the glass of water she’d brought with her to the deck. “You believe becoming involved with Keenan would be a mistake.”

“He’s an ex-con, Kate.”

“Innocent of all charges.”

“I’m looking for a different kind of man. Someone more like Winn Ferris or...” Mitzi brought a finger to her lips. “Tim Duggan.”

Tim Duggan was a physician in the same OB-GYN practice as their mutual friend, Travis Fisher. A widower with twin girls, the young doctor kept a low profile in the community.

“I like Tim.” Kate spoke slowly, as if choosing her words carefully. “He and I served on a medical-ethics committee together last year, so I got to know him pretty well. I’d be happy to set you up. But I have to say, you and he don’t seem like a particularly good fit.”

“Why?” Mitzi bristled. “Because he went to some Ivy League school and I grew up in East L.A.?”

Something in Kate’s eyes flickered, but her expression didn’t alter. “Because he’s quiet and very family oriented. His life revolves around his daughters.”

Mitzi considered. Dating a man with kids wouldn’t be her first choice, but she could adjust. “I could be family oriented.”

She didn’t even bother with the “quiet.” Keeping her mouth shut had never been a strength.

“In all the time you’ve lived in Jackson, you’ve never once given Tim a second glance. It doesn’t make sense that all of a sudden you’re hot for him.”

“I’m interested in getting to know him better.” Mitzi’s tone stopped just short of petulant. “I’m tired of dating the wrong men. I’m not getting any younger and I need to focus on quality.”

“Benedict Campbell was quality,” Kate reminded her. “You focused on him for well over a year.”

“Ben was—is—a quality guy,” Mitzi concurred. “But all we did was argue. He’s quite arrogant.”

Kate sipped her water. “Arrogant. There’s that word again.”

“You know he is,” Mitzi insisted.

“Poppy doesn’t seem to think so.” Kate gestured with her head.

Mitzi realized with a start that the couple standing so close together on the far end of the large deck was indeed her former flame and his wife. His arm was wrapped around her waist and her head rested against his shoulder.

“They seem happy together,” Mitzi grudgingly admitted. “What’s the point here? Are you implying I’m the one who’s difficult?”

“I’m saying,” Kate’s tone remained low and even, “that you’ve dated all sorts of men. You simply haven’t found the right one.”

“That’s why I made a list,” Mitzi confided, pleased with herself for taking this proactive step. “Wrote down all the qualities I want in a husband.”

Kate didn’t appear surprised. She probably recalled the lists Mitzi had made all through residency. Lists of manners she needed to master so as to not embarrass herself in public. Lists of things she needed to learn about everything from wine to art.

“What kept Keenan McGregor off the list?”

Mitzi took another sip of champagne. The qualities that she’d listed had been well thought out and valid. Yet, somehow, the thought of saying them aloud made her uneasy.

She reminded herself she hadn’t gotten to where she was in life by caring what other people thought.

“Successful.” Mitzi met Kate’s gaze. “I want a man who’s achieved a certain measure of success by the time he’s reached his thirties. While I admit Keenan is good-looking and charming, he’s certainly not, by anyone’s measure, a success.”

“You’re wrong.”

Mitzi whirled.

Betsy Harcourt, Keenan’s sister, stood so close it was obvious that while Mitzi had kept her voice deliberately low, the woman had heard every word.

Mitzi flinched. “I didn’t mean for you—”

“Don’t.” With a finger pointed directly at Mitzi, Betsy spoke, her voice snapping like a whip. “Don’t say another word.”

Stunned, Mitzi obeyed. This was a side to the sweet and docile paralegal she’d never seen. The sprinkle of freckles across Betsy’s nose now stood like angry pennies against the pallor of her skin.

“You’re wrong about Keenan. Dead wrong. My brother is a success. Perhaps he doesn’t have a shiny red sports car or a big house in Spring Gulch, but he’s successful in the ways that matter.” Betsy’s eyes flashed a warning when Mitzi started to open her mouth.

“Keenan raised me when he was only a kid himself. Never did he make me feel like a burden. He went to prison to protect me. Gave up his freedom for me.” Betsy brought her clenched fist to her chest. “If you can’t see that Keenan is a special guy, then I’m telling you...stay away from him. He deserves only good things—and good people—in his life.”

Tears welled in Betsy’s blue eyes. Before they could fall, the brunette blinked them back and straightened her shoulders. She shifted her focus to Kate, who stood slack-jawed at Mitzi’s side. “Mary Karen needs to speak with you.”

“I’ll be right in,” Kate responded when she finally found her voice, but Betsy had already spun on her heel and was headed inside.

Sighing, Mitzi bit her lip. “That was awful.”

Kate nodded. “I’m afraid it’s only going to get more so, at least for you.”

Mitzi cocked her head.

“The man you were just told to steer clear of is going to be the one trimming out your new home.”