See you tonight, he texted back and threw his phone on his desk. Every time he thought he knew how to handle Kenzi, he was drawn back to her. He still thought the best thing he could do for her would be to end it early before she became too attached to him.
Seeing her again was a selfish decision on his part. He wanted back in her bed, back in her arms. The memory of her sweet taste brought his cock to full attention. He forced himself to stay and work. She was a heady distraction, but that kind of attraction didn’t last.
He shouldn’t give in to it.
He shouldn’t let it control him.
But, God, he couldn’t wait to see her again.
Chapter Ten
Kenzi snapped her fingers, and Taffy moved up to sit on her lap on the couch. She petted her gently and said, “I know what you’re thinking. He said he’d call me and I should have waited. That’s the way the game is played. But I don’t want to play games with him. I’ve never felt like this with anyone. I don’t have to hide with him. I don’t have to pretend. When I’m with him, I feel like I am finally me—the me I was supposed to be, and I can do anything. Is that crazy?” Taffy looked at her in adoration and wagged her tail. She scratched behind the dog’s ear. “I shouldn’t ask your opinion. I have a feeling you’d agree with anything I say today.”
Kenzi reached over and took out a notebook. She made a list of what she wanted to do over the next few weeks. She definitely planned to speak to another school if the director thought her message was needed. She also intended to raise money for the school program. She looked down at Taffy and listed ways she could help animals that had been in her situation. The list included as many questions as it did action steps, but Kenzi felt empowered when she read it over.
Kenzi petted Taffy’s head again. “You’re going to heal up quickly, Taffy. When you do, don’t be like me. Don’t waste all your time thinking about yourself and wishing your life had been perfect. That won’t make you happy. It doesn’t change anything. But this”—Kenzi held up the notebook—“this is changing everything. We’ll have to find a way for you to do some good when you are better. Would you like that?”
Taffy licked Kenzi’s hand and cuddled closer. There were a hundred things Kenzi planned to do, but just then she was happy letting Taffy find comfort in her presence. She took out her tablet and read with her new friend happily tucked against her.
A while later, Kenzi’s phone beeped with a message. It was from her father, and he said he was downstairs. Kenzi stood with Taffy in her arms and buzzed him in. She hadn’t heard from her family since she’d made her speech at the school. Lance might have said something to her father, or her father might have heard about it in another way. There was a chance he didn’t know anything and was coming to check in with her simply because she hadn’t seen him recently.
As soon as her father stepped out of the elevator, Kenzi knew he knew. His expression was drawn tight, and he looked about ten years older. Angry or sad. Kenzi wasn’t sure which. He looked both. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Of course,” Kenzi said and held the door open beside her.
He sat down on her couch and slumped forward, his hands between his knees. He looked as if he was about to say something then stopped himself and ran a hand roughly over his face. Kenzi stood beside the chair across from him. She’d never seen her father look so upset. He’s always been the rock of the family. She hated that she was the reason he looked broken.
He didn’t meet her eyes. He looked at the floor in front of him and blinked several times. “When we lost your twin—Kent, I thought that was the worst pain I would ever feel. I couldn’t make things better for Sophie. All I could do was try to hold the family together while she fell apart.” He was quiet for few minutes as if memories from that time were more than he could bear. His face contorted with pain, and Kenzi almost stopped him and told him he didn’t have to say it, but she didn’t. The past needed to be faced, by Kenzi and by her father. “I never wanted any of us to go through that hell again. I tried to protect her from everything I thought could hurt her.” He hit his thigh with a fist. “Maybe I went too far. You’re right, it was all for Sophie.”
Kenzi put Taffy down on the dog bed. “You did what you thought you had to do. I know that.”
“When I think about what you went through and how we sent you away. How could you not hate us—me?”
“I don’t hate you, Dad.”
“I told your mother. She wanted to come, but I asked her to let me talk to you first. She was hurt when you said you needed time away from her, and then devastated when she heard what had happened to you. I’m worried about her. She doesn’t understand how she missed it, and she feels like she let you down. It wasn’t her, though. She doesn’t know what I asked of all of you for her benefit. She would have never put her needs above yours. I did that, Kenzi. She loves you.” He clasped his hands together and met her eyes. “I do, too.”
Kenzi moved around the chair to sit down. “I know, Dad. How did you find out?”
“Lance took me aside and told me. I thought Asher had a sharp tongue, but Lance made sure I understood my role in your silence. It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow, but I needed to hear everything he said. I understand now what you were trying to tell us. All I can say is I’m sorry, Kenzi. Sorry for all of it.” His hand clenched on his knee. “I was so blind. I thought Dean was pulling you into a bad crowd. Lance said the boy he almost killed was the one who did this to you. Is that right?”
Kenzi nodded. “Dean warned me to stay away from him, but I didn’t listen. He must have said something to Dean because I didn’t.”
“You should have told us,” her father said huskily.
“I tried,” Kenzi answered, her voice broke with emotion. There was more that Kenzi could have said, but she held it back. It didn’t matter who had been right or wrong that day. Placing blame on either of them wouldn’t change what had happened. It also wouldn’t help them move past it. And that’s what Kenzi wanted to do. She’d broken free of the hold the past had had on her. She didn’t want to go back. “It’s okay, Dad. I’m finally okay.”
Dale nodded slowly. “Lance said your talk was amazing.”
“That’s what happens when you’re the daughter of a politician. Public speaking must be in my blood.”
“I want to say I’ll go listen to you, but—”
Kenzi had never seen her father so close to tears. “You don’t have to, Dad. I’m not even sure I’ll do another talk like that. I needed to get the truth out there, but now that it is, I see that there are many ways I can help people. I thought I’d ask Mom to help me organize a fundraiser for the program I worked with.”
Dale brought a shaky hand up to his forehead. “Your mother would love that.”
To ease the tension of the moment, Kenzi snapped her fingers to call Taffy to her side. “Do you want to meet the newest addition to my family? This is Taffy. I got her today.”
Dale leaned forward and gave Taffy another look. “I assumed you were watching her for someone.”
“No, she’s mine.”
Dale looked the dog over. “She’s—she’s—”
“Healing, Dad. Just like me.”
Dale cleared his throat before saying, “Where did you get her?”
“A friend of mine knew I wanted a dog. He surprised me with filling a pet shop with puppies for me to choose from. They were adorable, but when I saw Taffy I knew she was meant to be with me. Sometimes it’s that simple.”
“This friend of yours, do I know him?”
In the past Kenzi would have hedged or lied. Not anymore. “Dax Marshall.”
Her father’s eyes widened. He didn’t look happy with the news. “I know him by reputation only.”
Kenzi shrugged. “I don’t know his reputation, but he has been a good friend to me.”
Her father didn’t say anymore on the subject. He stood and walked over to a photo Kenzi had of her with her brothers when they were younger. “W
hat do you need, Kenzi? What can I do now that would make any of this right?”
“Time to figure myself out. That’s all. And I need to know that you still love me. I tried to be the perfect daughter, Dad. I really did.”
Dale turned from the photo, and this time there were tears in his yes. “Oh, baby, nothing could ever change how much I love you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Kenzi let out a long breath. “I didn’t know if you’d all be angry that the story went public. I know Ian is always trying to keep our personal lives out of the papers.”
“No one is anything but concerned about you, Kenzi.”
She wished she could believe that. Kenzi looked up at the ceiling in frustration. “I’m not Mom. I can handle the truth.”
“That is the truth. Everyone in the family knows now except Andrew. We didn’t want him distracted, but I have a feeling he’ll react the same as we all did. We thought we’d kept you safe, Kenzi. A part of me died when I realized how I’d failed you.”
Kenzi crossed to stand beside her father. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. Just like it wasn’t mine. Bad things happen, and who can make sense of why? But good things happen, too. I’m finally in a place where I can see that.”
The buzzer surprised both of them. Kenzi rushed to the door. Oh, no, don’t let it be.
“It’s Dax. Buzz me in.”
Kenzi looked across to her father who held her gaze steadily. He wasn’t going anywhere. Taffy padded over to stand beside Kenzi. She met the dog’s eyes. “Well, do you have any idea how to get out of this? No, me either.”
A slim woman kept giving Dax looks as they rode up in the elevator together. He ignored her. He had a bouquet of assorted flowers in one hand, a gift bag in the other hand, takeout being delivered soon, and a big happy grin on his face. In a few minutes he’d step into Kenzi’s apartment and pull her into his arms. Nothing else mattered. The other woman exited the elevator a floor before Kenzi’s with one final lingering stare. Dax shrugged dismissively.
Taken.
The word was still echoing in his head when he stepped out onto Kenzi’s floor. The woman in the elevator had been beautiful, but he hadn’t felt anything when he’d noted that. Women had always come to him. Money did that. He was used to picking and choosing as he pleased. What he wasn’t used to was the growing realization that there was only one woman he wanted. Kenzi.
Kenzi opened the door to her apartment and, still holding the gift bag in one hand and the bouquet in his other, he pulled her to him and kissed her with all the passion that had been building within him during their short separation. Although it had only been hours since he’d seen her, their reunion felt as if it had been much longer. He couldn’t get enough of her. He stepped forward and kicked the door closed behind him.
The presents could wait. Well, most of them could. He had stopped and bought an intimate one he thought she might enjoy. He didn’t know if she used toys, but in his experience most women did and the idea of watching her orgasm again and again while he watched had him sporting a painful hard-on.
He dropped the flowers and the gift bag. She felt so damn good against him. To his surprise, after kissing him deeply at first, she pulled back—somewhat frantically. He instantly worried that he’d come on too strong. “I’m sorry, Kenzi. I lose my head around you.”
She was breathing as heavily as he was, but she had her hands on his chest pushing him back. “My father’s here, Dax.”
“Your what?” He raised his head and looked behind her. There was indeed a very pinched-faced man watching them from the other room. If looks could kill—
She turned and picked up the items he’d dropped. “My father. He dropped by.” She smiled and smelled the flowers. “They’re beautiful.” She held out the bag. “Is this for me, too?” She saw the dog bone inside and pulled it out. “Taffy, your first present.” Taffy came over and took the bone delicately, as if she couldn’t believe it was for her. “Is this for her, too?” Kenzi reached for the small, wrapped box still in the bag.
“No.” Dax grabbed the bag from her and placed it on the floor beside the door. “You can open that later. Your father looks impatient to know who just mauled his daughter right in front of him.”
Kenzi took his hand in hers. “I told him about you.”
Dax looked down at her quickly.
“I said we’re friends.”
Dax met the other man’s eyes. Friends. Kenzi’s father looked far from believing that story. A thought occurred to him and he asked, “Is he here because he found out about yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Kenzi smiled up at him in the way that always sent his thoughts scattering. “And it’s good. Better than I thought it would be. We talked. I’ll tell you later.”
“I’m glad.” Dax was. He wasn’t sure how Kenzi’s happiness had become linked to his own, but it had. He didn’t care what her father thought of him or would say to him as long as his visit had been what Kenzi needed.
Dale Barrington wasn’t a powerful man on his own, but he was connected to the most influential families on the East Coast and his sons had become influential players in several financial fields. Most men would tread carefully for those reasons alone.
Dax wasn’t most men. A potential clash with the Barringtons on a personal or professional level didn’t intimidate him. Since meeting Kenzi, Dax had looked into her family extensively. He knew about the scandal that had cost Dale his political career. A man like Dale was no better than his father—weak and lacking in integrity. Dale had stayed with his wife, but he hadn’t been faithful. Dax didn’t personally have much respect for him, but he was Kenzi’s father.
With Kenzi at his side, Dax walked over and held his hand out to Dale. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
There was no warmth in Dale’s eyes but he shook Dax’s hand. “Marshall.”
Kenzi stood beside Dax, watching them both. “His name is Dax, Dad.”
Dale kept his attention on Dax. “I’d like to speak to Dax alone for a minute.”
Dax nodded once. Bring it on.
Kenzi’s hand closed around Dax’s. “Whatever you have to say, Dad, say in front of me.”
Dale pressed his lips together in a line of clear displeasure, then he said, “I’d rather not.”
Dax felt the tension coursing through Kenzi. If she were confronting anyone but her father, he would have threatened the man, but Kenzi didn’t need his protection just then. Dax didn’t consider himself good at family issues, but if there was one thing he’d learned by being, however temporarily, part of so many it was that people needed to define their own relationships with each other. If handled by someone else, the conflict returned as soon as the enforcer of the peace stepped away. Dax gave Kenzi’s hand a squeeze and kept silent.
Kenzi squared her shoulders. “Dad, do you trust me?”
Dale held eye contact with Dax. “You, yes.”
“Then trust that I’m intelligent enough to know who is good for me and who isn’t.”
Dale directed his question to Dax. “What would you say if you found out a daughter of yours was dating someone like you?”
“Dad,” Kenzi said in protest.
Several cutting comebacks flew to the tip of Dax’s tongue. He could easily fire back that a father might think the same about a man with Dale’s track record, but Dax kept his temper in check. Kenzi was puffing up protectively, defending him to her father, in a way that only one person in his life ever had. He’d take a bullet for Clay, and in that moment he realized he’d do the same for Kenzi. Even if the bullets that day were not so subtle insults from Dale. “I don’t have a daughter so it’s hard to say.”
“Then let me help you. I know why you came to Boston, and I don’t like it. I don’t want you around my daughter or my family.”
Kenzi said, “Dad, stop.”
Dale looked at his daughter. “Did he tell you why he’s here? He’s after the Henderson’s company
. The biggest favor you could do Dean is to stay away from the man who is probably using you to get information about him.”
“That’s not true.” Kenzi spun to look at Dax. “Tell him it’s not true, Dax. You’re not after Poly-Shyn.”
With anyone else Dax would have walked away. As a rule, he didn’t explain himself. “I told you there was a project here that was complicated. The company was initially for sale, but it was stable and the price was inflated. I wasn’t interested. Recently confidence in the company has been shaken by indecisiveness at the top. Its value is spiraling downward. I looked into acquiring it. Right now it’s a deal that’s difficult to pass on, but I’m not moving forward with it.”
“Because?” Kenzi asked.
“You know why,” Dax answered gently.
Kenzi nodded slowly. “Because of Dean.”
“Because of you,” Dax corrected. It was an easy admission to make. He didn’t believe in forever, but he did believe in honesty. He met Dale’s eyes and said, “And because very few men impress me. I won’t be the reason Dean Henderson loses his father’s company.”
Dale didn’t conceal his disbelief. “You expect me to believe—?”
“I don’t expect anything from you,” Dax said, cutting him off as his temper rose. “Sir.” He added the tag, but it also came out too aggressively to be respectful.
Kenzi gave Dax’s arm a tug. He looked down at her, and the anger that had swept through him dissolved as quickly as it had come. She believed him. His heart swelled in his chest when she said, “Thank you.”
Despite how her father was looking on, Dax pulled her against his side and kissed her forehead. He didn’t have the words to articulate how she made him feel, so he didn’t try. He just held her there for a moment and breathed in the sweet scent of her.
When he finally looked back at Dale there was a guarded expression on the man’s face. The cold rejection of earlier was gone.
Kenzi turned back toward her father. “Dad, emotions are running high right now. I don’t want to fight with you, but I also don’t want to pretend or lie anymore. Dax and I are friends. I need you to respect that. If we’re more than that, it’s our business. All you really need to know is that I care about this man, and I trust him. He’s been good to me.”