Falling For Ken (Blueprint to Love Book 2) (10 page)

Though she attempted to hide it, her eyes betrayed confusion. "Don't-" She shook her head. "Please don't insult me."

The hurt in her voice fisted his stomach. He was struck by how vulnerable she was despite her pretending to be unaffected. Stripped of the tough layer of veneer, she was defenseless. "Kendall, you may think I'm a bastard by the time this is over . . . but I will never insult you." The magnitude of what he'd done tightened his chest. "When I say you're beautiful, I mean it."    

He held the power to destroy her– in more ways than one. Ken wasn't fishing for compliments. She simply wasn't accustomed to hearing them. The bigger question was who had made her feel unattractive– to the point she hid her beauty under such a thorny disguise?

Harry had stumbled into dangerous territory. Anything he said held the potential to hurt her feelings. Yet, she'd been honest with him. She deserved honesty in return. "I know this isn't an acceptable excuse– and believe me, I'm not trying to make one for myself– but I can't get involved-"

"Because of Deborah," she interrupted. Kenny had drifted to the doorway, her arms wrapped protectively around her waist.

Startled, he met her troubled gaze. "How do you know about her?"

"You talk in your sleep," she said, retreating another step. "The first night– you thought I was her."

"We're not together anymore." He tugged a hand through his hair, wincing when he felt stitches. Now wasn't the time to discuss his former girlfriend. "Kenny, I shouldn't have kissed you . . . for several reasons. I respect you– and I like you.” Distracted, he avoided the question in her eyes.

"Traynor, it's okay."

"I still have a job to do. My job is to protect Specialty– and that might mean-"

"Putting me out of business."

Kendall's eyes filled with tears she clearly fought, her expression one of futility. Her sorrow weighted in the pit of his stomach. But he couldn't lie. Her pain would be worse if he tried to soften the blow. Harry sensed she'd sooner lose everything than ask for help.

"My job," he corrected gently, "is to review your finances from every angle. I'm willing to help you if I can– but if I can't, I'll be forced to withdraw your contract and find someone else to finish the job."

Suppressing a shiver, she dashed the tears away with her forearm and nodded toward the table. "The files are there."

He stood awkwardly. "Kenny, I'll consider any feasible course of action that might help your company get back on its feet."

"I need to get back to the site. Sorry about lunch, but I'm not hungry anymore." She nodded toward the pile of folders, resignation in her eyes. "We'll talk tonight when I get home." 

Her steps echoed through the foyer as she let herself out. Harry ignored the nearly overwhelming urge to hobble after her– to wipe away her tears and hold her until they both felt better. But he'd given in to two impulses today– and both had ended in disaster. Resolutely, he limped to the far end of the table where his briefcase lay open. His gaze flicked over the haphazard stack of files before he methodically withdrew a legal pad and his calculator from his precisely organized briefcase. Blocking out the image of her tear-drenched eyes, he opened the first folder and went to work.

Chapter 6

Kendall pulled over twice on the drive back to the construction site. First, to find the box of tissues and allow herself the good old-fashioned cry she no longer had the strength to hold back. The second time she stopped her battered pickup, she swallowed several aspirin and searched for sunglasses. The rearview mirror confirmed her red-rimmed eyes. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd cried in the past decade. Today, she'd already bawled twice.

She was unsure which event upset her more. Acknowledging she was one step closer to losing her business. Or kissing Harrison Traynor. The first was all but inevitable. But the second had been a fantasy come true. Kissing Harry had been like a winning lottery ticket; a perfect hair day; a five pound weight loss and ice cream for dinner all at once. Kissing Harry had been downright incredible. Shivering, she remembered his mouth on hers– his warm, insistent, sensual lips moving over hers. Equally amazing was the moment
before
he'd kissed her. If such a thing were possible, Kendall wanted to relive the magic of
that
moment– when the expression in his beautiful eyes had been desperation.

For her.

In the timeless moment he'd kissed her, she'd known only wonder. And knee-buckling heat. And need. So much damn need. She'd never felt such a burning ache before . . . never experienced such regret over stopping. She'd never kissed a man and completely forgotten where she was. The expression in his eyes had taken her breath– made her willing to throw caution to the wind and do it again if he asked.

But the flash of regret in his eyes had pierced her soul. Ken didn't know which was worse. Imagining what a fling with Harrison would be like– or realizing the opportunity would never present itself again. Yet, she couldn't fault him for being honorable. Even in the heat of passion, he'd considered the consequences.

No, she couldn't be angry with Harry for being a gentleman. There were too few left. The only reason she could find for hating him was introducing her to something so wild and sweet and addictive, knowing she would never get the opportunity again.

Blowing her nose a final time, Kendall skidded back out on the rutted road. Sunglasses securely in place, she wished she'd been more vigilant. Wished in vain she hadn't lowered her guard to Harrison Traynor. And prayed she would summon the strength to raise her shields to him once more.

***

Once at the site, she stopped by the trailer to check her messages. Scanning the note from Jimmy, she stuffed it into her pocket before waving to Claire and bolting from the trailer. Striding across the site, she spotted him talking with the crew chief. Woody would need to hear what she was about to confess to Jimmy.

Fingers to her lips, Kendall whistled. The shrill sound carried over the cacophony of construction activity. Her foreman turned his head in recognition. The bulldozer belched once before dropping the load of dirt it carried.

Several minutes later Jimmy huffed into talking range. "What's up, boss?"

"This message– what were the police doing out here?"

His eyes sparked at the incident she knew he'd already forgotten. Kendall recognized the harried expression– carried it herself most of the time. At some point during the hectic buzz of each day, issues arose suddenly, decisions were made quickly and little incidents got lost in the controlled chaos of the site.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Raising a flannel covered arm to his forehead, he mopped perspiration. "Cops showed up right after you left for lunch. Bonehead wasn't here either, so I said you'd call them back."

No need to clarify Jimmy was referring to Lance. "What did they want?"

"They wanna know more about the equipment thefts."

Her nose wrinkled in confusion. "Again? We filed a police report last month." Insurance companies wouldn't pay without it.

"Said they were lookin' into the possibility it's a big operation."

Ken smiled in acknowledgment as Woody approached. Her gaze took in his hulking presence, noting the difference between the two men. Where Jimmy was short and stocky, Woody was enormous. Together, they reminded her of junkyard dogs. Hardworking, loyal men whose menacing appearance was merely a bonus. As a woman running a construction operation, the motley pair had come in handy more than once. Lance kept a healthy distance from them– only bullying her when he knew they weren't around. Not that she was afraid of her stepbrother-

"A stolen equipment ring– here?" She shook her head doubtfully. "The police must be having a slow day."

"Well, you know Miz Adams . . . me an' Jimmy were thinking it might be true. Remember those tracks we showed you out in the east quadrant?"

Tilting her head back, Ken shaded her eyes to meet his gaze. "Tire tracks don't mean much on a construction site, Wood."

"Yeah, but we're not workin' over there yet," he argued. Turning his hulking frame to the east, he pointed a meaty finger. "Out there you wouldn't worry about fallin' in a hole. It's only two hundred yards to the access road. If you were fixin' to steal stuff, I reckon you could be outta here in a couple minutes."

Jimmy chuckled. Woody had obviously given a great deal of thought to his theory.

"C'mon, Jimmy," he argued. "You said the same thing."

"It's possible," her foreman agreed. "But we've got bigger fish to fry. Kenny's concerned with the dig . . . not the possibility we got backhoe bandits out here."

"Backhoe bandits? You boys think that up?"

"Catchy, ain't it?" Jimmy's leathery face creased, his blue eyes squinting against the sun.    

Kendall laughed and for a moment, the weight of worry lifted from her chest. This was how it used to be. Before Lance. Before the money troubles. Working hard and laughing with her crew. She'd let the strain get to her– allowed worries to consume her. But the added tension wouldn't help solve her problems.

No matter what happened to her business, Ken had a choice to make the best of it. In her desperation, she'd forgotten she still had options. Whether A & R remained open for business,
she
would survive. She'd simply have to make certain her crew survived as well.

"I'll call the officer back." Squaring her shoulders, she spun around to face Jimmy. "Can you lower me into the parking garage for a couple minutes?"

"What the hell d'ya want down there?"

Kendall met his questioning gaze. "Two things. I need to find Traynor's cell phone."

"He's rich. Let him buy another."

"Jimmy, we're lucky they haven't thrown us off the job," she pointed out. "Besides that– we nearly killed the man. The least I can do-"

"It's a damn mess down there. You ain't gonna find shit-"

"I'm
also
checking the safety fencing from the underside," she interrupted coolly, ending his tirade. "I want to know why it collapsed so quickly."

"This guy is gonna put you out of business. Don't be goin' sweet on him," Jimmy warned. "Traynor's here for one thing– but if he can have some of that while he waits, he'll take it."

"Have you lost your mind?" Kendall cursed the mortified heat flooding her cheeks as her foreman gave her an appraising look.

"All I'm sayin' is– it's gonna hurt bad enough to shut this place down, Sugar. I don't want to see you hurtin' more because of Traynor."

"That's Boss Sugar to you."

"I mean it, Kenny," he persisted. "You're not used to players like him. He'll take advantage of you."

"Pop– you're so wrong on this." She gave him an affectionate squeeze. "Nothing I've got would interest a man like him."

"That's hogwash."

"I
know
why Traynor's here. Hell, I can't fault him for protecting his company. I'd do the same," she reasoned. "But I can't abandon him. He had nowhere else to go. The least I can do is put him up for a few days." 

"You shouldn't be goin' down in that hole for a damn cell phone."

Kendall held his stony glare. "Will you help me or should I ask Woody?"

"Five minutes," Jimmy conceded. "Before I haul your ass out. The soil test results aren't back. It might not be safe."

"There was no cave-in," she argued. "Something happened to that fence and I need to-"

"You're more stubborn than your daddy." Throwing his hardhat to the ground, he dragged thick fingers through his salt and pepper crewcut. "Wait here," he growled before stalking off to the equipment trailer.

***

"Five minutes," Jimmy reminded as he latched a hook to the rope he held in his gloved fist. "If you're gonna keep swingin' like a monkey, we need new equipment. Two of your ropes were frayed. I had to dig around to find a good one."

Kendall frowned. "I bought new ropes last month. You threw away perfectly good-"

He snorted in disgust. "I know crappy equipment when I see it. One of 'em was hanging by a thread."

She managed a distracted nod, her mind on more pressing problems. "Remind me when I come back up. I'll only be a minute or two on the bottom," she explained. "Then I want you to pull me up slowly." She checked the flashlight, satisfied she'd be able to see in the gloom at the bottom of the pit. "I want to swing under the fencing and check my anchors."

"Just remember, this gear is for climbers– not trapeze artists. It ain't gonna hold while you flip around down there."

Before edging over the lip of the crater Kendall saluted, acknowledging her friend's serious expression with an answering grin. "Yes, sir." 

It took only seconds to glide to the rocky foundation, kicking off the walls and free-falling most of the way down. She loved the freedom of soaring through space, loved even more, the security of the burly man on the other end of the ropes. Jimmy would never let her fall.

When her feet touched, she walked to the spot where Harrison had landed. The cell phone had to be nearby. Clicking on the flashlight, she tasted dirt as she followed the glowing orb through the dusty haze.

"Got it," she muttered. A brief perusal confirmed the phone was miraculously intact, despite a cracked screen. Tucking it in her pocket, she tugged on the rope. Jimmy's stop watch was still running. He'd yank her out when the time was up– whether she'd completed her inspection or not.

As Jimmy pulled her closer to the top, she examined the fencing, checking the anchor bolts for damage. All appeared to be holding as designed. The same held true when she swung under the fencing and careened to the back wall. Here, the bolts held tight. Why had it given way in just one section?

Bringing her fingers to her lips, she whistled shrilly, waiting for Jimmy's shadow to appear. "I'm gonna hang for a minute. I want to test it."

"Be quick about it."

Chuckling over his resigned tone, Kendall slackened her hold on the rope before raising her hands to the fencing above. "Here goes."

Her gloved fingers caught the fencing and wrapped around it reflexively as she dangled over the gloomy pit. Despite knowing she was attached to a safety rope, fear sliced through her. The fleeting image of Harrison's body hurtling through the darkness made her wince. He was lucky to be alive.

Swallowing her panic, she clung to the mesh, testing its endurance. Should the fencing collapse now, she wouldn't have time to swing clear. That thought had her scrambling for the side.

Arms aching, Kendall tugged on the ropes and felt them tauten in response. Though loathe to admit such a weakness, she was grateful when Jimmy's face loomed up to greet her.

***

At six, Harry heard her truck pull in, tires crunching on the gravel drive. He'd spent the afternoon crunching the numbers. And analyzing the kiss. Mentally, he was prepared on both fronts. The numbers would speak for themselves. There could be little opposition to fact-based logic. But the kiss– had been nothing short of illogical. Defying explanation. Exhausted by reviewing it from every angle, he'd decided to write the kiss off to momentary lunacy.  

Leaving the window, he hobbled to the door. The problem with writing it off was the challenge of forgetting it. One stupid kiss and his knees had buckled– even on his good leg. And her taste– an addictive, spicy heat had haunted him all afternoon. Reviewing Kendall's financials while envisioning her in his lap hadn't made the analysis easier. How the hell was he supposed to forget the incredible softness of her lips? And the sweet, sexy sound she'd made. . .

Harry's pulse rocketed at the memory. When the porch steps creaked under her soft tread, he mentally prepared himself for the sight of her. Hot, dusty and tired. That's what she'd be. Not soft. Not sexy. Not edible. Dragging in a breath for confidence, he waited for her to appear.

"How was your afternoon?"

"Okay, I guess. You get through the files?" Worry flashed in her eyes before she doused it, wrestling her emotions into a carefully neutral expression. A neat tactic that was hard to learn. Somewhere along the way, Kendall had developed an impenetrable coat of armor.

"We can review them now, if you'd like." Harry trailed her through the foyer as she methodically placed her keys on the counter and emptied her pockets.

"I have your cell," she replied absently.