“Maybe we should get Sir Drake involved,” Trask said teasingly.
Getting Drake Warren involved in any case was serious, Reese thought. Sir Drake, as he was affectionately nicknamed, was an ex-Marine, ex-CIA agent and modern-day ass-kicker. He was a black Rambo if ever there was one. No one—not even a serial killer—would want to cross his path.
The waitress came back and dropped off two more menus. Reese studied the two men while they decided what to order. Both were now happily married, but Reese knew that neither of their wives had liked them very much in the beginning. It was just the opposite with him and Kenna. They’d always gotten along, and after last night he figured it would get even better in the days to come.
“So how are things with Kenna working out?” Trask asked,
as if he’d been reading Reese’s mind. “This is her first day at her new job, right?”
Reese took a sip of his soda. “Yes, and we figured it would probably be hectic with everything that’s going on. Since I’m working in town this week, we drove in together.”
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt,” a woman said as she stood next to their table. “Aren’t you Reese Madaris?”
A muscle twitched in Reese’s jaw. “And if I am?”
The woman seemed taken aback at Reese’s unexpectedly chilly response. She quickly regained her composure, and batted her long eyelashes at him. “If you are then I’d like to get to know you.”
He stared at her. She was blatantly hitting on him in front of Trask and Trevor, and from the expressions on their faces they were finding the entire exchange rather amusing.
“Wrong place and wrong time, miss. Sorry,” he said.
Her smile widened. “I’m not. Here’s my number. Give me a call when it’s the right place and the right time.” She strolled away, swaying her hips in a way that had every man in the place staring in her wake. Reese shook his head and looked at Trevor and Trask to find them looking at him curiously. “What?” he asked.
Trevor chuckled. “Must be hard filling Blade’s shoes.”
Reese rolled his eyes. “It’s not something I’m trying to do, trust me.”
Trask lifted a brow. “You sure?”
Reese met his curious gaze. “Positive.”
He scanned the area as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He hadn’t meant to kill again so soon, but the girl last night was an invitation he couldn’t resist. She had practically asked for it, walking home late at night by herself.
She’d refused his offer of a ride and then tried to get away from him. She had been fast, but he’d been faster. In the end, her
mouth had gotten her into trouble. Even when he had managed to handcuff her, she had cursed him, telling him what her big brother would do to him when he got ahold of him. He had merely laughed and figured she would learn her lesson.
That was his goal, to teach them all a lesson and then punish them the way he’d been punished. That was all it took—one shoe. All he had to do was close his eyes and remember the pain one shoe could cause. He remembered how his mother would beat him with the heel of her shoe whenever her dates went sour—just one shoe.
He snapped his eyes open. He’d heard the news report. They were looking for him, hoping he’d slip up. He had no intention of doing that. But he had no intention of stopping his killing spree.
He liked this town and decided he would hang around awhile. He chuckled. Things were about to get even more interesting.
Chapter 18
“H
ow was your first day?” Reese asked when Kenna got into his SUV.
After buckling her seat belt, she turned toward him and smiled. “Busy. My boss barely had time to show me around before he had to go downstairs for the news conference. Later he gave me a tour, introduced me to a lot of the people I’ll be working with and I even tagged along to an interview of a purse-snatching victim. She was such a sweet old lady that she reminded me a lot of your great-grandmother.”
Kenna chuckled. “He still managed to get her purse, even though she clobbered him a few times with her cane.”
“Did she give a good description of the guy?” Reese asked.
She smiled. “Yes. And the detectives are pretty sure they know who he is. He’s a habitual thief who preys on the elderly.”
For a moment she didn’t say anything. “I went to lunch today with three of the officers—Lynette, Steven and Shaun. They were a lot of fun. Shaun was a riot. He flirted with me through
most of my meal. He even asked if I was seriously involved with someone.”
Kenna studied Reese. She saw how his shoulder muscles tensed. He glanced over at her when the car stopped at a traffic light. “And what did you tell him?”
She decided to turn the question back on him. “What was I supposed to tell him?”
He held her gaze. “That yes, you
are
seriously involved with someone.”
“Am I?” she asked in a low voice.
Instead of answering her, he pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant and turned off the engine. He unsnapped his seat belt and reached over and unbuckled hers. Without saying a word, he cupped her face, leaned closer and captured her mouth with his.
Reese had meant for it to be a gentle kiss, but the moment his tongue eased inside her mouth, his emotions kicked in and he couldn’t stop his tongue from tangling with hers, stroking and sliding everywhere. For a moment he forgot they were sitting in the parking lot of Hunter’s BBQ, one of his grandfather and grand-uncle’s favorite eating places. The only thing he could think about was just how good she tasted.
He resented the car’s confinement. He wished he could have waited until they’d gotten home to his ranch. But when she’d mentioned a guy had flirted with her and she wasn’t quite sure of their status, he’d decided to take action then and there. She’d asked about the nature of their relationship, and instead of wasting words he’d decided to show her.
“What do you think now?” he said, breathing into her mouth as his lips finally pulled away from hers.
She drew in a ragged breath, and met his gaze. “Umm, point made. But I’d still like to hear you say it.”
“You and I are in a serious relationship. Kenna,” he whispered huskily. “You will always be my best friend, the one woman I
can talk to, share things with. But I want more. We moved from friends to lovers last night. I guess I need to make sure that you’re comfortable with that, so I’m asking now.”
She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. “Yes, that’s what I want.” She paused. “But until we’re absolutely sure, I’d prefer that we keep this to ourselves for now.”
He knew there was no need getting into an argument. Like Clayton said, women prefer that you show them rather than tell them. “If that’s what you want, we’ll take things one day at a time,” he said in a throaty voice. Leaning closer to her, he used his tongue to trace a line around her lips. “Any more questions?”
She moaned deep in her throat. What Reese was doing to her with the tip of his tongue was pure torture. “Yes. How quickly can we get home?”
He chuckled. The sound was low and rich with sexiness that only added to her desire to get home. “Did you forget that we promised my grandparents while we were in Oklahoma that we would have dinner with them this evening?”
She sighed inwardly. She had forgotten. His grandparents had invited them for dinner at Luke’s grand opening the past weekend. “Oops. I’d forgotten.”
“We can always come up with an excuse and cancel,” he suggested.
“No, we can’t do that.”
He chuckled again. “Yes, we can. I’d like nothing better than to stay at home and watch another movie with you.”
“If I remember correctly, I never got to watch the movie last night.”
“You’ve seen it plenty of times before,” he said. “And about that guy who was flirting with you today. The next time he asks, tell him you’re taken.”
She was ecstatic inside, and didn’t have a problem telling
Shaun she was in a relationship. Even if Reese hadn’t clarified the nature of their relationship, Kenna had already decided that Shaun was off-limits. Maybe one day he would pick up on the fact that Lynette was attracted to him.
Gathered around the dining room, Reese saw three generations of Madarises. His grandfather, Lucas Madaris Sr., had married Carrie Emerson right out of college and they’d had one son, Luke Jr. Their son, Luke, had married Sarah Reese, and from their union they had four sons: Luke III, the eldest; Reese; Emerson and then Chancellor.
Reese and his brothers were close, engaging in the usual skirmishes that brothers went through. Reese loved his family and wouldn’t hesitate to do anything for them. Likewise, he knew they would do anything for him.
Usually the family got together a few times a month at his grandparents’ home for dinner. This was one of those times. As he glanced around, he immediately realized someone was missing.
“Where’s Mama Laverne?” he asked his grandmother when they were all seated at the table. Kenna was seated on his right and his brother Chancellor was to his left. His parents were sitting across from him and Emerson was sitting next to his father. His grandparents sat at the head and front of the table.
Grandma Carrie looked over at him and smiled. “She’s spending the next couple of weeks with Jake and Diamond.”
“Oh.”
“Missing the old girl?” Chance leaned over to whisper with a smirk. “Get with me later and I’ll tell you about the rumors she’s putting out about you and Kenna.”
Reese rolled his eyes. As usual, Chance was the last one to hear the family gossip. Reese already knew his great-grandmother was speculating about him and Kenna yet again. But because Chance lived out in the boondocks, less than thirty minutes from
Whispering Pines, he rarely left his ranch—except when there was a free meal—and was often out of touch with his brothers.
Chance had joined the army right out of high school and had been a Ranger for ten years. Everyone thought he would be a career military man, but an injury in Iraq left him in a wheelchair. When he returned home, he’d been told there was a chance he would never walk again. But the army doctors hadn’t discussed that prognosis with Mama Laverne. It wasn’t that their great-grandmother had been a miracle worker. But she had refused to give up on her great-grandson and had refused to let him give up on himself. In less than a year, Chance was out of the wheelchair and riding horseback again. Now, along with the ten men who worked for him, Chance ran his two-hundred-acre ranch. And along with his uncle Jake, he raised some of the best cattle in Texas.
“I kept the television off most of the day. I just couldn’t stand to hear about those two girls that were murdered,” Carrie Madaris said sadly.
“It breaks my heart, too,” Kenna said, shaking her head. “And there still aren’t any leads.”
“Well, I hope they catch this serial killer. Until they do, no woman will be safe in these parts,” Reese’s grandfather said. “I figure now is a good time to load my shotguns and keep them ready.”
The men at the table exchanged glances. That was the last thing they wanted to hear. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Pop,” Luke Jr. said. “Besides, Sarah and I are right up the road. We could get here in no time.”
“That’s if you two can wake up. You and Sarah can’t even hear your phone ring when you’re asleep. You two can sleep through just about anything.”
Reese tried to hide his grin. He remembered how when they were in high school, Emerson had snuck a girl into his bedroom. Everyone knew what was going on except for their parents. There
were times when his brother Luke would wait for their folks to fall asleep and sneak out at night. To this day, his parents never figured out why Blade had always wanted to spend the weekends with them.
Trying to avoid a heated argument about the wisdom of their grandfather carrying a loaded gun, Reese caught Emerson’s eye and slowly nodded. “I’m sure when this serial killer is caught you’ll prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, Emerson.”
Emerson, who was a prosecutor with the Houston district attorney’s office, smiled slowly. “We might have to fight extradition to other states where he’s also a suspect. But I’d love to be able to try him here.”
Once the conversation was over, his mother asked Kenna how her first day of work with the HPD went. Reese ate quietly and listened. He glanced around the table and, as usual, everyone was fascinated by her conversation. It had always been that way with her, and his family had let him know how much they liked her from the start. He liked her, too, and initially he’d told them they were just friends. Some had bought into the explanation, and some did not. Eventually the truth would come out and he would be confronted with those I-told-you-so looks. He could handle it. He just hoped that Kenna could, too.
Apparently Kenna wasn’t ready to let others in on their relationship just yet, since she wanted to be sure things between them would work out. That was fine with him, since he didn’t intend on going anywhere. As far as he was concerned, they were in it for the long haul, and he intended to make sure she was, too.
Before dawn, Kenna awakened in much the same position as she had the previous morning—in Reese’s bed. She smiled, thinking how nice dinner with the Madarises had been last night. She enjoyed being around Reese’s family. Her smile eased into
a full-fledged grin when she thought about what had happened once they’d gotten back home.
If there were any doubts in her mind that Reese wanted her, those doubts were dispelled last night. He hadn’t just made love to her, he had literally cherished her body in a way that even now made her shiver just thinking about it.
In many ways, she was indebted to Reese for making her realize that making love wasn’t overrated. She’d found something in his arms she hadn’t found in Terrence or Lamont’s. She had barely reached one orgasm with them, but with little effort Reese could bring her to a second, and even a third in the same lovemaking session.
Incredible.
She glanced over at the alarm clock and saw that Reese had deliberately given her an extra half hour. There was no way she could go back to sleep now, so she decided to get up and do a little more work on her painting. Painting had always been her favorite pastime, but now it seemed that making love to Reese was getting top billing.