Maybe honesty was the way to go. Why not? “Actually, I’ve met someone and she’s occupying all my time right now.”
Silence. Long, heavy silence.
Followed by...laughter?
“What the hell, Annette?” Pacing, Reyes walked along the considerable length of the covered front porch, barely aware of dropping temps or the increasing wind.
“Oh, my God,” she said around continued hilarity. “I almost peed myself.”
“It’s not that funny.”
She went silent again, then snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re serious?”
Slowly Reyes blew out a breath. Snapping at Annette made him feel like a jerk. In a less annoyed tone, he admitted, “Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are.”
“More like blindsided, but... Congrats?”
“It’s not all that,” he muttered. Or was it?
“All right. Then when it ends, give me a call. Pretty sure I’ll still be free.” With another chuckle, she ended the call.
When it ends?
Why did everyone keep bringing that up? Kennedy was always trying to figure out when it’d be safe for her to move on. Now Annette, too?
Eventually it’d have to happen, right? He hadn’t changed that much, and for sure his vocation would stay the same. Kennedy wasn’t Sterling. Even if he wanted something more with her, something...permanent? He couldn’t see her accepting the family enterprise.
She had an idea of things now, but he doubted she understood the scope of it all, or the fact that hunting scumbags and freeing victims was the focus rather than a side job. Everything else centered on it.
Besides, she’d made it clear already that she wasn’t looking for anything permanent, either.
He thought of her expression when Annette had called. He’d label it a mix of hurt and disappointment. Her gaze had looked distant, her smile forced.
Could that be jealousy? Or just discomfort over the situation?
He was so lost in thought he didn’t hear the front door open and close until his father said, “Staying out here won’t solve anything.”
Reyes turned, caught his father’s enigmatic expression and shrugged. “Just finished my call.” He shoved the phone back in his pocket. First thing, he’d get hold of the other women and make sure they knew he was out of commission for the foreseeable future. He didn’t want to go through that awkwardness again.
Parrish leaned against a stone pillar. “Anything important?”
“Nah.” Glancing at the door, he said, “Sorry for the interruption.”
“You’re distracted. That’s dangerous.”
“I’m not,” he denied. Hell, even if he was, Reyes knew his training would take over when necessary. Like muscle memory for a fighter, his reactions had become instinctive. He was damned good at what he did, and beyond that, he would do whatever it took, however he needed to do it, to protect Kennedy.
Damn it, his thoughts had just circled back to her again.
Parrish didn’t press him. “Cade will leave soon to check out the motel.”
He didn’t want to, but Reyes said, “I could go with him.”
“Sterling is going. It won’t be too dangerous since they’re only going to scope out the egresses, the security cameras and the outlying area, and see if there are any guys on watch.”
“Makes sense.” His dad was reluctant to admit it, mostly because he worried for her, but Sterling knew what she was about. The lady had ingenuity galore, was a little too brave, and her instincts were pretty spot-on; however, she wasn’t always as cautious as she could be.
“You,” Parrish said with emphasis, “need to talk to Kennedy. Whatever your personal situation might be, work it out. Now that we’re involved, we’ll be seeing this through to the end. But she’s still an outsider and if she gets resentful and talks, it puts us all at risk.”
“She wouldn’t.”
Parrish studied him intently. “You’re sure of that?”
“Hundred percent.” It was a weird thing to realize how much he trusted Kennedy. “I doubt it’s necessary, but I’ll emphasize to her the need to keep things private.” After he soothed her temper—and after they spent a few hours in bed.
That is, if she was still on board for that. It was never a good idea to make assumptions with women.
Never a good idea to keep one waiting, either, especially when her imagination might be in overdrive. “Where is Kennedy anyway?”
“Off with Sterling still.”
Yeah, that didn’t reassure him. He wanted to charge off to find her, but his dad was still giving him the stink eye, so he waited, doing his best to act like a man without a care.
Parrish walked to the end of the porch, his gaze off in the distance. “We’ll get snow soon.”
“You think?” He gave the darkening skies a critical glance.
“They’re predicting a few inches, but if it turns into more, it could hamper us.”
For some reason, Reyes found himself scowling. “Something on your mind, Dad?”
His father, still a big man with a strong physique, relaxed a shoulder against the stone pillar. “Your mother would have been proud of you, Reyes.”
What. The. Fuck. Reyes looked around, but no, there was no one else to hear, so he rubbed the back of his neck and stepped closer. “You think?”
“She loved each of you equally.” He glanced back. “Cade included.”
“I know, Dad.”
Cade might be a half brother, but no one in their family had ever made the distinction. He was a McKenzie, plain and simple.
Turning his gaze to the horizon, Parrish said, “Even before Cade went away, you were a wild one. Always too daring, always too quick to challenge.”
More uncomfortable by the second, Reyes wasn’t sure what to say. But he sensed his father needed to talk, so by God, he’d man up and listen. “I was a shithead.”
A crease in Parrish’s cheek told Reyes he was smiling. “That you were. All cocky bravado and such a know-it-all. So different from your reserved brother and your studious sister.”
“Mom used to accuse me of giving her gray hairs.”
Parrish laughed. It was a rare sound these days. “I miss her every single day.”
“I know.” Standing at Parrish’s back, Reyes put a hand on his shoulder.
A full minute passed in companionable silence while the wind worsened and the temperature slowly dropped.