Gator laughed and stuck his thumbs into his overalls. “He’s talkin’ about me, ma’am. I’m Gator.”
Ryker had to bite his lip to stop from laughing as Kenzie looked up and then farther up until she saw Gator’s face. Then she frowned as she really took him in. “Don’t I know you?”
Gator had a similar look on his face and then a huge smile broke out across his face. “You’re that nurse that fixed my leg up last year.” Gator pulled up his overalls to expose a sizable scar on his calf.
“That’s right! You were bitten by an alligator,” Kenzie said with a smile. “I didn’t recognize the name Gator. Isn’t your real name—”
“None of that now,” Gator interrupted before he swept Kenzie up in a bear hug. “They don’t need to be knowing all my secrets.”
“Why didn’t you go to Gavin?” Trent asked.
“He was on vacation with Ellery,” Gator said easily as he gave Kenzie a wink. “Gotta say, Nurse Kenzie is a lot better lookin’ than your cousin.”
Kenzie blushed and then looked from him to Bubba. “Ah, Gator. That’s right. You told me you removed alligators from people’s property. Are you here to move Bubba?”
“That’s right. The night you saw me, Mean Abe got a bite in when I was removing him from the church. He strolled right in while the Rev was practicing his sermon. If Ryker and Trent can help me put Bubba in the back of the truck, I’ll drop him off downriver a bit.”
Ryker grunted as they lifted the prehistoric-looking Bubba and carried him off the dock. Turtle, the exact opposite of Gator in stature but not looks, backed the pickup truck to them and hopped out. “Right sorry about your lawn.”
“It’s fine,” Ryker said, bending down and hefting Bubba up on the count of three. Suddenly Bubba got a lot heavier as Turtle stepped away and grinned at Kenzie.
“Howdy. I’m Turtle.”
“Kenzie Carys,” she said, shaking his hand as Trent, Gator, and Ryker strained under the weight of Bubba.
They finally got him into the pickup and Ryker and Trent shared a look as Turtle tried to flirt.
“That’s frightening. You should save your girlfriend,” Trent whispered.
“That’s right, a twenty-pound snapping turtle was hanging off my pecker. Want to see the scar?”
“Yeah,” Kenzie said with interest.
Turtle stuttered and Ryker almost laughed. She’d called him on his bluff and now Turtle was stuck.
“Okay, snapper,” Ryker said with a smile that seemed to stun Turtle into complete silence. “I don’t think my girlfriend needs to see your pecker.”
“G-g-girlfriend?” Turtle stammered with surprise.
“Is that right?” Gator asked with as much shock. “I mean, Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby told us you had a girl, but we thought they’d just been enjoying their special brownies a little too much.”
“Why would brownies make them . . . oh,” Kenzie said, laughing.
“Every now and then they make those kind of brownies and next thing you know, we got a group of senior citizens floating naked down the river in inner tubes,” Gator told her by way of explanation for why Ryker wouldn’t have a girlfriend. Apparently, it was easier to believe the seniors were high than to believe he had a girlfriend.
“Well, I gotta get back home. Skye has dinner ready. Will we see you tomorrow night at Harper’s bar?” Trent asked Kenzie.
“You will. I think we’re going boating during the day and then eating dinner there at night,” Kenzie said, not realizing the shock bomb she just set off.
Trent looked at Ryker with his eyebrows raised. “You’re taking the day off?”
“I do own the company, um, companies. I can take a couple of days off here and there.” Ryker didn’t like how everyone was staring at him as if he had just grown a gator snout.
“Yeah, but you never take a day off. You don’t even take weekends or holidays off,” Trent pointed out.
“I am now. Okay?” Ryker stared at him, willing him to drop it.
“Well, have fun.” Trent smiled broadly at him and then at Kenzie. “Goodnight.”
It only took a minute to finally have his backyard to himself again and turned to kiss the woman he’d been thinking about all day. “How was your day?” she asked as she laced her fingers with his and pulled him back to the dock.
“Interesting. We got everything in place for me to call Bianca back into the office. There will be a medical emergency that requires her to help Mary Alice.”
Kenzie snorted and Ryker looked questioningly at her. “God himself would be too scared of Mary Alice to allow any harm to come to her.” Ryker burst out laughing and took a seat on one of the chairs facing the river. “I love the sound of your laugh,” Kenzie said, taking a seat on his lap.
“I love the feel of you in my lap,” Ryker said as he stopped laughing and ran his hand up her leg to rest at the bottom of her shorts. He slipped a finger under the hem and played along her soft skin. He felt the way her breathing caught and the way she wiggled her bottom just enough to torture him.
Then he pulled out his hand and rested it on her knee. He couldn’t make love to her without telling her about his past. Gavin was right. He owed it to her to be truthful and face his past. He just couldn’t bring himself to face it yet.
“I thought I could grill some steaks tonight. Why don’t I get started on that while you tell me all about your girls’ day?”
He knew he’d confused her. He could read the confusion and sexual frustration all over Kenzie’s face.
“Dinner, sure. What can I do to help?”
Kenzie stood up, and as they walked hand in hand to the house, they agreed on how to split cooking duties. Ryker left her in the kitchen and ran to his room to change. Normally he’d just leave on his business clothes, but it didn’t suit him right now. Instead, he reached for jeans and an old T-shirt from college that was at the bottom of a drawer.
Kenzie’s appreciative look told him he’d made the right decision. “So, tell me all about your day,” he said, realizing he really wanted to know.
15
Kenzie had never been so sexually frustrated in her life as she was at that moment. They’d had the perfect night. Dinner had been wonderful. They retired down to the end of the dock where she’d sat back on Ryker’s lap and tried to seduce him. It hadn’t worked. Well, it had, but not in the way she wanted. They’d kissed, there was heavy touching, but when she was ready to straddle him and go for it, he’d stood up and announced it was late and they should get to bed. Alone.
Kenzie had offered to drive home, but he’d insisted she stay the night. She thought he was leading her to his room only to be shown the guest room down the hall from his. Now she was staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep two hours after he’d kissed her senseless and then left her alone and frustrated.
She glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. Ryker had mentioned staying over so she’d packed a small bag. It was mostly filled with her best lingerie from Target, a bathing suit, and some clothes for tomorrow. However, she found one melatonin to help her sleep.