“I can’t take this,” Kenzie said instantly.
The man smiled wider. “He said you’d say that. I’m to tell you it’s all in the note. Enjoy.” Then he got into a sedan she hadn’t noticed driven by someone and took off.
Kenzie opened the envelope and saw Ryker’s handwriting. Roses are red, violets are blue, your car is riddled with bullet holes, so this is for you. It’s my gift to you for saving my life—twice—so you can’t say no. –R
Kenzie laughed and shook her head. “I still can’t take this.”
Olivia looked her over as if she had food stuck on her face. Kenzie got so worried that she actually brushed imaginary food off her chin. “That’s the reason he’s giving it to you. Do you know how many women constantly ask him for things? It’s why he doesn’t date . . . well, until you. Now,” Olivia said with a smile, “drive us to lunch in your new car.”
Kenzie looked at the car as Olivia walked around to the passenger side and got in. Okay, she’d just drive it to lunch and then she’d give it back to Ryker tonight.
Kenzie opened the door and savored the leather and the new car smell and was a goner. No, she would return it, even if it was beautiful and drove like a dream. But . . . there were not strange gas fumes, no weird clunking noises, and both heat and air conditioning worked. Maybe she’d just keep it a couple of days.
Olivia pointed out the house she’d just bought down the road as Kenzie drove into town. “You commute daily?”
“I have a condo in the city, but I try to get out here as much as possible. It’s so peaceful and I’ve come to love it and everyone in town so much that I find myself eager to get back to Shadows Landing every night. At least I did.”
Kenzie pulled into a parking space near the restaurant and followed Olivia inside. She met Kerri, Peter’s girlfriend and owner of the restaurant who hurried back to the kitchen to make them something great.
“What did you mean by ‘at least I did’?” Kenzie asked after they sat down.
“Do you have any siblings?” Olivia asked. Kenzie shook her head. She was an only child.
“I have lots of brothers. They’ve decided I’m dating Ryker and they need to move here to protect me or something.”
Kenzie laughed, but then stopped when Olivia didn’t join in. “Wait, you’re serious?”
Olivia nodded and frowned. “Ryker thinks I’m overreacting, but Damon, my eldest brother, is coming next week and then Ryker won’t be laughing.”
“Why do your brothers think you’re dating Ryker? And if you were, why is that so bad that they have to move here to protect you?” Kenzie asked.
Kenzie knew the look on Olivia’s face. She’d seen it numerous times in the ER. It was the look of someone with a secret who desperately wanted someone to confide in, but just saying the secret out loud would make it real again.
Kenzie reached across the table and placed her hand on Olivia’s. “You don’t have to tell me, but if you need someone to tell, I’m here to listen and you have my word. I won’t tell a soul.”
Olivia sighed, but then smiled kindly at her. “I see why Ryker trusts you. There’s something about you that is so sincere.”
Kenzie shrugged. “I guess because I am. I’m not trying to be anything other than myself and I don’t expect other people to be anything but themselves.”
“I was attacked in New York City and my brothers blame Ryker. It wasn’t his fault. Let’s just say they’re overprotective. We all have our scars from childhood. Some are visible and others aren’t. That, added with the attack in New York and buying a house here in Shadows Landing, added up to me making bad decisions so they’re coming to protect me,” Olivia explained right before Kerri came out with a huge smile on her face and two large plates.
Olivia and Kenzie spent the next moments in bliss as they tasted their meals before praising Karri. Once they were alone again, Kenzie knew Olivia had said everything she was going to say about her past and her brothers. Instead, she focused all her questioning on Kenzie and Ryker.
“Ryker said you’re the best and I believe him,” Kenzie said as she laughed after a particularly grueling interrogation into her feelings for Ryker.
Olivia blushed and cringed a little. “I’m sorry. I don’t have many girlfriends. I don’t have many friends at all. I work so much and am always in a battle with arrogant men who think they know more than I do that I’ve forgotten how to sit back and let down my guard.”
“Well, you have a friend in me,” Kenzie said with a genuine smile. She liked Olivia.
“And you in me. To new friends,” Olivia said, holding up her glass for a toast.
Ryker was ending a conference call when the text from Olivia came through. Marry this woman or I’ll fix her up with one of my brothers so I can have her as a sister.
Like hell he’d let Olivia fix Kenzie up with anyone else. Even as he sat listening about the Asian markets, his heart was back in Shadows Landing with Kenzie. His mind had wandered to thoughts of a life together, of happiness, of love. Then Olivia had texted about her brothers.
“Did something happen?” Granger asked as he and Paxton walked into the office. “You’re frowning and you’re gripping your phone so hard it might shatter.”
“Olivia is threatening to hook Kenzie up with one of her brothers if I don’t marry her,” Ryker said with a frown.
“Told you,” Paxton whispered to Granger.
Granger crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Paxton. “No, I told you.”
“What did you tell each other?” Ryker asked with impatience.
“That you’re in love with her,” Granger said with a smirk. “About time.”
“I am, but you should talk,” Ryker said to Granger. It felt good admitting he loved Kenzie.
“What does that mean?” Granger asked defensively.
Ryker looked at his friend and didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Ryker wasn’t the only one who’d been messed up by a woman in his past. Granger’s college girlfriend had lied to him about being pregnant. Then, Granger had been in a car accident that ended his football career. The girlfriend then dumped him, told him she’d lied about being pregnant, and told him his scars were hideous. The once outgoing, flirtatious guy was gone and he’d joined Ryker in the shadowy sidelines of life. Only Granger hung out in the gray shadows while Ryker had been in total darkness.
“You know what it means,” Ryker said, easily letting Granger know he wasn’t going to dig into it anymore.
Paxton picked up on the shift and jumped into the conversation. “What I heard was Ryker admitted he loved Kenzie. It can hit you like a truck, can’t it? Just out of nowhere. Wham! You’re in love and can’t imagine life without them.”
That sounded about right, but in Ryker’s case it was a big boom that had brought love into his life. “As much as I’d like to sit around and gossip like the knitting club, what brought you both into my office?”
Paxton grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Bianca is making her move.”