Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(39)

“You’re welcome,” Patience told her.

Felicia reached out for one of the S’Mores. Apparently it was the wrong one. Charlie grabbed it away from her and glared. “Don’t even think about it.”

CHAPTER NINE

CONSUELO PARKED IN FRONT of the one-story ranch house not all that far from the rental she and Angel shared. The roof was new and there was a pretty garden in front. A bike leaned against the front porch. Reese’s, she thought.

She picked up the bottle of wine she’d brought, along with a plate of cookies she’d purchased at the bakery. She walked toward the front door and told herself there was no reason to be nervous. She’d been in much more dangerous situations than this one. No one was going to try to kill her, and national security secrets weren’t on the line. She could relax.

A statement easier to say than live.

The front door opened before she could ring the bell. Reese Hendrix grinned up at her.

“Hi,” he said. “Please tell my dad I need a puppy.”

His easygoing grin relaxed her. He was a good kid and she liked having him in class. She would think about that instead of his father, she told herself. Or the fact that she hadn’t been on a date since she was seventeen. Her boyfriend had gone to jail her senior year. Then she’d been accepted into the army. It had seemed foolish to date anyone she worked with. After a while, her covert assignments had made the idea of dating impossible.

But all that was behind her, she reminded herself. She was just a regular woman, living in a small town, joining a friend and his son for dinner.

Just then a large Lab-golden mix nosed past Reese to launch herself at Consuelo. The dog was all wagging tail and kisses. Consuelo grabbed her collar and told her to sit. The dog did as she said.

“You want a puppy when you already have all this dog energy in the house?”

Reese was wide-eyed. “Whoa, she doesn’t normally obey people like that.”

“You have to be firm without being mean,” she said.

She stepped into the house and handed Reese the cookies. They were in a large living room done in neutral shades. Even the big sectional sofa was brown. Fluffy leaned against her boy.

“You don’t think she needs someone to play with?” he asked, rubbing her head.

“She has you.”

He grinned. “We’re having steaks tonight. My dad’s grilling them. Usually we only have hamburgers, so this is special.”

“There you go, spilling all our secrets.”

Consuelo turned toward the sound of the voice. She saw Kent walking toward her. He wore jeans and a light blue long-sleeved shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, which wasn’t any big deal but seemed really sexy.

Her gaze skittered around the room, as if unsure where to settle. That matched the fluttering she felt in her fingers and the uneasiness in her chest. Running was an excellent idea, she thought, even as she knew she had to stick it out. Not only because it was polite, but because in her heart she wanted to.

“Dad, it’s okay people know we don’t eat steak very much,” Reese said. He held out the plate of cookies. “Look at what Consuelo brought.”

“My favorite,” Kent said, never taking his gaze from her face.

“You don’t know what they are,” his son said.

Kent smiled. “I know.”

Consuelo felt herself flush, which hadn’t happened to her in a decade. “Thanks for having me over,” she said, the words barely making their way past her suddenly dry mouth. “I brought wine.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Come on back and I’ll open it.”

She followed him into a large, modern kitchen. There were plenty of cabinets and the countertops were granite. Reese looked from the grill on the patio to his father.

“Can I go play computer games until it’s time to cook the steaks?” he asked.

“Sure. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

Reese grinned at her. “Because I’m in charge of the steaks tonight.”

“A man who cooks,” she teased. “Impressive.”

Reese took off down the hall, Fluffy at his heels.

“I’ll supervise,” Kent admitted when his son had disappeared. “But I’ve been teaching him to use the grill this summer and he’s catching on really well.”

“Better than your brother,” she said. “Ford is a horrible cook. When we first moved here, he and Angel had a bet. Ford lost and had to cook dinner. It was supposed to be for a month, but the food was so horrible I made him stop after a couple of days.”

Kent went to a kitchen drawer and got out a corkscrew. “You lived with Ford?”

“Yes. He moved out because he and Angel compete too much. It became too dangerous for the furniture to have them wrestling all the time.”

Kent glanced at her. “Now you live with Angel?”

It took her a second to understand the implication of the question. “He’s a coworker. We’re friends. We’ve shared a house before.”

“Ever dated?”

Kent asked the question casually, as if the answer didn’t matter. She wanted to believe it did, although she wasn’t sure.

She took the glass of wine he offered. “If the real question is have I ever slept with him, then the answer is no. Like I said, we’re friends. Angel lost his wife and son a few years ago. Single-car accident during a storm. He went through a rough patch. I knew him before they died and I liked Marie a lot. Even if I hadn’t known her, Angel isn’t for me. I don’t want a guy in the business. It’s not like the movies. What we did together wasn’t romantic. Trust me.”