Until We Touch (Fool's Gold #15)(69)

The realization took a little joy from the day.

“Ladies.”

She turned and saw Kenny jogging toward them. Her pleasure at seeing him was tempered by the memory of what he’d done to Jack. Of course, he’d done it for her, so could she really be mad at him?

“Hi, Kenny,” Chloe called and hurried toward him. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“Hey, munchkin. How’s your knot tying?”

“Excellent. I have my bead. I can show you.”

He stopped and squatted down to pat the dog. “I’d like to see it.”

Bailey cleared her throat. “Hi. Chloe told me you helped her last spring. With the knots. Thanks for that.”

He waved away her words. “No problem. So who’s this pretty girl?”

“She’s one of Larissa’s chiweenies. We’re walking them today. They don’t have homes.” Chloe stared at her mother. “It’s sad when puppies don’t have a home.”

Larissa winced. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Bailey shrugged. “I’ll deal.”

Kenny stood. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Are you going to help with the walking?” Larissa asked, thinking that Bailey and Kenny looked good together. And he was great around children. Now that she thought about it, he’d never been married. Maybe it was time for that to change.

Kenny glanced at the little dogs sniffing his running shoes. “Not if I don’t have to. They’re not exactly my size.”

“They’d be a chick magnet,” Bailey said, then flushed. “Not that you need help with that sort of thing, I’m sure.”

Was that flirting? Interest? Larissa was frustrated to realize she was much better at finding stray animals a home than figuring out random boy-girl attraction.

“Bailey’s thinking of buying a house,” she blurted.

Both Bailey and Kenny stared at her.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Congratulations.”

“She’s worried about all the responsibility, what with being a single mom and all. You could help.”

Bailey frowned. “Larissa, I’m fine. You don’t need to get him involved.”

“Kenny’s bought a lot of property. You could ask him questions.”

“Our situations couldn’t be more different.”

“Still—”

Bailey shook her head and faced Kenny. “There’s nothing for you to do. I’m fine. It was nice to see you. Run while you can.”

Kenny glanced between them, nodded once and took off. Larissa watched him go. The man really did have some speed on him.

She turned to Bailey. “Sorry. Was I meddling too much?”

“Yes, but I know it comes from love so I forgive you.”

They started walking again. Chloe and her dog ran ahead.

“So Kenny,” Larissa began.

“No,” Bailey said firmly.

“But he’s—”

“No. He’s gorgeous—I’ll admit that. But so out of my league. Trust me on this. I have a beautiful daughter and maybe a new house, not to mention the possibility of a dog. The last thing I need is a man.”

* * *

LARISSA WROTE DOWN item numbers for some new oils she wanted to try. She’d been doing some reading about their healing properties and thought the guys would like them. She closed the browser window just as Kenny walked into her office.

He’d showered after his run and dressed in work clothes. He crossed to her desk and stared at her. As Kenny was well over six feet, it was a long way to look down.

“Don’t do that,” he said firmly. “Don’t set me up. Don’t try to get involved in my personal life.”

She blinked at him. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I thought—”

“No.”

“But Bailey is—”

He raised a single eyebrow. “Larissa.” His voice was a warning growl. Not a tone he usually took with her.

The message was really clear, she thought. Back off.

“Okay, I won’t set you up and I won’t throw you at Bailey anymore, even though she’s really nice and pretty and better than you deserve.”

One corner of his mouth twitched, as if he were holding in a smile. That made her feel a little better.

“Thanks,” he said, and then he was gone.

She was still staring at where he’d been when Taryn walked in.

“What?” the other woman asked. “You have the strangest look on your face.”

“I feel strange. Kenny just warned me off setting him up with Bailey.”

Taryn took the chair in front of the desk. “He’s right about that. Bailey’s not for him.”

“How can you know that? I thought you were her friend.”

“I am. I’m also Kenny’s friend. Trust me, they’re not right for each other.”

Larissa started to protest, but Taryn leaned toward her and shook her head.

“You’re going to have to trust me on this,” her friend said softly. “I know on the surface they seem well matched, but the truth is Bailey is the last woman Kenny should be with.”

Larissa started to ask why, then reminded herself there were things from his past she didn’t know. While Jack and Taryn had talked about their previous relationships, Kenny and Sam weren’t so forthcoming.