Dax fell asleep with Kenzi cuddled to one side of him while his hand hung off the side of the bed to calm Taffy. When he woke he found Kenzi watching him. She was up on one elbow, her beautiful breasts bared to him. As soon as she saw he was awake she smiled, and he caught his breath at how something so simple could render him speechless.
She kissed him and chuckled. “If you let her in the bed, we’ll never get her out.”
Dax looked over and realized why his other side felt warm. Taffy was tucked into the crook of his arm as if he’d put her there. He frowned at her. Her response was to wag her tail and snuggle closer to him. “I told her to stay on the floor.”
Kenzi laughed. “Uh huh.”
Dax smiled. “I did. I’ve made grown men cry just by showing up at a meeting, why can’t I keep this dog off the bed?”
Kenzi gave him a sweet kiss. “Because she adores you, just like I do. I’m glad you came back, Dax.”
Dax ran a hand up and down Kenzi’s bare back. “You can say how you feel, Kenzi. I won’t leave again. I belong here, Kenzi. I’ve never felt so sure about anything. I don’t know how to do this—a relationship. Do I stay here? Do you stay with me? I don’t know what we call it—”
“Then I love you, Dax.” Kenzi silenced him with another kiss then said, “I don’t care what you call what we have. I don’t care where we stay. There are no rules to this, Dax, except that we’re honest with each other no matter what. If we do that, everything else will work out. You taught me that.”
I can do that.
Over the next month, Dax took Kenzi’s words to heart and let himself enjoy simply being with her. They went for jogs together, took Taffy for walks, went to the movies with Lexi and Willa. Dax watched Kenzi’s confidence blossom, and he liked to think he had played a part in her transformation.
He was sitting in his office one day, smiling for no reason, when Clay called and asked him when he was returning to London.
“No time soon.”
“Does that mean you’re not sick of Kenzi yet?”
“Every day I’m with her makes me want to be with her another day.”
Clay didn’t make a joke. They both knew Dax meant it.
“So, you’re moving your headquarters to Boston?”
“Kenzi says she’ll continent hop with me. Once things settle down we’ll probably spend half of our time in London and half of our time here.”
“I didn’t think it would last, Dax, but you sound happy.”
“I am.” He realized something then that he’d known but denied for a while. “I love her, Clay.”
“Rewind there, buddy. What did you just say?”
Dax looked out of the Boston skyline and in a louder voice, said, “I love her. I love waking up to her. I love coming home to her. I love the way she knows what I’m thinking when I’m still trying to figure it out.”
“That’s a lot of love. Have you told her?”
Dax shook his head even though Clay couldn’t see him. “It’s not something you just blurt out.”
“Oh, I think it is. That’s probably the most common way it gets said. That and in the backseats of cars in high school, but I digress. If you make a big deal out of it, you might as well hire a skywriter.”
Dax looked up at the clouds. “No. That would be tacky. Right?”
Clay laughed. “If I weren’t such a good friend I would completely take advantage of how lost you are right now. Just tell her how you feel.”
“You tell everyone you love them. You probably say it to Kate when she brings you coffee. I’ve never said it.”
“I don’t love Kate.”
“That was an example.”
“I’m just saying, I talk to Kate, but there’s nothing there.”
Dax glanced back at the door of his office. “Is there something going on between you and my secretary?” That would explain why Clay had been around as much as he had. “Seriously, don’t sleep with her. She’s good. I don’t want to lose her.”
“I’m not sleeping with her.”
“Whatever.” Dax wasn’t sure if he believed him, but he had more important things on his mind. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Dax paged his secretary to come into his office. As soon as she stepped inside he said, “Kate, I love Kenzi.”
Kate looked at him cautiously. “I guessed as much.”
“Get a notepad and come back. We need to brainstorm how I should tell her.”
A huge smile spread across Kate’s face. “Are you kidding? Who needs to brainstorm that?” When he didn’t say anything she forced a more serious expression on her face. “Of course I’ll help you.” She darted to her desk and returned with notepad and pen. She was also smart enough to take the task seriously.
Dax started pacing the room. “I want it to be special. Romantic, but not over the top. I want to show Kenzi how important she is to me, not just say the words.”
Kate made a face. “Perhaps something with her family?”
Chapter Nineteen
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Kenzi said to Dax as they sat in a circular booth at their favorite Boston restaurant.
“It’s time, Kenzi,” Dax said.
“You and I hosting game night for my family? No. We’re happy. I don’t want to do anything that could change that.”
“Change can be good.” Dax held Kenzi’s hand in one of his and looked into her eyes. “You can’t keep me away from your family forever.”
Yes, I can. “Not forever, just for a while longer.”
“You’re taking me to your brother’s wedding. Wouldn’t it be best if I spent some time with them before then?”
Memories of the one time Dax had been to her parents’ house came back far too easily for Kenzi to agree. “I’m nervous about the wedding, but at least I know they’ll all be on their best behavior that day.” Kenzi nervously arranged and rearranged the silverware beside her plate. “Can we agree to do something with them after the wedding?”
Dax frowned. “Is it me or them you don’t trust?”
Kenzi felt awful. Dax looked genuinely upset by her refusal. “I trust you, Dax. It’s just that my family knows we’re together now. They’ve come around to the idea, but you know my brothers. I mean, you’ve met them. Do I really have to say more than that?”
Dax leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You know there’s nothing they could say that would change what we have.”
“I know.” Kenzi said the words even though she wasn’t certain she meant them. Dax didn’t look satisfied with her answer, but he didn’t push her.
He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. Kenzi felt badly that she’d blocked his idea, but she saw too many ways it could go wrong.
She and Dax were good together. He got along with her friends. She got along with his. They’d traveled together, practically moved into each other’s places, and every day had been as good if not better than the day before. She wouldn’t risk losing that.
Dax worked during the day and now so did Kenzi. Mornings were rushed, but the
y made time for each other. Most evenings involved walking Taffy and catching up with what each had done that day. Dax fit into her life perfectly; Kenzi just wasn’t as confident that he fit into her family. Neither had asked her to choose one over the other, and that was something she was grateful for.
She and Dax didn’t have issues, so why introduce any? Her family would want to know the answers to all the questions Kenzi wasn’t asking. She couldn’t risk them pushing him away again.
She gave Dax a sad look. “I’m sorry, Dax, no. I don’t want to host game night for my family.”
Dax didn’t argue with her, but she could tell he wasn’t happy with her answer. She wasn’t thrilled with it either, but she didn’t feel like she had much choice. She wanted to say, I’m doing this for us, Dax, but she felt she’d already said too much.
The next day, Dax sat in his car outside the Barrington family home. He’d driven himself there and had spent the last few minutes drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
When he and Kate had designed the perfect way for him to tell Kenzi that he loved her, it had sounded simple. He would invite her family over to show her he was ready to take their relationship to the next step. While waiting for her family to arrive he would walk up behind her, pull her back into his arms, and whisper in her ear that he loved her. His first version of the night had involved just him and Kenzi and a whole lot of intimate celebrating, but Kate’s idea held some merit. Kenzi’s family was important to her and what better way to show her how much he loved her than giving them another chance to string him up by his testicles?
He shook his head to clear that idea. A month had gone by without word from them. If they’d wanted to block Kenzi from seeing him, they’d had plenty of opportunity to do so before then. He had to believe they had at least agreed to tolerate his presence in her life.
It was time to move that relationship along as well.
Dax had left a message for each of Kenzi’s brothers, except Andrew who was still out of the country. He’d asked them to meet him at their parents’ house.
