“Everyone knows women are masterminds of revenge. The better the sex, the eviler their plans might be for you.”
An echo of deep laughter from the other guests of Magnolia Palace filled the weight room the following morning. Nate Reyes and his wild comments were the exact reason Ramon made sure his hotel had two gyms. Ramon tried to finish his eighth rep of bench presses but his cousin’s off-the-wall statement made it hard. Nate stood unapologetically by his statement with a straight face before he rubbed his hands together and reached for his dumbbells.
The three-hundred-and-seventy-five-pound weights clinked into place as Ramon struggled to catch his breath and he sat upright. The blurry vision of Stephen jumping rope became clearer. The comments didn’t faze Stephen. Meanwhile the other men in the gym could no longer pretend to be into their own workouts. Everyone nodded as if agreeing with the statement. Southwood didn’t have the appropriate gym Ramon needed to keep in shape so he’d made sure Magnolia Palace had one. His cousins made sure the facilities were constantly in use.
“Nate,” Stephen scolded.
“Clearly, since Lexi is going to have your second child before your oldest is one—” Nate sighed, dragging his hand over his light brown face “—she hasn’t worked out the kinks of you outbidding her on the piece of property she wanted to buy.”
Ramon choked on his laughter.
“You’re laughing but I don’t know why, primo,” Nate went on. “You volunteered to take a woman to two more weddings,” Nate stated and added, “the same woman who had your car towed for being parked a fraction over the line near a fire hydrant by her fireman friend.”
Ramon nodded his head and accepted the verbal taunts that were reminders of incidents between Kenzie and himself. At least now the antics would stop. If yesterday was an inkling of what a friendship between them would be like, Ramon couldn’t wait to hang out with her again.
“Pay no attention to Nate,” Stephen said with a chuckle. “He’s still mad about fireman Parker Ward’s history with Amelia.”
“Hey, their history was in high school,” Nate interrupted and puffed out his chest. “Amelia chose me.”
By Ramon’s calculations, Nate was the one who needed a history lesson. Before becoming Mrs. Reyes, Amelia had spent ten grand at a bachelor’s auction just to get even with Nate. Of course, Ramon would love to hear what his cousin-in-law, the reality TV show producer, would do after hearing this non-scientific theory.
“Whatever, Nate,” said Ramon. He reached down for his bottled water and took a long swig. The beverage cooled the heat in his chest. When he finished, he stood up to flex his muscles in the mirror. The black tank top he wore exposed the well-defined guns he took care of. Ramon lifted his arms, flexed and kissed his biceps.
“Primp all you want in the mirror,” said Nate, “but you will never fetch ten Gs.”
“Can we get back to this wedding business?” Stephen asked.
“What about it?” Ramon inquired.
“You don’t have to make such a commitment just to secure your bid for the old post office,” Stephen stated. Always the voice of reason. Ramon nodded his head and agreed with his older cousin. “There’s always the archives section in the library.”
Shaking his head, Nate cleared his throat. “Not really. I took Kimber last year for her final history project and she said she couldn’t find anything good in there.”
“I know,” Ramon said with a shrug. “I prefer to study with a buddy.”
Nate laughed in approval. “I ain’t mad at you. I just want to make sure you’re aware of the calculating ones.”
“She’s not a evil-genius-revenge-mastermind, Nate,” Ramon verified.
“Does she show up at the same places you are?” asked one of the men at the pull-up bar.
“She’s got this eagle eye,” Nate answered. “She manages to know when he arrives someplace and finds a way to make his life miserable.”
Nate’s statement warranted a collective hmph from everyone.
“You’re leaving out the main part, Nate. Amelia and Lexi have worked with Kenzie on numerous projects, so it’s only natural we’re at the same place at the same time.”
Another round of disapproving hmphs.
I’m the one showing up places now, like the wedding last night.”
“Wait, though—” Ramon struggled to gain control of the situation “—there is more to these weddings than I thought. I can’t let her face the wrath of her cousins. They’re not like us.”
Stephen sighed and laughed out loud. “Do you think Lourdes wants to face Rosa and her perfect husband at any wedding? Especially after being stood up at the altar?”
“That was cold.” Ramon winced and recalled the time his then eighteen-year-old cousin Lourdes invited everyone down to Miami Beach for a wedding that never happened. At the last minute her fiancé chose business over love. Ramon inhaled deeply. He never wanted to be one to hurt his family but he understood the dude’s perspective. Women wanted to be a certain weight before getting married. Why was it hard for women to understand men wanted to be financially ready?
“It’s not like Lourdes is hurting in the financial department,” said Nate. “I think she mentioned something about planning a wedding for one of the ex’s brothers.”
Last week Ramon had doubted Kenzie would lift a finger to help his family but after last night he was sure they’d made headway. Though she hadn’t let him walk her to her apartment door, Kenzie had allowed him to drive her home. It made sense to leave the wedding together, she’d said.
What Kenzie had failed to say was the word yes to him. So should he attend the next wedding? According to Aunt Bren, a friend of the Hairstons was getting married and Kenzie was attending. A squeal from outside snapped Ramon out of his daydream.
“What is that noise?”
“Sounds like Jessilyn.” Ramon chuckled. “My new chef gets excited when the food she ordered arrives on time.”
Stephen rubbed his stomach. “My kind of cook.”
“Are y’all staying for lunch? The guests this week are from Canada, so Jessi thought it would be a treat for them to try some down-home cooking.” Ramon made sure to use the Southern drawl he’d perfected over the past few months. “I’m sure she’d be happy to fix extra.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Nate patted his stomach.
“I’ll take anyone’s cooking over his,” said Stephen, hiking his thumb toward his brother.
“Hey.”
Ramon shook his head and laughed. “Great. I’ll let her know to set a few more plates.”
Exiting the gym, Ramon thought about his cousin’s words. Nate was a hoot and would deny everything if Amelia heard him talk. No... Kenzie disproved Nate’s theory. She was sane and damn near gifted in bed. Ramon’s body stiffened at the memory of her beneath and on top of him.
Before stopping by the kitchen to give the lunch order, Ramon headed toward his office on the first floor to grab his phone before taking a shower. He took in a deep breath at the banister in his sprawling digs and shook his head. This was his. There were times he still couldn’t believe he turned a dilapidated plantation home into a thriving hotel. All sixteen rooms were booked for the entire summer. Guests buzzed through the foyer, prepared to get out on the lake. Children waddled barefoot with brightly colored pool-floaties around their arms and bellies. A lifeguard was already on duty, had been since sunup, for the sake of the guests who wanted an early-morning row out on the calm water.
Ramon slipped into his study to glance at his schedule. He’d learned from Kenzie to write things down on a planner instead of just assuming he’d remember things. Thank God for her. Kenzie had her act together, whereas the ladies he dated in the past were a bit on the vapid side, concerning themselves with climbing the social ladder. He smiled to himself and breezed over to his desk. The blotter listed off all the activities scheduled for the guests. For himself, he had nothing on the schedule. With the help of his chef and housekeeping staff, this place ran itself. Ramon coordinated the activities by a signup sheet when the guests registered. Maybe he’d travel into town today and accidentally run into Kenzie. It was odd his heart skipped a beat at the thought of her name.
Anxiety over how she might seek revenge against him always lingered in the back of his mind. Could Nate’s words be true? Was she a vengeful mastermind tricking him to fall for her, just to reject him down the line? Nah, he laughed off the idea. But today’s nerves were more from excitement. He learned last night Kenzie didn’t want to tie him down. Not like tying up is off the bedroom menu, he thought with a devilish grin.
Satisfied with his free schedule, Ramon headed out of his office down the hall toward the oversize kitchen in the back. He spotted Jessilyn seated at the table with an abnormally large bowl piled high with fresh green beans.
“There’s the man of the hour.” Jessilyn beamed. “We were just talking about you.”
A few weeks ago Jessilyn had approached Ramon about a job opportunity. She was young, fresh out of culinary school and needed a chance. He tested her with a few of his grandmother’s recipes, tasted her specialties and agreed to give her a chance this summer.
“We?” Ramon asked.
When he stepped farther into the kitchen he spotted the backside of another person seated adjacent to Jessilyn. Red hair piled on top of her head and twisted into a tight bun, Kenzie turned in her chair to face him. He swore her fresh, freckled face lit up at the sight of him.
“We were,” Kenzie answered. She stood up and smoothed down her turquoise sundress. Freckles were sprinkled across her shoulders. He remembered kissing them last summer.
Ramon gulped. “Hey, I was hoping I’d run into you today.”
Kenzie’s left brow rose. “Afraid I’d run off with your jacket?”
“Huh?”
Reaching onto the chair next to her Kenzie lifted the jacket he’d wrapped around her last night when they stepped out of the church. “I forgot to give this back to you when you dropped me off.”
“Oh?” Jessilyn breathed, giving life to a potential rumor.
“It wasn’t like that,” Kenzie said, shooting down the gossip. “Ramon helped me out of a sticky situation at Corie’s wedding.”
“How’d that go?”
“It was lovely.”
“So were her groomsmen,” Jessilyn said with a giggle. “They were out partying up at the club in Samaritan.”
The only nightclub Ramon had gone to was Throb. It didn’t surprise him to hear the basketball players were hanging out there. Anything trendy came through Samaritan. Southwood preserved the important history of the area. Ramon had partied a few times at Club Throb. Peachville, well, the name spoke for itself. This season Ramon made sure every room in the hotel had a bowl of fresh peaches.
“Hence why you were out of it when I saw you this morning,” Kenzie said to Jessilyn.
Ramon lifted his brows and Jessilyn hit Kenzie playfully in the shoulder and shushed her. While Ramon enjoyed his chef’s cooking, he understood she was young and made some irresponsible decisions, such as going out when she had work in the morning. As long as she came to the kitchen ready to work, he wasn’t going to judge.
“Do I need to be concerned?” Ramon asked.
“Not at all,” said Jessilyn. “Kenzie was just helping me finish up snapping the beans and then I’ll start lunch.”
“Great, that’s why I came to see you,” said Ramon. “I have my cousins downstairs working out and they want to stay for lunch.”
The idea of cooking for more people didn’t faze Jessilyn one bit. As a matter of fact her smile broadened. “I’ll make sure they have plenty.”
“They have wives,” reminded Kenzie as she returned the playful swat against Jessilyn’s forearm.
“Sheesh.”
Ramon pressed his lips together for a moment. Kenzie, however, did not bother trying to contain herself. Her infectious laugh brought all of them to a full chuckle.
“Seriously, though.” Jessilyn sobered. “Bring whomever you wish. Kenzie really saved the day snapping these beans with me.”
“Kenzie—” Ramon cleared his throat “—would you like to stay for lunch?”
“Thanks but,” she began, rising from her seat, “I have plans.”
With whom? Ramon’s mind screamed and then he glanced down at the ground and wondered if the hem of her dress covered her purple-polished toes he’d spied last night. “We have mimosas if you’re interested.”
“Thanks, but I better get going. I really stopped by to return your jacket.”
Without thinking, the two of them began walking out of the kitchen. “I could have picked up the jacket next week when we attend Felicia’s wedding.”
“I’m supposed to meet up with some friends at Felicia’s wedding,” said Kenzie. “I don’t know if I’ll be there or stay late to catch up with them.”
Ramon clasped his hands behind his back. “But we’re still going?”
“I haven’t agreed to your proposal.”
Shaking his head, Ramon kept walking. Their footsteps were drowned out by the children screaming with excitement. He liked the way Kenzie smiled at them. “Let me guess, you’ve got canoeing on the agenda.”
“I do. How’d you guess?”
“Been there, done that,” Kenzie said, looking up and batting her lashes. “Or have you forgotten?”
“How could anyone forget how this home once belonged to the famous Swaynes of Southwood, who so graciously opened the doors for public access for vacations?” Ramon imitated Kenzie’s Southern drawl as he spoke. When he bowed at the waist Kenzie pushed her hand against his shoulder.
“Don’t get hurt,” teased Kenzie.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Ramon grabbed hold of Kenzie’s hand before she poked him for a second time. Kenzie wiggled her fingers against his. Everything else in the room ceased for him. The noise of the children, the dishes clanking in the dining room and the screeches from the teenagers outside went away. He was sweaty from his workout but touching Kenzie brought a whole new level of heat.
“Did you really come here to return my jacket?”
“I did,” said Kenzie. She stopped struggling against his grip. “And I wanted to thank you for showing up last night like you did.”
Ramon jutted his chin outward. “I was pretty heroic.”
“Dear Lord,” Kenzie groaned.
“What? I came in looking all sharp and won your family over.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes and blew a lock of her red hair out of her face. “First of all, Erin is nosey and hung on to your every word to get the tea.”
“And Auntie Bren?” Ramon genuinely liked the matriarch of the Hairston side of the family. Like Kenzie, Auntie Bren was tightly wound with a pile of red hair on top of her head, although Ramon suspected a hairdresser might be helping her by now. Either way, both women were firecrackers.
“Don’t call her that,” Kenzie said from between gritted teeth.
“She asked me to.” Ramon gave Kenzie’s fingers a squeeze. “Are you jealous?”
“Of?”
“Of the idea of Auntie Bren wanting me.”
“I’m leaving now.” Kenzie yawned. She yanked her hand free once more and freed herself.
Ramon stopped himself from taking a step forward and capturing her in his arms. “Hot date?” Too bad he couldn’t stop his mouth from saying anything stupid.
The corners of Kenzie’s mouth turned up into a grin. “Didn’t you have your own date Friday night?”
“If by date you mean a slumber party here at Magnolia Palace for my preteen niece after taking her and her friends to a concert in the park down from your apartment. Maybe you heard it?”
Judging from the look on her face, Ramon guessed she had. Also accompanying the annoyed look was a flash of relief. Was she happy to know he hadn’t been on a date?
“How sweet of you,” Kenzie finally said.
“Sweet was letting those girls do my hair.”
Kenzie covered her face to hide her laugh. Her eyes crinkled at the corners and gave her attempt away. “Please tell me there are pictures.”
“None I’m willing to share. Besides, you might try to blackmail me into escorting you to your events.”
“Really?” Kenzie cocked her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes.
“Nah, I’m still waiting on you to say yes to my offer,” said Ramon. “Remember, I still need you to teach me about the history of the post office so I can decide what to propose for the planning committee.” Reaching for the door, Ramon held on to the jamb. Kenzie paused under his arm. Sun backlit her face like a halo. “I need your help, Kenzie.”
Wordlessly Kenzie ducked under his arm. Like a puppy he followed her to a white convertible with pink leather seats. They both reached for her door at the same time. Electricity bolted through his skin.
Kenzie had to have felt it, too. She rubbed her hand. A red tint spread over her freckled cheeks. Kenzie cleared her throat. “Well, I am off this month but I’ve got a few new items to archive, so my desk isn’t overflowing when I get back.”
“What do you do there?” he asked.
“Well,” she started, “I am a historian for the town but that’s all glorified. Basically I am a city worker. Until I have my own space, I am an archivist, as in, I’m bringing Southwood’s history into the digital age.”
She certainly knew a lot about the town, he thought to himself.
“Meet me in my office at City Hall tomorrow,” she said. “We can talk there.”
Ramon nodded and waited before Kenzie got in her car and headed down the drive before turning toward the wide porch. Nate and Stephen waited for him.
“So she just happened to be here at Magnolia Palace?” Nate asked.
“Shut up, Nate,” Ramon said with a laugh as he flipped his cousin the middle finger.
* * *
“Well, I hadn’t heard from you so I thought I’d check and see if you ended up eloping with Mr. Save-the-Day,” Maggie’s voice sang out from the cell phone on the corner of Kenzie’s desk.
Though they weren’t on video chat, Kenzie rolled her eyes toward the florescent lights of her office. “Please don’t ruin my Monday with any of your craziness,” said Kenzie.
So far Kenzie’s month off work wasn’t turning out as she’d planned. Monday morning, knowing Alexander intended to sell off—on behalf of the city—all the property downtown, Kenzie came in to work to check and secure all requests. Her morning started out with a tutoring session with one of the football players from Southwood High as a favor to the parents. After the first session ended quickly, the potential quarterback came in for tutoring and thirty minutes stretched into close to lunchtime, as her second appointment took longer than she anticipated.
A stack of requests from local businesses for historic preservation teetered on her desk. Everyone coveted a prestigious plaque posted on their buildings. It helped garner more tourists. This was the part of her job she loved. She followed the paper trail to verify each claim. Even though she grew up in Southwood, she loved hearing the stories people passed on from generation to generation. The only thing she hated about her job was having to tell people no. The last time Kenzie denied a family entry into the registry she felt horrible, but in retrospect, having a peach in the shape of Fat Albert did not make the home or land historic. Ever since Kenzie took on the job as town historian last year she had been busy.
“Don’t act like you can’t hear me,” Maggie persisted. “You’re not even supposed to be working. Don’t tell me Alexander made you come in.”
“Alexander can’t make me do anything,” Kenzie said with a frown. Thank God Margaret gave her his summer schedule. It was bad enough she was going to have to see him this weekend for Felicia’s wedding. How many folks in his family were going to recommend they give each other another shot? Kenzie would rather eat a bowl of rocks. “He never comes in Mondays.”
“So why are you there when you’re off?”
“I helped out the Stanfield boy about a half an hour ago and then I noticed some work that must have come in when I left early Friday. I wanted to take a peek at some of the homes and businesses requesting to be on the docket for preservation this fall.”
“So?”
“So I can take a look at these places this month and maybe even have an announcement for the entries to the state historic registry at the sesquicentennial.”
“For which you’ll have a date, right? Auntie Bren told me Danielle and Michelle were proposed to last night.”
Of course her other Hairston cousins would follow suit and get married. Dani was a physical therapist and Michelle worked with Erin in Orlando, Florida, at their big-time sports agency. “You should have seen their rings. Auntie Bren was going on about the rocks.”
“For crying out loud,” Kenzie moaned. “I have a freaking PhD.”
“So?”
“So?” Kenzie snorted. “Paper beats rock every single time.”
Maggie’s sigh caused a static sound through the phone. “You say that now, but wait until you have your own set of gems.”
“I have my own,” she responded, “It’s called the Miss Southwood crown. Since I won—”
“Oh-so long ago,” Maggie interjected.
“No one on either side of the Hairston and Swayne family has won since.”
“Whatever. What’s going on with you and Ramon? Is he escorting you to Felicia’s wedding?”
A smile tugged at the corners of Kenzie’s mouth. Heat spread across her cheeks at the memory of Ramon asking her the same thing. “I haven’t really accepted his offer.”
“I thought I heard you say you would help.”
“I’m helping anyone who wants to place a bid on the historic buildings in Southwood, not just Ramon. There are other places up to be sold. And as the town’s historian...”
Maggie grumbled on the other end of the line. “You’re the only person with the credentials who can help.”
“The only way I can help is to make sure the buyers are aware of the historicity of the structure,” Kenzie said, trying to sound authoritative. “Whoever buys one of the buildings downtown has to keep in mind they can’t just add a porch to accommodate, let’s say, a sports bar. They’ll have to stick with the original work as close as possible on the interior and exterior.”
“Let me guess, you’re going to give an extra lesson to the person who is going to put in a business of your choice, right?”
“Dear older and much wiser sister,” Kenzie said, “you know me so well.”
“What I do know is you and Ramon were a hit at Corie’s wedding. Auntie Bren is looking forward to dancing with him at Felicia’s wedding—she said something about making some man jealous.”
The last thing Kenzie wanted to do was encourage Auntie Bren to get close to Ramon. What would it look like for two grown men to be fighting over an old lady? Besides, Kenzie didn’t want to get comfortable with the idea of Ramon taking her anywhere. What if he decided to stop helping and stood her up for one of the events? It happened before. Kenzie hated being humiliated and the memory of waiting for Ramon to pick her up for the final crowning for last year’s Miss Southwood Beauty Pageant was still fresh. The two of them had spent the entire week together; it had been only natural for everyone to assume they’d arrive together. She’d spent that whole evening avoiding questions about his whereabouts and the pitying glances from the people involved with the pageant. Being embarrassed was one thing but she couldn’t take being the subject of a year’s worth of gossip. Not again.
“Everyone has been talking about you two... Speaking of which, why didn’t you come to church yesterday?”
Kenzie choked on the air. Her eyes watered. “What? You went to church?”
“I had to get my church on. I’m not a complete heathen.”
“Of course not.”
The elevators outside her door dinged and Kenzie’s heart raced with the idea of Ramon coming to visit her here. This was her playing field. He couldn’t charm her or throw her off her game. Here she was a professional.
“Damn,” some of the ladies by the water cooler collectively sang out.
The sweet smell of magnolias filled the air. The pit of her stomach dropped and her nipples became acutely aware of his presence. He was here.
A bouquet of blooming magnolias filled the doorway and covered his face. Kenzie found herself leaning in her black leather chair for a glimpse. He wore a pair of khaki pants with a blue sports coat. His massive hands wrapped around a thin paper blanket cradling the bouquet.
“Ramon,” Kenzie breathed. She stood up from her chair and the back of it hit the wall.
“Ramon’s there?” Maggie’s voice came from the pink cell phone.
As Kenzie maneuvered around her desk, she swiped the screen to disconnect the call and pulled down her black pencil skirt. The peach silk blouse she wore clung to the skin on her back.
“Hi,” Kenzie said, trying to play it cool. She clasped her hands behind her back.
Ramon lowered the flowers to reveal his devastatingly handsome smile. “Aren’t you going to take these?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure. The last time you arrived at my doorstep with flowers you made sure to let me know they were for another woman.”
“A preteen niece,” said Ramon, pushing the flowers toward her. “And I thought I explained about the concert.”
If ever there was a time to crawl into a hole, it was now. How jealous did she sound? “Well, thank you then.” She accepted the flowers and glanced around for a vase. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything here to put these in.”
“We can head back to your place.”
Kenzie offered him a tight smile. “No thanks.”
“How about lunch?” Ramon asked. “Have you eaten yet?”
“One of my students brought me a muffin earlier.”
Ramon leaned against the door. She hated to admit how cramped he appeared in her office. “A muffin, huh? Sounds like a great, healthy choice.”
“You know once you lick the frosting off a cupcake it becomes a muffin, so that counts, right?” she joked and rolled her eyes when he smirked. Kenzie pressed her lips together. “Whatever, we can do lunch. It’s not Food Truck Thursday, but there are a few locals, and we can meet up with everyone.”
“Everyone?”
There was no mistaking the disappointment in his voice. He didn’t bother covering his feelings with a tawdry grin. Kenzie inhaled deeply and steadied her libido. “Yes. I mentioned before you’re not the only one interested in property around town. So since Alexander is serious about selling off vacant pieces, to generate revenue for the town, I thought I’d give everyone a history lesson.”
Ramon’s upper lip curled. “Uh, didn’t you already tutor today?”
“What are you here for?” Kenzie turned with her butt against her desk. Ramon cocked his head to the side and licked his lips. A team of goose bumps marched along her arms. All he needed to do was kick the door closed and in two seconds flat she’d be his.
“I thought you were going to give me a private lesson about Southwood,” he said, advancing closer.
“You thought we’d do it alone?”
Thankfully someone behind them cleared their throat in a soft manner.
“Kenzie,” said Margaret as she cleared her throat at the doorway. “The package I thought shipped out is on its way back here.”
Alexander. Kenzie sighed to prevent her upper lip from curling. “Thanks, Miss Margaret,” she said sweetly. “By the way, this is Ramon Torres. Ramon, this is Miss Margaret Foley.”
Charming as ever, Ramon kissed the back of Margaret’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Margaret, fifty years of age, beamed. For the last six months Margaret had decided she was going to stop coloring her hair and embrace the gray. Right now a trim of gray circled her head like a headband. She blushed and batted her eyelashes in Kenzie’s direction. “Well, hello.”
“Foley, you say?” Ramon cut his eyes at Kenzie. Her heart thumped against her rib cage. “One of the footlockers in the basement of the post office belonged to a Priscilla Foley. Any relation?”
After a moment of thinking and twisting her lips, Margaret shook her head. “Not that I can think. I’ll let you know if I can remember anyone by that name. Okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kenzie replied, remembering why Alexander’s secretary was here in the first place. “We were heading out for lunch. Can we bring you anything back?”
“Aren’t you sweet? But you’re supposed to be off work for the rest of this month, dear.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kenzie did not miss the way Ramon cocked his eyebrow toward her. The last thing she wanted was him aware of her free time.
“Good. Now, you two go on and grab some lunch.” From the door, Margaret shooed the two of them out of Kenzie’s cramped office and picked up the flowers. “I’ll get these sent over to your apartment, okay, Kenzie? I also got a call from the front desk—the other person interested in the old post office is waiting downstairs for you.”
Kenzie reached around and grabbed the stack of requests and her purse off the coat rack beside the door. “All right. I’ll get in touch with these people.”
“Mr. Torres.” Margaret drew her attention to the man taking the folders from Kenzie’s hands. “I expect you to make sure Kenzie has a good time.”
“Oh yes, ma’am.”
One of the ladies from the office already pressed the button for them and Ramon and Kenzie entered wordlessly. Once the door closed, Ramon shifted the paperwork under his arm and leaned against the wall. “Did we just get kicked out of your office?”
If that’s what Ramon needed to believe, then sure. Kenzie did not want to bring up her past relationship or scarred friendship with Alexander. And she definitely did not want Alexander to try to sell Ramon another building.
“Margaret is sweet.”
“And so you’re off for the month?” Ramon asked.
The light in the elevator lit up and dinged with each floor. Kenzie concentrated on the numbers. “Yep.”
“Great,” Ramon exclaimed. “How about I take off and you can deal with the person who is going to lose the bid to me?”
Kenzie laughed. “Confident, aren’t you?”
“Always.”
“What if this person listens to my suggestion for what to do with the place?”
Ramon waved off the notion with his free hand. “I’ve got this. Southwood needs a martial arts or CrossFit gym and I am sure everyone on this council panel is going to agree with me.”
“A gym?” Kenzie balked and frowned. She could imagine oversize, bulky men in tank tops and women dressed in see-through yoga pants walking through the center to get to the establishment. “Please don’t.”
“All right.” Ramon laughed out loud. “That was me just being vindictive against one of my cousins. What about a smoothie shop?”
The light lit up on three. Was the elevator slower than before?
“Okay, I get it. Dry cleaner?”
Kenzie rolled her eyes. “Southwood has one in the Brickler Hotel off Main Street.”
“You want me to walk my clothes into enemy territory?”
“You’re worried about Brickler Hotel when the Brutti Hotel sits smack-dab in the middle of Four Points Park?”
“They’re a chain,” said Ramon. “It’s not the same or as historic as the original structure of the first hotel in Southwood.”
The history fact won him brownie points. “You’re the one who decided to turn Magnolia Palace into a hotel,” Kenzie reminded him with a wink.
Winking in his direction didn’t help her at all. Ramon flashed a smile and Kenzie prayed for the elevator to stop midfloor. Caving in to Ramon’s decadent lips would be justified if the circumstances deemed it so. Unfortunately the elevator kept going. In anticipation of reaching the ground floor Kenzie reached for her paperwork. Ramon held on to it, managing to tug her close to him.
“Why are you doing this?” Kenzie asked.
“What?” He had the nerve to sound innocent. “I’m trying to be chivalrous. Haven’t we moved beyond the hostility between us?”
“There’s nothing between us,” Kenzie lied.
The smirk on his face proved he didn’t believe her, either. “We need to get some things out of the way before we work together on this post office proposal and Felicia’s wedding. All this tension between us is going to make Auntie Bren wonder.”
“Stop calling her that,” Kenzie started to squawk. Before she knew it, Ramon had lowered his hand and captured her lips with his.
Any sense of irritation or anger fell to the wayside. Kenzie pressed her hands against Ramon’s broad chest. Her thumbs brushed against the buttons of his oxford shirt, tempting her to rip the material open. The familiar dance of their tongues excited her. Ramon broke the kiss and straightened to his full height. Kenzie wanted to smack and kiss him at the same time.
“Good,” he breathed, “I needed to get that out of the way.”
Maybe they had needed to kiss—to get these confusing feelings out of their system. The problem? She wanted more.
The doors opened. Guiltily, Kenzie took a large step backward.
“Hey, just the person I’m looking for,” Erin said cheerfully. She stepped inside and wrapped her arms around Kenzie’s shoulders. “I hear you’re the one who’s going to show me the old post office.”