Page 69 of Target Acquired

“Maybe you can ask her about it at the party.”

“Yeah, maybe I will.”

Cole hesitated, took a breath, then blurted, “Kenzie, I need to be honest with you about something.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Okay.”

“Do you mind if I come in for a few minutes when we get to your house?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

It was dark. It was late. And he was so full of nerves that he had to call on all his training not to give in to them. Maybe he should have waited until a better time to do this.

But no. He wanted the air clear between them.

When they arrived at Kenzie’s home, she unlocked the front door, turned off the alarm, and led him inside.

He shut the door and locked it. “Let’s go through your house, make sure it’s clear.”

“Fine.”

Because she knew as well as he did, an untripped alarm didn’t necessarily mean someone couldn’t get inside.

Together they walked through, clearing the main floor. He held up his hand at the entrance to the basement. “Stay here, okay?”

She nodded. She’d wait at the top of the stairs to make sure no one came to ambush them and would be there for help if he needed it. Cole made his way into the basement, stepping over the seventh step, and noted the window had been fixed—and covered with bars on the outside.

No one was coming back in that way without making a lot of noise.

The punching bag was still hanging from the hook and the weight system was organized, waiting for the next workout. He walked back up to the kitchen and found Kenzie leaning against the counter. “Clear down there.”

“All good up here.”

“Attic?”

“Follow me.”

Cole fell into step behind her. She had a walk-in storage area off the utility room. “So, this is your ‘attic,’ huh?” he said.

“Grandma Betsy didn’t like stairs. She tolerated the basement—mostly because she didn’t have to go down there. She used it for storage, just like this room. When I moved in, the basement was full of all kinds of antiques and stuff that I gave my brothers first pick of. I kept a couple of things that I wanted, then sold the rest so I could get started updating the house.”

“You’ve done a great job so far.”

“Thanks.” She shot him a smile, then looked around the room. His gaze followed hers. Boxes and bins were stacked along the perimeter of the room. A card table and chairs leaned against the wall opposite the door. A clothing rack went wall to wall, a variety of items hanging from it. She pointed to the oversize chair in the corner. “I keep thinking I’ll pull that out and use it somewhere, but I don’t want it in the den.”

“Maybe the sunroom?”

“It might work there. I’m sure it needs a good cleaning and I’d want to recover it with something a little more my taste, but yeah. The sunroom might be a great place for it.” She sighed. “But for now, it can stay put while I tackle the other stuff.”

“It’s a lot,” he said, “but looks pretty well organized.”

“It is, which will help because I have no idea what’s here. I still have to go through all of it, figuring out what needs to be tossed, donated, and possibly kept. Maybe I’ll do that with my few days off.”

“Happy to help if you need it.”

She raised a brow. “I might just take you up on it.” She led him back to the den area, where she motioned to the couch. “You had something you wanted to talk about.”

Wanted to talk about? Absolutely not. “I owe you another apology. That moment in the hospital wasn’t me being a player, Kenz.” He wanted to get up and pace. Instead, he locked his gaze on hers. “As you know, Tracy burned me pretty bad.”