Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (10 page)

When
she started to pull back away, she found his arms had come up around her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he grumbled, keeping her close.

All
pretense fell away. Kenzie drew in a shaky breath. Her lungs filled with the
enticing smell of male musk and spicy cologne and, yes, she thought, a touch of
leather; the seductive and alluring essence that was uniquely Travis. It filled
her lungs as a burst of desire filled her senses. Her heart overflowed with
love.

Pushing
herself closer against him, she lifted her face to his. “I’ll go crazy,” she
whispered, “if you don’t kiss me right this minute.”

He
had no smart comeback. He simply did as she requested. One arm snagged low
around her waist, the other hand pressed against her back to keep her close as
he lowered his mouth to hers. Soon his fingers found their way into the messy
curls that fell from her bun as the kiss deepened and she melted into him.

“Too
long,” he muttered into her mouth.

Someone
was calling her name. Kenzie groaned when she recognized the voice. She
blatantly ignored the intrusion, much more interested in how Travis’s hair,
longer now, brushed along his collar and tickled her fingers.

“Kenzie,
it’s time to eat,” the voice called. “I brought your plate so we can get in -”
The man carrying the empty paper plate stopped mid-sentence as he turned the
corner and found her sharing a heated kiss with the lanky Texas Ranger. “Oh.
Pardon me,” he said stiffly. He turned away before they could untangle
themselves from each other’s arms.

“Who
was that?” Travis muttered.

“Mike?
Mark? Maybe his name was Matt. The mayor’s son, I think. Or maybe he was the
Governor’s nephew,” she decided. “No, the nephew’s name was Shawn.” She
shrugged, sitting away from him to straighten her blouse. “I’ve met so many
people today, I’m having trouble keeping them straight.”

“I’m
sure you’ve met all the men, anyway,” he said dryly.

“Well,
you know how I collect shoes,” she smiled sweetly. It was an insult often
tossed between them. He complained she collected men like most women collected
shoes; she admitted that she had always had a thing for
heels
, her
insult clearly aimed at him.

To
her surprise, he merely laughed. The sound was rich and indulgent, and it
melted into the empty cracks of her heart and soul like warm butter.

“Come
on, Stix, I’ll let you buy me lunch,” she said, pulling on his arm as she got
up from the swing.

She
knew his demeanor would change when they stepped from the semi-privacy of their
porch swing. In retrospect, she realized others could have seen their kiss, but
no one seemed to be paying them any attention. Most headed toward the tables to
get in line. But this was the first time she and Travis were being seen together
among friends and colleagues, and she doubted he would make a scene. Private
and decorous - and, she had discovered, a bit bashful - Travis was not the sort
of man prone to public displays of affection. If what they shared could even be
described as a relationship, he would probably want to keep it hidden for as
long as possible. Kenzie led the way toward the gathering crowd, wondering if
she would even see him for the rest of the afternoon. Just sitting with her
might be too big of a statement for her prim and proper Texas Ranger, she
thought with a sigh.

Pleasure
washed over her when Travis stepped up close behind her, slipping his arm
around her waist. His hand settled on her hip, low enough to be a statement of
familiarity. Seeing her surprised expression, he offered her one of his
heart-melting smiles. “I’m considering your offer. I might need me a motorcycle
mama, after all.”

And
just like that, the day
was
perfect.

***

It
was close to midnight when Hardin kissed his fiancé goodnight before tucking
her into the car. He used the opportunity to whisper a reminder that if they
were already married, they would be going home together.

Travis
followed the sisters back to their apartment in Austin. Once there, he insisted
on checking all the rooms. Even though the women came home to an empty
apartment every single day, it was nice having someone show such concern.

“Where
are you staying tonight?” Kenzie asked him.

“I’ll
probably go back to Hardin’s, or maybe out to my ranch.” He shrugged as he
looked around the room, satisfied that all was safe. His eyes, however,
lingered on the wall where he had collapsed after mobster Raymond Foto stabbed
him and left him for dead some seven weeks ago. He absently rubbed the
lingering scar slashed across his chest.

“No,
you’ll stay here,” Kenzie decided. She saw the way he rubbed his chest and she
shivered, recalling the awful scene in her mind. There had been so much blood.
And it was then, while she tried to stop the flow of crimson, that her guard
had slipped and Travis Merka invaded her heart.

“That’s
okay, it’s only an hour to either place.”

“Or
it’s five minutes to a pillow here.”

He
looked over her shoulder to the couch. His feet would hang off the end, but he
would be near her. He had slept on the couch plenty of nights when he and
Hardin had first protected the sisters, before the showdown with Foto. “Thought
I was through sleeping on that thing.”

“You
are.”

He
eyed her warily. They both knew where he stood on starting a sexual
relationship with her. No matter how much he wanted her, he lived by a strict
code of honor.

“We
slept together all those nights on the road - with the covers between us, of
course - and your honor remained intact,” she teased him. “We can do the same
here.”

He
wavered for a moment longer, until she smiled her irresistible smile. “Come on,
Stix, you don’t really want to get back on that bike for an hour.” Keeping in
character for his cover, he had to leave Nacogdoches on his motorcycle, even if
it meant a four-hour trip on his Harley.

While
he went out to get his duffle bag, Kenzie told her sister they would have a
guest for the evening.

“Purely
innocent,” she assured her twin. With a wicked grin, she added, “His rules, not
mine.”

Makenna
smiled indulgently. “I’m glad to see you so happy.”

Embarrassed
by the sappy feeling gushing from her heart, Kenzie shrugged it away. “I’ve
always loved the Fourth of July. I think it’s the fireworks.”

Her
sister laughed aloud. “I’m sure it is, just not the kind in the sky!”

Kenzie
quickly changed into her nightclothes and waited on the couch while Travis did
the same. The lights were dim as she savored the memories of the day and
studied the picture in her hand. Her happiness today would be complete, if only
she knew the truth about her mother.

The
day, itself, had been magical. More than just having the attention of the man
beside her, it was the overall sense of family that she treasured, the sense of
belonging
. With no family to call his own, Travis considered the
Kaczmareks his family, just as Kenzie did the Reagans. And after a full day in
their company, mingling among them in their warm and gracious home, Kenzie felt
she had a place among Hardin’s family, as well. The sense of home and country
had been strong. Kenzie remembered very few Fourth of July celebrations as a
child, and certainly none as wonderful as today. Long before the fireworks
display began, it was the best holiday she could recall. The bright bursts of
color lighting up the night sky could have been coming straight from Kenzie’s
heart; each ‘ooh and aah’ from the crowd could have been a contented murmur
from her soul.

Travis
came from the bathroom quietly, immediately spotting her in the dark. “What are
you looking at?” he asked. “It’s too dark to see.”

She
did not need light to see the image of the photo; it was engraved on her heart.
Tucking the picture away, Kenzie patted the couch beside her. “I’ll tell you
all about it tomorrow,” she promised. “Talking about it will make me sad, and
right now I’m happy. Let me savor the feeling for a little longer.”

He
sat down, his hesitation slight before pulling her against him. Their
relationship was still new enough to be awkward, but Kenzie immediately leaned
back against his chest. As he wrapped his arms around her middle, she hugged
them to her, content to simply be in his embrace.

“I
missed you,” he confessed, the words a kiss into her hair.

“I’ve
missed you, too, Ranger.” She reached her hand behind her to touch the
unfamiliar stubble along his lean cheek. He pressed a kiss into her palm and
she sighed with utter contentment.

“Maybe
I can actually sleep tonight,” he mused softly. “I don’t think I’ve had a
decent night’s sleep since the last time you slept in my arms.”

She
nodded in understanding. “I know I haven’t.”

They
lingered for a long moment, content in the silence. Finally Travis spoke. “Come
on, darlin’, let’s go get a good night’s sleep.” He held her hand as they
walked into the bedroom. 

Kenzie
crawled beneath the covers and Travis laid his long body on top, covered by a
light quilt. As she curled into his arms and snuggled against him, she smiled.

“The
perfect day,” she whispered into the darkness.

“Mmm,”
he agreed groggily, pressing a kiss into her hair as his body fully relaxed for
the first time in weeks. “Perfect.” 

It
was a wonderful feeling, waking up in Travis Merka’s arms. For long moments,
Kenzie lay there watching him sleep, amazed at how different he looked in
slumber. Even before, when they slept in the same bed while on their quest to
uncover secrets from her letter, he had held a part of himself in reserve. He
never completely let down his guard, even in sleep. However, this time was
different, and it warmed her heart, knowing he trusted her enough to lay down
all his defenses. With his body completely relaxed, he looked so much more
approachable, more affable.

He
was such an honorable man, full of honesty and integrity and all his
self-imposed rules. She smiled, thinking how his rules made her crazy, but
knowing, too, that she would not change a single thing about him, even if she
could. His rules were part of what made him the man he was. He was now the
yardstick she used to measure all men, her new high standard of what a real man
should be.

She
watched him a few moments longer, worried about the new worry lines she saw
around his eyes. He was too slim, she thought, too weary looking. His
under-cover mission was obviously dangerous. With a sudden stab of fear to her
heart, she blocked out thoughts of what a world without Travis Merka would be
like. Prayers were foreign to Kenzie, but she stumbled through one now, asking
that this man be safe.

Knowing
he needed the sleep, Kenzie carefully extricated herself from his arms and
silently slipped from the room. This was one thing she could do for him, one
thing she could give him- the gift of undisturbed, peaceful slumber.

***

Less
than half an hour later, she heard him stirring. He stumbled into the dining
room where she sat having coffee and surfing the internet. One look at him, and
she felt her heart melt and ooze all the way down her body, draining away her
sanity and what little scrap of resistance she had left where he was concerned.

His
blond hair, now long enough to be in disarray, was tousled from sleep. The
rugged beard edging his jaw was darker this morning, giving him a rakish look
that did strange things to her stomach. His brown eyes were warm and relaxed,
with fewer lines puckering the edges. His wide, muscled chest was bare, still marred
by only one single flaw: the long, red slash left by Foto’s knife and the
surgeon’s efforts to save his life. The raised pink scar was slowly fading but
it would always be there, a testament to how he almost gave his own life to
save hers. Sleep pants hung low from the sharp angles of his hips, drawing her
eye past the flat, smooth plane of his stomach. Her eyes traveled down his
impossibly long legs, to the oddly erotic sight of his bare feet.

“I
woke up and you were gone.” Still rough with sleep, his voice was a blend of
disappointment and accusation.

“You
were sleeping so peacefully, I was afraid I would wake you.” She was surprised
her voice came out so normally, when parts of her body were dripping with need.
Her heart was still puddled somewhere low in her stomach.

“Thanks.
I can’t believe I slept so late.” He looked slightly embarrassed.

“It’s
barely eight o’clock in the morning.”

“I
know. Late.”

Kenzie
laughed. “Stop by tomorrow around noon, I’ll show you how ‘late’ is done.”

“Is
that coffee I smell? No, don’t get up. I’ll get it.”

She
let him serve himself, since her knees were still questionable. “What would you
like for breakfast?”

“I
don’t care. Guess we could grab some cinnamon rolls or something.”

“No!”

Getting
a cup from the cupboard, Travis looked back toward her outburst. “I thought you
liked cinnamon rolls.”

“Not-Not
anymore. Too sweet.”
Too tempting.
And too much of a reminder of her own
weakness. The reminder was all the more painful, knowing Travis was involved in
a dangerous undercover mission while she had doubted him and contemplated
cheating on him.
Well, maybe not exactly cheating,
she thought, since
they had no commitment. None other than her heart, anyway. It seemed to be
firmly committed.

“So
what would you like?”

Did
he really want her to say? There was only one obvious answer: him.

She
pulled her thoughts together, glad he was busy making himself coffee. “I’m not
much of a cook, but I can manage breakfast. Hardin went shopping last week.”

“What
did you two do before he came along and cooked for you?”

“I’ll
have you know we both cooked yesterday. Makenna’s was that crooked chocolate
cake that looked like someone had sat on it, and mine was that plate of
slightly burnt brownies.”

“Hey,
I had one of those. They were good and crunchy.”

Kenzie
sighed. “Too bad they were called Gooey Delight Brownies.”

“How
about we go out for breakfast? My treat.”

“And
what else do you have planned for me today?”

“Uh,
didn’t know I needed plans,” he stalled, coming out of the kitchen with his steaming
cup.

His
look of surprise was like a slap to her heart, which had finally reassembled
itself in her chest. “So you were just going to breeze into town for the one
day, spend the night with me, and just vanish the next morning?” she asked
frostily.

“You
make it sound like it was a cheap one-night stand. We didn’t even have sex,” he
said irritably.

“Believe
me, I am well aware of that fact!”

“Kenzie,
you know where I stand on that issue.”

“Yes,
I am well aware of where you stand. All the way across the room. Across the
state, in fact.”

Travis
scowled. “I knew yesterday was too good to be true,” he muttered. “We spent the
entire afternoon together without arguing a single time.”

“Well,
it was a holiday, after all,” she said sardonically. “I guess today it’s back
to fighting as usual.”

“So
what did you have in mind for today?” he asked, his tone almost weary.

“I
don’t know. I was just under the mistaken impression that we would spend the
day together. Some people, after all, actually like to spend time with me.”

“Meaning
Mr. Sweetie Pie,” he practically growled.

She
merely shrugged, indicating that the answer was obvious.

“Okay,
so what did you and Sweetie Pie do while he was here?”

“You
mean besides eat cinnamon rolls?” She recklessly threw the words out with a
too-sweet smile. “He let me plan the entire day. Whatever I wanted to do was
fine with him.”

“Okay,
so fine. You plan our day.”

She
immediately perked up. “Seriously?”

He
looked more determined than enthusiastic. “Seriously.”

“Anything
I want?” she clarified. When he looked skeptical, even worried, she laughed.
“Not
that,
although you’d get no complaints from me.” She laughed again
when a faint blush stained his gaunt cheeks. She found it totally adorable that
such a strong, confident lawman was so easily embarrassed by his personal life.
She let him off the hook with a toss of her raven curls. “But anything else I
want to do?”

“It
would need to be legal.”

“Why,
of course, Mr. Ranger Man,” she said, batting her eyes innocently. “Okay,
you’re on! Go get dressed. After breakfast, we’re headed to the mall!”

***

Travis
assumed she intended to drag him through the mall on a shopping spree, adding
to her already expansive wardrobe. He was surprised when they entered a trendy
sports-clothing store and approached the men’s display of swim trunks.

“What
size are you, Stix?” she asked, thumbing through the colorful selection.

“Why
are we looking at swimming suits?”

“Because
I don’t want your jeans to get all wet, silly! Here, you can try these on over
there. And what about these?” She saw the look of horror that crossed his face
as she held up the bright Hawaiian print. “No? What about these?”

“I
don’t need swim trunks, Kenzie.”

“Fine.
We’ll look for regular shorts. I doubt you brought any with you, right?”

“I
don’t wear shorts.”

“Not
even at the gym? Why? Is there something wrong with your legs? You know, I’ve
never even seen them before.” She gave her shoulders a little shimmy. “I’m
excited.”

As
he rolled his eyes in exasperation, his gaze swept over a colorful display of
women’s bikinis. “Fine,” he said suddenly. “You pick a suit out for me, I’ll
pick one out for you.”

Sensing
a trick, Kenzie frowned. “Uhm, I don’t need a swimsuit. Shorts and tee shirt
will do fine.”

“No,
no, they might get wet. I have no idea where we’re going, but you don’t want to
get your clothes all wet.” He grabbed the two pairs of trunks from her hand and
pulled her along to the nearby display. “Okay, so let’s find you a bikini.”

“A
bikini?” she cried in horror. “No way. Absolutely not.”

“Why
not?”

“Travis,
women with my figure do not wear bikinis. Or they shouldn’t, at least. Just
because something comes in your size does not mean you should wear it.” As if
on cue, a very rotund woman stepped from the dressing room, wearing a very skimpy
swimsuit. Kenzie shuddered, turning away from the sight. “I rest my case.”

“I
think you have a perfect figure,” Travis said, letting his dark eyes skim over
her. Her skin warmed under his gaze. “Curvy and full in all the best places.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his low murmur. “Very sexy.”

Kenzie
jutted out her chin in determination. “Even cheating won’t win you this
argument. No bikini.”

“Fine.
A one-piece. But I get to pick it out.”

“Maybe,”
she wavered.

“Okay,
I’ll just wear my jeans then.”

“No,
no, I want to see what earned you the name Stix. I’ll agree to a one-piece, but
I’m wearing shorts over it.”

Seeing
the determination set upon her face, Travis did not argue, merely moved toward
a new display of one-piece swimsuits. 

Twenty
minutes later, Kenzie shooed him back into the dressing room after paying for
their purchases. “You’ll need to get changed now.”

“Now?
I’m not walking through the mall in my swim trunks!”

“Why
not? They come all the way to your knees. You’ll be fine.”

“Aren’t
you going to change?” he challenged.

“No.”

“Then
neither am I.”

“Okay,
have it your way. But a pedicure is much easier in shorts than blue jeans.”

“A
what
?”

“A
pedicure. Come on, we have an appointment in five minutes.”

“There
is no way I am getting a pedicure.”

Kenzie
whirled on him, her green eyes blazing. “Travis Merka, how many weeks have you
been gone?”

“Three.”

“How
many times did you call me during that time?”

“Three.”

“You
promised to call me last Friday. It was Monday before you finally did. How many
days is that?”

“Three.”

“At
the least, at the
very
least, you owe me three big pay-backs.”

“I
told you why I couldn’t call before that, darlin’. And I told you, in my mind I
talked to you every single day.”

“But
I never knew that, Travis.” Much to her chagrin, her voice thickened with
tears. “If you had just told me that, you would have saved me a lot of
heartache. But you didn’t, so now you owe me. And you said whatever I wanted to
do.”

“I
didn’t know it involved getting some sissified nail polish on my toes,” he
grumbled as he reluctantly followed her out into the mall.

“I
promise, no nail polish. Unless you want a nice clear coat on your finger
nails,” she grinned, catching his hand and examining his nails.

He
jerked his hand away. “No manicure. Hands are off limits.”

“Lots
of men get manicures.” She sent him a covert look to gauge his reaction.
“Craven’s hands are very smooth. I think he probably gets his hands done.”

“Bully
for him. He’s not undercover in a motorcycle gang,” he said darkly.

“Gang?”
Her breath hitched on the word.

Travis
avoided her question by asking one of his own. “And how do you know how smooth
his hands are?” he grumbled.

“Whose
hands?” Kenzie asked with wide, innocent eyes. “Here we are. And look, they
have two chairs side-by-side, just for us.”

The
tall, lanky Texas Ranger made quite a spectacle, his long legs hitched at the
knees to maneuver his feet into the washbasin. The denim on his jeans was
shoved up as high as possible, revealing very muscular - but very white- legs.
Amid a half dozen women, the rugged cowboy was clearly out of place.