The Girl from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 1) (27 page)

“Kenzie? Are you alright?”

Forcing the bloody images from her mind,
she nodded and opened her eyes. He was watching her in concern, his handsome
face set with a frown.

It was the first time she talked to
Travis about the incident, the first time she had even seen him. She had gone
to the hospital that night, waited there with the others while he was in surgery,
but she never went back to see him. She did not feel she had the right. Their
paths had not crossed since.

“Too much blood makes me woozy.” She
hoped her explanation sounded plausible. “And there was so much blood.”

“Paramedics said if it wasn’t for you, I
might have bled out.”

“I-I wasn’t the only one. Makenna and
Hardin helped me.”

“But they didn’t kiss me.”

Kenzie gasped, her eyes flying to his
face when she heard the lowly spoken words. Behind his cool mask, his dark eyes
were liquid pools of warmth.

“You- You were conscious?”

“You didn’t really think I’d sleep
through our first kiss, did you?”

“Not sleep, exactly. Did you… Could you
hear what I was saying?”

He shrugged a broad shoulder. “I knew
you were there, telling me to hang on. I could hear your voice.”

“I’m glad you listened.” She intended
for the words to come out sassy, but they barely slipped by on a whisper.

“You gave me good reason to.”

She had never heard this low, sensual
tone in his voice, never seen this light in his dark eyes. Anticipation
shimmied its way along her nerve endings and she tingled all over. Breathing
was difficult. “Which-Which was?”

For a big man, he moved gracefully. One
step, and he was sidled up against her. “To see if the next kiss is even
better,” he murmured. His large hands slipped around her waist as he pulled her
close to his long, lean body. “Kiss me, Kenzie,” he instructed lowly. “Kiss me
like you did that day.”

“That day, I was so scared,” she
admitted on a whisper. Her fingers slipped between them to gingerly trace where
the savage cut had been. “There was so much blood. You were so pale.” She could
not help but shiver.

“I’m fine now, Kenzie,” he assured her
in a voice that was strong yet gentle.

Kenzie’s eyes floated shut as she leaned
in to kiss him. There was such strength in his embrace, such warmth. Such
security. That was her biggest weakness of all. She threaded her fingers into
the short blond hair at his nape and fitted her mouth against his, eager for
another taste of him. He allowed her to control the kiss, as her tongue traced
the seam of his lips before venturing inside to explore the warm cavern of his
mouth. Travis submitted to her wanderings, enabling her to set the pace and the
intensity of the kiss. But when her tongue pushed deeper into his mouth, his
control snapped. With a growl of impatience, he took possession of the moment
and swept her along in a maelstrom of heat. Kenzie forgot she was waiting on
her date to arrive, forgot that Travis most often made her angry, forgot to
breathe.  

The doorbell buzzed once, twice, before
it penetrated into their private world. Travis was slow in releasing his hold
on her as Kenzie pulled away to stare up at him. Her arms fell away from his
shoulders as a sharp rap on the door finally brought her to her senses.

She stepped toward the door, making the
mistake of putting her full weight on her left leg. A sharp gasp escaped her
lips and Travis moved to catch her by the waist, but Kenzie shook him away. She
refused to meet his eyes as she took a brief moment to collect herself, then
pulled the door open.

“I was beginning to think I had the
wrong apartment!” the man on the other side of the door said with a smile. He
stepped forward, his gaze skimming over her with pleasure. “You look gorgeous.”
A teasing tone came into his voice as he said, “I’ve never seen you in clothes
before.”

Behind her, Kenzie heard Travis’s sharp
intake of breath. She ignored the tall lawman as the intern dipped his head to
kiss her in greeting. At the last second, she turned her face, offering him her
cheek.

This time, it was the doctor’s frown she
ignored as she moved a step back to invite him inside. The tuxedo-clad doctor
faltered when he saw the other man standing just feet away, wearing an
expression like thunder. The air was thick with tension as Kenzie hastily made
introductions.

“Robert, this is Texas Ranger Travis
Merka. Travis, Doctor Robert Bradford. He was one of my doctors while I was in
the hospital.” She turned a sunny smile to the physician, trying to drum up the
enthusiasm to go through with tonight’s date. Even though they had hit it off
at the hospital and spoken several times on the phone since then, seeing him
again in person did not thrill her the way she thought it would. With a slight
sense of panic, she hurriedly recalled his great personality and his sense of
humor, reminding herself that he was not all staid and disapproving, like
someone else in the room.

If the situation had not been so
embarrassing, it would have been humorous. The two men sized each other up as
if they were taking measurements for a customized coffin. When it took longer
than necessary to shake hands, Kenzie babbled nervously to fill the
uncomfortable silence. “What Robert meant is that he’s never seen me dressed.
I’ve always been in bed. In the hospital bed, I mean. I was never wearing
clothes. Street clothes, that is.” Could this situation get any more awkward?

Apparently so. As Travis extended his
hand to the doctor, his eyes drifted past the man to Kenzie. His dark gaze went
to the telltale signs of her smudged lipstick. Lifting a thumb to his own
mouth, he swiped it beneath his lip to clear away any corresponding smears on
his own face. Not only was the gesture obvious, but it carried a sensual weight
that settled deep in Kenzie’s belly and caused her face to burn even hotter
than it already did.

To his credit, the doctor handled the
situation gracefully. There was no denying the sexual tension between his date
and the lawman. “Kenzie, if tonight doesn’t work for you…”

“No, no, don’t be silly! I’ve been
looking forward to this all week!” Kenzie deliberately turned away from Travis,
so that she could not see that tiny smudge of red lipstick, still lingering
there is the corner of his mouth. She was sorely tempted to reach up and wipe
it away, so she busied her hands by clasping them around Robert’s arm. “In
fact, I’m ready if you are.”

The doctor glanced at Travis. “You’re
staying?” he asked uncertainly, his tone a bit wary.

Travis was slow in answering. No doubt
it was a method of intimidation, as if a reply was inconsequential. Kenzie
released a shaky breath of relief when he finally offered a response. “I have
something I wanted to discuss with Kenzie’s sister.”

“Oh. Oh, I see.” The doctor sounded
relieved, then surprised. “Sister?” He gave Kenzie a quizzical look. “I thought
you said you were an only child?”

“Long story. Come on, I’ll tell you
about it on the way.” Kenzie pulled him toward the door, eager to escape the
disastrous situation. She grabbed the silver handbag from the entry table and
practically pushed Robert ahead of her and out the door. Just before stepping
over the threshold, she paused long enough to glance back at Travis. Her step
faltered, right along with her heart.

When she could think of nothing to say,
he came to her rescue. “I just came over to say thank you. So, thank you.”

“It was-” She stopped short of saying
‘nothing’. Of course it was something. She had helped save his life. It was
everything. Her voice was soft as she said instead, “- my pleasure.” She stared
at him across the room, wondering if he could hear the thundering of her heart
from there.

When Robert gently cleared his throat in
the hallway, Kenzie knew it was time to go. “Goodbye, Travis,” she whispered,
pulling the door firmly shut behind her.