The Husband List. Cindy Kirk

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СКАЧАТЬ attempted to cover the sound with a cough. “Anyway, that’s the story. I’m back where I started, and it’s okay.”

      “You plan on sticking?”

      He nodded. “I want to see my nephew grow up, hang out with friends...although it’s different now, most of them being married with kids.”

      “Tell me about it.” Mitzi rolled her eyes. “It’s not easy being single and surrounded by happily marrieds.”

      Keenan’s eyes grew sharp, assessing. “I’m surprised someone hasn’t snagged you before now.”

      “Shagged?” She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s happened a time or two. Or three,” she added.

      “Snagged.” He emphasized the word and laughed. “As in put a ring on that pretty finger.”

      There were a dozen phrases she’d used over the years to explain her single status, but for some reason Mitzi decided to take the honest route this time.

      “For as many years as I can remember, I’ve had to keep men at arm’s length. I had my dreams and nothing—and no one—could be allowed to derail those plans.”

      “Now you’ve reached your goal.”

      “I have,” she admitted. “But keeping that distance became a habit. Trust has never come easily for me.”

      Over fortune cookies, she found herself telling Keenan about Kelvin, her last boyfriend. Although she’d known from the start that the odds of her and the NFL star having a future were a long shot, she’d still been shocked when she learned he’d been cheating on her.

      “I let myself trust him,” she admitted. “That’s where I went totally wrong.”

      “Did you love him?”

      “I was heading in that direction,” Mitzi said, embarrassed she could have been so gullible. “I was stupid.”

      “No,” Keenan said firmly. “He was stupid.”

      Mitzi lifted a shoulder. “My mistake was getting involved with him in the first place. I should have known it wouldn’t work. We were apart too much.”

      “What about Benedict?” Keenan asked.

      “Ben’s a great guy,” she said. “We should have been a perfect match. But he got on my nerves and I got on his. Big-time.”

      “I can understand that,” Keenan said then grinned when she gave him a shove.

      “How about you? Any true loves in your past?”

      “A prison isn’t exactly a dating wonderland.” His eyes grew shuttered, the way they always did when those years came up.

      Mitzi got it that he didn’t want to talk about that time. “I mean before that.”

      “No. There was never anyone special.” His eyes grew thoughtful. “I think I always knew I needed to get myself together before I had anything to offer someone else.”

      “Any prospects in Jackson Hole?”

      “Maybe,” he said, a lazy gleam in his eyes.

      Her stomach twisted, even as Mitzi told herself it didn’t matter to her in the least who Keenan McGregor wanted to date...or to sleep with....

      She scrambled to her feet, feeling oddly out of breath. “It’s getting late.”

      Taking his time, Keenan pulled to his feet, hazel eyes focused on hers. “I guess that’s my cue to leave.”

      “It’s getting late,” she repeated, feeling foolish.

      He leaned forward and surprised her by brushing a kiss across her cheek.

      Mitzi frowned, resisted the urge to touch her face. “What was that for?”

      “For the dinner.” He shot her a wink. “Next time, it’s my treat.”

      Chapter Six

      “Next time, he says, as if it’s a given,” Mitzi groused to Kate over lunch at the Green Gateau the following day. “He acted as if it was a date or something, and that we were destined to have another one.”

      “I’ll tell Joel he’s bothering you.” Kate stabbed a crisp piece of endive with her fork.

      Mitzi jerked upright. “Don’t you dare repeat one word of what I say to your husband.”

      “But if one of his employees is harassing you...” Kate dipped the lettuce into the salad dressing, not seeming to notice Mitzi’s horrified expression.

      “I didn’t say he was harassing me,” Mitzi sputtered. “And whatever I tell you is in confidence and not to be shared. I won’t have Keenan getting in trouble—”

      Suddenly seeing the amusement in her friend’s eyes, Mitzi paused. “You had no intention of speaking with Joel.”

      “Of course not.” Kate lifted her hands and drew a box in the air with her fingers. “We’re in the vault.”

      Whatever was said in “the vault” was between the two of them and not to be shared.

      “Besides,” Kate continued, a tiny smile tugging at her lips, “he’s not harassing you—he’s flirting.”

      “You’re wrong.”

      “C’mon, Mitzi, you’re not that clueless.”

      “I’ve got someone else in mind.”

      “Tim Duggan?”

      Mitzi shook her head. “I thought about it. You were right. I’m not ready to be an instant mommy.”

      Her expression giving nothing away, Kate took a sip of mango iced tea. “So who’s moved to the top of the leader board?”

      “Winn Ferris.” Mitzi set aside her reservations. Although he didn’t make her blood surge like Keenan, there was no denying Winn was an attractive man. And he met all her criteria. “I’m certain the better I get to know him, the more I’ll like him.”

      Kate cocked her head. “Really?”

      “Some men have to grow on you.”

      “Others hit you square in the heart.” Kate’s lips curved up.

      Mitzi felt a stab of envy, knowing her friend was thinking about her reaction to Joel when she’d first met him. Though Kate’s journey to love and happiness had been jolted by more than a few potholes, her friend had a marriage Mitzi envied.

      But Mitzi had learned long ago that everyone traveled a different course in life. Hers had never been easy. So why should her quest for love and a husband be any different?

      “I’ve СКАЧАТЬ