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“I don’t know, I feel like we could be the dream team. Maybe we can request double dates.”

“Again, I’m not sold on the idea.”

“Maybe I can help with that.”

Her eyes go wide and she takes a step back. The microwave beeps and she turns as if that was the plan all along.

“Are you ready to go?” Miles asks. His face is all red and I’m thinking there might be the start of a hickey along his collar.

Shaking my head, I say, “The real question is if you’re ready. I think your assessment is correct, Dr. Kenzie.” I give her a wink and smile when her cheeks flush.

“Right about what?” Miles asks, walking toward the front door.

“It’s an inside joke. You had to be there.”

At the front door I hesitate. What would it be like to blow off the guys and hang out with Kenzie? She obviously has knowledge of hockey and is always one step ahead of me when it comes to humor. But I’ll see her tomorrow when she walks through my house.

I make a mental note to get home early enough to pick up a bit. I don’t need Kenzie to think I’m a slob. But I do need time to convince her to join the dating pool. The question is what would make her crack?

13

TREY

“What’s the story with Kenzie?” I ask Miles in the car as we drive to the restaurant. For the first time in a long while, I’m not frustrated by the tardiness.

Miles turns to look at me. “What do you mean?”

“She’s really funny. I don’t know much about her and I’m curious.”

With a wide grin, Miles says, “Really? I can see something happening between you two.”

Shaking my head, I blow out a breath. “No, not like that. I hired her to organize my house and while I think she’ll do a good job of it, I know all of two things about her. She likes hockey and she’s funny. I’m just doing my due diligence.” Yeah, I’ll try to convince myself of that.

“She doesn’t just like hockey. She loves it. You should’ve seen her in the box at your game, man. I want to say she played in college or something.”

While that’s news to me, I can see it. “Do you know where?”

Miles shrugs. “Somewhere in the city, from what Dani told me. And as far as organizing, she’s probably the best one for it. I might hire her just to come organize our house after Dani finally gets all her stuff moved in. It’s a good thing you hired Kenzie, though. I can’t believe you’ve lived in your house this long and the place looks the same as the day you moved in. I’m willing to bet you don’t have your TV plugged in yet.”

I grit my teeth. “I’m not taking that bet.” It’s true, the TV is still in the box. When it comes to home improvement tasks, even something as small as hooking up the TV, I’m all thumbs.

My mind is still trying to puzzle through Kenzie’s personality as we walk into the restaurant.

“What time did you all get here?” I ask, taking a seat next to Jack and across from Owen.

“Twenty minutes ago, man. We thought you might’ve fallen asleep or decided on a dinner date with the flavor of the week,” Jack says, grinning.

I punch him in the shoulder hard enough to make him sway into Spencer. “Please. I’ve never been like that. I’d say you and Spencer have that title locked down,” I say, directing my response to Jack. “The reason we’re late is because of Lover Boy over here.”

Miles grins and nods. “I’m okay with that.”

“I’m gone a whole month and come back to the same bickering from you two,” Owen says with a laugh.

“How was the trip?” I ask, hoping the waitress comes soon so I can order a drink.

Owen nods and grins. He’s one of the top nurses in the area and even talked about becoming a travel nurse at one point. “It was awesome. The perfect break to the rat race I’ve had here. Guatemala has some amazing people and is beautiful. We were able to help so many in need. On the few days off we had, we toured some of the areas and it’s incredible. I already signed up to go on to the next one.”

“Which is when?” Miles asks from the other side of him.