Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) by Becki Willis Page A

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