Cindy Kirk - The Husband List

“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 got to figure out a way to spend time with Winn.” Mitzi caught her lip between her teeth. “I could simply tell him I’m interested, but honesty tends to scare men off.”

Kate looked as if she was trying very hard not to laugh. “I agree. Coming out and telling him he’s at the top of your husband list might be a trifle disconcerting.”

Mitzi shot her friend a glance. “I wish there was a party coming up. A reason to bring us together without being obvious.”

“How about book club?”

Mitzi had attended the monthly book club in the past when she’d had nothing better to do or was in the mood for gourmet food. It was a given that Lexi Delacourt would supply the entrée consumed prior to the discussion. In addition to being a fine social worker, Lexi was a gourmet cook. Though husbands often showed up with their wives, it wasn’t really a party.

“The book club is all women,” Mitzi said pointedly. “Winn is a guy.”

“During the book club meeting—which happens to be at our house this month—Joel plans to get the guys together for a pickup game of baseball.”

A slow smile spread across Mitzi’s face. “He could invite Winn.”

“He could.” Kate handed the waiter her credit card. “I’m sure your Mr. Ferris would attend. Especially considering that many of those who’d be there are the movers and shakers in Jackson Hole, including our new mayor, Tripp Randall.”

“Yeah, he’d come.” Mitzi brought a finger to her lip. “Unless he has other plans.”

“You’ll know one way or the other,” Kate spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. “But you might want to come anyway. Lexi is bringing her fabulous Southern-style fried chicken and we’ll be discussing Catcher in the Rye, so it should be an enjoyable evening.”

“It’s next Tuesday, right?” Mitzi scrolled through the calendar in her head.

“Seven o’clock,” Kate confirmed.

“I’ll be there,” Mitzi promised.

This would be a perfect chance to spend some quality time with Winn, perhaps charm him a little. Mitzi wondered why she didn’t feel more excited at the prospect.

* * *

The second Keenan stepped into the lobby of the Red Sands Hotel, he wondered what madness had prompted him to come. The monthly Jackson After-Hours events gave young professionals in the Jackson Hole area the opportunity to mingle and network.

As Keenan wasn’t a professional and at thirty-four didn’t feel particularly young, it didn’t seem like an event for him. But Gabe and Joel made the event sound mandatory.

Apparently a lot of the growth Stone Craft Builders had experienced could be traced to contacts made at such events. In Keenan’s mind, the only upside was that the complimentary hot hors d’oeuvres would save him from buying or making dinner.

In deference to the event, he’d taken off a half hour early to shower, pull on a pair of khakis and a green polo with the company logo.

When he arrived, the private dining room adjacent to the bar already teemed with people. He recognized many of them, including his brother-in-law.

After getting a glass of club soda from one of the bars, Keenan forced himself to mingle. As he walked through the crowd, he heard a shriek and found himself wrapped in a bear hug.

“Someone told me you were back.”

Keenan had a momentary glimpse of bright copper hair tipped with fuchsia and dancing blue eyes framed in purple glasses studded with rhinestones. The girl had blossomed into a woman, but he’d have known that smile anywhere.