than anything.”
He nodded. “It’s so hedonistic. It’s about potential and luck and energy.” He leaned forward, looking her straight in the eye. “This may sound corny, but I like seeing people having fun.”
“You sound like you haven’t had much fun in your life.”
He’d been busy making money. “I’m working on that.” He was betting she could help him in that department.
She cupped her chin in her hand. “Having fun shouldn’t be work.”
He didn’t quite know how to respond. “When I started my first company, I had fun. I loved working with computers, I loved creating new software and seeing it fly out into the marketplace. The bigger my company grew, the less fun it became.”
She nodded. “So then what did you do?”
“I got out.” He’d sold his company for mucho millions and decided now was the time to have fun, only to have his father face cancer. “I devoted a lot of my life to my company and I needed to start devoting my life to me. What about you? Your grandmother is really proud of you and your brothers.”
“She’s thrilled we’re all back in the fold. If I didn’t know any better I’d think she’s been planning this for years.”
A shadow fell across them and Reed glanced up to Hendrix Beausolie with a plate in her hand. “Here.” She put the plate down midway between Reed and Kenzie and placed a smaller plate in front of Kenzie and another in front of Reed. “Try this.”
Hendrix had recently made headlines with her innovative approach to baking pastries. A glowing article in Reno Today magazine had brought her a new fan base. People flocked to the restaurant and diner just to have her brownies. Her recent engagement to Kenzie’s brother Donovan had made her a minor celebrity in the family.
“Why are you here so late at night?” Kenzie asked.
“The swing dance contest Donovan and I were going to was canceled, and I’ve been mulling this dessert over in my mind for days so I thought I’d try it while he’s working on his food orders for the week.” She shoved into the booth next to Kenzie. “Blueberry white chocolate cheesecake. Try some.” She slid a slice onto a small plate and pushed it at Kenzie. She filled a second for Reed and a third slice for herself.
Reed forked a bite into his mouth and let the dessert sit on his tongue for a moment. Hendrix was an amazing pastry chef. The subtle tastes of vanilla, white chocolate and blueberry were heavenly. He devoured the slice in less than a minute.
“Wow,” Kenzie said, admiration in her tone. “This is to die for.” She forked another bite into her mouth and chewed, a dazed look filling her eyes.
“Yeah.” Hendrix grinned. “Scott and Nina decided they didn’t want champagne cake for their wedding. So I decided to try this. What do you think?”
“I can’t give you an honest opinion until I eat another slice.” Kenzie grinned at Hendrix.
Hendrix laughed. “I figured you would.” She slid another slice onto Kenzie’s plate.
Reed tried to eat healthy, but was willing to overlook his health for the decadence of Hendrix’s dessert. He finished the second slice. “I approve.”
“You only approve,” Hendrix said.
“Right now, I really want to marry you.”
She held up her left hand and flashed a brilliant yellow diamond ring. “Taken.”
He laughed. “Multimillionaire.”
Hendrix tilted her head. “Money means nothing to me.”
“That’s why I’d marry a woman like you.”
“You get me in the next life.” She stood up and slid out of the booth.
“Fair enough.” He was so comfortable with this family. As an only child, he’d missed having siblings.
Hendrix waved as she headed back toward the kitchen.
“Are you okay?” Kenzie said quietly.
“I’m an only child and I always wanted to have brothers and sisters,” he said, a wistful tone in his voice.
“Until one of them decapitates your dolls.”
Reed stared at her, shocked. “Your brothers decapitated your dolls?”
“Scott always wanted to play soldier with his G.I. Joes and I wanted to play fashion Barbie. He found a bunch of old G.I. Joes somewhere and exchanged their heads for the Barbie heads and wouldn’t tell me where he hid them. He came close to losing his life over that.” She burst out laughing. “Though now I do think it was pretty funny. I can’t imagine being an only child,” Kenzie said.
“I always felt like I was on the outside looking in,” Reed confessed. “I wonder how my life would have been different if I’d had siblings.”
“You’d probably have Barbie heads on all your G.I. Joes. Having siblings means you never got the last biscuit because one brother would lick it to keep it for himself and no one would eat it after that.”
“I like your brothers. I don’t want to know which one did it.”
“All of them,” she said with a smile. Her face had gone dreamy with her memories. “Learning to share wasn’t a bad skill, but sometimes I wish I could have had just a little bit more time with Miss E. before someone came in with a scraped knee. Though I’ll admit, having siblings taught me that life wasn’t always about me.”
Whatever her memories were, they were happy memories because she kept right on grinning.
“Having your parents’ undivided attention has its drawbacks. Someone was always watching. I couldn’t get away with anything.”
“Your parents kept you honest.”
He narrowed his eyes and she squirmed. “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “Nothing big. I stole a pack of gum when I was seven or eight. And I was so consumed with guilt I put it back. I’ve never told anyone what I did.”
A woman with a bit of larceny in her soul—she was damn near perfect. “No one?”
“No one.” She pointed her fork at him. “And you’re going to keep it that way.”
He held up his hand in surrender, but he wondered what he could get to keep her secret. “I promise to keep your secret.”
She burst out laughing. “And you?”
Should he tell her? They were sharing. “Once upon a time, I thought I wanted to be an activist. I broke into the school computer when I was at MIT. For a student there, this was a rite of passage. I didn’t want to do any real damage, but I did change one grade where I was only getting a B+ and I know I deserved an A. So I gave myself an A.”
“That’s your worst!”
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