Chapter eight
Lenny busied herself getting the pie out of the oven and placing it on a cooling rack while she got cream and ice-cream out for whoever wanted it. She noticed a slight tremor in her hands and took a moment to calm herself down before she went back into the dining room. Sure as hell Kevin would notice her shaking if she got too near him. Thinking about him only made the tremors worse and she ended up sitting down and covering her face with her hands, trying to think of how to behave when she walked back in there. It was fairly new territory for her and she was at a loss. But she couldn't sit in the kitchen for the rest of the evening, she thought, shaking herself out of it and standing up again. A coward never got anywhere.
A few seconds later she was standing outside the dining room, taking a deep breath before she pushed into the room holding a tray in her hands with dessert on it.
She tried not to make eye contact with Kevin, but she could almost feel the pull of his gaze and eventually she couldn't resist lifting her eyes. The impact of that heated stare made the tray tilt precariously in her hands and if he hadn't stood up and grabbed her hands it would have tipped all over him. But the contact gave her yet another problem as the heat from his big hands transmitted itself through her skin and made her shiver, something he couldn't possibly miss. A slightly wicked smile tilted his lips and he studied her expression thoughtfully.
"Here, I'll take that," he offered, his voice deep and altogether too sexy for her liking. It made her shiver again and her mouth go dry and she wondered what was happening to her. She hated Kevin Nash, she had always hated him, and he hated her too. So why was he having such a devastating effect on her?
She let go of the tray as he lifted it's weight from her and placed it on the table, leaving her to seat herself as he automatically started serving the pie and ice cream. "You don't have to do that," she said when she recovered her voice.
"I know, but I want to. Don't worry," he said, shooting her a look full of amusement, "I'm quite domesticated, I won't spill any."
She blushed under his intent stare and he found himself transfixed by how pretty she looked with such colour in her face, only managing to transfer his attention back to the task in hand when Sam cleared his throat quite loudly, smiling at the way Kevin was staring at Lenny. He finished serving them all and then sat down, tucking into his own dessert with apparent gusto and not looking at Lenny again until he had finished. When he did he noticed that she wasn't really eating hers, just nibbling half-heartedly at small bits of it.
"That was delicious," he said softly, making her look at him. "I didn't know you could cook like that."
"She doesn't do it very often, that's why," Sam put in, finishing his own dessert and pushing the bowl away from him.
"Why not?" Kevin asked her, his gaze steady as she looked at him warily.
"I'm usually busy...and Rachel likes cooking," she said, giving a shrug of her small shoulders.
"I don't mind you doing the cooking, you know that," the other woman said with a smile, she was well aware she hogged the kitchen on a regular basis.
"I certainly wouldn't mind you cooking that again," Kevin said, resting his big arms on the table and still staring at her. "Something wrong with yours?"
She looked at her own food and saw that it was virtually untouched. "No, I guess...I'm not really hungry."
"Really? Well, you should be, you hardly ate any dinner," he said, frowning as he looked her body over in the pretty sun dress. "You could do with putting some weight on, not losing any."
Lenny swung her head to look at him, surprised that he was looking at her body. It made her feel incredibly self-conscious and she blushed even more. "I don't need to put weight on," she said, shifting in her chair and looking away from him with a frown. "Anyway, it's none of your business what I do or don't eat," she added sullenly.
Kevin's eyebrows arched up at the sudden spark of anger and he found himself smiling. "I'm a guest here, that makes it my business."
"You're not my guest," she mumbled, still confused by her wayward emotions and grasping anything that felt solid. Anger felt pretty solid right now.
"You live here, don't you? That makes me your guest," he said, narrowing his eyes in amusement as he studied her, knowing exactly how to get her to look at him. "I think perhaps you should be more polite to me, under the circumstances."
Sure enough, Lenny's eyes widened and shot to his. "Polite? You want me to be polite? I've been nothing but polite to you all evening, and I didn't even want you here!"
"Lenny!" Sam said admonishingly, trying to hide his smile. "Apologise to our guest."
"I will not!" she gasped, staring at her brother now in amazement.
"Yeah, apologise. That was rude," Kevin said, folding his arms in front of him and grinning, enjoying her discomfort.
Lenny gaped at him. This wasn't the Kevin Nash she knew and loathed. This was someone else entirely. Normally he would have tried grabbing her so he could dole out some sort of punishment, but now he seemed to find it all funny. Well, she wasn't laughing. "I am not apologising to you, I'd rather chew nails!"
Kevin narrowed his eyes menacingly, still amused. "That could easily be arranged you know," he said, his voice low and gravelly, a total copy of his Big Sexy voice.
She looked at him in confusion and then at her brother. Seeing no support there and feeling like a butterfly on a pin, she pushed back from the table and stood up. "I'll start washing up," she mumbled, grabbing a couple of dishes and leaving the room in a hurry. The sound of Kevin's laughter floated to her and she had to grit her teeth to stop herself from shouting something rude back at him. The way he was behaving was puzzling. At least for the last few days anyway. She put her dishes in the sink and started running hot water, her eyes taking on a faraway look. He kept kissing her, and she didn't understand why. Certainly she wasn't anything special to look at, and she knew he must have hundreds of gorgeous women throwing themselves at him all the time. So why her? Maybe it was just because she managed to push his buttons and he didn't know how else to get rid of his frustration, he probably didn't even enjoy it. The annoying thing was that she couldn't say the same. She had really enjoyed it, all three times. But it couldn't happen again, she thought with a slight shake of her head, her hands starting to automatically deal with the dirty dishes. Kevin didn't like her, and she certainly didn't like him. He was horrible, he was a pig, he was always nasty to her, he always said bad things and she knew better than to get close to him. Only now she knew what sort of things could happen when she did get close to him, and it was going to make it hard to stay away. No wonder they called him Big Sexy, she thought, with a sigh.
********
Kevin sat looking vacantly out of the window while he debated whether or not to go after Lenny again. It was completely obvious to him what she was trying to do with her waspish words. She wanted to put them back on more familiar footing, when they hated each other. But he didn't know if that was possible, because he had other feelings running through him when he looked at her now, and hate wasn't one of them. Irritation, sure, but not hate. He looked back across the table as Sam spoke.
"So, want to tell me what's going on with you lately?"
Kevin sighed and a mischievous gleam entered his eyes. "Sure, why not? Well, let me see, I've been back in the WWE for a few months now, and my fan base is growing again. Vince wants me to be a heel again, and I don't have a problem with that really. Hmm, what else?" he said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"Ah, shut the hell up! You know good and well what I meant!" Sam said, laughing.
"You wouldn't have been referring to me and your sister, would you?" Kevin asked him, cocking his head to one side.
"Well...duh!" Sam said, raising his eyebrows. "Come on, tell me why you've suddenly changed from going for her throat to going for her mouth," he said dryly.
The bigger man shrugged, his eyes unconsciously straying to the door. "I really couldn't tell you. For some reason I can't resist her whenever she's within reach, and that's pretty new. She's always been a damn pest, and I've always thought no sane man would ever risk dating her. You know how badly she winds me up," he said to Sam, nodding.
"Yeah, I do."
Rachel looked at them and shook her head. "Enough, you two. She'll probably be back in a second and you wouldn't want her to hear you discussing her, would you?"
"No, I guess not," Sam said, smiling at his wife and quickly changing the topic of conversation, should Lenny come back.
But it was too late. She had been standing outside the door with a tray of coffee and she had only caught the last few words Kevin had said, but it was enough. So he thought she was undatable? That she was so awful she couldn't get a boyfriend. Normally it would have angered her, but this time it upset her instead, and she had to use every ounce of self control she had not to let it show on her face as she walked back into the room. She didn't raise her eyes when Kevin stood up and took the tray from her this time, and she managed not to look at him at all for the remainder of the evening. When Sam suggested that they go into the sitting room and watch some TV, she excused herself and went for a walk out in the fields, needing the fresh night air.
One of the hands, Jack Penn, saw her wandering past the bunkhouse and decided to go and talk to her. He had been trying to get a date with her for months now, but her brother had warned her off him, knowing he was bad news with women. But he kept trying, and tonight he felt that his luck might just be in.
Had it been another night, when she hadn't been upset and smarting at the words she had overheard, she would have said no. But when Jack sauntered up and again asked her if he could take her out to dinner, her pride rose up and she said yes. Someone was interested in dating her, and that would show Mr Nash that she wasn't so revolting. She didn't think of how her actions might be taken, but she allowed Jack to walk with her and smiled at him as she put up a false front. But to Jack it looked like she really liked him, and that she was hot for whatever he wanted to do. He quickly arranged their date for the following week, his eyes running down her figure possessively as he anticipated what he would do to her when he finally had her away from her brother.
When Lenny returned to the house, she was surprised to see Kevin still there, sitting in one of the big overstuffed armchairs as if he belonged there, and she gave him a brief glare as she sat down on the sofa near Rachel.
"Where have you been?" Rachel asked her, her hands absently stroking her stomach as she wiggled about trying to get comfortable.
"I went for a walk," she said quietly, glancing up once at the big man and then looking away again. "Jack joined me and we're going out on a date next week," she blurted out, feeling herself blush as all eyes looked at her.
"Jack? Jack Penn?" Sam asked sharply, frowning.
"Yes," Lenny said, lifting her chin defiantly, because she knew what her brother thought of the man. "He's nice."
"He's untrustworthy is what he is," Sam said, sitting up straighter and shaking his head. "I thought you knew that. Why the hell accept a date with him?"
"He asked," she mumbled, well aware that Kevin was glaring at her with an odd expression on his face.
"He's been asking for months, but you've never said yes before. I don't want you going," her brother said.
"I can go out with whoever I want," Lenny said, staring at him with disbelief. "If you had your way I'd never meet anyone, and I'd certainly never get married!"
"Please tell me you're not thinking of getting serious with that man!" Sam said, his voice getting louder.
"If I am it's nobody's business but my own! I'm going out with him, and you can't stop me!" she said, jumping up off the sofa and leaving the room before the argument could get any worse.
Sam sat staring at the door and he knew without a doubt that Lenny had overheard what Kevin said. Judging by her reaction she had only heard the worst part though, because he was sure she would never willingly go out with Jack Penn otherwise. He sighed and slumped back in his seat.
"Is this guy dangerous?" Kevin asked, frowning.
"I'm not sure...but I heard some rumours a while back that I didn't like, involving him and a young girl. I don't want him to hurt Charlene."
"You think he could hurt her?" the bigger man asked, the frown getting worse. "Maybe I should go and have a small talk with him before their date, let him know what's what."
Sam looked at him in surprise. "Why would you want to do that?"
"Because you just said she could get hurt! No-one's going to hurt Lenny!" he said before he really thought about his words.
"Really? That sounds mighty possessive," Sam murmured, his eyes twinkling with mirth at Kevin's discomfort.
"It's not possessive, it's just...it's how I'd be with anyone," he muttered, defending himself. Sam showed no sign of being less amused and Kevin scowled. "I'll follow them and keep an eye on her for you."
"For me? Did I ask you to do that?" Sam asked him, raising his eyebrows.
Kevin tightened his lips and then stood up. "I'd better get going," he said, ignoring Sam's question entirely. "I'll come by sometime this weekend. Thank you for dinner and tell Lenny I said thanks as well, will you?"
Sam stood up and followed his friend out to the front porch. "I'll tell her. And Kev? I really would appreciate it if you kept an eye on her. I can't leave Rachel alone right now, not with her due date being only a few weeks away, and I want to make sure Charlene's safe, so thanks."
"It's no problem. Like I said, I wouldn't want to see her get hurt by some asshole like this Jack person," Kevin said, shrugging nonchalantly even though he was gritting his teeth. He didn't like the idea of Lenny going out with anyone, let alone someone who might be dangerous. Hell, he thought, all men were dangerous given enough provocation, but he didn't think Lenny was like that.
"You've never met him, so how do you know he's an asshole?"
"Because he asked Lenny on a date," Kevin grumbled, kicking at the dirt with his shoe. "And it should have been me doing that."
"Ah, the green-eyed monster rearing it's ugly head again. Well, well, who would have thought it?" Sam murmured, smiling at his friend.
Kevin looked up. "Ridiculous isn't it?"
"Yes, it really is," Sam said, tilting his head to one side and giving a calculating smile as he continued. "Especially when you consider that Lenny only accepted his offer because she must have overheard what you said earlier on. Anyway, that won't bother you, will it? See you later, buddy." He gave a grin and turned back into the house, not bothering to watch the big man walk away, his expression stunned.
Kevin thought about what Sam had said. So Lenny had heard what he said and immediately accepted a date with that other man, so she must have been hurt. But why would his words bother her if she didn't feel anything for him? He shook his head. All these feelings were new to him and he didn't know if he liked it. He felt as if he was becoming dependant on her and they weren't even dating. He stiffened his spine at that thought. They wouldn't ever be dating, he decided, because she was too young for him. Christ, what he was feeling was probably how old men felt about young girls when they got past a certain age, and other people looked on with amusement as the pervert chased the female in question. He was damned if he was going to be labelled a cradle snatcher, so he'd better learn to keep away from her. He would watch her for Sam, but that was far as it would go from now on. With that firmly in his mind, he went back to Mark's house and conveniently forgot about his own lack of self control.
