Authors: Abbie Zanders
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Taryn vaguely, and Kane felt her eyes on him again. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Now, who’s got some ideas?”
* * *
K
ane listened to their progress reports over the next few Sundays. He was already privy to some of it, as Rebecca had confided a few little tidbits the few times they had ‘conveniently’ crossed paths, but his sisters-in-law were usually far more graphic and detailed in their recollections than Rebecca.
Lexi had suggested a spa day, with mixed results. Rebecca had been somewhat surprised by their invitation to join them, but with Aidan’s not-so-subtle nudging she accepted easily enough. It had started off well. At the salon, Rebecca consented to a cut and style, and was quite pleased with the soft, easy layers the stylist had created for her, and even allowed a few shimmering highlights (of which Kane heartily approved). She was not quite as thrilled with an attempted makeover, but she did love the facial. She passed on the body wraps, politely declined the massage below the shoulders, and flatly refused some of the other, more personal services offered. (The last, when relayed expressively by Taryn, and which included a re-enactment of Rebecca suggesting a more appropriate use for the orangewood stick and container of hot wax, had Kane nearly convulsing with suppressed laughter – so much so that he had to fake a coughing fit to cover it up. Given Taryn’s subsequent smirk, she hadn’t been fooled for a moment.)
Nicki’s plan had included lunch and a shopping trip into the city. They spent the day visiting high-end department stores and boutiques. They patted themselves on the back when Rebecca seemed to open up a little and even bought a few items. But on the ride home, when Nicki questioned Rebecca’s lack of bags, Rebecca admitted giving the items to a homeless woman they’d passed on the way back to the parking authority. The remainder of the trip was relatively quiet after that.
Taryn thought that perhaps more drastic measures were called for. The woman had spent the best part of twelve years among nuns, after all. She planned a covert operation to an all-male review at one of the Pocono Resorts. Kane was especially interested in hearing about this one, and he was not disappointed. Apparently, after calmly watching nearly naked men gyrate and dance for several hours, Rebecca turned to them and said, “They’re nice, but honestly, what you’ve got in Pine Ridge is so much better.” Kane grinned at that.
Maggie, bless her soul, was a bit more realistic, suggesting some sort of family get together, but the others thought that idea might actually backfire and make Rebecca feel like even more of an outsider.
Kane pretended to watch the game while listening to some of their ideas for the next venture. After a while, he couldn’t stand it any longer and gave up all pretense of not paying attention. They were so intent on their planning, they didn’t even notice when he leaned against the doorway and watched them in action. Or, more likely, they were ignoring him.
He sighed. Men were so much easier to intimidate.
He shook his head silently each time they spoke. Each idea was crazier than the last. Zumba classes down at BodyWorks. Kayaking. The Cirque du Soleil show in town for the weekend. A road trip over to Birch Falls to check out Tiny’s tattoo shop. Maybe those things would have worked for some people, but Rebecca wasn’t into any of that. Couldn’t they see that?
The final straw came when Taryn suggested a blind date. Lexi’s face lit up as she rattled off the names of a few eligible men at the restaurant. Maggie nodded excitedly, adding a few names of her own. Nicki got a devilish glint in her eye when she proclaimed she had just the sexy biker in mind.
Kane snorted, setting his beer down on the counter.
Hard
. Which immediately earned him the glare of four sets of devious female eyes. Had he been a lesser man, he might have balked.
“She doesn’t want any of that crap. She’s just humoring you. She spent the past twelve years caring for starving people in India and Africa, watching babies die because there’s no medical care, and you think she gives a shit about fancy clothes or shows?”
He was met with utter, absolute silence.
Finally it was Taryn who spoke. “Do you have a better idea?”
Kane grunted and grabbed his jacket. Hell yes he did.
K
ane drove up to the shelter and parked out front. It took him several minutes to find her, poking his head into the kitchen, dining, and game areas before he finally located her in the basement, struggling with a temperamental water heater. Judging by the mutterings and her white-knuckled death grip on the wrench, he guessed things were not going well.
“Need some help?”
Rebecca turned around and he could not help the grin the tugged at his lips. Her hair was a mess, her face was smudged with dirt and plumber’s grease, but her eyes shimmered in the dim light, and her genuine smile at seeing him lit up the whole room.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m not proud. It’s this one fitting here, I think. I just can’t get it tight enough.”
Kane crouched down, ignoring the close proximity and the scent of Dove it brought with it, and took a look while she held the flashlight over his shoulder. With one or two twists he had the matter resolved.
“Thanks,” she said, regarding his muscular arms with a blatant appreciation that had him fighting the urge to preen and flex. “I’ve been working on that for an hour.”
“You missed your calling,” he said easily. “You’d make one hell of a plumber. If you’d had a longer wrench with better leverage, you would have nailed it.”
Rebecca grinned at the praise, then suddenly seemed to realize how she must look. She attempted to brush some of the dirt and cobwebs off of her, but only resulted in smudging herself more. Kane couldn’t completely withhold his smile.
Eventually she admitted defeat with a heavy sigh and led the way back up the steps. He didn’t know why she seemed so worried about her appearance. He’d already seen her in the jungle, covered in blood and gore and more than a little perspiration. Not to mention their encounter the night of the flood evacuation. And in both of those situations, she was still quite possibly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. So what were a few cobwebs and grease marks?
Kane followed behind her. He decided then and there that being behind Rebecca on a flight of steps was a very nice place to be, indeed. Too bad they were only going up one floor. He briefly considered dropping the wrench over the side to prompt an encore, but thought it might be too obvious. Rebecca was intelligent enough to see right through such a lame attempt to ogle her backside.
In his defense, it was a hell of a nice backside – nicely curved, just the right size for his large palms.
Emerging into the kitchen, Rebecca made a beeline for the sink. “So,” she said, breaking into his reverie, “to what do I owe the pleasure of your company today? Dropping off more supplies?”
It was a valid question. Hardly a day went by when Kane wasn’t delivering something to the shelter. Sometimes food. Sometimes equipment. It didn’t matter. That wasn’t the primary reason he wound up here every day.
She glanced back, and he was forced to move his gaze from the swell of her hips upward lest he be caught gawking.
“No,” he said. “Actually, I’m here on more of a rescue mission.”
She raised her eyebrows, leaning against the sink as she rubbed at the grease between her fingers vigorously. “Sounds intriguing. Someone I know?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. See, I was just over at the Pub, and I overheard these nefarious female types plotting their next move.”
Rebecca laughed, though he didn’t miss the fleeting expression of dread crossing her face. “What is it this week? Wait – don’t tell me – belly dancing? Speed dating? Self-defense classes?”
At least she had a sense of humor about it, although the self-defense classes seemed like a good idea. Kieran held them every week down at BodyWorks, all ages, all levels. Kane would feel a lot better if Rebecca took a few, even if she just learned the basics. Maybe he’d plant a suggestion somewhere.
Or better yet, maybe he could show her himself. Yeah, that would be nice. The two of them alone, him teaching her a hundred different ways to neutralize an attack. It would require a lot of physical contact, and would offer the perfect excuse for her to touch him beyond the innocent brushes and sly little nudges.
“You’re not far off, actually. There’s a Zumba class down at BodyWorks this afternoon, and when I left they were compiling a list of eligible males between the ages of twenty-five and forty on your behalf.”
“Oh my.” Rebecca hung the towel on the oven door and leaned back against the counter. Kane forced himself not to think about how the pose emphasized her breasts, or how it bared the delicate skin of her neck as she tilted her head to look up at him. Instead, he picked up the damp towel and rubbed gently at the smudge on her forehead, ignoring the saucer-sized golden brown eyes that regarded him as he did so.
“My thoughts exactly.” Satisfied that the smudge had been duly eliminated, he placed the towel on the counter and stepped back.
Rebecca abandoned the counter, grabbing two Cokes from the fridge and offering one to him. “So. What’s the plan? Should I grab some snacks and lock myself in the basement, pretend I’m not here?”
His eyes glistened with amusement. “That’s one option. But I think they’ll find you. They’re quite resourceful, you know. Plus they can sense fear.”
“Hmm. That would be bad.”
“Very bad,” he agreed, closing the space between them a little. It was only a step or two, but even that was enough to send his body temperature rising several degrees.
“Well, I defer to your obvious tactical expertise. What do you suggest?”
Kane smiled. She was teasing him, he knew, but it was with done with such affection that it was easy to mistake it for flirting. Flirting annoyed the crap out of him. Except when Rebecca did it. If that’s what she was doing.
“I was thinking that it might be better to actually leave the premises for a while. You know, throw them off the trail.”
“An excellent suggestion, but where would I go?” Her brows creased in thought. “The only other place I can think of would be Aidan’s, and that’s the first place they’d look.”
“Ah, see, that’s the beauty of my plan. Not even you will know where you are.”
She laughed. “Sounds good. Will you be there too?”
He hesitated only a millisecond, though he hadn’t decided until just then for sure. “Yes.”
“Then how can I resist?”
Kane tried to ignore the flurry of sparks igniting in his chest while Rebecca went to clean up and change.
* * *
“D
o you like to read?” he asked, pulling up into a parking space in the downtown public square.
“Yes, I love to read.” With his hand at her back (did he even realize what he was doing, she wondered?), he guided her into the bookstore. “Take your time. Pick out a good book, whatever you like. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“That information,” he said as he leaned in close, with a rare but dazzling smile, “is provided only on a strictly need-to-know basis, and as of this moment, you do not need to know.”
Kane’s breath, warm and moist and carrying the decadent scent of Tootsie rolls, caressed her cheek. A little thrill rose the length of her spine and she grinned back at him. Honestly, she didn’t know why everyone seemed so wary of him. He was one of the kindest men she’d ever met. Not to mention the sexiest.
Oblivious to the gawks of the other female patrons, Kane left Rebecca to explore the books and novels. Like a kid in a candy store, she agonized over the possible choices, wondering exactly what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to pick out a book for him? No, she thought, he had said to select something
she
wanted.
But what to choose? There were so many things she wanted to read. Books had become treasures to her. When she was lucky enough to get her hands on one she would read it over and over again until she could picture each page by heart. To buy a new book – anything she wanted – well, it was just about the most thoughtful gift anyone could have given her. Somehow, Kane had known that.
By the time he returned, she had made her selection.
He looked at her choice skeptically. “This is what you want?” Rebecca looked self-consciously down at the book in her hand, the first in a well-publicized paranormal romance series.
“I’ve heard so much about this. I was rather curious, I guess. But maybe it’s too young for me...” She made a move to put it back and select something else, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.
“No,” he said. “Get this one.” She felt the touch clear down to her toes. Usually it was she who initiated the contact; she was more than a little annoyed by her incessant need to do so whenever they were together, but thankfully, Kane didn’t seem to object if it was done with subtlety. To have him touch her – even one that was little more than incidental – sent an intense wave of satisfaction through her.
Paying for the selection, he led her back out to his truck. She tried peering into the back to see what he had there, but Kane would not allow it.
“No peeking,” he chastised, earning him yet another smile. She was intrigued. She kept telling herself not to make too much out of it. They were friends, that’s all.
They left the town behind. Rebecca sat quietly in the front, watching the homes grow fewer and farther between as her anticipation grew. When Kane pulled off the paved road and switched to four-wheel drive, she became downright excited.
“Come on,” Kane said, opening her door and offering her his hand. Glad for the opportunity to put her hand in his, she leapt gracefully out of the truck and looked around. She saw trees. And more trees. Interspersed between them were huge, monster sized bushes with broad, dark green shiny leaves. The autumn sun filtered down on the first-shed leaves of the season. A soft, warm breeze carried the scent of sweet pine and damp earth. If she listened carefully, she could hear the sound of running water.