It was brilliant, really. By the time they figured out that Kane didn’t really feel that way about her she would probably be gone anyway.
Still, she couldn’t bear the look Aidan was giving her. Like she had just told him she was joining a cult of hedonists. She almost giggled at the thought, but managed to suppress the urge. She couldn’t lie to her brother, even if it would make her life easier.
“It’s not what you think, Aidan. Kane is a good friend. He is just trying to protect me.”
“You are spending a couple of days in the mountains alone with a Callaghan,” Aidan said, emphasizing the surname as if it was a curse. “What am I supposed to think?”
She may have only been in Pine Ridge for a few short months, but it had been long enough to realize that the Callaghans were notorious for their effect on women. It was impossible to spend any time with them and not notice the looks they got, or hear the whispered stories, most of which qualified more as legends, really. She knew her brother was no different, sought out by the ladies just as much as they were. Still she felt the need to defend her hero.
“Kane’s not like that.”
“He has a dick, doesn’t he?”
“Aidan!”
“What?!?”
Rebecca turned six shades of red as she thought about the few unintentional glances she’d had of Kane’s nether regions, the same ones that had undoubtedly been fueling those hot, erotic dreams that plagued her.
“I refuse to have this conversation with you.”
Aidan exhaled forcefully, trying to calm down. “Becca, please. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to set you up like that. But running off with Kane is – well, it’s just ...”
“Just what?” Rebecca asked, tugging on a sweater.
Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and stood resolutely. “Foolish.”
Rebecca took a deep breath, searching for patience. “You’ve been trying to get me to go to one of those health spas for weeks, Aidan. A few days to get away from the shelter and rejuvenate. How is this so different?”
“Because this involves Kane Callaghan. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Becca.”
“Oh? And how is that?”
“Like you are a steak and he is a hungry lion.”
Rebecca laughed. “You’re insane. He’s never been anything but a perfect gentleman.” Unfortunately, she added silently.
“It’s all part of his plan, Becca. He knows you are too smart to fall for all the normal bullshit. He’s luring you in, little by little. Gaining your trust. Then when you’re all complacent he’ll move in and take advantage of you.”
Rebecca rarely lost her temper, but hearing Aidan talk about Kane that way was really beginning to piss her off. “I love you, Aidan. I really do. But you don’t know the first thing about him. Or me.”
“You’re my sister!”
“Yes, I am. Your older sister, I might add. And still, Kane knows more about me than you do.”
Her words hit their mark. Aidan winced, but he wasn’t ready to let go just yet. “What do you think is going to happen up there, Becca?”
“I don’t know. But whatever it is, I’ll know it’s because it’s meant to happen, and not because you or anyone else manipulated the strings to make it so.”
Aidan’s lips tightened into a thin line. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rebecca zipped up her carry-on and walked to the door. “It means, Aidan, that I am a big girl, and you can’t use your money or your influence to live my life for me.”
––––––––
“Are you sure about this?” Rebecca asked when Kane slid into the driver’s seat, pointedly ignoring Aidan’s glare from his front door. Her bag was tucked safely in the back, along with Kane’s. His response was to flick a sideways glance her way.
“I know, you wouldn’t have offered if you didn’t mean it,” she said, speaking the words she’d seen in his expression as her mind subconsciously translated. She was definitely getting better at reading him, hearing his voice in her head, knowing exactly what he would say had he actually bothered to open his mouth and speak. “And I really appreciate the save. I just don’t want to make you .... uncomfortable.”
This time she received a raised eyebrow along with the flickering glance. She had more difficulty translating this one. It was either ‘you are truly amusing’ or ‘what exactly did you have in mind?’
“You could drop me off at a hotel along the way, and pick me up on your way back.”
“Wouldn’t that be tantamount to lying?” he asked with a quirk of his lips. “I thought you were above all that.”
So it was amusement. “Yes, but not if it makes things difficult for you.” For us.
“Rebecca.” He spoke her name in his low, husky voice, the one that had her pressing her thighs together. “I really don’t care what anyone thinks, and I don’t have a problem with taking you up to my cabin for a few days. However, if you have a problem with it, if you wish to rescind your acceptance of my invitation, you should tell me now. Do you?”
“No,” she answered truthfully.