“... so Lexi passed the medical tests with flying colors and they began to plan the wedding. Of course there had to be a bachelor party for Ian, and Maggie was one of the dancers - ”
“Not Maggie!”
Kane chuckled. “Yes, Maggie. The girl originally scheduled to dance broke her leg and Maggie’s friend talked her into it. Then Maggie had a little accident that put her right in line with Michael...”
By the time Kane finished the third tale, Rebecca was hanging on every word. “And what about Sean and Nicki?” And so Kane proceeded to tell her of the sad and heartrending circumstances that had brought the two of them together.
Kane couldn’t remember when he’d ever talked so much. If he added up every conversation he’d had over the last ten years it still wouldn’t amount to the amount he’d spoken to Rebecca that night.
“Well, I can certainly see what you mean. Tell me, Kane, do you think there is someone destined for each of us? Dare we hope for a perfect mate?”
For as much as he had spoken, he suddenly couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He knew what he was thinking - that he had a pretty good idea of who his perfect mate would be - but there was no way he was going to spew that little revelation, not when she was so warm and close, looking at him with those big brown eyes, smelling like chocolate and liquor and warm, fragrant woman. He’d have to shoot himself afterwards, and he really didn’t want her to have to clean up the mess.
So he went with his ace answer: “I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” she said so softly he barely heard her. “Me, neither.”
She pushed away the quilt and stood up, taking her mug to the sink and rinsing it out. When she returned, much to his disappointment, she went back to sitting in the chair by the hearth.
––––––––
She hadn’t turned a page in ages. Kane watched her from beneath half-lidded eyes. God, he could look at her forever and never tire of it. Rebecca was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. With her big brown eyes, honey blonde hair, and perpetual look of calm and serenity she was a soothing balm to his very soul. And her beauty was so much more than skin deep. She was also the most thoughtful, gentle, kind, compassionate woman he’d ever met. For a jaded man like him, her heart was the most incredible thing about her.
“What are you thinking?” he asked finally. The need to know what could capture her attention so fully had been building for quite some time. What was it that could put such a look of reluctant longing on that lovely face?
Without turning away from the flames, she spoke. “Aidan thought you were bringing me up here to seduce me.” Her lips curved into a gentle smile.
Kane couldn’t think of a single reasonable response to that statement. He certainly wasn’t about to admit that the thought had crossed his mind so often that it never really quite left him anymore, tucked away and kept tightly under lock and key where it would not hurt her.
Had she noticed the near constant erection he had in her presence, the one he had tried to conceal with his consistently untucked flannel shirt? Christ, he’d never had any trouble with his self-control, yet here he was, thirty-six years old, reacting to her like she was his first naked centerfold. Except he was way past puberty and she was about as far away from naked as she could get, tucked under nearly half a dozen layers of flannel and fluff. It was downright embarrassing.
As much as he might want her, though, it didn’t matter. Rebecca was not the sort of woman he could seduce once. She was a forever woman, and forever was something he couldn’t give her. So he remained quiet, letting the crackle of the fire fill the space now saturated with her presence.
*
If only Aidan could see her now, she mused. Tucked beneath a blanket, snuggled into an oversized chair by the fire with a book, it was about as far away from planned seduction as it could get. The hot chocolate had left her pleasantly warm and sedate. She was sure Kane added something to it, but she wasn’t complaining. She felt completely relaxed, and she was certain Kane would never allow anything bad to happen to her.
His lack of response to her last statement didn’t bother her at all. There was no good reply, she realized, the statement being akin to the infamous question ‘does this outfit make me look fat?’. If he admitted to wanting to seduce her, it could make their current situation awkward. If he denied Aidan’s accusation, then he ran the risk of insulting her or hurting her feelings. The issue of whether or not she wanted to be seduced was totally irrelevant. Kane was nothing if not an extremely intelligent man, and would not allow himself to fall into such a trap, however unwittingly set.
So Rebecca decided to go a different route. “What is it like?” she asked in that quiet, curious way of hers.
“What is what like?”
“Being with someone.” At his puzzled expression, she added carefully, “Intimately, I mean. Sex.”