Chapter 8
It had been nearly two weeks since Erin had found the note thrust intrusively into her apartment. The message was a simple request, “Please call,” and a number that she recognized as a suburban Seattle telephone listing. She had tried to call Lee once, but was relieved when no one answered. Several other times she had been tempted to try and reach him once more, but before she had found the nerve to dial the number, she had changed her mind and left well enough alone. If he really needed her, she reasoned, he would get in touch with her again. A few times she had wadded up the note in an effort to throw it away, but she hadn’t. This morning the note was once again before her as she leaned against the kitchen counter, studiously stirring a bit of honey into her tea. It sat menacingly on the counter, inviting her to make a call that she knew would only bring her more heartache. Was she a coward? Why did she let him linger near her to remind her of the past and the pain.
She took an experimental sip of the warm amber liquid. As the hot tea slid down her throat, Erin thought about the past two weeks of her life. The days had gone fairly well. On the surface it seemed as if everything in the office was running efficiently, just as a well-oiled banking machine should. For the first time in months Erin had cleaned out her pending probate file along with a series of other nagging paperwork problems that had been building on the corner of her desk for several weeks. Her fear over gossip or rumors spreading concerning her relationship with Kane had been unfounded, other than the one unfortunate and vicious incident with Olivia. Kane proved himself to be a capable and fair employer, and outwardly Erin appeared to enjoy working for him. It had even been possible for her to work professionally with Kane by forcing her personal feelings for him into the background and never letting her emotions color her objectivity or judgment. It had been excruciatingly difficult at times not to reach out and touch him or smooth the worried look from his brow. But she had managed to look the part of a disinterested employee. At least she hoped so.
It was the nights that disturbed her, she realized now as she moved restlessly from the kitchen, taking the teacup and the crumpled note from Lee with her. Then, after carefully setting the teacup on the coffee table, she spread out the crushed piece of paper and smoothed its creases against the arm of the sofa. The seven digits of Lee’s home phone leaped out at her, and in a moment of sudden decisiveness, she shredded the note into tiny pieces and tossed them disgustedly away in the wastebasket, something she should have done two weeks ago!
Erin sunk into the soft rose-colored cushions of the couch and continued to reflect on the changes in her life. When she was alone with Kane, she felt a freedom and a rapture that were hard to describe, an enthusiasm and exhilaration that she thought had been lost with her teens. Just the light touch of his hand on her shoulder or his throaty whispered voice could send her spiraling into an emotional bliss that was both wonderful and frightening. Never had she given her heart so willingly or so easily. She knew that a part of Kane wanted to love her; she could feel it as they made love. But for some unknown reason, he wouldn’t let himself enjoy the pleasure of loving her. At first she had thought that the failure of his marriage had hardened him against a commitment to the future, but lately she had sensed that it was a more personal problem that made him withdraw. A problem somehow directly relating to her.
She shook her tangled curls and looked into the teacup as if she might find the answer to her dilemma in its amber-colored depths. Why the restlessness? Why did she feel like an aerialist carefully balancing her life on a flimsy tightrope and knowing that sometime, although she couldn’t be quite sure exactly when, the tense, frail wire would snap and send her catapulting downward into an empty black emotional abyss? The conflicting roles of daytime employee and nighttime lover were constantly at war in her mind.
Erin sighed deeply and ran her fingernails in deep grooves along the overstuffed arm of the antique sofa. There were times when she was alone with Kane that the stone wall of wariness in his eyes would weaken, and she would feel an exquisite happiness, the blush of love. But on other occasions, when she lay alone in her bed, listening as he drove off into the night, she discovered a sense of desperation and loneliness that caused feverish nightmares to disturb her sleep.
Why the torment? Where was the relationship leading them? Why couldn’t she come to grips with and accept the affair for what it was—a pleasant, sensuous experience? Why did she insist on coloring her feelings with love?
A key turned in the lock. Kane had returned. Erin could feel herself beginning to coil in tension. Nervously she waited for him to enter—just as he had every night for the past two weeks. But tonight would be different, she vowed to herself. Tonight she would insist upon answers. Why was there always a darkness in his eyes?
Kane entered the room and shut the door behind him. The stern look on his face only made Erin’s heart hammer more wildly. He was dressed casually in jeans and a tan pullover sweater. His chestnut hair was slightly messy as if he had forgotten about it over the last few hours. It was obvious that he had hurriedly stopped by his hotel before coming to see her. Unusual. The pattern of their life together had been established over the last two weeks, but this Friday night was obviously different to Kane as well as Erin. Even under the intensity of his gaze she reminded herself that she had to know, tonight, what it was that held him away from her.
“Pack your bags,” Kane commanded without even a smile as a greeting. She jumped at his abrupt command, and for a moment his arctic gray eyes collided with hers. She felt a chill of dread pass over her body. His mouth was a tight, grim line that was neither a smile nor a frown. The grooves across his forehead seemed deeper tonight, as if he, too, had been wrestling with a troublesome and weighty decision.
“Do what?” she asked incredulously. Surprise and indignation registered in the startled expression that crossed her face. She was still sitting on the couch with her legs curled up and tucked underneath her. She almost dropped her teacup at his abrasive command.
Kane ignored her question. Preoccupied, he paced distractedly in front of the couch, his fists balled deeply in the pockets of his jeans. As he passed in front of her, Erin couldn’t help but notice that his jeans, slung low in the waist, strained against his thighs and buttocks with each of his long strides. As he paced she was reminded of a caged animal, and she could almost visualize his tightly controlled muscles rippling beneath the fabric of his clothing. Forcefully she pulled her attention away from his virile male anatomy and tried to read the expression on his face.
“Didn’t you hear me?” he growled, and stopped his absent pacing. “I asked you to go and pack.”
“No, you didn’t,” she corrected, her eyes locking with his. “You ordered me to pack without so much as a greeting or explanation!”
Anger snapped in his eyes, but his reply was strangely soothing. The rage that was burning quietly within him was controlled. “You’re right,” he expelled in a long breath, “and I’m sorry. IcI’m a little distracted this evening,” he offered as an apology.
“I noticed!” she retorted, and then seeing the worried creases that pulled his thick dark brows together in concern, she amended her hot retort. “I guess it’s my turn to apologize,” she admitted wearily. “I didn’t mean to snap. I’ve been a little distracted myself.”
“Oh?”
“Nothing to be concerned about,” she averred with a wan smile, and wondered why she didn’t have the strength of character to lay her cards on the table and confront him with her unanswered questions about their relationship and the future. Instead she chose to sidestep the issue. “Now.” She smiled feebly, luminous lilac eyes looking pleadingly up at him. “What’s been bothering you?”
“Oh, God, Erin,” he moaned and let his forehead drop to his hand in a gesture of total defeat. He raked long tense fingers through the wheat-colored highlights of his burnished hair. How could he explain that he was only a hairbreadth away from confirming his suspicions about her? Could she imagine how close he was coming to finding all of the pieces of the puzzle that would tie her into the embezzling scandal? Although everything was still circumstantial, it was stacking together so neatly that it was actually beginning to scare Kane. Although no more money had been taken from the bank, the most damning piece of evidence that he had found so far—a discrepancy in the securities cart key registration—proved as well as anything that Erin had been lying to him. How long did she expect the charade to work? How could he help her and get her out of this mess? What could he do? It would all be so much easier if he just didn’t give a damn!
“Kane,” Erin said unsteadily, still sitting, looking both childlike and wise at the same moment. Oh, God, he thought, was she going to confess? Could he bear it? His muscles tensed, and he could feel the pressure as his jaws tightened together in a viselike grip. “Is there anything I can do?” she offered in a whisper.
Erin had noticed Kane stiffen at the sound of her voice, and she was aware that the wall between them was rigidly back in place, but she felt a strangling need to climb the invisible barrier and reach out to him. Why was he suffering so?
“There’s nothing you can do,” he stated flatly. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”
She twisted her fingers together. “Is it Krista?” she asked with a shaky breath.
His gray eyes smoldered with indecision. “That’s part of it,” he conceded, and hated himself for his duplicity. Dropping his body down on the couch next to her, he let his head fall backward as if it were too heavy to support. He sat staring ahead, with only inches separating him from her. Her senses were alive to him, her nerve endings stretched taut. Erin could feel the heat of his body, smell the inviting scent of his aftershave, see the darkening shadow of his beard. But he still didn’t touch her. His hands rubbed thoughtfully against his knees, and he looked straight ahead through the window into the late afternoon sky. “I talked with Krista again today,” he said in a voice that seemed remote.
“And?” Erin prodded, not knowing why she should be concerned with Kane’s reclusive daughter.
“She doesn’t want to move to Seattle,” he sighed, and drummed his fingers against his thigh. “Absolutely refuses!”
He turned his head to look in her direction and their eyes met in a chilly embrace. “I’m going to California next week to get her and move her up to Seattle with me.”
“And you’re worried about her and the adjustment,” Erin guessed.
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“That goes without saying. Iscthere anything I can do to make it easier on you?”
“Would you come to California with me?”
“To get Krista?” At Kane’s cursory nod, Erin expelled a long breath and shook her head firmly and negatively. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea. She’s going to have to adjust to a whole new city. I think you should be alone with her. She doesn’t need the intrusion of a virtual stranger.”
She could see in his eyes that she had convinced him and she continued, “But if there’s anything else that I can doc.”
“There is something,” he suggested, and for a moment the tension seemed to vanish.
“What?”
“Pack your bags for the weekend” was the brief reply, but the passion that had been lurking in his eyes came alive. His silvery eyes embraced hers, and he reached for her hand. His thumb drew slow, lazy circles on the inside of her wrist, and heat began to climb up her body. “Oh, Erin,” he breathed, and his lips found hers in a feverish kiss that seemed to pulsate with need and urgency. When he dragged his mouth away from the supple curve of her lips, he looked savagely into her eyes, asking questions that she couldn’t understand. Then a softness stole over his features as he took a handful of her hair in his palm and pressed her head against the protection of his chest. In a ragged breath he asked, “Do you know how hard it’s been for me, forcing myself to keep my hands off you at the office?” He growled deep in his throat. “There were times when I thought I would actually go insane, having you so close and not being able to touch youc.”
Her arms circled his waist, and she kissed the swell of his cheek. “I knowc”
“No, I don’t think that you can imagine what it’s like—seeing you every day and not being able to touch what is mine.”
“Yours? Possessive, aren’t you?” she quipped sarcastically.
“Absolutely!” His grip on her tightened, and when she tilted her face to meet his, the warmth of his lips captured hers in a passion that spread fire through her veins. With great difficulty she pulled her head away from his.
“What did you say about packing my bags?” she inquired, trying to ignore the warm intimacy of his breath as it tickled her face.
“You and I are getting away for the weekend,” he stated, and with apparent effort he released her from his tenacious embrace. “Hurry up,” he ordered. “We don’t have all day. I want to get moving before we run out of daylight!”
“Kane!” Erin said with mild irritation. “What are you talking about? Where are we going? Why do I need to pack?”
His smile twisted grimly and Erin saw the weariness and cynicism deep in his crystal gray eyes. “You and I are leaving this city, the bank—” his eyes swept the homey apartment “—this house, everything! We’re going to get lost in the wild for a couple of days!”
“The wild?”
“That’s right!” Half dragging her into the bedroom, he opened the closet, against her protests, and found her suitcase. “I’m tired of sneaking out of your bed in the middle of the night like somecgigolo!” He ignored Erin’s gasp of indignation and began opening her bureau drawers. She caught his reflection in the mirror and saw that a hard, tense mask had come over his angular features. He looked up, his gray eyes held hers and he said with disgust, “And I’m tired of not being able to touch you in the light of day!” His hands were pressed firmly on the dresser top, and he pinioned her with his gaze, cold and distant, in the looking glass. Tense fingers slowly rubbed the wooden surface of the dresser. “Damn it, woman!” His fist pounded against the cool wood. “I’m sick of hiding, and I won’t do it anymore! So, beginning tonight, we are not going to keep this affair in the dark, as if we’re ashamed of it! You and your paranoia over rumors can go to blazes!” He spit the words out as if they were a bad taste in his mouth. His anger was burning in the darkness of his gaze.
“Kane,” Erin implored. “Why are you so upset? Whatc”
“Look, Erin. We’ve played the game your way for nearly two weeks, and it’s tearing me apart!” His entire body tensed for a second before he took in a long steadying breath and controlled the note of rage that had entered his speech. In a softer voice he continued, “Let’s have an entire weekend alone together—what do you say?”
“I don’t understandc”
“Let’s go somewhere where we can walk in the sunlight together—where we can be seen kissingc.”
“Is this what’s been bothering you?” she asked, as she put a staying hand on his sleeve.
“Oh, Erin,” he sighed, holding her at arm’s length and letting his eyes search her face. “There are so many things that are bothering me,” he admitted, and a tortured look twisted his features.
“Can we talk about them?” she asked quietly.
“That’s exactly what I have in mind. But I thought a change of scenery might do us both some good.”
“You know that I can’t leave at the drop of a hat.”
“Why not?”
“My tenantscI’ve got an advertisement in the paper to rent the apartment downstairs.”
“The apartment on the first floor, across the hall from Milly?” he asked.
“That’s the one—how did you get on a first-name basis with Mrs. Cavenaugh?” Erin asked, a suspicious black eyebrow arching heavenward.
“That little old lady has excellent taste,” he laughed. “She likes me.”
“And she told you about the vacant apartment?” Erin guessed.
“That’s right,” he agreed with a smile that any Cheshire cat would envy.
“Then you understand why I have to stay herec”
“Don’t worry about the apartment,” he said dismissively. “I’ll rent it until I find a more permanent residence. Does it have two bedrooms?”
“Of course, but—”
“Then it will be perfect!” he exclaimed.
“Perfect? For what?”
“Krista and myself.”
“I don’t knowc”
His eyes grew dark. “It’s the perfect solution to our problem.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “I didn’t know that we had a problem,” she returned, and began to place her undergarments in the open suitcase on the bed. Was he actually going to tell her what had been bothering him, why he had been so wary of her?
He came up behind her and let his arms encircle her waist. His words fanned her hair and the sensitive skin at the back of her neck. He captured the black silk and entwined it in his fingers. Burying his face in her hair, he groaned. “The problem is that I want to be near youcalways!” The confession was a tortured, unwanted admission.
“What are you saying?” she asked, and a tightness constricted her breath.
“I want to live with you!”
Her voice was unsteady. “And what about Krista? What would she think about her father and his business associate living together? What kind of example would we set? No, Kanec” She shook her head sadly. “It wouldn’t work!”
“Lots of peoplec”
“I’m not ‘lots of people,’” she interrupted.
“So I noticed,” he agreed, and his hands slowly kneaded the softness of her abdomen. Warm curling sensations grew to life within her. Slowly he stopped his seductive movements. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m pushing you too quickly. Let’s forget the entire suggestion—for the time being. But, please come and spend the weekend with mec”
Pulling herself away from him, she planted a fist firmly against her hip and forced back a smile that flirted with her lips. “I’ll come with you—on one condition!”
Kane crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the dresser. The sweater strained across his shoulders. “Okay. I’m game. What’s the condition?”
“That for once you tell me where you plan on taking me!”
“Spoilsport!”
“Kane!”
“Where’s that girl who loves mystery and old movies?” he inquired, a twinkle coming to his eyes.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Not unless you think of some wildly erotic torture that will force me into submission.”
“Dreamer,” she shot back at him, before turning to pack.
* * *
The small motorboat churned through the cold gray waters of Puget Sound and out toward the Pacific Ocean. When Erin had stepped into the tiny vessel, she had guessed that Kane was taking her to San Juan Island, but he had preferred to keep the destination and his secret to himself. Now, as the frigid salt spray tickled her nose and clung to her hair, she was grateful that she had had the foresight to bring her down jacket with her. She drew the warm collar closer to her neck in an effort to keep the moisture-laden air off her skin.
By the time they reached Orcas Island the sun had set, and only a long orange glow remained along the horizon. Night was closing in, and the lights of Deer Harbor winked like silvery diamonds against the black island as the launch continued on its journey around the small piece of land.
Erin rubbed her hands together, and then pushed them deep into her pockets in an effort to warm herself. At that moment the rhythmic rumble of the small craft’s engine slowed, and Kane maneuvered the boat inland. It was difficult to see clearly in the evening light, but Erin made out a small cove with a relatively private beach and a ramshackle cabin.
Kane cut the engine and jumped out onto the private dock. He secured the craft and helped Erin out of the boat. Her eyes swept the beach until she spotted the cabin. A slow smile spread over her features.
“Well, what do you think?” Kane asked, his arm draped possessively over her slim shoulders.
“I think this all looks suspiciously like a set from one of those 1940s, black-and-white, slice-of-life movies,” she commented as her eyes studied the small cozy cabin and its state of apparent neglect.
“I knew you’d like it,” Kane replied with a self-satisfied smile. “Come on. Let’s take a look insidec”
The cabin was, if nothing else, rustic. A broad, sagging front porch protected the front door. The cabin was constructed of cedar, and to Erin’s discriminating eye, had never been painted. It bore the weathered look of exposed gray wood blanched by the salt of the sea. At one end of the porch a worn rope hammock swung in the breeze coming off the ocean. The front door groaned as it was opened, and the interior of the cabin had a musty, unused odor. There was no electricity, but running water was pumped into the kitchen. A woodstove in the kitchen and a massive stone fireplace at one end of the living area provided the only sources of heat in the building. Erin surveyed the cabin with a skeptical eye. She had never been much of a believer in “roughing it” when modern conveniences were the available alternative.
Kane unpacked the boat and started searching for firewood, while Erin lit the rose-colored kerosene lamps and removed the dustcovers from the furniture. To air out the interior, she opened all the windows, heedless of the chill in the air, and felt the tickle of salt air burn in her lungs.
The cabin was rather barren, and what little furniture there was appeared threadbare. But she had to admit that once she had swept the dust from the floor, and the fire was lit, the warm scent of burning wood mingled with the fresh fragrance of the salt sea air, and the cabin seemed bearable, if not cheerfully inviting. Fortunately Kane had the foresight to stop off at a delicatessen in Seattle before picking up Erin, and he had purchased sandwiches and a bottle of wine. Erin rummaged in the old-fashioned kitchen and was able to find an unopened package of paper cups along with a tarnished but necessary corkscrew for the wine.
Pleased with her discoveries, she retraced her footsteps back into the living area. Brandishing the corkscrew dramatically in the air, she captured Kane’s attention. “Voilà!’ she announced theatrically, and placed the cups on the floor next to the couch.
Because of the chill of the evening sea breeze, Kane was closing the final window in an effort to retain the heat from the fireplace when Erin reentered the room. He snapped the window latch closed and turned to face Erin, who wondered aloud, “How in the world did you ever find this place?”
“It’s not exactly moonlight and roses, is it?” he asked, crossing the room to the fireplace. He squatted near the golden flames and warmed his palms against the heat that the fire offered.
“Who needs moonlight and roses?” she asked rhetorically, and shrugged.
“Don’t you?” Gray eyes searched her face as if she were a puzzle to him.
“I’m a little too much of a realist to think that the world revolves around silver moonlight, cut flowers and soft music,” she admitted dryly.
“Are you?” A smile of disbelief tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“Does it matter?” she asked, and unwrapped the sandwiches. “Anyway, you’re avoiding my question—how did you come to find this private little hideaway?”
After dusting his hands on his jeans, Kane sat down next to her on the floor, allowing the slightly weathered couch to support his head and shoulders. His long legs stretched in front of him, and nearly reached the warm red coals of the fire. Erin silently offered him a sandwich, which he gratefully accepted, and between bites he explained.
“As you already know, I’m looking for a permanent residence for Krista and myself in Seattle. I read the classified ads every day, hoping to find something suitable.” He paused to open the wine and poured the cool clear liquid into the paper cups. The light from the fire reflected and danced against the deep green bottle and in his clear gray eyes.
“Anyway—” he shrugged, as if it wasn’t all that important “—I came across an ad for this place. I’ve always had a fascination for the sea and the wilderness, not to mention rustic old cabins. And I thought it would be good for Krista. This place sounded perfect.”
Erin nearly choked on the wine that she had been sipping. She eyed the interior of the cabin speculatively. “You’re not telling me that you bought this place sight unseen?” she gasped, unable to shake the astounded look from her face. It hardly seemed “perfect” for anyone, much less an eleven-year-old girl bound to a wheelchair! Erin surveyed the living quarters more closely. The old cabin needed a lot of work. The cleaning alone would take several days, and the varnish on the pine walls was cracking and beginning to peel. There was no hot water, the floors needed to be refinished, and the furniture—all of it needed to be replaced or repaired. The list of jobs seemed endless to her practiced eye.
Kane watched Erin with obvious amusement. The deep-timbred tones of his laughter drew her attention back to him. “No,” he laughed, “I haven’t bought this place. In fact, this weekend is just a trial run. A widow owns the place, but she hasn’t been up here since her husband died a couple of years ago. She knows that I’m interested in buying it, but she agreed to rent it to me for the weekend—to look around for myself.”
“You’re really serious about buying it?” Erin gasped. “It doesn’t even have electricity!”
“Part of its charm, wouldn’t you say?” He grinned at her obvious dismay.
“It’s your money,” she conceded with a dismissive shrug, and took another sip of her wine. The bright embers from the fire and the heady effect of the wine lured her into a serene sense of complacency. She watched Kane over the rim of her cup, and noticed the mood swing that seemed to come over him.
At her offhand comment about money, Kane stiffened. “That it is,” he agreed almost inaudibly. He set the remains of his uneaten dinner aside, and stared into the orange and black coals of the fire. His mood had indeed shifted, and Erin, even in her peaceful state, could sense that the tension was coiling within him again.
The fire crackled and popped as it burned the pitch-darkened wood. The movements of the flames reflected in menacing shadows over the angular structure of Kane’s masculine face. His question surprised Erin.
“Did you know that Mitchell Cameron’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for late this week?” he asked in an accusatory voice. Gray eyes slid sideways, trying to catch her reaction. His pose was relaxed, his hands crossed comfortably over his chest, but Erin could sense the strain due to the twist in the conversation, and saw the tense rigidity of the muscles in his face.
“I read about it in the paper,” she replied unevenly. Carefully, with nervous hands, she set aside the rest of her suddenly unappetizing sandwich and took another drink from her cup. The cool wine felt smooth against the rough texture of her throat. Mitchell Cameron had become a taboo subject between Erin and Kane, a topic that was never brought out into the open. It was as if, by silent agreement, neither person would chance the subject of Mitch. For reasons Erin didn’t understand, the subject of Mitch was a potential powder keg. Why then, tonight, would Kane turn the conversation in Mitch’s direction?
Kane’s voice broke into her fragmented thoughts. “There’s a chance that I’ll be out of town at the time of the hearing.”
“But don’t you have to testify?”
“I’ve already signed a sworn deposition,” was the clipped reply. “I’m sure it will satisfy the court.”
“Oh, Kane.” Erin sighed, suddenly feeling very tired and unnerved. “Are you sure that you want to prosecute Mitch?” she asked, her hand reaching out to touch his shoulder.
He withdrew as quickly as if he had been seared by her touch. Twisting his head to meet her startled gaze, he drew his lips into a thin and menacingly grim line. “Is that what this is all about?” he demanded, and grabbed her wrist harshly.
“What—I don’t understand!”
“Is that what you want, for me to drop the charges against your ex-employer? Is that why you’ve been so willing?” Steely eyes swept over her body and charged her with a crime she couldn’t understand.
“Why, youcbastard!” she gasped, suddenly understanding at least a part of his vicious accusation. Involuntarily she drew her free hand backward in an effort to slap him. But she stopped in midswing as the same tortured look that she had seen so often in the past softened the severity of his dark gaze.
He dropped her wrist and closed his eyes for a second. “I’m sorry,” he whispered huskily.
“You should be!”
“All right!” He reached a hesitant hand to her cheek and caressed its regal lines with exploring and sensitive fingers. “I have no choice,” he assured her. “I have to prosecute Cameron. The board of directors would insist upon it, the bonding insurance companyc.”
“But if you did have a choice?” Liquid violet eyes melted into his, and he drew his caressing hand away from her face.
“Nothing would change! I would still prosecute!” He stood up and put some distance between her body and his. He found it difficult to think when he looked at her or touched her. She was too close to him and to the truth. Perhaps, even now, she knew that he suspected her of involvement in the embezzlement. He had to be cautious with her—or did he? Damn it! Never in his life had he let a woman come between him and his purpose in life. Never had a woman been so intimately involved in his private thoughts. Dear God, why did it have to be this woman who attracted him so achingly? His thoughts weighed heavily on him, and he leaned against the broad mantel of the fireplace and let his head rest against the worn wood. He needed time to think, time alone, to put his life in perspective. It was a mistake bringing her to this isolated haven; he should have realized that before he insisted that she accompany him. How could he have been such a fool? Where was his common sense? His voice, a throaty whisper, crept across the thick silence that separated them.
“Can’t you understand, Erin?” he pleaded. “Mitchell Cameron is a crook, and he has to pay.”
“But surely, as president of the bank, with your influencec”
His gray eyes held hers frozen. “Oh, God, Erin. My influence has nothing to do with my responsibility!”
“Why is the subject of Mitch always so difficult?”
“You tell me!”
“I don’t know!” she admitted honestly.
The silence was an electric current that seemed to bind them together and yet sever whatever peace they had shared. Kane eyed Erin with a haunted wariness that seemed to tire him, and Erin watched him with eyes naked in love and confusion. What was he trying to say?
He leaned against the mantel and rubbed the base of his head with his palm. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, as if he were trying to rid his body of tension. Slowly he seemed to relax; his tight muscles lengthened. With the effort his weight sagged wearily against the fireplace. “I think,” he managed to say, “that you and I should drop the subject of Mitchell Cameron until after the arraignment hearing.”
Erin let out a steadying breath. “Do you really suppose that I can just ignore the fact that Mitch’s fate depends on your decision?”
“Correction,” he cautioned sharply. “His fate depends upon his decision, one that was made quite some time ago. Not mine! I had nothing to do with it except unfortunately to catch a thief.”
“I don’t know that I can just erase it from my mind—as if we’ve never had this conversation.”
“Just for the weekend?” he suggested, and bent near to her. He took both of her hands in his and forced her to look deeply into his eyes. “I’m sorry for the outburst. The past two weeks have been a strain on both of us,” he said in an effort at apology. “But let’s just spend this time together and get to know each other a little better.” Deep lines of intense thought creased his forehead. “I—well, I need some time with you. Alone. Apart from Mitchell Cameron and the rest of the world.” His voice was a reluctant plea, and before she could answer him, he buried his head between her breasts and held her close to him. “Oh, Erin,” he whispered, his hot breath tantalizing her skin and arousing her breasts to an aching tautness. “Why do you tempt me so?”
Ignoring the doubts and warnings that still crowded her mind, she felt herself surrender to him, and her hands wound themselves in the thick strands of his burnished hair. Feeling her reaction, he slowly pulled his head away from the softness of her body and looked longingly into her eyes. Her breath came in short gasps, and she felt the warmth of desire curling upward in her body. A nearly wicked grin stole over his face as his fingers played with the buttons of her blouse. She made no move to stop him, and when the blouse finally parted, his gaze sought and found the swollen ripeness of her breasts.
She longed to be touched by him, to feel the heat of his body capture her soul and the essence of her being. Red and orange flames were reflected in the burning passion of his gaze.
“Do you know, do you have any idea, just how much I need you?” he asked, before covering her lips with his and seeking the open invitation of her warm, moist mouth. She couldn’t get enough of him. The delicious scent and tantalizing taste of his body, in kisses flavored by the wine, lingered upon her lips and teased her senses into a yearning ache that she couldn’t control. His lips explored the length of her body, all of her, gently nuzzling the hollow of her shoulder, rimming her ear, searching out the soft flat contour of her abdomen. “Dear God, how I want you,” he admitted.
“Then love me, Kane, love me,” she pleaded.
“I will, Erin,” he vowed, and moved over her, gently probing the most intimate part of her. Even in her drugged sense of well-being, she realized that he was speaking only of physical love, not the eternal love that she had requested. But for the moment it was enough.