Kane

by Douglas, Cheryl

  “Yeah, sure.” I reached for my pants as she raised an eyebrow.

  “Always come prepared?”

  “Aren’t you glad I do?” I teased before kissing her again.

  She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I had to tear myself away to deal with the condom. Even a few seconds without being in her arms felt too long. I was in trouble, falling hard for this girl. Which was a big mistake, since we’d agreed this was a temporary arrangement. And the sex was… a one-time thing? No, I didn’t want to believe that. I knew once I’d had Macy, I’d want more. So much more.

  I slid two fingers inside her, watching with awe as she whispered my name.

  I couldn’t identify what I was feeling. Possessive. Protective. Just knowing some other guy out there wanted her as much as I did made me a little crazy. To know she’d been intimate with him, that she’d lived with him and worked with him and loved him made me want to scream. To know she was going back to him tomorrow scared me. But at least she’d go back to him wearing my wedding ring. I glanced at the band that sent a clear message to the world about who she belonged to, and I was suddenly grateful I’d suggested it even though she claimed it wasn’t necessary as part of our ruse.

  “Kane,” she said, gripping my biceps. “Oh God, you’re gonna make me come.”

  That hadn’t been my intent. I’d wanted her to be wrapped around me that first time so I could feel her clenching and pulsing, but I’d just gotten so caught up in picturing the man waiting on her at home, it drove me to pleasure her in a way I knew she wouldn’t forget.

  I eased inside her while she was still gliding back down, and the invasion made her gasp. A gasp I absorbed when my tongue tangled with hers. Our mouths were in perfect synchronicity with our bodies, and I realized how incredibly erotic kissing could be with the right partner.

  I wanted to last longer, to give her an experience she’d never forget, but within a few minutes, she was coming hard and I was struggling not to do the same.

  Knowing her heart was pounding hard and fast, I held her body close to mine and tried to slow it down, but that only made me more aware of the incredible intimacy we were sharing. I’d had sex countless times, even made love to a few special women, but this wasn’t even like that. We were on a completely different playing field.

  She wrapped her arms around me, holding me as close as I held her while she threaded her hands through my hair. Our eyes locked, and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. What the hell is happening to us? It was scary and exciting and exhilarating all at the same time. I made love to her wondering if maybe, just maybe, we could be a real couple instead of pretending.

  I finally had to give in for fear my heart would give out if I didn’t, and the release was… epic. Instead of feeling empty, as I usually did after sex, I felt fulfilled. As though I’d willingly given this woman a part of me.

  “Wow.” She giggled as she watched me get up to use the restroom. “So that’s what it’s like being married to you, huh? I can’t expect any cuddling after we do the deed?”

  After dealing with the condom, I poked my head out of the bathroom door and grinned at her. “Give me two minutes, and I promise we can cuddle all you want, Mrs. Steele.”

  Her eyes widened, and I silently cursed myself for being so stupid. This wasn’t a real marriage. She wasn’t in love with me or the idea of me being her husband.

  “It just hit me,” she said, resting her palm against her forehead. “I’m going to sleep a different person than I was when I woke up.”

  “And that scares you?” I asked, feeling my heart pounding. I suddenly wanted more time to be married to her. Weeks, maybe months, to figure out if this relationship could turn into something real and lasting.

  “Of course it scares me!” She sat up, letting the sheet slide down to her waist. “My God, Kane, what did we just do?”

  Trying to make light of the situation, I glanced at the rumpled bed. “If you forgot already, I guess it wasn’t as good as I thought.”

  To my surprise, she blushed. “I’m not talking about that. Obviously that was amazing. But the marriage thing got me freaked out. Do you know what my family will say if they find out I did this? They’ll lose it. My parents may never speak to me again. You know how religious they are. They believe in the sanctity of marriage. They’ll accuse me of making a mockery of their beliefs and—”

  “Just stop.”

  I understood why she was panicking. I was too, but for a completely different reason. I was terrified I was falling for her and she’d want to extricate herself from me and our marriage before the ink had a chance to dry on our license. I thought of the document folded in her purse and wondered if she’d want to burn it, to erase any memory of this night from her mind.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

  I suddenly realized I was staring at her while I’d allowed my mind to wander. “Uh, sorry. I guess I was just thinking about what this will mean for us.”

  Chapter Two

  Macy

  Kane wasn’t the only one wondering how we were supposed to recover from what may go down in history as one of the stupidest mistakes either of us had ever made.

  “Maybe we should just rethink this whole thing,” I said, rubbing my temple. “I’m sure we’re not the first people to get married on impulse, especially in Vegas. We could get it annulled before anyone finds out.”

  “Uh, I think it’s a little too late for that, don’t you?” he asked, climbing back into bed.

  Before I could object, he pulled me into his arms, clearly trying to soothe me. Which he probably thought was his only option since I was on the verge of hysteria.

  “God, I can’t believe I dragged you into my drama,” I said, closing my eyes as his strong arms wrapped around me. I leaned back into him.

  “Just relax,” he whispered in my ear. “Our reasons for doing this were valid. You want to send a message to your ex, to let him know that it’s over. Being married to me will do that.”

  Brendan wouldn’t continue to hold out hope now that I was someone else’s wife, but it was wrong of me to use Kane. He deserved better than that.

  “You’ve been a good friend to me,” I said softly, tears burning my eyes. “If it weren’t for all those talks we had last time I was in Tampa, I doubt I would have had the courage to go back to Nashville and break up with Brendan.”

  He kissed my shoulder. “I’m glad I could help, and I’ll go on being your friend, Mace. What happened between us tonight doesn’t have to change that. It doesn’t have to change anything.”

  Except it did. It changed everything. Sex with him had exceeded my expectations, convincing me I’d been wasting time with boys when there were men like him who really knew how to please a woman. “But this”—I gestured to the bed—“complicates things, doesn’t it? We can’t claim to be just friends anymore. Can we?”

  He inhaled deeply before responding. “No, I guess we can’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and lovers.”

  “Riley and Brody know us so well,” I said, pulling the sheet up to cover us. “Do you think they’ll be able to tell something’s up between us?”

  “Not if we’re careful,” he said, sounding convinced. “I don’t know about you, but they’re the last people I want to tell about this. Brody’s already given me a hard time about my friendship with you, and I don’t want—”

  “What did he say?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

  “He came to see me the day he and Riley moved into their house. He wanted to know what was going on between us because we’d been spending so much time together.”

  I hadn’t intended to wear out my welcome at Kane’s house, but I couldn’t stay at my parents’ place for more than a couple hours without going stir-crazy. Riley had been preoccupied with getting her relationship with Brody back on track, so I hadn’t wanted to bother her.

  Kane seemed to enjoy our time together as much as I did, so he’d become my
safe harbor as I tried to sort through my mixed feelings regarding my future and my relationship with Brendan. He’d been the one to convince me the world wouldn’t end if our relationship did, and he’d been right. I felt happier and freer than I had in years. Too bad Brendan couldn’t say the same.

  “What did you tell Brody when he questioned you about us?”

  “The truth,” he said, running his hand over my arm. “That it was none of his business.”

  “Riley talked to me about us too,” I admitted.

  “I think they were both just looking out for you.”

  I rolled onto my back and looked up at him. Given how many nights I’d lain awake imagining what it would be like to share a bed with him, I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. “Why do you think that?”

  He brushed my hair off my face, his blue eyes softening with something that seemed deeper than affection. My breath caught in my throat as I wondered if I was just imagining it or if his feelings for me were real.

  “I’m not good at relationships,” he admitted, sounding gruff. “My job is my life, and that’s the way it’s always been. Doesn’t mean I treat women badly. I’m always honest about how demanding my career is…”

  “It isn’t easy, is it?” I curled my hand around the wrist resting possessively on my hip. “Loving your career to the exclusion of everything and everyone else?” When he shook his head, I said, “I think that’s why I got involved with Brendan. He got me. Music was his first love too, so we didn’t put unrealistic demands on each other. At least in the beginning.”

  “When did that change?” he asked, propping his head in his hand as he looked at me.

  Kane was the first man I’d ever felt really listened to me. He was intense and brooding at times, but when he was with me, I knew he was focused solely on me, and I loved that about him.

  “I guess right around the time Brendan suggested we move in together. It made economic sense. But then he started to talk about marriage, and I felt trapped.”

  “You didn’t want to get married?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Not at that stage in my life, not to him. I just wanted to focus on music. I know it may sound selfish, but I thought our relationship should take a backseat to our careers until we were more established.”

  “And he didn’t agree?”

  “He said he did, but he kept putting more and more pressure on me until I felt like I couldn’t breathe. That’s when I came to Tampa to spend time with Riley and my parents. I needed some space to gain some perspective.” I ran my hand down his shoulder. “I gained that, thanks to you.”

  He smiled. “I didn’t do anything. You knew what you wanted to do. I just listened.”

  Kane was right. I’d just needed someone to tell me I wasn’t crazy to throw away a long-term relationship with a man who loved me just because we didn’t have that spark anymore. If I were being totally honest with myself, I’d have to admit we’d never had it. Except onstage. That was the one place we really connected.

  “Then thank you for listening.”

  He brushed his lips across my cheek, making me shiver. “My pleasure.”

  I wanted to talk about what had happened between us tonight, to hear that he felt the same way and I hadn’t imagined how incredible the sex had been. “Tonight… this was… nice.”

  He chuckled. “Nice, huh? Maybe I need to put a little more effort into it next time if that’s the best you can do.”

  “Will there be a next time?”

  He drew back to look me in the eye. “Do you want there to be?”

  “Do you?”

  “You can’t answer a question with a question, Mace.”

  “It’s not like we’ll see each other all that often,” I reminded him. “I mean, sure, I’ll be in Tampa for a few days before the wedding and maybe a day or two afterward, but I can’t afford to take any more time than that off. I normally don’t come home more than once or twice a year.”

  “I’ve got lots of vacation time they’ve been begging me to use. Maybe I could come to Nashville now and again?”

  “What are we doing?” I asked, swallowing my fear. “What you’re describing sounds a lot like a relationship. That’s not what this is, is it?”

  “It can be whatever you want it to be, Macy.”

  Oh God, what did I want it to be? I hadn’t thought beyond tonight and the undeniable urge to get him into my bed. “What if all I want is a one-night stand?”

  I felt his muscles bunch under my hand, revealing his tension. “Is that what you want?”

  “I don’t know.” This was getting more complicated by the second. “Can we just play it by ear, see how it goes when I get back to Nashville?”

  “Sure.” He kissed my temple. “You want me to fly back with you, you know, in case your ex has a hard time believing we’re actually married?”

  “You’d do that? But don’t you have to get back to work?” Not to mention the fact his brother and my sister would question why he was coming to Nashville with me.

  “No, I took a few extra days. Like I said, I’ve got all that vacation time I haven’t used. I figured I’d just hang out at home, but I’d much rather hang out with you.”

  I’d love that, but would it be cruel to flaunt my new husband in front of Brendan? Of course, convincing Brendan I’d moved on was the reason for this farce in the first place, so Kane’s proposal was the perfect solution.

  “He’ll question why we’re not living together,” I said, trying to consider how this arrangement would look from my ex-boyfriend’s perspective.

  “We’ll just tell him I’m trying to get a transfer to Nashville, but it’ll take some time.”

  “I’m a terrible liar.” I wondered whether I was crazy to think I could pull this off.

  “Good to know.” He grinned before kissing me. “That means I’ll never have to worry about you lying to me.”

  “I won’t, you know,” I said, stroking his cheek. “I’ll always be honest with you. I promise you that.” But was I being honest with him right now, not admitting I had feelings for him?

  “I know that.”

  Should I be concerned he hadn’t promised the same? “Um, so I have a flight out tomorrow night. Should we see if there’s any more room on it?”

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” he said, looking thoughtful. “That’ll give me time to take care of something during the day.”

  “Okay.” I wanted to ask what he had planned, but it wasn’t my place. We’d only been married a few hours. I didn’t want to start acting like a wife.

  “I thought I should stop by and see Jack and the boys while I’m in Vegas.”

  “Jack? As in your father?” I knew Kane still harbored a lot of resentment toward the father who’d abandoned them, but according to Brody, Jack had changed. I didn’t blame Kane for wanting to find out for himself.

  “Yeah.” He sighed, closing his hand over his eyes as he lay flat on his back. “Brody and Riley plan to invite him to the wedding. I figure it’d be best if I met him first. You know, get all the ugliness out of the way so it doesn’t spoil the wedding.”

  “If you’re planning to have it out with him, maybe it would be best to invite him here,” I suggested. “So your brothers don’t have to hear that.”

  Kane’s half brothers weren’t kids anymore, but I knew they wouldn’t want to meet Kane if he went to their house for the sole purpose of attacking the father they loved.

  “I want to meet them too though. Brody says they’re great kids. I want to see for myself.”

  “Then you think you can keep a handle on your temper?” I asked. “Stay calm?”

  He smirked. “Keeping a lid on my emotions is what I do best.”

  Since he was the officer in charge of a SWAT team, I assumed that was a job requirement. “I can come with you if you want. For moral support.”

  He smiled as he rolled onto his side to look at me. “I suppose I do have one thing to thank Jack for.”

&
nbsp; “Oh really? What’s that?” I asked, trying to resist the urge to close my eyes while his large, warm hand stroked my cheek.

  “If not for him, you may not have stopped by my house at all. We wouldn’t have spent all that time together last time you were in Tampa, and we sure as hell wouldn’t be lying here now.”

  I’d gone over to Kane’s house that day to ask if he needed someone to talk to, since I didn’t think he was ready to open up to his brothers about their father. He proved to be a much better listener than talker, since I was the one who spilled my guts that day.

  Over the next couple of weeks, I turned up on his doorstep nearly every day, usually with hot coffee in the morning or pizza around dinnertime, depending on the hours he kept. We’d sit on his deck with our food or watch TV with a bowl of popcorn between us. Sexual tension always simmered beneath the surface, at least for me, but since I had a boyfriend waiting on me at home, we never acted on it.

  “I am grateful for that,” I said, biting my lip to hide my smile. “I have a confession to make.”

  “I’m listening,” he said, looking amused.

  “I’ve kind of had a crush on you for a long time.” I covered my face with my hands, unable to hide the blush creeping up my neck. I couldn’t believe I’d admitted that to him! I felt like a teenager with a crush on the star quarterback.

  He laughed as he peeled my hands off my face. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah.” I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, thinking he looked even sexier with his hair disheveled and the late-night scruff dusting his strong jaw. “Riley didn’t even know about it until recently. I felt stupid saying anything, since you’re so much older than I am and—”

  “Why the hell does everyone keep saying that?” The growl low in his throat revealed his annoyance. “It’s eight years, not twenty.”

  “Let me guess, Brody reminded you of our age difference when he warned you off?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about him.” With a self-satisfied smile, he said, “I’d much rather hear about this crush of yours.”

  I never thought I’d be lying naked in bed with Kane Steele, wearing his wedding ring and revealing my juvenile infatuation to him. But since we’d already done the deed, I figured modesty was off the table.