“And later?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“Is later,” Kane answered with a touch of whimsy as well as mystery.
Maybe it was going to turn out all right after all. “Do I get a hint?” she asked.
Kane pretended to consider her request for a moment. “Maybe one,” he said just before he framed her face with his hands and kissed her very, very deeply.
Epilogue
He was late.
Of all the mornings she needed Kane to come in on time, he had to pick this one to be late.
They had been partners for six months now and she felt that was a cause for celebration. She had officially outlasted all the partners who had come before her—and who fled before they could reach this small milestone.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
Kelly had all the necessary things for a small celebration laid out on the center table in the break room. In addition, she had talked Joe Spinelli, one of the other detectives, into playing lookout for her. He’d agreed to send Kane to the break room the second her partner came into work.
So where was he, she wondered impatiently.
For the third time she moved the cake she had brought in a fraction of an inch. Raspberry cheesecake. It was Kane’s favorite.
Finding that out had been no easy feat, but then easy was not exactly a byword when it came to dealing with Kane.
Still, so far, so good. They’d made it work, she thought. Considering how fast he went through partners, she felt she had earned the right to be a little proud of herself.
Ordinarily, they came in together after spending the night at either her place or his. But last night, because she had this celebration in the works, she’d begged off, telling Kane she felt as if she was coming down with a bug and didn’t want to risk getting him sick, as well.
He seemed to buy that—then surprised her later that evening by coming back armed with orange juice and chicken soup. If the man hadn’t already won her heart, he would have gotten it right then and there.
After his obvious show of concern, it had been twice as hard to send him on his way, but she’d managed—and just barely had had enough time to make the cake.
She’d come in early to set up, then had spent the rest of the time worrying that Kane wouldn’t come in for one reason or another.
What if he...?
She didn’t get to finish her thought.
Kelly stiffened, listening intently. She recognized that voice. It belonged to Spinelli. The older detective was being deliberately loud so she could hear him.
His voice was growing closer.
Kelly struck the match she’d been holding in her hand for the past half hour. Once the flame appeared, she touched it to the lone candle that was positioned in the center of the cake. The candle was uncooperative. It took her two tries to light it.
Finally, at the last possible moment, the candle began to burn.
“Hey, Cavanaugh, Spinelli said you needed me to come into the break ro— What the hell is that?” Kane asked, coming to an abrupt halt several steps away from the table. He nodded at the cake with its lone burning candle.
“Well, and I’m only taking a wild guess here,” she qualified whimsically, “but I’d say it’s a cake with a candle in it.”
“Any particular reason that there’s a cake with a candle in it in the break room?” he asked her, displaying what he perceived to be infinite patience.
She felt a twinge of disappointment that Kane could be so oblivious to something that meant so much to her. But then, she already knew the man didn’t exactly come with a marshmallow center.
“A very particular reason,” she replied. When Kane raised a quizzical eyebrow, obviously waiting for her to continue, Kelly sighed inwardly. He hadn’t remembered. Okay, so it wasn’t a big deal to him. But it was to her. A very big deal. “It’s been six months.”
“What’s been six months?” he asked, appearing confused.
“Us.” She pointed to him and then herself. “We’ve officially been partners for six months today. I’ve lasted longer than any one of your other partners,” she added pointedly.
Kane looked properly surprised. “And you think that’s worth celebrating?”
“Yes, I do,” she answered stubbornly, challenging him to prove otherwise.
“Huh.” With his hands firmly planted on either side of the cake, he leaned over and blew out the candle. Straightening again, he told her, “I would have thought that something bigger needed to be celebrated than just mere survival.”
She put her hands on her hips, pretending to be annoyed. “Okay. What would you deem worth celebrating?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kane answered loftily. He paused, as if trying to come up with an answer in order to have something specific to point to. “How about this?”
“‘This?’” she questioned when he didn’t say anything further.
“This,” he repeated, holding out his hand to her. When she looked down at it he uncurled his fingers and exposed a small, perfect heart-shaped diamond mounted on a wishbone setting. The ring was in the palm of his hand.
Kelly stared at it, afraid to say anything, afraid to even venture assumption. Instead, she raised her eyes to his. “Kane?”
His immediate interpretation was that she wasn’t happy. “You don’t like it?”
Her mouth had gone suddenly very dry. For the first time in her life talking was a challenge. “Is this what it looks like?”
He wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that. “What does it look like?” he asked her.
“An engagement ring,” Kelly answered breathlessly.
“With a razor-sharp mind like that, it’s easy to see why you outlasted all my other partners,” he quipped. “Yes, it’s an engagement ring.”
Still, Kelly refused to allow herself to believe what she wanted so badly to believe.
“Whose?” she asked, her throat aching with what she assumed was the disappointment to come.
“Since it’s too small for me, I’d say it was yours by default—if you want it. Do you want it?” he pressed, looking at her.
Kelly took possession of the ring, but still hadn’t put it on. “Do you come with it?”
“I’m paying it off, so it looks like I have to,” he answered flippantly. And then Kane put the banter aside. “I guess it’s not official until I say the words.” Not waiting for Kelly to say anything one way or the other, Kane said, “Kelly Cavanaugh, will you marry me?”
Kelly was struggling very hard not to cry. “Does this mean that you love me?”
Kane smiled then. It was a smile that easily reached up to his eyes.
“It’s not always easy, but, yeah, I do. I love you, Kelly. Always,” he told her in a voice hardly above a whisper.
She threw her arms around his neck then and cried, “It’s about time because I love you so much it hurts,” just before she kissed him, allowing Kane to become one with the heretofore missing part of his soul.
He’d finally found his partner.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from
THE TEMPTATION OF DR. COLTON
by Karen Whiddon.
Be sure to pick up Marie’s next romance,
on sale fall 2015.
If you loved this romantic, no-thrills-barred story, don’t miss more from the Cavanaugh clan:
CAVANAUGH FORTUNE
CAVANAUGH STRONG
CAVANAUGH UNDERCOVER
CAVANAUGH HERO
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
When a beautiful stranger is run down by a car right in front of him, surgeon Eric Colton rushes to help. Miraculously, she isn’t badly hurt—except she has amnesia. Can he keep her safe long enough for her to regain her memory?
Read on for a sneak peek at
THE TEMPTATION OF DR. COLTON
by Karen Whiddon,
the latest in Harlequin® Romantic Suspense’s The Coltons of Oklahoma series
Flipping through the chart, Eric Colton barely noticed when the nurse bustled off. Unbelievably, all Jane Doe appeared to have suffered was a concussion and some bruised ribs. No broken bones or internal injuries. Wow. As far as he could tell, she was the luckiest woman in Tulsa.
He might as well take a look at her while he was here. Chart in hand, he hurried down the hall toward her room.
After tapping briskly twice, Eric pushed open the door and called out a quiet “Good morning.” Apparently, he’d woken her. She blinked groggily up at him, her amazing pale blue eyes slow to focus on him. He couldn’t help but notice her long and thick lashes.
“Doctor?” Pushing herself up on her elbows, she shoved her light brown curls away from her face. “You look so familiar.”
“That’s because I rode with you in the ambulance last night.”
“Ambulance?” She tilted her head, giving him an uncertain smile. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that.”
Amnesia? He frowned. “How much do you remember?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Her husky voice broke and her full lips quivered, just the slightest bit. “Not even my name or what happened to me.”
He took a seat in the chair next to the bed, suppressing the urge to take her hand. “Give it time. You’ve suffered a traumatic accident. I’m quite confident you’ll start to remember bits and pieces as time goes on.”
“I hope so.” Her sleepy smile transformed her face, lighting her up, changing from pretty to absolutely gorgeous.
Unbelievably, he felt his body stir in response. Shocked, he nearly pushed to his feet.
This kind of thing had never happened to him.
Ever.
Don’t miss THE TEMPTATION OF DR. COLTON by Karen Whiddon,
Available August 2015,
Part of the Coltons of Oklahoma series:
COLTON COWBOY PROTECTOR by Beth Cornelison
COLTON’S COWBOY CODE by Melissa Cutler
PROTECTING THE COLTON BRIDE by Elle James
SECOND CHANCE COLTON by Marie Ferrarella
THE COLTON BODYGUARD by Carla Cassidy
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Copyright ©2015 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781460384718
How to Seduce a Cavanaugh
Copyright © 2015 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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How to Seduce a Cavanaugh Page 20
