Her One and Only Valentine

by Trish Wylie

  ‘No!’

  Rhiannon sighed again. ‘Have you any idea when?’

  The door swung open and Lizzie stepped through, closing it behind her. Both of her parents stared at her before Kane asked, ‘What’s in your hair?’

  She lifted a hand, swiped at it and then sucked it off her finger. ‘Mayonnaise.’

  Kane nodded. ‘Of course it is.’

  ‘You aren’t having dinner in the kitchen; you’re having it in the stove room. Come on.’

  Oh, Rhiannon so didn’t want to play, not today, but a glance at Kane, who quirked his dark brows in challenge, was enough to galvanize her. She’d be damned if he took anything more from her than he already had! So she followed Lizzie down the slope to the stove room, unprepared for what she found when she got there.

  ‘What is this?’

  The room was bedecked with various crêpe paper and cardboard hearts and pink paper chains. The hexagonal table underneath the window was set for two, with paper cups covered in yet more hearts and a single daffodil beside a candle.

  Lizzie beamed up at them both after Kane ducked his head under the door frame. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’

  Oh, no. Rhiannon could have curled up and died.

  Kane leaned closer to ask her in a stage whisper, ‘Did you know it was still Valentine’s Day?’

  Frowning hard, she shook her head, then stopped. ‘Well, actually, yes, I suppose I did. The Ball was a day early because it couldn’t be on a Sunday when most people have work on Monday and…’

  Her words petered out as a thought occurred to her and she scowled up at him. ‘I had nothing to do with this.’

  He smiled. ‘I know.’

  ‘Mum, you sit over that side—’ Lizzie pointed at the far chair ‘—and Dad, you sit here.’

  It was the first time she’d called him Dad. They both turned to look at her, then back at each other with a shared smile of understanding at the importance of the one tiny word. It was a bittersweet moment for Rhiannon.

  ‘Maybe we should just humour her?’

  But it didn’t feel any less dreadful to Rhiannon when they were sitting at the table and Lizzie handed matches to Kane. ‘You have to light the candle. It’s more romantic that way.’

  Rhiannon moaned a low moan, resting her elbow on the table so she could hide her eyes behind her hand. She heard the door close and then a deep chuckle.

  ‘This is nice.’

  ‘I’m glad you think so.’ She glared at him from behind her open fingers. ‘You do know what she’s doing?’

  He grinned, resting his forearms on the table so he could lean forward, his voice still low. ‘Yes, I know exactly what she’s doing.’

  Rhiannon moaned again and dropped her forehead on to the table. ‘I really don’t know how much more of these twenty-four hours I can take.’ She continued in a muffled voice, feeling sick to her stomach, ‘We can’t let her think this will lead to anything. You’ll have to talk to her.’

  She heard him chuckle again.

  ‘Why do I have to talk to her?’

  Because her mother didn’t think she could look her in the eyes and tell her that she didn’t love her father that way, that was why, even when she currently hated his guts. Flip side of the same thing, she guessed…And, in fairness, it had always been that way—he’d always been able to make her as mad as a hatter with a few sentences. The only difference back then had been how he’d made it up to her afterwards.

  She lifted her head and frowned at him. ‘Well, we’re not going to let her think—’

  The door opened and Lizzie backed in, turning round to set a plate in front of each of them. ‘Starters.’

  Kane took one look at Rhiannon’s face when Lizzie left and dissolved into raucous laughter, which she rewarded with another glare. ‘Oh, I’m so glad one of us is enjoying this!’

  ‘You’d be amused too if you could see the expression on your face.’

  ‘It’s not funny!’

  ‘Oh, come on, it’s a little bit funny. And romantic in an off the wall way, don’t you think?’

  He swallowed down his laughter when she aimed another glare his way, lifting a fork to play with the contents of his plate. ‘What do you think it is?’

  After a moment’s debate on the merits of running away, Rhiannon lifted her fork and dug around, eventually rolling out an egg. ‘Egg mayonnaise.’

  ‘There’s an egg in there?’

  ‘Yes, a whole entire round boiled egg.’ She glanced up at him and couldn’t help but smile a small smile. He then smiled back, which helped some, but still…‘Seriously, we can’t let her do this. She’s trying to matchmake.’

  Kane nodded. ‘Well, you can’t really blame her.’

  ‘And what does that mean?’

  He shrugged, his gaze dropping to focus on finding his egg. ‘She’s a smart kid; we both know that. And she’s bound to have seen how we are together.’

  ‘What do you mean, how we are together? We’re not any way when we’re together.’

  His thick lashes rose, a glint of humour in his blue eyes. ‘Now, that wouldn’t be entirely true, would it?’ He nodded at her plate. ‘You’d better eat some of that or you’ll hurt her feelings.’

  Rhiannon honestly thought she’d choke on it. Whereas Kane had no difficulty whatsoever in tucking into his. ‘You think she knows that we—?’

  His brows quirked as he spoke with his mouth still half full. ‘Kissed? Almost kissed? Which time do you want to discuss?’

  She opened her mouth to say something cutting, but nothing came out. So she closed it again. Realistically, she was digging a bigger hole for herself every time, wasn’t she?

  ‘Eat something.’

  She speared a piece of cucumber and popped it in her mouth, smirking sarcastically at him as she chewed.

  ‘Now, Mac, don’t go ruining a romantic evening by being petulant; it’s Valentine’s Day.’ He reached across the table and stole her egg. ‘The least you can do is make it look like you ate some of it; move it about on the plate or something.’

  Lizzie reappeared. ‘Lift your plates, please.’

  She set two larger plates down and took the smaller ones from them. ‘I put in more salad ’cos Mum always says it’s good for you.’

  Kane nodded, a better disguised smile on his face. ‘It’s lovely, sweetheart. You’ve done a great job.’

  When Lizzie beamed at his praise, Rhiannon immediately felt guilty. ‘It is, really. You’ve worked very hard on this.’

  ‘But there’s nothing green in the dessert, right?’

  Even Rhiannon couldn’t help chuckling at his question, but she still kicked him under the table for it, his small flinch deeply satisfying, because she really wanted to stay mad with him. She didn’t want to laugh with him again. Mad was easier. Mad had no hopes or dreams. Mad knew exactly where it stood.

  ‘I’m only teasing. I’m sure it’ll be lovely.’

  ‘It’s ice cream.’

  ‘I love ice cream.’

  ‘Me too.’ Lizzie grinned and winked at him.

  Kane winked back and Rhiannon had to shake her head to shift the ridiculous notion that in some way he approved of what she was doing.

  ‘And you have to talk to each other.’

  ‘We will.’

  Right, she’d had about enough. So she called him on it when Lizzie left. ‘We’re telling her.’

  She didn’t look at him as she said it. Looking at him had a bad effect on her heart rate, even when she was mad. So she searched her plate for something to eat to make it look as if she’d made the effort.

  Kane’s voice rumbled across at her. ‘Tell her what?’

  ‘That this isn’t going to happen.’

  ‘It already happened.’

  ‘No, it didn’t. Not the it she’s looking to happen.’ She set her fork down and scowled at him again, because surely he had to know there was yet another argument looming. ‘It’s not fair, Kane.’

  He stared across at her
as he chewed, his blue eyes studying her with the intensity that she always found the most disconcerting. Then he smiled a small smile before he spoke. ‘Maybe she just prefers it when we get along, did you think about that? And I happen to agree with that. You were the one who said you were glad we could be friends.’

  Damn him! Her breath caught at the reminder, her heart twisting again, and immediately she refocused on her plate, grumbling back between clenched teeth, ‘Yes, I did say that.’

  ‘Being friends is important, don’t you think?’

  She pursed her lips, lifting her fork to push her salad around. ‘Of course it is, for Lizzie’s sake.’

  There was a long silence before he answered, his voice low. ‘Not everything has to be for Lizzie’s sake.’

  Her heart missed several beats. ‘Well, no, it doesn’t, because we’re business partners too, of course—technically speaking.’

  ‘Being able to work together is important too.’

  She risked an upward glance in time to see him slowly nodding his head, his gaze still locked on her. And her heart raced a little to make up for the missing beats. What was he doing? Hadn’t she been clear enough last night?

  ‘And communication is another one. We might need to work on that some.’ He looked down at his plate, lifting his knife to slice some ham. ‘Though, just for the record, you’ve always had really expressive eyes. It’s why I’m able to guess what you’re thinking as often as I do. I always liked that. It was one of my favourite things about you.’

  Rhiannon couldn’t believe he was saying these things to her now—sweet, almost romantic things. Didn’t he know what it did to her poor heart? And she felt a shiver of fear run up her spine at the thought of him being able to see how she felt by looking in her eyes. Did he know how she felt about him? How she’d maybe always felt?

  If he knew, then he had the advantage. If he chose to he could push her on the marriage of convenience issue. And she’d already learnt the hard way what happened when only one person loved the other.

  When he looked up, she focused on her food, clearing her throat before she replied. ‘Yes, those things are important. I agree with you.’

  ‘That’s a first.’

  ‘Don’t push it. I already don’t like you much at this precise minute, if you remember correctly.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s entirely true either, is it?’

  That got her attention, while he continued in the same steady voice, ‘I think you like me more than you’re prepared to admit. At least that’s what I’m banking on. If I’m wrong, then I’m about to make a real fool of myself here.’

  Rhiannon’s eye’s widened. He knew, didn’t he?

  Lizzie reappeared and Rhiannon groaned, ‘Oh, c’mon!’

  ‘I brought the ice cream.’ She set them down. ‘And I forgot to turn the music on.’

  When she headed for the stereo Rhiannon tried to stop her. ‘It’s fine, baby; we don’t need music.’

  ‘Yes, you do.’ She was already selecting a track. ‘It’s romantic music for you to dance to.’

  ‘I don’t want to dance.’ The sharp tone drew attention from both of them so she was forced to pin yet another false smile on to her face. ‘I’m really tired, Lizzie, that’s all. I don’t want to dance.’

  ‘I don’t have two left feet.’

  She glared venomously at him. ‘I don’t want to dance with you.’

  ‘Is it the wrong music?’ Lizzie turned to Kane with a frown. ‘You said that track three was the right one.’

  He said?

  ‘Yes, it’s the right one, don’t worry. And you did a great job with the food and decorations, thank you.’

  ‘You did this?’

  ‘For Valentine’s Day.’ Lizzie looked immensely pleased with her father’s ‘thoughtfulness’. ‘It was Dad’s idea, but I did all the food by myself.’

  Rhiannon tilted her head towards one shoulder and closed her eyes in agony, suddenly breathless and dizzy. When she opened them again Kane was smiling a small smile at her, an incredible softness in his eyes.

  Sympathy?

  She shook her head in denial, her voice barely above an agonized whisper. ‘I can’t believe you did this.’

  ‘Your mum and I need to have a talk now. Can you give us a while?’ ‘Yep.’

  Lizzie gave him a hug, planted a smacking kiss on his clean-shaven cheek and then practically skipped out the door—leaving Rhiannon to face Kane alone for what she knew would be the most humiliating moment of her life.

  She slumped back in her chair, watching as he pushed his back and stood up. ‘I don’t believe you did this to me. Why did you do this?’

  ‘Take a minute to think about it and you’ll figure out why.’ He held his hand out to her, palm upward. ‘Dance with me.’

  ‘I don’t want to dance with you.’

  ‘Yes, you do; we can dance and talk at the same time. And I want to dance with you.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Please?’

  She gaped at him. Kane never said please. At least she couldn’t remember him ever saying it anywhere near her. And it was apparently all it took to get her to move. She found herself lifting her hand to slide it into his. She watched as his fingers curled around the back of her hand and at the same time she heard him exhale, as if he had been holding his breath, not quite sure of what she would do.

  But that couldn’t be right—Kane Healey didn’t do unsure, did he?

  Bracing on his hand, she pushed her chair back and stood up, allowing him to lead her around the sofa, watching in an almost hypnotic state as he stopped and drew her in against him, still holding on to her hand while his arm snaked around her waist.

  Somewhere in the distance she could hear the soft tones of the music in the background but she couldn’t have said who was singing. She couldn’t focus on anything beyond the gentle swaying that began as her hips fitted in against his. And only then did she lift her chin and look up into his darkening eyes.

  ‘Why are you doing this?’

  ‘You know why.’

  ‘I already told you I wouldn’t marry you.’

  ‘In a million years.’ He nodded, his eyes sparkling. ‘Yes, I remember.’

  He continued swaying them, making small steps, beginning to move in a circle at the same time, turning her hand in his so that their fingers were locked together.

  ‘Then why—’

  He smiled a smile that curled her toes. ‘Still not got it?’

  She was afraid to hope, ‘I told you I needed more than—’

  ‘This?’ He leaned down and brushed his mouth across hers fleetingly, in a whisper of a kiss that spoke of tenderness held within passion.

  ‘Yes.’ She closed her eyes as sensation washed over her, all too aware that she was letting him seduce her and unable to fight it as her loosely swinging arm rose to lay her palm on his chest—reaching for a firm anchor she could lean on while the world tilted around her. ‘That.’

  ‘You still think that’s all there is between us?’

  Her eyes fluttered open. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘I plan on proving to you that there’s more. And if I don’t convince you this time, then I’ll keep trying to prove it to you, for as long as it does take.’

  Rhiannon could feel her heart swelling with hope and it must have shown in her eyes because he smiled again, the look in his eyes reminding her of the day they’d told Lizzie who he was, when he had held her in his arms and hadn’t tried to hide how he felt.

  Kane raised his brows. ‘You’re getting it now, aren’t you?’

  She stared in amazement. ‘Keep going.’

  They swayed back and forth, circling slowly.

  ‘You said that this on its own wasn’t enough.’

  ‘This.’ She smiled a very small smile at him and brazenly moved her hips across his in the opposite direction to their swaying, her smile growing when he sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Yes, I did say that.’

  He shook his head. ‘Witch.’

&nb
sp; She smiled all the more, a bubble of happiness growing in the pit of her stomach.

  ‘You also said that having a child together wasn’t enough on its own.’

  ‘An amazing child.’

  ‘Yes.’ His gaze changed, to a sincere intensity tinged with a hint of regret. ‘And I need you to be very clear that she’s the only one there might ever be with me. Though there are ways to try—’

  Did he think that would make a difference to her? If he thought that then he couldn’t possibly know how much she loved him, which meant he was taking a chance by doing this. He might not love her as much as she loved him. But she’d figured out that he was saying he wanted to try. There was no way she wasn’t taking that chance.

  So she lifted the hand she’d been resting on his chest, laying her palm against his cheek as she leaned up on her toes to place the same whisper of a kiss on his mouth, her nose close to his as she informed him in a steady voice, ‘That doesn’t matter. I already have one amazing child. Yes, a place like Brookfield was meant to be filled with children, and if this worked and we were lucky enough to have another one like Lizzie one day, then that would be more than fine with me…’

  ‘For the record—I hate that word—fine isn’t enough, for any of us.’

  No, he was right. It wasn’t—not any more. ‘With a little work I reckon we could manage better than fine. But if we don’t make another Lizzie then you should know I’d still want to fill this place with children for you to be a father to. There’s adoption, fostering, we could run camps here in the summer—’

  He kissed her into silence, not raising his head until she was breathless. ‘Let me get used to being a father to just one for a while, shall we? I’m still trying to pick that up.’

  ‘You’re a great father.’

  ‘Yes, but you have a head start on parenting—’

  She took her hand off his face and gently smacked his shoulder. And he laughed, swaying her body a little deeper from side to side.

  ‘That wasn’t meant as a dig. I was just trying to say that you need to let me catch up some before you go shopping for a football team.’

  ‘You can be horrible when you want to, you know.’

  ‘I know. But you know that about me, just like I know that sometimes you can be stubborn and unreasonable. We learnt a lot of this stuff the first time round.’