“It was a nice suit.”
“Nice for attending a funeral—isn’t that what you suggested?”
Beth took a bite of hot dog and chewed for a long moment. Even if Kane was teasing, she didn’t know how to respond. She’d reminded herself to keep a distance, but he’d already shortened that distance with his “picnic.” How many wealthy men would eat simple, ordinary hot dogs in the private suite of an exclusive hotel?
She carefully spread pickle relish on what was left of her hot dog. “What’s wrong with accepting we’re two very different people, without anything common except the need to get through this weekend?” she asked.
Kane’s lips tightened. “I didn’t realize spending time with me was such an imposition.”
She chomped down on the end of her hot dog, trying not to grit her teeth. Men were men, no matter how much money they had. “It isn’t, it’s just that…” Her voice trailed and she shrugged.
He couldn’t understand. Kane O’Rourke had probably never been afraid in his entire life. He had everything: a big family, security, love. It was easier to take risks when there were people who cared about you. The one risk she’d taken had ended up hurting her so badly she’d barely survived.
Everything about falling in love was a risk, but she could hardly explain that it was her attraction to Kane that was the problem. He’d either think she was crazy, or get paranoid that she was trying to catch herself a wealthy husband. Which was ridiculous, and anyone looking at them would agree. He was a magnificent, glossy-feathered eagle and she was the brown wren that had strayed into his territory.
Meanwhile, Kane still looked aggrieved and she sighed again. “You’re a great guy,” she said, trying to sound observant, rather than admiring. “But you have to be honest—I’m the last person you would have chosen to share a weekend with.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Kane muttered. “You’re fun to be with when you aren’t being so prickly.”
“I’m not prickly.”
“Of course you are. And iron maidenish, too.”
“I absolutely am not an iron maiden. That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“Yeah, but you insulted my suit.”
“Do you even know what an iron maiden is?” Beth demanded. “I mean, aside from being the name of a heavy metal rock band. Which, I’m sure, you’ve never even heard of.”
He shrugged, seeming wholly unconcerned, and she pushed at his shoulder, wholly irritated. She might not be in his league, but she wasn’t chopped liver, or an iron maiden or whatever he meant by it. She pushed harder and a moment later he flipped her so she ended staring up, as he stared down at her.
Lurking in the back of Kane’s electric-blue eyes was laughter, and a touch of something she didn’t want to understand.
“K-Kane?”
Her cider had splashed over both of them, and his gaze traveled with a drop of cold fluid as it rolled down her jaw. Her own eyes drifted shut as Kane dropped his head. An instant later the velvet warmth of his tongue caught the droplet and slowly retraced its path.
“Mmm. Tastes good,” Kane breathed. His fingers threaded through her hair as he found other golden drops of juice and flicked them away with the tip of his tongue.
Beth shivered.
The lazy, sensual warmth did funny things to the pit of her stomach. It was as if he had all the time in the world to sip those bits of sweetness into his mouth. She hadn’t known that a man could be so maddeningly patient in getting to a kiss. And she had no doubt Kane was going to kiss her; everything from his arms bracing him above her, to the tension in his strong body, told her what he wanted.
She’d just decided to protest when Kane settled his mouth over hers. His tongue darted inside, traced the edge of her teeth, then delved deeper.
All thoughts of protest vanished.
It had been so long, and never like this. She couldn’t remember being kissed so thoroughly, so gently, every cell of her body melting from the slow mating of mouths. Kane’s hand skimmed her arm, grazed the side of her breast and slid into safer territory at her waist. For some reason it was more erotic, wondering where he might touch her next, than if he’d actually offered a more intimate caress.
Beth’s legs moved restlessly. It was odd, the way she felt. Sort of awful and wonderful at the same time.
“Easy,” Kane whispered.
His weight settled over her and the solid power of his body relieved some of the strange quivering in her veins. He was so much larger she should have felt smothered and overwhelmed, but she didn’t. It felt right, and filtering through the pleasure was a hint of panic.
“Kane? I don’t think…that is, maybe…umm…” Her words trailed.
“Easy,” Kane urged, dropping small kisses down Beth’s neck. He didn’t want her thinking too much—thinking led to stopping, and stopping led to questions. He definitely didn’t want any questions, especially the soul-searching variety.
The knowledge that she could catch fire so quickly filled him with both delight and a nagging guilt. Delight, because he knew it was genuine. Guilt, because he was stoking a fire his conscience wouldn’t allow him to put out. Beth was a virgin, he had no doubt of it. Taking that from her wasn’t an option.
Yet he groaned when her fingers gripped his shoulders. He wanted those fingers all over him, touching and teasing and making him crazy. He’d forgotten how great it felt to get crazy now and then.
Why did Beth affect him this way?
It didn’t make sense. She was attractive, but he’d met hundreds of attractive women. And she wasn’t overly endowed. Yet her small breasts burned against his chest, reminding him of what his father used to say when he was sixteen and chasing after buxom cheerleaders.
Anything more than a handful is just a waste, son.
Kane had never quite agreed with the comment, now he thought his father might be right. Beth made up a sweet handful, and his right hand began inching upward to check it out when another of Keenan O’Rourke’s quotes popped into his mind.
Go slow with a lady, they’re the ones worth keeping.
Swell.
He lifted his head and stared into her turbulent face.
“Don’t you dare apologize,” Beth said before he could say anything.
He was glad he’d waited. An apology was exactly what he’d planned to offer. “What should I say?”
“I don’t know, just don’t apologize.”
“Uh, well, I shouldn’t have let it go that far.”
“That’s it. I’ve had it.”
Beth gave him a shove. She didn’t have a fraction of his strength, but he obliged her by rolling away. With any luck she wouldn’t notice he was still aroused. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so undisciplined.
“I’ve tried to give this weekend a chance like you asked,” Beth said. “But I don’t have to put up with that.”
Kane rubbed the side of his face. He was probably lucky she hadn’t slapped him, though he didn’t have a clue why she was so angry. God, women were unpredictable. “Put up with what?”
“Stupid male superiority about men being responsible for how far things go, and having to handle things for poor little women who have no self-control.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Huh.”
Beth gritted her teeth. She liked Kane O’Rourke, which scared the bejeebers out of her. But she wouldn’t have gone to bed with the man, or even gone any further with that kiss, because she had better sense than to play with dynamite.
“For your information, I was trying to put the brakes on when you stopped,” she hissed.
It was true. She’d grabbed his shoulders to inject some calm into the situation, but he’d distracted her with a kiss in her cleavage…her small cleavage. Actually she didn’t really have a cleavage unless she was wearing one of those Wonder bras, though she tried to believe she had one the rest of the time.
Blast.
Beth sat up and righte
d the basket of hot dogs.
Okay, so she’d have to be more careful for the rest of the weekend. Falling head over heels into infatuation with one of the wealthiest men on the planet wasn’t an intelligent thing to do. Kane would likely laugh his head off at the idea, and she would be taking a risk she wasn’t prepared to handle.
So, from now on, it was hands off.
For both of them.
“It doesn’t matter,” Beth said, clasping her fingers together just in case she got tempted. Right now it was a toss-up between exploring Kane’s chest, or hitting him. “I know it only happened because I’m convenient, but you can go back to your regular social life once Monday rolls around. I’d really prefer not having any repeats of what just happened.”
Kane opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Is that what Beth really thought? That he’d kissed her simply because she was convenient? Or worse, because he was some kind of sex-crazed man who couldn’t go without a woman for a single weekend?
He was annoyed and ready to tell her about it…until he saw the flicker of humiliation in her face.
Oh, criminy.
It would just make things worse if he explained that ever since they’d met he’d had an overwhelming desire to kiss her, despite her not being his type. They’d just get into a discussion of type, and he’d feel like a shallow, immature kid for admitting a preference for women with more curves. Of course, that preference didn’t seem too important at the moment; Beth had a way of making him appreciate what she had, rather than what she didn’t.
When he really thought about it, he couldn’t quite understand what had always attracted him to top heavy women, anyway. Compared to Beth they were sort of…well, top heavy. Her figure was nicely balanced between top and bottom, with hips that were slim, but unmistakably feminine.
“I don’t have much of a social life,” Kane said calmly. “I’m too busy. And I’d never make a pass at a woman simply because she was convenient. What kind of a man do you think I am?”
“Rich, powerful and able to have any woman you want,” Beth replied instantly.
“Obviously not every woman.”
She pretended not to notice the significant look he gave her. “Do you want another hot dog?”
“That’s not what I’m hungry for.”
“There seems to be some potato salad in the picnic basket.”
Kane fixed Beth with his gaze. “Just in case I’m not making myself clear enough, I would love to spend the rest of the weekend with you, wearing out the sheets in the bedroom. It has a nice king-size bed and an extra firm mattress—which, if you had any experience in that department, you would know is a plus. Anything to say about that?”
Beth swallowed, though she didn’t look quite as shocked as he’d expected. “Is…isn’t it time for us to head out to Butchart Gardens? I understand they’re particularly lovely this year.”
“Don’t you want to wait for the homemade ice cream? I’m sure it’ll be nice and creamy.” He tried, and failed, to keep the suggestive note from his voice. It wasn’t as if he was trying to seduce her. Hadn’t he already decided it was a bad idea for both of them?
“No,” she said quickly. “Definitely not.”
He sighed. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Chapter Five
Beth agreed to taking a taxi out to the gardens because it was expedient, and also because it was easier than arguing the point with Kane.
In all honesty, she was rather embarrassed.
She didn’t believe he had an undying passion for her, though it flattered her ego to hear him talk about spending the weekend…wearing out the sheets. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure where she’d lost control of the discussion. One minute she was justifiably vexed over Kane’s arrogance, the next he was turning her inside out with talk about sheets.
“Are you all right?” he asked in the seat next to her, looking sinfully handsome and relaxed. “I could still apologize, if that’s what you want.”
Anger simmered again in her chest, and Beth glared.
“I told you—”
“—not to apologize,” he finished for her. “But my daddy taught me to be a gentleman, so I wanted to make the offer, just to be sure.”
Beth sent a cautious glance toward the taxi driver, who seemed more than a little curious about his passengers.
“I’m fine. Hunky dory. Can’t you tell?”
Kane lifted his shoulders, then let them drop. For a man who had gotten hot and heavy a short time before, he sure seemed calm. It was really irritating, though she couldn’t say so.
What had happened to her plan? The one where she remained friendly but distant, and cordial but remote? There had been nothing remote about kissing him in the middle of the carpet, and it certainly hadn’t been distant—you couldn’t have gotten a credit card between them during most of that kiss.
Credit card?
Good.
That was best.
She had to think about Kane’s money and the fact he was so stinking rich he didn’t remember what it was like to be a normal person on a budget. Of course, that only worked as long as she didn’t remember his family and that overprotective responsibility he felt toward them. She could see that it might become annoying to have him always charging to the rescue, but it was also nice.
When they arrived she accepted his helping hand from the taxi and tried to look cool, calm and collected. It wasn’t a look she was familiar with, so she faked it.
“Er…tell me more about your father,” she said. “Do you take after him?”
One of Kane’s eyebrows shot upward. It hadn’t taken Beth long to put those polite barriers up again. Not that he hadn’t seen it coming; she’d been too quiet on the drive, the wheels obviously turning in her head.
“Dad was a hard worker, but he couldn’t find any opportunities in Ireland, so he saved and brought the family to America. Mom was seven months pregnant with me at the time.”
“It must have been hard to travel when she was so far along.”
“Aye, but they wanted me to be a citizen of their new country.”
“You sound very Irish at times,” Beth said, shading her eyes from the sun and tipping her head backward to look at him. “It’s a beautiful country. Did they ever regret leaving?”
His head shook. “My mother sometimes misses her homeland, but the only thing she regrets is that damned accident that killed my father,” he said harshly. Even after all these years, the memories of that terrible summer were seared into his gut, and the anger could burst out, just like that, surprising him with its intensity.
“It must have been difficult losing him,” Beth said softly. Her voice had lost its cool edge, and was filled instead with compassion.
“He was a logger. I was supposed to be working that summer in the forest, instead I got an engineering internship through the university.”
A thoughtful frown tugged at Beth’s mouth. “Forestry work is dangerous.”
“Yes.” His tone was deliberately hard and uninviting. The last thing he’d intended was to discuss his father’s death; some things were best left alone. Everyone had their own demon to battle, and his was the lingering guilt that he’d been too ambitious about his chosen career to take a job working with his father. He couldn’t have prevented the accident that killed Keenan O’Rourke, but at least he would have been there.
“I think he must have been a wonderful man,” Beth said, not the least bit intimidated.
“Why?”
She put her hand on his arm. “Because he raised a fine son.”
The quiet, certain words were a balm to the ancient scar left from his father’s death. He wanted to kiss her again, but instead walked down the path with her fingers drawn through the crook of his elbow. Beth had a way of cutting through things that weren’t important. He liked that. And he liked that she didn’t give a fig for his money except for the way it could help other people.
Hell.
He definitely ha
d to kiss her again.
It was that or spend the rest of his life feeling deprived, and he wasn’t good at deprived.
“I need to kiss you again,” he announced.
Beth’s footsteps faltered for a moment, then picked up again. “I thought we cleared that up.”
“I’m a man. Those kinds of things don’t go away that easily.”
“Try harder.”
Kane thought about the condition of his body, but he couldn’t make a crude comment, not to Beth. He could bide his time and get a kiss. It crossed his mind that he wasn’t exactly being a gentleman, which made him uncomfortable in a different way, so he shook his head.
The whole thing was probably good for him. He wasn’t used to being with women he couldn’t have. It was just his money. They acted like it was some type of aphrodisiac and made him irresistible. All except Beth.
A pair of children came down the path, their high-pitched laughter rising in the clear sunny air. Kane and Beth stepped to one side so they could dash by. Their parents followed, all the while calling out to “be careful and slow down.”
“I don’t know how people do it,” Kane muttered.
“What?”
“Raise children. How do they get that kind of time and energy?”
Beth lifted one eyebrow. “Not everyone works eighteen hours a day. Some people have time for other things in their life.”
“I don’t work eighteen hours a day,” he protested.
She gave him a quizzical look and he sighed.
“Maybe I work fourteen hours a day, but that still doesn’t leave any time for children.”
Or a life, Kane added silently.
Being around Beth was making the absence of a life more obvious. He thought about the way she’d described a lazy morning with the rain beating down, and felt a yearning that he’d never known before. Even her house wasn’t cluttered with things, it was quiet and tasteful, just like her.
A Date With a Billionaire Page 6
