“I’m no hero, Beth, but I can help fix some pipes. And we are friends, even if you don’t want it that way.”
She let out a breath and focused on him. “A hero? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Like…” He hesitated. “Like your fiancé, that’s what you were thinking about, wasn’t it?”
Beth shook herself and looked—really looked—at Kane. He didn’t understand, but she didn’t expect him to. She’d loved Curt, but in a way he’d been a selfish boy, more concerned with doing what he wanted than sharing his life with her. In time he would have learned to put aside his whims and become a responsible family man, but she couldn’t see him doing what Kane O’Rourke had done. He wouldn’t have given up his own dreams to support his mother and siblings. At the very least he would have resented it.
Looking in from the outside, Kane had a glamorous life, but it was really just hard work and doing the right thing. Heroes came in different styles, and she rather liked the hero standing in front of her.
“Don’t ever think you come up short, Kane O’Rourke,” she said quietly. “Some things take more courage than risking your life, and I don’t think you’d ever hesitate to do what was necessary.”
“I’m not exactly deprived, Beth.”
She sighed, wishing she could hug him. But he might not understand and hugging led to other things. “Money isn’t everything. You wanted to be an engineer, didn’t you? But you quit school and worked after your father died. And you do whatever it takes to help your family, even at the expense of your business.”
“Well…they’re family,” Kane said, clearly astonished that anyone would think of doing anything else.
“I know, and I hope they realize how lucky they are.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “Actually they complain a lot—just like you.”
Beth didn’t laugh, because she understood more than Kane realized. “It’s hard letting go, isn’t it?” she said. “They used to need you a whole lot more, but now they’re grown up and independent.”
“They aren’t that grown up.”
She couldn’t contain a giggle at his disgruntled tone. “Oh, Kane, you’re going to be one of those oldfashioned protective fathers who doesn’t want his daughter to date until she’s thirty, or his son to have his own car until he’s on Social Security.”
“Is that a proposal, Miss Cox?”
Beth grinned. “Since you’re all wet anyway, you might as well go fix my sink.”
“No comment, eh?”
“I think the news media has commented enough.” With a smile, Kane ran his thumb over her lips, then sauntered back to the kitchen. He didn’t know. Maybe heroes weren’t easy to live with, and he felt awfully good when Beth said things like that.
Chapter Nine
It wasn’t until Friday that Beth had a chance to think. Her plumbing nightmare hadn’t scared Kane away as she’d expected, instead he’d come Thursday and spent the entire day.
They had planned to take the Carleton’s boat out that morning, but Kane had gotten an emergency call from the office shortly after arriving. Before leaving he’d reminded her of their plans for the Sunday Mariners’ game and dinner with his family, just in case he couldn’t get back earlier.
“What do you think?” she murmured to Smoke, who was the coziest lap cat imaginable.
Smoke rolled so his tummy was exposed and purred loudly when she obliged by rubbing it. Razzle was off playing in the kitchen. She didn’t let the cats go into the yard unless she was with them, and right now she didn’t have the energy to chase after a twelve-week-old kitten with springs in his hind legs.
“I’m a putz,” she mumbled to herself, slumping deeper into the living room couch.
Normally she loved being out in her garden, but without Kane it didn’t interest her. And the hammock didn’t have half its allure alone, though all they did was read and talk and sometimes go to sleep.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “He must be bored.” That had to be the answer, yet Kane gravitated toward the hammock every afternoon as if it was a magnet. Just thinking about the way he looked, lying there in his jeans and bare feet made her squirm with warmth.
A man’s feet shouldn’t be sexy.
They were just feet, for heaven’s sake.
Smoke had fallen into a deep, boneless sleep when the doorbell rang. He opened one eye and complained when Beth slid him to the cushions.
“Sorry,” she said, her heart illogically picking up speed.
It might be Kane. Maybe the emergency hadn’t turned out to be so bad, and he’d decided there was time to come back to Crockett. Yet even as Beth formed the thought, she pushed it away and opened the door.
“Miss Cox, have you and Mr. O’Rourke had a fight?” asked a reporter, thrusting a microphone in front of her. “We understand he returned to Seattle less than an hour after getting here this morning.”
“I…no, of course we haven’t had a fight,” Beth said, instinctively stepping backward from the onslaught of flashing cameras and questions.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time together. What happened?”
Her gaze narrowed. “Two of his employees were critically injured in a traffic accident,” she said crisply. “He went back to Seattle to meet with the families and see if he could help.”
They ignored her obvious displeasure, being more interested in a supposed romance, than the truth.
“Has he proposed?”
“When are you getting married?”
A dozen other questions came pouring out, with no one waiting for a response, and Beth took tighter hold of the door. She wanted to help Kane’s family, but she couldn’t lie for them.
“Kane and I are friends,” she said. “That’s all.”
Knowing winks and disbelieving shakes of the head greeted her comment, along with some guffaws from the rear of the crowd. “Mr. O’Rourke seems interested in more than friendship,” called someone, waving one of the pictures of them kissing. “How about this, Miss Cox?”
“It’s personal,” she muttered grimly. “There’s nothing more to say. I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time. Goodbye.”
She closed the door firmly and decided to disconnect her doorbell. The reporters had been bad enough after she’d first refused to go on the date, but she’d never expected so much hysteria over some kisses and dates.
A clunk from the kitchen sounded too loud to be caused by Razzle, so she hurried out and found a photographer taking pictures of the flowers on the table.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Beth demanded.
“Mr. O’Rourke brought you these, didn’t he?”
Beth glared. “You’re trespassing on private property. Illegal entry is a crime in this state.” She snatched the phone and dialed the police.
The photographer hastily disappeared out the open door and around the side of the house. The dispatcher answered and Beth explained what had happened; they promised to send out a squad car and warn the reporters to stay away or be arrested. Crockett was a nice town and took care of its own.
It made her feel better until she realized she hadn’t seen Razzle for quite a while, and a sick feeling hit her when she remembered the door the photographer had left open.
She searched the house. No kitten. It was the same for the yard. She hunted the neighborhood, calling his name until her throat was raw.
Heartsick, Beth finally collapsed on the back step and tried to keep tears from escaping. She’d fallen in love with the funny little kitten, and now he was gone. It was some comfort to think he might return when he got hungry, but there weren’t any guarantees. It was a big world.
And she didn’t have much luck keeping the things she loved.
The phone rang, and kept ringing on and off until she dragged herself inside.
“Yes?”
“Beth? Is everything all right? I heard you had some trouble with reporters,” Kane said anxiously.
She swallowed a big hiccuping
sigh. No need to upset him; she knew he’d had a hard day. “I’m f-fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
Two fat tears dripped down her cheeks. “You don’t know me well enough to know what’s fine, and what isn’t. How…how are the people who were hurt?”
“They’re both in intensive care, but it looks hopeful.”
“That’s good news.”
On the other end of the phone, Kane frowned. Beth didn’t sound right, so maybe the reporters had upset her more than usual. He’d have to take steps to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. People who messed with his family didn’t like the consequences.
“Please tell me what’s wrong,” he prompted when she didn’t say anything else.
Something that sounded suspiciously like a sniff came across the line and he shot out of his chair.
“ Beth, what’s wrong?”
“Razzle somehow got out. I can’t find him anywhere.”
“I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“No. You’re tired and there’s nothing you can do.” She sounded so dispirited it was like broken glass cutting his insides.
“Hang on, honey. I’m coming.”
Kane immediately dialed the O’Rourke Industries helipad. The helicopter would get him to Crockett faster than driving. And while he was waiting for the bird to warm up, he started making other calls. He’d move heaven and earth if that’s what it took to get Beth’s kitten back.
There wasn’t an answer when Kane knocked on Beth’s door, so he went around and found her on the back steps. He sat next to her, searching for the right words.
“You’re here,” she whispered, her face wan in the evening light. She looked surprised, as if she hadn’t really expected him. “You shouldn’t have come, you’ve had a long day.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Without waiting for permission he plucked her into his lap and settled her against his chest. “We’ll find him, honey. Don’t worry.”
She let out a shuddering sigh and her arms crept around his neck. “He’s so curious. He must have gotten out when the photographer broke into the kitchen.”
Kane got very still. “A photographer broke in?”
“I called the police. That took care of it.”
He was furious. It was one thing to follow him and take pictures, quite another to invade Beth’s privacy. He added the offense to the list of things he would be discussing with his security chief. “It won’t happen again,” he said with quiet certainty. “I promise.”
“Do you think Razzle can find his way back to the house? He hasn’t lived here for long, maybe he won’t remember.”
“I’m sure he will.”
“It’s just that he’s so little.”
Kane eased his hand under Beth’s thick hair and rubbed the back of her neck. Damn it all, if he’d never involved her in his brother’s scheme, she wouldn’t have lost her kitten.
But whether Beth realized it or not, it wasn’t just Razzle’s disappearance upsetting her. She’d taken a risk on loving something else. She’d invited the two felines into her heart and now she might lose one of them.
The way she’d lost her fiancé.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Sometimes life was hellishly unfair.
Beth slowly pried her eyes open and realized she was in her bed. Morning sun crept around the blinds someone had closed, and she was still wearing her shorts and T-shirt. Smoke was curled up against her back, giving himself a bath.
She’d barely started to think about the previous evening, when the door opened behind her.
“I know you don’t like waking up early, but I thought you wouldn’t mind a visitor,” Kane said.
A loud “merrooow” screeched in her ear and his hand descended into her field of vision, holding an indignant kitten.
“Razzle.”
Tears flooded her eyes as she clutched the kitten. Smoke scrambled out of the way as Beth turned over and looked at Kane.
“You found him.”
He smiled. “I told you we’d get him back.”
“Where was he?”
A trace of hardness crept into Kane’s eyes. “I had my people track down the reporters who were at the house yesterday. Apparently Razzle decided to explore one of TV news’ vans and the driver didn’t realize it right away.”
“But it’s been hours and hours since Razzle disappeared. Why didn’t he bring him back?”
“I think he was nervous about it,” Kane said dryly. “And now he has the fear of God in him, so he’s considering a move out of state. I wanted to suggest a different country, but my security chief was a wee bit softer on the issue.”
Beth couldn’t keep from smiling. Kane had mobilized the neighborhood to look for her baby, and apparently he’d called out his version of the National Guard after putting her to bed. But more than anything else, he’d comforted her when there had to be a million things more important to him.
“You’re a wonderful man, Kane O’Rourke.”
Kane played with a lock of her hair. “What brought that on? Not that I’m objecting, you understand. I like being called wonderful.”
“You found my cat, for one thing. And you came back to be with me, when most men would have thought I was being silly to get so emotional.”
He shook his head. “You weren’t being silly. Anyway, my people found Razzle, and it was my fault there was a photographer snooping around your house.”
“It was absolutely not your fault. Besides, you didn’t know about the photographer when you came rushing back to Crockett.”
“I was worried about you.”
She covered his hand with her own. “It’s been a long time since someone did something like that for me.”
Kane didn’t say anything for a moment, then he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Honey, I think there are a lot of people who’d like to be there for you. I’ve never met someone with such a kind heart.”
Beth closed her eyes, unwilling to let him see the thoughts and questions that might be revealed. It was hard being alone, but it was harder to love someone, then lose them. Wasn’t it? How much risk did a person have to take? How many times could you pick up the pieces and still have the strength to keep going?
She wasn’t even aware she’d asked the last question aloud until she heard Kane’s long sigh. “I don’t know, sweetheart, I’ve wondered that myself.”
Her eyes popped open and she stared into his solemn face. “You have?”
“Each time I take my mother to the cemetery, or I remember how my youngest sister’s husband ran off with her best friend, leaving her with two babies to raise alone. It makes you want to hide from pain, but things are going to happen, regardless. If you don’t grab some of the good stuff, then you don’t have anything when things go bad.”
“You have your family.”
“I’m a lucky man. Which is fortunate for me, because I don’t have your basic goodness, Beth. You could teach angels how to fly.”
She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Nobody had ever likened her to an angel. “That isn’t true, I have a terrible temper.”
“And you’re stubborn, too,” Kane said. “But that’s okay, because otherwise I’d be convinced I was about to buy the big one, and you were sent to see if I deserved a place in heaven.”
“You do.”
He surprised her by dropping a hard kiss on her mouth.
“What was that for?”
His hand caressed her jaw. “For looking at me that way. You have no idea how nice it makes me feel.”
“Oh.” Beth set her kitten in a nest of blankets and Razzle curled up, tuckered out from his travels. “I’m going to fix us some breakfast,” she said.
Things were getting more intense than either of them could handle. She needed the breathing space, even if he didn’t.
Kane sat on the bed, letting the tension ease from his body. He still didn’t know what he wanted from Beth, or what to do about her.
Frien
dship? Definitely. She was fun and smart and gave him a sense of peace he hadn’t known in longer than he could remember. An intimate relationship? His response to Beth was hotter than an oil refinery fire. His conscience was telling him no, his body was screaming for the sweet oblivion he’d find in her arms. As for love, he was halfway there already. He didn’t know how she felt, but love from a woman like Beth was worth more than all the money in the world.
Marriage was the big question. He’d thought he didn’t have time for a wife, that it wouldn’t be fair to Beth. But the past few days had changed the way he looked at things. And maybe the age difference wasn’t such a problem. If two people were happy, did it really matter if one was eleven years older?
Razzle’s sail-like ears stuck up from the rumpled ball he’d curled into, and Kane absently rubbed behind them. He’d been so determined to take care of his family after his father’s death. The time he’d spent with Beth had made him realize he’d made it so important because he couldn’t do anything to bring back his father.
A young man’s picture smiled from a frame on the bedside table, and Kane lifted it, staring curiously. It had to be the hero. Beth’s fiancé.
He loved danger.
I never knew when he’d risk everything….
“What the hell were you doing?” Kane muttered at the photo. “She was made for love and you damn well blew it. Now she’s got her heart locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
The boyish smile didn’t change, and Kane sighed. He couldn’t fix the broken part of Beth’s life, much as he wanted to. Certain things were beyond his ability, no matter how terrific it felt when she looked at him with those big eyes and told him he was wonderful.
He could only hope she’d open her heart and let him in. Because it was the only place he wanted to go these days.
The next day traffic was heavy around the ballpark, but Kane navigated through it with his usual skill. Beth grinned wryly as she watched.
Kane did everything well.
The only reason he wasn’t obnoxious was his complete lack of awareness that he did do everything well. There wasn’t a self-indulgent bone in his body. He certainly wasn’t what she’d expected a billionaire to be like. Hard work was second nature to Kane, and the money only seemed to matter because of the security it gave his family.
A Date With a Billionaire Page 12
