“Ah…so maybe fate is at work after all. I didn’t think I misread that. I felt the energy between you two the minute I got into this truck.”
Shanna shared another look with Kane. Was there an energy between them? She felt something, but what was it? Apprehension? No. It was warmer than that. Intrigue. Attraction. Huge attraction.
As she continued to fall into his eyes, she saw them react. Her heart hammered. Thankfully, he had to glance away to drive.
“Leona’s always been good at that,” Carl commented. “Seeing what’s going on between people.”
Shanna let her breath go and looked through the passenger window at the frozen landscape.
They drove in silence for a minute or two.
“You’ll both be staying at Shanna’s house, then?” Leona asked, her obvious attempt to sound nonchalant failing.
“I have a room at the Warwick,” Kane said. “Shanna is welcome to stay with me if her house isn’t safe.”
“Maybe you should do that, Shanna. It’s better than being alone. And you won’t have any heat in your house. Unless you have a generator.”
“We have a generator,” Carl said.
“I’ll be fine,” Shanna said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she stays warm.” Kane sent her a sexy grin from across the Hummer.
She couldn’t stop the warmth of her reaction. When he smiled like that, rational thought vanished.
Leona laughed softly. “I don’t doubt that you will.”
Still mesmerized by his grin, Shanna wondered what it would be like to kiss that mouth. Looking ahead at the icy road, she decided it was best just to keep quiet.
Kane pulled into a driveway and helped the older couple out.
A few minutes later he was back in the truck, and they headed toward the Beacon Hill area. He stopped to check another car on the side of the road, but that one was empty. The Hummer lights were the only lights on her street. It was eerie how dark it was. The headlights reflected on tree limbs scattered in front yards and in the street. Kane had to drive around a few.
He stopped where a bigger limb blocked the road. The tangle of power lines snaked among the debris. Shanna’s heart scampered with adrenaline. Would they even make it to her house? The thought of Scotch all by herself wrenched her. The poor thing would run out of water and she’d go hungry tonight.
Kane backed the truck up to go around the downed tree. Loud cracking made him stop, the Hummer sliding a little. She twisted to see out the back window. A huge branch took out a power line and sent ice and snow flying as it blocked the Hummer’s retreat with a giant crash.
Hearing her own rapid breaths, Shanna faced forward, the headlights shining on the blockage ahead of them.
She looked over at Kane, who looked back at her, just as stunned as her. He turned to the driver’s window and searched for an escape route. There was none. The tree that had fallen ahead of them lay across a yard, having narrowly missed hitting a house and now in the tangle of wire.
Kane turned the Hummer, backing to get it faced in the other direction. The tree limb that had just fallen lay across the street but it hadn’t taken the lines on that side. He drove onto the curb and into someone’s front yard.
Shanna caught sight of the power lines waving precariously and wondered if more would fall. Kane drove back onto the street and turned a corner. This road was better.
No sooner had Shanna relaxed against the seat, she saw someone run into the middle of the street waving their hands in the air.
Kane stopped the truck and rolled down his window.
A man approached. He wasn’t very tall and wore a baseball cap over a hooded sweatshirt. He didn’t seem to be keeping himself very warm.
“Man, am I glad to see you. Not many people are driving tonight. I need to get my family out of here.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need your ride, man.” His eyes darted from her to Kane. Something in the look made her wary.
“Maybe I can take you somewhere. Aren’t you warm enough in your house?”
“A man’s got to take care of his family, you know?” The short man lifted his sweatshirt and his hand came up with a gun.
Shanna gasped and sat frozen with a sudden rush of fear. What if he shot Kane? What if he shot them both?
“Get out,” the short man said.
“If you need to go somewhere—”
“Get out. Now!”
Shanna’s pulse charged. Kane didn’t seem ruffled at all. He didn’t say anything, just met the other man’s desperate gaze. Then without warning, he knocked the man’s gun with one hand and punched his face with his other fist. It threw the short man off balance. Kane stepped on the gas, sending the Hummer into a fishtail. Gunfire pinged against the truck. Shanna screamed and bent forward to get her head out of the way of potential bullets.
The truck seemed to be handling funny.
“He got one of the rear tires,” Kane said.
“Don’t stop!”
“I have to.” He drove around a corner and did just that.
“Oh my God.” Her mouth was dry from breathing so fast.
Kane got out and prepared to change the tire. Down the street, the shadow of a man walked toward them. When he saw that they were stopped, he started jogging toward them.
Shanna scooted to the driver’s side and opened the door. “Kane!”
“I see him.” He swore.
Movement from the house where they had stopped made her look there. A man with a rifle strode toward them. Did he want Kane’s Hummer, too?
He cocked the rifle and aimed down the street but up in the air. When he fired a warning shot, she knew he was going to help them.
Shanna’s whole body quivered from fright as she shakily looked through the back window. The man ducked for cover behind an ice-covered parked car.
The rifleman stood near Kane.
“I’ll keep watch while you finish up,” he said to Kane.
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“Damn idiot’s been at it for a couple of hours now. Trying to steal a car. Called the cops but it’ll be a while before they can do anything. Whole city’s gone mad.”
“Thank you for helping us,” Shanna said.
“You folks need a place to stay? Got me a generator and the wife is making a big pot roast. Got a few of the neighbors here, but we can make room for more.
“We’ll be all right,” Kane said from where he worked on the tire, and Shanna trusted him.
He finished with the tire and stood. Snow flecked his shoulders and hair. He shook the rifleman’s hand and thanked him before getting behind the wheel.
Shanna checked once more to see where the man who’d tried to steal the Hummer had gone, but saw nothing. She leaned back against the seat and watched as Kane meandered around debris in the road. It took several minutes to get just a few blocks, but finally they reached her street.
Pulling in front of her two-story house, Kane left the truck running. The headlights from the Hummer helped her see. When he got out with her and followed her to her front door, she stopped digging for her keys to look at him. He was going with her?
“Just in case you have company you weren’t expecting,” he answered her silent question.
She resumed her dig for keys and found them, then climbed the steps to her covered porch and opened the door. The living room was dark and cold.
“Scotch,” she called. When she didn’t hear her cocker spaniel’s claws tapping on the hard wood floor, she felt a flash of worry.
She walked straight ahead into the dining and kitchen area. No Scotch. Back in the living room, she passed Kane and jogged upstairs, hearing him follow at a slower pace.
On the second story, she flipped the light switch and remembered there was no power. The hall was pitch-black.
“Scotch,” she called again, walking down the hall, she paused at her guest room. Peering inside, she felt a breeze and heard rustling. Through the shadows
, she made out the shape of a tree limb sticking through the window. Her heart sank. But there was nothing she could do about it.
“Could be worse,” Kane said from behind her.
Ignoring him, she closed the door and moved around him on her way down the hall. At the end, she went into her master bedroom. Her eyes were better adjusted to the darkness. She heard something and caught the shadow of movement on the bed.
She let her breath go. “Scotch.” Relief washed over her. She went to the bed and knelt before the cocker spaniel, hearing and feeling her warm, excited breaths, and then a little whimper.
“Good girl.” She kissed the dog’s furry cheek, feeling equally furry eyebrows move with blinks. It must have frightened her when the tree limb had fallen, otherwise she would have barked when Shanna came home.
“Poor baby.” She faced Kane. “I should grab a few things.”
He stood in the doorway, a looming shadow. Was he going to watch her pack?
“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
How had he guessed her thoughts? She hadn’t even had to say anything. He was probably good at reading every woman…with all the practice he’d had.
She groped in the dark for her overnight bag and threw in a change of clothes and some toiletries. Scotch stayed close to her feet.
“I won’t let any more nasty tree limbs scare you,” she said. Closing the bag, she headed downstairs.
Kane stood by the front door, watching her as she descended, at least she was pretty sure he was through the darkness. For a second she considered telling him she and Scotch would tough out the night in the cold and dark. But not only did that idea not appeal to her, there was the matter of the tree sticking into her guest room. And that man who’d shot at them. She could stay with Carl and Leona, but their house was too close to that trouble. Maybe she could take shelter with her friend Tiffani. She’d call and find out.
“I need to get some dog food.” She went into the kitchen and put a small baggie of food in her overnight bag along with a bowl for water. Then she found Scotch’s leash and clipped it to her collar. Scotch licked her cheek, making Shanna smile.
Back in the living room, Kane took her bag and she grabbed her purse and led Scotch out the door. In the Hummer, she found her cell phone. Scotch jumped from the backseat and stepped onto her lap. Shanna put her arm around her and gave her a peck of a kiss on the top of her head.
Beside her, Kane looked down at the dog and then at her. She doubted he had any dogs of his own. He was probably too busy being a corporate shark.
Lifting her cell phone to her ear, she listened to ringing until Tiffani’s voice mail sounded. Dammit. She called information and then the Hilton. They didn’t have any rooms left. It was the same for the Westin and the Sheraton. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea. Go stay in a hotel, where there were backup generators. She dropped the phone into her purse and pet Scotch.
“There are worse things than being stuck with me,” Kane said.
Seeing his smiling profile, she wondered. If he kept attracting her like this, she’d end up swimming with the other fifty fish.
“Is it just me you don’t like or men in general?” he asked.
Though he sounded teasing, she sensed he really wanted to know. “It’s not that I don’t like you, I’ve just seen how you operate. I lost count around the twelfth date, but you must have brought about thirty women into my coffee shop. What do you expect me to think?”
“That bothers you?” he asked with a glance.
Yes. “Of course not.”
“What’s wrong with dating a lot of women?”
“Nothing.” It made him seem indecisive and untrustworthy.
“It’s not like I slept with all of them.”
But he had slept with some of them.
“I didn’t sleep with most of them.”
That made her lift an eyebrow. Did he know what she was thinking?
He caught her gaze. “I only slept with one.”
Okay, that was impressive. She faced forward, uncomfortable with the way that satisfied her.
The sound of his chuckle warmed her. “I’m going to be a gentleman, here, and not ask you the same question.”
“You want to know how many men I slept with?”
“No.”
Yes. She smiled. “One. Just like you. How long has it been for you?”
“Six months.”
“Three for me.”
This was starting to resemble the question-and-answer phase of a really good date. Covering a lot of ground, here….
“What happened?”
“He didn’t think he was enough for me.”
She watched him think about that a moment. “I can see how a guy would do that.”
“You can?”
“You’re a smart, successful woman. I’d run, too, if I couldn’t satisfy you.”
She felt her face begin to heat. “What happened with your relationship?”
“She got tired of my work schedule.”
“You know, you’re really going to have to address that.”
“I just haven’t met the right woman yet.”
“Slow down a little and you will.” He was way too much of a workaholic.
“Are you always this open with men?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head with a brief but amused laugh. “I should have gone with my gut and asked you out.”
“What?” He’d wanted to ask her out? She struggled to keep the pleasurable response circulating through her core from showing on her face or in her body language. She’d learned to get practiced at that, but this time seemed different. He seemed to push her limits on a fundamental level.
“I didn’t think you were interested.”
“I’m not. I wasn’t.” Dang it. She’d said that too quick!
He eyed her dubiously, amusement still crinkling his eyes.
“Okay, I can see it’s time to stop this conversation.” And fast.
“Are you scared?” he teased.
“No.”
“Would you have gone out with me?”
“No!”
He looked over at her. “Would you go out with me now?”
She could only stare at him. Go out with him. Mr. Onliner. “Uh…” Yes!
“Just forget I said anything.”
Fat chance of that happening. Shanna marveled at his disappointed profile and began to worry she was falling for the wrong guy…yet again.
Chapter 3
K ane followed Shanna and her dog to the elevator. After convincing her the Warwick didn’t have any rooms left, she’d finally agreed to come up to his room. He had to admit, this was unusual, but the circumstances were unusual. He didn’t want her to spend the night cold and alone. He wouldn’t want anyone to have to do that. It wasn’t her nice butt that motivated him. Or the chemistry that had pleasantly surprised him on the way here.
Opening the door to his suite, he let her in ahead of him. She looked around the spacious living room, a soft green and yellow sofa sat before an armoire. Near the floor-to-ceiling windows, a small table for two offered a great view of downtown. Through a door to the left was the master bedroom and bathroom with a jetted tub.
He put her bag in the master bedroom and came back into the living room. She’d unleashed her dog and it sat next to her, both of them staring at him.
The silence grew deafening.
“You want to go grab something to eat?” he asked. It was too uncomfortable up here, just the two of them. The dog didn’t count.
She nodded. “That would be great.”
“Will…ah…Scotch be ok in here alone?”
“Oh, yeah, she’s a good girl.”
“Why’d you name her Scotch, anyway?” he asked as they left the room.
“Because I was drinking it when my friend brought her to my house and she was the same color.”
“Do you drink a lot of scotch?”
“Only that one time. I think that
was after Bachelor Number Thirteen.”
“Having about as much luck as I am, huh?”
She didn’t respond to that, but he could tell it was a sore subject.
He stopped himself from putting his hand on her lower back as they stepped onto the elevator. She wasn’t his date. Maybe he had gone on too many of those lately. He just didn’t believe in wasting time, and he wanted to find a girlfriend who’d hopefully grow into more so he could straighten out that part of his life. He didn’t want to be alone anymore.
On the main level, the halls and lobby were dimly lit, the hotel conserving energy by only using half its lights. None of the exterior lights were on. The sound of a crowd of people carried into the open space. The Brasserie Margaux was busy. No surprise. He bet every place in the city that had hot food and a generator was busy tonight.
He stopped before the hostess.
“It’ll be an hour wait,” she told him. “We’re out of chicken and lamb on our dinner menu and tiger prawns on our tapas menu.”
“Thanks. We’ll take our chances in the bar.” He led Shanna there. A throng of people stood and sat at the bar and at tables, laughing and talking. Above the bar, a television played a news program on CNN. He found a place to stand at the edge of the bar area and watched a video segment display varying clips of a dark Seattle. The extent of the outage was staggering. Sections of the city had lost power one at a time since early afternoon.
“Oh my God,” Shanna exclaimed beside him.
More footage showed downed power lines laden with ice. There were so many.
“It’s going to take days to get the power back on,” Shanna added.
Yeah, and that’s what worried him. He glanced around the throng. Did the hotel have enough provisions to support this many people? He didn’t have any food in his suite, other than snacks the hotel stocked. He hadn’t thought they’d need to stay more than one night.
“Good thing I don’t have any plans for Christmas,” he said.
“I was going to drive to Portland tomorrow.”
Even if she could make it out of the city in this weather, she had no car. The rental companies would probably not be open, either, without power to operate.
Kiss Me on Christmas Page 3
