by Francis Ray
“Why don’t we let her tell us that,” Kane said.
The words wouldn’t come. Kane might look as if he was carved out of granite, but nearly twelve years ago he had comforted her and asked for nothing in return. Just as he asked nothing of her now except the truth.
It had been a long time since she had met a man who valued honesty so highly. If nothing else, he earned her grudging respect for that. If she was crazy enough to be looking for a real husband, the man watching her with the predatory inertness of a cat might have deserved a closer look.
“Are you always so outspoken?” Victoria asked.
Crossing his arms over his chest, his black eyes narrowed as he peered down at her. “I find it saves time and bother.”
“Next time, take the time. I wanted to ask Bonnie how much you knew,” she improvised, then lifted her chin at his arched brow. “Obviously, that’s no longer necessary.”
“You need a husband who doesn’t want your money, who won’t interfere in your business, and one who, when a year is up, will get lost. Did I leave out anything?” Kane asked.
Voiced by him, her words sounded crude and demeaning, but Victoria had been through too much to back down from the unflattering truth.
“As a matter of fact, you did. This marriage will be a business, not a personal, transaction. We’ll see each other exactly twice; once at the wedding ceremony and twelve months later when we sign the divorce papers. My husband will conveniently travel a great deal. I don’t want flowers, candy, or whispers of sweet nothings, or anything from the man I marry except his signature on the license.”
Kane’s posture relaxed but his eyes were no less penetrating. “Was your first marriage that bad, or that good?”
Victoria’s nails dug into the soft leather of her clutch handbag. “My previous marriage will not be open for discussion.”
“Under ordinary circumstances I might agree, but if I decide to go along with this, you’ll be carrying my name for a year and I think that entitles me to know.” He glanced at the silent Bonnie. “Why don’t you check on something in the kitchen?”
“We haven’t decided—” Victoria began, but her friend had already turned to go. Bonnie hesitated, then walked soundlessly from the room.
“Changed your mind again?” Kane asked, his voice flat and emotionless.
Victoria glanced up at him, watching her with his unnerving black eyes, and realized that if she said yes she would be revealing more than she wanted to reveal. “No.”
“Then I suggest we get started. Would you like to sit back down?”
“No.” Sitting would only make the next few minutes more difficult. Kane had effectively backed her into a corner. Either she proceeded or she walked. Walking was infinitely preferable to telling him the humiliating and embarrassing truth about the events surrounding her marriage.
“Tory, I hope you realize that Bonnie would never have asked me to help if she thought I couldn’t be trusted,” Kane said, his voice soothing.
Restlessly, she turned toward the double doors in the back of the room, which allowed a view of the rock garden and the swimming pool. “Is this necessary?”
“If you were in my position, wouldn’t you want to know?”
Again the voice was soft and gentle, but no less insistent. Years ago the same voice had been the center of her world for a few hours. She might have become callous, but she hadn’t stooped to repaying kindness with cruelty. She’d complete the interview with Kane, tell him she’d get back to him, and start looking for someone else.
“My first marriage was also a business transaction, although at the time I didn’t know it. Eleven months and a hundred thousand dollars from my trust fund later, I filed for divorce. Stephen got half of the remaining twenty thousand dollars, and I got my freedom.”
“Did you love him?”
Something about Kane’s voice had her turning toward him. He was within ten feet of her and again his eyes searched her face with an intensity that unnerved her. Stephen had swept her off her feet with his handsome face, easy charm, and polished manners. They had met at a Christmas party and spent every day together until she went back to college after the winter break. She had been flattered when he came to Houston to see her, and proud of the way the other women in her dorm practically drooled over him.
With stars in her eyes, she had accepted his proposal on Valentine’s Day. She had thought it so romantic. It was only after she said “I do” that she realized he intended them to live off her money. He quit his job with an advertising firm and started running up her charge accounts. The considerate, loving man she thought was Stephen didn’t exist.
In his place stood a cruel, heartless stranger who made no secret that he loved himself and her money more than he could possibly love her. Nothing she did pleased him, and he was quick to point out her imperfections. Unwilling to admit she had failed again, she stayed in a prison of her own making until his betrayal slapped her in the face. Seeing Stephen and another woman in her bed filled her with an almost uncontrollable rage. The graphic scene she had witnessed also gave her the courage to walk away, taking nothing except her tattered pride.
Victoria finally answered the only way she could. “At one time I thought I did.”
Kane took a step closer, bringing with him a disturbing heat that increased her uneasiness. “And now?”
“I think of my stupidity in trusting a man who took with no thought of giving in return,” she said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. How could she have been so weak and spineless? “No man will ever make a fool of me again.”
“Tory, don’t judge all men by Stephen.” Kane lifted his callused hand toward her cheek. She reflexively drew back and nearly tripped over a chair.
Quickly, she glanced away from Kane’s narrowed eyes. “I don’t. In fact, I think as little as possible about men.”
“What do I get for my signature?”
Victoria’s head jerked up, her brows furrowed as she tried to determine if the suggestive note in his husky voice was real or imagined. “Ten thousand dollars.”
“You pay off one husband and plan to buy another one with the same amount of money. Is that your going price for a man?”
“It worked in the past. Besides, I don’t expect a man to marry me for nothing.” An arched brow on his hard-looking face told her quicker than her brain that she had said too much. “I . . . I mean that—”
“I get the gist of your meaning.” He studied her for a long time. “Do you know that every time I come near you, you flinch or turn away?”
She flushed. Her grip on her purse tightened.
“Well, I guess some things aren’t meant to be. Good luck and goodbye, Victoria.” Whirling on booted heels, Kane strode toward the kitchen. Despite his size, he moved with the strength and grace of a large cat. “Bonnie, get yourself out here.”
A grinning Bonnie came rushing from the kitchen, a portable phone in her hand. “I’m talking to Dan. When’s the wedding?”
Kane’s face might have been carved out of stone for all the emotion he showed. “I decided that I’m not ready to get married.” He hugged a frowning Bonnie. “Tell that husband of yours I’ll stop by before I leave for home.” He headed for the door.
“I’ll call you back, Dan.” Throwing the phone on a chair, Bonnie advanced on Victoria. “What did you say to him?”
“Nothing.” Victoria watched Kane cross the room and retrieve his black Stetson from the hall tree. There was no doubt in her mind that this time she would never forget him, nor the look of censure on his face before he turned to leave.
“Then why is he leaving after telling me he was going to help you? He’s the nicest man I know.” Bonnie glared at Victoria. “Some people act stupid when they meet Kane, because of his imposing presence and strong will, but I thought you had more sense.”
Victoria almost blurted out that she bet those acting stupid were women. Annoyed with her wayward thoughts, she tunneled her hand through he
r hair. “You heard him. He’s the one saying no, and I have to agree with him. If I get married, it will be on my terms. Kane is probably like a runaway bulldozer when he wants something. Nothing is going to stand in his way.”
“You’re afraid of him,” Bonnie cried incredulously.
“I’m not afraid of any man,” Victoria shot back.
Bonnie rolled her eyes heavenward. “Oh, come on, Victoria. This is a girlfriend you’re talking to. I’ve seen that wide-eyed look too many times not to know what it means.”
“Kane is not the man for me,” Victoria cried stubbornly.
“Oh, I suppose you think you’d be better off with a man who acts like a doormat? If so, you better think again,” Bonnie advised. “Because any man you can control with money or intimidation can just as easily be controlled by someone else. Have you considered what will happen if your grandmother starts rambling and your Mr. Malleable is stupid enough to think he can outsmart or outthink her? He won’t know what hit him.”
Victoria thought of her grandmother, whose diminutive size, soft voice, and impeccable manners often deceived people into thinking she was a pushover. She wasn’t. Victoria had named her boutiques Lavender and Lace because it reminded her of the strength and durability of her grandmother, who always carried a lace handkerchief and wore a lavender scent. Whomever Victoria introduced as her husband had to be able to hold his own with Clair.
Bonnie crossed her arms in a good imitation of her cousin. “You’re right about Kane. He can be controlled about as well as a thunderstorm. But if he likes you, he’ll use that same iron will to stand by you no matter what. I’d say he’s exactly what you need. Now, are you going to go after him and change his mind or are you going to stand there shaking in your shoes?”
“You know I hate it when you’re right.”
Bonnie was undisturbed. “Instead of glaring at me, don’t you think you better go after Kane?”
Victoria ran for the front door. If anyone had told her an hour ago she would be chasing after a man to get him to marry her, she would have called that person insane. Somehow, once she caught up with Kane, she had to get him to change his mind and help her. If she accomplished that task, she still had a greater challenge of keeping her body from reacting so strongly to his.
He thought she was bothered by his rugged, almost overpowering masculinity. She was, but not in the way he imagined. He was the most riveting man she had ever had the misfortune to meet. He disturbed her in ways she didn’t understand and didn’t want.
Outside, she saw a mud-splattered truck parked on the other side of the tree-lined street. A man sat inside. His black Stetson-covered head stared straight ahead. One arm was draped across the steering wheel.
Kane. Without hesitation Victoria went to the vehicle and got in on the passenger side.
His head swung around. “What are you doing here, Victoria?”
Neither his eyes nor his voice invited conversation. The tip of her tongue moistened her dry lips. His gaze followed. She felt again the unwanted tightening sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Why . . . why did you stop calling me Tory?”
One large hand clenched and then slowly unclenched on the steering wheel. “I don’t think you’d like my answer.”
She shifted against the black leather seat. “Kane, I know things didn’t work out the way either of us planned, but I had things all worked out in my head and then I met you.”
“You’re not what I expected either,” he drawled, disappointment heavy in his voice.
Victoria decided to ignore his baiting words. “This whole situation is awkward for both of us. Maybe if we got to know each other better.”
“I don’t think that would help.” A flick of his wrist ignited the engine. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to be on my way.”
She did mind. “I know you want to wring my neck, but—”
“Is that what I want to do to you?” he interrupted, his voice stroking her.
There was no mistaking the husky inflection in his voice this time. Her heart thudded in her chest. This wasn’t supposed to be happening to her.
“Kane, all I want is a business transaction. That way, both parties know where they stand and no one will get . . . the wrong idea.”
“We’ve been through what you want. Now please get out of my truck.” The woman he remembered was gone, and there was no sense staying.
“I need your help.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Eleven thousand dollars.”
A finger and thumb kicked back his hat. “Not everyone has a price tag. Or is your ego so big you can’t stand the idea of a man rejecting you?”
She leaned toward him. “That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”
“Then get out of my truck.”
“No.”
“You’ve got three seconds,” Kane warned.
“Twelve thou—”
“Time’s up.” Strong hands grasped her forearms, twisting and turning her in one deft motion. His mouth captured hers.
Victoria gasped in shock, inadvertently allowing Kane’s tongue inside the warm interior of her mouth. Her body stiffened at the unwanted intimacy. But as the velvet roughness of his tongue touched hers, unexpected desire swept through her. She fought the need to join in the kiss until his teeth nipped her lower lip, then suckled the sweet pain away. By the time his mouth covered hers again, she had ceased to think.
Her tongue sought and found his. He tasted hot and sensuous. She had never known a kiss could be so potent. There was nothing she could do to control the fire racing through her body except hold on and try not to be consumed by it. But as their kiss deepened, her own hunger grew, and she made her own demands.
Slim arms circled his neck, knocking his hat off as her fingers plowed through his thick, black hair. From somewhere she heard a moan, then realized it was hers just as a callused palm covered the hard peak of her breast.
Suddenly, her mouth was free.
Her eyes blinked, focused. She lay across Kane’s lap, her arms circling his neck. Kane stared down at her, looking as dazed as she felt. The sound of their labored breathing filled the truck’s cab.
His hands tightened and his head dipped. Her lips parted.
Kane thrust her away. “God, woman! Don’t you have any sense?”
Victoria’s trembling hand touched her tingling lips. No, she thought, because a man has finally kissed me senseless.
Briefly, her eyes closed against the unwanted but undeniable truth. Kane had touched her in a way that no man ever had. She didn’t like her response, but there was nothing she could do about it.
At least she knew that Kane wouldn’t take advantage of her body even if her mind didn’t have the sense to say no. She couldn’t say the same thing about Stephen or any other man she knew.
She sat up. “I . . . I guess that shows you I’m not scared of you.”
“It just shows that neither one of us is thinking clearly,” Kane said, the ache in his lower body making him grind his teeth.
Victoria Chandler made a man forget everything except her honeyed skin, sweet lips and tempting body. A man would be a fool to willingly spend time with a woman who could tie his guts in knots. He had lived with that undeniable knowledge for nearly twelve years.
That night, so long ago, during a thunderstorm, he had tried to downplay his reaction to her. He was a man and she was a beautiful young woman. Why wouldn’t he feel a healthy dose of sexual attraction? There had been only one problem. Early the next morning after the storm had passed, he had carried the sleeping Victoria to Bonnie’s bed and hadn’t wanted to let her go.
Disturbed by his desire for a woman he had been sent to protect, Kane made sure he left while she still slept. He stayed away from his aunt and uncle’s house for a week. When he returned, Victoria had a new boyfriend.
Kane had gotten on with his life and wished her happiness in hers. Only it hadn’t worked out that way. She had married a man who abused
her emotionally. Kane now had a second chance to see what might have happened between them.
No other woman haunted his thoughts the way Victoria had. At the oddest times he’d catch himself trying to recall her softness, the scent of her perfume, the sound of her voice. The other women he had dated hadn’t helped. He enjoyed them and promptly forgot them. He might feel lust and protectiveness toward them, but he never felt a need to shake the world and make it right for them.
When Bonnie had explained Victoria’s problem, he had jumped to help. He hadn’t been able to step five feet away from his cousin’s front window since six-thirty that night. The first glimpse of Victoria had jolted him. She looked beautiful and frightened and determined. The night of the storm, she had looked the same way. Once again he wanted to slay dragons for her, but she had shrunk from his touch. Each time she pulled away it had been like someone flaying his back with a bullwhip. Yet, he had stood there. Now he needed closure.
He needed to know that the compassionate, sensitive young woman who had been more concerned about her grandparents and Bonnie’s welfare than her own safety no longer existed. In her place was a woman who looked no deeper than the surface for a man’s worth. He hadn’t wasted his time with anyone so shallow since high school.
“Kane, reconsider.” Tentative fingers touched his arm. His muscles bunched. This time she didn’t pull back. “I need your help.”
Kane looked into her rare-colored yellow-green eyes. Cat eyes, soft and pleading and full of passion and need. Just as her body had been against his earlier. Outwardly, she might pretend to be self-assured, but underneath dwelt the same insecure teenager he had held so long ago. And her kiss touched him as nothing ever had.
“I don’t know, Tory.” She smiled shyly when he said her name and Kane felt the kick in his stomach again.
“I’m glad you’re not angry with me any longer. Why don’t you come by my place tomorrow and we can have din—” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, then glanced away. “Perhaps we should go out to dinner.” Finding a pencil and paper on the dashboard, she wrote her address and phone number.
“You’re going to pretend that kiss never happened?”
