Her One and Only Valentine Read online

  ‘Well, if I’m the ruler of this kingdom I think I’d be called something more interesting, don’t you?’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with Rhiannon.’

  ‘I doubt you really think that deep down,’ she mumbled as she set her mug down, nudging her chair forwards, her voice louder. ‘I’ll pick my own name.’

  The wheels on his chair creaked as he moved back. ‘Okay. Just follow the instructions on the screen.’ Turning back to his own screen, he grumbled in a vaguely amused tone, ‘And try not to kill it.’

  It took a while for her to ignore the fact that he was still beside her, or at least be less aware of it as he worked in silence, but eventually the game demanded her attention and after half an hour she chuckled in amusement.

  Kane turned towards her. ‘What?’

  Rhiannon shook her head while her fingertips directed another set of characters across the screen. ‘Now I get why kids end up in front of these things for hours on end.’

  When she glanced sideways at him he smiled in response. ‘Addictive isn’t it?’

  ‘It’s clever is what it is. There’s something vaguely omnipotent, having control over all these little lives.’

  ‘I could argue that the game also teaches you about trade and commerce, how to delegate, the importance of all forms of a society working together for the greater good of the whole…’

  Rhiannon leaned back in her chair and eyed him with a combination of open curiosity and silent amusement.

  Until eventually Kane shook his head. ‘What’s that look for?’

  ‘All of your games are for educational purposes, are they?’

  His chin dropped an inch as he smiled again, his gaze darting away from hers to the screen and then back into her eyes. ‘No-o, I wouldn’t say that.’

  ‘Hmm, ’cos I’d guess they’d be a harder sell to the kids if they were solely for educational purposes.’

  ‘They probably would. But that doesn’t mean every game doesn’t teach something—even if it’s just better computer skills or mouse dexterity.’ He fixed her with an intense gaze, but not in challenge, in more of a sincere faith in what he did type of way. ‘Computers are a part of everyone’s lives these days, not like it was in the days when you knew me before and I was considered a geek for being as interested as I was. So it makes sense that some of the kids’ leisure pursuits should have a grain of computer education in there somewhere. It makes it easier for them to prepare for the bigger stuff when they start their working lives.’

  Deep down he was an idealist? Rhiannon wasn’t overly surprised by that, even though it was at odds with the opinion she’d held of him for so long. But with every passing day she had to face up to the fact that her perceptions of him may have clouded her judgement.

  The truth was she maybe didn’t want him to be the things she’d liked then, because she didn’t want to like him the way she had before. Even if liking him would make it easier to get along with him, which would in turn make it easier for them to make any parenting decisions—together.

  And there was that word together again.

  She searched her mind for something to say, dragging her gaze from the intensity of his blue eyes and her focus fell on the screen again, where her little kingdom was rapidly growing.

  ‘Well, I’m glad Lizzie has you around to help her with this; it was always beyond me—still is, to a certain extent. She’s already flourishing under your influence. She got a glowing report for her maths test.’

  There was a long moment of silence before Rhiannon heard the leather of Kane’s chair creak. From her peripheral vision she saw him leaning towards her, his voice a huskier rumble than before. ‘I know. But thanks for that.’

  Rhiannon silently cleared her throat, chancing a short glance sideways and then regretting it when she found him closer than she had realized, resting his elbows on his knees so that his face was level with her shoulder.

  She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. ‘I’m just being honest.’

  ‘And we both need a good dose of that if we’re going to find a way to make this all work.’

  It was a scary thought. And there was that damn ‘we’ again.

  ‘So, in the spirit of honesty—’

  She gasped when he reached out over her lap, grasping hold of the armrest to turn her chair to face his so that their knees pressed tight together. Then he tilted his chin and looked up into her eyes. ‘—you did one hell of a job raising her, Mac.’

  The old abbreviation of her surname hit her in the chest with silent blunt force. Oh, that was just playing dirty! No one but Kane had ever called her that. And at the time it had been a term of endearment—similar to darling or sweetheart.

  Her heart beat erratically. ‘Thank you.’

  He smiled a soft smile that made it all the way up into his eyes, turning them into a deeper shade of almost cobalt blue. ‘I’m just being honest.’

  She smiled shyly back at him, because in that moment she felt ridiculously shy. As if she had somehow been transported back in time to when she had been a shy eighteen-year-old, swept off her feet by the twenty-one-year old student with the roguish smile and the irresistible sensuality. If anything he was more dangerous now. Back then she hadn’t known just how compatible they were physically. But she knew now. Oh, yes. And she also knew it would be very easy to be swayed again.

  The knowledge made her reach out for a defence shield. ‘Well—’ she wrapped her hands round both armrests and pushed back with her feet ‘—now that you’ve wasted lots of my time with your silly game—’

  He grabbed hold of both armrests, lower down where they met the chair, and tugged her back again, the smile gone from his face. ‘Don’t do that.’

  ‘Do what?’ She blinked innocently. ‘Leave? I have just as much to do as you do, you know. A house this size doesn’t run under its own steam.’

  ‘That’s not all you’re doing, though.’

  How could he know that? ‘What am I doing, then?’

  This time his smile had the same cool edge to it it’d had from his first few days in the house, even though he softened it by using the same edge of sincerity from before. ‘You’re running away.’

  Her chin rose. ‘To all the laundry I have downstairs? Oh, please, it’s tough to keep the enthusiasm at bay. Hold me back, do.’

  ‘And now you’re using sarcasm in defence.’

  She scowled at him.

  But he astounded her by chuckling in response. ‘I remember more about you from before than you might like to think I do. But it’s okay; I get it. This honesty thing doesn’t sit any more comfortably with me than it does with you. So, if it helps any, you’re not alone.’

  She knew she was staring at him, but she couldn’t stop herself from doing it.

  So she saw when his gaze rose to her hair, how it followed the waves down the side of her face, over her shoulder, to where the tips grazed her breast. Then it rose, slowly, pausing on her mouth for a moment longer than it had anywhere else, before his thick lashes rose and blue locked once again with brown.

  He was frowning by then. ‘We might not be happy about it. But we’ll have to learn to be honest with each other, for Lizzie’s sake.’

  Rhiannon nodded dumbly, echoing his words in a monotone as he released her chair and swung back to his screen. ‘Yes, for Lizzie’s sake, I guess we do.’

  There couldn’t be any other reason. Not again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT WAS the largest dog she had ever seen.

  Rhiannon’s eyes widened as it stood with its huge head at her waist level, sad dark eyes staring up at her while long silvery threads dropped from its huge jowls all over the slate floor of the kitchen.

  She swallowed hard, afraid to move in case it, well, ate her. She doubted it’d even need to chew.

  ‘Isn’t he gorgeous?’ Lizzie grinned from the doorway. ‘Kane let me pick and he had the bestest droopy eyes. His name is Winston.’

  His name should have been Godzil
la. ‘This is your dog?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Lizzie skipped over to wrap her arms around the animal’s thick neck. ‘My very own dog. I’m gonna make him a bed to sleep on in my room.’

  The hell she was. ‘And Kane got him for you?’

  Without consulting her? Oh, he was pushing his luck wasn’t he? What had happened to communication? So much for letting the two of them loose for an afternoon on their own. ‘Where is Kane?’

  ‘He’s taken John, you know, John who has ponies—round the back to look at the stables.’

  Oh, had he, indeed?

  Sidling gingerly past the largest dog on the planet, Rhiannon yanked open the kitchen door and walked out into the cobbled courtyard at the back of the house, taking a moment to listen for voices rumbling from the old stables that had once housed the carriage horses and hunters in days gone by. Yes, it was a sin to see them empty and unused, but that didn’t mean that Kane could just hop out and fill them with a menagerie of animals at Lizzie’s request.

  Not without at least discussing it with Rhiannon first. Was she going to have to debate every tiny little detail with him?

  Following the low sound of male voices, she then leaned inside one stone archway, her arms folded across her breasts while she eavesdropped on their conversation and allowed her disobedient eyes to rove over Kane from head to toe while she could do it unnoticed.

  What she saw brought a smile out to twitch at the corners of her mouth. Because he was making quite an effort to fit in with country life—finely checked shirt, another pair of jeans and even heavy work boots on his large feet.

  But she’d be damned if she found the fact he’d made any effort at all either endearing or sweet. He was Mister Corporate Big Shot now; he didn’t belong in the middle of nowhere.

  ‘A few thousand should pick you up something safe all right. But they do better in company.’

  Kane was nodding. ‘Well, there’s plenty of room.’

  And on that note she cleared her throat, making her presence known as she unfolded her arms and pushed her shoulder off the wall. ‘Do I get to join in this conversation before you turn Brookfield into a zoo?’

  Ignoring the all too familiar blue eyes that focused on her as she approached, her skin automatically tingling in awareness, she instead fixed her attention on the younger man at his side. ‘Hello, John. It’s nice to see you again.’

  ‘And you, Rhiannon. You’re looking grand as usual.’

  She smiled a genuine smile at him, the sight of his openly friendly face a welcome break from the one she had to physically force herself not to look at. ‘You’re still the charmer, John. How’s your dad?’

  ‘Ah, sure, he’s as much of a terror as always. He needs you to come up and soften him up. A visit from you and Lizzie always brightens him up.’

  ‘We’ll take a run up to see you soon, I promise.’

  ‘Do now.’ John winked at her. ‘We can take the horses up into the forest this time.’

  She laughed. ‘Only if I get something half-dead.’

  ‘Don’t I always look after you?’

  Kane’s voice held a barely disguised tone of disapproval. ‘You’ve obviously met before. John is here to check out the stabling for a pony or two.’

  Or two? She quirked an eyebrow up at him, refusing to be put off by hooded eyes or the tight line of his mouth.

  ‘We can have a talk about that—there’s no hurry.’

  ‘I told Lizzie I’d get her one.’

  Rhiannon smiled sweetly, her voice coated with sugar as she practically purred back at him, ‘I think the dog is a big enough gift for one day. And I do mean big. Weren’t there any smaller breeds—Irish Wolfhound or maybe a baby elephant?’

  John laughed while Kane managed a thinly disguised glare at him. ‘Danes are known for their loyal and friendly nature. Winston’s a big softie.’

  Rhiannon nodded sagely. ‘With emphasis on the big. Couldn’t she at least have had a puppy?’

  Kane eyes suddenly sparkled. ‘He is a puppy.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘That thing is going to grow?’

  John hid his second burst of laughter behind a cough, reaching a hand out to pat the iron bars that enclosed the top half of the stables. ‘Well, it’s certainly all still sound enough in here if you do decide to get a pony for Lizzie. Sure give me a call when you’re ready and I’ll keep an eye open for something that might do.’

  ‘Thanks, John.’ Rhiannon smiled again, reaching her hand out to shake his larger one as he stepped forwards. ‘Send my best to your dad.’

  ‘I’ll tell him you’ll be up to visit soon.’

  ‘Do.’ And she was still smiling after his tall, lean figure disappeared out through the same archway she had come through. Until, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kane move to stand beside her, his arms folding across his broad chest, and she immediately felt the air change, every nerve-ending in her body coming to life.

  She took a deep breath and waited, her gaze still fixed forwards while she listened for the steady sound of his breathing. And she didn’t have to wait long for his deep voice to resonate.

  ‘He’s not your type.’

  When she turned her head, she discovered he was tilting his head towards her, his eyes carefully studying her expression, waiting for her reaction. As if he would gauge his response by hers.

  Lord, but he was tempting—physically speaking, of course. Up close, even when he was being all determined and forceful, there was just a delicious, very sexual intensity to him.

  She damped her lips with the end of her tongue, taking her time to word her answer as the tingling awareness sparked like static electricity when his eyes focused briefly on her mouth. Maybe subliminally a part of her knew she would get that reaction when she did it?

  Rhiannon sincerely hoped not; she didn’t want to encourage him. But apparently she couldn’t help herself. ‘And what exactly is my type, then?’

  His gaze rose swiftly, dangerously glinting eyes locking with hers, narrowing briefly before he answered with a firm, ‘Not him. You’d run rings round him.’

  Not that she was actually planning on dating in the near future, but even so…‘You don’t know that.’

  The smile was slow, oozing with self-assurance. ‘Actually, yes, I do.’

  Rhiannon rose to the bait. ‘So you’re going to pick out my boyfriends as well as deciding how many million animals I’ll have to care for after you leave?’

  ‘Lizzie wants a pony, you know that as well as I do, so I’m getting her one, and I’m not going anywhere yet so the boyfriend thing isn’t an issue.’

  Meaning he would have a problem if she did date someone else under his nose? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that question.

  So she tried to focus her mind on the pony issue instead, studying his eyes for a long time while a realization slowly grew inside her mind. ‘Surely you’re not planning on buying your way into her good books? You don’t have to do that; she’s already crazy about you.’

  Seriously—was that what he thought being a father meant? Oh—he had a lot to learn, didn’t he? And she couldn’t believe he still felt he had to do that.

  How could he not see how much Lizzie already cared for him? And frankly, having seen so much of them together of late, Rhiannon couldn’t blame her. He had a gentleness about him when he was with her, looked at her without the smallest attempt at guarding his feelings—feelings that already ran deep. Certainly fathoms deeper than anything he had ever felt for her mother, which had hurt, in some strange way she’d chosen not to investigate further.

  But he was still on a crash course in fatherhood, wasn’t he? She hadn’t known herself what parenting meant before she had Lizzie, and she was still learning, every day. Even so, the reasoning astounded her. By buying her expensive gifts—granting Lizzie everything her heart desired—did he honestly believe he could get her to love him more?

  ‘So everything she mentions she’d like, you’re going to get for
her? Just like that? Kane—’ Her voice softened a little on his name, as if she was trying to convey that she understood why he was trying that method of inducement, even when it was the wrong way to go.

  He frowned hard. ‘So now I can’t buy my own daughter presents?’

  If it was at all possible, he stood a little taller, towering over her in a way that once again made his presence imposing and domineering. He fell back on that method a lot these days. And Rhiannon would bet that not too many people crossed him because of it.

  But she didn’t back down; instead, as usual, lifting her chin the extra inch to compensate. After all, they’d been making the effort to get on better of late, and if he remembered as much about her as he claimed to…

  ‘That’s not what I meant and you know it isn’t. It’s just better if she continues falling for you because of you rather than for what you can get for her, don’t you think?’

  Heaven alone knew it was why she’d ended up with him herself. And there were still the very odd moments when she was reminded of that while he was around.

  The nod was very brief, his eyes warming a little as he studied her, before he glanced to one side and Rhiannon was momentarily distracted by the faintest breeze that lifted the finer hair against his forehead.

  It was becoming an obsession, that hair of his. Again. She had used to love touching his hair, and it was probably why her fingers had itched that day in the office. Always, when they had sat in front of a computer screen or watching television, her hand had inevitably ended up at the nape of his neck, her fingertips absentmindedly moving from the shorter, coarser strands that touched his warm skin, to the slightly longer, smoother strands against the back of his head, where they would thread into the thickness.

  It had been the simplest of physical contact really. But when he was tired, he would lean back into that touch, his lips would part as he sighed in relaxed contentment. Sometimes his head would turn and when his firm mouth moved across hers her fingers would thread deeper into his hair, willing him closer.

  How had she forgotten that? Maybe, simply because she hadn’t wanted to remember.