Kane Read online

  I let myself pretend—just for this moment, just for this dance—that the girl in my arms was Korie. I pretended she’d said yes. No one would ever know. I gripped her waist and she took a step forward. Our bodies moved just inches apart. Her fingertips swept the hair at the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and got lost in it.

  Someone bumped my shoulder. I opened my eyes and my stomach turned to knots when I caught Stella looking up at me. She had that look, the one women got when they wanted more, when they expected more. I couldn’t give Stella more. I’d given her too much already. As much as I’d wanted the fantasy to be real, the woman in my arms wasn’t Korie. Pretending that she was wouldn’t end well for any of us. The air around us grew thick. I fought to catch my breath. I took a step back and apologized.

  I had a beautiful woman in my arms and all I wanted to do was leave so I could call someone else. This was it. My balls were never coming out of that bucket. They’d stay there right next to Jayce’s, until Korie Lawson decided she didn’t want them anymore.

  I leaned against my headboard staring at a television that hadn’t been turned on and thinking if time had a voice, she’d use it to laugh at me. Breakfast at Mabel’s wasn’t the same this morning without my parents, and I tossed and turned until well after midnight last night without hearing Bennett’s voice telling me to go to sleep. Every time I looked at the clock no more than a few minutes had gone by since the time I’d looked before.

  I’d just opened the Kindle app on my iPad when his name flashed across my phone screen. It was ten o’clock at night in Texas. He should’ve still been at the wedding reception. Why was he FaceTiming me?

  “Hey there stranger,” I answered, trying not to sound as surprised as I was.

  His face lit up with his smile and his shoulders sagged as he exhaled a deep breath. “Damn, you are a sight for sore eyes.”

  He was one to talk. Casual Bennett was gorgeous. Bedtime Bennett was hot. Tuxedo Bennett—he was breathtaking. His usual messy brown hair was styled to perfection. The three-day stubble was gone, showing off every line and curve of his chiseled jawline. This man was every book boyfriend I’d ever read wrapped up in a custom-tailored suit. I burned from the inside out. Every cell in my body reacted to the sight of him.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” I said.

  He fumbled with his bow tie then pulled it apart, leaving each end dangling around his collar. One corner of his mouth twitched, and I noticed a tiny flex in his jaw. “You’re flirting with me again.”

  “What? This? This is not flirting. I told you, you’ll know flirting.”

  He unbuttoned the first three buttons on his white dress shirt. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  So was I.

  “Are you undressing for me?”

  I hadn’t recovered from Tuxedo Bennett yet. There wasn’t enough water left in my bottle to help me handle Naked Bennett.

  He smirked. “Three orgasms and you’re an addict.”

  “I thought you liked seeing what you do to me.”

  He finished unbuttoning his shirt then slid it off his shoulders and tossed it onto a chair next to the bed in a room that didn’t look like his. “I already know I can make you come. I just want to be with you the next time it happens.”

  Bennett Kane had the body of an athlete. Chiseled abs, tanned skin, that “V” thing by his belt line that turned smart girls stupid. (It was me. I was the smart girl.)

  “Korie,” he said like he’d repeated it for an hour.

  He may have. I’d turned stupid, remember?

  “Yes?”

  He grinned. “You’re staring.” Then he pulled a solid black T-shirt on and crushed my dreams.

  “You put all that,” I waved my fingers in a circle surrounding where his bare chest had just been on my screen, “in my face and expect me not to?”

  He laughed and flopped down on the bed. “I missed you.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t go. I’m sure it was beautiful.”

  “It was.” He leaned his head against the wooden headboard behind him. “Watching two people so in love when you’ve never been in love, is… an experience.”

  “You’ve never been in love?”

  “Nope.”

  “Never? Not even a little?”

  His shoulders shook when he chuckled. “A little in love?” He looked off to one side like he contemplated an answer, then finally back at the screen. “No. Not even a little. Have you?”

  “Well there was this one guy in college…” I winced at the thought of Johnny Taylor. It was fun. It was exciting. It was… educational. But it wasn’t love. At least not my idea of love, anyway. “Oh! And my first kiss—”

  “You know what? Fuck that,” Bennett interrupted. “Don’t answer.”

  “I’m kidding.” I narrowed my eyes and studied his face. He was so beautiful I almost couldn’t bear it. “I’ve never been in love either.”

  Yet.

  Bennett kept me on the phone until I fell asleep. I swore sometimes he did that on purpose. I needed three cups of coffee with an espresso shot to keep up with my customers today. Right before closing time, Stella burst through the door with a smile that would put the Cheshire cat to shame. I hadn’t expected to see her until Tuesday.

  “Somebody had a great weekend,” I said from behind the counter.

  Her long black ponytail swayed back and forth as she sauntered to the bar and slid onto a stool. “I met a guy.”

  Of course she did. Stella didn’t go to the post office without meeting a guy. It wasn’t often that she got this excited about it, though.

  I stacked the last clean coffee mug on the rack with the rest then walked over to where she sat. I leaned forward on my elbows and rested my chin in my hands. “Do tell.”

  She reached for my hands and my chin slipped and almost hit the countertop. “Rie, he’s so awesome.” She squeezed my hands and bounced on her seat. “He’s gorgeous. And funny. And tall. And sweet. And did I say gorgeous?”

  “You mentioned it.” I laughed. It made me happy to see my best friend so excited.

  “I can’t wait for Claire to post her wedding pics.”

  “Post? You mean on a bulletin board? Or in a scrapbook? Because last time I checked, you don’t do social media.”

  For a seriously attractive, twenty-something female with the social life of a celebutant, Stella hated social media. She wouldn’t even let me post pictures of her on my Instagram. And it wasn’t because she didn’t like attention. Stella loved attention. The whole thing was a mystery to me.

  She rolled her eyes. “Ha-freaking-Ha. I’m serious. Korie, you have got to see this man.”

  “Because he’s gorgeous?” I fought back a laugh.

  She let go of my hands and drummed the counter a dozen times. “He’s perfect, Rie. We danced. And he held me like he never wanted to let me go.”

  “Obviously he did let go… at some point.” I teased her, but inside my heart swelled for Stella.

  “Well… yeah. The song ended. Then he apologized. For what, I have no idea. Probably for the way his thumbs skimmed the top of my ass. It’s not like I cared, so whatevs. But then we talked and laughed and did I tell you he’s perfect?” She bit her lip and huffed a sigh. “Well, almost perfect. Claire says he has serious commitment issues, and no one ever makes it past the first date.”

  “If anyone can change his mind… and his issues… it’s you.”

  “You think so?” she asked. She sounded so hopeful I couldn’t help but be hopeful too.

  “I know so,” I answered. “So, when do I get to meet Mr. Almost Perfect?”

  She straightened her shoulders and bit her bottom lip. “Claire and Jayce are doing this big party thing in a couple of months, and I thought if I gave you tons of notice you could come.”

  “And meet your future husband?”

  Stella threw her head back and groaned. “Gaaaahhh, I wish. But yes. I heard him tell Jayce he’d be there. Sooooo…”

 
; “I’d love to go.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She jumped off the stool and clapped her hands together. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

  “Like a pig loves not being bacon.”

  Seeing Stella so happy made me happy. Maybe she’d finally found someone to settle down with. Maybe this was her happily ever after. And maybe Bennett was mine.

  I wanted to tell her about him. Part of me felt relieved she’d met someone that made her feel this way. Now sharing Bennett with Stella didn’t seem so scary anymore. I wanted to tell her I’d met someone too and that he’d be here soon. But one look at the excitement on her face, and I couldn’t. Not yet. This was her moment. I let her have it. I’d tell her about Bennett when the time was right. Hopefully she’d be just as happy for me as I was for her.

  I told Korie my flight landed in Atlanta at two o’clock. I lied. I wanted to surprise her. I wanted her authentic reaction. I didn’t want anything scripted or rehearsed—just two people meeting for the first time, even though it felt like our souls went way back.

  I’d seen small towns. I grew up in one. Usually, the minute I crossed into the town limits, my chest tightened, and I felt small and weak. But something about Hickory Falls warmed me from the inside out.

  Yes, and her name was Korie Lawson.

  The B&B I’d found on Google sat at the end of a long, tree-lined driveway off the main street. My GPS had no idea where to take me, so thank goodness for big green signs. Off to one side of the plantation-style home, the branches of peach trees—row after row of them—swayed in the afternoon breeze. On the other side, a long pier stretched to the middle of a massive lake. Tall, green mountains towered in the background. The view wasn’t ominous. It didn’t suffocate me the way I’d feared it would. It was beautiful. It was… peaceful.

  A young guy, a little younger than me, stepped out onto the porch as soon as I put my rental car in park. His blonde hair fell in front of his eyes, so he raked his fingers through to move it out of the way.

  He held his hand out in my direction. “You must be Bennett,” he said with a wide grin.

  I shook his hand. “I am.”

  “I’m Shane. Shane Fredericks.” He nodded his head toward the large white home. “My parents own this place.” He rolled back the cuffs of his navy-blue button-up and followed me to the trunk.

  I reached for my suitcase, but he interrupted. “Let me help with that. You go ahead and get checked in.”

  I studied his friendly smile and boyish good looks and wondered if he knew Korie. Of course, he knew her. Everyone knew everyone in small towns. Then I wondered if he knew Korie, and immediately hoped my suitcase gave him a hernia.

  Inside, an older, silver-haired version of the guy who grabbed my luggage greeted me with a simple nod.

  “Have any trouble finding the place?” he asked as he typed something into his computer.

  “Not at all. The signs were a lifesaver.”

  “I told my wife they would be,” he said with a smirk. “She said they’d be a waste of money.” He huffed. “Shows what she knows.”

  Just then an older woman entered the room from a hallway to my left. “Are you bragging about those signs again?”

  The man threw his hand up and waved her off. She laughed and kept walking to an open dining room on my right. “I hope you enjoy your stay, Mr. Kane. We’re not all as grouchy as this one.” She pointed to her husband.

  Shane walked in with my luggage. He didn’t even break a sweat. So much for the hernia.

  “I’ll take this to your room if you’d like,” he said. His bright smile glowed against his tan skin.

  Could this dude look any more like a Ken doll? I really hoped he didn’t know Korie.

  I forced a smile and grabbed the handle. “Thanks, but I think I can manage.”

  Shane “The Ken Doll” Fredericks nodded then went to help his mother in the dining room. His father handed me a plastic card.

  “You’re all set. Dinner is served at six sharp and breakfast at eight. If you need anything, just give this a ring.” He pressed the top of a silver bell and the room filled with the echo of a loud ding.

  “Got it. Thank you.”

  “Your room’s up the stairs. First door on the right.”

  “Thanks again.” I started toward the wide wooden staircase but stopped at the bottom. “You wouldn’t have any idea if there’s a good coffee shop in town, would you?” I held up my laptop bag. “I’m an author. Coffee shops are kind of our thing.”

  I knew the answer before I asked the question. There was only one coffee shop in Hickory Falls, and Korie happened to own it. The one thing I didn’t know was the address, and there was no way I wanted to start off my stay here looking like a creepy stalker.

  From the corner of my eye, I caught Shane’s head jerk in my direction. Oh, he knew Korie, all right. Suddenly, I wanted to know if he’d touched her before I could, if he’d tasted her red lips or heard her sweet moans while he looked down at her underneath him. I didn’t get jealous. Ever. Because I never cared. But something about the way the mention of her shop stole his attention made me want to punch him in the fucking throat.

  The old man smiled for the first time since I walked in. “Common Ground. Corner of Main and Peach. Best chocolate croissants you’ll ever eat.” His wife cleared her throat, but he ignored her. I laughed. The man looked at his watch. “But you better hurry. She closes at two.”

  I smiled to myself. Hurry? I’d waited almost a month for this moment. Now that I was this close to her, I couldn’t get there fast enough.

  The second hand on the clock above the counter grew louder and louder with every tick, tick, tick. I’d run the dishes through the dishwasher and sterilized all the coffee pots. Alyssa put the last tray of dough in the refrigerator and covered the fruit. The coffee shop closed in thirty minutes, and we hardly ever got customers after one o’clock.

  I draped my legs over the arm of the linen chair and opened a new book—anything to pass the time until Bennett called to say he was here. Alyssa wiped the last of the tabletops then tossed the white towel across the dining room, landing it in the bucket of sterilized water.

  “Kobe!” she shouted, then she faked the sound of a crowd going wild.

  I shook my head and stared at the words on the page. I reread the same part over and over because my own thoughts were too distracting.

  A loud thump on the door caught my attention. I watched as Alyssa walked around a table to see what happened. Another thump.

  What in the world?

  She pushed the door open and let a man inside. Great. I’d just finished cleaning the coffee pots.

  “You have to pull,” Alyssa said.

  “Right. I got that now,” he replied.

  That voice.

  I forgot how to breathe the moment my eyes landed on him. My mouth moved but no words came out. I kicked my legs off the arm of the chair and sat up straight. He took another step into the shop.

  Bennett.

  I knew it was him before I ever saw his face. The whole coffee shop buzzed with an unexplainable electrical charge. The air felt sweeter just because he was breathing it. Bennett Kane stood here, in my cafe, ten feet from where I sat. His light blue polo was a stark contrast to his tan skin. Over video calls, he was handsome—gorgeous even. In person, he was surreal. I wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure he was actually here.

  “You’re early,” I said once my brain remembered how to make words.

  He grinned, and the heavens opened up and the angels sang Hallelujah. “I thought I’d surprise you. Catch you hard at work.” He took another step forward.

  Funny thing, I just wanted to catch him hard.

  I dropped the book onto the chair cushion beside me. “I am working.”

  “On?” He glanced at the book I’d dropped then smiled. “Your next victim?”

  He took another two steps forward and the air crackled. Alyssa w
atched in silence. I didn’t blame her. This whole thing probably looked really weird from the outside.

  “You weren’t a victim. I gave you four stars.” Did my voice just crack?

  He moved two more steps forward. I smelled him now. His scent surrounded me, surrounded us. It was clean and crisp and… masculine. I stood up and he stopped in front of me. Right in front of me. There were inches between us. I prayed he couldn’t see my heartbeat through my shirt. It definitely beat hard enough. My legs felt like Jell-O. Please don’t faint.

  The corner of his mouth twitched, and his eyes narrowed in on me. “I give you ten.”

  Oh my goodness. My insides turned to lava, hot and melted. I swallowed hard and tried not to fall backward into the chair.

  I waved my hands over my body. “I wasn’t expecting… This is… I didn’t have time to get ready.”

  He smiled. “That was kind of the point. I just wanted you.” He tugged at one of the pockets of the apron tied around my waist. “I wanted this. Everyday Korie.”

  “Well, you got her.” My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I didn’t even have any makeup on. He walked in an hour and a half early. He was supposed to call.

  Bennett lifted his hand to my cheek. The tip of his thumb brushed my cheekbone. I felt his touch on every inch of my skin. I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent. I memorized his touch. I never wanted to forget this feeling.

  I remembered him once saying that he’d be able to smell my arousal. God, I hoped that wasn’t true. Because my body screamed how badly it wanted to be very naked and tangled up in him right now.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  I opened my eyes and drank him in again. “You have jet lag.”

  Bennett chuckled and Alyssa cleared her throat. Alyssa. I forgot about her.

  “Oh shoot. Sorry. Alyssa, this is Bennett Kane.” He let his hand fall from my face. I missed his touch as soon as it was gone. “Bennett, this is Alyssa, one of my best friends and number one lifesaver. Alyssa puts up with me on a daily basis. Well, except for Sundays. I give her a break on Sundays.”