by Trish Wylie
She grew restless after lunch, piles of papers all over the desk in the library testimony to the fact that she still had a long way to go to make sense of everything. And when her head started to ache, she knew she needed a break. It wasn’t raining, so she took herself out for a walk to clear her head.
But she didn’t get further than the courtyard at the back of the house before she heard a rustling from the stables, where she found Kane.
He had his shirtsleeves rolled up while he threw bales of straw down and then shook them loose. And, mesmerized, she watched the muscles in his forearms moving, watched as he bent down every so often to lift a section that wasn’t quite loose enough for him to fork out, while her nerve endings tingled with the familiar sensual awareness.
It was the first time she’d been completely alone with him since she’d made herself so purposefully busy. And a part of her knew she’d be safer just walking away, but she couldn’t seem to do it.
‘Lizzie will kill you for doing that without her.’
He looked up in surprise, a broad grin immediately forming on his face. ‘She’ll forgive me when we go get the stupid beast.’
The stupid beast that had been his idea, but Rhiannon had eventually allowed—the one that he’d at least consulted with her on when it had come to the actual selection, which hadn’t gone unappreciated. And honestly, if it settled into daily life as well as Winston had, then it would be fine. Though Rhiannon sincerely hoped she wouldn’t end up with a pony trailing round the house after her in Lizzie’s absence. Not that a pony could be that much larger, realistically.
‘You do know she has you wrapped round her little finger, right?’
‘Only because I let her think she does.’
The words drew forth an unguarded burst of disbelieving laughter. ‘Liar.’
He grinned again. Oh, yes, now she remembered—this was when she liked him best, when they could just hold a conversation without there being an undercurrent. Why couldn’t he be like this all of the time?
‘Be nice now—especially since it just so happens I’ve been thinking about you.’
Rhiannon’s eyes widened.
He continued. ‘I was thinking that a computer system for the household accounts might make your life simpler. Lizzie said you had a ton of paperwork.’
And now he was being thoughtful on her behalf? Wow. What had brought that on? She dropped her gaze briefly to the toe she was using to absentmindedly push loose straw back into the stable. ‘It would, actually—I’m going cross-eyed.’
‘All right, good.’ He grinned again. ‘Not to the cross-eyed part, you understand. I’ll find someone who can set something tailormade up for you.’
She couldn’t help but tease him. ‘Are you saying you’re too expensive for Brookfield?’
‘Well—’ he cocked his head to one side, lifting his foot to rest on the pitchfork ‘—that is true, as it happens. But I was thinking that someone closer by would be better, then they can help you with any problems when I’m not here.’
An unexpected cramp cut through her chest. ‘Yes, I figured that might be coming. Lizzie will miss you.’
Actually, her mother might too, surprisingly.
‘I’ll miss her too. But I won’t be so far away this time.’
Rhiannon felt the awkwardness returning when the conversation came to a halt. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’m just going to take a walk with Winston to clear my head before I go for Lizzie.’
She made a half turn before he stepped forward. ‘Or you could give me a hand. That would be helpful.’
Turning back, she watched him make the two long strides it took to get to her, a flutter building in her stomach as he set the pitchfork against the wall and reached for a bottle of water resting between the bars.
‘All that heavy straw-shaking getting to you?’
‘It’s taking more bales than I thought it would, but then making a bed for a pony is hardly an everyday occurrence for me.’ He unscrewed the lid of the bottle and tilted it to take a long mouthful of water—right in front of her.
So that she really had no choice but to watch his throat convulse as he swallowed, or to notice how the moisture still rested on his bottom lip afterwards. It brought the term ‘water torture’ to a whole new level.
‘You should have let Lizzie do it; she needs to realize that the pony is her responsibility.’
When he didn’t reply, her gaze rose, until she was looking into the darkening blue of his eyes. He’d witnessed her study of him, hadn’t he? He knew how aware of him she was, didn’t he?
Heat rose on her cheeks. Damn.
‘You’re not the only one whose work was making them cross-eyed.’
Maybe because he was restless too? For the first time Rhiannon wondered if he was missing his life in Dublin. She knew he had a hugely successful business but she didn’t know anything about his private life beyond the odd picture she’d seen of him in glossy mags at big social events with various stunning women at his side. But she was curious now.
Was he in a relationship of some kind? Was he between relationships? Did he just have casual affairs when the need was there? Not that his private affairs had anything to do with her, but she was definitely curious. After all, if he ever met someone he got serious with, then that woman would be a part of her daughter’s life, wouldn’t she?
Somehow that idea didn’t sit well with Rhiannon.
Kane set the bottle back down. ‘Come on; many hands make light work and all that.’
Without hesitation, he reached out and gently grasped her elbow, coaxing her further into the stable. ‘You can shake straw over there and I’ll shake straw over here and we’ll meet in the middle.’
There was a metaphor in there somewhere.
Rhiannon gently extricated her elbow, looking around the floor for sections of straw to shake out. She could manage to spend a little time in his company one on one doing something simple. Yes, she could.
She heard rustling from Kane’s side of the stable and, glancing over, saw that he had already gone back to work. He obviously hadn’t an issue with her being there, and if he could make the effort then so could she.
So she rolled up the sleeves of her coat a little and bent down to lift a section of straw. ‘I’ll need to keep an eye on the time for Lizzie.’
‘All right, I’ll remind you. This shouldn’t take long with both of us at it anyway.’
The sound of combined rustling filled the silence for a while as the depth of straw increased on the floor, each of them working from edge to edge on their side of the stable. But as they gradually worked their way closer together Rhiannon became increasing edgy, and the need for some inane chatter to fill the silence became too hard to ignore.
‘You must be missing your life in Dublin by now.’
Oh, great. She could have raised a dozen topics, including the weather, but she had to go for one that demonstrated her curiosity. She was a genius.
‘Parts of it. But the countryside isn’t as boring as I remember it being.’
‘That’s right; your parents have a place in the country, don’t they?’ She’d forgotten that. Well, that explained why he’d made an effort with his country clothes, then. He already knew what he was supposed to wear—it was Rhiannon who was still trying to fit in. Just like always.
‘Yep, that they do, not that I visit it as often these days, but it was a great place to grow up. Lizzie will love being here.’
And back on to the safe topic of Lizzie again. It suddenly occurred to Rhiannon that maybe she wasn’t the only one falling back behind that particular shield.
Rustling filled the silence for a while again. ‘I suppose it makes more sense living in the city when you have a hugely successful company to run, though.’
There was an amused edge to his voice. ‘Yes, but that’s just basic logistics. A company needs staff and there are more people in the city. When it comes to development of the games and new software, that can prett
y much be done anywhere.’
Which was why he had been able to stay for so long, right? But that didn’t mean his entire life centred on his work—there had to be other things to miss.
‘More of a social life in the city, though.’
‘Yes, there is. Why, are you missing the bright lights already?’
A glance across at him as he stood tall, shaking straw out in front of him, revealed a teasing light dancing in his eyes and Rhiannon rose to the bait, rolling her eyes. ‘Oh, dreadfully. All that clubbing I normally do and the social whirl from one party to the next. You know how it is for we single mothers.’
The minute the last words had left her mouth her gaze locked with his again. Normally, that was exactly the opening he needed to make a caustic comment about how he wouldn’t know anything about the life of a parent thanks to her. But instead he smiled wryly.
‘Yes, it’s exactly the same when you run a large company where hundreds of people rely on you.’
They both reached down for sections of straw while Rhiannon’s loose tongue made the comment, ‘Well, judging from the number of pictures of you at parties with various women over the years, you’ve managed to get out and about all right.’
From the corner of her eye she noticed him stop shaking out his section of straw. And she grimaced inwardly, all too aware that she’d just told him he hadn’t been invisible to her over the years. It made it sound as if she’d been interested. When at the time she hadn’t, not really. It had just been hard to miss all of the pictures was all…
But after a tense moment he started moving again. And she breathed out in relief.
They continued working until they were closer together in the centre of the stable. And, try as she might to concentrate on what she was doing, Rhiannon was only too aware of his every move, of how, even with a task so simple, he had a strength to him that was very palpably male. Just once she would like to spend time with him around and not be so aware of that.
She felt the need for chatter again, maybe on a safer topic this time. But before she could raise a topic his deep voice questioned, ‘Do you think there’s enough in here yet?’
Maybe she wasn’t the only one who felt a need to fill the silence, then. She smiled at the thought of Kane Healey ever needing to make small talk, her eyes taking in the depth of the straw so that she could answer him. ‘I think that pony is moving into the Ritz Carlton of stables, so yes. And anyway, why are you asking me? You’re the one that grew up in the country—ponies were hardly a big part of my life, growing up.’
When she glanced up at him he smiled a slow, dangerous smile. ‘Well, my brother and I did have a way of helping our sister check it was deep enough. It always worked for us back then.’
‘Okay.’ She felt a tingle run up her spine as the smile did things to her heart rate it really had no business doing. So she studied the straw instead and nodded. ‘We’ll use that method to check it, then.’
‘We-ll, if you’re sure.’
When she looked back at him there was something about the glint in his eyes that made her wary. ‘What exactly did you do?’
He pursed his lips together in a way that suggested he was holding back another smile, then stepped towards her with a determined expression on his face. ‘We rolled her in it and if she hit the concrete then we knew it needed more.’
Rhiannon gasped. He couldn’t seriously—
She held up the armful of straw she still had in warning. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’
He hesitated very briefly, the glint in his eyes increasing. ‘Is that a challenge?’
Automatically spreading her legs a little wider, she bent her knees and faked a dart towards the door, smiling when he went the same way. ‘It’s a warning.’
She lifted the straw higher.
‘Now, Mac—’ he tilted his head slightly and looked at her with an amused expression, his legs wider, knees bent in preparation ‘—I really don’t think you want to do that.’
Actually, up until a second ago, she wouldn’t have even considered it. But now that he’d warned her not to, a mischievous imp inside her was demanding she did. This was exactly the kind of dumb situation they would have got into back in the day. It was a reminder of lighter, less troublesome, happier times.
And it was maybe exactly what she needed to break through the tension.
So her eyebrows quirked at him. ‘Do what?’
His forehead creased into a brief frown, as if he was confused by her reaction. And then, oh, so slowly, another smile started at the corners of his mouth while his voice rumbled out from his chest, low and deep.
‘Put the straw down.’
‘No-o.’ Her mouth formed a circle on the ‘o’ as she swayed her weight from one leg to the other. ‘Because I am not being used as a depth test.’
Kane took a deep breath and stood a little more upright, his lashes flickering down against his skin as he nodded. ‘Well, I was teasing before.’
Rhiannon relaxed a little, her arms lowering. She’d known that after all, but it had still felt good to have a moment of fun. She’d forgotten what it had been like when they’d done stuff like this. ‘Good.’
He nodded again, pursed his lips together again. ‘I was—until you just did that.’
She squeaked in surprise as he lunged forward and swept her off her feet, the straw in her arms flying up in the air between them. Her empty arms then sought something to hold on to, her hands grasping hold of his shirt as he swung her backwards and forwards a couple of times.
‘One—two—’
Rhiannon laughed uncontrollably, her hands moving up around his neck to hold on tighter. ‘Stop it! I swear, Kane, if I go down, you’re going with me!’
‘You started this.’
‘I did not.’
‘Consider it an initiation to country life.’
With that, he swung her again and let go. But Rhiannon held on, so that when she fell her weight drew his upper body down with her. Then his feet slipped on the loose straw, dropping him on to his knees. Still laughing, Rhiannon moved quickly, loosening her arms from his neck to grab handfuls of straw and dump them on top of his head.
A battle commenced, with much scrambling and throwing of straw, but ultimately Rhiannon knew it was a battle she couldn’t win and after Kane had used his size to his advantage and rolled her back and forth on the straw until she was spluttering, he let go and propped an elbow to lean his head on his hand and look down on her.
‘I’d say it’s deep enough myself.’
Rhiannon giggled breathlessly, revelling in the fact that she felt lighter than she had in years. And because of Kane, of all people. ‘How often did you do this to your poor sister?’
‘A lot over the years.’ He reached over and pulled a long strand of straw out of her hair. ‘It got to be a regular game of cat and mouse.’
‘I bet you were a brat.’
‘I kinda was.’ He smiled down at her. ‘I’m just a more grown up version now.’
Rhiannon smiled back. ‘Yes, that you are.’
She watched as he focused on her hair, reaching out to remove another strand and toss it to the side. Then he looked into her eyes and in a moment the atmosphere changed, her heart immediately thundering in her chest in response.
He studied her for several long moments, his voice lower when he spoke again. ‘This is more like how we used to be, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it is.’ Her voice was husky in reply, the lightness she’d been feeling replaced with the ache she normally felt when he showed any sign of softness towards her.
He nodded, studied her eyes again and then looked back at her hair, his fingers reaching for a strand close to her face. But this time, when he tossed the strand to the side, those same fingers came back to brush her hair from her neck, stroking briefly against her skin as she swallowed hard.
‘Back in the days when you used to like me better.’
Rhiannon couldn’t take it if they ended up in yet another
debate, so she allowed the truth to slip free. ‘I don’t hate you so much any more.’
His fingers reached into the neck of her jacket to retrieve more straw, while his dark brows quirked. ‘And what exactly did I do to deserve that when you’ve spent years hating me?’
Her breath hitched as he retrieved a strand of straw from the V of her sweater, the backs of his fingers brushing briefly against the top of her breast. ‘I’ve watched you with Lizzie. And you couldn’t be the way you are with her if you were as bad as I convinced myself you were.’
It was only half of the truth, but it was enough to bring his gaze back to lock with hers. And she held her breath as he studied her, her eyes wide as she tried to silently convey her sincerity to him.
When the backs of his fingers brushed gently along her jaw she breathed out, her eyes fluttering shut for a second as a wave of sensation consumed her. She should get up, move away—far away—because there was no point in succumbing to just the physical. Not again.
His hand turned, the tips of his fingers moving up along her cheek, across her forehead, where he smoothed out the frown that had formed before tracing the arch of each of her eyebrows in turn.
And, even though she was lying down, Rhiannon had the sensation that she was free falling into the unknown.
But it wasn’t the unknown, was it? She knew every single step of this path, as did her body. The body that was awakening to a cornucopia of remembered sensation; her breasts feeling taut and confined, her stomach muscles tensing, an inner trembling forming low in her abdomen and spreading up and out. Because she’d never forgotten what he could do to her with his touch, with his hands and his mouth.
She sighed against the back of his hand when his fingertips traced her lower lip. ‘This is a bad idea.’
‘I know.’
His voice was so thick and husky that she opened her eyes to confirm what she could hear, her chest tight at the sight of his darkening eyes. She knew that look too.
‘Because there’s no point in letting this happen again.’
‘No, there’s not.’ His thumb followed his fingertip along her lower lip, then back across her upper lip.