Halley shook her head and shivered at her thoughts. Most of that information had been passed on by their aunt in a kinder manner than Halley transposed in her own mind.
“Halley!”
Phoebe snapped her fingers and Halley returned to the present. God, why did her thoughts still travel back to the awful past?
“Where were you?” her sister asked gently.
Halley swallowed hard. “Nowhere important.” But it was time to go home, maybe paint a little and get lost in her work. She already knew sleep wouldn’t come easily, if at all.
“Honey—”
She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” She didn’t want to get into a discussion about her thoughts with her sister.
Phoebe studied her for a long moment, as if assessing what she wanted to say. “Let me get the check and we’ll go next door for a drink or two.” She met Halley’s gaze, her narrowed green eyes daring her to object.
“Yes, I know you were just about to say you wanted to go home. Not happening. This is my celebration and we aren’t finished having fun.”
With a sigh, Halley took the final scoop of the dessert, savoring her last bit of enjoyment for the evening.
* * *
Kane watched Halley slip a spoon into her mouth, close her eyes, and savor whatever dessert she was eating with relish. In a halter dress with pastel flowers, she stood out in the room. Her lips closed over the spoon, and he could almost hear her moan of delight. His dick hardened in his pants at both the sight and the direction his imagination took him. Halley, with those glossed lips, pulling him into her mouth and sucking. Deep.
He swallowed a groan and forced himself to remember where he was, and why. His sister, Andrea, worked as a hostess at the Blue Wall on weekend nights, and when Kane hit the bar, he stopped by to say hello. Seeing Halley here was a shock. Twice in one day after a long drought—he took that as a sign telling him not to give up despite her reluctance to go out with him. She didn’t see him and he kept in the shadows. As he’d told Halley, he knew where to find her now.
“Andi!” he said to his sister, who had just returned to the front of the restaurant. She was dressed in a black skirt and a button-down white lace top, holding menus in her hand.
“Hello, Kane. How’s my brother?” She kissed his cheek. “Here for a few drinks and some fun?”
“Actually I’m a man on a mission.”
She placed a set of menus beneath the hostess stand. “Really.” She studied him through a narrowed gaze. “Who is she?”
He leaned on the wooden podium. “She’s interesting and unique. And she paints,” he said, knowing he was giving Andi nonsensical information. But she was female. She’d understand he was making a point. The woman on his mind wasn’t someone that he’d consider a one-night stand.
“You have a crush on someone. More than a crush, you’re really interested. Who is she?” Andi’s brown eyes twinkled with enjoyment.
He tapped her nose. “That is none of your business.”
She stepped toward him with a sigh and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “I’ll find out eventually.”
“I’m sure you will.” When he was ready for her to know. After he’d made progress.
“Good luck,” she said, patting his cheek.
He’d need it. He doubted he’d see Halley at the bar, so he’d need to plan his next step.
Except he was wrong. He was on his second beer, shooting the shit with Paul Carver, an old friend, when she walked in alongside her sister. Paul whistled. “Who is that?” he asked, his head tracking the women as they headed toward the other side of the bar.
“Which one are you looking at?” Kane asked, curling his hand into a fist, growing quickly possessive of the woman who had already left an indelible mark on him.
“The gorgeous blonde, of course.”
Kane relaxed, the tension in his shoulders easing. “Good. Because I’d hate to have to break your jaw,” he said, more good-naturedly than he felt with the blood still pumping through his veins.
Paul barked out a laugh. “So you’re staking a claim on the other one?”
“Already staked, my man.”
“What do you say to a dual approach?”
Kane placed his beer on the bar counter and inclined his head. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Halley’s insides shook as she stood at the bar. She didn’t do big rooms of people well, something she’d learned once she returned home as a teenager. She didn’t like strangers in her space, standing too close. And after the foster care situations she’d lived through, that made sense and some residual anxiety was understandable.
She picked up her drink and took a sip of her rum and Coke. With a little luck, her sister… and her ride would decide she’d had enough of this scene and decide to go home.
Halley lowered the glass just as a familiar voice said, “That’s twice in one day.”
She turned and met Kane’s gaze. She shouldn’t be shocked to see him here. It was the place to go, but she hadn’t thought about the fact that she might run into him tonight. And now that she had, her stomach fluttered with butterflies she hadn’t felt in… ever.
He’d cleaned up since she’d seen him this afternoon. His hair was still disheveled but in a sexy, just-rolled-out-of-bed sort of way, and he wore a pair of faded denim jeans and a white tee shirt that showed off his muscles the same way as the black one he’d worn this afternoon. She was tempted to squeeze his biceps and see how hard they were beneath her fingers.
She curled her free hand into a ball, her drink still in her other one.
“So tell me. How did I get so lucky?” he asked, his gaze warm on hers.
“My sister wanted to celebrate a big sale.” She placed her glass on the bar.
“You mentioned she sold a house earlier.”
Halley nodded. “Phoebe is a real estate agent. A pretty amazing one, actually. She sold the Callahan Estate.”
He let out a low whistle. “Now that is impressive.”
“Right?” She couldn’t contain the pride in her voice at her sister’s accomplishment. “So we had dinner to celebrate and then she insisted we come here for a few drinks. But…” She gestured to Phoebe, who was now engaged with talking to a good-looking guy with dark hair and a square jaw. “Apparently now she’s abandoned me,” she said, tongue in cheek.
He laughed. “Then it’s a good thing I’m here to step in for her and keep you company.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Having Kane around was better than standing alone and letting a stranger approach her. “Maybe it is,” she murmured.
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you actually happy to see me?” he asked, stepping in closer.
She didn’t mind him in her personal space. His masculine scent caused heat to permeate her senses. Her nipples puckered and a rush of wetness coated her panties.
She swallowed hard. “I guess I’m just not into the bar scene.”
“And I’m a familiar face,” he said, understanding how she was feeling without her having to explain. “I realize we’d left your paintings in the SUV at the garage. Did you want to take them to the gallery?”
She grasped onto the more mundane topic. “I was planning to wait until I get my car back and drop them off then.”
Although Faith, who owned the gallery, said she’d prefer to have the paintings before the weekend, Halley might not get them there in time. She could ask Phoebe or Aunt Joy for a ride, but she hated for them to have to go out of their way for her.
“I could take you over tomorrow if you want,” Kane offered.
She paused, surprised. “I couldn’t put you out.”
“It’s fine. I can spare the time. In fact, we could get lunch on the way home.”
“But—”
“It wouldn’t be a date. Just two old friends, one doing the other a favor,” he assured her, and she didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed he seemed to have given up on asking h
er out.
She disliked imposing on people for favors. She still wasn’t used to relying on anyone but herself, but Kane seemed to want to help so… “Okay, thank you.”
A pleased smile lifted his sexy lips. “Give me your cell. I’ll call myself and we’ll have each other’s numbers. I’ll give you a ring before I leave the garage to come by.”
She saw the twinkle in his gaze, realized he had an ulterior motive for taking her number, but she found herself digging her cell out of her purse and handing it to him anyway. A few minutes later and they’d each programmed the other’s number into their phones.
Kane now had an easy way to reach her. Her stomach fluttered again, something she was getting used to when he was around.
* * *
Halley left the bar shortly after talking to Kane. She’d expected to have a hard time sleeping for the usual reasons, because her past left her afraid of the dark, more specifically afraid of passing out and waking up to find someone standing over her. She shivered at the painful memory, but in a surprising turn, that hadn’t been the reason for her inability to sleep.
Instead of bad things, her thoughts had been filled with Kane. His sexy smile kept crossing her mind. The way he’d lean in close to her while she was speaking. The curve of his lips when he laughed. The hard muscles in his arms that flexed when he moved. And the appealing smell of him, a warm, heady scent that aroused her senses.
This, she knew, wasn’t easy to do. Halley wasn’t a woman who threw herself into relationships or casual affairs. She’d been traumatized as a teenager, and though she hadn’t been raped, thank God, what she had experienced made her wary of men. So the few times she had found herself wanting company, she’d chosen carefully, made certain it was on her terms.
She didn’t date. She had sex. A fling. She’d learned from experience that was the only kind of relationship she was comfortable with having. The type where no one asked anything of her and no attachments were formed. She didn’t sleep with or beside anyone, either, because no one needed to know she didn’t sleep. Not well and not often. She didn’t want anyone asking her why.
Which explained why she put Kane off, why she couldn’t say yes to dating him. Because he was a man who’d inevitably want more. And she was afraid he could make her want it, too.
Halley worked through the night, falling into bed around three a.m. She woke up feeling fairly rested considering her lack of sleep. She made herself a cup of coffee and walked out onto the half-finished deck and looked out onto the ocean in the distance.
The sound of waves lapping at the shore reached her ears, soothing her. She breathed in deep, the scent of salt and fresh air filling her nostrils. Kane had seemed to like the view, too, she thought, taking a long sip of her coffee, the sweetened brew helping her to wake up and focus even more.
Her cell, which she’d tossed into her cardigan pocket, rang loudly, startling her. She placed the mug on the floor and pulled her phone out, the caller coming in as blocked.
“Hello?” she asked, wondering who would call her this early in the morning.
Silence greeted her.
“Hello?”
No one answered. She shrugged and disconnected the call.
When the phone rang again, she got annoyed, but a glance at the screen told her it was her sister calling.
“Morning, Phoebe.”
“Morning. I’m on my way to work and I just wanted to thank you for coming out last night. I know it’s not your idea of fun and it meant a lot to me that you came.”
Halley smiled. “I’m glad I did. Your successes deserve to be celebrated.”
A beep sounded. “Oops, that’s the office. I have to run. Talk to you later,” Phoebe said and disconnected the call.
Halley laughed at her always busy sister. She picked up her coffee and headed inside. She wanted to paint before Kane called to pick her up and while the sun was at the perfect angle against the house.
She settled in front of her easel, and what felt like a short time later—but in reality had been a few hours—her phone rang, startling her. The name Kane appeared on the screen and her stomach fluttered accordingly.
“Ridiculous,” she muttered as she answered the call. “Hi, Kane,” she said.
“Afternoon, Halley. You ready to go drop off your paintings? I loaded them from the back of your SUV into the back of my truck.”
She glanced at the canvas she had been working on, the acrylics a brighter color than her past pieces, as she answered.
“I thought you drove that gorgeous Camaro?” The royal blue had gleamed in the sun and the white stripe had been glittering and clean. A gorgeous, sexy car. It suited him.
“I do. But I have the truck for other things. Like driving Nicky around, doing work around my dad’s house, grocery shopping, things like that. So your paintings are safe and covered.” He cleared his throat. “And beautiful,” he said, real admiration in his tone. “Anyway, I’ll see you in half an hour if that works?”
“It does. And Kane, thank you.” For the compliment, she thought, extremely pleased he liked her work. And for helping her out.
“My pleasure,” he said, the words sounding gruff and meaningful, which she knew was all her imagination. Which, again, was unlike her, reading into what a man said or did. “Plan on stopping for lunch on the way home. There’s a place on the beach with the best burgers. Casual and delicious.”
Her body tingled with a sudden awareness at the realization that she was going out with Kane. And though her defenses were naturally high, a part of her was looking forward to her afternoon.
Chapter Three
Kane helped Halley unload her paintings and carried them into Glaziers. He’d passed by the gallery often, never curious or bothering to go inside. It was funny how he now had a sudden appreciation for art. And the woman painting it.
The gallery owner was a lovely woman in her mid-forties named Faith. She had blonde hair and an affect in her voice, but she was warm and clearly in love with Halley’s work, and she, in turn, lit up with the praise. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had an excited note in her voice he hadn’t heard from her before. He wanted to see and hear her happiness more often.
Once they finished, they drove to the Shack, his go-to for hamburgers and fries. It was what the name implied, a shack on the beach, a hidden gem in their town.
“Have you eaten here before?” he asked after they’d placed their orders and chosen a small picnic table, the only kind of seating offered here. It was no frills and who he was. Time would tell if Halley approved.
“Nope. But I love a good burger and I’m starving.”
She wasn’t turning her nose up at his favorite place. That worked for him.
A little while later, they were sitting across from each other. They’d finished their burgers, and Halley was picking at her fries, dipping them in ketchup and delicately placing them in her mouth, one at a time. “Good?” he asked.
She nodded, mouth full, and only after she’d swallowed did she grin. “This place is amazing.”
He laughed. “I take Nicky here often. He loves it.”
“So he’s your sister Andrea’s little boy?”
He nodded. “She got pregnant and married Nicky’s father. Unfortunately, he wasn’t model husband material. He was a deadbeat father who left town, to everyone’s relief.”
Halley winced.
And Kane’s jaw clenched as he told the story, always angry on his sister’s behalf. “Andrea hasn’t heard from him since. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is a blessing.”
“That’s awful,” Halley murmured.
“Agreed.”
“You and your sister are close, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Very.”
She smiled. “Phoebe and I are close, too, which sometimes surprises me because we’re so different.”
“How so?” He leaned forward, interested in any glimpse she’d give him into her life.
“Well,” she said, twirling a
French fry in her hand, “I’m quiet, I like being alone in my house with my painting, and my sister is a people person. That’s what makes her so good at her job. She can talk to anyone about anything. With me, it’s more like pulling teeth.”
He met her gaze. “I like the silent type. It’s more intriguing to find out what makes you tick.”
She blushed at that. “I’m really not that interesting.”
“And I beg to differ.” But he wasn’t going to push. They’d had a fun lunch, she’d gotten a little comfortable with him, and that was good enough for today.
She took a sip of her soda. “It must be nice working with your dad.”
Her topic choice took him off guard. “It’s good to have a family business.”
“I sometimes wonder what it would be like if my dad had lived,” she said, then her eyes opened wide, as if she’d realized what she said.
“What happened to him?”
She looked down. “He was in the army. He died in combat in Iraq.”
He reached over and touched her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“I was only three. I don’t even remember him because he was never home.”
She drew her tongue over her lips and he charted the movement, wondering how she’d taste. Sweet? Tart? Would her lips be soft? He couldn’t let thoughts of sex distract him from the important fact that she was letting him in, at least a little.
“I lost my mom when I was fifteen,” he said, hoping to keep her talking with some truths of his own. “The next few years sucked.”
Her eyes grew soft. “That was when you used to help me out in school,” she murmured.
“I remember you’d just transferred in and it wasn’t easy for you. I had a hard time after Mom died, and I felt like I understood you a little. I wanted to help.”
She managed a smile. “You did. More than you can imagine.”
“I’m glad.”
She glanced at their joined hands, his palm still covering hers. He slid his off her without making an issue.
Then, sensing she’d had enough for one day, he crumpled up the foil wrapper from his burger. “Ready to head home? I need to stop by the garage this afternoon and make sure things are running smoothly.”
Fearless (Rosewood Bay Series Book 1) Page 3