Beth suspected they had been warned to be careful what they said, but it wasn’t their fault she didn’t belong. They were trying their best to make her welcome, they just naturally wanted to tease their big brother. The amazing thing was how well he took it.
“I understand KLMS has picked up a lot of new listeners,” she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. “So the contest promotion worked.”
“We’ve more than doubled our market base,” Patrick enthused. “You’ve been a good sport to go along with everything. I’m sure sorry about what happened with those reporters. At least the kitten turned up all right.”
Kane was holding her hand and she squeezed it tighter. “Your brother took care of it. He was wonderful.”
“Not so wonderful on my end. He called and blistered my ears so bad it’s a miracle I still have my hearing,” Patrick griped, but it was without heat. The affection between the two men was obvious. They might not have settled the inevitable issues that arose between brothers, yet it didn’t make any fundamental difference to their relationship.
“We could have avoided the whole thing if he would just let me invest in the station,” Kane growled.
“No way.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with a silent investor.”
“Really,” Beth chided. “Could you be silent about anything, Kane? Patrick wants to make it on his own like you did. Let him prove he can do it.”
“I’m sure he can do it, but why not make it easier?”
“Because easier isn’t always best,” she said gently. “And it doesn’t nearly mean as much. You know that. Nothing worth having is easy.”
Kane’s eyes widened as he remembered his father saying exactly the same thing. Nothing worth having is easy, son. You’ve got to earn your place in the world so you can stand up as a man.
Damn.
He looked around at the grinning faces of his brothers and sisters. They were delighted with Beth’s championship of Patrick’s independence—and by extension, their own. Okay, so maybe he was having trouble letting go. And he might have been interfering in their lives, rather than standing back and letting them come for help if they needed it.
But it was hard.
He missed the 2:00 a.m. calls for help and advice and an ear to listen to, though he’d griped plenty at the time. Now they’d all gone on to their own lives and he wanted to be needed the way he used to be.
He gazed down at Beth’s face and breathed a prayer of thankfulness that he’d found her before it was too late. Of course, that also meant he’d have to acknowledge to Patrick that things had turned out all right.
At least…he hoped it would be all right.
There were no guarantees when it came to broken hearts and new dreams. What he really needed to do was get her out of this house and kiss her into silence. He was thinking a lot about kissing Beth these days, and about holding her close every night for a lifetime.
“We’d better head back to Crockett,” he suggested after another few minutes. “The ferry doesn’t run as often in the evening.”
“I wish you’d let me come over in my own car,” Beth said, distressed all over again. “It’s too much to drive back and forth twice in one day.” They’d argued about it several times, but she’d finally given in and let him pick her up in Crockett—stubbornness went two ways.
“You’re welcome to stay with me,” Peggy offered. “I love to have company.”
“Beth probably wants to get home to the children,” Kane said easily. “You know how it is with new cat mothers.”
At Beth’s request he went out to the Mercedes to get the homegrown vegetables she’d brought for his mother, having forgotten them when they first arrived.
When he carried the heavily laden box into the kitchen, his mother caught his arm. “Are you going to propose to that dear child, or not?”
Pegeen O’Rourke had never been shy about stating an opinion, and apparently her opinion was that Beth Cox should become her daughter-in-law.
Kane sighed. “It isn’t that easy.”
“Open your mouth and say ‘I love you, Beth.’ Then ask her to be your wife. That seems quite easy.”
A ghost of a smile creased his mouth. “Pegeen O’Rourke, did my father propose to you, or was it the other way around?”
His mother just laughed.
“I’m still deciding what to do,” Kane continued more seriously. “She’s been hurt so badly. Maybe it’s too soon to say anything.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t ask.”
“She might say no. She’s good at that, remember?”
“Hmm. I see your point.”
Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “Tell me something, Mom. About Dad…do you ever hear him as if he’s talking to you now, not simply like something you remember?”
His mom put her hand under his chin and looked into his eyes, just the way she did when he was little and wanted him to especially pay attention. “I hear him all the time, son, talking to my heart. It helps get me through, and I pray each night my children will find the same kind of love. You do love Beth, don’t you? I’m not wrong about that.”
“No. You aren’t wrong.” Emotion clogged his throat and he cleared it impatiently.
He’d fought his feelings long and hard, but he loved Beth so much it was all he could think about. She had a unique beauty that went beyond her face and figure, though both were just fine in his eyes. And her soul…she was so sweet and decent it made him cling to the moments they were together, and hold them in his heart to keep him warm when they weren’t.
When he’d gained control of his emotions he went out to the living room, kissed his sisters and nieces goodbye, and then his mother. “Don’t worry, I’ll think of something,” he whispered in her ear.
Peggy gave him a confident smile. “I know, lad. You’re like your father. He didn’t know how to fail, either.”
They were on the road, wrapped in the velvet darkness of the Mercedes, when Kane heard Beth let out a pent-up breath. “I’m sorry I interfered,” she said. “Back when you were talking to Patrick. It wasn’t my business to say anything.”
He shook his head, though she couldn’t see it in the dark. “You didn’t interfere. I may not have liked it, but you had every right to say the things you did.”
She was silent for a long minute. “Kane, part of filling your father’s shoes is knowing when to let go.”
“Yeah. It’s a hell of a thing—if you do everything right, you obsolete yourself right out of a job.” He slapped the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, unable to control his frustration. “It’s just that I have all this money and I want to make their lives easier.”
The soft leather of the passenger seat whispered as Beth slid closer and put her hand on his arm. Kane knew she hadn’t done it to excite him sexually, but it was like a brand touching him.
“You have to stop believing money is the most important thing you give, because you’re wrong,” she said quietly. “I can see how much they look up to you. You’re the solid foundation that lets them fly, because there’s a safe place to return if it’s needed.”
“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” he said hoarsely. “Because it makes me want to kiss you senseless.”
Though Beth had withdrawn her hand, he heard a sharp intake of her breath, and then a drawn-out sigh.
“We’re on the freeway,” she said.
“I could solve that problem fast enough.”
“Maybe you’d better wait. Sleep on it for the night, then see how you feel.”
It wasn’t a complete rejection. In fact, it wasn’t a rejection at all. Beth being Beth, just wanted him to be sure. And an idea popped into his head, the best way to propose to such a stubborn, terrific lady. But first he’d have to talk to Patrick and set everything up.
Then he’d propose, and pray that for once, she’d say yes.
“All right,” Kane agreed. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. But I don’t s
ee me changing my mind.”
Patrick stared incredulously over the pile of compact discs on his desk. “You want to what?”
“I want to propose to Beth on the radio.”
“Don’t you think that’s risky? What if she says no?”
“Thanks for pointing out that unpleasant possibility. It never once occurred to me.”
“Well, she does have a track record in that department, and you didn’t like it much the first time,” said his brother, obviously too rattled to recognize sarcasm when he heard it.
Kane thought about how far he’d come since the day he’d read that a certain Bethany Cox had refused her prize date with a billionaire. His pride had been wounded and he hadn’t really stopped to think what led her to such a decision. Now he knew if she said “no” to marrying him, it wouldn’t matter what the public thought. He’d never stop loving and needing her, nor would he stop trying to convince her they were meant for each other.
He looked his brother in the eye. “Patrick, Beth doesn’t believe she’s beautiful or glamorous enough for me…that I don’t think she’s beautiful or glamorous enough.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s hot.”
Kane lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe you want to rephrase that since she’s going to be your sister-in-law,” he said sternly. Old habits were hard to break, and he’d done plenty of stern talking to Patrick over the years.
Patrick sighed. “I didn’t mean she was hot to me, but I can appreciate her being a great-looking babe. Personally I think you’re too ugly for her, but if she can stand it, then it’s not my problem.”
Kane laughed. “Look, she needs to know I’m willing to tell the world, take the chance of being turned down because she’s worth that much to me,” he explained. “So, how about it? If nothing else, your station deserves the news scoop since you’re the reason we met.”
A slow smile grew on his brother’s face. “Sounds like good publicity to me.”
It was almost eleven in the morning and Kane hadn’t arrived, a fact that Beth was trying, without success, to ignore.
Her store was closed Sundays and Mondays, so she didn’t have any excuse to leave. Her business partner still hadn’t gone into labor with her second child, so she wasn’t baby-sitting Emily’s little girl. And she was generally going crazy.
“Why did I interfere?” she moaned, thumping her head on the table.
She should have kept her mouth shut and not said those things. Kane was a smart guy; he’d have figured out sooner or later that his family needed breathing room. He’d just been polite when he accepted her apology.
In the beginning she’d been desperate to chase him out of her life, maybe she’d succeeded.
“Be careful what you ask for,” Beth muttered in a dire voice. Of course, it might have nothing to do with what she’d said. He might have realized she was too awkward and uncomfortable with his family to ever belong.
Like she ever had any of hope of belonging to begin with.
She did love them, though. She loved him more than anything, but the rest of the O’Rourkes were wonderful, too.
Beth slumped backward in her chair and stared at the sink that Kane had installed. The plumbing now worked like a dream. No more slow drains or leaky faucet, and each time she used it, she thought of him.
Maybe she’d have to move.
The phone rang, making her jump. She would have ignored it, but she couldn’t because it might be either Kane or her very pregnant business partner.
“Hello.”
“Is this Beth Cox?”
In the back of her mind she realized the voice sounded familiar, but she was too miserable to care.
“Yes.”
“Great. This is KLMS calling, and we’re transmitting to the greater Seattle area.”
Beth put a death grip on the receiver of her phone. She wasn’t in the mood for “The O’Rourke Marriage Watch.” She never wanted to hear those ridiculous words again.
“I don’t—”
“Hold on for just a moment,” the man said cheerfully. “I have someone waiting to ask you a very important question.”
In the van outside Beth’s house, Kane swallowed the tension gripping him and took the transmitter set. The DJ gave him a thumbs-up signal and they shared a mutual grin.
“Beth? This is Kane.”
“Oh, hi.”
Her voice was faint, so he couldn’t tell if she was happy or angry, or anything in-between. Well, it didn’t matter. He was proposing and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Bethany Cox, I’m so crazy in love with you I can’t sleep at night. Will you marry me?”
There was a gasp on the other end of the phone, followed by a dull thud.
“Honey, are you all right?” Kane demanded urgently.
There wasn’t an answer, and without a thought he dove for the door of the van. The DJ’s eyes widened and he barely had time to keep the transmitter set from being ripped out of the panel.
Kane found Beth on the kitchen floor. She was rubbing her bottom, looking dazed.
“What happened?” he asked as he knelt by her.
“I missed the chair,” Beth whispered. “And the phone’s broken.” She jiggled the receiver and Kane’s gaze followed the cord; it was no longer connected to the wall.
“That’s all right, honey. We’ll get it repaired.”
He carefully helped her up and wrapped her in his arms. Damn, she felt good.
“I should have done it different,” he whispered into her hair. “Champagne and flowers and candlelight—a traditional proposal on one knee. But I wanted something special, just like you.”
Beth’s head was still reeling. She could barely take it in that Kane had actually proposed. On the radio, no less! He couldn’t know she’d say yes, but he’d taken the risk of publicly embarrassing himself, just to reassure her.
“I’m not special.”
“Don’t give me that, lady. You’ve had me tied into knots since the day we met,” he growled. “And if I don’t make love to you soon I’m going to be permanently disabled.”
She sniffed, hiding the fact she was secretly thrilled. “That’s just sex.”
“Don’t knock it,” Kane said, giving her a little shake. “But I’m not talking about the kind of sex you can walk away from, I’m talking about the blow-your-head-off, died-and-think-I’ve-gone-to-heaven, can’t-ever-give-it-up sort of loving.”
“Oh. I guess that would be different.”
“You bet it is.”
Beth snuggled her cheek into the hollow between Kane’s chest and left shoulder and felt the hard pounding of his heart. There was a lot left to be said, but she needed some of the adrenaline in her system to settle before she could think coherently.
Kane’s fingers smoothed her hair, slid over her shoulders and back, then settled on her bottom in exactly the place she’d bumped it. He rubbed in slow circles that should have been soothing, but weren’t in the least.
“Patrick says I’m too ugly for a hot babe like you,” he said, just as if he wasn’t making all that adrenaline get worse instead of better. “But that if you can stand it, it’s not his problem.”
“I’m not hot,” she mumbled, still wanting reassurance.
“Wanna bet?”
His finger skimmed under the high hem of her shorts, finding ticklish skin, and she squirmed.
“Kane.”
“Just making sure you’re paying attention, honey.”
“I’m paying attention.”
You don’t know how much.
Proposing on the radio was silly and romantic and wonderful. Maybe it didn’t matter the way the world saw her, as long as Kane saw the woman he wanted.
Except…she also had to think about his family. They were an intrinsic part of Kane’s life and she hadn’t exactly made a good impression on them. But when she said as much, he looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“Bad impression? What the hell are you talking about? They’re
crazy about you.”
“They were nice,” she said, shaking her head. “But it’s obvious I don’t belong. You’re high society, and I’m incredibly not.”
Kane made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort. “High society? Not a chance. We’re ordinary people, Beth. Irish immigrants who arrived in this country with barely a dime to call our own. As for not belonging…” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “Mom is already looking at bridal magazines and planning the wedding. She thinks you’re the sweetest thing imaginable and will disown me if we don’t get married.”
He grinned.
“Naturally she doesn’t know about your stubborn streak yet. But I’m betting she’ll think that’s great, too.”
“I’m not stubborn.”
“Yeah, right. And I’m the Easter Bunny.”
Kane’s eyes were so full of love it took Beth’s breath away, and she realized the choice was already made. He’d stolen her heart so completely she’d never get it back. She could marry him, knowing bad things sometimes happened, or she could die a piece at a time, each day worse than the last because they weren’t together.
Of course, she shouldn’t let him off the hook so easily, and she knew exactly what to say—something guaranteed to get some fireworks going.
“The truth is, you just want to marry me to help your brother,” she mused. “A wedding would get even more publicity than a date.”
“That’s a damned idiotic thing to say,” Kane roared, instantly outraged. “How could you even think such a thing?”
“You’ve spent your entire adult life taking care of your brothers and sisters,” she said reasonably.
“They can just take care of themselves from now on. The only person I plan to take care of is you, even if you are the most stubborn, unreasonable, impossible woman I’ve ever known,” he snapped.
“How about babies?”
The question threw him. “Babies?”
“I assume we’ll want to have some babies. But only one to begin with, if that’s all right. Don’t you want to take care of them as well? And by the way, it isn’t politically correct to tell a woman you want to take care of her.”
It was then that Kane spied the smile tugging at Beth’s lips. A chuckle rolled out of his chest, growing until it was a full-throated laugh. “What can I say? I’m a throwback to caveman days. It’s genetic.”
A Date With a Billionaire Page 14