by Deanna Chase
She blinked at the teenager. “Look at it how?”
“To see what kind of damage is there. I can’t heal anything, but my spirit magic lets me sense things, and I should be able to determine if you need a healer. I’ve been working with Healer Snow a little bit. Hope takes me when she goes to help with other cases, and I’m learning how to better use my gift.”
“Hope takes you?” Shannon asked, knowing the fact that Hope approved of his sessions with Healer Snow was the only reason she was considering letting a kid check to see if she’d cracked anything. While Hope was a massage therapist by trade, she also had special healing abilities and worked with Snow on hard to crack cases.
“Yes. She was anxious to have me start working with Snow. They both seem to think I’m useful.” He shrugged one shoulder, clearly trying to show his humility.
“You sound damned useful, Levi.” Shannon beckoned for him to stand right in front of her and added, “Okay, let’s see if I have a broken wing.”
Levi shifted so that he was standing behind her, and then started to gently massage her shoulders with wonderfully strong hands.
Warmth spread from his fingers down both arms, causing the burning pain to dull. After a moment, he slowly slid his hands down her arms, his touch barely a whisper against her skin. The pain didn’t intensify, nor did it lessen more. It was just an annoying ache beneath the surface.
He let out a breath and let go. “Seems it’s just going to be one heck of a bruise.”
“So it’s not broken?” Brian asked. His eyes were full of worry, and his body was tensed as if he was ready to jump into action.
Levi shook his head. “I really don’t think so.” He turned to face Shannon. “But a healer might put you more at ease and could probably make the pain go away.”
“Nah.” Shannon shook her head. Hope had told her a little about Levi’s ability to sense things, and she trusted him. “I’ve got a pain killer potion at home. That should do the trick.”
Brian’s shoulders visibly eased, and he sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “Ready to go?”
“Probably,” she said.
“We’ll grab your shoes and drop off these skates,” Silas said, nodding to Levi to join him on the mission.
After they were out of earshot, Shannon gave Brian a soft smile. “This was fun. Thanks.”
“Despite the fact that I almost broke you?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
“It was an accident.” She leaned into him, gently nudging him with her shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your clumsiness didn’t ruin the date. You’re still in the running to win the bet.” She’d meant her words to be teasing, but when his eyes turned cloudy with an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint, she frowned. “What?”
“I wasn’t worried about the bet, Shannon. I just wanted to make sure this silly outing didn’t end up with you in a cast.”
Her insides turned to mush at his sincerity, and she tightened her fingers over his. “It wasn’t a silly outing. I love that you included Silas and Levi last minute and that you chose something so… fun. Do you know the last time I was on a date that made me smile so much?”
“The last time I took you out?” he said with a cheeky grin.
She chuckled. “Cocky bastard. But no. That time I was too busy picturing what you’d look like naked.”
That shut him up, ratcheting up her amusement. He blinked at her and then right before her eyes, his easy, humorous expression turned to one of pure heat. “Once we get you home, I can make sure you have an accurate picture to draw on next time you want to imagine me in all my glory.”
“Uh, maybe another time,” she said, patting his leg. “I’ve got a teenager who needs the talk.”
He groaned and pretended to be wounded by pressing a hand to his heart. “We’ll need that second date ASAP.”
“Six dates in six weeks, right?” she reminded him. “Does next Friday work for you?”
He shook his head. “No. I want to take you out tomorrow and the next night. And the night after that. What do you say? Change the terms? Six dates in six days?”
She knew he was teasing. His grin had widened, and his eyes were sparkling with mischief, but she also felt as if there were a sincerity hidden under what he wanted her to see. Gods. Her heart was going to burst right out of her chest if he kept that up. She wanted to challenge him, let him woo her for the next week. But as Silas returned with her high heels, she shook her head at Brian. “Nope. Next Friday.”
Brian shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
The ride home was full of easy chatter with the boys in the back talking about skateboarding, video games, movies, and planning a hike in the next few days. Shannon listened in, occasionally voicing an opinion or interjecting suggestions for things to do in the small town during the rest of the summer.
Brian was quiet, busy driving them back to town. He didn’t speak until he pulled up in front of her house and the boys had already exited the SUV. “How’s your elbow?”
“Not bad.” She held her arm out and demonstrated bending it without wincing.
“Good.” He got out of the car and came around to help her out. After walking her to the door, he stood close, his hands resting lightly on her hips. “I had a really good time tonight.”
She stared up into his dark eyes and nearly melted. There was a sweetness there she hadn’t seen before. Was this the real Brian? Had she been wrong about him being a playboy from southern California? An image of Skye, the child he’d thought he’d fathered before he discovered she belonged to Jacob, flashed in her mind, and she reminded herself that it was possible to be sweet and be a playboy. Letting herself fall for this man was probably trouble waiting to happen.
Right?
“Shannon?” he asked, leaning in closer.
She swallowed thickly. “Yes?”
His tongue darted out to gently lick his lips, and his voice was hoarse when he asked, “Can I kiss you goodnight?”
There wasn’t anything on the goddess’s green earth that could make her refuse him in that moment. She stared up into his gorgeous dark eyes and said, “Yes.”
Chapter Seven
Brian sat in his SUV in front of his house and took a deep breath. What exactly had happened to him that night? He’d started off the evening hoping to crack a little bit of the shell Shannon had erected around herself. Get her to give him a chance, maybe start dating for real. Perhaps move their relationship into the territory of something more than friends.
Instead, he’d cracked his own shell. No, not cracked. Shattered. The overwhelming protectiveness he’d experienced when she’d gone down on her elbow had been unlike anything he’d felt for anyone before. He’d wanted to wrap her up in his arms, take her home, and take care of her for as long as she’d let him. In the end, he’d taken her home, kissed her goodnight, and drove home alone… like always.
Damn.
He’d never had a problem being alone before. In fact, he usually preferred it. Whatever he was feeling for Shannon was completely new, and he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with it.
Light flooded his front porch, startling him. Who the hell was in his house? He immediately reached for his phone, quickly scrolling through for Drew Baker, Keating Hollow’s deputy sheriff. He’d already hit Call when the intruder came into view.
“Cara?” he said, although there was no way she could hear him as he was still in his SUV.
“Baker,” Drew said on the other end of the line.
“Hey, Drew. It’s Brian Knox. I thought I had an intruder, but it turns out it’s a friend I wasn’t expecting. Sorry to bother you over nothing.”
Drew let out a small chuckle. “No worries man. I’d rather it be a false alarm than something serious.”
“I hear you. See you tomorrow at the brew pub?
“Definitely. Have a good night.” Drew ended the call while Brian pushed his door open.
“There you are,” Cara said, her hands on her hips as she
glared at him. “Where the heck have you been?”
Standing in his driveway, he narrowed his eyes at her and ignored her question. It was none of her damned business. “Cara. I thought you left for LA hours ago.”
“I can see that.” Her tone was just as icy as the expression on her face. “You were with her, weren’t you?”
“If you mean Shannon, then yes, I was. What’s it to you?” He moved past her and strode into his house, wondering how she’d gotten in. He distinctly remembered locking the door when he’d left earlier in the evening.
“We’re dating!” she cried out from behind him, still standing on the porch.
Brian spun around so fast it wouldn’t have surprised him to find he’d left a burn mark in the floor from his heel. “What?”
“We’re dating. Our families are expecting an engagement by the end of the year.” She threw her hands up and stalked past him into the kitchen where she pulled a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator and poured herself a glass.
Brian stood still, watching her in shock as she downed half the glass of white wine. Then the shock started to wear off as pure anger settled in. “We are not dating.” She opened her mouth to protest but he put a hand up, stopping her. “I don’t care what your father says. I took you to the wedding as a friend so you wouldn’t have to go alone.” His voice was harsh, even to his own ears, and he winced. Trying to be a gentleman and not a completely insensitive jerk, he softened his tone. “Listen, I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea if we date.”
“Because you want to get into Shannon’s pants,” she said, sounding petulant.
He couldn’t exactly deny her claim. He did want Shannon. He wanted her more than maybe anyone, ever. But that was none of her business. And frankly, he resented her bringing it up. “Let’s not go there, all right? Do you want to tell me why you turned around and came back to Keating Hollow?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and pressed her lips together.
He stared her down. “If you don’t want to talk about why you’re here, maybe you can tell me how you got in. My house was locked.”
Her expression was sheepish as she turned away from him and mumbled something.
“What was that?” he demanded.
She threw her hands up. “I wiggled a window open. Go ahead. Have me arrested. I needed to use the restroom and couldn’t wait any longer.”
Cara looked ridiculous with her chin jutted out and her wrists together as if she was waiting to be cuffed. Suddenly Brian was exhausted, and without another word, he turned and retreated deeper into his house.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and he suppressed a sigh. It wasn’t as if he could just order her to leave. It was late, and she didn’t have a car. He vaguely wondered how she’d gotten back to his house. Uber? A taxi? Probably one of the two. Or a hired car even. It didn’t matter how. All he knew was that he had to offer her the guest bedroom again.
“I’m headed to bed,” he said without looking at her. “The guest room is yours.”
“I didn’t eat dinner,” she said.
He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and forced out, “Help yourself to anything in the fridge.”
“Thanks.” Her voice was small now, making him feel like a grade A jerk. But hell, he wasn’t the one who broke into someone’s house and accused them of cheating when they didn’t even have a relationship.
He paused, running a hand through his hair. Turning, he met her wary gaze. “We’ll talk in the morning after we’ve gotten some sleep.”
“I think that’s probably best,” she said.
“Goodnight, Cara.”
“Goodnight, Brian.”
The loud ring of Brian’s business phone woke him from a deep sleep. He sat straight up in bed, blinking his blurry eyes. The clock read 7:07 am.
“Damn it all to hell,” he muttered. “Who is calling at the butt crack of dawn?” Brian slid out of his bed clad only in his boxer briefs and headed out into the living room where his desk sat against one wall. Since he lived alone, he’d set up his work space in the spot with the best view of the valley below his two acres of property on the side of Keating Hollow mountain.
The phone continued to ring, disturbing his normally peaceful morning.
“Knox Designs,” he said into the receiver.
“Knox. What the hell did you do to my daughter?” Manchester barked over the line.
Brian took a moment to process what his client had said. Then he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t be dense, Knox. You can’t go around dating other women right in front of her. She’s devastated. She called me before sunrise on the verge of tears. I’m going to need you to get on the first flight down here and apologize otherwise this business deal is going to go south fast.”
“Um, what?” Brian walked quickly down the hall and peeked into the spare room. The bed was made, and Cara was nowhere to be found.
“You heard me. I can’t work with the man who broke my little girl’s heart. Get here by this evening or else I’m afraid I’ll have to find another designer.”
“I didn’t—”
There was a loud click on the other end. The bastard had once again hung up on him. Brian slammed the phone down and called, “Cara? Are you here?”
Silence.
Brian breathed a sigh of relief. Had she left? He could only be so lucky. After pulling on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, Brian made his way to his kitchen and tasked himself with making coffee. After he had a hit of caffeine, then he’d start dealing with the morning. But as the coffee started to brew, he spotted a note sitting on the bar area. Reluctantly, he picked it up and read the neat scrawl.
Brian,
I think we need a break so that each of us can figure out what we want from this relationship. I’ve headed home on the 6 am flight. Call me once you’ve decided to do the right thing for all of us.
Cara.
She’d drawn a tiny heart next to her name that made him want to vomit. Instead, he crumpled up the note and tossed it in the garbage. How had he ended up in this twilight zone? He’d never dated Cara. He’d never agreed to date Cara. Well, not really, anyway. He’d taken her on a couple of dates when they were teenagers, but that had been more than fifteen years ago. Even then their parents had hinted that when the time was right, the pair would get married. Brian had always ignored them. Because who thinks about getting married at nineteen? Certainly not him and not to someone who his parents picked out for him.
With his coffee in hand, he moved back to his desk, glanced down at the sketches he’d made for Manchester, and then promptly slid the entire folder into the trash. There weren’t any circumstances that could get him to design the plans for Manchester’s new spa now. Not after the old man had threatened him.
The phone started to ring again. He let out a curse and picked it up. “Knox.”
“Brian,” his father’s voice boomed over the phone.
“Were you expecting someone else?” He took a sip of his coffee and sat in his leather office chair.
“Don’t be flippant. What did you do to Cara Manchester? Her old man just called and gave me an earful. He’s threatening to pull out of our partnership if you don’t clean up your mess.”
“Then you’re going to have to find a new partner, Dad, because that man is batshit crazy. I didn’t do anything to his daughter.” Brian reached over and flipped on his desktop computer.
“He said you broke her heart. Fix it,” his father growled.
“No.”
“No?” his father asked in a mocking tone, as if it was ludicrous for Brian to defy him. And maybe it always had been in the past, but not anymore. Brian didn’t work for the family business, nor did he ever intend to. Not again. And even if his design business never took off, that was fine. He owned an extremely profitable online spa supply business that had nothing to do with the Knox Corp
oration. When Brian didn’t say anything, his father added, “You will smooth things over with Manchester and Cara, or there will be consequences.”
“What consequences, Dad? You’ll cut me out of the will? News flash; I don’t care. Do what you need to do. But no one is going to dictate who I date or marry. I will not be a stud pony for you, not for the Knox Corp, and not to further my own business interests. Got it?”
His father let out a sigh that sounded more tired than annoyed. “Of course you shouldn’t do that. I would never suggest you compromise your integrity, but if we don’t do something, a major deal is going to blow up in our faces.”
“Our faces, Dad? I’m not a part of Knox Corp anymore. What exactly do you expect me to do? Pretend to be interested in Cara just so you can get what you want out of this deal? Well, I’ve got news for you. That isn’t going to happen. I’m dating someone. In fact, I’m bringing her to Brittany’s wedding. You can meet her then.”
There was a long pause before his father asked, “How serious is it?”
“As serious as it gets,” he said and felt his heart skip a beat. Damn. He had to get that under control, didn’t he? He’d always intended to take Shannon to the wedding and introduce her as his fiancée. It was a self-preservation move and part of the bet. He hadn’t expected to like the idea as much as he did.
“Did you get her a ring?” His father was all business now. No doubt he wanted to know exactly what type of woman he was getting for a daughter-in-law. Well, he could keep wondering. He had no intention of spilling more details about Shannon until they showed up at his sister’s wedding.
“No. But I plan to.” Brian was surprised to find the idea didn’t panic him like it might have a year before. Had time mellowed him or was it just that he was picturing a different woman by his side? He shook his head. None of this was reality. It was just a story to get his family off his back. He needed to stop picturing Shannon with a rock on her finger.