Suspended (10 page)

“I got it. You’re interested in her. I didn’t really need a
sound track as proof.”

The moment Kendall had come into that room, there had been
nothing on his mind but her. Kain might be a charming son of a bitch, but he
was loyal beyond definition. As young as his best friend was, there was an
old-world shadow that rode behind him. Honor was important, and he’d never
poach.

“I don’t know what‘s going on with Kendall. I have to focus
on the future, not getting her naked. And that’s why I need a few days away
from her.”

He didn’t trust himself not to get wrapped up in her. The
minute he got near her, there was a hunger that precluded all sense. Attraction
he understood, but not this gnawing hunger to strip back all her defenses and
take everything he could from her.

The numbness he’d felt since Larry had his heart attack two
weeks before and through the hospital visits and finally his death—all that
faded the moment he got his hands on her. The fact that it came back, double
time, made her more addiction than cure.

He needed to know he could walk away.

For himself and for her.

“I’ll wine and dine her. Keep her occupied.”

Shane’s spine straightened. “As long as it’s occupied, not
romanced.”

Kain grinned. “I can’t help it if I’m more charming than
you.” His smile faded. “That wasn’t always the case.”

It felt like that part of him was behind Plexiglas. He could
see it but didn’t know how to reach it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be that person
again. He was pretty sure his laughter had gone into the ground with his
father.

“Just take care of her.”

It took all his willpower to walk to the door. Kendall was
right; he was a fucking asshole. And she didn’t need him in her life right now.
Even if losing himself in her arms was the sweetest thing he’d known in too
many years to count.

He pulled out of Kain’s drive and pushed Kendall to the back
of his mind. He had a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. The
quiet, winding road gave him plenty of room to think. By the time he made it to
his father’s house, he had a half plan formed.

Now he just had to make sure the money worked.

* * * *

Kendall pushed the door from the garage open into Kain’s
small mudroom. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“You’re the one who dared the personal shopper from Chanel
to go with you to Target. Who does
that
?”

She dropped two huge shopping bags on the counter. “I was
playing your wingman. You got her phone number, didn’t you?”

Kain grinned down at her. “I did. You still should have let
me pay for the clothes.”

Kendall laughed. “Maxing out my Target card was worth it for
the look on Monica’s face. Especially when I saw her try on two pairs of those
dress pants in her size when she thought I wasn’t looking.”

But now she had clothes for the trip home and a few extras
that she probably shouldn’t have bought. She had a problem with bras. The only
good thing about being a B-cup was the ability to buy cheap bras. Her girls
were small, but they were always dressed pretty.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She held up a finger to Kain
and answered. “Hey, Mom.”

“Any idea when you’re coming home, sweetie?”

Her mother had called and asked the same question twice a
day, but it was now day three, and Shane hadn’t contacted her once. Kain was
playing the perfect host, yet she hated to just sit here and do nothing. “Still
working out the specifics.”

“I can’t believe that will is so complicated.”

Kendall winced. She hated to lie to her mother. How was she
supposed to tell her that everything was going to change when she was over
three thousand miles away? “As soon as I know more, I promise I’ll let you
know.” Kain tucked groceries into the fridge. She leaned heavily on the
counter. Her good mood evaporated.

“Sweetie, I know you’re not telling me something. I wish you
didn’t think you have to take care of me all the time. I’m the mother, you
know.”

She smiled and dipped her head until her forehead touched
granite. “I don’t want to worry you. Are you sure you can handle the Heron
without me?”

“Bells has been stopping by to take me to the store every
night. We only have one group of men here, and they are repeat guests. They
don’t need you to be here to show them all the good fishing spots.”

From a monetary standpoint, that news sucked, but she was
glad it would be an easy week. “You have—”

“Sweetheart, I have Bells’s phone numbers. You know this is
a slow time of year. Thanksgiving is right around the corner.”

“I know.” Kendall hoped to God she’d be home before that.

“Just come home as soon as you can. And stop keeping me in
the dark. At least say you’ll think about it. You’re as stubborn as your father
was.” She could hear the tears in her mother’s voice. The news of Larry’s death
had hit Lily hard. As if the man hadn’t abandoned them twenty-two years ago.
Kendall felt a prick of her own tears in sympathy for her mother. Her mother
was so strong about everything except that blasted man.

“It’s about damn time.”

Kendall looked up at Kain’s voice. Her gaze followed his to
the kitchen doorway through to the dining room.

“I’d say the same thing. It’s about fucking time you two got
back.”

“Mom, I gotta go.”

“Who was that?”

Oh, no one. Just the
son of the woman who was more important than we were
. “No one important.”

Shane leaned on the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his
chest. A dark green thermal Henley pulled tight along his shoulders and biceps,
bringing out the gold flecks of his hazel eyes. He hadn’t shaved since she’d
seen him last. A beard darkened his handsome features, accenting the
rough-around-the-edges man she’d missed. She hated that one look at him kicked
her heart rate into high gear.

Son of a bitch.

“Mom, some answers just walked in. I’ll call you tomorrow
morning, okay?”

“All right. I love you, sweetie.”

She looked away from Shane. “I love you too, Mom.” She
shoved her phone into her back pocket. “Nice of you to show up.”

Shane crossed one booted foot over the other. “Glad you
missed me, babe. Wouldn’t want you to get too comfy with Kain.” His body
language said relaxed, but he was just as wound up as she was. And she
had
missed him. Kain had been attentive
and charming, generous to a fault, but all she’d wanted was Mr. Surly. And
right now, him calling her
babe
made
her want to slap the almost smile right off his face. The twitch of his fingers
on his forearm echoed in the fluttering of her belly. Damn him for looking so
good.

Kain rolled his eyes and opened the fridge. He pulled out
three beers and slid them on the island. “If we’re done with the flirting?”

Kendall took a beer and snicked off the top, then bounced it
on the counter until it spun in front of Shane’s beer.

His eyebrow rose as he walked in and took his beer. “Where
were you two?”

“I think the better question is where were you, pal? You
left me here without a car for three goddamn days.” The only reason she knew
he’d taken her rental car back was because she got a text from the rental place
thanking her for the car being dropped off. “Kain was the perfect host. Even
showed me around Monterey.”

“I know. I told him to.”

She snapped the bottle down on the counter. “Excuse me? I’m
not some dog you dropped off at the kennel, you as—”

“I know, asshole. Is this asshole with or without the
adjective?”

She clicked her molars together. Swearing wasn’t going to
solve anything, but the man brought it out in her like no other.

Kain leaned on the fridge and sipped his beer.

Rein it in. She took a slow breath and lifted the bottle to
her lips again. Shane did the same, and she forced herself to look away from
his strong neck muscles pulling as he swallowed. Her hormones had been happily
in a box for months. This man had to be the game changer?

“Are you done now?” Shane asked.

Not trusting herself, she simply nodded.

“We’ll be heading out in the morning.”

“Pardon me?”

“Pack up all the new goodies Kain bought for you.”

“I bought them myself, thanks.”

“Wasting trip money, babe?”

The bottle shook in her hand from holding it so hard, so she
put it down. “First of all, I missed a perfectly comfy flight to stay and figure
this out. A flight you asked me to skip so we could go back to New York
together.” Okay, so the flight was economy and about as comfortable as sitting
in a bumper car for eight hours, but goddamn that man.

He shrugged. “I trust you about as much as you trust me.”

“It was your bright idea to wait. So tell me, hotshot. How
are you getting us back to New York?”

“We’re driving.”

“Driving?” Her jaw dropped. “That has to be three thousand
miles.”

“A bit more, actually, but yeah.”

She couldn’t read a damn thing on his face. He couldn’t be
serious. She couldn’t be trapped in a car with him for days on end. “This is
your grand plan?”

“I sold off everything I could and shipped what I could to
the Heron. The rest is in my truck, including you.”

Like she was luggage? “And you didn’t think to pick up the
phone or come over here and discuss that with me?”

“What’s to discuss? All we have is the Heron. We’re in the
same pile of shit, babe. While you were wining and dining with Kain, I was
taking care of business.”

“So you’re just pulling up stakes?” Kain asked. His quiet
voice dried up all the venom she was tempted to spew.

For the first time, a hint of emotion touched Shane’s face.
“I don’t have a choice, brother.” He grinned, and his whole face changed. It
softened him, and his eyes actually crinkled at the corners. “You’ll just have
to make sure to come visit me, Daddy Warbucks.”

“Oh, don’t start calling me that.”

The smile slowly slid away. “I talked to the men and to
Gerry. They’re all glad that they’re going back to work next week.”

“I told your father I’d take care of them.”

Realization that more than just her life had changed
radically sank in. As much as she hated Lawrence Justice for what he’d done to
her, she’d at least had her mother to lean on. Shane had no one. And he was
going across the country to start over. A strange place and a strange woman
were now the center of his life. She took her bags in one hand and rounded the
island. She didn’t know how to deal with the flood of new feelings.

She didn’t have a choice but to walk by Shane.

He grabbed her wrist before she could pass him. The grip
wasn’t hard, but he definitely wasn’t letting her by. She looked up at him.

“I’m going to try and make this as painless as possible for
both of us.”

Not sure what to say or what to do, she nodded and tugged.
He held on for another moment, his thumb brushing over the center of her palm
before he let go. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the truck. I promise.”

“Damn right we will.” She stopped in the doorway, looked back
at Kain, and mustered up a smile. “Thanks for entertaining me, Kain.”

“I think you have that backward, `ânela.”

Kain had made sure her days were so full that she didn’t
have time to think about what Shane was doing, but he couldn’t control her
nights. Her body ached for something she’d never had before. It wasn’t like she
and Shane had been close, but her body certainly craved him. She felt empty and
itchy. The musky amber scent of him had those hints of cedar again.

He smelled of wood and autumn and home.

Of all the things she loved and wanted to hold close.

What a cruel trick of fate. She held her head up and went
through the living room and up the stairs. She needed to pack. It was time for
everything to change.

Again.

She tossed her bags on her bed. How long would it take to go
cross-country? Trapped in a confined space with Shane and his Oscar
impersonation was not what she’d call a good time. Would it be any cheaper to
drive than fly? Remembering her bank account’s status as well as her credit
cards, she definitely didn’t have any choice but to be at his mercy.

That made her belly cramp.

She took care of her own. She didn’t like to be beholden to
anyone, and yet here she was. Beholden to a near stranger who knew her more intimately
than anyone else and yet didn’t know the real her at all.

She snapped that particular box of ugly shut and dumped the
clothes she’d bought out of the bag. Two pairs of cords, long-sleeved T-shirts
in an array of colors she’d never thought to choose for herself—thank you,
personal shopper chick—two pairs of jeans, one she was wearing, along with half
a dozen bras with matching panties. Had she bought them for herself? Or just in
case Shane got her naked again?

No. For herself. She happened to like pretty undergarments,
dammit.

She folded the oversize fleece she’d picked up thanks to the
cool nights in Monterey. She’d make do with what she had and get her ass home.
Then she could figure out what to do with Shane and the Heron. Her phone
buzzed, and she dug it out of her pocket. Bells. Her finger hovered on the
Answer button when a knock on her door made her pause. She tapped Ignore and
stuffed it back in her pocket. “Yeah?”

Without turning around, she knew it was Shane. Kain had been
careful not to come to her room. He’d been the consummate gentleman. She must
have a few screws loose, because she’d missed Shane’s surly disposition.

“What can I do for you?”

“You know you should turn around and check who it is. Or
were you expecting Kain?”

She looked over her shoulder at him. He leaned on the jamb,
something she was coming to know as his I’m-going-to-play-this-cool stance. Too
bad it made her want to shake him up all the more. “Really? I’m tired of that
song. Kain doesn’t come to my room.”