Withholding Secrets (21 page)

Sky had no problems about finding a pair of ice skates and lacing them up. Keri, on the other hand, was coming up with every excuse not to as she sat on the bench and fought me while trying to help her lace them properly so she didn’t break her ankle.

Her breathing had hitched a little as her eyes dropped down to my lips and back up nervously, afraid that last night was a mistake and brought on by the near-death experience. When I looked up, as I was crouched on my knees in front of her, her torso leaned closer, her hand went from the bench to my shoulder, scorching my skin through the cotton fabric. “I can just watch. That’s fine.”

“Nope. I’m afraid that there are no watchers today.” The heat intensified as I glanced down at her chest rising and falling quicker. I had the same effect on her as she had on me, and last night was no mistake. “You keep looking at me like that and I will have to lock the kids in the arena for a while.”

“You didn’t have to carry me in here.” Her cheeks darkened along with her eyes, the gunmetal melting and molding together as one as they drifted back to my lips.

“If you’re going to kiss her, then do it!” Jordan slid across the ice from the open door at the end where the players came out of the red locker room. He brought a few sticks and a puck with him taking them to the team box. “You’ve been eyeing her since we started coming around. I’m not an idiot.”

Keri’s eyes opened wide as her face turned blistering red. Sitting back, she shook her head, and as soon as she went to say something, I cupped the back of her head, my mouth covering hers, taking the breath from her lungs. She even tasted better than last night. When I pulled back, I straightened up and smirked at Jordan who had his mouth hanging open and was gliding across the ice until he came to a complete stop.

“Happy?” Grabbing my skates from the bench, I sat next to her, her eyes burning deep under my skin. How that woman could make me come unglued just by a simple look was beyond me. I had screw-me-eyes shot at me all the time, but nothing that ever gave me the urge to take the woman down right on the spot like Keri had.

“Well, now maybe your attention will be on the practices instead of when she will walk through the door.” The boy pulled back turning his attention to his sister entering the ice. “Sky, it’s been a long time since you’ve been on the ice so be careful.”

“I will. This is so great, isn’t it?” The big grin brightened her golden face as she pushed off, gliding through the air.

Taking off my boots and slipping my skates on, I glanced over at the surprise in Keri’s eyes. Her lips were pressed tight together as the giddiness was circling inside of her. Her cheeks were flushed with the slightest shade of pink, and the innocence that she had about herself was more so than I’d ever seen in a woman of her age. It was like the first kiss that was supposed to happen when a girl was thirteen at her first boy-girl party, not a twenty-five-year-old who had been married. But, I was glad it was me who brought that whole special time to her like this. It was me who was making her blush and shy away. 

“You were not paying attention to me.” Her softened grays focused on the lace job I did on her skates and she ran her bottom lip through her teeth in order to hold off the giddy smile that was trying to make an appearance.

“When a hot ass woman bursts into my office, what do you expect, Keri?” Nudging against her, her warmth jumped the fences and settled into my own cheeks. It was like I was a damn teenager again with her; unable to control my own body and my hormones, and pretty soon, my voice could crack apart with the nonchalant touch of hers. “The sight of your ass in that one pair of jeans that night … I still can’t get my mind off that.”

“You … You…”

“
Color me taken
.” Reaching over, I cupped the back of her head, pulling her to me and I smothered her lips with mine, the heat increasing and her hunger beginning to meet me at my own game. If I kept it up much longer, I wouldn’t be able to skate and the need to excuse myself to the locker room would be needed. And this was something I would finish when the kids weren’t just a half-wall away. “I’ll let you sit for a little bit, but then you are coming out with us.”

Getting on the ice, I looked over at the kids giggling in a hush-hush way. After skating around for a little bit, I brought out the sticks and the puck. Sky was a natural just like her brother and she was having so much fun. Seeing them happy and carefree for once was a big issue; not to just Keri, but to me also. Knowing what they came from, it was a sense of pride to be watching a set of siblings who had nothing but pain and misery all their lives finally being able to be kids and laugh, and be worry free.

“Alright. How about a little game?” I looked at Keri still sitting on the bench with tears in her eyes—happy tears, I hoped. “Adults verses kids.”

“What? That’s no fair!” Jordan stopped next to his sister. “You’re good. Better than us put together.”

“Yeah, but look at what I have on my team.” I pointed at Keri, seeing her smile dropping instantly. “I’m the one who’s going to have to carry my teammate, literally.”

“That’s true.” Jordan nudged Sky’s arm. “We can take the old people.”

“I can still hear you!” Keri used the half-wall to pull herself up on the wobbling skates. The determination was on her face and casted into her steel eyes. When she managed to get onto the actual ice, she pushed away from the wall, keeping her ankles steady. “This is so on!”

We played for a while, and Keri—well, she didn’t really play, more like scooted across the ice while watching us. But the smile on her face and the sheer happiness in her eyes had been enough to topple me over the edge with her. When Jordan had the puck and she was trying to get it from him, he kept teasing her with it.

Finally, she grabbed a fist full of his shirt and pulled him close to her. “I can ground you from playing, mister. You better let me have the puck.”

His eyes opened wide as he looked over at me for help. “Hey. That’s a penalty! That is! She has to go to the box, Coach!”

I shrugged, skating over and nudging him a little. “All’s fair in love and war.”

“Oh. This is
war
!” He gritted his teeth as he crinkled his nose at her, making her laugh harder.

“Bring it on and we will see who’s playing this Saturday!” She bumped the puck with her stick and raised her eyebrows. “Oh! Color me awesome! I just hit the ball!”

I caught the puck before Sky could get over and knocked it into the goal. “And that is how it’s done, baby!” Going back over to her, I went to put my arm around her waist when she slipped trying to do a victory dance. Catching her, I laughed as I put her back up on her skates. “You are really bad, you know that?”

“You can spank me later.” Her eyes darted over to the kids retrieving the puck. Her mouth had dropped open when she had realized what she had said. Crimson filled her face as those wide eyes shot to me quickly.

“That
will
be arranged.” I left her there with her mouth hanging open and her face bright red.

Glancing back at her, I winked urging the crimson in her cheeks to darken even more. Oh, it was on. It was definitely on. There was no loving and leaving this. I wanted this. I wanted this more than anything I’d ever had before. Keri was my drug, and I was hooked.

After the time at the rink and dinner, Kane piled us into his truck and he drove past the club. My heart slammed hard as I looked over at him. His jaw was set tight and his eyes were constantly scanning the road. Last night, he had been so wonderful … and that kiss. I had never been kissed like that before. It had been to the point where he could have done anything and I would have let him. Parts of me were on fire that I never thought were possible.

Finally, those green emeralds shot over to me as the cocky smirk slid across his face. My comment on the ice was getting me into trouble, and the butterflies were fluttering around inside of me. It had been such a long time since I had been with a man, but still, that wasn’t even like this at all. The anticipation was tingling all over, and I couldn’t wait for him to touch me. I needed him to touch me just to put this inferno out that only he started.

Today had been perfect, almost unbelievable, but now it was time to get back home and get back to reality. Nothing would ever work out with Kane anyway. He was a one-time, jump in and right back out of bed, kind of man. I knew that type. I knew that was how he was when I saw him with that woman’s tongue down his throat. There was no way I could be that type of woman either. What would that look like to Jordan? That those kinds of ways were condonable?

No. I didn’t want him to grow up to be like that. I wanted him to be a good man who would someday be a good husband and a great father. He had the makings for it with the way he was protective over Sky and his want to protect me now also.

When Kane ended up driving past our street, my breath caught in my throat. Where in the hell was he taking us? We
had
to go home. The kids had school in the morning and I
had
to work.

His hand came over and rested on my leg with his thumb making soft circles through the denim. If that wasn’t getting my mind off the matters at hand. The intoxication hit as I enjoyed the warmth of him, the comfort he was giving me through the nonchalant touch. Just a couple of months ago, I thought this guy was hot and that was all I thought about him. Now, I was lusting over Jordan’s hockey coach, trying to imagine what it would be like to have those large and powerful hands all over my body, touching me in places that hadn’t been touched in almost a year.

“I have your stuff at the house already.” His voice was low as he was leaning on the console that was separating us from each other. Glancing over my shoulder in the back seat, I noticed that Sky was dozing off and Jordan’s mind was focused outside of the window. It was getting late and I could tell that they were exhausted from playing at the ice rink and the adventure from last night.

“Do you mind telling me where we are going?”

“To my place.” His eyes shifted up to the rear view mirror as he cringed a little. His jaw tensed and his hand tightened on my leg. As if he had forgotten where he had been heading, he switched lanes quickly, taking a sharp left. Then, his eyes shifted back up to the mirror. “I haven’t been there in a long time and it’s not much, but it’s safe for you and the kids.”

Thousands of thoughts flooded my mind as the worry screamed at me, but my heart wasn’t all that stirred up. “Are you leaving us there?”

His head snapped my way for a second as the hesitation hit him. He was thinking about what he was getting himself into with us, and with me. It hadn’t been something that he wanted, and he was trying to find a way to get himself out of it without hurting us. It would be something that I needed to talk to him about after the kids were in bed. I had to cut him loose and walk away. This wasn’t anything that either one of us needed right now. Not with my life belonging to the two in the back seat.

“I’ll get you all settled and...”

“It’s okay, Kane.” The tears filled my eyes unexpectedly, burning the soft tissues. Looking out the window, my breath caught seeing the big fancy homes that we were passing. We were in the very nice part of the city; the one where everyone watched over everyone else. The lawns were all well-groomed and perfect with flowers and some trees. They were houses that I always dreamed of having someday. But that someday was taken away when I said
I do
to a man who
didn’t
and left me with his kids.

Kane turned again and once more into a maze of houses that were farther and farther apart. Finally, he slowed nearing a lonely driveway that was surrounded by thick woods. When he turned into that driveway, my heart stopped as I looked at him. “Where … where are you taking us?”

“Relax. I told you that I am taking you to my place. It’s actually not too far from yours. It just seems farther because of the way that you have to get here.” He smiled as he drove down the dirt road careful not to scratch up his beautiful black truck. Finally, we emerged from the woods into a clearing where a large one story house was hidden. The front was floor to ceiling glass windows that were dark and tinted for privacy. The front door was a double door that had brass handles and etching to enhance the beauty of the entrance. Parking in the drive that rounded the front, he looked at me and nodded. “
Honey, we are home
.”

“This?
This
is your home?” My jaw must have been on the floorboard of the truck because it made Kane chuckle. The lawn was kept up and there were a few bushes in front of the windows that had been trimmed and kept neat. “Why do you stay at the club where you work?”

“You mean own.” Shrugging, he glanced into the back seat at the two kids that were now sleeping. “Hey. We’re here.”

Talk about dumbfounded and shocked. My heart was beating so fast that I wasn’t sure if my body could even take it. When we were at the club, I hadn’t even realized that he was the one who owned the place. How could I? I didn’t really know him. I just figured that he worked there because he was always there on the weekends.

Getting out, I watched him scoop Sky out of the back seat and nudge the truck door closed with his hip. Following him to the door with Jordan by my side, I watched him tower over a panel on the door. Maybe a security code to enter the place. Ugh. I would never know how to get in and out of the place without knowing the code. I would have to find a way to know it if he wouldn’t tell us. Just like the club, if we left the building, the silent alarm would trigger a notice to the police station.

Yeah. Just great. We had no right to be there with him. He had a lot of money, that was obvious to me more now than before, and in no way anyone that I should be with. I thought it was strange that he hadn’t batted an eye at the large grocery bill. Seeing this, it hadn’t hurt him at all.

We walked in, and the place was set up just like the club. Black furniture with white carpeting and a large flat screen displayed on the long wall that the leather sofas were facing. Two recliners were set back a way, but had plenty of room to view the screen. Black glass tables were around—end tables, coffee tables—and it was beautiful. The kitchen was open with black granite countertops, a long bar that separated it from the living room. The back was glass floor to ceiling walls also that gave a perfect view of the large back yard and the pool that was surrounded by concrete all around, and that was outlined by gardens filled with all kinds of colorful flowers.

Kane put Sky down on the couch and tugged the black blanket off the back to cover her up. “It will be alarmed when you are here and when you are gone.”

“Kane, we should really go…” A lump blocked my throat as I looked at his tight jaw and pinched brows. “The kids…”

“I will take them to school and you to work, but I think that you should take tomorrow off.” His eyes shot down to my leg where the fence had first dug into my skin, the blood soaking through the jeans of my upper thigh. “Maybe I should take you to the hospital.”

“No. It will be fine. I will bandage it up and it will be fine.”

“And when was your last tetanus shot?” Motioning to the recliner, Kane watched Jordan take a seat and put up the footrest.

“Last year when I got a furniture staple jammed into my thumb.” I rubbed my forehead as the throbbing in my thigh intensified a little more. I was having so much fun and using my leg way too much at the ice rink.

But this place was way too much, and now knowing Kane, there was no way that I could ever have anything with him. If wind had gotten out about us staying here and me being with him, I would be the biggest gold-digger there was and the kids would be harassed even more. “We have to go home.”

As I started to the front door, he groaned as he folded his arms across his chest. “Go ahead, and see what happens.”

“Are you threatening me?” Swinging around, I glared at him. He had money, and there I was without a dime to my name and two teens. No wonder why he was hesitating on even staying with us. We were going to drain him dry just by helping me through this rough patch.

“I’m not threatening you. I am trying to keep you and your kids safe. Why can’t you see that?”

“Because this … this is too much. I’m not going to sit here and use you, Kane. I can’t. This…” I waved my hand at the kids on the couch. “This is my responsibility. Not yours. And you…” The tears warmed in my eyes, but I wasn’t going to let them go. I was so tired of crying and being such a mess, especially in front of the kids. “People get one good thing that happens to them in their whole lives. I already have mine. I have mine right there. I don’t get something else that’s good.”

“Maybe you do. Maybe you deserve it for a change.” His arms dropped as he walked toward me. “I’ll get Sky to her room and you can get her in bed. Jordan will have his own room, and you need to get some sleep also.”

“Kane, I can’t do this to you. I can’t. I really appreciate everything, and I mean
everything
, but this … invading your home, your life … I can’t do that to you.” Shrugging, I pulled away as he tried to touch me. The kiss was nice, being with him was comfortable, but knowing he led a very healthy lifestyle, I couldn’t drag him down with us. This was my doing, and I had to be the one who turned this around.

“Fine. Fine. But if you think that I am letting you three go back to that house yet, you’re out of your pretty little mind. So try that one for a color in your
special big crayon box
.” His lips pressed tight together as he went back to the couch. “Jordan, follow me and I will show you where your room is.”

“Where are the rooms?” I had to bite. All I saw was this big, fabulous bachelor-pad living room and a kitchen any woman would dream of having, but there wasn’t anything more to the place.

“Two are downstairs and one is up here behind the living room.” Just like that, he had scooped Sky into his arms, letting her fall to his chest.

Defeated once again by Coach Kane and his team of dominance, I followed to the hidden doorway that had looked like a pantry in the kitchen. Going down the winding staircase, I looked at Jordan as the impressed smile slithered across his face.

The basement was broken into thirds. One bedroom was on one end and the other on the opposite end. Both were bigger than my living room at our house, and both were just as his room at the club was. Black and white. Simple and plain, yet very manly elegant. He put sky in the room that was closer to the stairs, and Jordan had taken the other. The middle was another living room with a few black recliners and a long, deep couch that looked as if it had been used and the ones upstairs looked to be just for decoration. A long black shelving was on the far wall that had folding doors that hid whatever was behind them.

I followed into Sky’s room and slid her shoes off. Putting them by the door, I sucked in a deep breath as she woke up groggily. “Go ahead and crawl in bed.”

“Where are we, Keri?” Her dark shadowed eyes looked back at me as she blinked, smiling at Kane. “I thought you left us.”

“I’m still here.” He forced a smile as he pointed to the black door. “There’s your bathroom, and there is everything that you need in there. Your clothes are in the closet and your backpack is by the desk.”

I looked up at him, feeling my heart yearning for him again. He was an amazing man to be that thoughtful of the kids. He had gotten their belongings from our house somehow and had his place all ready for us.

“We are right upstairs. You can move around the house, but do not open any of the doors or windows. Everything is alarmed.” He scratched the back of his head and walked out to let me get Skyler comfortable in her new room, for the time being.

Making sure that she was tucked in and comfortable, I checked in on Jordan lying on the bed in the other room. Leaning against the doorway, I stuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans wondering if Kane left already.

“Is what you said true?” His dark eyes shifted over to me as the pain filled them.

“What?” Leaning against the doorframe, I dropped my arms and folded them across my chest, checking out the rooms that Jordan and Sky both deserved to have. If I could do that for them, I would in a heartbeat. And to have Kane be the one to insist on bringing us into his home, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.

“That people only get one good thing in their lives?”

“That’s what my mom always told us.” My eyes shifted over to the matching black door on the far wall. My guess was that was a bathroom, too. Both kids got their own bedrooms and bathrooms. And I thought I was happy with my place having more than three rooms to it and a nice kitchen. This was ten times better, and I had to let the green envy in just a tad. “And I got my good thing in my life the day you two came to the door. I wouldn’t trade that for anything, Jordan.”