Withholding Secrets (4 page)

“Kane wants you to come and work for him instead of calling the cops. It would be doing … um … equipment things to pay back for the damage. And then if you wanted to, he would turn it into a job.” Her hands wrenched together, causing her knuckles to turn white. There wasn’t a wedding ring on her finger, but maybe she was just a girlfriend or something. No. A girlfriend wouldn’t go to that much trouble. She was something to them, but I couldn’t figure it out yet.

Jordan nodded, his eyes lowered to the floor and his tail tucked between his legs.

“He’s going to be watching over you, and he’s going to call me if there are any problems.” She looked over at Sky and her silvery eyes softened compassionately. “You will come over here after school with him, okay? That way, you’re not home alone.”

She slid her arms around her brother’s waist, and he put his arm around her.

“We should get going home.” The woman cleared her throat and nodded at me. “Thank you, Kane. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

“Let’s go home.” Her voice eased as she followed the kids out into the hall.

“By the way,” I went to the door and looked out at the three, “we have practice tomorrow at noon to two.”

The boy’s head dropped as he nodded slightly.

“We will go shopping afterward to get your school stuff.” The woman cleared her throat as she pulled the keys from her jeans’ pockets, giving me a moment to take in the beauty of that ass once more.

Good heavens. I wouldn’t be able to leave now without taking myself in the shower. Something that I hadn’t done since I was a teenager. I hadn’t the need to before. But after seeing the sights of her… Ugh, I was in complete and utter Lust Land.

Forcing a deep breath, I looked at the ice rink on the very south side of the Twin Cities. The last time that I had seen this place, it was falling apart and it had needed a lot of work done to it. Now, it had all the work done and more. I looked over at Jordan, who hadn’t said a word since last night. He was ashamed at what he did, and I had gone in there like a raging madwoman. With some of the things that Sky told me about being at their mother’s, I flew off the handle. Not good, but these were kids that were in my care now. And I had seen my own mom fly off the handle a couple of times. I had no idea who this guy was, so I didn’t know why he was holding Jordan there alone.

“I can go in there with you, if you would like.” I checked the rearview mirror to look at Sky, who was wearing one of my yellow tops with a few ruffles along the neckline that she liked the instant she saw it. Plus, I had a few pairs of jeans that fit her a lot better than the one’s Jordan gave her. They were still a little big, but at least she had something to go shopping in.

“I’m fine.” Jordan stretched his neck to look at his sister, waiting for her to follow him. “Let’s go.”

“I would feel better if I were to come in and check this out.” Leaving the two kids, now who were in my care, in this ice arena that I didn’t know, didn’t have any idea who this Kane guy was, and if there were really other kids Jordan’s age going to be there wasn’t something I was really settled with doing. Not until I knew they were safe under this roof.

“Fine.” He shoved himself out of the car and waited for Sky. She climbed out and stayed by him.

I exited my car and followed them into the brightly lit building. Last night, the lights were dim and I couldn’t see much. The ceiling was high, very high, and all brand new. On the walls were some paintings of hockey players on the ice in certain moves. I had no idea what, but then again, I never watched hockey myself. We found the office that we went to last night, but it was locked. My heart slammed hard as I shrugged when the kids looked at me.

Hearing some noises down one of the halls, I forced a deep breath. The man on the phone last night had a very nice deep voice, one that made the heat run through my veins. I had pictured him to be some fat, old guy, but then when I saw him, I was completely wrong. I went into that office with my guns drawn, and when he stood from his chair, I knew that I was no match for him. Still, I wouldn’t have let anything happen to those two kids again. I didn’t care what it took.

And talk about hot. I had never seen someone that hot before. Not even on the covers of men’s magazines. Oh. Those eyes. Those bright and vibrant green eyes. Those were nice, but I wasn’t going to be taken in by the nice gestures and smooth talk again. Not this time. I had two kids now that I had to protect, and if it meant that my fun times were over … hell. What fun times? I was a prude long before Joe came into my life. In fact, I was a prude all my life.

We walked through the tunnel and there were bleachers all around the ice. The glass went up high, higher than I imagined, and there were two boxes that were lined with glass also. I don’t know what those were for … maybe for safety of the team … but they were kind of small. In the stands, there were a few older people talking amongst themselves. Probably other parents, seeing as Kane said there was a junior’s team practice. And he did say last night that he didn’t mind the watchers.

There was a woman, about mid-forties, that was sitting alone looking at her cell phone. Her hair was in a bun and her eyes had dark circles shadowing them. She had on a jacket, a light one, but her body was huddled together and I knew why. The ice did give the place the feel of a freezer.

And there I was, wearing a black tight tee shirt with a pair of blue jeans. Next time, I would remember a jacket or a hoodie or something. Folding my arms across my chest, I heard someone coming from behind.

Turning around, my heart sped up a notch from seeing the guy from last night. Kane. His long sleeved tee shirt clung to his broad shoulders, and his jeans were snug on his lean waist. His hair was spiked and jet black. A nice touch with those striking green eyes. His face was freshly shaven and the scent of aftershave had drifted through the air. If that wasn’t enough to make a woman drool, I had no idea what would.

“As I figured.” In his hand were two light red jackets with the rink’s name on them. “You two might want to put these on.” He handed one to me, and then one to Sky.

I accepted the bigger of the two that was four times my size and smelled the same as he did. Maybe his jacket. Looking over at Sky putting hers on, I wondered whose that would have been. The last thing that I wanted to do there was to embarrass Jordan or get some wondering eyes put on his sister. And Kane was polite about it. I had to give him credit for that.

“You two can go ahead and take a seat up there.” He pointed as he stopped by me. He was much taller than I remembered from last night. Looking down, I saw the skates with something on the bottom. “Jordan, come with me and I will take you to the equipment room.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with him,” I spouted off before I actually thought about what I was saying. Jordan’s eyes shot up to me, wide with surprise, and a little anger was sheeting over them.

“You’re more than welcome to join us, but I’m sure the other parents wouldn’t appreciate you being in the locker room with their boys getting ready.” The curt little smirk spread over Kane’s handsome, smooth face as those green eyes danced in delight.

Heat filled my cheeks as I shook my head. His large bear claw came down on my shoulder, sending a shock of electricity straight to my heart. The burst of acceleration kicked up some sparks, igniting the timbers in my belly.

“Come with me and I will show you where you can sit.” The smile spread across his face as some dimples appeared in his nice cheeks.

We followed and he had us sit one row behind a dugout kind of place where there was a half wall with access to the ice instantly and a long bench. To the right was another matching one. My guess was it was where the team would sit when I looked at it again.

Taking a seat, I glanced over at Sky as she bit her nail nervously tucking herself deep into the jacket. I felt bad for her. How it must feel to be that scared of everything and everyone because of her parents. Hopefully, she could get on the basketball team and make some friends.

The players finally came out with Jordan. As we watched, I kept my eye on Kane with the boys. He joked with them, and there were also times when he was serious. And damn. He was like a God out there, floating on his frozen cloud of heaven. He called Jordan out to the ice a time or two to get a stick or a puck, and Jordan was right there. Then, he brought out a clipboard and a whistle, whatever Kane needed. A few times, I noticed a little spark in Jordan’s eyes as he watched the boys play. Maybe this was something that would be good for him. If this would make his life a little better, I could see what I could do about it. Besides, it couldn’t be that much, could it?

The two hours were up in no time. I wish that my work day went that fast. Then again, we weren’t watching the clock either. I walked with Sky back through the tunnel and waited for Jordan.

A couple of the dads were talking and walking, making their way down the tunnel when Sky drew her arms close to her body, shielding her from the fear grown men brought onto her. Her eyes shot down to the walkway as she scooted a little closer to me. “Maybe we should wait for them in the hall.”

“Sure.” Looking up to see an older, balding man looking at us, I gritted my teeth. Stepping in front of her, I blocked her from the guy making his way past us. Following the crowd, we headed to the front where the large floor to ceiling glass windows were. The sun was pouring through, enough to warm us up from being around that ice.

A few of the parents were chatting, and I looked over to see Kane talking with a dad. His eyes drifted over to me as he shook the man’s hand and nodded. My heart jumped hard as a smile spread across his face and his body shifted as the conversation ended. When he came over to us, my heart began to run wild, thumping and banging around in my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. But, I swallowed hard, hoping like hell to calm the evil lusty creature to a dull roar.  

“What did you think?” He glanced over at Sky, giving her a nod and nothing more in those green eyes, just as he looked at Jordan and the other guys. When his eyes turned back to me, they sparkled with the rays that broke through the glass and shifted down to my hands.

Flames engulfed me as I wrapped my arms around my chest, trying not to look so uncomfortable. With wearing his jacket, the longing to have his arms around me washed through my body and heat wrapped around my spine. Evil lusty creature popped her head up, pushing the air back out of my lungs again, and I pushed her right back down in the dungeon to hide out for a while.

Pushing my shoulders back, I picked my chin up and off the floor enough to stop looking at the perfectly proportioned body he had. “Um … I didn’t understand a lot of it, but it looked pretty … not safe.”

A deep laugh vibrated through his throat and entered through my body, trailing my spine for easy access to spread through my limbs. “It’s no different than football. Here, you’re just on ice instead of grass.”

“That kid fell hard.” Ugh … what a dumb thing to say. When the one boy fell, he slid across the ice, but jumped right back up and went on his way. Nothing screamed that he actually hurt himself during any of the plays. But I had no idea about this sport. Joe never once watched it, so I didn’t have to know anything about it.

“As it would from getting tackled.” He glanced over at Sky as his eyes changed back to nothing but a person looking at a child. “What did you think?”

“It was pretty cool.” Her cheeks darkened as she stepped closer to my side. At twelve, she was damn near as tall as me and I guessed that she would be a tall woman when she was fully grown. The guys were going to be after her, and I was not sure what to do about that. I never was promiscuous when I was younger, so I had no idea what my mom would have done. My sister wasn’t like that, either, as far as I knew, but then again, we didn’t get along too much and she was hardly ever home or around when I was awake.

“That’s why I brought you both some jackets. I couldn’t let my viewers freeze, now could I?”

A little gasp came from her as she went to say something, but the shield of defense came up and she shied away, practically burying her face into my back.

“I’m just picking on you.” He chuckled as he turned his look back at me. Then, his smile slowly faded and the seriousness filled his handsome and flawless face. “She will be safe here, and I will be keeping an eye on her. I would rather her sit in the penalty box, and she can work on homework or watch. That way she will be close, safe, and the only way in or out is by the ice side of the arena.”

“Wait…” I held my hand up, the anger gushing through my body. What kind of sick person would stick a child in a box for a couple of hours? This was a twelve year old girl. “You want to stick her in a box? I don’t think so, you sadistic ba—”

“The box is where players are sent to when they get a penalty against them such as high sticking or slashing another player. It’s not a box, box. It’s the glass box that is on the other side of the rink.” His arms folded over his chest, pushing out those biceps that I could barely fit my hands around, and his chest with the fabric molding to the solid sheet of steel underneath. There was more to him than what was on the outside. And I wasn’t sure whether to be scared or turned on even more. Once again, that lusty imp was trying to get her way out and I shoved her back down to hold my ground.

“Well, color me embarrassed. I don’t know what the hell any of that is.”
There we go, Keri. Keep making yourself look like a fool in front of this man
, my little self snidely remarked, nudging the back of my brain and urging the cackling of the lust monster to roar up inside of me.

Just as his dark brows rose and the smirk sheeted his face, Jordan came out of the red door down the hall that was marked MEN on the front in black bold lettering. I pointed at him as I sat my hand on Sky’s back, guiding her to step past Kane.

“Wait a minute.” Dropping his arms quickly, Kane followed as we approached Jordan, whose smile was fading and the irritation was penciling in its place. “Did you just say
color me embarrassed
?”

“Yeah. It’s a color in the big box of crayons. You know, the one that special kids get.” Trying to force a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and felt my heart wanting to just jump and flutter at the sight of Kane and the deep vibrations of the laugh coming from him. Out of all the men that I had known or met over the years, he was the one to make me feel like a complete fool.

“You certainly are special.” Shaking his head, the joy settled into his cheeks, turning them a nice shade of crimson, and his eyes splayed over the rest of the adults that were staggering around waiting for their kids.

Stopping, I glared up at him and his sexy smirk that was brightening his face and the sun that was illuminating those greens.
Just walk away, Keri. Just walk away.
That little voice came back as the aggravation was easing through my blood stream. The complete, downright jerks whom had a way of smooth talking women always had a way of finding me. It was like I had a sign over my head, flashing, drawing the jackass moths to the flame.