Authors: Lorelei James
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Adult, #Western, #Red Hots!, #Western Romance
Raising Kane (14 page)
Kane tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Did you love him?”
“Who? Chas?” She chewed her lip, considering her answer. Not for Kane’s sake but for hers. “I thought I did. But when he sacrificed my career without even blinking? I hated him. I hated him for taking away everything I’d worked for. I hated him for a long time. Which is so bizarre because he gave me the most important thing in my life. He actually gave me the ability to love, because until I had Hayden, I didn’t even know what love was.”
Kane brought her face to his and kissed her. So sweetly tears pricked the back of her eyelids and seeped out the corners of her eyes. Then he kissed her tears away.
“Hayden doesn’t know any of this, Kane. The only person I’ve ever told is my dad.”
“Has Hayden ever asked about his father?”
“Has he asked you? While you two were doing Little Buddies stuff?”
“Nope. That’s actually one of the topics we’re supposed to steer clear of.”
“Smart. I steer clear of it too.” She dropped her head back onto his chest.
He toyed with her hair for a time before he spoke again. “Did you practice law after you had Hayden?”
“Sort of. I moved to San Diego and worked as a file clerk in the county prosecutor’s office. I hated that job and decided to hang out my shingle for a solo law practice.”
“That go better for you?”
“For the first month? I didn’t have a single client walk through my door. Then one day, this seventeen-year-old punk with attitude swaggered in. She’d signed a modeling contract and paid the agency owner five grand for a portfolio. When she arrived at her first photographic ‘shoot’ she discovered the guy wasn’t a modeling agent—he was making porn. She demanded her money back and the contract voided.”
“The guy refused?”
“Of course. Most young girls would’ve walked away and chalked it up to a stupid mistake. Or they would’ve taken his offer of ‘earning’ the fee back by appearing in an adult film or two. That type of scam happens all the time in LA. But Ava, my client, refused to back down. I didn’t find out until later that money wasn’t an issue for her.”
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“Why wasn’t it?”
“Her parents were loaded. They didn’t approve of her chasing her dream to become an actress, so she’d hired this guy on the sly without their knowledge or approval. But it was her mess and she was determined to clean it up without Mommy and Daddy riding to her rescue.
“With my background in contract law, I sent the sleazeball a letter outlining my plans to file a lawsuit, regarding his blatant breaking of California sexual predator laws since Ava was a minor—which he knew when she signed the contract. Within two days we had the money and a voided contract.” She smiled.
“Despite our age difference, Ava and I became great friends. We still are. She was so impressed with the results, she sent me more clients. I vetted all her professional contracts up until I moved to Wyoming and she hit the big leagues.”
“Big leagues?” he asked, puzzled.
“After her first TV series was a runaway smash, she transitioned into movies.”
“Who we talkin’ about here, Red?”
“Ava Dumond. Her stage name is Ava Cooper.”
“No shit? The teeny blonde with the big—”
“Watch it,” she warned.
“The big…role on that vampire show?
That
Ava Cooper?”
“One in the same.”
“Whoa. I’d wondered if you knew any of them Hollywood stars, bein’s you’re from LA. Turns out you do.”
“She’s the only one I keep in contact with. I worry about her. She’s highly driven, with boatloads of talent, and she’d avoided drugs and alcohol and all those self-destructive clichés. Now if she could just stay out of the tabloids. She’s got lousy taste in men and a tendency to end up in compromising positions, which always seem to end up on tape.”
“I can’t imagine havin’ that kinda lifestyle.”
Ginger really loved this, being wrapped in Kane’s arms. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d lolled around naked in bed with a hot man, just talking.
That’s because this is a first.
Wouldn’t Kane be shocked to know that?
So tell him.
No. She’d come across…pathetic, probably.
“You must be awful good at keepin’ secrets.”
“Comes with the territory of my job. Now that I’ve told you my biggest secret, let’s hear some of yours.”
“Nothin’ to tell. I’m just a simple Wyoming rancher.”
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Was his tone a little testy? “You’ve never been married?”
“Nope.”
“Ever come close?”
“Nope.”
“Ever been in love?”
“Dozens of times.”
Ginger went completely still.
“Lasted until I ditched the condom, sometimes even a day or two after that. Never longer than a month.”
“Oh.” That was a harsh insight.
“You sure you wanna hear my past secrets and lies, sugar? ’Cause they sure ain’t pretty.”
“Like mine were?” she shot back.
Kane laughed. “We’re both a little touchy, ain’t we?” He began that soothing stroking motion on her back again. “You showed me yours, I’ll show you mine. I guess the easiest way to say this is that I lost my virginity at age fourteen. Got my first taste of sex and never looked back. When I wasn’t workin’ on the ranch or raisin’ hell with my McKay cousins, I was sweet-talkin every woman in my path hopin’ to get into her pants. And truth be told, it didn’t take much for them to fall into my bed. Or into my truck. Or wherever.
“For the longest time it seemed like I had the perfect life. Workin’ the land that’s been in my family for a couple generations. Livin’ in a house with my brother and my cousin. We had damn wild times. Lots of women, lots of booze, no regrets. We enjoyed the hell out of our bad-boy, love ’em and leave ’em reputations.”
“The women you were with didn’t mind?”
“Hell no. They wanted braggin’ rights for bangin’ a McKay. Or two. The more adventurous chickies?
We’d invite them to get really wild. Threesomes, foursomes, you name it, we did it.”
She thought back to his mother Kimi’s comment that Kane had horrible taste in women. “So those were the women you…loved?”
“Loved ’em when I was with them. Afterward? Sometimes I couldn’t even remember the woman’s name. How’s that for true love?”
Ginger wondered if Kane was trying to shock her.
“Disgusted yet?” he said with an edge.
“No. Just curious.”
“About?”
“What happened that made you change. Was it intentional? And if not, do you regret being forced to accept the change? From what I’ve seen of you, you’re not that same guy hustling to get laid all the time.”
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Kane kissed the top of her head. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Not runnin’ out of here screamin’ about my raunchy past. Then again, you ain’t exactly up to runnin’, are you?”
Ginger poked him in the rib.
“Part of the change was intentional. For a year before Colt went into rehab, I knew he was outta control, bad kind of outta control. I couldn’t do nothin’ about him blowin’ off his ranch responsibilities, but I figured if I went everywhere with him during prime bar cruisin’ hours, I could at least keep an eye on him. Bastard got damn wily at ditchin’ me. Then our cousin Dag died and I totally fucked up things between Kade and Skylar.
“Within a two-month period my life changed dramatically. Kade left for almost a year to head up a grazing experiment on a new stretch of land we’d bought. Colt quit drinkin’ and whorin’.”
“Did you quit too?”
“Yes ma’am. The changes in their lives forced me to change. Might make me sound like a simpleton, but I wouldn’t have done it on my own. Guess I’ve always been more of a follower than a leader when it comes to that kind of stuff.”
Ginger couldn’t tell whether or not it bothered him. She ran her fingers down his arm.
“Here’s something I’ve never told anyone. The biggest turning point in my life was the night I watched a guy beat the shit out of my brother because he thought Kade was me.”
A beat of silence passed.
“Bein’ a self-centered prick, I never realized how many times that’d happened to my brother. He’d been forced to deal with my messes our whole lives because we were born with the same face. Probably sounds stupid, but right after that? I grew a mustache and a beard, shaved most my hair off and tried to set us apart. Not for my sake, for his.”
“Is that also when you changed your name?”
He groaned. “Jesus. What was my mother thinkin’? Naming identical twins Kane and Kade? And it don’t help matters that Uncle Carson’s boys all start with ‘C’. It was like they purposely set out to confuse everyone. Anyway, the name Buck didn’t stick. Pissed my mama off good, too, that I tried to change it.
Kade, Colt and Keely thought callin’ me Buck was hysterical. But only the kids call me that now. Mostly because of that movie
Uncle Buck
.”
“Good Lord, those kids can’t possibly confuse you with John Candy?”
“Now that was downright sweet. When Colt built his own house and Cam offered to buy the Boars Nest, it was another decision I went along with. I bought a trailer and got me a dog, which I’m pretty sure in the world of bachelors, is equal to single women havin’ cats.”
She laughed.
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“Then Kade startin’ havin’ kids, and it seemed all my McKay cousins paired off.”
“Were you jealous?”
“Some. To combat the extra time on my hands since I wasn’t out carousing, I took on more responsibilities at the ranch. Helped my other McKay cousins expand. And I joined up with the Little Buddies program, which is one of the best things I ever did.”
“I agree.” Ginger wanted to tell him how much his presence influenced her son. How she appreciated Kane not trying to make Hayden into a mini-me, how he’d played on Hayden’s strengths, not exploiting Hayden’s weaknesses.
They remained twined together, lost in thought.
Kane’s mouth connected with her ear. “If you could do anything right now, what would it be?”
“Take a shower.”
“Done. Sit up. Hold tight.”
“But—” she said to his nicely muscled back.
Kane reappeared holding a garbage bag and a roll of packing tape.
“You’re serious.”
“Completely. I can make your cast leak proof. But that ain’t what worries me.”
“What worries you?”
He pointed to her shoulder. “You usin’ your arm.”
“I’ll be careful when I’m washing my hair.”
“Guess maybe you don’t understand, but you won’t be takin’ this shower alone.”
Her hormones, which had been lazing like a sated cat, leapt to attention.
“You wanna take a shower, and I wanna play some water games with you. Sounds like a perfect way for us both to get what we want.” Kane slipped the garbage bag around her cast. He did some twisty thing with the tape, wrapping and rewrapping the plastic. More taping. Then he looked up at her. “Let’s test ’er out and see if she’s water tight.”
“Okay.”
“But first…” Kane tugged on the ponytail holder, releasing her hair. It fluffed around her head like an angry red cloud. She was about to apologize for her appearance, when he murmured, “Better.”
Ginger wiggled until she sat on the side of the bed, cast on the floor and her bum arm dangling by her side. “I look ridiculous.”
“No, you look hot as hell,” Kane corrected.
“Silver-tongued cowboy.”
He moved in front of her. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on the bulge tenting his boxers out.
He sucked in a breath. “Come on, let’s get you wet.”
“I’m already wet when you look at me like that, Kane.”
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Although his grin was quick and playful, his eyes smoldered. “You’ve got a bit of a silver tongue yourself, counselor.”
In the bathroom, Kane dropped his boxers and climbed into the shower. Once he had the water settings where he wanted them, he held her steady as she stepped into the tub.
As soon as the curtain closed, Kane’s mouth devoured hers. The need ignited between them. Ginger was surprised steam didn’t rise off her body wherever his greedy hand roved.
Water pounded on her back as Kane kissed her, and kissed her, bringing the kiss to a level of passion where she thought of nothing but his lips, his tongue, his mouth. The synchronized beating of their hearts.
She whimpered when he tore his mouth free and buried his face in her neck.
“God. Ginger. I—” His labored breathing flowed across her wet skin, causing her to shiver. His entire body was rigid—not just his hard cock digging into her abdomen.
Finally, after holding her as if he couldn’t bear to let her go, he lifted his head and kissed her softly on the lips. “Sorry. Just needed a second to get control.”
“I don’t mind. In fact—” she walked her fingers up his chest, “—your ‘my way or the highway’
attitude really does it for me.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah.”
He gifted her with his devastating grin. “I’ll give that idea a full test drive later. For now…how about if you let me wash your hair?”
“Please.”
Kane turned her. “Be easiest if you brace your hand on the wall.” He placed her palm above the soap dish. “Now tilt your head back and close your eyes.”
Warm water cascaded down her scalp, soaking her hair completely. Droplets hit the plastic covering her cast, making dull
splat splat splat
sounds. Then Kane’s big, strong hands were gently massaging her scalp, surrounding them with the sweet scent of her lavender shampoo. Soapsuds flowed down her back, over her buttocks and the outside of her legs.
He rinsed. He even repeated.
“I need conditioner—”
“I know sugar. I’ve got it right here.” He smoothed it through her hair from roots to the tips. “Turn around.” He pressed her back against the wall. “Now where else do you need scrubbed while we’re lettin’