Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
What messed me up most was the way he looked with that little girl in his arms. That little girl I didn’t want him to have anything to do with.
The sight of them together ripped and tugged at my conscience.
Because I wanted to think it looked all wrong.
But God, it didn’t.
Those magic eyes they both shared.
Maci laughed without reservation or fear as he spun her around again, the two pleats she’d insisted I braid this morning because she thought it made her look extra pretty flying around her.
There was no missing what was etched in his expression.
Adoration.
Sheer, unmitigated adoration.
“Auntie! You gotta get your booty in the water right now!” Maci shouted.
Kane turned, hitting me with a sexy smirk that took up the entirety of his face. “Yeah, you’d better get your booty in here right now.”
He said it without shame.
As if he were immune to the turmoil that lashed inside me. This horrible complication that made me feel like a terrible person for ever once thinking of him that way.
Once.
What a joke. Because I couldn’t derail the attraction that smoldered in my blood.
“Did you even hear us?” Maci called, cupping her hands around her mouth.
I realized I was just standing there, staring.
Clearing my throat, I forced myself to move, toeing off my flip-flops as I headed down the beach toward the gorgeous water.
The mountains rising all around, the forest thick, the beauty of this place distinct.
The soles of my feet pressed to the warm grains of soft sand as I crossed to the shoreline, then I was gasping out in shock when my big toe touched the frigid water.
“Oh my gosh.” I choked it.
A howl of laughter reached my ears. Warm, deep laughter that wrapped around me like an embrace. “Oh, come on, Emery. It’s not that bad.”
“Don’t be a baby because I’m not even a baby anymore,” Maci seemed to agree.
“It’s freezing,” I countered.
“What that’s called is invigorating.” Kane grinned.
And there was something about him that didn’t appear so menacing right then, which I thought might be the most dangerous thing of all.
The way it caused hairline fractures in the brittle planes lined inside me. A softness trying to sprout. The same ridiculous comfort that I’d felt that night.
Then I was screeching when Kane suddenly rushed forward and leaned down low enough so he could skim his palm over the surface of the water, sending a small wave sailing for me.
Another gasp tore out of me when it splashed onto my stomach.
My mouth dropped open wide.
I wasn’t sure if I was more in shock from the temperature of the water or the fact that Kane was playing with me like we were old friends. Like he was actually someone I’d wanted Maci to meet because he was important to me, when the only significance he should hold was the fact that he had fathered my niece.
He definitely shouldn’t be coaxing me into the water or making attraction flare in my belly. Attraction that left a puddle of nausea in its aftermath.
Because I couldn’t.
I couldn’t.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” I rasped.
A smug smile played all over his face.
Dangerous.
Distracting.
“Showing you that you don’t want to miss out on all the fun.”
“That’s right, Auntie! Don’t miss out on the fun because fun’s our bestest specialty! Get her, Mr. Kane!”
“Don’t you dare.” I pushed my hands out in front of me like it would deter him.
Only that grin grew.
Wicked and wild.
Then he was charging for me. Maci giggled out of control as they came my way.
I turned and ran, splashing along the edge of the water as they chased after me.
I wasn’t prepared for a stream of water to hit me from behind, the bulk of it hitting my upper left thigh.
Without rational thought, I swiveled around and scooped up as much water as I could cup in both hands and tossed it toward them.
Kane was fast.
Dodging it as he spun them out of the way.
“Too slow, Auntie! I bet you can’t even catch us!” Glee filled Maci’s adorable face, the sweet sight of it filling me full.
And for a minute, I decided to let go of the reservations that weighed me down because this might be the only memory she had of her father, and maybe when she came to me when she was older and asked me about him, I’d be able to remind her of this.
The day we played in the freezing cold water beneath the warm rays of the new summer sun in this tiny town in Northern California.
Remind her of the way Kane had treated her. The way he’d held her in his arms as we ran and chased and splashed.
The way he’d laughed and teased. The way he was tender, his care so at odds with the viciousness that was scrawled across his flesh.