He nodded, following her through the throng of people. She stopped at her favorite stands, chatting up the owners, every one of them charmed by her.
Because who wouldn’t be, Kane thought. She was so damn nice. So good.
And sexy as hell.
He didn’t get it. He wasn’t exactly a college boy. He was a fucking warrior, for God’s sake. A member of the Shadowguard. He wasn’t oblivious to the appeal. There were plenty of women who would go to bed with him without complication. Hell, he could go down to the Anti-Chamber with the guys tonight, slam back a few beers, and find someone to take home without any effort at all.
Except he’d never been into the whole one night stand thing. And it’s not that he wasn’t into sex. He was very into sex. Especially the idea of sex with someone like Lily. Someone who made his heart race. Who made him want to do more than bed her. Who made him want to worship every inch of her perfect body, to protect her and cherish her, to come home to her every night.
To call her his.
None of which was what he was supposed to be thinking about as they continued through the aisles, Lily testing and buying, adding things to the bags as they went.
When her list was fulfilled, they headed back, stopping for ice cream at the old creamery. It had become a tradition, and they sat on their favorite bench in the old park near the depot, Lily licking her strawberry ice cream while Kane worked on his pistachio-filled cone.
The silence between them was comfortable, even if the magnetic pull of her body was anything but. It was one of the things he liked most about her. They could be walking or shopping or just sitting and having coffee, and Lily felt no compulsion to fill the space with chatter.
He watched her eat with single-minded concentration, her tongue darting out to catch the ice cream dripping onto the cone. He wanted to lean over, touch his mouth to hers, feel her soft lips against his, her cold tongue tasting of strawberries and sugar. Her thigh, bare in a short flowered skirt, fell against his, and the beginnings of arousal stirred in his groin.
He looked away. That was the last thing he needed.
“I realize I’ve never thanked you,” she said softly.
He couldn’t hide his surprise. “Thank me? For what?”
She seemed to consider her words. “For being my friend. I don’t have many of them.”
The vulnerability in her voice, as if the confession were some kind of strike against her character, made him want to take her in his arms then and there, shield her from anything that made her think she was less than perfect exactly as she was.
“That’s only because you’re so busy taking care of everyone else,” Kane said. “Don’t you ever think about making another life? A life of your own?”
“I like taking care of people,” she said softly. “Although …”
“What?” he prodded.
She ducked her head a little, her cheeks turning pink. “Well, I’ve always thought I might like to have a bakery. Nothing big or fancy. Just a little place where people could escape real life for a minute or two. A place that was warm and smelled liked vanilla and coffee.” She laughed. “It sounds silly.”
He was hit with a rush of tenderness. He could see it; Lily making small talk with the customers, a couple of cherub-cheeked kids running around, squealing with delight when Kane stepped through the door.
It was a pipe dream. For him, at least.
He forced a smile. “It doesn’t sound silly. It sounds perfect. And you’d be just the person to do it.”
Her eyes lit up. “You really think so?”
“Without a doubt. One taste of your lemon cookies, and the place would be packed to the gills every day of the week.”
She met his eyes, and her smile ran right through him.
Six
“Hands off!” Lily smacked Scarlet’s hand away from the pan of cookies cooling on the counter.
“Ow!” Scarlet rubbed her hand. “So much for not liking violence.”
Lily waved the wooden spoon she was holding in the air. “There’s a big difference between stopping you from devouring all the cookies and killing people with the glaive.”
“They’re not people,” Scarlet said.
“Okay, demons, then. Whatever.”
“I’m hungry,” Scarlet said, opening the fridge. “I took a beating from Braden in the training room before I finally brought him down.”
Lily pulled a chair out from the kitchen table. “Sit. I’ll make you something.” She started assembling the ingredients for Scarlet’s favorite veggie sandwich. “How did Rowen feel about you taking a beating?”
“He hasn’t watched since he almost killed Kane for knocking me out. I told him if he was going to watch me spar, he’d have to keep his temper under control. He hasn’t been back since.” Scarlet laughed. “Says he doesn’t trust himself.”
Lily smiled. She had never expected Scarlet to find such a perfect match in Rowen Black. It wasn’t that her sister wasn't pretty. In fact, she was gorgeous, her eyes a darker green than Lily’s, her long dark hair falling to a small waist. Her determination to keep up with the men of the Guard—and her ceaseless training—had given her strong, supple curves.
But before Rowen Black arrived at Guard headquarters, Scarlet had been a self-avowed bachelorette, claiming that her duty to the Guard—and the possibility she would be named as successor to their ailing father—superseded any desire for a personal life.
Rowen had softened her. In a good way. She was still fierce. Still a warrior. But she seemed somehow more than she was before. Like Rowen had brought out all the other parts of her that had been buried to make room for the all-consuming drive that had ruled her for so long.
Lily couldn’t help wondering if there were buried parts of herself, too. Parts that would only reveal themselves when she found someone who could love her for all she was.
And all she wasn’t.
She finished Scarlet’s sandwich and put it in front of her with a glass of water. “There. Now eat. And stay away from my cookies until after dinner.”
Scarlet took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. “I swear,” she said, her mouth still full. “You make the best sandwiches. And I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thinks so.” She grinned around the bite.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lily asked her.
Scarlet swallowed and took a drink of water. “Just that I think Kane really likes your, um, sandwiches, too.”
“Seriously?” Lily tipped her head. This was new, too. This silly, teasing Scarlet. “What are you, five years old again?”
Scarlet grinned. “If I were five years old, I’d be singing, ‘Lily and Ka-ayne sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.’ I’m just saying, he’s obviously into you, so what are you waiting for?”
Lily rubbed her finger against a mark on the wood of the table. “Come on, Scarlet. You know what. And why.”
“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.” Either Scarlet was a great actress or she was genuinely confused.
“Someone like Kane wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. Not if he knew.”
Scarlet shook her head. “Knew what?”
Lily was surprised to feel her throat close against the threat of tears. She swallowed around them. “Kane is a member of the Guard. His family name goes back as far as ours. He’ll want to pass that down someday. And I don’t blame him.” She stood, hurrying to the pot of soup on the stove and stirring it, grateful to have something to keep her hands busy.
“Wait a minute … This is about,” Scarlet looked around to make sure no one was listening and then lowered her voice anyway, “the thing? The thing you don’t want anyone to know?”
“I’m just saying,” Lily said, “the only reason Kane’s interested in me now—if he even is—is because he doesn’t know. Trust me, that would put a damper on things real fast.”
Scarlet leaned against the sink next to her. “I really don’t think you’re giving Kane enough
credit. This isn’t the freaking 1800s. Not every guy wants kids. And even if Kane does, you guys could adopt. Or get a surrogate. There are all kinds of ways to have children now.”
“It’s not the same,” Lily choked the words out.
“Well, no,” Scarlet said. “It’s not the same. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s just different.”
Lily couldn’t find the words to tell her sister that she couldn’t risk it. That she couldn’t risk revealing herself to Kane—revealing her feelings for him—only to have him reject her.
As it was, she hadn't lost anything. And that’s how she wanted it to stay.
“I just don’t want to go there, Scarlet. Okay? Can we just drop it?”
“Sure,” Scarlet said softly. “But love is more complicated, more mysterious, then a set of requirements to be checked off like a grocery list. The last thing I wanted was to be with a guy in the Guard. You know that. But look at me; Rowen’s the one. He just is. And nothing else seems to matter in the face of that.”
Seven
Kane steered the Rover toward the offices of the Clifton Record, Ivan next to him in the passenger seat. Kane had been surprised when the other man hadn’t pulled rank to drive. Not that Ivan was any higher up on the ladder of the Guard than Kane.
Not technically, anyway.
But he was Ambrose Montgomery’s son, and there was a certain amount of pull you had when you were the boss’s son.
“So tell me why we’re seeing this reporter again?” Ivan asked.
Kane pulled onto Broad Street, slowing as they came to the sterile glass building that held the newspaper’s offices. “Margaret O’Reilly has been one of the more persistent members of the press since Mikhail’s body was found. We need to see if she can I.D. someone Rowen and I saw coming out of the armory.”
“I take it we’ve already checked the criminal databases?”
“Yep. Turned up nothing, which just means the guy doesn’t have a record,” Kane said, taking a ticket from the parking attendant in the Record’s garage.
“What makes us think this reporter will be able to I.D. him?” Ivan asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” Kane said. “It’s a last ditch effort. If it doesn’t work, we’re going to have to hope the guy shows up again so we can case him. He’s the only unexplained connection we have to the armory.”
“And the armory’s the only connection to the glaive found in the revenant’s body,” Ivan added.
“You got it.”
Ivan nodded.
Kane stole a glance at the other man, wondering what Ivan would think if he knew Kane had been fantasizing about his little sister non-stop since that moment in her bedroom the day before. Fantasizing? Hell, that was putting it lightly. He was alternately aroused and lovesick, unable to concentrate on even the most mundane tasks, hoping he’d run into Lily in the halls of the house like some lap dog.
They parked the car and headed inside, taking the elevator to the fifth floor. The interior offices of the Record were as non-descript as the exterior of the building. They were met by the receptionist, a young brunette who led them through a sea of cubicles to one that stood in front of a glassed-in office.
The receptionist leaned toward a redhead talking on the phone, a riot of curls falling to the back of her chair.
“Here they are,” the receptionist mouthed.
The woman nodded, holding up a finger. She finished her call a moment later and stood, extending her hand. “Kane Dawson?”
Kane nodded, taking her hand.
“I’m Maggie O’Reilly,” she said, shaking Ivan’s hand. “And you are?”
“Ivan. Ivan Montgomery.”
She raised a finely arched eyebrow. “As in Ambrose Montgomery’s son?”
“That’s right.”
Kane was surprised that there was no display of ego. If anything, Ivan seemed sheepish by the admission.
“Interesting,” she said. “Let’s take a walk.”
She led them downstairs to a terrace at the back of the building where they took a seat at a metal table. There were a few other people outside, eating from brown bags, insulated lunch boxes, and take-out containers.
Maggie turned her hazel eyes on them. “So, I’m guessing you’re not here to hand-deliver a groundbreaking story that’s going to get me out of this place.” She laughed. “What can I do for you?”
“We’re working on a case,” Kane said, withdrawing the photo of the man from the armory. The plan was the same as always when dealing with any outsider; maintain their identity as members of Shadowguard Security LLC, a firm specializing in corporate security services. “We thought we might broker a trade.”
“A trade?” Surprise was evident on her face. “I’ve been trying to get an inside line on your work forever. Why the sudden interest?”
Ivan looked at Kane. “Let’s not blow sunshine up her ass.” He turned his attention back to Maggie. “We need something. You’re the only person we can think of to ask. And I’m pretty sure you’re not just going to give us something without getting something in return.”
Amusement showed in her smile. “Smart man.”
Ivan shrugged. “So you ask around, tell us if anyone knows this guy, and we’ll make you our exclusive press contact.”
“Define exclusive.”
“You get the story first with a twenty-four-hour window before it breaks to anybody else.”
She thought about it, picking the picture up off the table. “I’ll get back to you.”
She stood and left. Ivan’s eyes followed the sashay of her hips until she disappeared into the building.
“Interested?” Kane asked him.
“I don’t know,” Ivan said, turning to look at him. “You interested in my sister?”
Kane sucked in a breath. “Listen, man—”
Ivan held up a hand. “It’s cool. No need to apologize.”
Kane held his eyes. “I wasn’t going to.”
Ivan nodded. “It’s pretty simple; Lily deserves to be happy. If you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass.”
“And did you have this same little chat with Rowen Black when he started dating Scarlet?”
Ivan laughed. “I didn’t have to. Scarlet would kick Rowen’s ass herself if the situation called for it.”
Kane grinned. Maybe Ivan wasn’t such a dick after all.
Eight
Dinner was a disaster. Lily had been preoccupied all afternoon, staring out the kitchen window, thinking about Kane and everything Scarlet had said, instead of watching the food.
The result was over-salted stew, leaden rolls, and cookies that were mysteriously undercooked in the middle and slightly burnt on the outside. She must have had a lot of goodwill banked with the Guard. No one said a thing, and to their credit, they even cleaned their plates.
But it was torture to sit across the table from Kane. His presence had somehow gone from comfortable and reassuring to unsettling and distracting. She couldn’t take her eyes off his big hands as they lifted the spoon to his mouth. Couldn’t stop imagining the feel of his palms on her skin, his fingers entwined in her hair. When he took a drink of water, she wanted to lick the moisture from his lips, plunge her tongue into the cool depths of his mouth.
He caught her staring several times, causing her cheeks to flame with heat as she hurriedly looked away. But she was surprised to find that there were just as many times when she looked up to find his eyes on her.
She was shocked no one else seemed to notice. Surprised to hear the conversation going on around her like she wasn’t about to burst into flames, or drown in Kane’s blue eyes. How was it possible no one else felt the electric tug of his body to hers? The magnetic pull between them like some kind of cataclysmic force, destroying the ground that had been solid under her feet only days before.
But no. Rowen was staring into Scarlet’s eyes just like always, like they were the only two people in the world. Declan and Ivan were discussing the weight of the new glaives, Brade
n and Eva interjecting every now and then, while Gregor ate in silence. It was just like every other night in the house.
For everyone but Lily, anyway.
By the time dinner was over, she was more than happy to hand over cleanup duty to Sylvia, the gray-haired woman who helped with the house. Lily said goodnight and ducked out of the dining room at the first opportunity, wanting nothing more than a bath and a chance to banish Kane from her thoughts.
Back in her room, she took a deep breath. Fortified by her distance from Kane, from his muscled body and blue-sky eyes, she was determined to get her act together.
She ran a bath and stripped off her clothes, walking into the bedroom while the water steamed up the bathroom mirror. Pulling open the top drawer, she came face-to-face with the purple lace bra and silk thong from La Perla. The sight of it sent a rush of desire slamming into her body. She suddenly saw Kane, standing right where she was standing now, his body only inches from hers, his eyes bright with desire. Her bare skin was alive with need, every nerve ending buzzing with energy, and her nipples were erect, although the room was plenty warm.
It was him. Kane. Standing naked thinking about him was a million times worse than thinking about him in the dining room, fully clothed and flanked by the rest of the Guard. Her body was on fire for him, her core slick with wetness, ready for him when he wasn’t even there.
She slammed the top drawer shut and went into the bathroom, lowering herself into the water. She had a moment’s regret that she hadn’t made the water colder. Isn’t that what men did when they were too turned on for their own good? Take a cold shower?
The water caressed her skin and she closed her eyes, running her hands over her naked body, imagining that they were Kane’s hands, that his body was sliding against hers in the warm water. She touched her nipples, a jolt of arousal spinning through her body.
What was she doing? This was the last thing she needed. She opened her eyes and moved her hands away from her body. She was twenty years old, a virgin, and almost delirious with physical need. Her mind was so steeped in the fog of her desire that it took her a minute to register the dripping sound.