HER ONE AND ONLY VALENTINE - by Trish Wylie Read Free Book Online

least on that one subject he could agree with her mother.
    Clenching his jaw as a thought occurred to him, he forced nonchalance into his voice as he asked, 'Didn't your dad get you a pony or a dog before?'
    'You mean Stephen?' She shook her head, a shadow briefly crossing her bright eyes. 'He wanted me to go to boarding school and said if I had a dog or a pony it couldn't go. But Mum didn't want me to go to boarding school. It's better when it's just me and Mum. And if we had a dog and a pony it would be perfect.'
    Well, there was never going to be any problem getting information out of Lizzie, was there? That realization, along with the stunning sense of relief that washed over him that she had never called anyone else Daddy, brought a small smile back on to Kane's face. 'You always call him Stephen?'
    'Yep,' She grinned as she lifted a pile of pony magazines out of a box. 'My mum called him Stephen.' She giggled and leaned closer to whisper, 'And some bad names too when she thought I couldn't hear her.'
    Kane chuckled. Despite the fact that it was another subject he agreed with Rhiannon on—he had called Stephen plenty of names over the years. There was just something about him that had always grated on Kane's nerves.
    With a large bag of ripped up cardboard in one hand, he followed Lizzie on to the landing. His smile was still in place when she turned to check that he was following her, slowing down to allow him to catch up with her when in reality he could have managed it in two strides.
    It was thoughtful of her. She was an amazing kid.
    'Do you have any kids, Kane?'
    His breath caught at the innocent question. How in hell was he supposed to answer that one? It wasn't as if he could say, Not that I knew of. And Rhiannon had made it very clear that she had never even hinted at it to Lizzie before. Damn her.
    'Are you married?'
    'You're just full of questions, aren't you?' He swapped the bag to his other hand. 'Should I call my solicitor before we go any further?'
    Lizzie stopped at the top of the stairs, turning and frowning up at him as one small hand brushed back a long strand of hair from her face—hair the same colour as his, the eyes that were looking up at him the same colour as his. It was surreal.
    'Why would you need to call one of them? Are you getting a divorce too?'
    'No, I've never been married. It's in case you ask me anything I might get into trouble with the police for.'
    Her eyes rounded. 'Have you been in trouble with the police, like one of those guys on TV?'
    A loud peal of male laughter escaped to echo up and around the cavernous entrance hall. 'That would make me much more interesting than I actually am.'
    'Well, I think you're interesting.' She smiled up at him, then turned and headed down the wide staircase.
    'Thank you.' The sense of pride that gave him as he followed her grew exponentially.
    'Stephen thinks you're interesting, he used to ask Mum tons of things about you.'
    I'll just bet he did. Kane frowned briefly at the back of her head, forcing his voice to stay light. 'Stephen and I know each other from a long time ago; he was probably just wondering how I've been getting along all these years since I last saw him.'
    Lizzie turned her head slightly as she got near the bottom of the stairs. 'What is a control freak, anyway?'
    Kane blinked innocently. 'A what?'
    'It's what Stephen said you are.'
    'Did he now?'
    She bobbed her head before turning on her heel and grabbing hold of the banister as she jumped off the second last step. 'And something about being over a bear.'
    He quirked a brow as she pushed the door to the kitchen. ' Overbearing?'
    She grinned. 'Yeah, that and another thing about—'
    'LizzieT
    Both sets of eyes turned in the general direction of Rhiannon's softly demanding voice.
    But while Kane surrendered to a swift wave of pure unadulterated resentment again—for the simple reason that every time he saw her he had an immediate, uninvited visceral response— Lizzie was quick