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

bit first before I tried pushing Kane over. He's humongous!'
    'Nah.' He moved towards the back door with his bag. 'We office types are real weaklings. I'll bet you could push me over in a snap.'
    Rhiannon watched him from below long lashes as he made the journey across the kitchen. A real weakling, my backside.
    Her gaze moved slowly over his body, making the most of what had once been an everyday sight. The man had always had his own particular way of filling a woman's eyes and the years hadn't diminished that any.
    Not that he was handsome in a conventional Prince Charming way, oh, no. He'd never been that simple to peg. He'd always been, well, sexy, truth be told. Ruggedly handsome, definitely all male, and there was a sexuality to that that had been hard to resist, for her anyway.
    It had been the first time in her young life that she'd met someone who could affect her on such a basic sensual level with just a silent gaze or half a smile. And the kind of passion they had eventually shared had been inevitable from the first day he'd looked at her. Damn him.
    'That has to go in the recycle bin.'
    Rhiannon watched as he glanced over his shoulder and flashed a brilliant smile at Lizzie, one that was open and honest, almost affectionate. And it tore off another piece of her heart when he answered with a brief salute and a, 'Yes, ma'am.'
    Already father and daughter had an ease with each other, a rapport of sorts. And Rhiannon felt unreasonably jealous about that. Not for the way Kane was with Lizzie, but more for the way Lizzie was with Kane. She was still so innocent, so unbiased, so damn open and trusting.
    'It's 'cos of the planet.'
    'Naturally.'
    Rhiannon rolled her eyes at the pun while Lizzie giggled. But the second Kane closed the door behind him he looked straight at her with such a look of venom that she almost called him on it. Almost.
    But in a small corner of her traitorous mind she immediately wondered what it would take to be on the receiving end of the look he wore on his face when looked at Lizzie. Not that she wanted him to look at her with that kind of open warmth. It was just that she was very aware of the vast difference in the way he treated them.
    Surely he couldn't entirely blame her for all of this? She wasn't the one who'd disappeared without a trace. And if he'd thought anything of her, which she'd believed he did once upon a time, then surely he couldn't have been so dumb as to not work out her baby was his!
    All right, so she hadn't known she was pregnant when he had broken up with her, and he had been gone for a while by the time she did know—but even so!
    Whatever it was that had pulled him off the face of the earth so completely must have been damn compelling!
    His deep voice broke into her thoughts. 'Is there anything else that needs to be carried out?'
    'No. But thank you for asking.'
    'Can we eat yet?' Lizzie kneeled on one of the long wooden benches at the side of the huge table. 'I'm starved.'
    'You're always starved.' She smiled indulgently. At least with her daughter she was on safe ground.
    'Kane's starved too.' Lizzie nodded her head in his direction, her eyebrows hinting that he should back her up. 'Right, Kane?'
    'I'm not sure I would use the word "starved".'
    Again Rhiannon's gaze strayed across his body, moving over his flat stomach and then upwards to where his ribcage tapered outwards to his wide chest and broad shoulders, upwards still, until her eyes met his.
    Kane smiled a slow smile in response, one that didn't make it all the way up into his eyes, allowing her to silently know he'd witnessed her study of him—and almost hinting at it being a victory of some kind.
    Rhiannon immediately frowned with annoyance and looked away. 'I'm sure Kane doesn't want to be stuck with us twenty-four hours a day.'
    'Oh, I don't know.' He allowed the words to come out in a low drawl. 'I think we still have a lot of catching up to do, don't you?'
    She gritted her teeth. Damn him, 'You must have