The Billionaire Boyfriend Proposal: A Kavanagh Family Novel by Kendra Little Read Free Book Online Page B

concerned."
    The heat rose to my face. There was nothing
to say to that. Ellen had always blamed me for driving Blake away
and it seemed she still blamed me for every dumb thing he did. I
didn't see Blake's reaction because I didn't dare look at him.
    "Speaking of lacking common sense," Harry
said. "Your mother and I are worried that the boy's brother will
return."
    "He might," Blake hedged.
    "He'll be bent on revenge and getting the boy
back. It's too dangerous for him to stay here. You have to send him
home."
    "It's too dangerous for him to go home,"
Blake said.
    "Besides, it's hardly a proper home with a
brother like that," I said. "He's better off here."
    "It doesn't worry you that the brother will
come back?"
    "Of course it does. But I have the police on
speed dial."
    Ellen clicked her tongue and folded her arms.
"You think that will be enough? You're very reckless, my girl."
    "I'm staying here," Blake said.
    "You are not!" I cried at the same time Ellen
protested.
    "I am. Upstairs in the room next to
yours."
    "Don't be an idiot. You can't stay here."
    "Why not?"
    "Yes, Cassie," Harry said. "Why not? I think
it's a good idea."
    "Typical," Ellen muttered into her glass.
    Harry merely grinned at her. I had to admire
his fortitude. Ellen was not a woman easily brushed off like
that.
    "It would make more sense to stay in the
summer house with Robbie," I said. "He's the one Skull wants."
    "Skull?" Ellen snorted. "Ridiculous
name."
    Blake filled up his mother's glass and mine
with the red wine from the bottle on the coffee table. "If Skull
returns, he'll come to the main house, not the summer house. He
won't even know it's there let alone that Robbie is in it and not
in here."
    "That's quite true," his mother said,
thoughtful.
    "You're giving in?" I threw up my hands and
let them slap down on my lap. "I thought I could count on you to
want Blake not to stay here."
    Her lips pulled together. "If you knew Blake
at all, you'd know that neither you nor I can talk him out of his
decision. It's best to go along with it or risk raising the famous
Kavanagh temper."
    "My temper is nothing to be trifled with
either," I said.
    She sighed. "I know. But the truth is, you
need protecting from this Skull character and Blake isn't going to
allow anyone else to do it."
    She was right. Thanks to the combined
stubbornness of all three of them, plus my own common sense, I gave
in. "But there will be some rules," I told him.
    "I don't doubt it," he said.
    "Rules are good," Ellen said, standing. "I
like rules."
    Harry snorted and stood too. "Rules are only
as good as the people supposed to obey them." He pecked his wife on
the forehead and headed for the door. She scowled after him.
    Blake walked them out then joined me in the
kitchen as I washed the glasses. He leaned back against the kitchen
bench and watched me. "Want me to cook?"
    "Since when do you cook?"
    "Since I moved out of home. The army didn't
always cook for me, you know. I had to fend for myself."
    Great. Not only had he come back to Roxburg
looking hotter than ever, with a protective streak a mile long, but
he was sympathetic to the homeless and he could cook. Lucky
for me it wasn't that big a stretch to remember why we'd broken up,
or I'd be all over him. Again. "No cooking," I said, turning back
to the sink. "That's rule number one."
    "How many rules are there?"
    "It's not a finite list."
    "So what's number two?"
    "No coming into my bedroom."
    "What if I need to save your ass?"
    "Exceptions will be made in extreme
circumstances."
    "And rule number three?"
    "No physical contact. Except in extreme
circumstances."
    He picked up a cloth from the bench and
leaned across me, blocking my access to the sink. His face was so
close to mine that his breath warmed my cheek. My body hummed in
response. If I just turned a little, I could easily close the gap
and kiss him. And damn, did I want to kiss him. It had been a long
time since I'd felt Blake's lips on mine. They used to be soft,
insistent,