Page 10 of Kane

She rubbed at her sternum.

Andthisis what lovefeelslike.

She could have it. What they had.

She didn’t have to endure a society marriage simply because her father expected one. Half of her friends from the upscale private high school she attended were already engaged, their buttoned-up fiancés, each an heir to his father’s fortune. Their marriages virtually guaranteed to be loveless, lifeless, and devoid of laughter.

Amanda knew her father considered this a rebellious diversion from her real future, butit doesn’t have to be.She could have this forever. The realization made her sway on her feet.

As Kane and Mike wrestled and dunked each other underwater, she could see dozens more holidays, exactly like this one, sharing them with Kane and her family. Maybe one day,theirfamily. She swallowed against the emotion rising in her throat.

How did I get so fucking lucky?

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. “You’ve got it bad, sweetheart.” She hadn’t even seen Charlie coming.

Laughing at herself, she didn’t even try to hide the truth. “Beyond bad.” She sighed as Kane blew her a kiss. “I think he could be The One.”

Charlie lifted his thick, dark eyebrows. “The One, huh? Does he feel the same way?”

She didn’t even have to think. The answer was in a hundred secret smiles and gentle touches, whispered words and shared dreams. “He does.”

“Well, nothing else matters.”

“You’re not worried about his family? My father—”

Charlie held up one of his big, calloused hands. “The things your father finds important aren’t the same things I do, and you know it.”

Understatement of the year.

“Your mom’s parents weren’t too keen on me either.” His gaze sought his wife across the yard and softened when she blew him a kiss. “It’s about more than where he comes from. He can’t help who his daddy is any more than you can help who yours is. All I care about is whether he loves you and he treats you with the care and respect you deserve. From what I see, you’re getting everything I’d want for you.”

“I wish you were my father.” She’d thought it a hundred times, but this was the first time she said it out loud.

Charlie’s brown eyes grew suspiciously damp. “Aw, Baby Girl, in my heart, I am.” He looked over at Kane and Mike, now fighting over sovereignty of the giant floaty-duck, and he grinned. “If my blessing is what you’re looking for with Kane Hale, you’ve got it. You’re old enough to know your own mind and your own heart. Any man worthy of your love is welcome in this house and in this family.” He swatted her butt. “Now get your ass in the pool before lover boy drowns my only son.”

CHAPTER THREE

Kane

The club didn’t do much to celebrate the holidays. Kane’s parents weren’t what anyone would call domestic. He’d only observed a handful of festivities in his entire life; all of them had been with someone else’s family. This year, though, Cue Ball got a wild hair up his ass to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving.

He’d never seen the big, bald bastard cook anything in the fifteen years he’d known him, but it wasn’t like he had a bunch of better options busting down his door, so he agreed to help. He tilted his head at the deep fryer set up in the carport.

Wait. They were doing this over an open flame?

Cue Ball’s deep laugh drew his attention away from the vat of oil. “You’re looking at that thing like it’s gonna jump up and bite your ass, K.” His arms flexed in his sleeveless-T as he used the netting to lift the two turkeys in curls with each hand.

“Save all your showboating for the girls, brother. No need to flex for me.” Kane grinned and covered his heart with his hands. “I’m already a fan.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Cue Ball smirked and deliberately lifted one of the birds, his bicep bulging. “You know you wish you had guns like these.” He kissed the muscle with a loud smack.

A set of feminine arms snaked around his buddy’s waist. “I hope you’re saving some of those kisses for me, baby.”

Cue Ball turned toward the husky voice. “Maybe I have some better ideas for what you can do with your mouth.”

He turned away as his friend made a spectacle of himself with his Flavor of the Moment. Watching another man’s conquest did nothing to light his fire.

A quick Google search on his phone about frying turkeys raised about a hundred red flags. “Hey, Cue, those turkeys aren’t still frozen, are they?”

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