Page 78 of Dirty Little Secret
When Kane pulled up, he parked in the front right next to my Mustang, which I’d yet to trade for another, more kid-friendly car. Without a new job, how could I make such a change without knowing what my income would be?
Besides, Fox liked that car. He thought it was cool. Kane could get over it. At least for a little while, I thought.
Smiling at me as he entered the café, Kane ignored the gawking young women who stared at him with mouths agape. Women of all ages couldn’t help but gawk at the man—and though it always piqued that jealous side of me, I really couldn’t blame them. He was gorgeous.
He came straight to me, leaning over to kiss me right on the mouth. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey, yourself, handsome.” I pushed a menu to his side of the table as he took a seat across from me in the booth. In the month that we’d spent as an item, I had gotten very comfortable with the man.
“Did you find anything for me to eat here, Zandra?” His eyes scanned the menu.
“I was thinking that grilled chicken salad might be up your alley. And there’s a steak too, but I doubt it’ll be up to your high standards, Dr. Price.” I reached over, moving my fingers over the back of his hand seductively.
“I doubt that too.” He put the menu down. “Grilled chicken salad it is, then.” Taking my hand, he pulled it to his lips, leaving a kiss on it. “I know it’s Friday, but I thought you might call in sick tonight. I’ve got this itch I need you to scratch, and it’s getting really bad.”
Heat filled me. “Another itch, babe? Man. That makes four this week.”
Not an ounce of shame existed in him. He’d come over before I left to go to work each night that week. And now it seemed he wanted the whole night with me.
“My aunt and uncle are taking Fox on a weekend adventure, and it starts right after school today. That means I’ll be home all alone. Home.” He leveled his eyes at me. “In my bed. The bed I hope you’ll share with me one day. The bed I’d like to finally get you into, if just for one night or two.” He winked at me. “Better yet, call in sick Friday and Saturday. I’ve just come up with an excellent idea, and I’ll need those extra hours.”
Laughing, I knew how the man’s mind worked, and knew his idea would be plenty interesting—and plenty arousing. “I can’t, Kane. I wish I could, but I just can’t. It’s a new month, and there are new bills to pay. I’ve gotta work this weekend. Sorry, hon.”
Lacing his fingers with mine, he looked into my eyes. “I’ve come up with an idea that I hope you’ll love as much as I do.”
“What is it?” I asked as I gazed at him.
He’s just so damn cute!
“Let me pay for you to go to school. You can do anything you want. I’ll help you with everything. Together, we’ll get you an education, Zandra. And you won’t have to work at all, because I want you to focus on school. Move in with Fox and me. Be his full-time mom. If you’re going to school, you’ll even be on the same schedule as him, going to school when he does.”
His words set off a fire in my belly. It filled it up, entirely. And then it made my blood hot. And that hot blood flooded my veins like molten lava. “No!”
How can he think I want him to take care of me?
“Why not?” he asked. He held tight to my hands even as I tried to pull away.
“I don’t want to become your charity case, Dr. Price. I can do this on my own.” He let go of my hand, letting me pull away from him.
With a huff, he rolled his eyes. “Zandra, how can you say that? You haven’t done anything so far. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just mean that you’ve never had the support system to do anything other than you’ve been doing. I can give you that.”
“I’ve done fine on my own all these years, Kane.” I got up, throwing my napkin on the table. “I’ve been fine figuring things out alone.”
With a blank stare, he asked, “And how’s that been working for ya?”
I didn’t like the tone of that question and figured storming out was the only thing I could do.
Right?
