Raising Kane (17 page)
Authors: Lorelei James
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Adult, #Western, #Red Hots!, #Western Romance
“Your fault.”
She smirked. “And on my honor, I’m not one bit sorry. But if I’m totally naked, you’d better be too.”
Her fingers slipped under the first button on his shirt. She undid them all and made a disgruntled sound when she saw he wore a T-shirt.
“Some of us know how to dress for the weather.”
“Some of us like to play with your chest as much as you like to play with mine.”
Kane brushed a curl from her forehead. “Next time, you can play all you want. This time, you’re gonna be facin’ forward.” At her perplexed look, he said, “Reverse cowgirl style.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done it that way.”
“This position definitely has its charms. Lemme show you.” He turned her around. “Brace your hands on the desk and spread your legs.” He rolled the chair closer. “Now scoot back, that’s it, keep your legs wide. Hang on a sec.” Kane lowered the chair arms, allowing her thighs to straddle his.
“Kane. I’m not sure—”
“I am. Trust me. Lift your ass a bit. Damn do I love this ass. I cannot wait to grind my cock into it and feel how tight you squeeze me with those muscles.”
Ginger looked over her shoulder at him. “I figured you’d like anal.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you like everything else.”
“Smart mouth.” Then he thrust into her pussy to the hilt.
“Oh Lord, you could’ve warned me.”
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“You should’ve been payin’ attention, not thinkin’ so hard about how much you want my dick in your ass.”
She laughed. “Bastard. Stop talking and fuck me.”
“You’re gonna hafta do some of the work, sugar. Push back into me. Yeah, just like that.”
He cupped her tits, feathering his thumbs across her nipples. They built a rhythm without words, letting their motions do all the talking. Sweat dripping, skin slapping skin, sighs, moans, the squeak of the office chair.
Ginger centered her left hand on the desk and her right hand disappeared between her thighs.
“Are you touchin’ yourself?”
“I need direct contact with my clit in order to come.”
When her stroking fingers accidentally brushed where they were joined, Kane’s balls drew up.
Knowing she was pleasuring herself did it for him in a big way. He kept playing with her nipples and brought her upper torso back so he could scatter kisses across her back. “Come on, Red,” he whispered.
“Send yourself over the edge and take me with you.”
“God, your voice is like sandpaper on my nerve endings. I love that husky rasp. Keep talking to me.”
Kane pumped his hips and licked the slope of her shoulder.
“I wanna mark you here.” He sucked and felt the goose bumps rise on her skin. “When I see you all fancied up in your suit and fuck-me heels, I’ll remember this. Me fucking you in your chair, you bent over your desk, touchin’ yourself. No one will know that always-in-control Ginger Paulson, lets me, a simple rancher, have her any way I want. Any time I want.”
“Kane—”
“Take us there. Now.” He sank his teeth into her nape and pinched her nipples hard.
She started to come. Her muscles clamped down on his dick and he was done. He came so hard and fast he was damn glad they were sitting because he doubted his shaky legs could hold them up.
Kane placed a kiss on the teeth marks on her shoulder before he slumped back into the chair.
Ginger emitted a soft sigh. Then she rested against him, wrapping her arm around the back of his neck. “You were right.”
“About?” He nuzzled her head above her ear.
“That position does have a certain charm.”
He chuckled. “You hold all the charm for me. Doesn’t matter what position we’re in or where we are.”
“Were you upset that you didn’t hear from me since last week?”
“Maybe a little.”
“I sort of figured. I just…don’t know what we’re supposed to do now, Kane. I’m not ready to…”
“I understand why you’re wary and want to keep ‘this’—whatever it is—on the down low.”
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“You do? And you don’t mind?”
Hell yes, I mind.
Kane wasn’t keen pretending he was cool with it, but he wasn’t willing to sacrifice time with Ginger to save the sting to his pride. “I like bein’ with you. You already know that. You’ve got enough pressure in your life and I won’t demand more than you’re willin’ to give me.” Because he wanted it all. He kissed her neck. “We’ll figure it out as we go along, okay?”
“Okay.”
As Ginger donned her winter clothes, Kane shook his head.
“What?”
“You really don’t have any snow boots?”
“No. Every pair I’ve ever seen are butt-ugly.”
“So are frostbitten toes. They turn black and fall off. Then how would you wear them sexy-assed heels you’re so fond of?”
She waved him off. “I’ll be fine.”
Kane counted to ten. “Give me your keys.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s twenty degrees below zero out there and I want to warm up your car so your damn legs don’t freeze. Plus I need to check your battery.”
“Oh.” She offered him that smile that would’ve gotten her anything. “Thank you. What would I do without you?”
“Maybe the question oughta be—what would you do with me if you had me all the time?”
Before he acted even more like a lovesick fool, asking foolish questions, he stomped outside.
100
The basement of the community center was absolute chaos.
Over the past two years Ginger had attended plenty of Little Buddies events, so her bout of nerves baffled her.
You know exactly why you’re nervous. Two words: Kane McKay.
She and Kane hadn’t been together in a crowd and she wondered if people who knew them both would notice a difference in their dealings with one another.
Maybe Ginger had been a bit disappointed last night when Kane admitted he was fine sneaking around with her. Part of her wanted that public acknowledgment.
Her gaze was drawn to him like a magnet. His dark head was a contrast to Hayden’s blond one as they bent over the model on the table. Their concentration was absolute. She hung back, content to watch them together.
It’d been a sticky subject when her father had suggested Hayden needed more hiking, hunting, fishing—Wyoming type of outdoor activities to supplement the boy’s tendency to bury his nose in a book.
And it’d pained her dad to be handicapped because he couldn’t share his love of the great outdoors with this only grandson.
Ginger had been skeptical of signing on for the Big Buddies/Little Buddies program. She suspected half the single or divorced ladies in the tri-county area had signed up hoping to snag a husband. It’d given her a sense of relief that many of the volunteers were married men. Fathers whose children had grown up.
Men who wanted to give back to the community by providing a positive example to boys who didn’t have a consistent male influence in their young lives.
She hung back, content to watch them together. But Ginger wasn’t the only one watching Kane. Four mothers hung on the periphery as their sons’ Big Buddies helped with the model cars. None of the other male volunteers garnered the type of interest Kane did. Because he was sexy as sin and single? Partially.
But she suspected the other reason Kane held appeal was because he didn’t appear to be paying attention to any of those hungry-eyed women. An aloof man was a trickier target, and therefore, more prized if obtained.
She supposed it wasn’t really Kane’s fault women flocked to him. He was a striking man, with his dark good looks and easy grin. His Built Ford Tough body was definitely sigh-worthy, as were those stunning blue eyes.
Lorelei James
The next thing she knew, that intense blue gaze was directed at her.
A delicious warmth unfurled as Kane studied her from beneath lowered lashes. No one else could tell he was watching her. But Ginger knew. When that secret smile played around the corners of his sinful mouth, the smile indicating he’d been conjuring raunchy sexual images, her mind flashed to last night’s sexcapades.
It’d been easy to let go with Kane. To be the sexual woman she’d forgotten she could be. To hand the reins to him, knowing he wouldn’t abuse her trust. Knowing he was as helpless as she to ignore the passion that exploded between them. Anytime, anyplace.
And this is definitely not the time nor the place to be thinking about sex with Kane McKay.
She forced herself to look away.
“Ginger?”
She spun around and faced Stacy, the director of the program. “Hi! Looks like you’ve got a great turnout.”
“Better than last year, which hopefully means more fundraising profits.” Stacy smiled. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Really?”
“You tend to…let Hayden and Kane do their own thing.”
“Is that bad? Is there more I should be doing?”
Stacy patted Ginger’s arm. “No, not at all. In fact, I wish some of the other mothers would follow your lead. Some women have to tag along at every event, and quite frankly, that defeats the purpose of the organization.”
Ginger’s gaze returned to Hayden and Kane. “Can’t you point out the obvious to them?”
“No. We’ve always maintained an ‘open door’ policy for our members. Anyone can come to any event that involves their child.”
“This program has been good for Hayden.”
“Glad to hear it. And between us, consider yourself lucky you ended up with Kane McKay. There are lots of mothers requesting him as their son’s Big Buddy.”
There was that flare of unexpected feeling of jealousy. “Do you take that into consideration when pairing boys with mentors?”
Stacy shook her head. “Mostly we have to work around how many boys each Big Buddy can handle.
Some guys do well with three or four boys. Others only have time for one. Since we’re short on volunteers, our priority is not to overload the volunteers we have. The only solution is to put prospective Little Buddies on a waiting list.”
The question
How many boys does Kane oversee?
danced on the tip of Ginger’s tongue, but she knew Stacy couldn’t give her that information.
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She squinted at the table. Another boy, younger than Hayden, sat next to Kane. Her gaze moved to the woman with her hands on the back of boy’s chair. She appeared to be chattering away to Kane.
“Excuse me,” Stacy said and drifted off.
Ginger headed toward her son and his mentor, deciding at the last second to cut behind the bank of tables behind Kane and Hayden. That way she could eavesdrop and neither would be the wiser.
“That’s great, son,” the stacked blonde cooed. “But maybe you oughta let Kane show you how to paint that stripe a little straighter.”
“You’re doin’ a fine job, Lock.”
“But—”
“Leave him be, Daphne,” Kane warned softly. “Maybe you oughta go get a glass of punch and let us finish up.”
“I’ll stay. I’m not really very thirsty.”
“Mom! I didn’t see you standing there,” Hayden said.
There went her great eavesdropping plan. Ginger smiled. “I didn’t want to interrupt you guys.”
“Come and look at this. Kane helped with the design, but isn’t it cool?”
Ginger angled over Hayden’s shoulder. “Very cool, very creative. I love the silver flames. What happens when you’re finished with it?”
“There’s a contest. First place gets a big blue ribbon.”
She was acutely aware of Kane’s gaze on the back of her head and of Daphne’s air of hostility. She glanced up and met the woman’s eyes.
Daphne sent her a tight smile. “You must be Hayden’s mom.”
“Yes, I’m Ginger Paulson. And you are?”
“Daphne Martin. My son Lock is also Buck’s Little Buddy.” She draped herself over her son’s chair, closer to Kane. “Maybe now that Hayden is almost finished, Buck can finally help you?”
Kane’s eyes never strayed to Daphne’s cleavage, which seemed to have its own gravitational pull toward Kane’s face. “Sure. What’s left to do?”
“That whole side is messy,” Lock said glumly. “Maybe I oughta just paint over it.”
“Only this section. The rest is good,” Kane offered.
Hayden rose up on his knees to watch. Kane glanced up and smiled at him. “Hang tight, sport. We’ll get that last stripe on in a second.”
“So Buck, are you gonna stick around for the after party?” Daphne asked.
“I usually do. Why?”
“I wondered if I could talk to you about a couple of things.”
In private
wasn’t said, but it was heavily implied.
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Ginger curled her hands around the back of Hayden’s chair, instead of into fists. Unhappy with the urge to publicly remind Kane what they’d done in private last night.
Hayden said, “We’re staying for the after party, right Mom?”
Her gaze hooked Kane’s and his blank expression felt like a punch in the solar plexus. “I’m not sure.”
“Aw, please? That’s when we watch a movie and eat popcorn and stuff. Buck sneaks us candy too.”
“We always have such a good time with the boys, don’t we, Buck?” With saccharine sweetness, Daphne said, “If you have other plans, Hayden is welcome to sit with us. He usually does since he always seems to be here by himself.”
Ooh. Snap.
“Please?” Hayden pleaded.
Kane said not a word.
“We’ll see.”
“But Mom—”
“I said we’ll see. Excuse me.” She spun on her heel and dodged kids on her way to the punchbowl.
Her hand shook as she poured the creamy lime green goo into a plastic cup. She grabbed a brownie.
Ginger hadn’t attended many of these functions, believing, probably mistakenly, that Hayden needed guy time, whether it was with Kane or with the other boys in the program. Now as she looked around, she saw she was in the minority. Most mothers were here with their sons.
Did people think she didn’t show up because she didn’t care? Or she was too busy? Did they think she used the Little Buddies program as a daycare service?
