me if I said I had an urge to hear your voice?”
“No,” I scoffed even as my heart gave a little flutter. “How is your trip going?” I leaned back in the tub, the water sloshing as I adjusted myself.
“It’s going slowly. Did I hear water?”
“I’m taking a bath.” The admission slipped out.
“How enticing.” He purred the words.
I wrinkled my nose. “Not really. And I wish you wouldn’t pretend I’m some hot babe.”
“What makes you think I’m pretending?”
“Because I’m not some supermodel. I’m well aware of my faults, and I’ll bet you are, too.”
“You think I am shallow.” Stated flatly.
“I’m saying that I know you’re used to pretty women who haven’t had a bunch of kids and lost a ton of weight and who are half my age.”
“You obviously don’t know me as well as you think. My attraction to you is real.”
“I don’t believe you,” I blurted out. “I’m not stupid. I know you’re faking interest in me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you want me to sell you my property. And it’s a no. I’m not selling, so you can stop pretending,” I exclaimed, starting to get angry. It took me a moment to realize why. It was because I liked the attention from Kane. Liked hearing him talk and act as if I were worth his time. But it wasn’t real.
“What if I told you I don’t care about your property?”
“I’d call you a liar. We both know Airgeadsféar wants it.” I’d gotten enough offers with increasing amounts to know.
“Not anymore. Turns out we don’t need it.”
“Says you.”
“Yes, says me. So you see, my interest in you is quite genuine.”
I sighed. “Stop.” A part of me suggested hanging up. It lost to the part of me bantering in the tub with a man who made me tingle.
Who was I harming? Nothing wrong with a little flirting on the phone. It wasn’t as if anything would happen.
“What will it take for you to believe me? Despite what you think of me, I am mature enough to not really care about a person’s exterior shell.”
“Let’s say that’s true. You don’t know me well enough to claim you know the inside of me either.”
“I know you better than you might expect. I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
I shivered and sank deeper in the water. “Do you have any idea how creepy that sounds?”
“I’m not the only one interested.”
“Not helping. If you ask me, too many people are sticking their noses in my business. I wish it would stop.”
“You’re too special for that to ever happen.”
My laughter emerged brittle. “Now you’re laying it on thick. The only thing special about me is my kids. They’re amazing.”
“You shouldn’t sell yourself short.” His voice purred in my ear. “You have a destiny, Naomi Rousseau. One that even your grandmother couldn’t stop.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I sat up abruptly and spilled water onto the floor.
“It means there are so many things you don’t know. Knowledge that was kept hidden from you. But fate will have its way.”
“Way to sound melodramatic.”
“For someone who claims to want the truth, you’re awfully resistant to it.”
“Or maybe I’m just resistant to you. I don’t like you. You’re pushy and arrogant. I get the impression you think because we made out one night that you own me.”
“I do.”
“No one owns me,” I hotly contested. “Least of all you.”
“Ah yes, because you think you’re interested in another.”
“I don’t just think. I am. I’m seeing someone else.” Not entirely true, but Kane didn’t need to know that my situation with Darryl was still in the baby stages. It might never go anywhere, and even if it didn’t, I wouldn’t ever be Kane’s, despite how he made me feel.
I might be newly single, but I understood just how bad he was for me. Kane was the type to use me to get what he wanted and ditch me the moment he was done.
“Your infatuation with him won’t last. I’ll be patiently waiting until the day comes and you see him as he really is.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time.”
“And will you make my brother wait, too?”
“Jace?”
Kane laughed, a dark, low rumble. “Don’t play dumb with me, Naomi. I know you’ve seen him. You had coffee this morning.”
“I can’t believe you’re spying on me.”
“More like keeping informed. What did Jace want?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” It made me wonder who ratted out our coffee break.
“He and I aren’t exactly on good terms.”
“What happened between the two of you?”
“It’s an old fight.