Nailed - Opal Carew Page 0,15

And who your parents are or what they’ve done has nothing to do with that.”

“I don’t understand.”

Most people, when they found out about her background, would have nothing more to do with her. When she and her mother had first moved to Ancaster, River had started making friends, but then when people found out … she’d become an outcast.

It had been a lonely existence and she’d been happy to move to a new town for college where no one knew her past. Now … oh, God … Kane already knew she didn’t fit in with the rich kids. Why had she told him the sordid details about her family? She kicked herself for saying too much.

He drew her closer and stared at her, his eyes filled with concern.

“River, I feel badly for what you must have gone through when you were growing up. It must have been hard.”

“I don’t need your pity,” she said in a tight voice, refusing to look at him.

“It’s not pity. It’s compassion.” He stroked a tear from her cheek. “I wish I had been there to help you through it.”

Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe, and her throat so closed she thought she’d choke. But the feel of Kane so close … the echo of his accepting words seeping through her … She drew in a deep breath.

“Thank you.”

He squeezed her shoulders. “Of course. I just want to help.”

His hands slid down her arms, then he took her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. He drew her back to the path.

“You really don’t care?”

He laughed. “I really don’t.”

She believed him. And she wanted to hug him … tight … and never let him go. She’d always lived with the stigma of her parents’ behavior. With being judged by others. But knowing Kane accepted her, despite where she’d come from made her feel … special.

Well, not special really, but normal. Not an outcast. At least, not in his eyes.

And right now, that’s all she cared about.

She walked alongside him, a little giddy … as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Where are we going?” she asked, a grin creeping across her face.

“Where would you like to go?”

She glanced at his profile as they walked from the park to the sidewalk.

“How about your place?”

He glanced her way. “Really?”

“I believe what you told me last night … That you didn’t mean to push me.”

He had been sweet and caring, just as he was being tonight. He’d taken her home and had obviously been concerned about her. He’d even called her later to ensure she was okay.

“And we’ll just talk, right? And hang out?”

He smiled. “Of course.”

He squeezed her hand and she felt like she was walking on air. As they approached his building, she realized she wanted more, though. She didn’t want to be afraid of being alone with a man. Of what he might do. Kane was the first man she had ever really trusted, and that kind of trust was new to her, but … it meant something.

In fact, it meant more to her than she could have ever imagined.

He unlocked the front door and opened it for her. A moment later, the elevator doors closed behind them and he pressed the button for the twelfth floor. As the elevator glided upward, an uncontrollable urge swelled through her and she turned to face him, then gazed into his eyes. They darkened as he watched her. She leaned in and he met her halfway, their lips merging.

The kiss turned passionate, desire surging through her like a tidal wave.

She wanted him. She’d never wanted a man before … had always been repelled by the very idea … but not with him. The need reached down into the core of her and blasted through her very being.

She needed to be with him.

And why not? He made her feel like a normal woman for the first time in her life and normal was good. Normal was what she wanted to be.

And normal women her age weren’t virgins.

At least, not according to anyone she’d ever talked to.

Their lips parted and he gazed at her uncertainly. She took his mouth again, gliding her tongue between his lips. He groaned, and tightened his arms around her.

He released her lips and said breathlessly, “I thought we were just going to talk and hang out.”

She grinned. “We can do that.”

She grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him forward, capturing his lips again. Passion flared between them