she said, and fled into the bedroom.
Emily stayed blessedly asleep whilst her mother stripped off, showered then pulled on a simple cotton sundress in pink and white checks, which looked sexier on her than she realised.
Kane gritted his teeth when she emerged, thinking to himself that he’d better make himself scarce, or all his resolutions about not touching her till Friday were about to fly out the window. But when he rose and reached for his jacket, which was draped over a kitchen chair, her face betrayed that his leaving was the last thing she wanted.
They stared at each other for a long moment. And then she said something that floored him. His mouth literally dropped open.
‘Say that again,’ he blurted out, not daring to believe what he thought he’d heard.
‘I love you,’ she repeated, her face flushed, her eyes glistening.
Kane knew that in years to come, he would always remember that moment. A dozen different emotions warred for supremacy. Disbelief? Shock? Joy? Delight? Satisfaction? Desire?
Desire won in the end. Or was it just his own love for her? How could you not take a woman into your arms who’d just told you she loved you with such moving simplicity?
She went without any hesitation this time, not a trace of doubt in her face any more.
But he didn’t kiss her straight away. He looked down into those beautiful eyes and savoured the sincerity he saw in their depths.
‘When did you decide this?’ he said softly.
‘On the way home on the train.’
‘A very good place to make decisions.’
‘Much better than when I’m like this,’ she told him with a small smile. ‘I can’t think straight when I’m in your arms.’
‘That’s good to know as well.’
Her arms slid even tighter around his neck, pulling their bodies hard against each other. ‘Aren’t you going to kiss me?’ she asked breathlessly.
‘Soon.’
‘You have a sadistic side to you, Kane Marshall.’
‘I never claimed to be a saint.’
Neither was he a masochist. His mouth was within a millimetre of contacting hers when there was a knock on the door.
His head lifted, and they groaned together.
It was Dora, all a-flutter.
‘I saw Kane’s car out the front,’ she said. ‘Is anything wrong?’
Jessie gave her a quick run-down on the little drama with Emily. Dora looked relieved.
‘I’m so glad it’s nothing serious. And that Kane could help. Sorry I wasn’t here, dear. But you’ll never guess what’s happened.’
Kane and Jessie exchanged a look that carried both amusement and exasperation.
‘Why don’t I make us all some coffee,’ Jessie said, ‘and you can tell us what’s happened?’
Kane suppressed a sigh and pulled out a kitchen chair for Dora, sitting down himself once the old lady was settled.
Apparently she’d received an unexpected call from her brother that morning, the one who hadn’t been much support to her during their mother’s last years. Dora hadn’t spoken to him for a good two years.
‘If it hadn’t been Christmas I wouldn’t have spoken to him today, either,’ she said defiantly. ‘But I’m so glad I did.’
Apparently, her brother explained how he’d been inundated with business and family problems when their mum had been ill, but admitted that he knew he hadn’t done enough. He’d recently had a health scare himself and had been thinking that he wanted to make it up to Dora. The upshot was he’d come and taken Dora out to lunch, over which he’d asked her to go to his place for Christmas, and for the week afterwards, right up to New Year. It seemed his business was doing very well now; he owned a couple of cafés down around the Wollongong area on the south coast. He had a huge holiday house down there, and every one of their relatives was coming.
Kane saw Jessie’s face fall at this news, and guessed that she and Emily always spent Christmas with Dora. After all, she had no one else. It was just the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
‘That’s great, Dora,’ he piped up. ‘And it sure takes a load off Jessie’s mind. You see, I asked her and Emily to come spend Christmas with me and my family. But she was worried sick about you, thinking you’d be all alone. Of course, you’d have been welcome to come too, but this solves everything much better.’
Dora seemed relieved and pleased at this announcement, whilst Jessie went a little quiet. After Dora bustled off to go do some more Christmas shopping, Kane was left to face a slightly cool Jessie.
‘What a smooth liar you are,’ she said.
Kane could feel the doubts rising in her again.
‘There’s nothing wrong with little white lies, Jessie,’ he pointed out. ‘Especially when they’re partially true. I was going to ask you to spend Christmas with me.’
‘And with your family?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what were you going to introduce me as?’
‘What would you like me to introduce you as?’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
‘How about fiancée?’
She stared at him and he sighed. ‘I guess that is rushing you somewhat. How about my new girlfriend, then?’
Jessie just kept shaking her head, her expression bewildered. ‘Were you seriously asking me to marry you? You weren’t joking?’
‘I wouldn’t joke about something like that.’
‘But we’ve only known each other ten days!’
‘I know I love you and I know you love me.’
‘But we don’t really know each other.’
‘I beg to differ. I know you very well. Much better than I knew Natalie when I married her, and we’d been dating for months. The problem is you don’t think you know me. But you had the wrong picture of me from the start. I rather hoped I’d managed to get rid of that poor image by now, but it seems I haven’t.’
‘That’s not true. I…I think you’re wonderful. You must know that. But marriage? That’s a very big step, Kane. For one thing, we don’t agree on one very important issue. The same issue you didn’t agree on with your first wife.’
‘What? You mean you don’t want children, either? Hell, Jessie, I thought…’ A great black pit yawned open in Kane’s
