HER ONE AND ONLY VALENTINE - Read Free

soft candlelight, she was simply stunning.
    The intimate arc of light picked up the fine strands of red in her auburn hair, made her doe-brown eyes sparkle when she glanced up at him from beneath long lashes, surrounded her in a halo that made her seem even softer and more feminine than she already looked with her curves barely hidden beneath long, flowing rose-pink silk.
    If they'd been two other people, in a different place and different time, then the temptation to be doing something other than talking in the candlelight would almost have been too much to resist.
    She'd always been dangerous that way.
    Leaning back from her, he dragged his gaze from her face and focused on dropping wax onto the saucer until there was a large enough pool to stand the candle upright while it cooled. Then, as the wind hailed rain against the windows again, he took a breath and glanced at her from beneath hooded eyes.
    'It's late. We'll talk about this in the morning.'
    Rhiannon's eyes widened. 'You're not staying here.'
    Oh, for goodness' sake! 'It's a very large house, Rhiannon; you won't even know I'm here till you see me at breakfast.' He smirked. 'I promise not to come looking for you in the dark again.'
    The innuendo didn't help. 'I don't want to see you at breakfast. If there's anything else to talk about, then you can come back when Lizzie has gone to school.' She looked away from his face, her gaze flickering upwards again while she frowned. 'Things are already unsettled enough without her asking a dozen questions about you.'
    It was a feeble excuse, he felt. 'Then I'll wait until she's gone and, after the estate agent comes, we can talk. There isn't a hotel or a B&B for miles.'
    'There's nothing to talk about!' Her chin rose as she punched the words out and for a moment she almost looked panicked, which didn't make sense to him.
    He didn't see what the problem was himself.
    'Yes, there is.' With another deep breath to maintain his patience, he leaned his face closer to try and make his point. 'Whether you like it or not, the estate and the house are a partnership and if you won't sell and you don't have the money to buy the land back, then that makes us partners, which means we have some negotiating to do.'
    Her large eyes narrowed, her voice icy as she calmly informed him, 'I'd rather chew off my own leg than enter into any kind of a partnership with you.'
    He quirked a dark brow. "Again, you mean?'
    His gaze swept over the flush that immediately rose on her cheeks. Then he tilted his head to the side, his face hovering over hers. 'I thought we made quite a "partnership" last time, didn't you?'
    'Oh, you are a complete and utter—'
    'Now, that's hardly the right language for the new lady of the manor, is it?'
    Her eyes blazed with anger and he smiled. She looked as if she would dearly love to hit him again.
    But in a heartbeat she regained her control. Her breasts rose and fell as she took a deep steadying breath and then her lashes lowered before she focused on his chest and informed him through tight lips, 'I don't want to discuss this in the middle of the damn night.' She stepped back and around him. 'So how about you sleep wherever the hell you want? Just make absolutely sure that Lizzie doesn't set eyes on you before you leave. She has no idea who you are and I'd like to keep it that way.'
    Kane turned on his heel and stared at her as she pushed the door open, unable to keep the bitterness from his tone. 'Why the hell would it matter to me whether she knows who I am? She's nothing to do with me.'
    Rhiannon swore below her breath as she turned in the doorway, her eyes glittering in the candlelight. 'That's the first thing you've said in a very long time that I actually agree with. You stay away from her, Kane Healey. I mean it. She'll find out what kind of a low life you are over my dead body.'
    Already irritated that an edge of bitterness had shown in his voice, he scowled at her. What in hell was she talking about?
    But,