‘Oh, God,’ she moaned, wrenching her mouth away from his. ‘Emily.’
The mother in her, she swiftly realised, was still stronger than the woman, even the wanton woman Kane had so swiftly reduced her to. In another second or two, she would have been practically screaming. Disgusted with herself, she squeezed out from behind Kane’s heaving chest, leaving him to sag against the sink whilst she dashed into the bedroom.
‘What is it, Emily?’ she asked in a voice that mocked what was still going on inside her. So calm-sounding.
‘I had a bad dream,’ Emily whimpered. ‘There was a bear. A big one. I was scared.’
Bears often figured in Emily’s nightmares. Jessie sometimes wished there weren’t so many children’s stories with bears in them.
‘There are no bears living in Australia,’ Jessie explained gently for the umpteenth time. ‘Except in the zoo. You don’t have to be scared about bears.’
‘Is Kane still here?’ Emily asked fretfully.
‘Yes. Why?’
‘He won’t let the bear get me. He’ll chase it away.’
Jessie rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. You don’t have to worry about any bears then, do you? So go back to sleep now,’ she crooned, gently stroking her daughter’s head. ‘OK?’
Emily yawned. ‘OK.’ She closed her eyes and was back fast asleep in no time.
Jessie envied her child that ability. Sometimes, Emily would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Jessie had never been a good sleeper, finding it difficult to shut her mind down at night. She knew she would do more than her fair share of tossing and turning tonight.
But it was clear that to continue fighting her feelings for Kane was futile. And rather ridiculous. He was right when he’d said that. They were adults. They wanted each other. OK, so she probably wanted more from Kane than he wanted from her but that was always going to be the case. She was a woman and he was a man.
Jessie had always been a reasonably decisive person, unlike her mother, who’d muddled through most of the events that had shaped her and Jessie’s lives. When she was growing up, taking charge of her own life had been one of Jessie’s main goals. Mostly, she’d been successful. In hindsight, Lyall had been a big error in judgement, but the consequences of her mistake had led to great joy.
Getting involved with Kane was possibly unwise. But at the same time she was only human, not a saint.
Having tucked Emily in once more, she returned to the living room, determined not to muddle through.
She was surprised to find Kane putting on his jacket.
He turned with a troubled expression on his face. ‘I’m sorry, Jessie,’ he said, stuffing his tie into one of the pockets. ‘I didn’t mean for things to go that far. I really didn’t. But you do have an unfortunate effect on me.’
Jessie frowned. ‘Unfortunate?’
Kane smiled a wry smile. ‘I’m not used to losing control. I pride myself on being a planner. I rarely go off at half-cock.’
She couldn’t help laughing, although she smothered it so as not to risk waking Emily.
‘Yes, well, if I had actually gone off at half-cock,’ he muttered, ‘I might be able to laugh too.’
‘Oh,’ she said, taken aback by this revelation. ‘I thought…’
‘No,’ he growled. ‘I didn’t.’
‘It must have been a darned close call.’
‘Agonisingly so.’
‘Could you wait till Friday night, do you think?’
His eyes flared wide. ‘Do you mean what I think you mean?’
‘I would imagine so.’
His face actually lit up. ‘Wow. That’s a turn-up for the books.’
‘I decided you were right. I was being ridiculous. But I want you to understand that this can’t really go anywhere. I’m not the woman you’re looking for, Kane. I have Emily for starters. And a full-time job now. At best, I could be your friend and part-time lover.’ There! She’d taken charge and it felt good.
He didn’t say a single word for a few seconds, just let his eyes search her face. She could not tell what he hoped to find.
‘I can handle that,’ he said at last.
Jessie wished she knew what he was thinking. And planning. He’d just told her he was a planner. Something in his voice and his face suggested his agenda wasn’t quite the same as hers.
But what?
She hoped he wasn’t underestimating her. Or thinking she was a push-over after all.
Time for some more taking charge.
‘By the way, on Friday,’ she said firmly, ‘I won’t be staying anywhere with you all night, so don’t go thinking I will. You have from seven till midnight. I can’t expect Dora to mind Emily later than that. She’s an old lady.’
‘I could pay for a baby-sitter,’ he suggested.
‘Someone I don’t know? No way, José. It’s Dora, or nobody.’
‘Fine. I won’t argue. But I think you’re in danger of becoming an over-protective mother.’
‘Think what you like. It won’t change my attitude towards my daughter.’
‘I never thought it would. But that’s OK. I admire a woman who knows her own mind.’
‘And I admire a man who respects a woman’s wishes.’
‘I’ll remember that.’
Yes, but for how long? Jessie wondered.
Till Friday night, naturally. That was the aim of this game after all. Get the girl into bed. But after that, Kane might not be quite so accommodating.
Still, she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
Till then, she was going to have a hard job thinking about anything but Friday night.
A COPY of a book called Winning at Work was sitting on Jessie’s desk when she got in the next morning.
‘Is this from you?’ she asked Michele, who was already there at her desk, beavering away.
‘Nope. It was there when I got in. I imagine Kane dropped it off for you to have a look at.’
Jessie recalled he’d said something about a book.
She picked it up and turned it over, blinking at the sight of Kane’s photo on the back.
‘Good lord!’ she exclaimed. ‘He’s the author!’
Michele glanced up with a surprised look on her attractive face. ‘You mean you didn’t know the man who drove you home yesterday was the Kane Marshall, management guru and motivator extraordinaire?’
‘No! I’ve never heard of the Kane Marshall.’ Other than his being the twin brother of Curtis Marshall, possible philanderer.
‘Something tells me that’s about to change,’ Michele muttered under her breath.
‘He actually wrote this?’ Jessie said, still stunned.
‘Sure did. I gather it’s been a runaway best-seller in the USA. It hasn’t come out here yet. We Aussies aren’t into self-help books as much as the