She bit her lip and sighed. “I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

“Oh, no. I’m tingling from the thrill of the compliment.”

That made her smile. “You’re not a tingle kind of guy.”

“You can’t be sure about that.”

“If I had a lot of money, I’d bet it all. Anyway, the not inviting you was about me. I’m nervous. Besides, you don’t do family stuff. Why did you say yes?”

He made the turn. “Because you asked and it seemed important to you.”

Under other circumstances his words would have thrilled her. She would have felt an honest-to-goodness flutter right in the center of her chest. But not today. The dread was too big and growing and this was all going to be a disaster.

“It’s my dad,” she admitted. “He’s back and while that’s a good thing, it’s also…confusing.”

“Parents can be that way.”

“Do you remember yours?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not my dad. I never knew him. I’m not sure my mom knew who he was. I have a few fuzzy memories of her. She was strung out most of the time, or gone. She died when I was eight.”

He spoke the words easily, as if he’d long made peace with them. But how was that possible?

“Where was Social Services in all this?” she asked. “Why didn’t they come get you?”

“I don’t think they knew about me. When my mom died, I went out on the streets. I’d been living there most of the time anyway. I was already like a mascot to a few gang members. It wasn’t a big step to be accepted by all of them. Besides, I made myself useful. I ran errands—delivering drugs, picking up money.”

He might as well be talking about life on Saturn. “You didn’t go to school?”

“Not after junior high.”

“But you’re obviously educated.”

“Got my GED while in the army. When I got into basic training, I realized I knew nothing about anything. I started reading in my spare time. Everything is self-taught.”

Which was incredible, she thought. He was a sophisticated, dangerous man of the world who’d started with nothing.

Okay—now her pity party had just taken a turn for the worse. Before she’d been worried about what would happen with her father—what he would say in front of Kane. Now Kane was even more amazing and her humiliation would be greater.

She wanted to tell him about her fears and have him put his arms around her and say it didn’t matter. Except she wasn’t sure he would. In truth, what she really wanted was for him to say he loved her and, to quote Marina, what were the odds of that happening?

But he liked her. He liked her and he was dating her and Kane didn’t date, so that was something. She would hang on to that and pray for a miracle. That she could go one afternoon with her father and not have him say anything hideous.

She felt her eyes burning. As tears were the last thing she wanted to deal with, she drew in a deep breath and changed the subject.

“The kittens are really growing,” she said. “They’ll need a bigger box.”

“I’ll get one this week.”

She forced herself to think about Jasmine and her beautiful kittens and how precious they all were. That was safe. Kittens and chocolate and how Kane touched her in the night.

The knot loosened a little…right until they pulled up in front of her mother’s house.

“We’re here,” she said, hoping she sounded more excited than she felt.

They walked inside. Everyone else was already there and called out greetings. Her father stood in the center of the group, as always.

He looked the same, Willow thought. Still handsome and blond, with a deep tan and blue eyes that were permanently crinkled in good humor.

“You must be Kane,” Jack Nelson said with a grin. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

The two men shook hands.

“How’s my Willow?” Jack asked.

“I’m good, Daddy.” She stepped into his embrace.

His arms were familiar, as was the uneasy combination of longing and apprehension. She knew the hits were coming. It was just a matter of when and where.

She stepped back, but her father kept his arm around her shoulder.

“This is how it should be,” he said. “Back with all my girls.”

Willow stepped free of his embrace and walked over to her mother.

“How are you doing?” she asked, although she could see the happiness on her mother’s face.

“I’m wonderful. It’s so good to have him home.”

Willow nodded. She noticed Kane talking to Ryan. Julie stood next to her fiancé, holding on to his hand as if she would never let go. Families were complicated.

“Now let me see if I have this straight,” Jack said to Kane. “You work for Ryan here.”

Kane nodded. “I run security for the various companies Ryan and Todd are funding.”

“Ryan says you’re the best in the business.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Impressive.” Jack slapped Kane on the back. “Good. Good. At least you’re not like Willow’s other losers.”

“Dad,” Marina said quickly, taking her father’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go into the family room. UCLA is playing University of Washington. We can watch our guys kick their Seattle butts.”

Willow appreciated the save, but wished it hadn’t been necessary. She felt heat on her cheeks and the knot in her stomach had turned to dread.

Her father allowed himself to be turned away. But at the step down to the family room, he glanced back at Kane.

“I’m glad Willow’s moving up. I’ve always worried about her. She’s never been as smart or pretty as her sisters. I wondered who would want her. It’s good to know I was wrong.”

Willow felt as if she’d been hit with an emotional baseball bat. Her face flamed with embarrassment.

Not knowing what else to do, she fled into the kitchen where she picked up a knife and began cutting bread into slices. As she didn’t know what they were having or what her mother wanted the bread for, she could really be messing up the recipe. But she had to be doing something. The bread got all blurry and she couldn’t see anything. She tossed the knife down and gave in to the tears.

Then her sisters were there.

“He’s such a jerk,” Julie muttered as she hugged Willow. “This is only one of the reasons I hate him.”

“He’s not the most sensitive man,” Marina said as she hugged them both. “Willow, I’m so sorry.”

Willow let their love surround her. It didn’t heal the wound, but it eased a little of the pain. Still, the memory of the humiliation clawed at her. What was Kane thinking?

“I should never have brought him,” she whispered. “I can’t do this.”

Instead of answering, her sisters moved away. For a second, she was alone, then strong arms encircled her.

She didn’t have to open her eyes to recognize the man. Indecision tore at her. While she needed to be with him, she was too embarrassed to want to face him.

“I’m sorry,” she said, forcing herself to look into his eyes.

But instead of censure, she saw something that looked very much like affection.

“You can’t pick your parents.”

“I know. He’s always been like that. Do you want to leave? I could get a ride home with Marina.”

He brushed away her tears, then bent down and kissed her. Really kissed her. There was heat and need and plenty of tongue. When they resurfaced, her head was fuzzy and it had nothing to do with feeling bad.

“I want you,” he breathed. “I want you na**d. I want to make love with you until we’re both exhausted. Then I want to talk to you and be with you. Just you, Willow. You know how I feel about relationships, yet here I am. With you. I’ve known a lot of women and you are unique in more ways than I can count. You are passionate and beautiful and stubborn and giving and you delight me.”

The knot disappeared. Her tears dried up and she wanted to crawl inside Kane and live there forever.

She loved him. The words hovered on her tongue, then she swallowed them. Kane was many things, but open to being loved wasn’t one of them. It didn’t seem fair to repay his kindness with a statement that would terrify him.

But soon, she thought. Soon.

Kane watched the dynamics of the Nelson family and felt more uncomfortable by the second. If intimacy was a dance, then everyone in this house had forgotten the steps. Julie clung to Ryan as if he were the only point of safety. Willow put on a brave face, but he saw the pain behind her big eyes and it made him want to hit something…or someone. Marina seemed the only one able to hang out with her father and be relaxed, while Naomi, the girls’ mother, fluttered from place to place in an attempt to make peace.

He’d already berated himself for ever agreeing to join Willow at her less than happy family reunion. He knew better, yet she’d asked and he’d said yes. Because he found it difficult to deny her anything.

He was losing it, he thought. He had it bad for a woman and he knew the trouble that led to. Getting involved could get a man dead.

“Kane!” Jack said jovially. “Come join me in my study.”

Kane would rather have been air-dropped into a piranha-filled river, but he nodded and followed the other man through the family room and into a bookcase-lined study. Jack shut the door behind him.

“I love all the women in my life, but sometimes a man needs to get away.” Jack grinned. “You know what I mean?”

Kane took one of the leather chairs as his host poured them each a Scotch.

Jack stretched out in the recliner opposite Kane’s and raised his glass. “To my ladies. May they always welcome me home.”

Kane didn’t acknowledge the toast. What was the point of making trouble? The visit would end and then he and Willow would leave.

Jack sighed. “Do I have a great life, or what? I love this house. I’m always happy to get back here. Naomi’s a terrific woman. So warm and welcoming. She understands me. The patience of a saint, that woman. And the girls are special. I’m willing to admit I would have liked a son, of course. What man wouldn’t, but maybe it’s better this way.”

Kane sipped the Scotch. It was single malt, eighteen years old. He knew what the bottle had cost and doubted it had fit comfortably in Naomi’s food budget.

“It is better,” Kane said casually. “The way you take off and abandon your family every time you get an itch, there could be trouble. A son would grow up and beat the crap out of you.”

Jack stared at him. “It’s not like that.”

“It’s exactly like that.”

Jack shrugged. “Tell me about your job. Do you like working for Ryan? Weren’t you in the military before? Isn’t this a little boring for you?”

“I was in Special Forces,” Kane said after he put his glass on the small table beside his chair. “Nearly nine years. I specialized in the undetected kill. Get in, get the job done, get out before anyone knows you’re there. I was good at it, too.”

Jack swallowed. “Excellent. Excellent.”

“From there I went into private security. That’s the polite word for it. Basically, I was a mercenary for hire. I’ve survived the most dangerous places in the world. There’s a lot of money in that kind of work.”

“I can imagine.” Jack shifted in his chair. “If I ever need a second career, eh?”

Kane stood and looked down at the older man. “We’re not friends, Jack. We’ll never be friends. I don’t like you or respect you, but you’re Willow’s father and as much as I’d like to change that, I can’t. You’re an ass. You have a wife who worships you, daughters who adore you and that’s not enough for you. You want to go play, so you keep leaving them. Of course they keep taking you back, so they have some responsibility in this, too.”

He moved toward the door, then turned back to his host. “If it had been me, I would have kicked your butt a long time ago. Grow up. Be a man. You might find you actually like it. But whatever you decide, don’t make Willow cry again. If you do, I’ll hunt you down like the snake you are and I’ll skin you alive. Are we clear?”

Jack nodded frantically and Kane left the room.

He made his way to the backyard, where he was able to breathe for a few minutes.

But his solitude was short-lived. The door behind him opened again and Naomi stepped out.

“I know I’m interrupting,” she said. “I won’t take long. I heard what you said to Jack.”

Kane held in a groan. Just perfect. He looked at Willow’s mother. “Do you want me to apologize?”

“Not at all,” she said with a smile. “I was impressed. I know Jack was terrified. I might love the man, but I’m not blind to his flaws. Maybe you’ll change him, although I doubt it.”

“You could stop welcoming him home,” Kane said flatly.

“I could, but I won’t. I’d rather have Jack some of the time than never at all. That’s my flaw. Still, this isn’t about me. I wanted to thank you for defending Willow. I’ve been on Jack for years about how he talks to her, but he would never listen. I think things are going to be different now.”

That was something, Kane thought. “Why her? Why not Julie or Marina?”

Naomi sighed. “Willow had some learning problems when she was younger. Nothing serious, but for a while, school was much harder for her. The doctors said it was just because her brain was wired a little differently. Eventually everything righted itself and she did fine. But Jack can’t or won’t forget those earlier years. I’m not sure why he thinks Willow isn’t as pretty as her sisters, though.”