SOS Marry Me!. Melissa Mcclone

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      Kane Wiley ducked around the business jet’s engine to place his bags in the plane’s exterior storage compartment. His breath steamed in the November air.

      “Is that all you’ve got?” his father, Charlie, asked.

      “Yep.” Not only for this flight. All Kane owned—besides the business jet itself—could fit into two bags. He traveled light. And liked it that way.

      “I appreciate your making the trip, son.” Wearing faded jeans, a black turtleneck and down vest, Charlie looked younger than his fifty-six years, even with his salt-and-pepper hair.

      “Just hold up your end of the deal, Dad.”

      “I will.” Charlie picked up a box containing soda, water, ice, boxed lunches and a plate of cookies and brownies. “I will leave you alone. No more questions. No more badgering you to come home.”

      Home. That was a good one. Kane nearly laughed. There hadn’t been a real home to come back to since his mom had died suddenly from a heart attack three years ago and his dad had quickly remarried…and divorced. Now his father looked poised to make the same mistake again.

      “But—” Charlie pushed the box of food through the doorway of the cabin “—I still expect a card or e-mail or phone call at Christmastime.”

      “I can manage that.” Easter and Father’s Day, too. Even his dad’s birthday. Kane would do anything to get away from Boston and never have to return. He didn’t want to watch his father woo and wed yet another woman who could never take the place of his mother.

      “Just remember, I love you, son. I’m here if you need me. For anything. Money, whatever.”

      Kane nodded once. He glanced at his watch. Damn. “Where is she?”

      “Belle?” Charlie asked.

      Kane fought the urge not to wince at his dad’s newest “friend’s” name. “The one I’m flying to Seattle.”

      “Serena will be here,” Charlie said. “Traffic is always bad at this time.”

      Norwood Airport was twenty-five miles north of Boston. That meant she could be really late. Kane wanted to get in the air.

      “Try smiling, son,” Charlie said. “You might have fun. Serena James is a beautiful young woman.”

      “There are lots of beautiful women out there. No need to settle on just one.”

      Though a cross-country romance might not be too bad. As long as it was over by the time they returned home.

      Charlie shook his head. “You just haven’t met the right woman to love yet.”

      “I meet lots of women.” Kane grinned. “Love them, too.”

      Charlie frowned. “I mean the forever kind of love. The kind I had with your mother.”

      And with his second wife.

      And with what’s-her-name. Belle.

      Forever was a joke. And love—the kind his dad was talking about—was nothing more than a pretty word for convenient sex and companionship.

      A white van pulled through the gate and honked its horn.

      Charlie turned toward the sound. “They’re here.”

      “Great.” Kane had been hoping “they” would be a no-show.

      A woman with silvery-blond hair and a beaming smile drove. She waved. Her passenger held a cell phone to her ear and wore dark, round sunglasses that hid much of her face.

      The van stopped. The driver’s door opened. The older woman, wearing brown pants and a colorful jacket, slid out gracefully.

      “Good morning.” She greeted Charlie with a handshake. The woman stepped toward Kane, extending her arm. “You must be Kane.”

      He shook her hand, noting her warmth and strong grip. She was different from his mother and his ex-stepmother. Older. Maybe even older than his father. That surprised Kane. “You must be Belle.”

      “I am.” Her voice sounded like honey. Deep South honey. Slow and sweet. “I appreciate your flying Serena to Seattle.”

      Of course she did, especially with his father picking up all the associated flight and fuel costs.

      “Kane’s happy to do it,” Charlie answered. “Aren’t you, son?”

      Kane nodded. He would be very happy once this trip was behind him and he’d be flying away for good.

      “Well, СКАЧАТЬ