The Billionaire Boyfriend Proposal: A Kavanagh Family Novel (19 page)

"Maybe he liked ye olde worlde charm of
Winter. Or maybe he could smell Frank's burgers as the bus drove
past. Frank's burgers are pretty damn awesome."

She rolled her eyes. "Or maybe you need to
get serious, Kate. He must be here for a reason."

"Or not. You're too suspicious, Jane.
Relax."

"You're not suspicious enough. Considering
who your father is, and what your career is going to be, I don't
get it. You should be taking mental notes on everything about that
guy."

"Oh, I am."

She blushed. Jane was the sweetest thing on
Earth, but she was also completely naive about guys. If she'd ever
experienced so much as a kiss, she'd never told Beth, Lucy and I,
and we were her best friends. She wasn't like me at all.

"Kate," she whispered, "you shouldn't speak
like you're a...you know."

"Slut?" I laughed. Maybe if it had been
anyone except Jane, I would have been offended or mad, but we'd
been friends forever, and her idea of a slut was someone who'd had
more than one boyfriend. Besides, it took a lot to offend me.

"Don't use that word," she hissed. Her face
reddened more, and she concentrated on her milkshake like she could
tell the future in the froth at the bottom.

"Slut is not a swear word, Jane. Not like
fuck or—"

"Kate! Your father would smack you if he
heard you swearing like that."

"Dad wouldn't lay a finger on me and you know
it." He never had and never would. He was the mildest cop around,
although there wasn't much call for heavy-handed force in Winter.
Criminals didn't exactly flock here. "He'd probably just give me a
lecture on how swearing is for people with poor vocabularies."

"He'd be right."

I shook my head. "One of these days I'm going
to get you to swear like a sailor."

"Not going to happen, Kate Bell. And go easy
on your dad. He's a good man, and your parents have missed
you."

"I know," I said.

"They're very proud of you."

"I know that too."

"So when are you going to move back to
Winter?"

"Whoa." I held up my hands, warding her off.
"Sorry, Jane, but I'll never live here again. Once I've graduated,
I'll need a job, and there's not much for a criminology graduate to
do in Winter. As much as I love my parents, I can't give up my
whole life to be near them. I'm not like you." I peeked at her from
beneath my lashes, hoping I hadn't upset her.

She just shrugged one shoulder. Maybe she
liked looking after her Gran. Maybe she liked being stuck in Winter
when all her friends had left. Nope, that wasn't it. Knowing Jane,
she was just too scared to leave, and too embarrassed to admit
it.

"You and I are very different," she said.
"You think that guy's hot, for example, but I just see a potential
ax murderer."

I laughed and she laughed too. She wasn't as
uptight as she appeared. I knew that, but sometimes I just needed a
reminder. "Yeah, I'd fuck him whereas you'd have me organizing
surveillance."

Her laughter died. "You'd...do
that
?
With
him
? But...you don't know anything about him!"

"Sure, why not? I mean, look at him," I said,
looking at the back of his head. "That body, his face. Then there's
the sense of mystery about him. And those eyes..." The way they'd
seen into me, drunk me in, like I'd been something he'd been
looking for. "He's got the whole package," I murmured.

"Your dad would have a heart attack if he
heard you speaking like that about a stranger."

Her words snapped me out of my mesmerized
state. "Yeah, well Dad isn't my keeper anymore. I know he and Mom
love me to bits, but there was a good reason I chose to go to
college in another state."

"I thought it was because the University of
Maryland has the best criminology department."

"There are a couple just as good, but
Maryland was far enough away from Mom and Dad that I could actually
have a life." They'd hated it at first, but three years later, they
accepted it. That didn't mean they would let me go out late at
night now that I was back home, but since there was nothing to do
and nowhere to go in Winter, it didn't matter.

Jane shook her head. "You're unbelievable.
Some people would kill for parents like yours. Parents who treated
their daughter like she was important and not..."

"A nurse?" I said for her.

Jane's eyes shadowed, shutting me out, but I
saw the misery in their depths. She might tell everyone that she
was happy, that she loved her grandmother and wanted to help her
now that she was sick, but I was one of Jane's best friends. I knew
the truth, even if she didn't know it herself.

"I'd better go," she said, rising.

"You mean before I throw myself at that guy?"
I was joking, trying to lighten her mood. Of course I wouldn't
sleep with a stranger who sailed into our sleepy town with nothing
more than a duffle bag and a nice ass.

Not without finding out more about him
first.

We paid Molly at the counter. "Nice to see
you again, Kate," she said to me. The lines around her eyes
crinkled as she smiled. She had a friendly, round face with sparkly
eyes. A cloud of blonde hair fell to her shoulders, kept off her
face by a clip with a bright red fake flower on it. Yesterday it
had been a yellow flower and the day before that a purple one. She
and Frank were in their fifties and had run the Winter Warmer ever
since I could remember. It hadn't changed in all that time. The
tables were still the same, with rickety metal legs topped with a
Formica surface. My initials were etched under one of them,
followed by Bobby Davis's, my first unrequited crush. Even the menu
was the same, but nobody really minded that. The food was hearty
and value for money and the milkshakes were awesome. Sipping one
through the thick paper straws made me feel like a kid again.

"How's school?" Molly asked.

"It's good. Great. One more year to go then
I'm free of studying forever."

"Your parents will be pleased to have you
back here for good," she said, still smiling.

"I'm not coming back for good." I accepted my
change and dropped it in my purse. "There's no work for a qualified
criminologist here."

"You could work for your dad."

I sighed. Was that going to be the theme of
the entire summer? First Jane and now Molly, and I'd only been back
a week. "No, Molly," I said with exaggerated patience. "I can't.
Winter has no need for an extra policeman, and besides, I'll be a
qualified criminologist, not a cop."

"Oh, I see," she said, but I was pretty sure
she didn't understand. Molly and Frank were good people, warm and
kind, but they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

"I'll be looking for jobs in cities, maybe
apply for the FBI."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! Right. Guess you won't
have time for little old Winter then."

"I'll still visit."

"Won't be the same though, will it? Already
this place is quieter now that the school has shut down, and all
you kids have grown up and moved away to college."

"Except Jane," I added.

Jane gave me a grateful smile.

"Oh, yes, of course. Except Jane. Jane'll
always be here, won't you, dear?"

Jane's smile became tight. "Yes," she said.
"I'll always be here."

No one said anything about what would happen
once old Mrs. Merriweather, Jane's grandmother, died. I'd never
asked Jane about her plans for the future, and I doubted she'd talk
about it anyway. She'd think of it as bad luck to discuss a
person's death before the event. If I thought it really would bring
bad luck and wasn't just something that made Jane upset, then maybe
I would ask. That made me seem like a bitch, but I didn't care.
Mrs. Merriweather was a cold old woman who worked her granddaughter
to the bone. The sooner she died, the better. She'd definitely be
happier, and Jane would be free.

I leaned over the counter and lowered my
voice. "So, Molly, what do you know about that guy? Did he talk to
you?"

"Only to give me his order. Black coffee, no
sugar, that's all he wanted." She stared at the back of his head as
he sat at a table. "He's polite. I'll give him that."

"There you go, Jane," I said. "He can't be an
ax murderer if he says please and thank you."

She thumped me lightly on the arm.

"He was quiet, though," Molly went on.
"Didn't want to chat. I asked him where he was from and he said 'A
long way away.' When I asked him if he was in Winter for business
or pleasure, he just shrugged. What do you make of that, Kate?"

"Nothing in particular. Why?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Because
you're going to be a criminal expert! You won't be a very good one
if you don't start thinking like a cop. Like your dad. His
instincts are good."

I silently groaned. "Yep," I said with a hard
smile. "Dad's awesome. I wish I was more like him."

"You already are. You just need to try
harder, that's all."

Jane pressed her foot on mine. I don't know
why. I mean it's not like I was going to bite Molly's head off for
being nice about my parents. Besides, she was right. Dad
did
have good instincts. He was the perfect small-town cop. Everyone
loved him. He looked out for the residents, settled petty disputes
quickly and amicably, and he and Mom had a finger in every
community activity going around. They were goddamn perfect, and I
was their perfect daughter. In Winter, at least. At college, I
wasn't such a Pollyanna, although I was still the good girl by most
students' standards. It's just that my parents, and the people of
Winter in general, had different standards. It was damned tough to
live up to them.

Molly cleared her throat, and her gaze rose
above my head. I turned around and looked straight into the dark
blue eyes of the stranger. My breath escaped in a little gasp that
drew his attention to me. I stopped breathing altogether. He was
even more handsome up close. His eyes were like deep seas. A girl
could easily flounder in their depths and not want to be rescued if
she fell in. He had a strong jawline and cheeks, a straight nose
and lips. They weren't full, but I found myself wanting to trace
them with my fingertip, corner to corner. He wasn't smiling. I
wondered what it would take to get him to laugh.

He handed some coins to Molly and accepted
his change. "Thank you," he said. Oh boy. He had one of those
voices that melted over you like thick, warm chocolate. It made me
gooey just hearing it.

"You're welcome," Molly said, smiling.

The stranger nodded.

"Are you staying in Winter long?" she
asked.

"I don't know. Maybe." His attention shifted
to the view out the window and a small crease dented his brow. He
seemed to be lost in thought, or worried about something. Then the
muscles in his jaw clenched, and he gave a single nod. He must have
made up his mind. "Is there any work here?"

Molly's face fell. "Oh. No, nothing that I
can think of. Jane?"

"Um," was all Jane said, staring up at the
stranger.

"It doesn't get that busy here," Molly said,
speaking for her. "Maybe you'll have better luck in Riverside. One
of the campsites or diners might be hiring. They get more visitors
than us."

"I've just come from Riverside." He didn't
say whether he'd looked for work there, or why he'd left. Molly was
right. Riverside might have something for him, being the beginning
of their busy tourist season. "Thanks again," he said. "The coffee
was great. The best I've had in a long time."

Molly beamed. "What a shame there's no work
for you."

He nodded. "It's a nice town. I wouldn't have
minded staying awhile." His gaze swept around the diner, out the
window, then back inside, finally falling on my face as if that had
been his intention all along.

I swallowed heavily. "You still could." It
came out in a rush, and I was barely even aware that I'd spoken. It
was as if someone else had said it.

He blinked at me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you could work for nothing. Not
nothing, of course, but maybe food and lodging. There are quite a
few places around here in need of repairs, or with overgrown
gardens. Plenty of people have spare rooms you could use. That's if
you're just looking to kill some time and willing to work for no
money."

His left eyebrow rose. It could have been a
sign of amusement, or just his way of saying 'Don't be an
idiot.'

"You don't know if I'm any good at that sort
of thing," he said.

Fuck. I
was
an idiot. I couldn't tell
him that he looked like he'd be good at fixing things with those
arms. And why would anyone work for no money anyway? It was a dumb
idea. I'd been sucked in by his amazing eyes and shoulders, and
left my brain behind.

"Forget I said anything," I said. "It was
just a thought."

"It was a good idea." His voice rumbling deep
in his chest. "I'd take you up on your offer, but..." He glanced
around the diner again, but this time his gaze didn't settle back
on me. It was as if he was deliberately trying not to look. "I
don't think I should stay after all. When's the next bus out of
town?"

My heart sank. It was completely irrational.
Why did I care what he did? Jane was right, and I knew it. This guy
was a total stranger. He could be anybody, have done anything.
Except if Molly was right and I did have good instincts...well, my
instincts were telling me that this guy was okay.

"In which direction?" Jane asked, speaking in
a full sentence for the first time since we'd met him.

"Not toward Riverside, silly," Molly said.
"He's just come from there."

"Oh. Right." Jane blushed fiercely and tugged
on the hem of her top.

"That's okay," he said, turning those intense
blue eyes on her, like she was the only person who mattered. Nobody
ever looked at Jane that way. Not even her grandmother. She smiled
and stopped playing with her top.