Kimara should have expected what happened next and reacted to avoid it. She couldn’t resist when she suddenly found herself in Kyle’s arms. He lowered his head and his lips brushed lightly over hers. The pure pleasure the kiss elicited made her knees weaken. His lips were gentle and moved softly yet boldly as his tongue explored the recesses of Kimara’s mouth. His kiss was provocative, his touch gentle and persuasive. His arms encircled her, one hand in the small of her back, the other cupping her chin as he smothered her lips with demanding mastery.
So carried away by her own immediate response, all Kimara could do was to continue to press open lips to his as he kissed her devouringly. She was powerless to resist.
At last, reluctantly, they parted, but for a mere moment she had no desire to back out of his embrace. He brushed a gentle kiss across her forehead, pulling her back into his arms. She relaxed, sinking into his cushioning warmth and at the same time feeling a multitude of uncertainties in the pit of her stomach. She had to be realistic. This place held no magic for her and Kyle. The only thing it held was childhood memories. And the only thing she was to Kyle was another conquest. He would use her body for the sole purpose of fulfilling the terms of Poppa Garwood’s will, and enjoy every minute of it.
Afterward, he would toss her out of his life like an old pair of shoes. She knew this. His love life was everyday news, yet a few minutes earlier she’d pushed that knowledge aside and let her guard down. When he had touched and kissed her, all common sense had deserted her. He had the capability of sweeping her away on a tide of desire until she was aware of only him and the feelings he was able to ignite in her. She had to be strong and resist him.
Kimara knew eventually she’d have to give herself to him, but she was determined not to be taken in by him. He had broken her heart once, and she had no intention of ever giving him the chance to do so again. With that thought foremost in her mind, she straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and met his gaze with narrowed eyes. “I’ll never become one of Kyle Garwood’s women,” she said angrily.
Kyle watched as she quickly disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
* * *
Kyle had been downstairs for nearly an hour before Kimara came down to join him. He was sitting on one of the sofas, his head thrown back in deep thought. The words she had tossed at him were playing over and over in his mind. I will never become one of Kyle Garwood’s women. What could he say or do to make her believe that she could never be grouped with the other women he’d been involved with before? He shook his head as if to clear his mind. He didn’t like the way his thoughts were going. Why was he concerned about what she thought? Why did he even care?
He lifted his head when she entered the room. She had showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and looked absolutely great. “We need to finish our talk, Kimara.”
She frowned, flopping down in the chair across from him. “What else is there to way?”
“We didn’t discuss the baby.”
“The baby? What about the baby?”
Kyle met her gaze. “That night I took you to dinner, I agreed to give you custody, but we never talked about my visitation rights.”
“Visitation rights?”
“Yes. I want very frequent visitation rights.”
Kimara was silent for a moment. She wondered just how frequent he meant. “I’m surprised you’d want them.”
“And why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you’re a very busy man.”
Kyle’s eyes bored into her. “I’ll never be too busy for our child, always remember that. No matter how busy my father was, he always found time for me. I never came second to Garwood Industries. My mother and I were first in his life, and I plan to do the same for our child.”
Kimara bit her lower lip. The same had been true for her father. He had never put Stafford Publishing before her mother and her. “Things are different. Our parents married for love, so they couldn’t help but love us.”
“Are you saying we can’t love our child if we don’t love each other?”
“Of course not, Kyle.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“What I’m trying to say is that since we don’t love each other, our child won’t be part of a real family.”
“That’s a shame, isn’t it?” Kyle stood. “Come on, let’s go see what we can throw together in the kitchen. And later, I’d like us to take a walk around the place. It’s been years since we were here.”
Kimara stood and walked with him to the kitchen. Her mind was deep in thought over the comment Kyle had made about it being a shame their child wouldn’t be part of a real family. What did he expect, when their marriage wasn’t a real one?
“The kitchen is stocked with all sorts of goodies. Mason evidently wanted to make sure we didn’t starve for the next two weeks.”
Kyle’s words brought Kimara’s mind back to the present. She took a look around. The kitchen was massive. A sudden jolt of sadness touched her. The last time she’d been here, her mother and Kyle’s had been busy planning dinner. She had been seventeen at the time.
“Kimara, how about if you fix the heavy stuff and leave the coffee, orange juice, and setting the table to me. My cooking skills can’t hold a light to yours.”
A few minutes later she wondered how such a spacious kitchen could suddenly become small. Kyle had insisted on offering his assistance to her after he had finished his tasks. It didn’t help matters with the way he was dressed, in a pair of tight jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. No matter what position he held, whether it was reaching into the cabinets for the dishes, bending down looking in the refrigerator for the juice, or simply standing in a nonchalant way in front of the coffeemaker, he looked sexy.
Kimara couldn’t stop her eyes from straying to his backside, his broad shoulders, his firm stomach, and his sinewy thighs. She found herself wiping perspiration from her forehead countless times while she was going about the simple task of cooking eggs, toast, and bacon. It was almost impossible to stop the hot and seedy thoughts that flowed through her mind.
To her way of thinking, it seemed that more than once he bumped into her deliberately or rubbed against her unnecessarily. More times than she could count, their eyes caught and held. He would give her a slow smile, and then continue with what he was doing.
It was much later, while they were finally seated at the breakfast table, that Kimara made her announcement. “I’ve moved my things into the guest bedroom.”
Kyle lifted a brow. “Why?”
“I enjoy my privacy.”
He let out a deep, throaty laugh. “You didn’t come here for privacy.”
Kimara toyed with the food on her plate. “Yes, I know, and that’s what I want to talk to you about.”
Kyle looked at her curiously. “What?”
“As I told you this morning, I need time to get adjusted to the idea of our sharing a bed.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Kimara, we shared a bed last night.” he reminded her.
“I want a little time before we become . . . intimate.”
Kyle frowned. As much as he wanted to make love to her, the last thing he wanted was a resistant woman in his bed. He looked at her with unreadable dark eyes as he stood. “All right, I’ll give you the time you think you need. But, Kimara . . .”
“Yes?”
“You can’t put off the inevitable forever.” He lifted his glass that was half filled with orange juice. “I propose a toast. To the beginning of what I perceive as an enjoyable two weeks. May our stay at Special K be a very productive and creative one.”
Nine
Kyle and Kimara took a long walk after breakfast. The crisp highland air of
January felt good and filled their lungs as they covered the massive grounds of Special K. The natural beauty was timeless, with snow-capped mountains in the background, a vast array of pine trees, and numerous blooms of dogwood, azaleas, and mountain laurels.
At first they walked quietly side by side, breaking the silence only to recall fond childhood memories.
“Tell me about you,” Kimara asked Kyle some time later when they reached the huge lake on the property.
“Didn’t the newspapers and magazines tell you everything, or did they just zero in on my sex life?” Kyle asked teasingly, tossing a broken twig into the icy blue waters.
“Hmm,” Kimara answered thoughtfully, a smile touching her lips. “I’m afraid they mostly zeroed in on your sex life, so you’ll have to fill me in on the rest. There’s a lot about you I don’t know.”
“Like what, for instance?”
“Personal things. Like your favorite color, your favorite music, what you think of the present state of the economy? Stuff like that.”
“My favorite color is whatever color you’re wearing. My favorite music is the one you were exercising to that day by the pool, and right now the state of the economy is the furthest thing from my mind.”
Kimara couldn’t help but laugh at Kyle’s attempt to flirt with her. “Will you be serious and answer my questions.”
“I am serious.” He pulled her closer to his side as they continued walking. “But I take it you don’t like my answers.” At the shake of her head he said, “All right, my favorite color is blue. I like all kinds of music, but jazz is my favorite, and I think the state of the economy has been pretty good lately, but that’s not uncommon during an election year.”