Simply Sinful (Simply 1)

“The iceman cometh,” Catherine muttered.

“Shut up.” Kayla and Kane spoke at once.

Instead of being insulted, Catherine merely continued undeterred. “What shouldn’t she tell me?”

“Anything.” Kane’s dark gaze bored into Kayla’s. If he was aware of Catherine as anything other than another body in the library, no one would know. He had eyes onl

y for her and, if the steely glint in them was any indication, he was furious. She could match and best him on that score.

“Keeping secrets, Detective?” Catherine asked.

“None that concern you.” He spoke to Catherine, but his gaze didn’t swerve from hers. The intensity Kayla saw there unnerved her.

Catherine’s stare bounced from Kane to Kayla and back again. Apparently, she sensed the undercurrents running between them because she stood and reached for her purse. “I think that’s my cue.”

Kayla rose. “You don’t need to go.” She could handle Kane without Catherine’s help, but she refused to let him drive her sister off.

“I think I do. As for Charmed!, I know less than you. Aunt Charlene thought I was the wild child and rarely confided in me.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kayla laughed. Catherine never begrudged Kayla her relationship with their aunt. She’d had little in common with the older woman, but Kayla knew in her heart, Aunt Charlene had loved them both. When push came to shove, though, the Luck sisters had relied on each other.

Catherine turned to Kane. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on between you two, but if you hurt my sister, I’ll make you wish you’d never heard the name Luck.”

“I believe it,” Kane muttered.

“You’re letting him run you off?!” Kayla asked, surprised.

Catherine leaned close, her voice low. “I looked into his eyes. The man’s fallen hard. He just doesn’t know it yet. He’ll take care of you.”

“I don’t need him…”

“Yes, you do. You’re not wearing tighter clothes for my benefit; you’re doing it for his. Because you finally trust someone enough to let the real you out.” Catherine gave her a quick hug. “You know where to reach me.”

Kayla squeezed her back. She loved Catherine’s concern as much as she loved her sister—even if she was seeing things between herself and Kane that didn’t exist. Kayla had imagined a depth of caring and a need for love in a man who had none. Catherine had obviously been fooled, too. But her sister meant well. They were family and, in Kayla’s eyes, that meant everything.

Not that a loner like Kane would understand or even care.

She glanced over. He stood off to the side, his rigid body language ensuring no one could mistake him for anything but the solitary human he was.

Despite everything, a huge part of her still wanted to teach him the meaning of belonging. She stifled a harsh laugh, knowing how little he actually desired from her.

She waited until her sister disappeared around the stacks. “How did you find me?”

“Instinct. You were either here or with your sister. Both happened to be true.”

Kayla latched on to his mention of Catherine. “Cat deserves to know what’s going on, Kane. Keeping her in the dark isn’t your decision to make.”

“No,” he agreed. “It’s yours. The more she knows, the more danger she’ll be in. I have enough trouble keeping tabs on you. I don’t need to add her to my list.”

He took two steps closer. Her personal corner of the library was small. Kane’s presence made it seem even smaller. She inhaled for courage and smelled his masculine scent. Her body reacted, recalling more intimate times between them.

Her brain reminded her she’d been intimate. He’d been far away. “You can take me off that short list of yours, Detective. I don’t want any more from you than you want from me.”

“In that case, sweetheart, we’re in big trouble.”

Her eyes widened. Her lips parted and her breath caught in a noticeable hitch.

Kane cursed himself because he wanted her more than ever before. He prayed for restraint. “Give me the books,” he said, grasping for a distraction.