Kane's Reckoning. A Blackwood Series Novel. Book 2

Kane’s Reckoning

A Blackwood Series Novels

Book 2

Loveland. Colorado

Sticking the spoon in the carton, I paused the tv and reached for the phone.

My heart nearly stopped when I saw the number on the screen.

Ice cream forgotten, I sat straight up on the couch. Oh… my God. Kane Blackwood was calling me. Why was Kane Blackwood calling me?

I’d programmed his number into my phone only days before, although I still didn’t know why. It’s not like I’d be calling him up for a chat or anything. The man was totally out of my league.

Drop dead gorgeous, and built like a frickin’ linebacker, he was sophisticated, worldly, and cultured. So again.... why was he calling me?

My hand shaking, I hit the answer button. “Hello?” I rasped. Great. I sounded like a croaking frog. Taking the phone from my ear, I cleared my throat before trying again. “Hello?”

“Ms. Snow. It’s Kane Blackwood.”

I had to take a deep breath as his amazing voice washed over me. Oh my God, that accent. I’d had dreams about that accent. Hot dreams. Dirty dreams. Totally inappropriate dreams. “Mr. Blackwood,” I finally managed to say, “how are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” A quiet pause stretched between us. “How are you?”

Was that nervousness I heard in his voice? It sounded like it, but surely it had to be just wishful thinking. We’d only had two conversations, but Kane Blackwood was the most confident man I’d ever spoken to, so why would he be nervous talking to me? “I’m good.” I replied, still a little rattled that I was speaking to the man I’d been fantasizing about for almost a week.

“I’m happy to hear that,” he said graciously, and again, the silence lingered as neither of us spoke.

O-kayy. “So, what can I do for you?” I finally said.

“Oh, yes,” Kane chuckled under his breath. “The reason for my call. I uh... I was thinking about our conversation.”

“Oh?” I asked, intrigued. I’d been thinking about it as well the past few days. Probably not in the same way he was. Cause I highly doubted he was sitting around thinking about me the way I was thinking about him. Like, what he looked like naked. What he felt like naked.

How he would feel naked against me…Yeah, I’d been thinking about that. Alot.

“When we spoke the other day, you mentioned your interest in history,” he said. “Particularly Scottish history, if I recall.”

I smiled. “Oh. Yes, it’s always been a fascination for me. The Highlands, the culture. The people. It’s such a fascinating country.”

“Yes, it is.” He waited a beat, and I wondered again at the reason for his call. “Tell me…. have you ever been to Scotland, Emily?”

My brows drew together. “Um...no. No, I haven’t. I mean, I was born there. In Edinburgh. But we moved to the states a few months after.”

“I see,” he uttered softly. “Well then…I was wondering…would you like to?”

“Would I like to what?” I asked, confused by his question.

I heard his quiet laugh on the other end of the line. “Would you like to come to Scotland?”

“Uhhhhh… I suppose. Some day. Why do you ask?”

I heard him take a breath, and somehow, I got the feeling he was anxious about what his next words were going to be. “Well…I was wondering if perhaps…if you’d like to…that is, if it wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience for you…” I heard his heavy sigh, and I sensed the frustration in his deep voice before he finally spoke again. “Oh, bloody hell,” he muttered darkly, “the hell with it. I was wondering if you might like to bring the painting to Scotland. To Aberdeen.”

Ok, I was completely confused now. “Why would I bring it to Aberdeen?”

“Because that’s where I live, Ms. Snow,” he replied with mild amusement.

Wait. What? “I thought you lived in France.” At least, that’s what it had said when I’d looked him up on Google. Not that I was gonna tell him that, of course. The man no doubt had women falling at his feet, he didn’t need to know I’d been cyber stalking him. Well, sort of.

After the painting had arrived at my shop, I’d tried to find out everything I could about him.

But there hadn’t really been much to find. Other than his business profile, he had no social media, nothing on Google to tell me anything more about him that I hadn’t already found.

The man was practically a ghost.

“I did.” Kane responded. “Until recently. I must apologize. I didn’t realize until after we talked that I had neglected to mention that.”

“Oh. Ok. Well, that’s not a problem,” I assured him. “I’ll have the painting shipped to Scotland then.”

“You misunderstand, Ms. Snow,” he replied. “I’d like you to bring the painting back yourself. If that is at all possible.”

“Me?” Completely taken by surprise, I didn’t even try to hide my shock at his suggestion. “You want me to bring the painting back to you?”

“I would.” His tone held a note of authority, and I got the impression that not many people said no to this man. At least it sounded that way to me. But this didn’t make sense.

When I’d contacted him a week ago and told him I’d be returning the painting that had accidentally been purchased for my shop, he’d been grateful, thanking me for contacting him. After a brief conversation, he’d told me he’d be having his assistant take care of the details, and after we’d hung up, I honestly hadn’t thought I’d ever hear from him again. “I thought your assistant was going to handle the transfer,” I reminded him.

“She was,” he responded. “But I thought perhaps you might be interested in returning it.”

I was utterly gob smacked. Why would he want me to come to Scotland? 

“I’d like to meet you, Emily,” he said, quietly answering my question. “To thank you in person for your generosity.”

“Oh, well…”

“I’d pay for all of your expenses, of course,” he insisted.

“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Blackwood. But I couldn’t possibly….”

“If it would make you more comfortable, you can bring someone with you, of course,” he suggested. “A friend, or a business associate. Perhaps your boyfriend…”

“I’m not seeing anyone,” I said quickly, then inwardly cringed. TMI Emily. He really didn’t need to know about the pathetic state of my love life.

“I see,” he replied. “Well then, would you at least consider my offer? I could arrange for you to stay at a hotel here. Or at the inn in town, if you’d prefer. I understand it’s very nice.”

I looked out the picture window of my living room, temptation nagging at the back of my mind. This was crazy. I couldn’t just pick up and run off to Scotland. I had responsibilities, a business to run. It just wasn’t practical.

But still…that niggling little voice in my head just wouldn’t shut up. When would I ever get this opportunity again? A free trip to Scotland? The one place in the world I’d always wanted to go. The place where I’d been born and dreamed of going to for as long as I could remember. And of course, the chance to meet the man who I had become very curious about.

“You’ve gone to great lengths to return something that’s very important to me, Ms. Snow,” he said, his deep voice subtly persuasive. “I don’t know of many who would go to such measures for someone they’ve never met. I’d like to return the kindness. Perhaps a trip to Scotland would suffice?”

But still, I hesitated. “I don’t know….”

“You could think of it as a vacation,” he coaxed persuasively, “or a holiday.” 

He had a point. Returning the painting to Kane was the right thing to do. I knew that. And as much as I would have loved to have kept it for myself, I didn’t regret my decision.

But I also knew that in doing so, I was going to be taking a tremendous loss. So why not compensate myself? It’d been a long time since I’d taken any time off, and maybe it was time I did. The idea had a certain appeal. “That really is very gracious of you, Mr. Blackwood,” I finally answered. “Can I think about it and get back to you?”

“Of course,” Kane immediately replied, and I heard the relief in his voice. “You have my number. Get back to me at your leisure. But either way, I want to thank you again for contacting me.”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Blackwood.” I replied.

“Kane, please,” he insisted. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. I know it’s Friday night there. I’m sure you have plans.”

Looking down at the melting carton of ice cream in my hand, I made a face, then glanced at Henry’s ruggedly beautiful face frozen on the screen of my tv. “Oh, um…yes, I was uh, I was just getting ready to head out with some friends.” He didn’t need to know I had no life.

“Of course,” he replied. “Have fun, then. It was a pleasure speaking with you again, Emily.”

“And you too, Mr.……Kane.” Why was I stuttering all of a sudden? Had to be the accent. It had nothing to do with the fact that I’d just been invited to visit a man I’d been having hot, dirty dreams about. As a modern woman, I was way more evolved than that. Wasn’t I?

“We’ll talk again soon,” he murmured. “Goodnight Emily.”

“Goodnight Kane.” I pressed a thumb to the button, disconnecting the call, then stared at my phone. Was I seriously thinking about going to Scotland?

Kane’s Reckoning

A Blackwood Series Novel

Available on Amazon

amazon.com/dp/B0BN593GDZ