Page 13 of Breathe

Ordinarily, this would be perfect. He could have set his clock by how quickly he could get the nubile Cassandra back to this very bed. But tonight... Tonight he was tired. He had too much to worry about to be all charming and seductive. And it crossed his mind that Cassandra was barely twenty-two, which meant he was too old for her.

What? Where did that come from?

He knew exactly where. God, could he please get Ellen Hunter and her judgmental glare out of his mind? What the hell did she know about his life?

Anyway, he’d promised Stephanie, and it wasn’t like he had to be up all night. He could go for a couple of hours. “Okay, Paul; see you in a little while.”

“Me, Cassandra, and probably a half-dozen Fielding-loving fans.”

Kane hung up on him and got into the shower. Then he pulled on black jeans, a gray T-shirt, and an ancient pair of boots that had just the right amount of wear. As he picked up his jacket and keys, he turned around and looked at his apartment, at the huge sectional and the giant bed just visible through the bedroom door, covered with pillows solely used to aid in positioning. Jeez, was anything in this place not geared at seduction? Was that all he ever focused on?

Okay, now he might really hate that woman.

• • •

The launch was tasteful and warm, the focus on the formerly homeless people and their stories, not on the celebrities. Stephanie, a tiny woman with very short black hair and enormous green eyes, barely came up to Kane’s chest, but had more energy than anyone else in the room. He found a group that included some agents, managers, Steph’s wife, and a wall to lean against, and let them talk around him. They asked how he was doing after the fires but didn’t press him for details, which he appreciated.

Too soon Paul brought the lovely Cassandra to him. At once she made it clear that she would consider a liaison between them a great boost to her career. She stood close to him, put her hand on his arm, laughed at his (to him rather feeble) jokes. Everything that signaled loud and proud what Kane would normally be quite happy to receive.

Eventually he had to pull her aside—making her eyes light up—and confess that he was just too beat to do her justice. He was probably causing bodily harm to his reputation by admitting that, but it was all he had to give tonight. Cassandra gave up with a good grace, and Paul, while raising his eyebrows to the stratosphere behind her back, good-naturedly led her away to someone more interesting. Kane took the opportunity to make his excuses to Steph and went home; he knew they’d all seen the footage on TV, and he used how he had looked then to get one more night alone before his life got back in bed with him.