CHAPTER TWENTY: A WALK IN THE GARDEN
Kore was walking along in front of Eloise, her tail waving in the air, every bit the haughty lady. Eloise smiled fondly and tucked her arm into Kane's. Things had certainly been a lot more settled between them of late. He and Mark seemed to have cleared up their differences and were on slightly uneasy speaking terms. Mark it appeared had met someone and spent a lot of his evenings out with her. Eloise felt oddly relieved at this. Kane looked down at her and smiled.
"Nice day for it, eh?" he said, looking around at the bright sunshine. It was a balmy day and he was wearing a vest top and shorts. Eloise had been shocked to see her normally shy boyfriend appear in such revealing clothing but he laughed at her expression. Now the mask was gone, he was ready to reveal more of himself. There was a scar on his left thigh, but it could hardly be seen unless he was naked. She blushed a little at this thought and smiled back at him.
"Kore seems to think so," she said, watching as her dog stopped to sniff at the grass. "I'm glad you and Mark are speaking again." Kane rolled his eyes and stared straight ahead. She punched him lightly in the arm. "Come on, you're glad too. It's not nice falling out with your big bro."
"You think?" said Kane, rubbing his arm, sulkily. Eloise laughed.
"Oh, you big baby, I hardly touched you," she said. Kane tried hard to look offended but couldn't quite manage it as a grin spread across his face instead.
"You're right," he said. "I am glad that my lug of a brother apologised and has found someone else to devote his attentions to."
She sighed and removed her hand from his arm. Kane chuckled and grabbed her hand, squeezing it once.
"Ok, I admit it; I didn't like it when we weren't talking. Just don't go thinking we're suddenly going to get all close because it won't happen. We never were close and it's just coincidence that we're living together now."
"I guess," she said. "I just wish you two would sort things out and I mean properly, not all this half hearted stuff. I never had a brother or sister, just a stuffy old aunt. I can't believe that you could have someone like Mark and just cut him out without a second thought."
Kane ducked his head and glanced at her. She smiled up at him though and paused, taking hold of both his hands.
"I know that you two have a lot of water under the bridge and I won't judge you for it; just telling you how I feel. That's all."
"If you'd had a brother like Mark you might not have been so keen to have a sibling," muttered Kane. Eloise giggled and squeezed his hand.
"I'd have liked to have had anyone to be honest Kane, even a brother like Mark."
"How are things between you two?" he asked, suddenly.
"They're ok," she replied. "Not fantastic; he's still pretty embarrassed I think about what happened, but we're getting there. Things are better now he's started seeing someone." Kane snorted at that.
"You know the woman he's seeing is an investigative journalist?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Eloise.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. He didn't want to go into any further details because he doubted that Eloise would appreciate knowing that Mark's latest flame was someone who was meant to have been a job.
"You worried she might dig up all your secrets?" teased Eloise. Kane shrugged and tried hard to look nonchalant but Eloise knew that her comment had irritated him somehow. "Sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" asked Kane.
"I thought I'd offended you maybe. I didn't mean anything by what I said." She looked away from him and Kane placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes were unreadable for a moment as he searched her face and then he drew her closer and kissed her. Kore trotted over to them and jumped up at Eloise, drawing her away from Kane.
"Damned dog," he growled, only half joking. Eloise laughed and patted her dog on the head.
"She gets jealous that's all. Aren't you pleased she's so protective anyway?"
"She doesn't need to protect you from me," he grumbled. He leant down and picked up a stick, then threw it across the garden, laughing as Kore took off after it as fast as her legs would carry her. While she was distracted, Kane went back to kissing Eloise, his hands wandering up and down her back. "Mmm, I love summer time. Don't you?"
"Oh, Kane, you are such a child sometimes," she giggled, as Kore bounded back over, carrying the stick, her tail wagging furiously as she looked up at Kane, expectantly. He sighed and released Eloise to bend down and retrieve the stick for the dog. "Looks like you've started something now."
"Yes, your dog sure knows how to keep a guy busy," he grumbled. She laughed as he tossed the stick again and then sighed contentedly. She slipped her hand back into Kane's and smiled when he squeezed it.