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“But...she can’t go,” he said.
Eleanor Gage halted her conversation with Cassandra and turned her unapologetic expression up to his. “She says she can.”
“To do what? Her whole life is here.”
His mother raised a perfectly plucked brow that dared him to wonder why, exactly, she would want to leave, and a sudden thought occurred to him. He frowned as he considered it. Kate’s distance would be good for him. He might even finally be able to get some sleep. But no. Hell, no.
He’d made a promise to her father, years ago, the tragic night of his death. Kate and her little sister, Molly, had become orphans because of Garrett. They would always belong here, with the Gages. This was their home, and Garrett had done everything in his power so that they would feel comfortable, protected and cared for.
Molly was marrying his younger brother now. But Kate?
Garrett had always had a weakness for her. He respected her. Protected her. Even from things he himself sometimes felt.
His whole life he’d ignored the way Kate’s hair fell over her eyes. The way she said Garrett an octave lower than any other word she spoke. He’d ignored the way his chest cramped when she spoke of having a date, and he’d even done his best to try not to count all the freckles on the bridge of her pretty nose.
It wasn’t easy to force himself to be so damned ignorant. Of that. But he’d done it by force and that was exactly how it would remain.
Kate was like his sister and best friend. Except she was truly neither....
No matter.
He would still do all kinds of things to protect her—and this included making her see that moving to Florida was not a good option. Not an option, period.
Scowling, he snagged his mother by the elbow and pulled her closer, so that Cassandra didn’t overhear. But the woman took the cue and easily began to mingle—leaving him to talk to his mother in peace. “When did she say she was leaving?”
“The day after the wedding.”
“Eight weeks?” His brain almost ached as he tried to think of ways to keep her here. “Long enough to change her mind then.”
“My darling, if you manage to—” his mother gently patted him on the chest “—you’ll make me a very happy woman. I don’t want Katie anywhere in the world but here.”
Garrett bleakly agreed and snatched a wine goblet from a passing server. He almost downed the liquid in one gulp, wondering how in the hell one could change the mind of a stubborn little handful like Kate. She could teach old, grumpy men a thing or two about sticking to their guns, and Garrett wasn’t looking forward to being on the opposite end of the field from her. Or then again, maybe he was.
It was always fun to pick a fight with Kate.
It seemed the only way he could vent his frustrations sometimes.
Frustrations that seemed to grow by the minute as he stalked over to Cassandra, who was engaged in a conversation with two other women Garrett knew but couldn’t remember the names of.
He was interested in securing her family’s company to consolidate the Gages’ grip on Texas media, but he couldn’t even think about that now.
Kate was packing her bags and flying out of his life in eight weeks, and he was so determined to stop that from happening that, if he had to, he would run to Florida after her on his own two feet, and come back carrying her like a sack of potatoes on his back.
Which might even be more fun than fighting with her now.
“Something’s come up,” he apologized as he brought the blonde around to look at him. “I’m afraid I’ll need a rain check on our talk.”
He smiled down at her to ease the blow, marveling that he could, and he was glad to find there was no hostility in her eyes. She didn’t tell him to go take his apology and shove it where it hurt, but instead she said, sounding alarmed, “When can I see you again?”
“Soon,” he said with a nod, his mind already on Kate.
Two (#u25c01d60-acb3-526f-9b8b-57f7b6b9f078)
He spotted her out on the terrace, and his insides twisted painfully tight. Tall and slender, Kate leaned against the balcony railing outside of the French doors, peacefully gazing out at the gardens. Her dress dipped seductively in the back, exposing inches and inches of flawless bare flesh and the small, delicate little rises of her spine. Something feral and dangerous pummeled through him. She’s leaving me....
She’d been avoiding him tonight. And now he knew why.
He clenched his hands, hauled in a breath, then yanked the doors open and stepped outside.
A warm breeze flitted by as he approached her. A slice of moon hung in the sky above her, bathing her with its silvery light. It was the kind of night lovers waited for. A night for whispers, for promising forever...
“Why?”
She spun around in a whirl of silk and red hair, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide and bright. “Don’t tell me,” she said with a disappointed shake of her head. “Your mother told you.”
“Why, Kate? Why am I always the last to know?”
For a moment, she didn’t seem to have an answer. She’s leaving you. She’s leaving you and won’t tell you. Won’t look at you.
Restlessly, she pulled at her small earring as she gazed out at the majestically lit lawns. “I...uh, planned to tell you.”
“From where? Florida?” he scoffed, unsure whether he was wounded, angry, amused or just plain damn confused.
“Okay, maybe yes, from Florida,” she admitted. “But you’ve been grumpy lately, Garrett. I can’t handle you right now. I’m too busy.”
His lips twisted into a cynical smile as he leaned on the balustrade next to her. He eyed the length of her glossy hair, wondering what it would smell like up close. Raspberries in the summer...? Peaches and cream? And why in the hell did he need to know? And what did she mean, he was grumpy? “I don’t need to be handled.”
With a pointed stare that told him that he really did, Kate studied him with mischievous blue eyes. “You haven’t exactly been easy to be around lately.”
“Come on, I can’t be that bad!”
She shot him a wry smile, and Garrett found himself responding to that captivating grin. He nudged her elbow up on the railing. “Kate. What did you think I’d do? Tie you to your kitchen to keep you here? Steal your damn plane ticket?”
“The fact that you’ve already thought of that makes me wonder about your sanity.”
“The fact that you’re leaving makes me want to check your head, too. You belong here.”
He sensed—rather than saw—the smile on her lips, but when she refused to look at him, Garrett wondered why Kate seemed so absorbed by the dark gardens it was as if she’d never seen them before—as if she’d never played outside in that yard when she was growing up. His heart jerked as an awful suspicion struck him.
“This is because of a man, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t just dump a life like yours and go away for nothing. So why are you running? Is it a man?”
“Does it matter?” she asked, thrusting her chin up a notch. “I’m leaving, Garrett, and I’m certain.”
The rebellious note that crept into her voice only confirmed to him that it was a man.
A toad Garrett wanted to kill with his own two hands.
Pushing away from the railing with sudden force, he plunged his hands into his pants pockets and paced in a circle on the terrace, lowering his voice when he stopped at her side again. “Who’s going to protect you?”
She scrunched her pretty nose with a little scoff. “I don’t need protecting anymore. I’m grown up, in case you missed it.”
He was struck by a memory of holding his jacket over Kate’s head while they rushed into the house, soaked and laughing. They’d both been just teens. His chest turned to lead as he wondered if he’d never do that again. Laugh with her again. Laugh, period.
“Adult or baby, you still need to know that someone’s got your back,” he grumbled.
She glanced down at the limestone terrace floor, and for a nanosecond, he detected a flash of pain in her expression. “I know you’ve got my back,” she said softly.
She sounded as sad as he felt, and suddenly he wanted to punch his fist into something.
Because nothing in his life felt right anymore.
Everything he did felt pointless. He felt restless. Angry. So angry at himself.
He imagined her all alone in a new place, with no one to help her with anything. Not if she got lost. Not if she was lonely. Not to unload her stuff. Not if there was thunder outside—she hated thunder. He clamped his jaw, loath to think of how many Florida men would be out there just ready to use and discard her, and then continued his attempt at persuasion. “What about Molly? You two are close.”
“And we still will be. But Molly has Julian now. Plus she’s promised to visit, and so will I.”
“Then what about your catering business?”
“What about it?”
“It’s taken off during the past couple of years. You worked your butt off to make it happen, Kate.”
She lifted her shoulders in a casual shrug, as if leaving her entire life behind were just an everyday occurrence to her, as if she couldn’t wait to leave the shadow of the Gages behind. “Beth’s my associate now. Trust me, if Landon married her, it means she’s very capable of handling things by herself. We’ll hire a couple more helpers, and I can start a new branch in Miami.”
Frustrated at her responses, he ground his molars as he thought of a thousand arguments, but he predicted she’d have a retort for each one. How in the hell was he going to change her mind?
Her smile lacked its usual playfulness as her pretty blue eyes held his. “So that’s it? Those are your arguments for me staying?”
Her lips...they looked redder tonight, plumper. He wanted to touch them with his thumb and take off her lipstick. See her all fresh and pure like he was used to seeing her. Not all made up. Just pink, fresh-skinned, with those seven freckles on her nose, and that soft coral mouth that he—
Damn.
He stiffened against the heat building in his loins.
But Kate... She made him feel so damned protective it wasn’t even funny. Her smiles, her personality, her alertness... There was no part of Kate he would ever change. No part of her he wouldn’t miss when she left for Florida.
Luckily, she wouldn’t be going anywhere.
“What am I going to do to change your mind?” he asked, more to himself than to her.
“Nothing. Honestly. My mind’s completely made up.”
He noticed the tray of wineglasses she’d set down nearby. She was taking a short break from making the rounds, he supposed. So he seized one and offered her another.
“Here’s to me changing your mind,” he said with an arrogant smile. He would find out what she was running away from, and he would eliminate it from the face of the planet.
She laughed, and the sound did magical things to him even as she declined the wine he offered her. “Oh, no, I don’t drink when I’m working.”
He snorted. “I should’ve stopped seven glasses ago, and yet here I am. Still going strong. Drink with me, Freckles.”
“Well it is your birthday. You might as well enjoy.”
“Come on. Join me on this toast. I relieve you of your duties.” He pressed the glass against the back of her fingers, glad when she finally took it. He felt cocky and arrogant as he lifted his glass. “Here’s to me changing your mind,” he repeated.
Kate’s eyes gained a new sparkle as she did the same. “And to me, and my new life in Florida.”
They knocked glasses in toast, and it was on.
It was on.
Like when they were kids playing Battleship...hell, yeah. Garrett was going to sink Kate’s Florida ship to the bottom of the ocean.
As though mentally plotting, too, Kate quietly sipped, watching him over the rim with a little glimmer in her eyes. A glimmer that told him she was definitely onto his plan.
Think what you want, Freckles. But you won’t be going anywhere.
“I’m not backing out until I get my way, Kate. You know this, correct?” Garrett warned with a smile
Kate shook her head, but was smiling, too. “See? And you asked me why I didn’t tell you? There’s your answer. I can’t deal with you right now, Garrett. I need to pack and make plans, help Molly with preparations so I can leave after the wedding.”
“You don’t need to deal with me. I will be the one dealing with you,” he countered as he finished his glass. He snatched another and then gazed out at the gardens, the alcohol already slowing his usually sharp brain. Oh, yes, he was determined.
He just couldn’t imagine his life without Kate in it.
Every family celebration—hell, every family dinner, gathering or festivity—she would be there. Every morning in his office, her delectable croissants would be there. In his mind, his very dark soul, every second of the day, she was there....
“Will you be spending the night here?”
The lights in her eyes vanished at his question, and she nodded sadly. “Your mother said I could use my old room. She doesn’t want me driving alone so late. You know what happened...”
To our fathers, he thought. They’d taken Garrett to watch a rock concert.
Neither had returned.
The reminder made his stomach twist and turn until he thought he’d puke.
He wanted to discuss Florida, take back control, make her promise she would stay and settle this here and now. But he didn’t feel like he was in control of all five senses anymore; he’d drained the second glass already, which brought tonight’s drink count to almost a dozen, so perhaps he could save this for another day.
Setting down the empty glass on the tray, he said, “All right, Kate. Sleep tight. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Garrett.” Her voice stopped him, and he turned from the terrace door. There was regret in her eyes, and he worried she’d see the truth of his torment in his. Then she sadly shook her head. “Happy birthday.”
“You know what I want from you for my birthday, don’t you?” he asked, his voice so low she’d probably barely heard it.
