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13
GABE
There’s a perverse satisfaction in watching Katherine’s brows lift and her jaw drop as she does the mental math. One bed. Three people.
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Surely, this is the moment she proves me right. That she’s truly her grandfather’s granddaughter. Spoiled. Entitled. Everything I hate in a woman.
So why did you bring her? a voice in my mind asks.
This is a terrible idea. Worse than the year I bought my parents an electric car for Christmas.
They sent it back.
“Well, that’s. . .” She doesn’t finish the sentence. Instead, she purses her lips and glances around the room as if another bed might pop out of nowhere.
I wanted to know what it’d take to make Manhattan’s Ice Princess melt. I have my answer. A bachelorette auction, a panic attack, and a trip to the Hamptons. And I guess I’m an asshole because I’ve enjoyed every second.
She’s not keeping me at arm’s length now. She should be, and if I was smart, I’d figure out the fastest way back to Manhattan and stay far, far away from her, date or not.
But from the moment we met, I haven’t been able to say no to her. I mean, technically, I say no to her often in the boardroom of Winter-Farmington. But I can’t say no to her allure. Or my relentless curiosity.
Her jaw drops comically. What’s going on in that pretty head of hers? Why haven’t I insisted Alex call his pilot back?
She snaps those shut-up-and-kiss-me lips and tilts her chin up. But her shoulders droop, and I can practically see the wave of exhaustion come over her.
I haven’t felt guilt in a long time, but right now, I feel like she’s dangling at the end of her rope, and I just pulled out a knife.
High heels clacking against the worn wood floorboards, she wanders out into the house, and I follow. I should apologize for my blunt delivery, for the whole fucking debacle, but I stay silent.
She ducks into the other three bedrooms and finds the same thing I did. Odds and ends and no beds.
I bet she’s never seen a house in this condition before.
She hums and backtracks. In the living room, there’s an armchair that looks like it’s never been sat in and for good reason. I’m reasonably sure it’d crumble under a man’s weight.
“My massage therapist would murder me if I slept in that,” she muses.
Unbidden, my lips twitch, and I follow her to the kitchen. Did she develop a sense of humor on the flight out, or has she kept it hidden? And why is that sudden sparkle so appealing?
“I love this house. I can see why you bought it.” She trails a finger over the worn table in the breakfast alcove overlooking the water.
“Don’t—” I shake my head, a sigh hissing between my lips. Right now, I’m having a hell of a time remembering the vision, much less why I bought the place. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
She nods at her reflection in the glass. The moon glints off the water, sending shards of light dancing around the room. And I’d thought she was dazzling on that stage beneath the dripping chandeliers.
Katherine glances over her shoulder at me, and something kicks in my chest. I suddenly see her standing in that exact spot, a fluffy robe wrapped around her, those blue-green eyes twinkling at me. There’s a mug in her hand and a serene smile on her lips.
What the actual fuck?
“Are you okay?” She’s in front of me now, a hand pressed against my chest.
It’s the first time she’s ever willingly touched me. Her small hand in the center of my chest feels extraordinarily intimate, and somehow, it’s like an out-of-body experience. Forbidden and desirable all at once. My heart pounds a heavy thump-thump-thump against her palm, and my cock stirs. I force in a deep, steadying breath.
“Fine.”
She watches me for a moment, eyes flicking back and forth. I have no doubt that she sees through my lie. That’s the first thing I noticed about her all those years ago. She’s watchful, often not saying a word until absolutely necessary. And by then, the people around her have told her everything she needs to know.
I hate that. I hate being under a magnifying glass like a dying bug.
