Page 81 of That One Heartbreak

Christ, she was so beautiful it hurt. Memories of last night rushed through him. Of their bodies together. Of laying spent on her bed, the soft cadence of her breathing as she fell asleep. Of never wanting that feeling to end, because the cold light of day always felt like a bucket of frigid water.

He didn’t want the water. He wanted the happiness. He wanted to make her smile, not cry.

“I know this is hard for you. One of the hardest things you’ve had to do.” He took her hand in his. “You’ve been so fucking brave, Kate. Can you be brave a little longer? Let me show you how much I want this.”

Her eyes met his. “It’s not just me,” she told him. “I come in a pack. There are the kids. One teenager who has emotions so big he doesn’t know how to deal with them, so he throws them at the nearest adult on a regular basis. An eight-year-old who has taken to sleeping in his dad’s t-shirt every night because he’s afraid he’s going to forget him. And a little girl who can’t even remember her dad, so she’s looking for somebody to fill that hole. And I’m afraid they’ll get attached to you, and then you’ll walk away.”

“I’m not walking away,” he told her, his voice rough.

“You don’t know that.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. “That’s the thing. None of us know what will happen in the future.”

He took her face in his hands. “Kate, I will do everything that I possibly can to make sure that doesn’t happen. I love your kids. I will never hurt them. I promise you that.”

“What if we break up?”

Not gonna happen.But he knew that wasn’t what she needed to hear. And he was so very aware that to break up they needed to be together.

Were they together?

“I would protect their hearts like they were my own kids.”

A watery smile pulled at her lips.

“And I’ll protect your heart, too. I know it’s battered and bruised. Let me try to help you mend it.”

A tear rolled down her face. He wiped it away with his thumb.

“I don’t want to tell them yet,” she said. “Not until we’re sure.”

“Untilyou’resure.” He smiled, brushing his lips against hers. “And that’s okay. I’ll take what you’re able to give. And I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I’m staying around. I’m here. I want you, all of you. I’ll be your friend to them, their buddy. Whatever. But to you, I want to be your boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” She was smiling wider now.

“Lover. Significant other. Whatever you want to call it.”

“I like boyfriend. It works perfectly with you climbing into my bedroom window and making out every night.”

“I’m not sure I can do that every night,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again. God, she felt good in his arms. Warmth flooded through him. “But I do have one request.”

She touched his face, her gaze steady on his. “Name it,” she said. “It’s yours.”

“I want to take you out on that date. This week. Your parents can babysit.”

Kate grinned. “You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?”

“Yep.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I have.”

“Okay, I need you to send me a picture of you in your dress,” Shana said a few days later, her voice echoing through the speaker of Kate’s phone as Kate drove to Marley’s house to start their date.

As Marley suggested, her parents were babysitting. And although they knew the reason why she was going out she’d told the kids she was seeing Shana. Who, of course, loved being part of the conspiracy.

“I’m driving,” Kate said, shaking her head. “You can use your imagination.”

“In my imagination it’s a fuck me dress,” Shana said. “And Marley’s going to drop at your feet like a drooling fool.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly it,” Kate said, shaking her head as she turned the corner onto Marley’s road.

Carlton and her mom were planning on taking the kids out for dinner and had been getting ready to leave when she had. Addy and Ethan were too busy talking about whether turkey or beef made the best burgers to even notice her.

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