Page 31 of When Love Comes Home

"I miss him," I murmur, more to myself than to her. My heart clenches as the realization fully sinks in. "Oh my gosh," I whisper, my eyes widening. "I miss him."

"Has he said anything to you?" she asks before taking another bite.

I glance away and start plucking at the sleeve of my sweater.

"Katherine," she says, stretching each syllable of my name. "Did something happen?"

"I kissed him," I confess, covering my face with my forearms.

"You meanhekissed you," she tries to correct me, as if it’s just a simple mistake, as if I could be mistaken about this.

"No," I clarify. "It was definitely me. And then him, and then him again." The words tumble out, the truth both terrifying and exhilarating to say out loud.

"Katherine Shay Linder," she whispers, her eyes growing wide, the reality of what I’ve just confessed sinking in.

I tell her everything—from Sheri's phone call to the kiss… kisses. She sits watching me with rapt attention, her spoon slowly traveling between the container and her mouth.

"This is too good," she says, pointing her spoon at me. "Not the ice cream—the story. So, what now? Are you guys together?"

I let out a sigh, slumping back against the couch. "It was just a kiss. I don't know. We didn’t exactly define anything. Plus, he left before I even saw him this morning."

Loren narrows her eyes. "He left without saying goodbye?"

"I went to bed before he got back last night," I defend him automatically. "And this morning, he had to be up early."

She tilts her head, studying me. "Uh-huh. And you’ve been sitting here all mopey, staring at your phone, debating whether to call him.”

I groan, covering my face again. "Why do you have to be so annoyingly right all the time?"

She grins, shoving another bite of my ice cream into her mouth. "It’s my job as your sister. So, are you gonna call him or keep agonizing over it?"

"You think I should?" I ask. "Maybe I should wait and see if he calls me first."

"Do you have real feelings for him?" she asks, her tone growing serious.

"Loren," I begin, my voice barely above a whisper. "I get butterflies in my stomach just knowing I'm going to see him—which is literally every morning. He opens my car door. He brews fresh coffee at the office and always brings me a cup without asking. He smells like heaven. I love his laugh, and his smile. I love teaching him to cook and watching the way his whole face lights up when I tell him the food is good. I love how he places his hand on the small of my back, gently guiding me into a room like it’s second nature. He's sweet. Kind. Funny. He doesn’t even realize how handsome he is, and somehow that makes him even more so. And when he kissed me..." I pause, trying to steady the tremble in my voice. "Something deep inside me came to life. It was like a spark I didn’t know I was missing. And now, knowing I won’t see him for days... I miss him so much, my heart actually aches."

"Wow," Loren says, reaching for the last of the ice cream, only to find the container empty. "You just described how I feel about Justin. Katherine, you're in love."

"I'm in love," I say, the words sounding foreign. "I'm in love."

Chapter 15

Adam

Istareatthephone, willing it to ring, but at the same time hoping that it doesn't.

I shouldn't have let Katie kiss me—but how could I have stopped her? The memory of her green gaze, her smile, the blush that swept across her cheeks when she realized what she'd done… she had never looked more beautiful. Rejecting her was never an option.

But, she's Jon's daughter. It's one thing for him to bring me into his family and treat me like a son most of my life, expecting me to be like a brother to his girls. It's another thing entirely for him to approve of me being in a relationship with one of them.

How the hell am I going to explain this?

"Hey, Coach. I don't know how or when it happened, but I'm in love with Katie. You know, the daughter who, no more than a month ago, couldn't stand the sight of me. Yeah, that daughter."

What will he think? That I've lost my ever-loving mind, that's what.

What will he say?Stay the hell away from my daughter.

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