Page 70 of One Touch

“I meant what I said. He’s welcome to come here and help out. We can find something for him.”

Duke nodded but surprised me when his eyes went hard. “Were you going to tell me?”

Guess we’re done talking about Red.

I cleared my throat. I’d mentally practiced what I had to say to my oldest friend. He deserved to know the truth.

My voice was steady as I looked at Duke. “I’m not asking for your permission.”

His nostrils flared, and I raised a hand.

“Listen. This wasn’t my intention,” I continued. “I was perfectly fine with Kate hating me and my family. I took this job for you. But things changed.”

He stared at me. “Obviously.” Duke ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed. “She’s been through a lot. Katie’s ... fragile. I don’t want to see her get hurt. I’ve got enough to deal with.” He gestured down the hallway.

I knew Kate would bristle at hearing her brother call her fragile. Duke had yet to accept that his little sister had been through hell and had grown more resilient while she’d nursed her wounds in Montana. He either couldn’t see it yet or didn’t want to.

“I have no intention of hurting her. And I hope it goes without saying that I tried my hardest not to go there, but it happened. Somewhere along the way things shifted between us.”

Duke was leaning into the tough-older-brother routine when he crossed his arms, but I recognized the furrow in his brow meant he was actually listening—taking in what I was trying to tell him.

Duke’s assessing eyes were hard to read. “I’ve never held you accountable for what your brother did. I just don’t want to see her heart broken again. Especially not by you.”

I scoffed. “You know she won’t end up with a guy like me, man. Not in the long run. She’ll find some banker or a good guy who makes her laugh, brings her flowers after work, and never disagrees with a word she says. Eventually she’ll get sick of me, and it’ll be back to business as usual.”

The words were a sharp lance beneath my ribs as the utter truth of my statement settled over me.

Because Katediddeserve someone who was light and fun and normal. Even though I was just a stepping stone for that man, and my feelings for her were growing deeper every day, I wouldn’t stand in her way when he came along.

Eventually Kate would set me aside for the man she deserved. A better man. It was inevitable. Like the women before her. Hell, even my own family thought they could do better.

Tension and silence stretched between us. I held out my hand, a peace offering and promise to my best friend. “She’ll get her happy ending.”

And I will never love another woman again.

TWENTY-FIVE

KATE

“Yes,ma’am. I would love to walk you through it.” Excitement danced through me as I listened to the reporter on the other end of the phone. “I can get back to you on that and to confirm the time. Thank you!”

The call ended, and I stared down at the phone.

“Holy shit!” A giddy squeal erupted from me as I shook out the nerves that lingered in my limbs.

“You all right in there?” Beckett’s head popped up from his crouched position on the floor in the back entryway.

“More than okay!” I lifted my phone. “That wastheBarbara Holland from News Channel Three. They saw the Instagram page and the renovation, and they want to do a television interview about the remodel, the house,our team.”

He smirked at me. “We’re a team now?”

My shoulders lifted. “Apparently,” I teased.

Beckett continued to pull up sections of the old, beat-down flooring as crew members hauled off the debris. “What’s the catch?”

I swallowed.He is not going to like this ...

“The catch is that they want us both to do the interview.” I offered him a hopeful smile.

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