Page 51 of Mine For The Winter

Kelly shook her head. She looked tired. But still so damn beautiful it made his chest hurt. “I want to talk about the loan. Why didn’t you ask for repayment.”

He tipped his head to the side. “You know why.”

“Because you never wanted it.”

The corner of his lip quirked. “Something like that.” He’d tried to give Paul the money, no questions asked, but he wasn’t having any of it. So he prettied the money up as a loan with the most favorable terms anybody could get. Got a lawyer to sign off on it despite his advice that Kris was being an idiot. He didn’t care. As long as it was legal he was doing it.

Kelly ran the tip of her finger around the rim of her glass. “So what was it then? Guilt money?”

“Also something like that.” His voice was thick. “I guess more than anything I just wanted to make your life easier.” Especially after he’d made it harder by leaving. It really was the least he could do.

She looked at him through thick lashes. He could see the hurt there again. Hated that he’d been the one to cause it. To break her.

The same way he’d broken himself.

“I’m going to pay you back.” She lifted her head slightly, her jaw jutting out.

Kris blinked. That wasn’t what he’d expected. Though he wasn’t sure what hehadexpected either. Certainly not her undying gratitude. He hadn’t done it for that. When he’d wired the money over he’d banked on her never finding out.

“You don’t need to do that. It’s between me and your dad.”

“You think I can’t do it.” Her voice was low. Sultry. “Is that it? You think I’ll fail so you’re giving me a pass.”

“I didn’t say that.” He took another mouthful of whiskey, enjoying the burn. “I said you don’t need to. When your dad dies the debt gets written off.”

“What?”

“The tavern returns to you.”

“No.” She shook her head. “That’s not right. You can’t do that.”

“It’s in the agreement. We both signed it.”

Kelly stared at him, her lips parted. And he stared back. Neither of them spoke, neither of them breathed. And all he could think about was the way her lips once tasted pressed against his.

The way her body had felt as he held her. Soft against his hard muscles.

His blood heated with the memory of it.

“I can’t take the tavern.” She lifted her hand to her eyes, brushing her fingers against them. Her mascara smeared on her fingertips.

“It’s not your choice. It’s what your dad wants.” He caught her eye. “And what I want, too.”

“But I’d be stealing it from you.”

“Kel…” He swallowed hard. “You think I don’t know what I stole from you that day I walked away?”

Her bottom lip trembled. Christ he wanted to touch her. Hold her, console her. Like he used to.

How had something that was once so easy become something so impossible?

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk about it. But it’s there and I don’t know how to get around it,” he told her. “It’s everywhere. It’s in the kid I watched play hockey not having his dad there, seeing how he aches for Lyle to watch. It’s in the way I could barely bring myself to come back to the town my family lives in because I know how badly I fucked up. And it’s in the way I lost the best friend I ever had, because I was too mixed up in my own feelings to give her the support she needed.”

A tear ran down Kelly’s face and it killed him.

“Can I hug you?” The words came out before he could think them through. But it was all he could think about. “Kelly…”

She was out of her chair and walking around the table before he could finish his sentence. He pushed the chair back in time for her to drop into his lap, her head dipping to his shoulder as a sob finally escaped her mouth.

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