Page 56 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

But this was the real Kit. This man who would stand on her doorstep all day waiting until she was ready. Until she was calm.

How could shenotlove this man?

She unlocked the door and opened it. A blast of cold air swept into her foyer and around her. Kit’s hair was wet, making it curl around his face. His dark eyes seemed sadder and more serious than ever. He had stubble on his jaw, which just made her palms tingle from wanting to touch him.

Her arms ached to wrap around him and pull him close, but she didn’t want to make a disastrous assumption. He might not be anything like his brother but that didn’t mean he loved her.

Kit had come to Gilbert Corners and into her life for a very specific reason. She wasn’t sure that falling in love with her had any part in his plans.

“Come in,” she said after a minute, carefully stepping back and holding the door open for him. The need to touch him was so strong she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to resist it. “Um, I guess we can go in the kitchen to talk...”

“Thank you.” He shrugged out of his jacket but carried it with him down the short hallway to the table in her kitchen.

Rory hesitated as she saw him there, remembering the last time he’d been in her kitchen and how everything in her life had changed. She wasn’t sure she was ready for another upheaval. As much as she wanted him in her life, she knew that she wanted him on her terms.

And she wasn’t going to back down from them. She wanted Kit but he had to be honest. He had to be the man she thought he was.

Rory took another deep breath and realized that the panic she’d felt before she opened the door was gone. She was oddly calm. Squaring her shoulders, she sat down at the table, gesturing for him to sit across from her. “I know you have something to say but would you mind if I asked you something first?”

He shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Were you in my room the day I woke from my coma?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” she asked.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest and then let them drop to his sides. “I came to talk to you. When I heard you were in a coma all these years and learned about the curse, I thought my actions were going to make a change. I told you that I was going to break the hold the Gilberts had on GC. But mostly I just talked to you about that first summer we met and how your kindness was the reason I wanted GC to be prosperous again. Your kindness had helped me all those years ago, and I wanted to pay it forward.”

Seventeen

Kit was glad that he could finally tell Rory about being in her room the day she woke from her coma. He hadn’t planned to stop by to see her but in a way he’d felt that she’d been another victim of Dash’s. And he’d wanted her to know he was taking care of her brother for her.

He now knew different.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” she asked after a few minutes.

It was hard for him to defend why he’d kept silent. Probably because his main focus had been on the big lie he was keeping. That he didn’t trust her brother. That he wasn’t sure how he could move forward with his plan and keep her safe. That once he realized the man who hurt her was his brother, he didn’t want to make things worse.

“How could I? I had planned to keep my distance from you, but—”

“I came up to you and said just go along with me,” she said. She put her arms on the table and leaned forward.

He couldn’t help but remember his surprise in that moment. He still didn’t know if it had been fate or luck or what. But whatever it had been was what he’d needed. It was almost as if everything had happened the way it had for a reason.

So he could find out the truth about their families’ complex history and find a way to bring some closure to both of them.

He laced his hands together in his lap to keep from reaching out and touching her. He couldn’t help it. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he’d held her. He missed her. So damn much. And seeing her now, she seemed tired but she also looked strong and healthy. He was proud of how much she’d changed since she’d moved into her home here.

“Yes. And then everything I had planned went out the window,” he admitted a bit sheepishly.

“What was your plan exactly?” she asked.

“Well, funny you should ask. It was sort of a make Gilbert Corners awesome and then say ‘see, Dash Gilbert, we don’t need you.’”

She shook her head and smiled. He felt azingall the way to his groin. She had the best smile.

“Great revenge plan,not,” she deadpanned. “I can understand why you wanted to get back at Dash and Gilbert International, so of course you couldn’t tell me who you really were. But I’m struggling to be okay with the fact that you lied to me.”

---