Page 69

“Did you set up the candles?” Darcy looks at Mum.

She slaps a palm to her forehead. “Shhhhhugar. Forgot.”

When I reach out and take Kendra’s hand in mine, I notice the trace of a smile as it pulls at her lips. Every night since I bought them and I’ve been home, Kendra has lit the vanilla candles.

“Okay, no bother.” Darcy waves and makes for the dining room. “I can sort it out now.”

A couple of seconds later, we’re alone, and I take Kendra’s other hand in mine, turning her to face me. She might be smiling from Darcy’s reference to candles, but I can tell something heavy is weighing on her mind.

“All okay?” I ask, a part of me praying she doesn’t come out and say this is too much. That meeting my family is a step too far for what we agreed.

“Yeah.” She smiles. “Great.”

I step toward her, invading her space in all the best ways. “Here’s where I call you out on your bullshit, Kitten. Did I go too far?” I whisper with my lips on the shell of her ear.

Her sigh sounds defeated, and my heart hits the marble tiles beneath us.

“I miss my brother, is all. I haven’t seen him in forever. We aren’t even on the same continent. Seeing you and Darcy reunite reminded me of Ollie, and I hadn’t been prepared for the way it would pull at me. You could say I’m closer to him than I am to my parents.” She breathes in and looks down at the floor. “If I’d taken the chance in England, then I’d be a two-hour flight from him and not nine.”

My heart breaks for her, and I squeeze our hands together. Not seeing Darcy is hard enough for me, so I can’t imagine how hard it is for Kendra, having a pro footballer for a brother. His career rarely brings him to the US. The football season in Europe is as intense as the NHL.

“Do you feel lonely?” I ask, my heart squeezing at the thought.

She pinches her plump lips together, and all I want to do is kiss them, kiss all the anxiety she’s feeling away.

“At one point, I did. Now I guess I feel more …” She trails off and looks toward the kitchen, where Mum disappeared a couple of minutes before.

With her chin between my thumb and forefinger, I pull herattention back to me. I want—no, I need—to know all that’s going on in her head. The mysterious part of my girl leaves me a pining mess.

“Feel what?”

Her brown eyes find mine, searching, uncertainty reflected in them. “Like maybe there’s always been something missing, something I didn’t know I needed.”

That’s all it takes for my mouth to find hers.

“What is it you want?” I ask between kisses, really not giving a fuck if I don’t give her the guided tour of the penthouse apartment.

Her shoulders drop, and I pull her into me. Desperate for her to interpret the way I hold us close as nothing but want, need, and for her to work out that she’s everything and more to me.

I’m this fucking close to telling her I want us to be official. That I brought her here tonight as the girl I’m ten out of ten in love with and not as part of some goddamn arrangement we made to keep some fucking prick off her back.

But thanks to that prick, I’m holding back from everything I want to say, scared she’ll bolt on me.

“Ope. Sorry, I—ugh. Okay, I’m going to go.” Jon enters the hallway and then spins on his heel, making a run for it.

I rest my forehead against Kendra’s and squeeze my eyes shut. “He sure has good timing,” I whisper to her as she giggles softly against me.

“Your family is waiting.”

I nod with my eyes still closed. “Can we put a pin in this and talk tonight?”

“Yes.”

Bringing her left hand to my lips, I kiss across her knuckles. “Just one caveat to that.” I open my eyes and find hers. “I want you in my bed when we do.”

KENDRA

“What did you study at college?” Darcy asks as I take another bite of the best beef Wellington I think I’ve ever had.