His back toward her, he cleared his throat. "I'd like to help, Kat, but I don't see how I can protect you from the press. The hotel has people coming and going all day long."
When she didn't respond, he glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a dusky pink nipple as she moved the baby across to the other breast. He turned back to the window, covered his eyes with his hand, and released his breath. To his mortification it came out as a groan.
"Are you okay, Andre?" Kate asked in a quiet voice, obviously trying not to disturb the baby.
"Yes. Of course." Mentally shaking himself, he banished the image of Kate from his mind and tried to gather his thoughts. At sounds of movement, he risked another glance over his shoulder. She laid the sleeping baby on the chair. To his relief, Kate's clothes were now all in place.
She came to stand beside him, leaned her hands on the windowsill, and stared out across the garden. "Oh, Andre, I've missed this place so much."
He stared at the multitude of fine gold plaits in her hair, the shiny beads glinting in the sun, the soft curve of her neck. "I've missed you," he said, the words out of his mouth before he could censor them.
She straightened and laid her fingers on his arm. "I've missed you too. We should talk more often."
"I would have called you if I had your number. I know it's a radical concept but perhaps you can phone me sometimes. I'd have liked to know you were pregnant."
The corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile. A smile that had the power to wipe out years of Andre's carefully cultivated indifference. One little quirk of her pink lips and he was a besotted boy again, the one who'd kneeled in the sand and placed shells around her feet.
"I don't have a phone," she said. "Since I split with Dan, I've been living with friends in a caravan on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset."
"What, not even a cell phone?"
Kate frowned at him. "They fry your brain. I didn't want to zap my unborn baby with dangerous rays."
Andre stared at Kate with disbelief. "During your pregnancy you lived in an isolated caravan with no way of calling for medical assistance, yet you're worried about electromagnetic radiation?" She shrugged. When they were young, he and Kate had taken risks with their safety. He'd grown out of it. Obviously, Kate hadn't. "How would you have called for help if something had gone wrong? Women still die having babies, you know."
"You always overanalyze everything, Andre." Kate gave a forced laugh. "And you wonder why I didn't call you while I was pregnant."
Despite her bravado, she wouldn't meet his gaze. He guessed he'd touched a nerve. She probably had worried but would never admit it. Protective feelings coursed through him as if they'd never been gone. If he ever came face to face with Daniel Crowther, he'd chew him up and spit him out for leaving Kate to cope alone.
Kate glanced up and must have read his face. "It was all right," she said softly." I had two friends from Art College to take care of me. One of them, Yuji, took me to the hospital when I went into labor." Kate glanced around at the sleeping baby. "That's why I called her Keiko. Yuji's Japanese and Keiko is his mother's name."
Andre followed her gaze to the small bundle that looked so incongruous lying on his guest chair. "What will you do if you can't find somewhere on Jersey to hide out?" He swallowed a knot of guilt that settled heavily in his stomach. She'd hardly spoken to him for years, been living with another man, yet he still felt as though she was his responsibility. Old habits die hard.
Staring down at her hands, Kate twisted her fingers together. "I don't know. I hadn't thought past coming here. I was depending on you, really."
She looked up at him, a sheen of tears in her green eyes. Blatant emotional blackmail! Even so, he felt like a jerk for thinking of sending her away. She went to her backpack and kneeled to search through it. Small and vulnerable, she was hardly taller than she had been at twelve, although she had filled out in all the right places. He hadn't noticed that before the breast-feeding incident. Now he couldn't stop noticing.
Andre glanced at his desk and glimpsed Elizabeth's sketches. He suppressed a groan. He should be concentrating on his hotel and his political aspirations, not getting sidetracked by Kate. His grandfather's portrait looked down on him from above the fireplace. Andre had given up so much to fulfill the old man's ambitions, yet events seemed to be working against him.
Kate looked up, and he held out his hand to help her up. She hesitated a moment, clutching a sketchbook to her chest. A warm, golden glow bloomed on her ring finger where the sun touched it. The tiger's eye! Shock kicked his heart. Why, after all these years, was she still wearing the ring he gave her? Could it mean she still had feelings for him? Unlikely, she'd been with Dan for six years. She'd probably forgotten the reason Andre gave her the ring.
Slender fingers slid across his palm. He closed his hand around hers and told himself that touching her had no effect on him. As he pulled her to her feet, she stumbled, leaned on him, the expression in her green eyes so familiar, so credulous. Did she not realize he'd changed? Leaving behind his hopes and dreams had been painful, but essential for him to survive in the life he now led. "Look, Kat, I won't throw you to the wolves. You can stay with me for a few weeks but we won't see much of each other. I'm very busy these days."
***
Kate hugged her sketchbook to her chest. Being back at the Caspian almost overwhelmed her. She loved the place so much. Bright sunlight shone in through the small windows. It picked up the sparkling motes of dust dancing around Andre's head, gleamed off the delicate glass shades on the wall lights, and illuminated the mottled pattern of warm brown and red ochre on the antique oak desk.
Andre released her and instantly she felt the loss. His large, warm hand had engulfed hers completely. His darkly tanned wrist looked strong, and the simple act of having her hand in his made her feel safe. It was an illusion, of course.
Her mind was swamped with memory and sensation. In her mind's eye, she could still see Andre's grandfather sitting at the desk. When she breathed in slowly, beneath the smell of seasoned oak and sun-warmed velvet, there was a hint of his cigar smoke, even after all these years. The old man used to call her 'Andre's little helper.' Whatever research Andre was doing, she'd tag along and help.
Andre sat on the edge of his desk, casually relaxed in his impeccable dark suit and perfectly knotted, red silk tie. What had happened to the skinny little boy she'd known with his muddy knees and unruly dark hair? It was frightening what a few years at an English boarding school and a large dollop of testosterone could do. She'd always thought he'd grow up to be a professor or an explorer. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined he'd turn into this elegant, sophisticated man. He was tall like his grandfather, and the thoughtful, aloof manner he'd had as a boy was transformed into an imposing aura of authority.
She clenched her toes against the polished oak floorboards, feeling awkward coming here asking for Andre's help when she had hardly spoken to him for years. Dan had realized that part of her heart would always belong to Andre and taken an instant dislike to him. He'd forbidden her from keeping contact with Andre, and it had been easy to agree. The hurts from the past had already driven a wedge between them.
His forehead creased in a frown as he stared at her. For a moment she thought he'd looked at the tiger's eye ring. His fingers brushed the back of her left hand and gripped the edge of her sketchbook. "May I?" he asked. He opened it and examined her drawings. "Are you still doing work for the advertising agency, Kat?"
"Of course not. I've got a six-week-old baby in case you hadn't noticed." She grinned at him, trying to make him smile, but he was deep in ‘Professor Andre’ mode. What was going on in that clever brain of his?
"I thought you might be doing freelance work to earn some money," he said. "Do you have your portfolio with you?"
A laugh of disbelief burst from Kate as she glanced at the pile of baby things on the floor next to her backpack. Only a man could ask a stupid question like that. "Of
course. I slipped my portfolio in next to the disposable diapers just in case I needed it."
Andre followed her gaze and a rueful smile caught his lips. "Sorry, my mind went off at a tangent." He returned his attention to her sketchbook and flipped over some more pages, tilting the book to read her notes. "These are good. You've developed your style over the years. Some of these remind me of Georgia O'Keefe's work."
Kate shook her head. No matter what the subject, Andre always knew more about it than she did. Even his knowledge of art history rivaled hers, which was slightly annoying as she'd spent three years studying it.
Andre snapped the sketchbook closed, passed it back to her, then steepled his fingers against his lips. "I'd forgotten about your advertising agency experience, but seeing your work has given me an idea. I'm in the process of developing a new theme or advertising concept for the Caspian. I need someone with fresh ideas." He pointed at a pile of brochures on the desk. "That's what I've had so far. I'll let you draw your own conclusions."
Kate selected the top one and read the first page. "This idiot is suggesting you get rid of the oak paneling." She stared up at him in alarm. Andre's grandfather would turn in his grave.
Andre lifted his shoulders and held out his hands as if to say 'see what I mean.' "At least I know you won't make ridiculous suggestions like that. You understand the Caspian and its history as well as I do. What do you say? Come up with some ideas for me, and I'll let you hide out here until Daniel Crowther sinks back into the obscurity he so richly deserves."
A burst of excitement shot through Kate. She had been so busy hiding and caring for Keiko, she had hardly opened her sketchbook these last few weeks. To have somewhere safe to stay was a relief, to also have a creative project to sink her teeth into was the icing on the cake. Especially when it concerned a place she loved as much as the Caspian.
Andre walked over to the chair where Keiko slept and gently ran a fingertip over her hair. "She is a little sweetheart," he said softly. "She reminds me of you."
Bittersweet memories swept through Kate. If things had turned out the way they were supposed to, Keiko would be Andre's daughter. But fate and Andre's father had not wanted them to be together. She and Andre had resisted Robert Le Court's attempts to separate them for years, but in the end he had won.
"So, do we have a deal?" Andre asked.
"Yes." Kate had struggled to cope and keep her cool for her poor baby's sake. For the first time since Keiko's birth, the tense knot in her stomach loosened. They would be safe here for a while. And helping Andre meant she didn't feel so guilty about imposing. "I'd love to come up with some ideas for rebranding the Caspian."
He caught hold of her hand and stroked his finger along her lifeline. Tingles danced up her arm, skittered through her body, curled her toes. Her gaze jumped to his face and met the mischievous expression in his brown eyes. Her body had been switched off, immune to men for so long. Yet it took one caress from Andre and every nerve sparked back to life.
"I hate to see you running from the press as if you've something to hide, Kat. You haven't. You should stand up to them."
"In an ideal world, yes. But you know that's not going to happen."
"Not even with me at your side?"
A little niggle of disquiet passed through her. She knew he'd been cooking something up while he examined her sketch book, something more involved than simply asking her to use her creative talents for the hotel. "What are you suggesting?"
He held her hand loosely, stroking his thumb across her wrist, a casual touch but it muddled her thoughts. "We'll discuss it later. Once you're settled in."
Chapter Two
The sound of raised voices outside the window drew Kate's attention. She and Andre both moved across the room to take a look and saw the three photographers who had followed her arguing with one of Andre's staff.
"Damn. I'll have to go down," Andre said. "Looks as though my security guard is having trouble. When I come back, we'll get you settled. Won't be long."
Kate sat on the windowsill with Keiko cradled in her arms, grateful for time alone to gather her scattered wits. Ever since she gave birth, she'd felt extra sensitive, her feelings close to the surface. Being with Andre brought back so many memories, so many emotions she had tried to forget.
After a few minutes of arguing, Andre persuaded the photographers to leave. He slipped his hands in his pants pockets and rested a foot on the base of the fountain as he watched their rental car drive away. When the vehicle disappeared around a bend in the road, Kate released a heartfelt sigh of relief. Peace at last.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the precious little bundle in her arms. Her plan to spend the first weeks of her baby's life at her mother's cottage, quietly getting to know her child, had been destroyed by the relentless pursuit of a few selfish men. When she asked them to leave her alone, they laughed. All they cared about was the money they'd earn from the pictures. She'd been flushed out of her safe haven like a hunted animal.
The breeze freshened, clinking together the beads in her hair. Andre turned to come inside and glanced up at her. The wind lifted the flaps of his jacket, slapped them around his lean hips. She couldn't take her eyes off him. Until she was fourteen, he'd meant everything to her. Being with Andre had defined her life. But he was no longer that boy. He was a man with an innate authority, an authority that made her feel safe and vulnerable at the same time. He would protect her from the paparazzi, but who would protect her from him?
The hum of a vehicle on the drive made Andre pause and turn. Kate followed his gaze as the car came to a halt in the unloading area. Her heart tripped in panic as the reporter Jerry Markham got out. He'd interviewed Dan and tried to corner her a number of times. He had a reputation for dishing the dirt. She must warn Andre. Holding Keiko securely, she ran out of the office and down the stairs, ignoring the inquisitive looks she received.
The hotel's double entrance doors stood open. Shielding her eyes against the falling sun, she arrived in time to see Andre shake Jerry Markham's hand. Andre relaxed against the car, and Jerry smiled. They knew each other? Instinctively, Kate stepped back into the shadow of the doorway and returned to the safety of Andre's office. She watched from the window with growing unease as they laughed and joked together.
They talked for twenty-five minutes. After some mutual backslapping, Jerry climbed in his car and drove off. Kate changed Keiko's diaper, wondering how Andre knew slimy Jerry. A short while later, the office door opened quietly, and Andre leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. He grimaced at the dirty diaper and the heap of discarded baby wipes, which were slowly dissolving the wax finish on the oak floorboards. She snatched them up and efficiently put them in a diaper sac. Tying off the top, she looked up at him. "You took a long time."
"Did I?" He glanced at his watch. "That was Jerry Markham. I haven't seen him for years. His father owned the pub in the village near my boarding school." He slipped his hands in the pockets of his slacks and wandered closer as she packed Keiko's things in her backpack. "He's a reporter now, and he's on your trail I'm afraid."
She looked up sharply. What had Andre told Jerry about her? Once, she trusted him implicitly. He'd been her best friend, and she thought he always would be. But when he went to boarding school, he made new friends and forgot her. The pain of the memory still had the power to make her cry. "Did you tell him I'm here?"
"He knew. One of those photographers is working for him apparently."
"That figures. What else did you tell him?"
"As little as possible."
Kate sat on the tapestry chair and laid Keiko on her lap, her heart fluttery with relief. She'd been wrong to doubt Andre. Why would he take her in if he weren't on her side? Andre stooped, picked up her backpack, and lifted it onto the edge of his desk. "Have you come across Jerry before?"
Kate sighed and nodded her head.
"Then you don't need me to tell you what he's like. Once he gets hold of a thing, he doesn't
let go until he gets what he wants. He's checked Keiko's birth certificate and knows you didn't list a father. Look, is keeping it secret really worth all this trouble? You spent six years with Daniel. Why does it matter if people know he's Keiko's dad?"
Kate pressed a hand over her eyes and blinked back tears. When she'd called Dan from the hospital to come and see his newborn daughter, he'd said no. "The stupid jerk is so impressed with himself and his famous model girlfriend, he doesn't have time for Keiko."
Andre crouched at her side and laid his hand over where she held Keiko. "He's a fool, Kat. But that doesn't change the fact your little girl deserves a daddy. You can't keep her paternity a secret forever. One day Keiko will want to know her father."
Kate shook her head but couldn't meet Andre's gaze. He sounded sympathetic, but all those years ago he'd done something similar to Dan, rejected her because he'd found someone better.
"What about your friends in Somerset? Surely they'll talk," Andre said.
"No. They think newspapers are part of a worldwide conspiracy to brainwash people."
"Not even if they were offered cash?"
She pulled her hand away from him. "No, Andre. They're my only real friends. They wouldn't accept money to rat on me."
Andre raised his eyebrows. "Fine, let's hope you're right and this battle to hide the truth isn't for nothing." He rose to his feet and rubbed his hand across his mouth. "Talking about money, Kat, how are you managing?"
A shiver of apprehension passed through her, and she let her gaze slide away from his face. She had no intention of telling him how she now earned a living. He'd only laugh. "I have savings. I can pay for my room."
Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited) Page 2