by Judy Corry
He reached over and touched her chin, lifting it so their eyes met. She needed to see that he meant what he said next. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. You deserve the world." He caressed her cheek with his thumb, feeling sparks ignite throughout his whole body.
He wanted to give her the world.
Her eyes pierced through him with questions that he didn't know if he wanted to answer. He gazed at her lips.
But he didn't know if he dared go down that road. Their track record wasn't exactly the best. Bad things happened the last time he expressed how he felt about her. Plus, wasn't she only spending so much time with him because it was her job?
So instead of pulling her into his arms and holding her close to him forever, he let his hand drop.
She cleared her throat when the commercial break ended, her eyes turning to the screen as the spell they'd fallen under broke. "So who do you send home this week?"
Drew forced a smile and tried not to get too mad at himself for not taking advantage of that moment.
"Just watch. You'll find out soon enough."
19
Kate
Had Drew almost kissed her? Kate wondered as she watched him and his date on the screen as they walked around London. From the way her heart had reacted, she certainly thought so. It took the next five minutes for Kate to finally urge her pulse to a normal rate. And then of course, every time she peeked a sideways glance at him sitting beside her, it would skyrocket again. This couldn't be good. She was supposed to be focusing on her career and her dreams. Not falling for the unobtainable guy from her past. She couldn't afford to risk another guy breaking her heart, especially not the one who'd broken it the first time.
Drew was just handing out his final roses on the TV when Kate's phone started ringing.
When she saw her brother-in-law's name appear on the screen, she frowned. Jonas never called her.
"Hello?" she answered with a question in her voice.
"Kate! Thank goodness you answered." Jonas sounded out of breath. "We've been in an accident and we can't get ahold of your parents."
"What?" Kate sat up straight, her heart pounding in her temples. An accident. Her vision blurred and memories of the last time she'd received a call like that flashed through her mind. "Is Lana okay? Are the boys okay?" She didn't even attempt to hide the panic in her voice. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Drew go on high alert next to her.
Jonas' voice cut through the line again. "The boys are home with a babysitter. Lana and I are okay, but we have to take Lana to the hospital to make sure everything is okay with the baby."
Kate went limp with relief. This wasn't a repeat of last time. She hadn't lost another sibling. She drew in a deep breath, hoping it would calm her. "What do you need me to do?"
"Could you go to our house so the babysitter can go home? It might be a long night, and I need to focus on Lana. She's really worried about the baby."
"I'll head there now." Kate hung up her phone and turned to Drew, her body shaking from the surge of anxiety. "I need to go." She stood and pushed her phone into her back pocket with a trembling hand.
Drew stood. "Wait, what's going on? You're shaking." He set his hands on her shoulders and studied her with concerned eyes.
"Lana and Jonas were in an accident." Kate leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. "I thought Jonas was calling to tell me Lana had died. It was like reliving the night of Aiden's crash all over again."
Drew's chest raised and fell as he sucked in a breath. "I'm so sorry." He hugged her closer, rubbing her back. The motion had an amazingly calming effect. "Let me go with you. You're watching their boys, right?"
"Are you sure?" She didn't want to sound too hopeful, giving him a way out of his obligatory kind gesture, but she really could use his help. The boys were likely to be shaken up if their babysitter told them what was going on, which meant it would be harder than usual to get them to bed.
"I'm not exactly super busy tonight, since my dinner guest is about to run out on me."
Kate smiled and stepped out of the hug so she could look at him. "Okay then. Please come."
"Do you want me to drive?"
"If you wouldn't mind, that would be great." She was so anxious she'd probably cause another accident.
"Not a problem. Follow me."
He led her out of the theater room, down a few halls to the other end of the house. He flicked on the light to the huge garage to reveal four different vehicles.
She held in a gasp. "How many cars do you need?" Her gaze ran over the Lamborghini she'd seen him driving before, to the Cadillac Escalade, and then to another fancy sports car that she had no idea what it was, but boy was it hot!
"Is that your old truck from college?" she asked, pointing to the blue pickup in the back corner.
He shrugged as he grabbed a set of keys from a hook on the wall. "It helps remind me of where I came from. It's also nice to drive around when I feel like blending in."
"That's really cool," she said, touched that he would be sentimental about his past.
"So I'm thinking the Escalade might be the best option in case we need to transport your nephews anywhere, don't you think?" Drew twirled the key ring around his pointer finger.
"Probably. Though I wouldn't mind taking a ride in that thing sometime." She pointed to the flashy silver car parked in the center. It looked like it could go fast.
"The Aston Martin?" Drew grinned. "I think we can arrange that." He winked, and Kate almost forgot what they were doing.
Right. The boys!
About thirty minutes later, they finally made it to her sister’s house. Drew paid the babysitter. Kate helped her nephews get into their pajamas while Drew found their toothbrushes.
"But I don't want to brush my teeth. I'm tired," Decklan whined when Kate handed him his toothbrush.
"You need to do it, Decky. We don't want you to get cavities."
"I don't care about cavities." He crossed his arms. "I just wanna sleep."
"Hey, Decklan," Drew said, his voice much more enthusiastic than Kate had the energy for. How did parents do this every night? "Do you know the special tooth brushing song?"
"No."
"How about you just open your mouth, and I'll brush your teeth with the special song."
Decklan eyed Kate for reassurance that he could trust Drew not to do something weird.
Kate nodded her encouragement, hoping this would work so she could get the boys in bed soon. Just getting them in their pajamas had about used up all her energy.
Decklan slowly tipped his head back and opened his mouth wide.
Drew didn't hesitate to stick the toothbrush right in and get to work. He started singing to the tune of Row, row, row your boat, but with different words. "Brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush them till they're clean. Mom and Dad and Tayden and Kate want you to brush your teeth."
When Drew was done, Decklan was smiling and ready to climb into bed.
"I want a song." Tayden rubbed his eyes sleepily. "I want your fwend to bwush my teeth, too."
Drew smiled and took over the toothbrushing duty, singing the same song but switching the names around. Kate couldn't keep from smiling as she listened to Drew sing. It was cute to see him be so sweet with the boys, even if he wasn't much of a singer.
It wasn't until after Drew had finished that he seemed to realize what he'd just done. He stood up tall, his cheeks redder than usual. "Uh, sorry you had to hear my singing."
"It was cute," Kate said, hoping to reassure him. "And it worked, so if you have any other tricks in getting two boys to bed, feel free to impart your knowledge to me."
Drew rinsed and put away the toothbrushes. "Not sure what I have up my sleeve. But I’m pretty good at reading bedtime stories…though I'm pretty sure their aunt, who is a professional writer, could make up a pretty awesome one."
"Not professional yet."
"Yet." He winked, and her knees went weak.
Kate led Drew
back to the boys’ room on wobbly legs. The boys were already settling in their race car beds.
"Can you tell us a story, Aunt Kate?" Decklan asked, his big brown eyes drooping.
"Sure." And she launched into a story about two boys who went on a walk in the woods one day and ended up having the most wonderful adventures. "And when the boys made it home that night, safe and sound in their beds, they made sure to give their mom three squeezes so she would know how much they loved her."
Kate stood from where she'd been sitting on the carpet against the wall. Drew had been sitting against the other wall the whole time, quietly listening to her story. She was just about to walk out the door when a tiny voice spoke in the dark room.
"Why'd they give three squeezes to their mommy?" Decklan asked, yawning.
He was exhausted. Kate couldn't believe he was still awake. Tayden had zonked out almost as soon as he climbed in his bed.
Kate sat down on the edge of Decklan's bed. "Because three squeezes mean ‘I love you.’" She squeezed his arm three times to show him, saying the words "I love you" with each squeeze. It was something her mom had taught her when she was little.
Decklan reached for Kate to squeeze her hand three times. Kate's heart filled with love for her sweet, often shy, nephew. She bent over to give Decklan a hug and a kiss, saying, "I love you, Decklan. Sleep well."
Decklan smiled sleepily and snuggled deeper into his covers. "Night, night."
Kate found Drew waiting in the hall by the boys’ door when she walked out.
"What do we do now?" Drew asked, leading her back to the living room. His eyes looked tired, but he seemed happy enough to keep her company even though it was so late.
Kate switched on the lamp by the recliner. "I guess we just hang out here. Or, actually, you can probably go home. I'm sure you have stuff early in the morning."
But Drew didn't move to leave. He just stood there in the dim light. "No, it's no problem. I'll stay and wait with you."
Her insides warmed at the thought of him not being in a hurry to get back home. Was it possible that he liked spending time with her as much as she did? Because she was starting to crave it, and that was a precarious place to be, considering their past and her job.
She glanced around the room, looking for something to keep her hands occupied so her mind wouldn't dwell on the past and the what-might-have-beens if Aiden hadn't died that night. There were toys and books all over the living room, complimentary of those two rambunctious nephews of hers. She peeked into the kitchen to see the sink piled high with dirty dishes. Clearly her sister still wasn't feeling well; otherwise, the house would have been spotless.
"Would doing a little housework scare you away? I know you have a housekeeper and maids, but I'm sure coming home to a mess is about the last thing my sister needs right now."
Drew gave her a fake offended look. "Hey, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. In fact, I was tempted to start while you were putting the boys in their pajamas, but I realized I didn't know where anything went and I didn't want to make it worse, in case your sister alphabetized her children's books or something. I kind of remember her being anal retentive about things like that."
It was true. She knew Drew had witnessed his fair share of arguments between Lana and Kate when they were younger. Lana couldn't stand the mess Kate made in their room and had actually put a line of tape down the center to keep Kate's clothes and things contained to her side.
They picked up the living room first, throwing the toys in the different bins Kate found tipped over in a corner beneath the window. Drew told her all about how that evening's episode had ended as he slipped the books into the few cracks of space left in the bookshelf.
"Tonight's elimination was one of the longest ones we had all season because one of the girls, Haylee, fainted in the middle of it. They had to stop everything and wait for the ambulance to arrive…heightening the drama, of course."
"Of course." The show made the most of any dramatic moment they could.
"Meanwhile, I was just standing there sweating because Haylee was actually one of the girls I was planning to send home that night. Was I supposed to send her home still, even after she had fainted? It seemed like adding insult to injury. But in the end, I had to send her home. I couldn't let go of the other women yet."
Kate tossed a stuffed animal into a bin. "That's crazy."
Drew eyed her. "You know what's crazier? I found out later that she'd faked the whole thing just to get her last five minutes of fame since she knew I wasn't going to keep her."
"Some people." Kate shook her head, not believing the lengths some women would go through to get something they wanted. When the living room looked clean, they moved into the kitchen. She asked, "Do you want to rinse or stack in the dishwasher?"
"I'll rinse."
"You sure? Rinsing other people's dirty dishes is gross." How could he pick that one?
He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. "My mom always says that girls love a man with dishpan hands."
"Your mom is a smart woman." Kate gladly took the spot next to Drew and opened the dishwasher. Thankfully, it was empty.
"Do you think many other women were there for fame or your money?" Kate asked as she brought over the rest of the dirty dishes from the table.
Drew took them from her and set them on the counter since the sink was too full to add any more. "It was pretty obvious with quite a few, sadly. I think maybe half were hoping for a real connection with me while the rest were just there to have fun, or become famous.” He sighed, and she felt bad for him. What was it like to be him? Never knowing why people wanted to get close. Always questioning if they just wanted something from him. "I'm still shocked I didn't pick up on any of that from Gwen. She had me fooled for months. I feel so stupid."
Kate put a hand on Drew's arm. "I totally understand. It happens to the best of us."
Drew looked at her carefully as he handed her a plastic Batman plate. "Would you mind telling me more of what happened with Nolan? Was it really just like night and day? One moment you thought everything was great, and then bam, you were married to a stranger?"
"I don't know." Kate paused. She thought for a minute, wondering if she could tell Drew the details of her private life. The details that only her family knew about. She studied Drew, his tall frame and broad shoulders, able hands that washed the dishes for her sister. He was the kind of guy she should have married. The kind of guy who knew how to make a girl feel safe. A hardworking, honest man with good family values and a soft heart. Why had she not realized she wanted his type, instead of the flashy and smooth-talking, sophisticated socialite that was Nolan Prosser?
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Drew’s eyes were apologetic, and he turned his head away.
"No, that's okay. I actually think I want to talk about it." She dropped the plate in the rack and sighed. "I guess in hindsight, there were signs that I should have noticed. Like, how when we were dating he slowly pulled me away from my friends." She shrugged. "I didn't mind at first. I mean, when you're dating, all you want to do is spend time with that person."
"Unless you're me after Finding Your Soulmate, that is," Drew joked.
"Which we'll just chalk up to your sixth sense." She grinned and took the cup he handed her. "Anyway, I should have noticed that whenever I had something planned with my friends, Nolan would suddenly have something come up or some big excuse to keep me back and spend more time with him. Just things like that eventually isolated me from everyone…and sadly, I didn't even realize I was being isolated."
She felt sick just thinking about the dark time in her life. She'd always thought she was such a strong and independent woman, and there she was, practically a hostage in her own home.
She shook away the memories, only to be assaulted with more. "Then there were the few times I asked to use his phone because I'd accidentally left mine at home, and he refused to let me dial the number myself. Like, he never let me touch his ph
one. He always dialed the number himself, press send, and then I had to hand it back as soon as I was done. I always thought he was just being sweet to dial the number for me, but now I know that he was only keeping me away from seeing that he’d been messaging with a bunch of different girls."
"Was this just when you were married? Or back when you were engaged and dating?"
She looked down. "Pretty much the whole time we were together. I was that delusional."
Drew shook his head. "You're not delusional, Kate. You just expected the guy you were with to be decent. That's not a bad requirement."
But she still felt stupid. Drew hadn't seen anything from Gwen because they'd spent such a small amount of time together. She'd spent years with Nolan. How blind could she be?
She took the bowl Drew handed her, needing to keep her hands busy again so she could finish her story. This next part made her feel the yuckiest inside. "Then there were times when he was away on business trips and his phone would just ring and ring, when I knew he wasn't in meetings. He always pretended that he forgot to take his phone off airplane mode, but now I'm sure he was just using his favorite affair service for the weekend."
Shock and anger registered on Drew's face. "He had an affair service?"
"I didn't even know those existed until I found out." And it had been so humiliating when she had to go to the doctor and get tested for STDs because of it.
"Do I have your permission to punch Nolan if I ever run into him?"
"Only if I get to slap him first."
Drew stopped his scrubbing. "Did he ever hurt you?" He was staring at her carefully, as if trying to pick apart her reaction.
"He never physically abused me, no. But there was a lot of verbal and emotional abuse."
His jaw flexed, like the thought of her being treated badly really did bother him. After a moment, he dried his hands on the turquoise dish towel and turned toward her. "Is it okay if I give you a hug? I kind of hate the thought of you going through that."
She nodded, unable to form a verbal response to his unexpected offer. Did he really care that much about what had happened to her?