‘Your father?’ he ground out. ‘A boyfriend?’
A reluctant nod. A pause and then a firmer movement of her head.
‘My father was… an alcoholic,’ Kate said quietly. ‘That man smelled…’
‘I know.’ Connor pulled her closer so that he could hold her. Protect her. And he had the feeling that he hadn’t heard the whole story by any means.
‘And the boyfriend?’
He got no answer but he felt the way Kate shrank in his arms.
‘Oh, my God…’ he murmured. ‘He hit you?’
Kate tried to pull away. Connor didn’t know whether continuing to hold her would make it worse but he couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t that man. He’d earned her trust by now, hadn’t he?
He was certainly about to find out.
‘You’re safe, Katie,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. I could never hurt you. You trust me… don’t you?’
She was still rigid, poised to struggle and flee. Time froze for a heartbeat and then another and then Connor felt the fight drain out of her body. She almost sagged against him.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I do trust you.’
Connor ended up sitting in the car with her that night and they talked for a long time before Kate drove herself home. She made him promise never to tell anybody what he’d learned about her.
‘Especially Bella,’ she warned. ‘She’s never known the real reason I went to live with my brother. I think she’s guessed that David and I grew up in an abusive household but I’ve never told anyone how bad it really was.’
Connor had to unclench his fists. He could join more dots together now. No wonder Kate wasn’t into the idea of having a relationship. The kind of damage that could be done with a history like hers was unimaginable.
Even if she wanted a relationship or had wanted one in the past, it would take a very strong man to be able to get past that kind of damage.
And yet that was what made Kate who she was, wasn’t it?
Unique.
And he wasn’t exactly without emotional baggage himself. Maybe this gave them more in common than she realised.
Maybe he could help Kate.
Fix her, even?
Tread carefully, he warned himself.Someone could get hurt.
Someone like Kate.
* * *
‘Have you been to bed with him yet?’
‘Bella!’ Kate shook her head. ‘I really shouldn’t let you have wine with dinner, should I?’
Bella tossed her head, unrepentant. She eyed Kate. ‘You haven’t, have you?’
‘We’re friends, that’s all.’
Bella snorted. ‘Don’t give me that. You’re besotted with each other. You’ve been having coffee dates and dinner dates for weeks now. You had all those late nights closeted in the pathology department working on that report thing. He must have kissed you by now.’
The heat that infused Kate’s cheeks came from nowhere and startled both of them.
