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Stupid, blind Garrett.
Blind to the fact that the little girl who’d grown up with him had become a woman.
Blind to the fact that she would gladly be his woman.
And even blinder to the fact that before he could say yay or nay, Kate Devaney was moving to Florida.
* * *
“What do you mean, Katie’s moving to Florida?”
Stunned, Garrett stared in disbelief at his mother, his date and business associate completely forgotten at his side.
“Only what I meant. Little Katie’s moving to Florida. And no, there’s nothing we can do about it. I already tried. And hi there,” she said to the blonde pouting at his side. “What did you say your name was?”
“Cassandra Clarks.” The woman extended a hand that sparkled with almost as many jewels as his mother’s.
But Garrett was too preoccupied to pay attention to their sudden conversation, a conversation that was no doubt about the promising possibility of merging Clarks Communications into the Gage conglomerate. He spotted Kate across the room, and a horrible sensation wrenched through him. She was leaving?
When her gaze collided with his, the grip in his stomach tightened a notch. God, she looked cute as a ladybug tonight, too cute to be waltzing around in that dress without making a man sweat.
Then there were her eyes. Every time she looked up at him with those sky-blue eyes, pain sliced through his chest as though that bullet had actually hit Garrett, instead of her father. He’d never forget that he was living now, breathing now, because Kate’s father had stepped into the line of fire to save him.
He’d tried to make it up to her. The entire family had. A good education, a roof over her head, help with securing her own place and encouragement so she’d open her catering business. But lately Kate seemed sad and discontent, and Garrett just didn’t know how to resolve that.
He felt sad and discontent, too.
“But...she can’t go,” he said.
Eleanor Gage halted her conversation with Cassandra and turned her unapologetic expression up to his. “She says she can.”
“To do what? Her whole life is here.”
His mother raised a perfectly plucked brow that dared him to wonder why, exactly, she would want to leave, and a sudden thought occurred to him. He frowned as he considered it. Kate’s distance would be good for him. He might even finally be able to get some sleep. But no. Hell, no.
He’d made a promise to her father, years ago, the tragic night of his death. Kate and her little sister, Molly, had become orphans because of Garrett. They would always belong here, with the Gages. This was their home, and Garrett had done everything in his power so that they would feel comfortable, protected and cared for.
Molly was marrying his younger brother now. But Kate?
Garrett had always had a weakness for her. He respected her. Protected her. Even from things he himself sometimes felt.
His whole
life he’d ignored the way Kate’s hair fell over her eyes. The way she said Garrett an octave lower than any other word she spoke. He’d ignored the way his chest cramped when she spoke of having a date, and he’d even done his best to try not to count all the freckles on the bridge of her pretty nose.
It wasn’t easy to force himself to be so damned ignorant. Of that. But he’d done it by force and that was exactly how it would remain.
Kate was like his sister and best friend. Except she was truly neither....
No matter.
He would still do all kinds of things to protect her—and this included making her see that moving to Florida was not a good option. Not an option, period.
Scowling, he snagged his mother by the elbow and pulled her closer, so that Cassandra didn’t overhear. But the woman took the cue and easily began to mingle—leaving him to talk to his mother in peace. “When did she say she was leaving?”
“The day after the wedding.”
“Eight weeks?” His brain almost ached as he tried to think of ways to keep her here. “Long enough to change her mind then.”
