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“Kat, stop. We need to talk.” Liam narrowed his eyes on his wife’s face but she was doing a good job of masking her emotions. Hell. Kat didn’t wear masks. The dread returned, a low burn simmering in his stomach.
Kat ignored him and went into the kitchen.
“Dinner,” Hunter said once she’d left the room. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
“She’s pissed but she wants you to stay. She feels the same way I do.”
“You don’t know that, Liam. Stop speaking and choosing for people who aren’t you.” Hunter removed his coat.
Liam ran his hands through his hair and blew out a hard breath. “You’re going to have to trust me. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I know my—I know Kat. She’s hurt and she’s pissed she knows what she wants. Thing is, if you want it too, we’re going to have to work together to get past the hurt and the anger to convince her what she wants is something she can actually have.”
Hunter stalled on his way to the kitchen. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that right now she’s pissed at me. When she realizes what you intended with that note, she’s going to shift some of that to you.”
“Why the hell would she be pissed at me? You’re the one who took the damned note.”
“Don’t believe me, then. We’ll still need to convince her we can get past the, well, past. If she doesn’t think we can, there’s no way she will consider a future for the three of us. So we have to make her see we can deal with it.”
“You want us to convince her we’re fine so that she’ll be fine so then we can all be fine? That’s messed up.”
When he put it that way, it did sound messed up. It still made sense to him. “Do you have a better idea?”
“No,” Hunter rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “We can try your way.”
“Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to help with dinner?” Kat’s sharp question cut off anything else Liam might have said. She stood in the kitchen doorway with plates in her hand.
“We’re coming. Can I help with the table?”
She shook her head and began setting dishes on the table. Liam took the hint and followed Hunter into the kitchen.
The kitchen was crowded with Hunter wielding a knife while Kat folded napkins for the place settings. Liam’s arm brushed Hunter’s ass when he reached for the refrigerator door. Hunter stiffened but didn’t pause his rhythmic chopping. Liam grabbed the butcher paper-wrapped package from the fridge and turned to find Kat looking between him and Hunter.
She raised her eyebrows. Well? Liam gave a slight nod. Kat tilted her head to the side in question, and Liam shrugged. He still wasn’t sure where he and Hunter stood, so he couldn’t give her more than that.
The silent exchange loosened something in his chest. They’d always been able to communicate without words. That connection was still there. Strained, but there.
He bent to snag a broiler pan and got to work.
“Warm the polenta,” she told Liam, walking past him with the napkins. “We can do the bread later if we need it.” Her tone was calm, but her eyes conveyed her fury. Liam nearly staggered under the weight of it. Abruptly, he grabbed her hand. She looked down at it, then at him.
I’m sorry, he mouthed.
Her nostrils flared. She nodded briefly. “We’ll deal with that later.”
Kat’s voice was low enough it wouldn’t carry, and Liam closed his eyes in relief. Hadn’t lost her yet.
With a squeeze, he released her hand and went back to work.
By the time the three of them sat at the table, Liam felt as if he were being torn in half. On the one hand, the hope grew as they worked together to get dinner ready. Even angry, they worked well as a team. The sexual attraction simmered under the surface. On the other hand, the anger strained the fragile threads of history and friendship that bound them to Hunter. He was painfully aware of the tension between Kat and himself. His instincts told him to confront the problems head on, but rationality urged caution. The wrong step could rip them all apart. Liam didn’t think he could survive that.
“So, Hunter, what have you been up to?”
Kat’s sudden question threw Liam off stride. He stared for a moment at his wife, then switched his gaze to their guest. Hunter looked briefly surprised.
“I... What do you mean?”
Kat slanted him a look. “I haven’t seen you in ten years. What have you been doing? Catch me up.”
