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“Did you have fun last night?” I asked, my voice scratchy.
“Not as much fun as you did.” She winked. “I’ll go make breakfast. You keep snuggling.”
Well, this wasn’t awkward at all.
“Is she always so chipper?” His voice was sleep-ridden.
“Mostly.” I wasn’t in a hurry to sit up since that meant leaving his embrace.
Unfortunately the choice was taken from me when he untangled himself from my body. “Obviously she didn’t get that from me.”
“Obviously.” I stretched, hating the cold I felt without him near.
He stood and offered me a hand.
I blinked at it a moment before I accepted. “Thank you.” I tugged so he’d look at me. “I mean for last night. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It won’t happen again.” He pulled out of my hold and sauntered out of the room.
Ouch.
I stared after him a minute. We were back to hot and cold. He kindly helped me off the sofa, then he might as well have slapped me with his swift rejection.
I’d put him in an uncomfortable position. I understood that.
Could we ever find common ground? Or was our relationship destined to be what it had always been? Out of reach.
Penelope chattered away about her evening when I entered the kitchen. Kane listened attentively, even accepting the mug of tea she offered.
“I think you should stay out here for a while. It’s good for both of you,” she said as if she had all the answers.
The idea wasn’t the worst I’d ever heard. Actually, I’d prefer to stay here than go back to the city. But there were things to attend to there, and I was certain Kane wasn’t keen to spend any more time with me than necessary.
“Maybe eventually.” If Penelope was truly going to make a home in New York, I could split my time between here and there. “You came all the way out here to tell me about a donation, so I need to go back to figure out how we can use the money.”
She slapped her hands on the counter. “I totally forgot about that. You won’t believe how much it is. It’s insane.”
“Are you going to keep us in suspense?” I fought a smile at her enthusiasm.
“Twenty-two million. Can you believe it?” she shrieked.
I staggered backward. “Wh-what?”
“I know, right? Neil could come here so you can plan. We could use it to build housing for the homeless. And we could do more fundraising. You’re the queen of making people want to give. Who in the world did you convince to give us that kind of money?” Penelope rambled in rapid fire.
“No.”
It was the first word Kane had spoken since I’d been in the kitchen.
Penelope and I gaped at him.
“No what?” she asked, her gaze turning lethal. “No that we can’t build housing? No that we can’t fundraise? No—”
Kane zeroed his attention on me. “Neilis not coming here for planning.”
I opened my mouth and closed it, stunned by his adamant outburst. “Excuse me?”
“I didn’t stutter.”
