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Sterling stayed silent while she ate, and when she glanced over, she saw he’d picked up an interior design magazine from the shelf beneath the coffee table and was flipping through it. She had dozens of them around her apartment as a source of inspiration and ideas for the lodge renovations.
“You don’t have to stay here,” she said. “I’m okay. Cross my heart.”
“I know,” he said, looking up and smiling. “But I want to, if you don’t mind. I enjoy your company.”
Well, what could she say to that?
Somehow, over the past week and a half, he’d morphed from coldly handsome businessman to knicker-twistingly sexy friend, and it was largely thanks to her poking and prodding him into relaxing and letting his guard down.
Good work, wahine.
She’d just have to pull herself together and deal with his company, while keeping in mind what she deserved, and what she didn’t.
“I like you being here,” she told him. “But seriously, don’t feel like you have to stay. I’m not about to go off the deep end.”
He set the magazine aside and took her hand. “Let me be here, Kat. If not for you, then for me. It will make me feel better if I can pretend I’m helping you, even a little bit.”
* * *
Sterling’s heartwas in his mouth as he waited for a response. He was still weak-kneed from the rush of relief he’d felt when Tione knocked on his door and said she’d returned. He wanted to take care of her, but he didn’t know how to do that other than making sure her physical needs were met, and being present in case she needed him.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Stay.”
He released the breath he’d been holding. “Thank you.”
She quirked a brow.
“For not sending me away,” he explained.
Her eyes filled with an emotion he couldn’t put his finger on. Not pity, but something close. Like she’d guessed how hard it was for him to be in a position where he was trying to help someone without being able to give them what they most needed. He couldn’t bring her husband back from the dead, and despite his good intentions, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Perhaps it was selfish, but more than anything—more, even, than he wanted to buy Sanctuary and get back to his structured life in Auckland—he wanted to be the man she turned to in her moment of need.
This intense emotion coupled with helplessness reminded him too much of those last weeks with his mum. The difference was that Kat wasn’t dying and he could help her. He didn’t have to sit back and watch as everything went to shit, as he had with his mother.
“No,” Kat said, so quietly he almost didn’t hear. She set the muffin aside and took his hands. “Thank you. No one has cared for me like this in a long time. You don’t know how much it helps to have you here.”
“Is there anything I can get you?”
“No. All I need right now is you.”
The bottom fell out of his stomach, and his grip tightened. He was flying. Soaring above the clouds, her words unlocking the shackles of guilt and loss that had held him prisoner for all the years since his mum died. How was it that such a simple statement could have that effect? After years of feeling like he wasn’t worth anything unless he had the resources to provide for loved ones and ensure their continued health and safety, this wonderful woman had shown him that he did have something to offer other than money.
God, he loved her. He loved her.
He wouldn’t have thought it possible after such a short time, but his heart didn’t need to wait the socially acceptable length of time to recognize the truth, and having seen his two best friends be felled by love in short order, he didn’t doubt it was possible to love Kat after only knowing her for as long as he had. Forget flying, he felt weightless enough to shoot right up through the ceiling and land on the moon.
Love.
Who’d have thought it? He released her hands and pulled her into a firm embrace, resting his cheek on her shoulder and breathing in the scent of shampoo on her damp hair.
“I was worried about you,” he admitted. “I missed you so much I thought I was going crazy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He squeezed her tighter, then slipped his hands beneath her and dragged her onto his lap so he could loop his arms around her properly. “I understand why you needed to get away.”
She gave a breathless laugh. “What are you doing? I’m too big to sit on you. I’ll crush you.”
He scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You weigh less than I do, and even if you didn’t, I’d still want you here.”
