His eyebrows pulled low over his eyes—eyes that were hard with frustration.
“Kate, honestly, what the hell are you running from?”
Anger flared inside her. What else would she be running away from but him? “What do you care if I leave? Why are you so hell-bent on stopping me? Go and worry about your heiress!”
“I will, but you come first, Kate. You’ve always come first for me. Before anything in the world. And I happen to be responsible for you, Kate.”
“Oh puhleeze! Responsible, my fanny. I’m a grown woman, Garrett, a fact that you can attest to yourself. Why do insist on continuing to treat me like your sister?”
“Sister? Kate, I freaking slept with you!”
Her eyes widened in shock. Her throat clogged with emotion, and she spun around toward the glass doors. “I can’t do this right now. Not here. Not now.”
He stopped her with one hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. But it would be very damn simple for me to marry an heiress right now if it weren’t for the fact that you and I made love, Kate.”
“We had se—”
“We made love.”
His eyes glowed down at her fiercely. Crazily, she even thought she saw longing there. But if he longed for her, why would he even consider marrying anyone else?
“I told you it was a mistake. Please just carry on with your plans, and I’ll carry on with mine.”
“God, you’re so stubborn, Kate.” He propped his elbows next to hers on the balustrade and gazed outside, his expression pained. “You’ll never be able to forget your father died because of me, will you?”
She swallowed and shook her head. “No. That’s not true. I don’t blame you, Garrett. You were just a boy, and you wanted to help your father. Like you always want to help everyone. You misunderstood what I said. I might have blamed you for a time because I needed someone to blame. I was so angry.”
“Me, too.” He leaned forward and stared at the cluttered tables and chairs out on the lawn, and Kate watched his profile as the urge to touch him began to consume her.
“But my anger isn’t about that now. It’s about me. It angers me to want something that I can’t have.”
He glanced at her curiously, his head cocked to the side as he patiently waited for her to explain.
“Having a family is something I’ve wanted my whole life,” she admitted, softly.
He dragged her into his arms, and she was so exhausted from learning she was pregnant, she closed her eyes and let him. His thumb stroked her arm, causing goose bumps to jump along her bare flesh.
“I never thought I’d have one of my own, and now I can’t stop thinking about it,” he whispered.
Fighting to ignore the sensual stirring inside her, Kate closed her eyes, her connection with him too great to ignore. She suddenly wanted to cry, right here in his arms, at his confession. Because she was sure he was imagining having a family with someone else, with a woman he might marry for convenience. Not with Kate. Still, she loved him so much she couldn’t hate him for wanting the same thing that she did.
“You deserve to be happy, Garrett. You’ve tried to take care of all of us for so long. Even Julian and Molly.”
He rubbed her back and she rubbed his. “They hate me for making them keep their hands to themselves until now.” His whisper stirred the top of her hair.
His scent made her light-headed but instead of drawing away, she drew closer and inhaled, happy that he had an arm around her. “You’ve always tried to do the right thing.”
His lips twitched against her scalp, and he edged back and glanced down at her, searching her expression. “You’ve always trusted me, Katie. To do the right thing. But you don’t trust I’ll make the right choice with Cassandra?”
Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, and when she attempted to pry free, Garrett kept her pinned to him. Even his eyes held her trapped. “Relax. Let’s not fight, all right? Let me just hold you like this.”
His body emanated heat
, and her every cell perfectly recalled the night she had belonged to him. Kate’s throat closed so tight she couldn’t talk, especially when she settled down against him once more. He ran a hand tenderly down the back of her head, and she relaxed her muscles despite herself.
“Katie, let me make it better for you,” he whispered against the top of her head.
Kate closed her eyes. She knew he felt compelled to watch over her, but Garrett had been tied to his promise and had looked at her as a duty his whole life.