I was baffled. “How?”
“The way you talked about Jay at the cabin,” he shrugged. “And how abruptly you left tonight. It was obvious you didn’t have a consult. At least to me.”
I sniffed and tried to smile. “You’re pretty fucking observant,” I said. “You know that?”
My lover ignored the statement. He only squeezed me tighter.
“I’m sorry you were in danger,” he said gravely. “That will never happen again.”
He pulled me back to arms’ length, then tilted my chin upward to stare at him. There was a look in his eyes now that made me melt. A look I’d never seen before.
“Kayleen, I’m in love with you.”
All the cold left my body at once. I felt warm again. Abruptly light, and happy, and—
“I love you too.”
The admission was stark. Humbling. For a few long seconds, we only stared at each other, letting the gravity of what we’d just shared sink in.
Then Burke’s hands went to my face, gently drawing me forward…
And the next kiss he gave me shook my entire universe.
Forty-Three
KAYLEEN
“So now… yeah. Looks like we’re gonna need a new publisher.”
Burke’s words fell on stunned ears. Chase and Nathan had both remained silent for most of the story. Right now, they just looked pissed.
“Thank God you followed her,” Chase swore. “If you weren’t there…”
“I know.”
The living room was silent, the television placed on mute. The flickering images of whatever the guys had been watching were still flashing on screen.
“I’m so sorry Kayleen,” Nathan said again. He dropped his head into his hands for the third time. “So fucking sorry. I just… I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t know,” I consoled him. “You had no idea.”
“Yes, but my father did.”
Nathan had been shocked at first, then vehemently angry. I knew at least some of his anger was directed as himself, and that part bothered me.
“Maybe not,” Chase pointed out. “Maybe your father just—”
>
“No,” Nathan barked. He was seething now. “This was one of my dad’s best friends. He had to know something about the guy just wasn’t right.”
He got up, grabbed his phone from the coffee table, and left the room abruptly. I could just imagine the conversation that was about to take place.
Chase was holding my hand in his, and squeezing it for support. “You sure you’re okay?”
He was looking at me for any indication I wasn’t being totally truthful. It was sweet as hell.
“Yeah I’m good,” I said, shifting my eyes over to Burke. He smiled back at me, gently. “Better than ever,” I added.