Page 76 of Keep On Loving You
“You know they could.”
He swallowed hard and reached for her again. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
She looked at him, the silence between them growing until finally she whispered, “But I’m not.”
“Where did you go?” Charli descended upon her the moment she saw her. “I’ve been searching—are you…” Her sister’s gaze scanned her up and down, finally locking onto her face. “Are you okay?”
She thought she’d done a good job putting herself back together, but there was probably no hiding the myriad emotions slamming through her. “I’m fine. Just tired.” It wasn’t a total lie. Shewasexhausted from pretending she was totally okay with denying anything real with Andy.
She was tired of all of it. Especially the look on his face when she told him no again.
Maybe she should just do it? Rip off the Band-Aid andtell her family she was sleeping with Andy and that they were?—
“Kat?”
Steven, her father’s trusted employee and executor of the will, appeared through the crowd.
“Steven? Hi. What are you doing here?”
He laughed, and the sound soothed her the way a comfortable blanket would. Something about Steven reminded her so much of her father and made her feel, even for the tiniest bit, that he was still there.
“Are you kidding, Kat? I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.” His smile was warm. “You were fantastic.”
Something about Steven giving her accolades made her blush. She ducked her head and shrugged a little. “It wasn’t a big?—”
“It was a very big deal.” He stopped her. “That’s why it was on the list. Everything on the list is?—”
“Private.” She lifted her eyebrows and gestured to her sister, who was still in earshot.
Fortunately, Steven was sharp, and he picked up on it right away. “I understand. That’s actually another reason why I wanted to see you. There’s one more thing I need to discuss with you.”
Kat’s stomach flipped. Was there another list? Or something more that she didn’t know about? Secretly, she already kind of thought she’d gotten off easy compared to some of her siblings. But maybe she’d been too hasty?
She let Steven lead her to a quieter spot.
“Don’t panic,” he said. “It’s not bad, I promise.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Okay.” He chuckled. “But it does have to do with the last item on your list.”
“So you mean, my Spanish is good enough?”
He chuckled. “There wasn’t really an end goal where that was concerned. But yes. You’ve made pretty good progress with your Spanish lessons. And I think your father would have agreed with that. Your painting, too. The landscape you dropped off at the office last week is gorgeous. I’m having it framed for my living room.”
“You are not.” Kat’s mouth fell open.
“I am, too. It’s very good. You have a lot of talent, Kat.”
Instead of protesting again, she simply smiled. “Thank you, Steven. That means a lot, coming from you.”
“It’s exactly what Michael would say, too.”
Hot tears pricked at the back of her eyes, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. Not there.
“So the only thing left on the list is…”
He nodded. “The campout.”
