“Lovely.”She unwrapped her scarf and slid her coat off.“Salmon in a lemon-dill sauce.Mashed potatoes and winter greens.”
“Sounds delicious.”
She draped her coat on the back of the couch.“It was.Even had a glass of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.”
“But…”
“Why is there a but?”
He studied her a moment, broad shoulders shrugging, the hint of beard accenting his strong jaw.“It just seems as if there is something on your mind.”He closed the book on his lap and set it aside.“Do you want to talk about it?I know I’m not Sarah, but I hope we’re friends.”
The flickering firelight highlighted his high, hard cheekbones and the lines of his brow and jaw.
“We are friends,” she said, crossing the room to stand in front of the fire and warm herself.“Actually, I do want to tell you something before I lose my nerve.”
That made him straighten a little.“All right.”
“It’s about Jillian.”She hesitated.“This is going to sound odd, and I wasn’t sure I should even bring it up, but she said something today, earlier, that—well, I think you should know.”
He nodded once, silently urging her on.
“She’s been emotional lately.You’ve noticed.”
He huffed a laugh.“Hard not to.”
“She told me she’s afraid you might—” She broke off, blushing.“That you might fall for me.And that if you did, I’d somehow replace her mother, and she couldn’t let that happen.That she didn’t want that to happen.”
Rhys went still.The fire cracked sharply, sending up a small spray of sparks before settling again.
“I know,” Cat said quickly.“It’s mortifying even to say.I told her she’s got nothing to worry about, that you’d never let anyone take her mum’s place—least of all me.But she was so upset, and I thought that maybe if you knew, you could reassure her yourself.”
Rhys exhaled slowly.“Right.”He looked across the room, attention on a spot near the floor.“I had no idea that’s what she was thinking.”
“She misses her mum a lot.”
“I know they both do.This has been hard for them.”
“I think last night, when you sat next to me, just made her fear the worst—”
“Cat, I don’t like that she’s upset, but Jillian doesn’t get to decide what you want—or what I want.”He held her gaze.“I like you.A great deal.I haven’t felt like this in a very long time… not at any point in the four years since the divorce.”
“She loves you.She’s afraid she’s going to lose you,” Cat said, finally sitting down on the edge of the couch.
“She’ll never lose me.I’m not going anywhere.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“I’m glad you told me.It was the right thing to do.”
Cat nodded, relieved.
“But at the same time, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
Heat and desire rushed through her, making the air catch in her throat.“I told her that there was nothing between us.I promised her that there wouldn’t be.”
“You shouldn’t have made that promise.”His voice had dropped, deepening.“I have a right to have a life too.”
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.The fire whispered and shifted, the clock ticked on, and the house seemed to hold its breath around them.
