Not trusting her voice, Kat nodded.
“Fine. You’ll have your peace.”
She didn’t feel any relief.
The queen eyed her. “I never would have expected this from you. You’re stronger than I thought.”
Kat raised her chin. “It’s easy to do when you have nothing to lose.”
She didn’t.
Because Gill was never hers.
But she would make the most of these next two days…
*
Gill’s alarm rang,but he was already awake.
Knowing Kat was only a few doors away made sleep impossible. She consumed his every thought. More than once last night, he’d walked out into the hallway intending to go to her room, only to turn around and return to his.
He tried to blame the feelings on physical attraction, but this was…more.
Lying at the food of the bed, Max barked.
“Shhh.” Gill sat and touched the top of the dog’s head. “People might be sleeping.”
Was Kat still in bed? He dragged a hand across his face as an image of her tangled in sheets, her hair mussed from his touch, rose in his brain like fireworks. Razor stubble scratched his palm.
Kat Parsons hadn’t gotten under his skin. She was in his blood and on his brain and inside his heart. No woman had made him feel this way. His ex-girlfriend Clarissa seemed like nothing more than an infatuation compared to his feelings for Kat. Feelings that had changed in only two weeks.
Could this be real? Or was he just caught up in the romance of his sister’s royal wedding and the magic of the Christmas season?
“Feels real.”
He’d known Kat for fifteen years as his sister’s friend, an American teenager, a kind girl. Those things were still the same except she was no longer a teenager. But over the past two weeks—not long enoughhe imagined his mother saying—he’d gotten to know the woman. A beautiful, intelligent, caring woman.
Max rolled onto his back.
“No rubs for you this morning. I need to get ready.”
Gill showered, shaved, and dressed for the wedding breakfast. No need to wear a tuxedo. A suit would do. He could change into dressier clothes later for the Christmas Eve festivities.
“Ready for breakfast?” he asked the dog.
Max jumped. Like Sophie, the dog didn’t hide any emotion, especially when food was involved. He ran and pawed at the door. Max could be more interested in seeing Mama and the puppies than eating.
Gill opened the door.
The dog ran out.
When he reached Kat’s room, he stopped and knocked.
No answer.
She must be downstairs.
Except she wasn’t there, either. He headed to the stable and found her sitting with Mama and the puppies.
