After they finished eating and washed the dishes, Caitlyn set out a small package she found in the cupboard. “How aboutdessert?”
“What are they?” Kurt asked.
“Coconut Shirley biscuits. Cookies. They’re a Barbados staple.”
“I thought you felt bad eating Brandon Marlowe’s food.”
“They’ll go stale before he gets back.” She gave him a wily cat’s smile and shrugged. “I figure if we finish them off, we’re doing him a favor.”
More likely, she needed something that felt good, even if it was just a sugar hit. Kurtcouldn’t blame her.
While eating, they hashed out rough plans of attack and retreat for all the scenarios, drawing crude maps on paper taken from the printer in the study. They were undermanned, under-informed, and under-equipped, but they had little choice in such a short time frame.
He wished he could force her to stay behind. If anything happened to her, he would suffer the rest of his life.Short-lived though it might be.
He sighed.
This was ludicrous. For a man who claimed to want a family, he hadn’t done much to make it happen over the last few years. Instead, he’d poured all his energy into Steele and compared every woman he met to Caitlyn.
Would he like to have children? Yes. But given a choice between having a family with another woman and spending his life with Caitlyn alone…He hadn’t been lying when he told her that finding the right woman was far more important. If she’d take him, he would jettison the dream of a family, no regrets.
He stretched his arms overhead and stood, suddenly restless.
Across the counter from him, she stared at their plans and fiddled with a pen. She was beautiful, smart, fierce, and so precious now that the thought of losing her was nauseating.
And maybe it was about time she knew that. Whether she returned his feelings or not—and at this point he was pretty sure she didn’t—he didn’t want them to face this danger without her knowing she was loved.
The word carved a hollow in his chest, but it was the right one. “Love” had never applied to any other woman in his life. Not this kind of love, anyway.
Caitlyn leaned her elbows againstthe breakfast bar, her brilliant green eyes subdued as she stared at a spot on the wall.
“If Rose is there, we’ll get her,” Kurt said.
She met his gaze, her eyes lighting with intensity. “I know.”
He cleared his throat. “Can we talk for a minute?”
A crease formed between her brows. They were already talking, weren’t they? And he was an idiot.
“Of course,” she said, striding around the breakfastbar to join him in the great room. “What’s up?”
He leaned against the side of the sofa and crossed his arms. Was he making a mistake? Shit. This was the dumbest idea ever. He wracked his brain for an alternate topic that might fit his change of tone.
“Kurt?” She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and leaned over to move into his line of sight. “Everything all right?”
He straightened,took a deep breath, and looked her in the eyes. “I love you.”
