“Of course,” she told him, smiling up at him.
She snuggled with him in the large bed, with Gus curled up on his other side. She stroked her finger along his jaw, tracing the bones on his face until his breathing steadied and he fell asleep.
I could watch him forever,she thought then shook herself out of it.He’s a terrible idea. Probably almost worse than the last one. No. Stop thinking about it.She carefully eased herself out of the bed and grabbed her phone to distract herself from the bad thoughts. There were twenty texts from her grandmother.
Where are you???
You’re canoodling with that Holbrook boy, aren’t you? You better get down here, or I’m coming up there.
Kate hurriedly texted her grandmother back.
I was just talking to him. He had some questions he needed answered.
She knew her grandmother wouldn’t believe the lie. Kate tied her damp hair up in a messy up-do, pulled on her clothes, crept out of the room, and went downstairs, taking Grant’s muddy clothes with her.
Praying that she wouldn’t run into Stefan, she dumped them in the laundry room then tiptoed down the hallway to the front door.
“There you are,” her grandmother said from the doorway leading to a small sitting room.
“Gram,” Kate hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. You didn’t answer my texts. I wonder why,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Kate.
“I stayed with him until he fell asleep,” she hissed to her grandmother’s skeptical look. “I should probably check in with Walter before I leave.”
“Walter is on the phone with the Tokyo office or something. Stefan, we’re off,” she said to the butler as he came into the room, carrying a tray with soup and bread.
“He’s asleep, but he might eat it,” Kate told him.
“I’ll save it for him should he wake up,” Stefan replied and bid them good night.
As the driver opened the car door, Kate looked up at Grant’s window. The room was dark, and she hoped he slept soundly.
Chapter 16
Grant
Grant slept the best he had in years, it felt like. He woke up to the morning sun streaming through the window and Gus tip-tapping on his chest. Grant yawned, feeling his jaw crack.
“Man, sleep really will make a lot of things better, eh, Gus Gus?” he said to the dog. He turned over to look for Kate. She wasn’t there. His good mood sank a bit.
“She’ll be at breakfast,” he told himself. It was almost scary how hard he had fallen for his father’s assistant. She wasn’t like any woman he had met in the military or like any girl back home in Missouri. She was worldly, funny, very attractive, kept herself up, and if he didn’t know any better, he would say she was smitten with him.
He remembered in the barracks how the guys would all agonize over their dating apps, just hoping to find someone they could regularly hook up with. None of them were even thinking about getting a girlfriend, though that was the dream. And here the perfect girl had fallen in his lap. Literally. He smirked, remembering what they had done in the bathtub. He dressed then took the dog downstairs.
“Good morning, Grant,” said Stefan. “Feeling better today?”
“Yes,” Grant said.
“You slept a while. It’s a bit chilly this morning, so I will bring your brunch to the solarium.”
Kate was sitting in the sunlight pouring through the large glass windows. She leaned back and smiled at Grant when he walked in, and he felt his heart skip. Maybe he could survive this place after all, if he got to start his mornings with her looking at him like that.
She pushed her sunglasses down her nose and gave him a sultry look then laughed. He grinned at her, and she patted the seat next to her on the loveseat. He sat down, and Stefan brought him a bowl with eggs, sausage, and seasoned potatoes.
“What are we doing today?” Grant asked Kate.
“Your father had to fly to London, but I talked to him, and we’re going to take it easy,” she told him. “We’ll let you acclimate a bit more. Hopefully, you can make some good impressions on people—not that it really matters. Walter Holbrook is one of the richest men in the world, after all.” She laughed. “But he relies on people not to badmouth him. So we want to make at least a neutral impression if not a positive one.”
