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A sharp jolt went through him. It was clear that far from forgetting about him, she’d followed him. Just the way she used to do back when they were children, attaching herself to him like she was his little shadow. He couldn’t remember whether he’d found that annoying or not, though the likelihood was high that he had.

‘Why?’ he asked, conscious that the word came out sharper than he’d intended. ‘How long have you been planning to ask me for money?’

Chapter Three

LIBBY STARED AT him from across the table. His gaze was icy, his expression hard. There was nothing friendly about him, nothing welcoming, and talking to him was like getting blood from a particularly recalcitrant stone. His deep, cold voice had had a note of suspicion in it, too, though she supposed he might have reason. He probably got requests for money all the time.

She picked up her wineglass again and took another sip, the rich, berry taste of the wine sitting warmly inside her, helping dull the pain in her ankle.

Despite that, she’d felt much better after the bath, which she’d stayed in until her bones had unfrozen. It had been a little difficult getting dressed, since she’d had to do it sitting down, but she’d managed. The clothes he’d laid out for her must have been incredibly expensive, because the fabric was beautiful. She’d been puzzled by the fact that they were women’s clothes, while he was very clearly here alone. She wondered whose they were and where he’d got them from, which probably wasn’t a good thing. She’d always been too curious for her own good.

Once she’d dressed, she’d considered calling for help but then had dismissed the idea. The last thing she wanted was to put him out even more than he already was, so she’d limped painfully down the stairs herself, managing to find a huge laundry room down the hallway where she’d put her wet clothes.

She’d been surprised to find Kai in the kitchen, another room full of understated luxury with handcrafted wooden joinery and countertops. He’d been standing at an industrial-looking stove, cooking a meal, and when he said he was cooking for both of them, she’d been even more surprised. She hadn’t expected that, not when he’d made it so very clear that he didn’t want her here.

She shouldn’t have lingered there, asking him about the clothes, because he hadn’t wanted to answer. His tall, powerful body had been very tense, and she could sense the ice radiating from him from across the marble of the counter.

They’d been Neve’s, he’d said.

Neve Aarsland. She shouldn’t be curious about Neve, because it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about her, and she didn’t want to push him. She was here uninvited, after all, and even though she remembered the boy he’d once been, he was a stranger to her now. Which made it rude of her to ask invasive questions.

Yet as she sat at the dinner table, meeting his icy stare, she was aware of that strange tension hovering in the air between them once again. The same tension that had been there up in the bathroom, when he’d looked up at her as he was unlacing her sneaker. Now she found herself staring at the curve of his lower lip and thinking how strange it was that a man should have a mouth so beautiful.

‘Liberty,’ he said, her name edged with ice.

She flushed and tore her gaze from his lips, hoping he hadn’t caught her staring. But meeting his gaze wasn’t much better. There was a knowing glint in them that made her even more uncomfortable than she already was. As if he knew exactly why she was looking at him that way.

‘I wasn’t planning on asking you for money.’ She took another sip of wine to hide her fluster. ‘I only thought of that a month or so ago. No, I meant it when I said I just wanted to see how you were doing. That was it.’

‘Why?’ Again that sharp, icy edge in his voice, as if he was angry with her.

Well, he probably was angry with her, coming here the way she had. But they were adults and there was nothing they could do about the storm, so why not be civil at least?

‘Because you were my friend,’ she said simply.

‘Your friend,’ he echoed, as if the words meant nothing to him.

‘Yes. I know you don’t remember, but we were friends at the home.’ She studied him, looking for any sign that he remembered. But there was none. She shouldn’t continue to be disappointed, she really shouldn’t. It had been over twenty years ago, and they hadn’t seen each other since.

Then again, Kai had always had a special place in her heart. The way he’d protected the other kids, including her, and how he never minded her following him around constantly. He’d been endlessly patient, endlessly kind. Even when she’d broken one of his special treasures, a snow globe that he’d had from his parents. She only wanted to see the sparkling snow inside whirl, and had shaken it too hard, so it slipped out of her hands, smashing on the floor. She’d been inconsolable, and he’d been the one who’d ended up comforting her.

There was no comfort, kindness or patience in him now as he stared back, his expression blank. ‘Is that why you thought you could come here, to my private residence and demand money from me? Because we were once friends?’

The hostility radiating from him felt like a physical force and it was almost painful. She’d never liked it when people were angry with her, especially when she hadn’t done anything particularly awful but come to his home. ‘I didn’t expect you to give me money,’ she said, defensive despite herself. ‘I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.’

‘And you couldn’t pick up a phone?’

She shouldn’t get angry with him. He was a virtual stranger and had already given her a cheque, so what she should be doing was thanking him, placating him the way she placated most of the donors who gave money to the home. She was used to doing so and had never found it to be an issue before.

Yet it was an issue now. She wasn’t a doormat and he’d been nothing but short, cold and rude, and that was uncalled for.

‘I did pick up a phone,’ she said tartly. ‘In fact, I picked up many phones, sent hundreds of emails and visited offices on five separate occasions and received no response.’

His silver brows drew down, and for a second he looked otherworldly. A Fae king. A frost giant. A man carved of snow and ice. Beautiful and remote, and utterly beyond her touch. ‘You didn’t think to find someone else to give you money?’

‘Of course I did.’ She took another deep sip of her wine. ‘But no one was willing to donate, not to one small group home, not when there are many other charities who are just as deserving.’

He said nothing to that, only stared at her.