"
You never cared about me. Only yourself."
Kate caught her breath. She didn't want him to take care of her.
There was a time when those words were all she wanted to hear.
Everything she'd ever dreamed of. Now they weren't anything like
enough.
She thought back to the woman she was then
and frowned. She'd been weak, so easy to charm and painfully naïve.
So willing to believe everything for the sake of belonging to
someone; be a part of something bigger than herself. She quickly
reassessed herself. Her heart rate was steady, her breathing hadn't
increased. Nothing in Eric's words meant anything to her. Not any
more.
She drew air into the very depths of her
lungs, releasing her breath in one long, slow exhalation. For the
first time in a very long while, she felt completely free of all
regret and remorse. She even felt a measure of sorrow for Eric.
She thought of Spencer's outrageous
marriage proposal and knew exactly what she wanted. If she was ever
brave enough to reach out and take it. "No, Eric. I simply can't do
this with you anymore."
"
What?
Think about what you're saying. Be reasonable, for
God's sake! I'm offering you all you ever dreamed of. All you said
you ever wanted. It's yours, Katie."
"
I feel I'm being perfectly reasonable. I
don't want what you're offering, Eric. Thank you, but I'll pass. I
have a new life now."
"
Dammit
, you can't do this to me," Eric shot back. The
silence between them echoed and then he snapped, "There's someone
else, isn't there? Of course, I should've known. This
Spencer
you were expecting a
call from. I should have known, you've been playing me for a prize
fool all along." He muttered a string of cruel
expletives.
"
I'm sorry, Eric." Kate dropped her gaze to
her wounded palm and felt again Spencer's sure touch—saw the erotic
contrast of his bronzed flesh moving against hers—and her heart
contracted. What did Eric expect her to say? "That's no longer any
of your business. I've moved on."
"
None of my business!" Eric snapped
furiously. "A woman like you will always have someone sniffing
around her. Some guy waiting in the wings. Is that why you left the
country so quickly, Kate? To run off to this Spencer? You women are
all the same. Cheating, selfish little—"
"
Goodbye, Eric." Kate cut across his rising
tirade. "Please don't call again."
"
No, Katie, wait!" His raised voice
sharpened with alarm. "Listen, I—"
"
Goodbye." Kate cut the connection with her
finger. She put down the receiver slowly and sagged back against
the wall behind her.
The hollow feeling deep within her
intensified. Her heart thudded with dismay. After all this time...a
shiver passed through her, he couldn't leave her alone. Her heart
tumbled painfully. She knew Eric wouldn't give up that easily, he
would still want to have his say, make her listen.
In the next instant the telephone began to
shrill again. Kate tried to ignore it. She was over Eric, she told
herself raggedly, wrapping her arms across her body. But the
strident summons continued to fill the small room, shredding her
hard-won sense of inner peace.
He wasn't about to give up now that he'd
finally tracked her down. He would keep on calling until she
answered his summons. Until she gave him what he wanted. Eric never
gave up on anything if he desired it badly enough.
The ringing clashed against Kate's stunned
senses. The secure walls she'd built up around her wounded emotions
began to crack and crumble.
"
Oh, God..." She knew she had to get
out.
Her sense of safety and security had been
completely shredded by one vindictive phone call. Gasping for air,
she pulled the front door open, hurrying through, closing it behind
her against the shrill summons.
But it was already late. Where could she
possibly go to escape from the awful consequences of her past?
Her feet seemed to fall into the
path to
Spencer's house of their own free will. She didn't think to
resist. She was running on pure instinct, the need to escape and
feel safe.
In what seemed like the next breathless
moment she was crossing the veranda to the door, raising her hand
to knock. But the door opened before her knuckles could contact the
wood.
The undeniable strength of Spencer's broad
frame filled the opening. He'd changed into faded black jeans and a
charcoal T-shirt that defined to perfection the sculptured muscles
of his broad chest. With his strong jaw-line and eyes unshielded as
she had first seen him, he looked so achingly familiar, so
necessary to her very existence. She hitched a sobbing breath,
wanting to rush straight into his arms and cry out her despair and
shame on his broad shoulder.
Instead she sniffed and managed to ask,
"Hi, can I come in?"
"
Kate...?" Spencer stared down at her, a
heavy frown creasing his forehead. "What's happened? Are you all
right?"
Kate shivered. "Please, I...can I come
in?"
"
Sorry." Spencer stepped back. "Of course,
come in. I wasn't expecting to see you again tonight. Go through
into the kitchen, I was just putting the coffee on. I couldn't
sleep."
"
I know the feeling." Kate grimaced as she
walked past him and into the house, moving quickly through to the
warmth of the kitchen.
"
You look scared half to death. Sit down."
Spencer took her shoulders and pushed her gently into a chair at
the scrubbed oak table. "What's wrong?"
Kate lifted her eyes to stare at him. He
seemed so safe, so real. He'd asked her to marry him tonight, for
his own reasons, but at least they were honest ones. He would never
lie to her, hit her or have her followed out of spite or revenge.
Her troubled heart hitched over its accelerated beat.
He wouldn't let her fall, no matter what.
Against everything, all that had passed between them, said and
unsaid, she longed to feel the strength of his arms around her
again.
But did she have the courage to ask for what
she wanted this time?
"
Kate...? Talk to me. What's wrong?"
She blinked, realizing he was waiting for
her to speak. "Sorry. Please, can you get me a glass of
wine?"
"
If that's what you want, sure." Spencer
looked puzzled as he moved away to pour her a glass of the amber
wine they'd enjoyed that evening she'd made such a fool of herself.
Kate tried to push the image away, but the potent memory of his
kiss surfaced once more in her mind.
And her unfettered response. She swallowed
tightly, accepting the wine glass he handed to her with a sharp nod
of thanks.
"
Care to tell me about what's made you look
so scared?" Spencer asked quietly as he moved away to pour himself
a mug of coffee. "I'm a good listener, if you need to talk. I hope
it wasn't what was said between us tonight." He hooked out a chair
with his foot and sat down beside her.
"
No, it wasn't that." Kate stared into her
wine. She couldn't look at him. Now was the moment of truth. She
drew a long breath and released it slowly. "Eric phoned me. About
twenty minutes ago, in fact."
"
Eric...?" Spencer echoed bleakly. "I see.
What did he want after all this time?"
"
He wanted to talk to me." Kate looked up
and knew that he understood more than she wanted him to know. Just
how much he'd guessed she couldn't fathom. That nagging question
returned to haunt her.
How could he know so much
?
There was a small pause then Spencer said,
"You were romantically involved with him."
Kate grimaced. "He was my fiancé and I
thought he loved me. I loved him too. Well, I thought I
did."
"
Loved?" Spencer's frown deepened.
"
Loved. Very much the past tense." Kate
lifted a shoulder. "He rang tonight because he wanted...he wants us
to be together again. It seems his wife has left him. Apparently
for another man. He seemed to think that would make all the
difference now that he's now free."
Spencer's
frowning expression hardened.
"It sounds painfully tangled."
Kate lifted a shoulder. "It was.
Unfortunately Eric wasn't free when he asked me to marry him. A
fact he very carefully forgot to mention when we first met. No one
though to tell me, they all thought I must know."
"
And he never told you," Spencer echoed
blankly. "So you had no idea?"
"
None at all. It was a complete shock when
his wife turned up. I told him to leave and never come back. He
didn't like it and made a very ugly scene." For some strange reason
the idea that Eric could now want her back brought her close to
tears. She dashed a hand over her eyes.
"
He didn't hurt you? Physically, I mean. I
can see he has bruised you emotionally, don't even try to deny it,
because I won't believe you."
"
I…well, there were a few…," she paused.
"Accidents, I guess you could call them. He always swore afterwards
he never meant to hurt me. But he said things, hurtful things that
I can't seem to get past. No matter how hard I try. He couldn't
bear the thought of my being happy without him."
Spencer's
face was thunderous. "Nothing he
said to you is true, Kate. That man didn't know you at
all."
Kate's
body trembled beneath the strangely
haunted look in his eyes. She gathered a long breath, releasing it
slowly. "Eric and I have been finished for a long time. But I'm not
sure he knows how to take no for an answer. He hates to be told
he's wrong."
"
I'll deal with him if he becomes a
nuisance." Spencer said hardly. "First thing in the morning, we'll
change your phone number. Make sure it's unlisted."
"
Thank you." Kate didn't know what else to
say.
She really didn't even know why she'd come
here. Spencer seemed to be trying to protect her. As if he cared
about her. He had asked her to marry him tonight; maybe he thought
that gave him certain rights. Her breathing picked up, quickening
with renewed desire. Agreement to his plans would only take a few
simple words and she would be safe.
But she couldn't force them from her stalled
brain.
It would be too easy just to give in. She
needed to be stronger, make decisions that were right for her.
Spencer's
eyes darkened as he watched her
expression fill with worried confusion. "How did he know where to
find you?"
She drew a long breath. "He said he pulled
strings, managed to get the information from the hospital in
Chicago. I don't know how or who told him. Only my close friends
knew where I'd gone."
"
Okay, that needs to be dealt with as well.
A breach of confidential information is a serious matter."
Spencer's gaze moved over her face. He blew a rough sigh. "So, what
do you want to do now?"
"
Honestly, I have no idea." Kate blinked as
she looked around at the silent house. "Where's Jamie?"
Spencer stared at her, seeming to measure
his answer. "He wanted to stay at the Henrys for the night," he
said finally. "I agreed because I needed some time to think. Sort
through what we said tonight."
"
I see." Kate bit her lip. Her refusal to
marry him hovered between them like a ghostly embarrassment. She
quickly finished her wine, pushing back her chair. "I'm sorry, I'll
get out of your way then. You must have things to do. Thanks for
listening."
"
You're not in the way, Kate." Spencer
stilled her determined retreat with a hand on her arm. He rose to
his feet. "You never could be. Is that how Eric made you
feel?"
"
As if I was inconvenient?" Kate stared at
his hand on her arm. "Sometimes. Towards the end. I guess, his
wife's money exerted more of an influence over his decision to
leave than his need for me. He thought he could have both of us. I
couldn't handle that. I've always believed that it takes two people
to make a marriage work. And I would never knowingly be a party to
breaking one apart."
Spencer nodded as he put down his coffee
mug. "I know. I understand that now. What I asked you tonight,
Kate. I would never pressure you. But it could work between us, but
it must be your decision."
"
I know." Kate closed her eyes. She loved
the way he said her name.
She loved him so much it
hurt.
She
loved him,
the sentence needed repeating. Suddenly her passion for
Eric seemed a colorless ghost by comparison.
"
Kate? What is it?" Spencer's question was
stark with concern.