He shook his head. ‘I’m fine, thanks.’
She settled the kettle back on the worktop. ‘Well, make yourself at home. I need to go and check on Debs and then I’ll take you back to the hotel.’
‘Remind her I owe her a visit to the studio. We talked about her bringing her drama class, too. If she’s still keen, we could organise something next week.’ Her look of surprise must have shown on her face because he sighed. ‘You thought I’d forgotten.’
‘Well, not forgotten exactly. I thought you’d offered just to, you know, be kind.’
‘It’s not very kind to offer and then not deliver on it.’
Perhaps not, but many celebrity clients had done exactly that – tickets to their shows, autographs – and not followed through. She was starting to realise Zac wasn’t someone she could neatly put a label on. ‘Okay, as soon as I’ve checked Debs is okay, we’ll head off.’
His jaw clenched and he dug a phone out of his pocket. ‘No need. I’ll order a taxi.’
‘No, you won’t.’
He gave her a look of disgust. ‘You can’t seriously expect me to drag you away from your niece to play chauffeur?’
‘And you can’t seriously expect me to let you make your way back to the hotel unprotected.’
Cursing, he thrust a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t want to be a burden, Kat. Debs needs you. Go to her.’
Immediately her irritation slipped away. He wasn’t trying to be difficult. He was trying to help. More, in offering to take Debs round the studio, and in coming with her tonight, he was being kind. ‘I’ll go, as long as you promise not to leave.’
He exhaled, shoulders sagging in defeat. ‘Fine.’ He glanced towards the sofa currently piled high with newspapers, magazines and clothes. ‘I’ll try and find a few square inches to sit on.’
And there it was again, finally. The dry humour she hadn’t realised she enjoyed, until she’d had a week without it. ‘Feel free to move things.’
‘Good Lord, no. I don’t want to ruin your system.’ With that delicious quirk of his lips he smiled back at her, and for a brief, tantalising moment, the worries over her niece, over Zac and how to protect him, even the worries about her growing feelings towards him, drained away.
As Kat climbed the stairs, she felt as if a small weight had been lifted from her.
***
Zac shifted on the sofa, his arm brushing against the precariously piled magazines on his left. He tried to read the title upside down. F1 Racing. He should have guessed.
A thought hurtled through his mind and he hit the search engine on his phone. When he’d found what he wanted, he tapped out a message to his assistant. Then slumped back against the sofa and sighed.
He felt like a nuisance, a responsibility. An obligation Kat needed to fulfil, even though she clearly already had enough on her plate.
Hell, when he’d held her, she’d almost cried. Even now, the memory of the way her body had shuddered, far too briefly, against his, cut him to the quick. It was that very vulnerability, the warmth, and yes, the softness that lay beneath her tough exterior, that tugged at something deep inside him; a reminder of the journey she’d taken to become this brave, bold, big-hearted woman he was enthralled by. Let down by her parents during her childhood, and from what she’d just hinted, let down by early boyfriends, too. Yet she’d come through both with her sense of humour, and her love of life, still intact. It was no wonder she wasn’t interested in the fickle celebrity with a posh upbringing a world away from hers – she didn’t need the angst. She might find him attractive, but Zac knew he was a long way from the type of guy she wanted. That lucky sod would be strong and steady. A guy as fearless as she was, happy in his skin. A man like her, who knew exactly who he was.
Not an insecure actor still playing a part.
On that miserable thought, Zac leant his head back and closed his eyes.
About twenty minutes after she’d left him, he heard footsteps and opened his eyes to see Kat walking down the stairs. She started when she saw him, a clear sign she’d forgotten he was still here. Another job to tick off before she could finally get to bed.
‘Is Debs okay?’
‘She will be.’ Kat perched on the arm of the armchair. Possibly because the chair itself contained a few days’ worth of post, an iPhone charger and a water bottle. ‘She’s a lot like her mum, when she was that age. Mandy was always flying off to some party, mixing with older guys. Drinking. It’s why she ended up pregnant at nineteen.’
‘And you? Where were you when Mandy was out?’
Kat grimaced. ‘With her, of course, which is why I know it’s such a bad idea for Debs.’
He wanted to carry on talking to her, two friends chatting, not bodyguard and client, so he chose his next words carefully. ‘I guess the alternative, staying at home, wasn’t an option?’
‘Not if I wanted to avoid being yelled at, treated like a skivvy or seeing Mum being a doormat to my drunk bully of a father, no.’
Though he’d half-expected the answer, it still made him wince. ‘I suspect now you could take your dad down with a flick of your wrist. Have you ever been back?’
‘I’ve thought about it, many, many times. But no.’ Her eyes avoided his as she stood. ‘Are you sure you don’t want a drink?’
She was open and direct, so it wasn’t hard for him to know when there was something troubling her. Rising from the sofa, he moved to stand next to her, tucking his hand under her chin so her eyes were forced to meet his. ‘What is it?’ She shook her head and tried to move away but he held her by the top of the arms. ‘Tell me.’
‘Why? It’s not like you’re going to reciprocate, is it? You’re not exactly Mr Chatty when it comes to talking about your life.’
He flinched, knowing he deserved the jibe. Never had he hated the lie he was living, more. What harm would it do if he told her? So what if she let it slip, if she told others? Did it matter anymore?
Yet if he was only ever going to be a job to her, was it worth the risk? Especially as she’d see him in a different light, probably a less favourable one, cutting his already low chance with her down to zero.
‘I feel guilty, alright?’
Kat’s voice shook him out of his internal ramblings. ‘Guilty about what?’ he asked softly, dismayed at the tortured expression on her face.
‘Guilty about leaving Mum. We left her with him.’
She made to move away again but he kept his hands on her arms, knowing full well if she wanted to escape, she could. ‘Your mum wanted to stay. If she hadn’t, she’d have left, too.’
‘No, you don’t understand. Dad … he was a bully, sure, but he had this sort of power over us. It was like we were programmed to do what he wanted.’ She inhaled an agitated breath. ‘Mandy and I, we hated it, but we still did what he told us. When we asked Mum why she put up with it, why she stayed with him, she just smiled and said where else would she go.’
Zac understood all about powerful, bullying fathers, though of course he couldn’t tell her that. William Edwards was about as gentle a man as it was possible to meet. ‘You’re stronger than your mum, Kat.’ Relaxing his grip on her biceps, he slowly ran his hands up and down her arms. ‘You can’t blame your eighteen-year-old self for getting away as soon as you got the chance.’