Kat tried to smile, but her brain was working too fast. Was she making too much of their differences, and being stupid, as Debs would say? Sure, Zac had women around the world drooling at the sight of him, but that was the image on the screen. She knew the man behind it, and Debs was absolutely right. That man was well nice.
And if there was a chance that nice man still wanted her after all this, she’d be an utter fool to let him go.
Yet even as she planned in her mind when to go round and see him, a thought still niggled. He’d been in contact with Debs over the last few days, but not her.
***
Zac drew in a deep breath as he slipped the Aston into the parking space outside Kat’s house and turned off the engine.
Taking his phone out of his pocket, he glanced again at the last text he’d received from Debs, an hour ago.
Yes, she’s in. She knows you bought the tickets and doesn’t seem too salty about it. Good luck x
He’d learnt that when used by a teenager, salty meant angry/upset and not a flavouring liberally applied over chips.
Of course, just because Kat wasn’t angry, it didn’t mean he wasn’t about to have the door shut in his face, though he thought it more likely she’d smile politely and invite him in. Then tell him, maybe over a drink, that they were over. She couldn’t forgive him/she didn’t like him that much/she’d had her fun and was moving on/she’d decided she wanted Mark, after all.
Zac lunged at the door handle. Whatever she had to say to him had to be easier to hear than all this second guessing he kept doing.
Heart in his mouth, he stepped out of the car and walked up the drive. A few seconds after he’d rung the bell, the door was opened by a slightly older, longer haired version of Kat.
‘Wow.’ The woman gave him a very obvious up and down study. ‘There’s no doubting who you are. You’re the man who’s been sleeping in my bed.’
‘Ah.’ He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Nerves now jangled with discomfort and embarrassment. ‘I’m sorry about that. It was extremely generous of you to allow it.’
Mandy – it had to be her – started to laugh. ‘Hey, no thanks needed. It’s been way too long since I’ve had any man in that bed, never mind one as hot as you. I’m just bummed I wasn’t there to appreciate it.’
He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he might actually be blushing now, which only added to his feeling of discomfort. ‘I suspect you’re happy to be back in it now.’
‘I am.’ She smiled at him then, and the warmth, the openness, left him in no doubt she was Kat’s sister. ‘But you don’t want to be standing here, talking to me. You want my sister.’ She pushed the door wide open and waved for him to go inside. ‘Take all the time you need. Debs and I are about to go shopping. I suspect we’ll be a very long time.’ A beat later, she shouted inside, ‘Debs, grab your bag. We’re heading out. Now.’
A second later, Debs appeared in the doorway, and Zac felt a rush of affection as she smiled shyly up at him. ‘Hey.’
‘Good afternoon.’
She giggled and glanced over at her mum. ‘See what I mean? He talks so posh.’ Then she looked back at him. ‘Thanks again for the tickets.’
‘My pleasure.’ Still feeling unbalanced about being on Kat’s doorstep, he slid his hands into his pockets and tried to slow his heart. ‘I hope you enjoy it.’
‘Me and Anna can’t wait. Our mates are all well jealous.’
Zac knew, from the way his heart gave a sudden jump, that Kat had just appeared in the hallway. The moment he met her eyes, everything around him faded away. He wasn’t aware of Debs and Mandy saying goodbye, or of walking into the house he’d once lived in. He was only aware of Kat, her incredible dark eyes, that mesmerising face. The trim body dressed in casual jeans and a black T-shirt, yet so much sexier than a tight fitting, plunging neckline dress on another woman.
‘You took your time.’
He blinked, slowly coming out of his haze. ‘Sorry?’
‘I phoned you four days ago.’ She huffed. ‘Since then you managed to find the time to contact my niece, but not me. I was starting to think you didn’t want to see me.’
His jaw dropped. ‘Good God, you think I wanted to stay away from you?’ He so desperately wanted to reach out and touch her, but he couldn’t assume he had that right. ‘I thought you wouldn’t want to see me.’
She shook her head and walked further inside. ‘I phoned you, didn’t I? I apologised for how I was the last time. I’d hardly have done that if I was still angry with you.’ Another sharp exhale. ‘Do you want a drink?’
‘No, thank you.’ He halted as they came to the kitchen. ‘And there’s a big difference between being angry with me, and actually wanting to see me.’ He felt his throat close up around his next words. ‘Did you want to see me, Kat?’
She walked round the breakfast island and leant against the sink. Zac felt like she was deliberately putting the worktop between them. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’
He laughed, low and humourless. ‘Because you can never forgive me for what I did? Because you only wanted a fling.’ He had to really work on keeping his voice even. ‘Because I’m not Wes. Or Mark.’
Chapter 37
Kat couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was the insecure one when it came to wondering if Zac wanted her, wasn’t she?
Yet one look at his tortured expression, and she realised she wasn’t on her own here. Zac was just as unsure about how she felt. In fact he had to be even more unsure, because she’d been far more squirrely about revealing her feelings.
‘I’m in love with you.’ His quietly spoken words rocked her back. ‘But I need to know if there’s any chance one day you’ll feel the same way.’
She rarely cried, and never in front of a guy, but she could feel the back of her eyes stinging. ‘You utter berk. You want to know the reason I’ve been dithering about going to see you?’ He nodded his impossibly handsome face, those stunning green eyes looking so achingly vulnerable. ‘It’s absolutely not because I can’t forgive you for what happened. It wasn’t your flaming fault, so there’s nothing to forgive. Now, what else was there? Oh yes, if you were Mark, I wouldn’t have slept with you, because as I told you before, I’ve never fancied Mark. As for Wes, there was only ever one of him, but he was only right for me then, he wouldn’t be right for me now.’ She paused to drag more air into her lungs. ‘The fling, yes, I might have only wanted that at first, but that’s because I wasn’t sure what else would be possible between us.’ Her eyes caught and held his. ‘I’m still not entirely sure about that, but I know one thing.’ Her heart began to race and she had to cling to the worktop to keep her balance as she said the next words. ‘I’m in love with you, too.’
He was an actor, good at mimicking emotion. At hiding his true feelings. Yet there was no way that what she saw on his face, and in his eyes, was anything other than the truth; shock, followed by an almost desperate joy. As if he wanted so much to believe what he was hearing, but was afraid he’d got it wrong. Slowly he wiped a hand down his face, his eyes remaining fixed on hers. ‘Would you mind repeating that?’