Page 87 of Serenity Harbor

What if she couldn’t fix this?

She let out a shaky breath. “Look, I need to talk to you about what happened with Bowie. What you saw.”

The kiss that had destroyed her with that sweet, aching tenderness.

“What’s to talk about?” Sam’s movements were jerky and abrupt as she pulled another purse out of the bag. “Obviously you saw a great-looking guy and you went for it. I would probably have done the same thing. Not if my best friend told me she was interested in him, of course. But that’s just me.”

Katrina winced as the barb struck home. She and Sam had always promised each other they would never let a man come between them—but here they were. “I’m so sorry, Sammy. None of this... I didn’t want... Bowie and I are not in a relationship. I swear. Every time he kisses me, I tell myself it’s the last time, and then...it happens again.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Samantha’s mouth tightened. “So last night wasn’t the first time.”

Katrina couldn’t lie. She shook her head, misery coursing through her like a black, endless river.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Do you know how stupid I feel?”

She had bungled this whole thing from the beginning. She hadn’t been honest with anyone, especially not herself. “You shouldn’t. I’m the stupid one, Sam. You know I am. StupidKat, right? That’s me. I should have told you after our first kiss but...I was in denial myself. I kept thinking each kiss was a one-off and wouldn’t happen again.”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

The question slapped into her like an unexpected tree branch on a hiking trail. “No! We’ve kissed a few times. That’s all. It’s...it’s over. I told him the other night after you found us not to kiss me again. It’s just... It’s impossible and nothing can ever come of it. I mean, look at me. I’m stupid TwitchyKat and he’s a genius who graduated from MIT when he was still a teenager. Why would he even look twice at me? It was only a few kisses. That’s all. That’s all I can let it be.”

She let out a breath, her throat so tight with emotion she could scarcely talk around it. “I’m so, so sorry, Sammy. I never wanted to bethat girl, the kind who would be willing to ruin a friendship over a man. Especially notourfriendship. You’re my best friend and I love you.”

Kat could feel tears welling up and did her best to blink them away, but it was no good. A few dripped out anyway.

Sam finally stopped tagging purses. She dropped the gun and, eyes narrowed, gave her a long, hard look across the table.

“Do you have feelings for him?”

A few more tears dripped out, and her nose started to run. Katrina swallowed as all the truths she had tried to deny rushed back. She remembered the tenderness of his kiss, how cherished she felt in his arms, the peace she found with him.

This was different from all those other infatuations, as if every other guy she had thought she cared about over the years had been practice, preparing her to meet Bowie.

“I...I’m leaving in two days. My priority is Gabriela.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

She wanted to come up with a smooth lie, to make a joke, to be able to laugh off the question with her usual lighthearted humor. But she had lied to Sam enough and couldn’t find the words to do it again.

Finally she nodded. “I don’t want to have them,” she whispered. “It’s completely impossible, but...I can’t seem to help it.”

“You’re in love with him.” Samantha’s voice rang with astonishment. The shock made her feel even worse, if possible. “After all this time, you’re in love. With Bowie Callahan.”

Why now? Why couldn’t she have met him a year ago or a few years in the future, when both of their lives were more settled?

It didn’t matter. Thewhendidn’t amount to anything. Their chances of a happy-ever-after were still impossible.

“It will pass. Like all the others.”

“Are you sure?”

She wiped at her eyes to clear those pathetic tears that wouldn’t seem to stop. “Look, Bowie is a great guy. He’s brilliant and funny and kind. He’s generous and remarkably compassionate, especially considering how he grew up, and he’s trying his best to be a good brother to Milo even though it’s frustrating and hard. He deserves someone wonderful in his life. Someone like you.”

Sam surprised her by reaching for both of her hands. “Or you.”

She shook her head and opened her mouth to argue, but Sam cut her off, giving their joined hands a little shake. “Seriously, Kat? I know better than anyone that you’re not stupid. You never were. But I might have to change my mind about that if you’re really going to sit there and tell me you’re prepared to walk away from a guy who sounds like a freaking saint.”

Relief flooded through her like the Hell’s Fury River after heavy rain, and she sniffled. That sounded much more like the friend she adored. Did that mean Sam was ready to forgive her?

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