Page 32 of Hers to Marry
Drew scoffed and shook his head. He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “So all of this…” His eyes blinked a few times, his face flushed with anger.
It wasn’t her problem to solve, but Parker and Drew were her friends. She felt compelled to help ease the pain. If that meant bringing them back together, then she’d do it. But she didn’t have to like it.
“Drew, do you love her?”
His gaze met Kat’s. His lips parted, but no answer came. His eyeline drifted south.
After too much hesitation, Kat said, “Um, why not think about why you fell in love with her. You know, get back to the basics. Maybe rekindle what you once had.”
“Our priorities are different,” he said softly, still looking down somewhere.
Kat tried not to think that he was still staring at her lips. And she refused to imagine what it would feel like if their lips touched.
“What about five years from now?” she urged with a touch of irritation. “Have you two thought about that? Perhaps take some time to dream together. Get on the same page.”
Drew leaned forward. He reached out and hooked Kat’s necklace on a finger. “You still have this?”
He was staring at my necklace.Kat smiled, more relaxed that she was the only one daydreaming. “You gave it to me. It’s the best present I ever got.” Half of his heart. Too bad she wasn’t the woman who owned all of his. Her fingers caressed his as she held the necklace up. “I wear it always.”
“It was my mom’s idea. To give you half a heart. She told me we were two halves of a whole and that maybe we’d find our way back to each other.”
“Your mom is very sweet.”
Drew’s gaze latched to hers. “You’re very sweet,” he whispered.
Kat felt her neck warm. She shouldn’t be feeling this way about her friend. No matter what was happening between him and Parker, he was engaged, and she didn’t know who he was anymore. Was he still the same kind, adventurous boy she’d grown up with? He seemed to be, and talking to him was just as easy as she had remembered. But a lot of life had happened between then and now. He had mentioned depression and a dark time.
Not to mention he wasn’t free to explore anything with her.
Kat stood. “It’s just the cakes I bake. Want to try a new flavor? Let me get you one.”
Anything to stop herself form staring into his intense eyes that seemed to squeeze her with an ever-increasing tether. His hand caught her wrist. She turned around and gasped at how near he was standing to her. His fingertips drew a hot path down her cheek.
“I remember you,” he whispered. “Remember how simple things were when it was just the two of us?”
“Drew…”
“Things are so difficult now,” he continued. “It shouldn’t be like this. right before the wedding.”
“We’re different people. We don’t know each other.”
“You’re the woman who’s still wearing my necklace.” His hands cupped her elbows, and he gave them a gentle squeeze. “Iknowyou.”
“Drew, please… You’re engaged.”
“Maybe to the wrong woman.”
Only a tiny piece of Kat wanted to disagree. She’d never expected he would look away from Parker and see her. “Do you really believe that?” her voice choked.
“I once promised to holdyouin my heart,” he whispered. “At the tree by the lake? When we carved our initials into the tree.”
He did remember…Kat’s heart soared. She had never forgotten how she felt when they made those silly childhood promises. Like they could take on the world together and not lose.
He took a step closer, and Kat lost all ability to breathe. They were a breath away. How were they not kissing? He smelled like earthly musk, reminding her of the many jaunts they took together in the woods. His warm, sweet breath fanned over her lips.
With strength she didn’t possess, she severed their link by forcing her eyelids closed. “Please, Drew. Don’t do this to me.”
“You feel it too?”
