To my dismay, my phone was completely out of power so Lucas unlocked and handed me his phone. “You’ve got this, Kat. Remember how badass you are.”
I dialed the number, put the phone to my ear and without realizing what I was doing, I reached out and grabbed his hand. He squeezed it tightly, reassuring me silently that he was here. He had my back. We were family, and that’s how we rolled.
My hand squeezed his tighter when someone answered and I asked for the person listed in the letter. The phone call ended up being shockingly short, but they were more than willing to be accommodating. I had an appointment to do the examination of discovery the following Thursday at one p.m.
Derek’s lawyers would be notified, as would Derek and they would have someone there to cross examine me after my statement and questions with the counsel.
Lucas watched me carefully the entire time I spoke, then asked me clarifying questions the moment I put the phone down.
After a moment, we sat in silence, then…. Then he blew out a breath and stared at me with that look of open admiration again. The one that had done things to me the last time he’d looked at me like that.
“You are amazing, you know that?” he said quietly.
And suddenly that emotion was flush to overflowing again. The stinging in my eyes, the heaviness in my throat. Everything twisting and tangling inside of me. I leapt out of my chair and threw my arms around his neck. He grabbed me, held me as I landed right in his lap.
I hung on so tight I didn’t ever want to let go, burying my stinging nose into that freshly laundered shirt—that soapy smell of him. The feel of those strong arms around me, that confidence in my strength. For those same things I’d been criticized for over and over as I grew up, Lucas was openly showing me those qualities were admirable, desirable. Appreciated.
My head turned and suddenly I was kissing his neck, his rough cheek. The masculine scratch of his whiskers scraping against my skin ignited a new passion in me. I needed him. I needed to be in his arms, to feel his hands and mouth and body on mine. I needed to worship and be worshiped by him.
We kissed long and heatedly. It wasn’t lust-driven. No, there was something more there that hadn’t been there before. I knew in that moment what it was.
Oh God. I’d fallen for this man. Hard. And yet it had happened so slowly and gradually that it almost seemed to have started the moment we’d met, well over a year ago.
But it was no mystery to me anymore, what this was between him and me, and what it had been for a long time without my idiotic heart recognizing it.
Love. Simple, unadulterated admiration for this man and all that he was and all that he’d done for me, whether selfless or not.
I opened my mouth to him, deepening the kiss until his hands pushed gently at my shoulders, forcing us apart. We were both out of breath and he looked… stunned, torn, and not a little confused.
He frowned, slowly shaking his head. “We can’t. It’s…” His dark eyes locked on mine. “We’re not going to be together for much longer.”
I swallowed, taking in that expression on his face. “Yeah, that’s what we agreed on at the start, wasn’t it? Stay married until I get the green card. But…” My gaze dropped to his rising chest, thinking through my next words.
His breath caught at my but, but he didn’t say anything.
My eyes returned to his, locked onto them with fierce determination. Remember how badass you are, Kat. His words came back to me in that moment. And he was right. I did have the courage to say this, damn it. I did.
I took a deep breath, determined to just get it out. “Lucas… I’m in love with you.”
Chapter 23
Lucas
If ever there was a moment where I had no idea what I was going to say, this was it. Holy shit. That was the last thing I expected to come out of Katya’s mouth and there it was. I’m in love with you. Those five words hung in the air between us like barriers, like smoke bombs, obscuring everything.
I expelled my breath slowly, sounding a bit like a balloon that had been let go before tying it off. My chest rattled. I blinked. “I, uh. I have