Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited)

by Helen Scott Taylor

  "So you're between a rock and a hard place."

  "Yes."

  "I suppose you can't tell him you don't like his granddaughter."

  "Not if I want his support when I stand for chair of the Hoteliers Association next year."

  "So what are you going to do?"

  Andre looked down at her in the darkness and squeezed her hand. "That, Kat, is where you come in."

  Chapter Three

  "Okay, I think you need to explain." Kate squinted to gauge his expression in the dark. The cool night air stirred the tiny hairs on her arms and raised goose flesh on her skin. She cuddled her baby close, pleased to be heading back.

  The security light outside Andre's cottage blinked on and illuminated his face. He cast her a guarded look as he opened the door. She slipped past him and he followed her in. "It's not easy to explain," he said. "We'll talk tomorrow when you're rested."

  Kate's heart bumped where she pressed Keiko against her chest. "I won't be able to relax until you tell me what you're cooking up. Come on, Andre, spill."

  "Before we discuss that, tell me, was there a reason you came looking for me? I expected you to be tucked in bed by now."

  "I saw a light in the woods and it spooked me. I thought it might be one of the photographers sneaking around."

  "I asked my security guard to keep an eye on the cottage. I expect it was him."

  "I guess that explains it, but I wish you'd told me." Kate sat on the sofa and reached back to release the clip on Keiko's baby carrier.

  Andre came to help her, his warm fingers brushing her neck as he unfastened the straps. Her eyelids fell at the sensation. This was crazy, having feelings like this for him after all these years. She settled Keiko in her arms and smiled as her baby nuzzled hopefully at her chest. "Are you hungry again, sweet pea," she whispered against her downy hair.

  Andre fetched two glasses of water, left hers beside the sofa and turned toward the stairs.

  "Hang on, Andre. I want to know what this plan of yours involves."

  "Okay." He dropped into the easy chair to her right and sipped his water. "God, I'm weary. Liz bombarded me with her ideas for the Caspian all evening. She hasn't a clue what I'm after. It's like she's on a different planet." Andre closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the cushions. "Her grandfather was supposed to come to dinner as well, but he was conveniently ill. I'm sure it was a setup. What I don't know is if Edmund is in cahoots with her. I can't risk upsetting him. I don't want to, anyway. He's a decent guy and he's been there for me when nobody else was."

  Guilt flickered through Kate. Andre had left college without completing his studies because his grandfather died. At twenty he'd unexpectedly inherited two hotels and, bitter at being cut out, his father hadn't even come to the funeral. She should have done more than send a card. Even though things had gone wrong between them, she should have attended the funeral for old time's sake.

  Keiko nuzzled her, hungry and fretful. Kate glanced at Andre to check he wasn't watching, lifted her blouse and latched Keiko on to feed. She arranged her clothes to hide her shabby maternity bra.

  Comfortably settled, she glanced up and her gaze collided with Andre's dark, brooding perusal. A shock of awareness made blood rush to her face, leaving her hot and lightheaded.

  What on earth was the matter with her? She'd fed her baby in Andre's office earlier and hadn't given it a thought. The dark slits of his eyes seemed to burn with intensity under the low lighting. Kate caught her lip between her teeth. She'd give a lot to know his thoughts right now.

  He brushed the hair back from his forehead and glanced away. "Do you remember Edmund Delacroix? He was often here when we were young. He was Grandpa's best friend."

  "Maybe I'll recognize him if I see him."

  "You'll get the chance on Saturday night. We're invited to a party at his house in St. Saviour." He slouched deeper in the chair and stretched out his legs. "Edmund is Chairman of the Hoteliers Association. When he retires next year, he's going to recommend me for the position. That's mainly why I can't afford to alienate him over Liz. She graduated last year and Edmund asked me to let her submit a proposal for the Caspian. God knows what she studied, though. I can't believe it was graphic design."

  Kate understood his antipathy. Elizabeth didn't respect the Caspian's unique beauty. In Andre's eyes, she'd done the equivalent of telling him his baby was ugly. "Can't you explain to Edmund that her proposals aren't suitable? He's a businessman. Surely, he'll understand."

  "I could try, but I know from experience Edmund thinks the sun shines out of Liz's whatnot. Now I have the added complication of the matchmaking." He passed a hand over his face and yawned. "I'm sure you'll come up with a usable idea for promoting the Caspian, but it's going to be damn difficult to dump Liz in favor of you, so to speak."

  "What have you got in mind?"

  Andre put down his glass and sat up to face her. "Hear me out before you say anything. First, you'll need to be convincing. If Edmund thinks you work for a reputable ad agency, he's more likely to accept my decision to use you. Second, Edmund's big on family. He supports Liz, but it cuts both ways. It also means he'll understand me choosing to work with my fiancée."

  "Your what? You didn't tell me you were getting married." She stared at him wide-eyed. It took a few breaths for her brain to catch up. "You mean me, don't you?"

  Andre winced. "Liz drove me crazy over dinner, and I got a little carried away. I planned to say you were an old girlfriend who worked for an ad agency in London. But she's so damn pushy I ended up going a step further."

  "Andre! You told her we're engaged?" Nausea churned in her stomach.

  "Isn't that what I just said?"

  She touched her tiger's eye ring, her throat tight. Once, long ago he'd proposed to her for real. He might have only been sixteen, but he'd meant it then. It made this farce all the more painful. She averted her face and pressed her lips to Keiko's head. "I can't believe you told her we're engaged," she whispered. Did he not realize how inappropriate it was considering their history?

  "Sorry, Kat. I really didn't plan to go this far. But now I've told her, I can't take it back."

  Kate closed her eyes and breathed in Keiko's soft baby smell. She had no way out of this. She could hardly storm off in a huff when she had nowhere else to go. And if she refused to cooperate, she would make life difficult for him. After the way he'd taken her in, he deserved her help.

  "I'm really not sure about this," she said, glancing up to find him watching her. She smoothed down her shirt, checking that her boob was covered. This was not a conversation she wanted to have while breast-feeding. But she had been the one to press him to talk tonight, so she could hardly complain.

  "It'll be fine, Kat. And just think, if the paparazzi see us together maybe they'll decide I'm Keiko's father and leave you alone." The intense stab of pain took her by surprise. How could he talk so casually about something she had dreamed of, something so important? She hoped he never discovered how much she wished he was Keiko's daddy. If he'd wanted to torture her, he couldn't have come up with a better way.

  "I won't be convincing as your fiancée. It's me, remember. The wrong sort of girl."

  "You're not the wrong sort of girl, Kat. You don't believe those spiteful things my father said, do you?" It wasn't what Robert Le Court said but Andre's rejection that convinced her she wasn't good enough for him.

  "Won't Edmund think it's strange you didn't ask me to do the work from the start?"

  "We'll just say you were busy, but now you have time."

  He had an answer for everything, or almost everything. "How are you going to explain Keiko?"

  Andre rubbed his face and hissed out a breath between his teeth. "That's a tricky one. Let's just play it by ear."

  "And what will you tell Edmund when I disappear in a few weeks’ time?"

  "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

  "That sounds very vague, but it's your life, I guess." She shru
gged. "Okay, then. But don't blame me if I do or say the wrong thing and embarrass you."

  "You won't. I'll be at your side, and it'll all work out perfectly." Kate wasn't so sure, but she was too tired and dispirited to worry tonight.

  She cradled Keiko. Andre jumped up and supported her elbow as she rose from the sofa. Her heart raced at the idea of playing his fiancée. It would be like old times—being together. But what if she enjoyed being with him too much and couldn't bear to leave again?

  Pushing aside her conflicting thoughts, she decided to play the whole thing down. He smiled and followed her up the stairs. "I'm so glad you said yes, my little cat girl. I don't know what I'd have done if you'd said no." Kate smiled, warmed by his childish endearment. "Sleep well. Tomorrow we'll transform you into my sophisticated, London-designer fiancée."

  She rolled her eyes. "I don't do sophisticated, Andre. You should realize that by now."

  They stopped outside her bedroom door. Andre reached out and ran a finger across the golden fluff on Keiko's head, a whimsical expression on his face. "We'll see. I have plans."

  Kate smiled ruefully as she entered the bedroom. Andre always had plans and, just as she had when she was a child, she would tag along beside him and do what he wanted.

  ***

  Andre waited until Kate closed her door. He leaned his forehead against the wood and let the soft cadence of her voice flow through him as she cooed to her baby. All the emotions and illicit yearnings he'd had at sixteen flooded back. Only she wasn't fourteen and out of bounds any more. She was a beautiful woman, a woman he still desired like no other.

  But what he planned was wrong. He should knock on her door right now and tell her he'd made a mistake, and she didn't have to take part in this charade. He would have to come clean with Elizabeth and lose face, but he was being unfair to Kate, expecting too much of her. Yet he desperately wanted her by his side. A few short hours in her company had twisted his emotions in knots. He longed to return to how they used to be, a couple so devoted to each other nothing his father said or did could break them apart.

  But in the end, it had been Andre who destroyed what they had. How he wished he could turn back time. Impossible, of course, but he could do the next best thing, make her his in the present.

  If he persuaded her to change, become more conventional, she would fit in his world. He'd stupidly pushed her away once, and by the time he came to his senses, Daniel bloody Crowther had stolen her. Whatever he had to do, he would not lose her again.

  ***

  The following day after lunch, Kate walked over to the hotel to wait for Andre. She spread her jacket under a shady tree, laid Keiko down and sat cross-legged beside her. From her bag she dug out a small sketchbook and a piece of charcoal. She sketched the fountain in front of the hotel and then doodled images of the manor house's gargoyles. She couldn't see them clearly from here, but she knew those grotesque faces by heart.

  All around the grounds stood granite sculptures of fairies and mythical creatures, dragons, a phoenix, a centaur, a unicorn, and numerous other curiosities, some so badly eroded by the sea air and coated with lichen it was difficult to determine their shape. Most dated back to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. It was said that at midnight on All Hallows Eve they came alive and circled the manor house. She had drawn the statues many times when she was a girl, and Andre had staked them out on October 31 to disprove the old wives' tales.

  Kate let the images run through her mind to spark ideas for a new hotel brand. Currently, Andre used the concept his grandfather had introduced: historical grandeur combined with luxury. Hardly original, but tried and tested. With the popularity of fantasy in books and movies it made sense to exploit the Caspian's magical reputation. But they needed a specific motif to work with for promotional purposes, something to go on the stationary and advertising literature.

  Maybe the gargoyles would work? She held up her pad and angled her head thoughtfully. The crunch of car tires on gravel interrupted her musings.

  A silver BMW swept down the drive, circled the fountain, and halted directly in her line of sight. An expensive car but not impractical. Far better than the extravagant two-seater things Andre's father used to drive. Andre slid out, closed the door and raised a hand in greeting. "Kate!"

  He headed across the lawn toward her. The natural flax tone of his linen suit accentuated his dark coloring, and she sucked in a breath of appreciation. He looked great, but he'd look better still with soft, worn denim hugging his thighs and a tight T-shirt molding his muscular chest. Did he ever kick back and do scruffy anymore? Somehow, she thought not and it made her sad.

  He sauntered over and glanced down at her sketchbook. "Drawing something?"

  Kate shaded her eyes and squinted up at him. "No, I'm baking a cake." He gave her a long-suffering look, and she smiled mischievously. "I'm tossing around ideas for the hotel project, looking for inspiration."

  "That's great. I'm glad you're already planning. Are you ready to go? I've got something to show you."

  "Give me a minute." Kate quickly checked Keiko's diaper and then tucked her things back in her bag.

  Andre squatted and tickled Keiko's tummy. "You're a little cutie pie, aren't you?" He smiled down at Keiko and a potent mix of emotions tightened Kate's chest, stealing her breath. Andre might have changed and on the surface resemble his father, but he was still one of the good guys.

  "Would you like to pick her up?" she asked.

  "Me?" Andre blinked at her as if the idea hadn't even occurred to him. Then a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, all right."

  Kate tensed as Andre slipped his hands beneath her baby's body. Up until now, she had not let anyone else handle Keiko except her mother. "You must support her head when you lift her."

  "Okay." He adjusted his grip, then flicked her a nervous glance. "Is this right?" She nodded. He lifted Keiko and gingerly settled her against his chest. He was so gentle, his hands large and masculine, cradling Keiko's diaper-clad bottom and her shoulders. Poignant feelings ran through Kate and her smile wobbled.

  "She's sort of stiff and floppy at the same time," he said, touching a tiny fist curled against the front of his jacket. He kissed the top of Keiko's head. "You've got hair as soft as kitten's fur, you funny little thing."

  Kate's eyes filled with tears. If only Keiko had a father like Andre. He'd apply the same dedication and enthusiasm to caring for his child that he gave to everything he valued in life. Every development Keiko made would be recorded and checked against the norm, but he'd love her and protect her just like he protected Kate when they were children.

  "Kat...Kat, you're away with the fairies." She came back with a start and found him laughing at her. "How do you do that, drift off in the middle of a conversation?" He nodded toward his car. "Open the door for me, will you?"

  She did what he asked and found a baby car seat inside. "When did you get this?"

  "An hour ago. Let me put her in before I drop her." He leaned past Kate and settled Keiko in the baby seat, then stood back with a sigh of relief. "You strap her in. I'll watch so I know what to do next time."

  He rested his arm on the roof of the car and leaned over Kate as she adjusted the straps. His jacket brushed her back and all she could think about was his solid, masculine presence behind her. He ducked his head to get a better view and the scent of his sun-warmed hair filled her nose. Her hands trembled. It was more by luck than judgment she finally got the length of the straps right and buckled Keiko in.

  He shut the car door and glanced at his watch. "We'll have to hurry. We've got fifteen minutes before your hair appointment."

  "My what? You want to change my hair?"

  He gave her a sheepish look as he held the door for her. "Your hair is a bit unorthodox at the moment, Kat. I know creative types get away with being alternative, but I need you to convince Edmund you're not only a professional designer, but a woman I would marry."

  Cold streaked up and down her spin
e at his words. Was it so unlikely he'd be attracted to the real her? It must be if he needed to transform her before his friends and associates bought into the fake fiancée charade. She glanced back at Keiko in her lovely new car seat and sighed. She owed Andre, and she would help him. But she promised herself that no matter how he altered her appearance, she would not change inside. "Thanks for thinking of Keiko, Andre. I don't know how I'll pay you back for the car seat."

  He waved her comment away. "Consider it a gift. I enjoyed choosing it. That seat's part of a baby travel system. It has enhanced suspension and large wheels so it can be used on all terrains." Methodically, Andre listed all the features he'd considered. Behind his businessman's suit, a frustrated scientist still lurked, desperate for something to analyze.

  The back of her eyes pricked. These days she often felt close to tears. Perhaps it was due to postnatal hormones, or stress. Or perhaps being with Andre had stripped away the defenses she'd built around her heart. She found it impossible to keep him at a distance. He knew her secrets, her hopes and fears. She pressed her hand against her mouth and stared off across the fields.

  "You're very quiet. Are you all right?" Andre asked.

  She drew in a catchy breath and pasted on a smile. "Fine. I'm just wondering what you're planning to make me wear."

  ***

  By the time they found somewhere to park and walked to the salon, they arrived ten minutes late for Kate's hair appointment. Marcella's was up a small side street. From the outside, the salon didn't look big, but it took up all three floors of the building. The décor included a lot of chrome, glass, and black marble, and a transparent spiral staircase occupied the middle of the room. From the bottom of the stairs, Kate could see up to the third floor, as though looking through a strange distorted window. Music played in the background, competing with the babble of conversation.