Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited) (2 page)

The question slammed into him like a right hook. He jerked to a halt, his emotions seesawing from heartache to anger. "You didn't tell them—?"

"They're fishing," she whispered quickly. "Don't say anything."

Tension tightened the muscles in his neck, clenched his jaw into painful knots. His inclination was to set the record straight immediately, but she looked up at him imploringly. "You have some explaining to do," he said. He lifted the heavy pack off her back, then ushered her up the narrow staircase to the sanctuary of his office.

Andre pushed the door shut and dropped her bag next to his desk. Kate flopped down in one of the tapestry wing chairs in front of the fireplace and closed her eyes. Colored threads gleamed among the golden strands of her hair while an assortment of different earrings sparkled on her ears. Years may have passed since he last saw her, but Kate appeared the same.
Except she has a baby
.

The truth hit him anew with a fresh wave of shock. His little Kate was a mother. He wished she'd come to see him before, or at least told him she was pregnant. Or maybe not. Kate was not part of his life anymore, and the child had nothing to do with him.

Kate stroked her baby's back. The tense creases across her forehead melted away. She met Andre's gaze, curved her lips into a little catlike smile. "Hi, stranger. Long time no see."

Andre clamped down on his confused thoughts and tried to get back to practicalities. "Care to tell me what all that downstairs was about?"

The baby made a small snuffling noise. Kate looked down quickly as if relieved to have an excuse not to answer. She raised her feet, sat cross-legged on the chair, and eased the child out of its carrier. Holding her baby up carefully, she let its little head rest against her cheek.

"Andre, meet Keiko."

The baby screwed up her face, gave a huge yawn and opened bright green eyes. She was the image of her mother.

The years fell away. Andre was a small boy again, standing in the doorway of the hotel kitchen, watching Kate's mother hold her up to show the kitchen staff. It must have been the first time he'd ever set eyes on Kate. How strange that he remembered the incident so clearly.

"Don't you think Keiko is beautiful? Her name means 'adored one.' It's Japanese."

Andre nodded, his emotions in a state of flux, not quite sure what he felt right now. Kate looked disappointed. She'd obviously hoped for a more enthusiastic response. "Why did that photographer ask if I'm her father?" he said.

"I didn't put a father's name on her birth certificate. I didn't want the press to know she's Daniel's. But, of course, they suspect he's the dad." Kate sighed, turned the baby around in her arms and cuddled her. "That red haired guy who asked you the questions is a crafty bloke. I guess he thought he might shock you into telling him she's Daniel's."

That made sense in a twisted way. Andre sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms. "It's nice to see you, Kat, but why turn up on my doorstep now?"

"I was desperate, Andre. I need somewhere safe to stay until Dan's reality TV show ends and the press lose interest in him. I went to Mum's, but my stepfather wouldn't let me stay with the photographers camped out on the doorstep."

"What sort of show is Dan involved in?"

"It's lots of fashion photographer hopefuls. There were twenty to start with and he's made it into the last six. The trouble is he's really caught the attention of the press because of his wild antics. And it doesn't hurt that he's so good-looking."

Andre ground his teeth. Daniel Crowther was the male equivalent of a blonde bimbo. He could understand what ordinary women saw in Dan. But he'd have sworn Kate had enough sense to see past the fair hair and blue eyes to the shallow hedonist beneath.

"Dan wasn't always like this," Kate said defensively, obviously reading Andre's disapproval on his face. "At Art College he was a great boyfriend. And he wanted a baby when I got pregnant. Everything started to go wrong after he was accepted on the TV show. He cheated on me with one of the models they photographed, so I walked out. Now he's not even interested in seeing Keiko. I think fame's gone to his head. "

Andre resisted the temptation to make a derogatory comment. Daniel Crowther hadn't changed; he'd simply shown his true colors. Dan might have been able to fool Kate, but Andre had needed to meet him only once to work out what sort of man he was.

"Since Keiko was born, the damn paparazzi have followed us night and day," Kate said softly. "I can't cope with it anymore. I want a quiet place to hole up where they can't get to us. It won't be for long. Dan's television series ends in a couple of weeks."

Andre jammed his hands in his pants pockets and went to the window. He stared blindly at the sunny garden, disturbed by the tight knot of anger in his gut. He didn't usually lose his temper, but when he thought of how Daniel Crowther had treated Kate it infuriated him.

Despite his instinct not to get involved, Andre wanted desperately to help her. But what could he do? Offer her a room for a few weeks? She would still be easy prey for the paparazzi. He could hardly set up a road block and exclude them from the premises. And he would be crazy to alienate the media when he was courting them for publicity for the hotel.

Andre passed a weary hand over his face. It wasn't Kate's fault, but during his childhood and youth she had caused him endless problems and heartaches. He'd laid that part of his life to rest and moved on. Tried to forget her. Done what he had to do to survive. He couldn't afford to get tangled up with her again.

Andre swung around to tell Kate that he couldn't help her, but at the sight of her, all rational thought fled. She'd lifted her shirt and cradled the baby in her left arm. Gently she stroked the child's cheek as it fed from her breast.

Mesmerized, Andre stared for a few seconds before he came to his senses and turned away. He released the buttons on his jacket and adjusted the knot in his tie. His office was suddenly hot and airless. He fixed his gaze out the window, but all he could see was the pale curve of Kate's breast above the baby's head. He felt dishonorable even noticing her breast when she was feeding her baby. This just reinforced the fact she was trouble he could do without.

His back toward her, he cleared his throat. "I'd like to help, Kat, but I don't see how I can protect you from the press. The hotel has people coming and going all day long."

When she didn't respond, he glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a dusky pink nipple as she moved the baby across to the other breast. He turned back to the window, covered his eyes with his hand, and released his breath. To his mortification it came out as a groan.

"Are you okay, Andre?" Kate asked in a quiet voice, obviously trying not to disturb the baby.

"Yes. Of course." Mentally shaking himself, he banished the image of Kate from his mind and tried to gather his thoughts. At sounds of movement, he risked another glance over his shoulder. She laid the sleeping baby on the chair. To his relief, Kate's clothes were now all in place.

She came to stand beside him, leaned her hands on the windowsill, and stared out across the garden. "Oh, Andre, I've missed this place so much."

He stared at the multitude of fine gold plaits in her hair, the shiny beads glinting in the sun, the soft curve of her neck. "I've missed you," he said, the words out of his mouth before he could censor them.

She straightened and laid her fingers on his arm. "I've missed you too. We should talk more often."

"I would have called you if I had your number. I know it's a radical concept but perhaps you can phone me sometimes. I'd have liked to know you were pregnant."

The corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile. A smile that had the power to wipe out years of Andre's carefully cultivated indifference. One little quirk of her pink lips and he was a besotted boy again, the one who'd kneeled in the sand and placed shells around her feet.

"I don't have a phone," she said. "Since I split with Dan, I've been living with friends in a caravan on the
Blackdown
Hills in Somerset."

"What, not even a cell phone?"

Kate frowned at him. "They fry your brain. I didn't want to zap my unborn baby with dangerous rays."

Andre stared at Kate with disbelief. "During your pregnancy you lived in an isolated caravan with no way of calling for medical assistance, yet you're worried about electromagnetic radiation?" She shrugged. When they were young, he and Kate had taken risks with their safety. He'd grown out of it. Obviously, Kate hadn't. "How would you have called for help if something had gone wrong? Women still die having babies, you know."

"You always overanalyze everything, Andre." Kate gave a forced laugh. "And you wonder why I didn't call you while I was pregnant."

Despite her bravado, she wouldn't meet his gaze. He guessed he'd touched a nerve. She probably had worried but would never admit it. Protective feelings coursed through him as if they'd never been gone. If he ever came face to face with Daniel Crowther, he'd chew him up and spit him out for leaving Kate to cope alone.

Kate glanced up and must have read his face. "It was all right," she said softly." I had two friends from Art College to take care of me. One of them, Yuji, took me to the hospital when I went into labor." Kate glanced around at the sleeping baby. "That's why I called her Keiko. Yuji's Japanese and Keiko is his mother's name."

Andre followed her gaze to the small bundle that looked so incongruous lying on his guest chair. "What will you do if you can't find somewhere on Jersey to hide out?" He swallowed a knot of guilt that settled heavily in his stomach. She'd hardly spoken to him for years, been living with another man, yet he still felt as though she was his responsibility. Old habits die hard.

Staring down at her hands, Kate twisted her fingers together. "I don't know. I hadn't thought past coming here. I was depending on you, really."

She looked up at him, a sheen of tears in her green eyes. Blatant emotional blackmail! Even so, he felt like a jerk for thinking of sending her away. She went to her backpack and kneeled to search through it. Small and vulnerable, she was hardly taller than she had been at twelve, although she had filled out in all the right places. He hadn't noticed that before the breast-feeding incident. Now he couldn't stop noticing.

Andre glanced at his desk and glimpsed Elizabeth's sketches. He suppressed a groan. He should be concentrating on his hotel and his political aspirations, not getting sidetracked by Kate. His grandfather's portrait looked down on him from above the fireplace. Andre had given up so much to fulfill the old man's ambitions, yet events seemed to be working against him.

Kate looked up, and he held out his hand to help her up. She hesitated a moment, clutching a sketchbook to her chest. A warm, golden glow bloomed on her ring finger where the sun touched it. The tiger's eye! Shock kicked his heart. Why, after all these years, was she still wearing the ring he gave her? Could it mean she still had feelings for him? Unlikely, she'd been with Dan for six years. She'd probably forgotten the reason Andre gave her the ring.

Slender fingers slid across his palm. He closed his hand around hers and told himself that touching her had no effect on him. As he pulled her to her feet, she stumbled, leaned on him, the expression in her green eyes so familiar, so credulous. Did she not realize he'd changed? Leaving behind his hopes and dreams had been painful, but essential for him to survive in the life he now led. "Look, Kat, I won't throw you to the wolves. You can stay with me for a few weeks but we won't see much of each other. I'm very busy these days."

***

Kate hugged her sketchbook to her chest. Being back at the Caspian almost overwhelmed her. She loved the place so much. Bright sunlight shone in through the small windows. It picked up the sparkling motes of dust dancing around Andre's head, gleamed off the delicate glass shades on the wall lights, and illuminated the mottled pattern of warm brown and red ochre on the antique oak desk.

Andre released her and instantly she felt the loss. His large, warm hand had engulfed hers completely. His darkly tanned wrist looked strong, and the simple act of having her hand in his made her feel safe. It was an illusion, of course.

Her mind was swamped with memory and sensation. In her mind's eye, she could still see Andre's grandfather sitting at the desk. When she breathed in slowly, beneath the smell of seasoned oak and sun-warmed velvet, there was a hint of his cigar smoke, even after all these years. The old man used to call her 'Andre's little helper.' Whatever research Andre was doing, she'd tag along and help.

Andre sat on the edge of his desk, casually relaxed in his impeccable dark suit and perfectly knotted, red silk tie. What had happened to the skinny little boy she'd known with his muddy knees and unruly dark hair? It was frightening what a few years at an English boarding school and a large dollop of testosterone could do. She'd always thought he'd grow up to be a professor or an explorer. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined he'd turn into this elegant, sophisticated man. He was tall like his grandfather, and the thoughtful, aloof manner he'd had as a boy was transformed into an imposing aura of authority.

She clenched her toes against the polished oak floorboards, feeling awkward coming here asking for Andre's help when she had hardly spoken to him for years. Dan had realized that part of her heart would always belong to Andre and taken an instant dislike to him. He'd forbidden her from keeping contact with Andre, and it had been easy to agree. The hurts from the past had already driven a wedge between them.