The frown he felt earlier came back as he studied her. “You know something? You’re a snob, Katie Charles.”
“What?” She tugged her hand free and sat up straight in her chair. “No, I’m not.”
“Sure you are,” he countered, suddenly feeling more relaxed. If he could make her see that she was being prejudiced, maybe she’d take the truth, when he finally told it, a little better. “On the strength of meeting one rich creep, you’ve decided that all rich guys aren’t worth your time. So you’re a reverse snob. As far as you’re concerned, only poor guys need apply.”
“That sounds terrible,” she said, reaching for her wine. She took a sip and set the glass down again.
“But it’s accurate.” Rafe grinned, and took her hand in his again, despite her efforts to wriggle free.
“Nice to know what you really think of me.”
“What I think is, you’re a beautiful, smart, ambitious woman with one huge blind spot.”
She laughed in spite of herself. “That’s a heck of a description.”
“This guy who treated you so badly,” Rafe said, ignoring her last comment. “What was it about him that attracted you in the first place?”
Her mouth twisted a little and she took a breath, then blew it out in a huff. “Fine. I admit it. He was…” She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “…exciting. Different. He was rich and handsome and—”
“Hmm,” Rafe teased in a thoughtful tone. She’d said exactly what he’d hoped she would say. Made it much easier to score a point here. “So the first thing you noticed about him was that he was rich?”
“Not the first,” she argued quickly, then after a second or two she admitted, “but it was in the top two.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Fine. I see what you’re saying.” She shook her wind-tousled hair back from her face. “Very clever. So the poor rich man was taken advantage of by a woman who was intrigued.”
“Nope, not what I’m saying at all,” he told her, keeping her hand firmly in his despite the fact that she kept trying to slip free. “All I’m saying is that you liked that he was rich until it turned on you. So basically, the problem here is that he was a jerk, not that he was a rich jerk.”
Whatever she might have said in response went unspoken because their server chose that moment to arrive with their salads. Rafe and Katie stared into each others’ eyes as the woman deftly slid icy plates in front of them and asked, “Is there anything else you need right now?”
“No, thanks.” Rafe dismissed her with a smile, then turned his gaze back on Katie, who was watching him through narrowed eyes.
“Think you’re pretty clever, don’t you?” she asked.
“Actually, yeah.”
She laughed and the sound of it was like music to him.
“Okay, I see your point,” she acknowledged, picking up her fork. “And maybe you’re a little bit right.”
“Only a little?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I didn’t like him because he was rich, but I do admit that was part of the attraction. Mainly since I couldn’t understand why he was interested in me.”
“I can.”
Rafe understood completely what any man would see in Katie. What he couldn’t understand was how a member of his family could be so stupid as to walk away from her. To hurt her and toss her aside. That he would never figure out. But if his anonymous relative hadn’t walked away from Katie, Rafe wouldn’t be with her now. So maybe he owed the bastard a thank-you—after he punched him in the face.
She smiled. “Thanks for that. And I’ll think about what you said. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s not rich guys I should be mad at, but the jerks of the world.”
He lifted his glass in a silent toast to her, even while thinking that if she was going to condemn the “jerks,” wouldn’t he technically be one of that crowd? The burden of lies fell on top of him and Rafe couldn’t shrug it off anymore. He wasn’t looking forward to telling her the truth, but he couldn’t see a way around it.
“Deal.” He reluctantly released her hand so that she could eat her salad, but he found he missed the warmth of her touch. He watched her in the flickering candlelight and though the restaurant patio was crowded with other diners, it felt to him as though he and Katie were all alone.
He didn’t need dinner. Didn’t need the wine. All he really needed—wanted—was this woman sitting across from him. She was unlike anyone he’d ever known. She didn’t want anything from him. Didn’t demand his attention—though she had it anyway. In another week or so, her kitchen redo would be complete and he wouldn’t have a handy excuse for seeing her every day. That thought settled like a black cloud over his heart and it was just another reminder that he didn’t want to let her go.
He wasn’t sure if that meant they had a future or not, but what it did mean was he wanted her for more than a few stolen moments.
This had never been about a future with Katie, he reminded himself. This had started out as a way to reclaim the King family reputation. But there was more to it than that now. He had planned to simply woo her, win her and then move on. Go back to his life and leave Katie to hers.
But since that plan wasn’t as appealing as it had been before, he clearly needed a new plan.
He only wished he knew what that was.
Ten
Two hours later, dinner was over and instead of taking her home, Rafe helped Katie down to the beach.
“These heels are not made for walking in the sand,” she said with a laugh. She stopped and pulled off first one shoe then the other and looked up at him with a grin. “There. That’s better.”
High above them, diners still filled the restaurant patio. But here on the moonlit beach, they were alone in the shadows, as if they were the only two people on the coast. And Rafe couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was the most captivating woman he’d ever known. She thought nothing of kicking off her heels to take a walk on the beach with him. She didn’t worry about her hair and she didn’t whine about being cold. She was…amazing and he felt a hard, solid punch of something he couldn’t identify somewhere around his heart.
She laid one hand on his chest. “Rafe? You okay?”
“Yeah,” he told her, “I’m fine.”
But he wasn’t at all sure. Leading her along the beach, Rafe held her hand and made sure she didn’t get wet as the tide rushed in, leaving a foaming layer of lace on the sand. The coast was dark, but the ocean shone with moonlight glittering on its surface.