She strode along the path. So if Ethan threatens to be more than just a temporary fling, what are you going to do? Run?
Running was how she’d dealt with unmanageable pain and loss. When running didn’t work, she’d medicated herself with alcohol.
But she couldn’t run. Not right now. She’d made a promise. The arrangement would last until he or she found somebody they’d rather be with, and right now, she couldn’t imagine leaving Ethan, even without the stipulation.
And alcohol was out of question, not unless she wanted her liver to rot through. She had no desire to die, or worse, be at the mercy of a—what was the word?—hepatologist.
When you have to go to a doctor that sounds like a snake specialist, she thought sourly, you know it’s time to clean up your act.
Well, she’d just find an excuse to leave when the circumstances grew too unbearable. Something would present itself.
Now in completely unfamiliar surroundings, she turned around and started back to the penthouse. She should call a cab for Natalie—or maybe her chauffeur, since her husband seemed to have hired one.
“Kerri.”
She turned around. Ethan was moving toward her, his long legs eating up the distance between them. The pearly silk shirt lined his powerful torso and emphasized the shoulders her hands begged to grip. He always dressed well, and having seen him undressed, she knew it wasn’t the clothes that made the man, but the man himself that made the clothes. She almost couldn’t breathe at how stunning he was. Her heart swelled so fast, she felt a funny ache in her chest.
“Ethan, what are you doing here?” The afternoon was still fairly young.
He gave her a quick kiss. “I just wanted to see you, that’s all.”
She nodded, not saying anything. Something about him called out to her, and she couldn’t help but take his hand in hers. It felt warm and impossibly solid. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
*
Ethan curled his fingers around her hand. It was the first time she’d reached out to him like that, and the tightness in his belly loosened. “Everything’s fine. Don’t worry.”
“It’s not even four. I thought you were at work.”
“Not everyone works a hundred hours a week. Did Natalie leave?”
“No. She fell asleep on the couch.” Kerri smiled. “I left her there. She looked too peaceful.”
He nodded, then saw a couple of boys running on the other side of the street. They laughed, their thin legs moving fast. Kerri looked at them, and just like that, the familiar shadow of sorrow darkened her eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, not meeting his gaze. “Let’s go back and see if Natalie’s up.”
She started moving, but he stopped her with a tug on her hand. “Kerri. What’s the deal? Why are you looking at the boys like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re sad.”
She shook her head. “I’m not. I was just…well, they reminded me of my family.” Then her mouth abruptly shut, like she’d let something slip.
Natalie had said Kerri never spoke about her family. Gavin had been certain Kerri was Barron Sterling’s granddaughter. This was the opening for Ethan to ask. Still, care was required. She was so wary and secretive about her personal life. “When was the last time you saw them? Did you get to visit them at all while working in Hong Kong?”
“No.”
“You must miss them,” he said casually.
Silence.
“Where are they?”
“Back east,” she murmured.