not quite meeting his gaze.
He let that statement settle around the table as he scooted the extra fries toward her. She’d cleared her plate. “In a good way?”
She nodded. “I...” She took an especially deep breath. “Most people wouldn’t have done what you did for me.”
Which part? Depositing her safely at a hotel? Or stripping off her petticoat? “I think you underestimate people.”
That got a rueful chuckle out of her. “No, I don’t. I almost married Roger. And you haven’t even met my father. People like you are rare, Seth.” She looked at him through thick eyelashes. “You’re special. You just don’t realize it.”
That sure as hell seemed to answer at least one question. A question that set his blood to pounding in his veins.
His hands itched to settle around her waist again. She wanted special? Hell, he could show her special. Slow and tender and hot and very, very special.
He put the brakes on those thoughts—something he was doing a lot around her. She was not technically available. She was expecting and they were working together and he didn’t have any interest in being a rebound.
Well, not a lot of interest, anyway. But when she looked at him like that he had to admit that yeah, maybe he was a little interested.
“You know what I think?” he said, snagging a few more fries.
“Split-level ranches are the work of the devil?”
He snorted and damn near choked on a fry. “That, too. But seriously—I think you don’t realize how special you are.”
Her cheeks shot past a delicate blush and straight on over into red. “I’m not special. I’m a mess. You know that.”
He considered that statement. “The situation is messy, maybe. But,” he went on as she gave him an arch look, “that doesn’t make you a mess. You believe leaving Roger at the altar makes you an utter failure, and when I look at you, all I see is one of the strongest, bravest women I’ve ever met.”
She gasped, a hand covering her chest, right over her heart. “Seth...”
“No, I’m serious.” He wasn’t going to let her undermine her worth. “You walked away from a crap marriage and gave up your family business, right?”
She nodded, her eyes getting suspiciously bright.
“You know why? Because you’re going to have a baby and you’d do anything—anything—to give that child the very best life possible. To walk away from everything you know, even though you know it’s going to be hard—because it’s the right thing to do? You amaze me, Kate. You simply amaze me.”
Aw, hell. Sincere compliments were a bad idea, because now she was crying. Quiet tears slipped down her cheeks, and he couldn’t stand that.
He leaned over the table and cupped her face in his hand, swiping at her tears.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“Don’t you dare take that back.” She sniffed, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at her eyes. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Wasn’t that a shame? Her former fiancé, her father—had anyone ever noticed who Kate really was?
He sat back as she took a bunch of deep breaths and got herself under control. “Sorry—hormones,” she said, giving him a watery smile.
“Don’t apologize. It was rude of me to ambush you with compliments.”
That got him a slightly less watery smile. “It was, wasn’t it?”
A strange silence settled over the table and then a movement behind Kate caught Seth’s eye. Oh, hell—it was Jack Roy, one of Billy Bolton’s oldest friends. Seth gave a friendly nod of his head to Jack, hoping the man would just keep moving without stopping.
No such luck. “Seth! Finally out and about?” Jack stood over the table, grinning down at Kate. “And who do we have here? Hello, beautiful.”
Later? Seth was going to stab the man. Repeatedly. Jack Roy was a born flirt and had the kind of face a lot of women went for. And now he was smiling down at Kate and she was blinking up at the man, stunned by the force of his smile.
“Jack,” Seth said, hearing the tension in his voice but seemingly unable to sound any more relaxed, “this is Kate Burroughs, my real estate agent. Kate,” he went on, mentally willing Jack to get the hint and leave, “this is Jack Roy, head painter at Crazy Horse.”
“And a whole lot more,” Jack murmured in a seductive voice that Seth had heard him use on every female he’d ever met.
Kate’s cheeks colored again as she dropped her gaze to the table. Crap, this was terrible. Not only was Jack interrupting just as things had gotten interesting, now the man would probably call Dad up and ask if Billy knew Seth had been having dinner with a pretty real estate agent. How much had Jack caught? Had he seen Seth cup Kate’s cheek? Or wipe away Kate’s tears?
Damn it all. Seth pivoted and launched a careful kick in the direction of Jack’s shins. The man flinched but, to his credit, didn’t even let out a stream of obscenities.
Instead, he turned that smile up to full power. “You make sure this one treats you right,” he said, a hint of steel behind his seductive voice as he nodded at Seth.
Kate’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, no—we’re just working together.”
The quick defense pricked at Seth’s pride, even if it was exactly what she should have said because it was the truth. “I’m buying a house,” he added.
By God, if Jack made some sort of crack about how Seth was all grown up and a big boy now, the man’s handsome nose would never look the same.
Jack’s mouth opened and then he closed it. “Well, then,” he said, notching a knowing eyebrow at Seth. Hopefully Kate couldn’t see it. “I’ll let you two get back to business.” He reached down and appropriated one of Kate’s hands, bowing over it. “Ms. Burroughs, it has been a true pleasure.” Then the bastard kissed her knuckles.
A rumbling noise startled everyone at the table. It was only when both Kate and Jack turned to look at Seth that he realized the noise—a growl—was coming from him.
Jack’s mouth curved into a knowing grin and Seth realized he’d walked right into Jack’s trap. The jerk had intentionally provoked Seth with that kiss.
“Jack,” Seth managed to get out without strangling the man.
“Seth—be good,” Jack said with another wink before he finally, finally left.
Seth scowled at the man’s back as he walked away. When he glanced back over at Kate, she was staring at him with what looked uncomfortably like confusion on her face.
Well, this evening was shot to hell. And he wasn’t even sure what he’d wanted before Jack had interrupted. This wasn’t a date—Kate had said so
