"You talk as if you know me," Kathrine said, a hint of shyness slipping into her voice.
She had known Ethan only for a short while, yet the way he watched her, the way he reacted, felt as though he had been reading her for years.
"I might not," he replied gently, "but I am trying to know you now."
This time, Kathrine looked at him. She held his gaze but said nothing.
Ethan sensed it then. Collin must have said something. Something that had shaken her far deeper than she was willing to admit. There was no other explanation for the way her composure had fractured so suddenly, for the way she had gone quiet afterward.
"I am sorry you had to see that earlier," Kathrine said after a long pause.
She knew Ethan must have a hundred questions swirling in his mind. The fact that he did not voice a single one only made her chest tighten more. He was giving her space, trying not to make things awkward between them.
