“It was the best I could do,” he continued. “There was a house fire in 1983. None of their possessions were saved. But the private investigators found this in the archives of a New Jersey newspaper. The little girl is your mother.”
Kaitlin was completely speechless.
Her grandparents?
Zach had found grandparents?
Zach had looked for her grandparents?
Her fingers reflexively tightened on the photograph, and she felt herself sway to one side.
Zach’s hand closed around her shoulder, steadying her.
“I’ve had three margaritas,” she told him, embarrassed. She ought to be completely sober for a moment like this.
“That explains why Lindsay went so quietly.”
Kaitlin fought against the sensation of his touch, even as she struggled to make sense of his gesture. “How? Where?” Why had he done this?
“I had some people start looking last week. After you told me.” His hand tightened on her shoulder. “And I couldn’t stand to see the pain in your eyes.”
Her throat closed tighter, and her chest burned with emotion. She had to blink back tears at his thoughtfulness. Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “How am I supposed to hate you?”
He drew a deep breath. Then he closed his eyes for a long second. He reached out and gently smoothed her hair back from her forehead. “You’re not.”
His hand stayed there, resting against her hair. Her nerves tingled where he touched. Her body begged her to sway forward against him, even as her mind ordered her to hold still.
She couldn’t trust him. She didn’t trust him. Oh, my, how she wanted to trust him.
He stroked his way to her cheek, cupping her face, tilting his head at an angle she’d come to recognize, to love.
He was going to kiss her, just like he’d done a hundred times, maybe a thousand. His lips dipped closer, and she moistened her own. She inhaled his scent, and her body relaxed into the exquisite moment.
“You’re not supposed to hate me,” he repeated on a whisper. “You’re supposed to love me.”
Then, he paused with his lips just barely brushing hers. “Because I love you, Katie. I love you so much.”
His mouth captured hers, sending joy cascading through her body. His kiss was deep, sweet and long. His arms wrapped fully around her, hauling her close, pulling her safely into the circle of his embrace.
She clung to him, molding against him, passion and joy making her feel weightless.
After long minutes, he finally drew back. “Renovate anything you want,” he rasped. “I’ll sell half the damn fleet if I have to. Just don’t leave me again. Not ever.”
“I gave up the new design,” she told him.
He drew back. “What? Why?”
“Sadie wouldn’t like it.”
Zach stilled. “Sadie doesn’t matter. The past doesn’t matter. Only the future, Kaitlin. And you’re the future. You’re my future.”
Kaitlin’s heart soared at the thought of a future with Zach—such a loving, thoughtful man.
Her voice quavered as she spoke. “You found my grandparents.”
“I did,” he acknowledged. “I know they were buried in New Jersey.”
“You know where they’re buried?”
“Yes.”
Twin tears rolled from Kaitlin’s eyes at that. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You hadn’t. And I was getting worried.”
“Well, I do.”
“Thank goodness.” He drew a deep breath, tightening his arms around her. “I told Dylan to give me an hour. Otherwise, you were getting kidnapped, too.”
“You would not.”
“Hell, yes, I would. One way or another, you and I are starting on a whole new generation of Harper pirates.”
Kaitlin smiled at his joke, her body sighing in contentment. “Sadie would be pleased.”
“Yes, she would,” Zach agreed. “She’d also be gloating over the success of her scheme. In fact, I can almost hear her chuckling from here.”
Kaitlin moved her hand to take another look at the picture of her grandparents. Her grandfather was tall. Her grandmother slightly rounded with light, curly hair. And her mother looked bright-eyed and happy with a shovel and pail in her hands. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“We can go visit their graves.” He paused. “I swapped Dylan the yacht for a helicopter. It’s standing by.”
Kaitlin was overwhelmed by this thoughtfulness. But she wasn’t anywhere near ready to leave his arms.
She molded her body to his. “Or maybe we could go in an hour or so?”
He sucked in a breath, lifting the picture from her hand and setting it safely on an end table. Then his eyes darkened, and he bent forward to kiss her thoroughly.