Just Between Friends (O'Rourke Family 4) by Julianna Morris

was just one of those freak things,” he muttered, sticking his head under the spray. “I must have been out of my mind. It could never happen again,” he added, standing straight again and slicking water from his hair.
    He didn’t want Kate, not like that. They were friends and he felt responsible for her because she’d been part of his life for so long, but that was all.
    Shaking his head, Dylan turned off the water. The awkwardness of living with another person struck him as he reached for a towel—he hadn’t thought to bring a robe into the bathroom. He’d have to put his clothesback on, just to reach the bedroom without embarrassing Kate. For an instant he wondered how much experience she actually had seeing men in their altogether, but it wasn’t any of his business, no matter what sort of legal tangle they’d gotten themselves into.
    The sound of hurrying footsteps came down the short hallway, then a door opened and closed.
    Kate.
    Dylan dried himself, hitched the thick towel around his hips and cracked the door.
    “Kate?”
    She didn’t answer right away.
    “Katydid?” he prompted again.
    “Yes?” Her reply sounded muffled and Dylan frowned.
    “Are you staying put for a couple minutes?”
    “Uh…sure. Wha-whatever you…w-want.”
    Damn.
    Dylan had enough experience with four sisters to know when a girl was crying and trying not to let it show. He’d rather have hit his foot with a sledgehammer than talk to her about it, but he strode to the bedroom and donned the robe he’d bought after agreeing to Kate’s not-so-convenient marriage plan, then headed back to her door.
    “What’s wrong, Katydid?” he called softly.
    There was another long silence, then he heard the barely discernable sound of a sniff. “N-nothing.”
    Oh, yeah.
    He believed that.
    Being sensitive and a great listener wasn’t his forte, but even if he didn’t consider that marriage ceremony to be real, Kate was sort of his…wife.
    Wife.
    His gut churned as he turned her bedroom doorknob. He’d never wanted this kind of responsibility or involvement, but here he was, regardless.
    When he walked inside, Kate bolted upright and hastily wiped her cheeks. His stomach twisted again; those weren’t the crocodile tears she’d used when they were kids to sucker him into her schemes, she was genuinely upset and didn’t want him to see. It was just like when her grandmother had died, and she’d pretended it was all right. Kate’s heart could be breaking and she’d try to keep anyone from knowing.
    Anyone?
    Even him?
    Dylan’s equilibrium took an unpleasant jolt. He’d never thought of it that way before, but it might be true. Most of the time he didn’t have a clue what Kate was thinking and feeling. He ought not to mind, preferring privacy himself, but for some reason it bothered him—before he would have sworn she was as open to him as a yellow-eyed daisy.
    “Hey, Kate,” he murmured.
    She promptly turned her back on him, shoulders quivering. “I’m fine. Go away.”
    His instincts shouted at him, saying to leave it alone, to let her work out whatever problem was making her sad. It might not even be a real problem, but melancholy or that time of the month. Of course, if he suggested any such thing it would just confirm that he was a crude male pig with the sensitivity of a brick wall. But even as Dylan decided it was okay and he didn’t mind being branded a male pig, her shoulders quivered once more.
    Hellfire.
    “It’s okay, Katydid, honest,” he said helplessly. “It’s going to work out. We won’t let the lawyers win or anything, and you can marry someone else someday.”
    Kate’s stomach heaved.
    Marry someone else?
    She knew Dylan didn’t mean to make her feel worse, but every time he opened his mouth, it was like acid pouring on her aching conscience. She wanted Dylan , not someone else. And she hated hearing him reassure her about another marriage that wasn’t ever going to happen. Loving Dylan and