To Mend a Broken Heart by K.A. Hobbs Read Free Book Online Page B

you’re sure. I said that already didn’t I? I’m mumbling.”
     
    “You’re welcome to the sofa, I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket.” I stand up, surprised how stable I am on my feet.
     
    As I walk upstairs, my mind is in turmoil and so is my heart. I just asked him to stay the night. What am I doing? It’s not like I invited him into my bed or anything. But it is still another man, Katie. He will be sleeping on the sofa. Three months, Katie. Three months. I try to shut my brain up but it doesn’t seem to want to. I grab a pillow from the spare room and a blanket and head back downstairs. When I step back into the lounge, Daniel is asleep. He is laying on the sofa, his shoes and socks neatly on the floor beside him. His long eyelashes resting on his cheeks, his chest rising and falling with sleep. He looks beautiful and even though I haven’t said the words aloud, I slap my hand over my mouth, almost like I’m trying to stop any more thoughts like that slipping out. I place the pillow under his head and cover him with the blanket, he doesn’t even stir. I turn out the lamp and head to the kitchen for some water, right before I leave the lounge, I hear his voice carry over to me.
     
    “You’ll be okay, sweetheart. Daddy’s got you and he loves you so much.”
     
    My heart constricts and a lump forms in my throat, I look back and Daniel is still fast asleep. Even in sleep Poppy is on his mind. I know that feeling, Richard is there in my dreams too. I pad quietly upstairs and get ready for bed, slipping on my pyjamas and sliding under the sheets. The last thing I think of before I go to bed isn’t Richard, it’s Daniel and how much I want to take his pain away but I have no idea how to.
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    I bolt up in bed, my heart pounding in my chest, sweat covering my skin. There is someone downstairs. I can hear them, I reach out for my phone, slip on my dressing gown and with shaking legs head out onto the landing. I stand there and listen. There is definitely someone down there, I listen for a little while longer then I hear a sound I wouldn’t have expected. It sounded like they were boiling my bloody kettle?Who is down there and why were they making themselves a cup of tea?I walk quietly down the stairs, less scared than two minutes ago and more intrigued than anything else. If someone has broken in, they are the worst burglar in the world, who breaks into someone’s house then puts the kettle on? As I reach the bottom of the stairs, I can see into the kitchen. There is definitely someone in there and the click of the kettle just proves they are making a hot drink.
     
    I keep walking and stop dead in my tracks when I see a male figure step out and into the soft lighting cast from the lamp in the lounge. Whoever it is, he is tall and he is wearing a pair of jeans and no t-shirt. My God, do burglars do it topless now? I stand there and watch him, he has a perfect back. Strong, muscular. I can see every muscle and line perfectly as he makes his drink. Suddenly, as if I have been slapped around the head, the sleepy fog clears and I realise who it is. Daniel. It’s like he hears my thoughts, or maybe he feels my eyes on him, because he turns his head around slowly and looks right at me, I smile and walk the rest of the way into the kitchen, stopping just inside.
     
    “Did I wake you?” he whispers. His voice is thick and husky with sleep, his face still a little creased too. His hair is sticking up at all angles.
     
    “I thought someone had broken in. You almost gave me a heart attack,” I hold my hand to my chest, “Then I heard the kettle, and I just had to meet the burglar that helped himself to my tea.” I smile.
     
    “Coffee actually,” he smiles sleepily, keeping his back to me and slipping his t-shirt over his head “I’m sorry I scared you. I just… I’ve got such a headache. How much did I drink last night?”
     
    “Half the bottle…. I think. I’m not entirely