Kate tried not to pay attention to what was going on between Drew and Gwen on their weekend getaway. Tried not to be jealous that Gwen got to spend so much time alone with him. But she couldn't help but overhear a few things here and there as they sounded through the laptop Alexis had given her.

Gwen seemed happy to forgive Drew for breaking up with her the week before, but she wasn't exactly nice to him. Quite a few times she heard Gwen making fun of Drew, commenting on how he ate his food, or nitpicking him about the way he said certain things, or bringing up things she'd seen on the episode from that week. For someone trying to marry him for his money, she was doing a terrible job of being the doting girlfriend.

Maybe she had no people skills at all.

Or maybe that was part of her plan? Make him think he was chasing after her?

"Your date with Elana was interesting to watch," Gwen commented. "I had no idea you were so afraid of heights. I had to tell my friends, who were watching it with me, that you were way more macho in real life."

Gwen would say condescending stuff like that, but Drew just took it, never putting her in her place. It was sad. Kate wanted to run into the safe house and give Gwen a piece of her mind.

But just when she was about to grab her bag and drive the few miles away, she reminded herself that Gwen would get what was coming her way. And it would be on national TV.

When she picked up Drew early Sunday morning, she fed Gwen the story Alexis had given her about Drew doing more pickups. Drew made a show of being annoyed, his acting not very good—which was an encouraging thing for Kate when she thought about how he'd acted during their epic kiss. Thankfully, Gwen was too busy pretending to be sad about it to notice his bad acting.

"Thanks for coming over so early." Drew sighed once they had pulled onto the road. "I was about to blow the whole thing."

"No problem. Once I saw you from the hidden camera in the kitchen, I knew you were awake and figured I'd come rescue you. From the tidbits I heard, it didn't sound like the best weekend."

Drew's jaw flexed. "Did you hear much then?"

Kate shrugged as she turned a corner. "Not much, but enough to know what a witch Gwen is. I don't know how you didn't slap her…I totally wanted to. In fact, I would have slapped her this morning if I didn't have to worry about giving the hidden cameras away."

"Yeah, that's probably best."

"And by the way…" Kate took her eyes off the road for a second to glance at him. "All those things she was ragging on you for are ridiculous. You're way better than she could ever hope to deserve."

"Thanks." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

Kate was going to smack that woman.

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?" Kate asked, hoping he'd want to hang out.

Drew shrugged. "Nothing much. Probably just take it easy. I'm actually a little worried that Dion might check the office to make sure I'm really there."

"You think he'd do that?"

"Maybe. When you're sneaking around, you tend to be paranoid."

"Hmm." Kate thought about what he'd just said. Would they need to go in to the studio just in case?

As if reading her thoughts, he asked, "You don't happen to have keys to the studio, do you?"

Kate shook her head and gripped the steering wheel. "No. Alexis trusts me…but not enough to hand over the keys." And they couldn't have anyone else unlock it for them. As far as the rest of the studio was concerned, Drew and Gwen were still a happy couple working toward an engagement.

"I guess you can just take me back home, then," Drew said.

"Where you'll sit and wonder what I'm seeing and overhearing from Dion and Gwen?" Kate hoped he'd take the bait.

"Well, I didn't want to just invite myself over to your house. I do try not to be a burden."

He was about the furthest thing from a burden. "Do you want to come over?" she asked. "I'm sure my parents would love to have you come for family dinner again. They all loved having you there two weeks ago."

It was crazy to think it had only been two weeks. It seemed like so much more time had passed since she'd told him the truth about her and Nolan.

"If I didn't have to hide from the world, I'd offer to take you to the fanciest restaurant in L.A. for dinner. But, since the paparazzi would be all over that, dinner with your family would be great."

Kate nodded and urged her blush to go away. Was that a hint that he wants to take her on a date?

She couldn't care less about where he could take her—she'd be happy going on a simple walk around the block. She just wanted to be with him.

They arrived at Kate's apartment. She parked in her spot behind the complex, and then called her mom real quick to make sure she was okay with an extra dinner guest.

A few minutes later, they were inside her apartment watching the video feed from the safe house. Gwen was just sitting on the couch in the living room. Alone. Kate realized then that she would still need to be Gwen's errand girl for lunch. Was that why Dion wasn't there yet?

She dialed the number for the burner phone and put a finger to her lips to remind Drew not to say a word and give them away. He mimed zipping his mouth shut and locking it with a key.

"Hello?" Gwen's voice cut through the line. Kate stepped away from Alexis's computer so there wouldn't be an echo.

"Hi, Gwen. This is Kate. In my hurry to get Drew to the studio, I realized that I forgot to take your lunch order. Is there anything I can get you?"

"Oh, good. I'm glad you called." Gwen's voice sounded more fake-happy than usual. "I think I'll just have Dion take me to the airport and see if I can catch an earlier flight. If Drew isn't going to be able to come back, there's no reason for me to stay."

Kate pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what Gwen might be planning. Was she really thinking about just going to the airport? That would mess all their plans up.

"Are you sure you don't want me to bring you anything? It's all on the studio's bill, so feel free to order whatever you need." Gwen seemed to want a free ticket in life, so Kate hoped that dangling the carrot for free stuff would work.

"No, that's okay. I'll have Dion pick me up something on the way. Thank you though."

Kate tried to think of something more to offer, but the line went dead. Gwen had hung up.

"Drat." Kate shoved her phone into her pocket and returned to the kitchen to watch the video feed.

"What do you think she's going to do?" Drew asked when she joined him. He had sat at the table right in front of the screen.

Kate took the seat next to him. "I have no idea. I hope she was just trying to keep me from coming back. Maybe Dion is already on his way?"

On the screen, Gwen was walking back down the hall to the bedroom. The screens were still, since they couldn't see into her room. The only thing that told them Gwen hadn't suddenly disappeared were the shuffling sounds coming from the bug in the hall nearby.

Not long after, Gwen was wheeling her suitcase behind her.

"She's leaving."

Drew scooted his chair closer to the screen, their knees knocking in the process.

They watched as Gwen walked out through the door that led to the garage. They didn't even catch a single second of Dion on the video feed because the door had blocked him from the camera's view.

Kate pinched her eyes shut, as hope went out of her like a popped balloon. All that planning for nothing.

"Do you think Dion checked the studio?" Drew looked at her, their faces only inches away from each other. She hadn't realized they were sitting so close.

She glanced down at his lips and swallowed. "Hopefully they just wanted to get out of the house." It would be really bad if they'd caught on to everything. She would have to go back through the video to see if Gwen had noticed one of the hidden cameras or bugs or something, tipping her off to their plans.

Drew sunk into his chair. "Too bad we didn't think to bug his car."

* * *

Kate decided they might as well go to her parents’ home early since they had nothing else to do. Her mom always loved help with the meal.

"What do you want us to do?" Kate asked when they found her parents sitting in the living room, her dad reading the newspaper, her mom with a book.

Mrs. Dawson looked up. "I was just going to start the dessert for tonight after finishing this chapter, but if you want to make it, that would be wonderful. I wouldn't mind seeing if Mr. Bates is the real murderer." She lifted the mystery novel in her hands.

"You said it’s the strawberry brownie trifle, right?" Kate asked, beginning to shrug out of her jacket. Drew surprised her by helping her slide it off the rest of the way. Then he placed it on a hanger in the coat closet and hung his black leather jacket beside hers. She couldn't keep a goofy grin from sneaking on her lips at the sweet gesture. That was what a boyfriend would do.

Her mom's lips quirked up into a half smile, and Kate knew her mom had seen it as well. She wondered what her mom would think of her and Drew dating. Would she be happy about it?

Drew and Kate walked into the kitchen. "You don't really mind helping, do you?" Kate said, looking over her shoulder at Drew. The smell of dinner cooking in the crockpot filled the air. Mmmm, her mom's famous white bean chili would be perfect on this cool February day.

"I rarely bake, so I don't know how much help I'll be," Drew said.

"It's only from a box, so I'm sure you'll do fine." She opened a drawer next to the oven and pulled out two aprons: a neon pink one and a black one. "Which one do you want?"

Drew laughed. "Like you even have to ask." And he grabbed the pink one from her hand.

"Seriously?" She laughed.

Drew smiled as he slung it over his head and tied the straps behind his back. "Real men wear pink, right?"

Kate bit her lip as she took in the ridiculous sight. Tall, masculine Drew wearing a pink apron was definitely something she'd never daydreamed about in high school. "I think pink is your color."

"It does seem to bring out my olive complexion."

"Definitely. Remind me to force Carmella to buy you a pink dress shirt for your next interview."

Kate grabbed the brownie box from the pantry and then a glass batter bowl from a cupboard.

"If you'll just grab the eggs from the fridge," she suggested when she noticed Drew just standing there watching her.

He shook his head as if he'd been in a daze, and then opened the fridge and bent over until he came out holding the carton of eggs. She tried not to notice how good his backside looked in his jeans.

"Have you ever heard of substituting applesauce for the oil and the eggs in some recipes?" Kate asked as Drew measured out the oil and poured it into the bowl.

Drew shook his head. "No, why would anyone do that? Eggs are a great source of protein and a little fat from olive oil can actually be a good thing. Plus, doesn't it lower the glycemic index?"

Kate laughed. "Okay, Mr. Nutrition."

"Sorry. Kieran had me read a couple of nutrition books for our training."

And what a great job he did during that training. Kate couldn't help but eye Drew's arms as they worked so closely together.

It only took a second for her to realize how awkwardly she was staring at Drew. She met his eyes, and felt herself blush, her cheeks getting all hot and tight.

"Anyway," Kate said, clearing her throat. "What I was trying to say was that if you ever want to substitute applesauce into the recipe, do it for either the oil or the eggs, but not both. I tried using applesauce for both the last time I made these, and I ended up with applesauce brownies…I could barely even taste the chocolate. Though, I guess that's one way to get me to follow the correct portion size since I definitely didn't want seconds." Why did she say all that? She needed to learn how to stop rambling when she was nervous.

Drew laughed and winked. "Thanks for the heads-up."

Kate got momentarily caught up in the color of his eyes. Had they always been that dark blue?

"Are you okay?" Drew asked. "You seem like you have something on your mind."

Kate shook her head. "Yeah sorry, I didn't get enough sleep last night. I think my body's wishing to get a nap." That was true enough—she really was tired, but it wasn't the reason why she was acting so weird.

Kate grabbed a wooden spoon out of a drawer and started mixing the ingredients together to give herself something to do. Drew was leaning back against the granite counter, watching her. She suddenly wished she was wearing a cuter apron than the boxy black thing she had on. And why hadn't she spent more time on her hair that day? Her plain ponytail did nothing for the harsh angles of her face.

"Did you finish writing that scene between Treven and Misty?" Drew asked.

Images of her and Drew kissing like there was no tomorrow jumped into her mind. Oh, how she wanted to do that again. This time with it being real. "Yeah, I finished it."

"Did our recording help out much?" He was looking at her carefully, as if trying to guess at her feelings.

She cleared her throat. "It helped a ton." And she would probably be watching it again tonight, reliving the moment over and over again and wishing that it was all real.

She grabbed the brownie pan from the drawer beneath the oven and hoped Drew couldn't read everything in her blush. "Do you want to lick the spoon?" She held the brownie batter-covered spoon out to Drew after scraping it in the pan.

"Sure." Drew’s fingers brushed hers in the exchange, causing a small spark to warm her hand.

Kate busied herself with putting the brownies in the oven so she wouldn't have to think too much about how the way Drew licked the spoon mirrored the way he kissed. Yeah, only middle-schoolers thought about that kind of stuff, anyway. She set the timer for twenty-eight minutes and put the batter bowl in the sink.

"Are you sure you don't want to lick the spoon?"

Kate shook her head. "No, that's okay."

"Too much like kissing me, huh?"

Kate pulled her head back. "What did you just say?"

Was there something mischievous in his smile? Was he teasing her about kissing now?

His next words confirmed her thoughts. "I was just saying that sharing a spoon is pretty much the same as kissing." He licked the spoon slowly once again for effect. "Your loss." Then he dropped it into the sink behind him.

"You're ridiculous." Kate swatted him in the arm, hoping she came off as unaffected—in reality, a family of butterflies had taken flight in her stomach.

"Just trying to share. I seem to remember you having a fondness for brownies. Or is that just Misty when she's hanging out with Treven?"

Was he challenging her? Because if he was, she was so going to go with it.

"You have batter on your lip still." Kate stepped closer and touched the chocolate smudge on the dip of his lip with her finger, wiping it off. Then, deciding to go for the gold, she stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked the batter off.

Drew's eyes widened, and she noticed his Adam's apple shift. "How'd that taste?"

"Delicious."

"Good." His smile was back and he crossed his arms. "I was hoping the brownie batter would make me look tastier."

She stepped closer, so her face was a breath away from his. "You don't need leftover brownie batter to make you taste better." She glanced at his mouth.

He licked his lips. "Do you have any lip balm I could use? I left mine at home."

Kate looked at him carefully as she reached into the front pocket of her jeans, wondering what he was up to. His lips didn't look chapped.

"Pumpkin spice?" Drew glanced up at her. "Does that mean your lips are spicier today?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Kate fought the smile taking shape on her face, but it came anyway. "You know, using my lip balm is almost like kissing me."

Drew grinned as he spread a thin layer over his lips. "It's like you can read my mind. I was about to say the same thing." He held the tube out to her and said, "You know that the next time you use this, it will be like you're kissing me back."

It was like they were both testing the limits and trying to figure out whether the kiss a couple of days before was real or not.

And Kate really wanted to figure it out. So she took the lip balm from him and slowly swiped it across her lips, smacking them together. "Mmmm, you're a pretty good kisser." She winked, hoping against all odds that she could keep the blush away. She'd been so good at flirting like this with Drew back in high school, but man, she was out of practice.

Drew just laughed. "I'm pretty sure the real thing is just a bit better though, right?"

Heat sparked through Kate's body. She blushed all the way from her head to her toes and fumbled for a witty response, but her mind was a jumble and she couldn't form anything into a coherent sentence.

Drew stepped closer. He bent down to whisper in her ear, "Cat got your tongue?"

Chills raced up Kate's neck. He was so close; his cologne wafted to her nose, smelling better than anyone had the right to.

She was about to say, No, but I wouldn't mind if you did, when footsteps sounded behind them.

Kate whipped her head around to find her mom. She smoothed her hair and stepped away from Drew, hoping her mom wouldn't notice how flustered she was feeling. "Hi, Mom. We just got the brownies in the oven."

Did her mom see them standing close? She wouldn't be able to explain it, since she still wasn't allowed to even tell anyone that Drew was single.

Her mom smiled. "Would you two mind carrying these boxes upstairs? Your dad can't lift much after his hernia surgery, and I'm just not up to going up and down the stairs so much today."

"Where would you like us to put them?" Drew asked.

"Oh, just set them on my bed. I can manage them from there," Mrs. Dawson said with the wave of a hand.

Kate didn't know whether to be grateful for the distraction or not, but she grabbed a box and led Drew up the gray carpeted staircase. Kate dropped one on the bed then told Drew she'd just meet him downstairs after a quick trip to the bathroom. But when she came out, she noticed Aiden's door had been opened. She peeked inside her older brother's room and found Drew standing with his back to her, looking at the collage of photos Aiden had stuck to his wall.

"It hasn't changed a bit since that night, has it?" Drew shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced back at her.

Kate went to stand beside him to look at the pictures.

"No." She sighed. "I don't know whether a psychologist would say it's healthy or not, but none of us can bring ourselves to box anything up." It would be like desecrating sacred ground. Walking into this room was like walking into the past.

"Do you remember that night?" Drew pointed at a photo of the three of them at a bonfire on the beach. It was the summer before Aiden died. Drew's hair was just shaggy enough that it curled around his ears, and he had a scruffy beard that had changed Kate’s opinion on facial hair. Her heart still beat like crazy every time she looked at that picture.

"That's the night Aiden tried jumping over the fire and ended up dropping his flip-flops in the flames."

"He was lucky only his flip-flops got burned."

"And lucky you were there to throw him in the ocean to stop him from trying it again."

"I don't recall him using the word lucky that night." Drew winked.

"Yeah, and you got stuck driving his little sister home, so she wouldn’t be late for curfew."

Drew peeked at Kate and set his arm around her. "I'm pretty sure I felt pretty lucky that night as well."

"I always worried I was such a burden when you could have been flirting with all the other girls there."

Drew squeezed her closer to his side. "I didn't care about any other girls. I was too enchanted by you to see anyone else."

Kate stilled. "Really?"

Drew turned so they were facing each other. "I almost kissed you that night, too." He pushed some hair that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear then slowly traced his fingers along her jaw. "I was just counting down the days until you graduated, so I could ask you out."

Nerve endings she'd forgotten about buzzed with electricity as his fingers traced along her ear. He moved closer, and all her thoughts fled as he leaned his forehead against hers, sending more tingles through her. His hands found their way to the back of her neck and gently moved up and down the base of her scalp, tremors of pleasure rocketing through her. He breathed in a slow, shaky breath. This was affecting him, too.

She was falling so hard for this wonderful man. Falling for him more every day.

Kate tilted her head up to close the distance between their lips.

Her mom's voice cut through the silence, "Is everything okay up there?"

They broke apart, and Kate's face flamed. Drew's eyes narrowed into focus as if he’d been coming back from a daze. He staggered backward, bumping into Aiden's desk.

Kate cleared her throat. "Yeah, we're just fine." She wiped her hands on her jeans and tried not to let her disappointment cripple her as she left the room. She forced a happy tone into her voice. "Are the brownies done?"

"The timer just went off. I can pull them out if you want."

Why hadn't she just done that in the first place instead of ruining her and Drew's moment?

"I can do it. You go back to your book."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Dawson eyed Kate, and then Drew who was right behind her. If she noticed how frazzled they both were, she didn't say anything.

"Yes, go ahead," Drew said.

Her mom took a step back toward the living room. And when Drew wasn't looking, her mom mouthed "sorry" to Kate.

So her mom had noticed something was going on.

After pulling out the brownies, Kate and Drew went to work hulling and slicing the strawberries. Though they didn't say anything about what had almost happened, they did bump into each other a few times, their arms brushing against one another as well. Kate almost cut her finger off when Drew's shoulder grazed hers.

Something was happening between them. Things were changing quickly. And with each stolen touch, the charge went up. Kate could only imagine that when they finally did kiss again, there might be an explosion.

The electricity stayed all through dinner. Drew's chair was right next to Kate, and every now and then his knee bumped against hers. Kate tried to avoid looking at him every time it happened. Finally, after the third time, she kept her knee there and let it rest against his. She glanced at him to gauge his reaction, and the corner of his lip quirked up as he listened to her father talk about the cruise he and her mom were planning to take in March.

Feeling encouraged, Kate decided to have a little fun. She knew the sides of his leg were super ticklish, so she reached over and tickled it for a second. She felt his hamstring flex, as if he was fighting the sensation. So, of course, she did it again, this time watching his face. His lips pulled into a tight smile that told her he was totally fighting it.

She was about to try again when suddenly he grabbed her hand and held it hostage in his.

His grip felt secured, reassuring, and she didn’t want to let go. She loved the warmth of his touch, their fingers intertwining together. She could feel calluses on his skin—proof that his money hadn’t kept him from honest labor.

Kate fought off the goofy, happy smile she was feeling inside, not wanting to give herself and Drew away to her parents. Drew gave her a little squeeze, and she reveled in the fact that his hands fit perfectly with hers.

* * *

"Well, here you are," Kate said as she pulled into the studio's parking lot where Drew had left his truck on Friday.

"Yeah, here we are," Drew echoed. The air had been just as charged on the drive as it had been at her parent's house. It was dark now, and the moon glowed full in the sky. "I guess I'll need to grab my bag out of the trunk." He put his hand on the door handle but hesitated.

"Yeah, I guess so." Kate tried to keep her disappointment out of her voice. She'd really been hoping tonight would end with a kiss. But she popped the trunk with a push of a button.

Drew waited a moment longer before climbing out. He ducked his head back in Kate’s car. "Thanks for the ride. And for everything." He gave her a meaningful look before shutting the door and going to retrieve his bag from the back of her car.

Kate let out a disappointed sigh, hating the thought that she'd missed another chance. Would they ever have another day like that? Everything had been so perfect between them. Her heart fissured at the thought that the perfect night wouldn't end as she'd hoped.

The trunk of her car shut with a thud, and she saw him throw his duffel bag into the back of his truck.

And then Drew grew motionless by the door of his truck, his back to her and his hand resting on the handle.

Why was he just standing there?

She watched him carefully from the darkness of her car, her heart pounding as she thought of reasons why he wasn't already driving away.

Drew turned his head from side to side, as if checking the parking lot for something or someone. Then, he turned and walked back to talk to her.

"You still interested in taking a drive in the Aston Martin?" he asked, his face serious.

She didn't have to think about it. "Yes."

"Follow me back to my house. Just make sure no one is tailing you."

She gulped and nodded. "I'll meet you there."

She didn't drive straight to Drew's house. Instead, she took a few wrong turns, just to make sure the paparazzi weren’t following her as Drew feared. But when she'd gone down a few random blocks and didn't see the same cars turning with her, she decided it was safe to drive the rest of the way to his house.

The garage was open, and Drew was waiting inside. She got out of her car, and Drew hit the button to close the doors.

Confused, Kate watched the descending door before turning to Drew. "I thought we were going for a drive."

His eyes were dark and the way he looked at her made the knots in her stomach twist up so tight she didn't think they'd ever come undone. "That was just my excuse to get you away from prying eyes." He closed the distance between them in three long strides. "I didn't get to finish what I started in Aiden's room."

And before Kate's mind could catch on to what was happening, Drew had one hand cradling her neck, the other wrapped around her waist. And then, he was kissing her.

Her heart banged against her ribs as his lips coaxed hers into a long, deep exchange. Instantly, their kiss exploded with passion. Years of misunderstandings, unwanted separation, and regret detonated and began to burn out of control. They weren't acting like Treven and Misty this time. They were Kate and Drew. And they wanted this.

Kate let her fingers become lost in the softness of his hair. His knees seemed to buckle, and a moan escaped him as he pulled her against his Escalade. "You have no idea how good that feels," he mumbled against her lips.

"This?" She combed her fingers through his hair again.

"That." He moaned again, and she knew she had better be careful. At this late hour, the staff had already gone home, which meant they were alone. There would be no one there to stop them. So she forced her hands to travel away from his hair, and rubbed them along his strong, muscular shoulders, reveling in the way they felt.

Growing up, she'd always dreamed Drew Burrows would be the man she married, the one she'd give her entire self to. And she knew in this moment that she still wanted it to happen. She had never stopped wanting him, not really. She'd simply buried her dreams and covered them with other relationships for years. But no one could ever have the hold on her heart that Drew did.

His hands were at her waist, gripping her shoulders then pulling the elastic from her hair and getting tangled in it. He gently kissed her cheek, and then trailed kisses down her neck.

"Run away with me, Kate," he whispered, before his lips found hers again. "We can take my private jet anywhere in the world, wherever you want to go, and get away from everything."

Her mind was so fuzzy she didn't know if she heard him right.

"What?" she said. "But I…" Another kiss. "What about the show?"

"I don't care about that anymore. I just want to be with you." He pulled away, caressing her cheek with his fingertips. "I want to hold your hand in public. Take you on a proper date. Give you the world…" His eyes were so sincere that her heart swelled in her chest. He wanted her, and not just in the way a guy wants a girl. He truly wanted her, even though he could have anyone else in the world. He leaned his forehead against hers. "Please say yes." His voice was low and husky, which caused a stirring sensation low in her belly.

"Yes," she whispered. She'd just have to take Dion and Gwen's secret footage to Alexis in the morning, and then she would run away with Drew.