Page 52 of Rivals and Liars

Leire's brows pull together and she kisses her knuckles.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do now? There are other paths that could keep you in the tennis world, Kate."

"I know. But for now I'm going to take a few weeks — maybe a few months. I don't want to rush anything, and I want to focus on recovering, on keeping up the work so my back doesn't hurt and I can live something close to a normal life while I figure it out. So let's leave that for another conversation. Right now let's get back to us. Keep going, please."

Color floods Leire's cheeks all at once.

"What?" Kate narrows her eyes a little.

"I want us to live together," the Spanish woman says, watching Kate's reaction carefully. Kate can't stop her eyes from going wide. "Not right now. You have things to sort out and so do I. But I wouldn't want to wait too long, if you're on board."

"You seem pretty bold," Kate says, her lips curving into a wry smile.

"Yeah," she admits, flushed, "but like it or not, we've been together three years, Kate. Maybe we haven't been out in the world as a couple, but I love you, and I want to keep waking up with you every day. Honestly, I don't understand how I survived without this for so long."

"Let's say I'm open to it." Kate plays it cool, her eyes lighting up with that flicker of amusement Leire remembered from when she first knew her. "I want to live in my house on the island. It's peaceful and it has everything we need — I think you'd love it. It could be our main home, and your place in Madrid the one we use when we're in the city."

"And yours? Are you going to sell it?"

"No. My family stays there when they visit. We'll have two places in Madrid and that's that."

Leire laughs.

"So — is that a yes?"

"If you don't mind living on an island."

"I don't care where, Kate. I just want to be with you." She leans in to kiss her, and Kate's legs snap shut around her hand the moment she feels it sliding up her thigh. "We can keep going now."

"Wait, let me recover," she pleads through laughter, tilting toward her to take control. "Besides, I still haven't heard you moan without holding back — and I'm dying to."

"You want me to scream your name when I fall apart?" Leire's smile turns crooked, but the smug look fades the second Kate pins her hands above her head and hovers over her on all fours, looking down at her with those green eyes going dark.

"It won't be because I asked you to. It'll be because you're going to beg me to stop — or to keep going. We'll see."

Leire's whole body clenches with need at the thought.

"God, baby, I think I'm going to beg you right now."

The corner of Kate's mouth curves slightly and she leans down to whisper in her ear.

"Turn over. I'm going to take you apart."

Chapter 25

"I hope you've got plenty of time, because I'm not leaving until you fill me in on all of it," Marta said, taking the non-alcoholic beer Leire handed her before settling into the wicker chairs on her Madrid terrace.

The tennis player looked at her friend for a few seconds, then smiled and gave her an affectionate squeeze on the knee. She hadn't picked up all of Marta's calls, and she hadn't called back when she'd promised she would.

"Thank you for always being here," she said sincerely. "I'm so lucky to have you, and I think for a long time I didn't appreciate the important people I had around me."

"Don't be ridiculous. I never felt like you took my friendship for granted. You just had a rough patch, but you're finally here now, so talk."

Leire had arrived in Madrid a couple of days ago. She'd said goodbye to Kate at the hotel entrance when a cab came to pick her and Diane up and take them to the airport, where they'd catch a flight to Melbourne—Kate was spending three weeks there with her family before traveling to Madrid.

After two days during which they'd only left the hotel once for dinner, they'd had plenty of time to get into all of it. Kate had already planned a two-week visit to her family, but she'd decided to extend it a little, given that they were now planning to move in together and she wasn't sure when she'd be back.

Leire was going to use these days to rest for a week before getting back to training. She'd also made plans with Isaac to meet an attorney who specialized in harassment cases—one her agent had tracked down—and depending on how that meeting went, she'd talk to Kate and they'd both move forward with the complaint against her father, with the support and evidence of Candela Valle, who had already shown her willingness to cooperate, including handing over her phone if needed.