Free She Hates Me Not: A Richer in Love Romance by F. E. Greene Page B

jog in limited amounts, but my doctor has banned me from football.  Opioids are also off the table.  Heaven help me if I break anything else.  It’s Paracetamol or nothing.”
    Lou realized she was wincing.  “I’m sorry you can’t play soccer anymore.”
    “As you’ve already mentioned, I’m a cheater.  From time to time, when no one’s looking, I might sneak a few minutes on the pitch.”  His grin was boyishly naughty.
    “So you went to rehab?”
    Kip just nodded.
    “But you can drink alcohol?”
    “With caution, yes.  It doesn’t seem to be a trigger.  It doesn’t give me that sense of escape.”
    “What were you escaping?”
    “Nothing in particular.”  Kip picked up an unused tea spoon and spun it between his fingers.  “I just liked the way I felt when I was high.  Unaccountable.  Detached.  Transformed, really.  I also forgot to eat.  Or shower.  Didn’t report to work or leave my flat.  I was pretty far gone before my family stepped in.”
    “But you’re better now?”
    “Yes,” he assured her.  “I can never let my guard down, but yes.  I’m better now.  And you’ve just heard what is quite possibly the worst thing I could share with anyone – especially someone who hates me.  But all you have to do is google my name, and those stories will pop right up.”
    Lou inhaled as she recalled Lydia’s words from their bizarre negotiation in the court.  His life has been easy, but it has not been kind.   Impulsively she rested her hand on top of Kip’s.
    “You went through all that in plain view of everyone.”
    “Which, believe me, makes you want to escape all the more.”
    Kip turned his hand so that their fingers threaded together.  Lou didn’t try to pull away.  She wasn’t a sucker for broken men, a Miss Fix-It like her sister, and Kip was anything but defective.  He didn’t talk like a victim or blame others for his troubles.  He seemed at ease with them.  And with her.
    Even though they were exposed for all the world to see, being with Kip felt as intimate as if they were alone on her boat. 
    Lou’s mind leapt forward to that possibility.  Not even Liam had been allowed onboard. But Kip wasn’t Liam, just like she wasn’t Catrella, and maybe those relationships had failed to ensure the real one succeeded.  It was how her mother always thought about things.  And her maw-maw.  And Moggie.
    Smiling, she continued to hold Kip’s hand, and the sky didn’t fall.



Chapter Nine
    I f this was hate, Kip could get used to it.
    But Lou didn’t hate him.  That much he could see.  She was more frightened than anyone he’d ever met, but she wasn’t frightened of him.  Of his world, maybe.  Of its paparazzi and his reputation and a mother who could send billionaire tycoons packing with her stare.
    Their picture from the gala had driven Lou into a panic.  Kip needed to find out why.
    “If I’m not mistaken, this is our third date in three days.  Am I any nearer to hearing your details?”
    Lou removed her hand from his.  “Yesterday was not a date.”
    “I suppose not,” he agreed.  “Although, I did invite you to dinner.  And I most certainly would have kissed you goodnight.”
    Lou aimed all her attention at her half-finished lunch.  “You can ask me one question.”
    Kip felt like he’d won the lottery.  Instead of rushing, he took a bite of food and chewed thoughtfully.  If it was too invasive, Lou might refuse to answer.  If it was too vague, he’d waste his chance.  He concentrated on narrowing his best options until Lou started to laugh.
    “You look like you’re about to go togué ,” she told him.  “Okay, you can ask me three.”
    “And you pledge to answer truthfully?”
    She held up a hand.  “ Je fais serment .”
    Kip grinned at her saucy promise to comply.  His grammar-school French might come in handy after all.  “How did you end up working at a café in Stratford?”
    “When I was seventeen, we moved back to