QUOTE : And you are safe and loved with me,” I promise her, rubbing her back.<br /><br />Kate looks up at me in surprise. “You love me?”<br /><br />“Always. Have you not guessed?”<br /><br />For some reason, she looks indignant. “I shouldn’t have to guess! A girl likes to hear this sort of thing!”<br /><br />I grin and cup her pink cheeks, feeling more like myself. “I loved you the moment you appeared and stood over the others like a she-mountain.”<br /><br />Kate makes an outraged noise but then ruins it by laughing a moment later. “You are the worst with compliments, you know that?”<br /><br />“Ah, but they all make you smile.”<br /><br />“Yeah, my standards are pretty low, it seems.