Caroline splashed water on her face and rested her head against the bathroom mirror.
How has my life become this?She swallowed down the tears threatening to spill over from her bruised heart.Why do I keep falling for men like Robert and Brad?She leaned over and grabbed some toilet paper to blow her nose.
Caroline looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her shoulder-length sandy blonde hair was pulled back and confined with a band showing the raised bruise on her temple—the current source of pain in her head which only amplified the pain in her heart. She sighed and splashed more cold water on her face, trying to get rid of her red eyes.
She patted her face dry with a towel and shook her head at her reflection. Caroline hardly recognized herself or the life she felt like she was being sucked into. She felt like she was swirling around in the vortex of a whirlpool, shaking everything she was away. She ran her hand over her cheeks, trying to rub some color into them as she worried what would be left of her when she came out the other side.
Caroline realized she may not be able to control everything the future held, but she knew one thing—she was going to harden her heart against the likes of Brad Danes. Carolinewould notbe another Brad Danes conquest to get splashed in the media as another of his cast-aside failed relationships.
As Caroline pulled her hair from its confines and ran a brush through it, she wondered about Connor’s mother—Brad’s first wife. Caroline could remember Brad telling her when they’d met six weeks ago that he’d come home to find she’d left.
“He was probably cheating on her!” Caroline said to her reflection, giving her cheeks a final pat before heading out of her room and downstairs.
“Caroline!” Brad stood up from the chair he’d been sitting in, followed by an anxious Jennifer.
They rushed at her, but she held up her hand to stop them as a warning growl came from her knee. Caroline looked down to find Sandy standing protectively beside her with Blue Beard perched on her back. She looked around to find Melton sitting on the back of the chair Brad had vacated, swishing his tail as he eyed out the scene. Her heart swelled at the love her pets protectively exhibited toward her. They weren’t vicious. They were merely picking up on Caroline’s need for space.
“Please, I’m okay,” Caroline forced a smile on her face. “I felt a bit giddy and ill for a moment. I think I may have overdone the excitement.”
“Then sit,” Jennifer pulled a reluctant Brad aside. “Brad and I ordered some takeout for dinner.”
“Seriously, I’m fine and not very hungry,” Caroline admitted. “I think I’m going to have a shower and climb into bed.”
“Then that’s what you must do,” Brad said. “But after you’ve eaten.”
“I find myself agreeing with Brad,” Jennifer told her. “The food should be here soon. So come sit, and I’ll make us some tea.”
“That sounds good.” Caroline could use some tea.
She sidestepped Brad and Jennifer as she headed for her chair, which happened to be the one Brad had recently vacated. She could still feel his warmth and smell his lingering cologne as she settled into it. Caroline pushed the thoughts of him aside, which was hard as he was standing a few feet away from her.
“Would you sit?” Caroline said to Brad. She hadn’t meant to sound snappy.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to hover.” Brad’s voice was soft, and his eyes were shadowed with concern. He glanced toward the kitchen. “We need to talk.”
“About?” Caroline tilted her head slightly and frowned, hoping he couldn’t hear her pounding heart.
“Everything that happened outside,” Brad said. “Including Vanessa!”
“Really, Brad, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Caroline assured her, trying her best to feign nonchalance, something she wasn’t good at. She glanced at the clock on the mantle. It was almost six. “I know you have a dinner party to get to. You don’t have to stay here. Jennifer is here and I have my trusty protectors.”
As if on cue, Melton plopped into her lap. Blue Beard perched on the arm of her chair, and Sandy curled up by her feet.
“I’m not going to Alex’s dinner party,” Brad told her. “I was going to ask if you felt well enough to attend…”
“You know who’d love to go to Alex’s party,” Caroline said, cutting him off as an idea formulated in her head. “Jennifer. It would be good for her to meet your production team as she is my manager.”
“I can’t leave you,” Jennifer said, walking into the living room. There was a tray of steaming tea mugs. She handed the mugs out, took one, and sat on the sofa beside Brad. “Especially not after the break-in.”
“I promise I’ll be fine!” Caroline stated again.
“I’ll stay here,” Carly Donovan walked into the living room carrying take-out bags. “Sorry, I knocked, but there was no answer. I saw the lights on, and the back door was open.”
“Open?” Caroline felt alarm jolt through her.
“I left it open for when Carly delivered the food,” Jennifer explained.
“It’s okay, Carly,” Caroline smiled at the petite woman with the wild, unruly copper hair and thick black-framed glasses as she handed Jennifer the take-out bags.
