Wes didn’t understand her reaction. Wasn’t it a compliment to be confused for a model? It was an easy mistake for him to have made. She was objectively beautiful… long, fair hair and huge, violet eyes, but… Shewaspretty short. Maybe Cara had wanted to be a model but was too short? Hadn’t he heard Melody constantly blame her own height for why she never achieved the success she deserved?
With the puzzle solved in his mind, Wes returned to the program he was running. He would always prefer computers to people. Create an input, receive the expected output. No tears, no confusion, no misunderstandings. Reliable, predictable technology would always be preferable to people.
CHAPTERFIVE
It was an offhand comment.Why had it bothered her so much? Because it felt false, patronizing. Cara wasn’t blind. She knew she was attractive, but she had long accepted that she wasn’t beautiful like her mother, and she had zero ambition to be a model.
It needled at her, popping up inconveniently when she should be paying attention to things that actually mattered. Who cared if he felt he had to give her an empty compliment? She didn’t want attention from someone clearly hung up on someone else no matter how attractive he was. Cara loaded her groceries on the belt and crossed her fingers when she handed the clerk her card. The first time she had a purchase declined, she had wanted to fall through the floor in humiliation. Since then, she kept close track of her balances, but she hadn’t forgotten the feeling.
Cara hoped Wes wouldn’t be at the house when she was done shopping, but the same green truck was parked in the driveway. She had been less than thrilled to learn he worked from home and that he appeared to view this house as his home.Is he going to be here all the time?
Sitting in the driveway, she pulled out her phone to send another text to Melody.
Cara: You never mentioned there was a guy living here!
Melody hadn’t responded to her text from the evening before, and with the time difference she wasn’t expecting a reply. So, Cara was shocked when the bubble appeared indicating Melody was typing.
Melody: Sry. Job came up couldn’t say no. B back in couple weeks. Don’t worry about Wes. He’s the best… like my brother… he’s house hunting.
A couple of weeks? What the hell!
Wes was in the same spot at the table when she unlocked the door, a pair of expensive-looking, noise-canceling headphones covering his ears. By the way his head bobbed to the beat of whatever he was listening to and the rate his fingers flew over the keyboard, she realized he hadn’t noticed her return.
She walked past him to put the plastic bags full of chicken and veggies on the counter. He jumped, ripping off his headphones.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Cara said. “You looked like you were in the zone.”
Wes draped the headphones around the back of his neck and rubbed his hand along the scruff on his jaw, glancing out the sliding doors to his left at the dark landscape. “What time is it?”
Cara’s eyebrows rose. “A little after six.”
“Shit, really?” Wes pushed back from the table, closing his laptop and placing the headphones on top. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms over his head, exposing a band of muscled skin where his shirt lifted.
Longing hit Cara with surprising force, and she averted her eyes, unloading the groceries. He certainly didn’t have the body of a computer nerd!
Wes took in her haul where she spread it on the counter. “Big chicken eater?”
Cara caught the teasing tone but kept her reply short. “Yup.”
Grabbing his glass from the table and putting it in the sink, he headed toward the back bedroom, stripping his shirt off as he went. His back was all lean muscle and broad shoulders that tapered to–she jerked her eyes back to her food, as heat crept up her face.
“I’m heading to the gym for a bit,” he called from his room.
That explained why he didn’t look like he spent all day at a desk.
Get it together, Cara! You live with him now!
Lusting after a roommate would only complicate things. She hadn’t been around men, attractive or otherwise, in far too long. That’s all it is, she told herself. She was lonely. Cara retrieved a cutting board from where she had stored it the day before. She sliced the chicken and veggies, until two cookie sheets were full with her dinners for the week.
“That’s a lot of food.” Cara spun, knife in hand, at the sound of Wes’s voice. “Hey! I was just joking! Eat what you want.”
Cara lowered the knife. “It’s for the whole week. It’s healthy and makes it easier when I have a long day.”
“Smart,” he said, filling a water bottle. “I usually forget about food until I’m starving and then end up ordering something.”
Cara hesitated. If they were going to live together it would be easier if they could be friendly. “I have plenty for tonight. I could save you some.”
Wes studied her for a second, a slow smile spreading across his face. “That would be awesome. Thanks!”
