“Whatever.”
“I have to go, Cara. Be careful.”
This is exactly why she didn’t tell her brother about the odd messages she’d received. They were most likely harmless, but Declan would put her on lockdown.
She’d handled it before, and if it became a problem, she would handle it again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
“DidSkye text you about going out tonight?”
Wes was seated as usual in front of his computer, working. Cara set the water glass she’d filled next to him on the table. He looked up with his sweet smile and tucked one side of his noise-canceling headphones behind his ear. Her heart turned over in her chest at the memory of how warm and solid he had felt, when he’d held her the night before.
“What did you say?” he asked, taking a sip of the water.
“A group is going to the St. Regis tonight for drinks. I know it’s not your scene. You know,” she chuckled, “people. But it could be fun.”
Butterflies took flight in her belly as she watched his face. Why was she nervous? She was being dumb.
A cloud passed over Wes’s face. “I don’t think so. I still have a lot to get done tonight, and Nina gets mean when I miss deadlines.”
Cara had yet to meet Wes’s friends and business partners, but she knew an excuse when she heard it. She matched his bland smile.
“No problem. It was just an idea.” She walked to her door before tossing over her shoulder, “I’ll be late though.”
Cara didn’t wait to see Wes’s reaction before closing the door. Why was she so irritable? It’s not like he rejected me, she thought. It’s a group outing, and he has work.
She flopped back on her bed. So, what if he was super-hot with his stupid wavy hair and nerdy glasses? It’s not the first time she’d lusted after someone. Cara threw an arm over her eyes.
She was beyond absurd. In a short time, he had become one of the most important people in her life. Did she really want to give in to her hormones and risk ruining it?
Wes had a plan for his life. He wanted a happily-ever-after with Melody; if that stung a little, so be it. Cara wasn’t her mother. She wouldn’t rush blindly into one love affair after another, convinced she’d foundthe onejust because a guy set her panties on fire. Cara didn’t even believe in the kind of happily-ever-after Wes wanted. There couldn’t be a future for them.
A moment of sexual release wasn’t worth the awkwardness that would come after. And that’s all it was, Cara assured herself. Anything that happened between them would be purely physical, and even if she could live with that, she knew Wes couldn’t.
A little while later, Cara heated their dinner, and when she handed him his plate, Wes looked up looking slightly sheepish. “You aren’t mad, right? Fancy bars and groups of people…”
“Not at all. Skye is trying to set me up with a guy, and I thought a wingman would come in handy in case he’s a complete dud.”
Why had she said that? But Cara knew. Her pride wanted Wes to want her as much as she wanted him. Even if neither of them ever acted on it. She cringed, but before she could speak, he pulled his headphones back on, pushing the plate away.
“I’m sure you can handle yourself.”
Cara stared at the top of his head for a second.
What the hell!Last night, he was beside himself because she was late, but tonight Cara could be drugged and dragged off from a bar and he didn’t care?
Ass.
* * *
Normally,it took Cara twenty minutes to get ready. Leggings and a T-shirt, along with a warmer layer, had become her uniform. She spent so much time putting makeup on other people, she rarely liked taking the time to put it on herself. But tonight felt different—and Cara chose not to examine why. She hadn’t dressed up and gone out in over a year. Tonight she took her time.
Maybe this guy Skye had told Cara about would be the perfect way to break the weird obsession she had with her roommate? If she made out with someone else, maybe she wouldn’t feel like climbing Wes like a tree every time he touched her!
Cara rolled her long hair until it fell in thick waves down her back. She kept her makeup deceptively simple. It might look natural but had taken Cara almost an hour to create the look.
She chose a soft, yellow dress with a deceptively modest V-cut in the front and back that tied with ribbons over each of her shoulders. It wasn’t cut deep, just enough to expose her full cleavage. Being cold for the few minutes in and out of the car was worth it.
