Early Friday morning, I roll away from another ground-shaking orgasm with Ella, panting and staring at the ceiling and wondering—not for the first time—if I ever want her to go back to LA.
She melts against my side, hot cheek lying on my chest, hand splayed between my pecs. “Wow…”
“Yeah. Holy shit.” I kiss the top of her head.
In fact, I can’t not touch her in some way if I’m in a room with her. I can’t even stand not talking to her if she’s nearby. In the last two days, I’ve developed a ritual that begins with cuddling with her when I first wake while we talk about our day. Eventually, that leads to sex because…well, when doesn’t something between us lead to sex? Then I call her from the car. I text her between meetings. I even ring her if someone has pissed me off at work. She’s always there. She always listens. She always offers empathy and good advice.
How am I supposed to do without all that when she returns to starving herself in a sea of shallow people in Southern California?
“We have to actually get a whole night’s sleep at some point,” she murmurs tiredly.
“Yeah. And probably a whole meal.”
She laughs. “We have been a little too impatient for food lately, haven’t we?”
When she lifts her gaze to me and our eyes meet, I swear I see her heart in her eyes. I feel that zing again. I’ve been feeling it since the night she arrived. Sometimes, I’m sure she feels it, too. I have a sneaking suspicion I know what’s brewing between us because every day, every time our stares tangle, it gets stronger.
I run a freaking billion-dollar company. I managed to hold off my wily business rival who’s also my prospective father-in-law with some quick words and a well-placed lie. Just yesterday, I verbally eviscerated a greedy supplier and one of my over-anxious creditors on the phone, no problem.
But I can’t seem to find the right words to ask Ella how she feels about me.
“I have to go to work.” I disentangle myself from her soft curves and leave her sprawled and naked on the bed as I head to the shower. But walking away is a fight.
Not surprisingly, she follows me, caressing her way down my back. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Just a lot on my mind.” And not about the things I should be worrying over.
“Anything I can help with?”
I’m really tempted to say something. In fact, I know I should. It’s stupid to be insecure about her feelings if I don’t bother to ask, and the fact that she even wants to listen to me says something. But is that about her attachment to me or her general compassion as a human being?
I start the water in the shower, trying to get my head on straight, and change the subject. “Kendra texted me yesterday.”
Ella tenses. “What did she say? Has she started school yet?”
“Not until Monday. But Greek activities have already started and she’s been busy with those. She asked me how things were going with you. And apparently, she met a guy who’s involved in ROTC. He wants to be a naval officer.” I sigh. “They had coffee together last night. He asked her out tomorrow.”
She pauses. “How do you feel about that?”
“Relieved. I told her she should date him. I don’t want to hurt her, but I don’t want to marry her. She doesn’t want to marry me, either. But she can’t be the one to end our engagement or she loses millions. Ditto here.” I shake my head. “One of us will have to flinch first.”
“We’ll figure it out. I’m here to help, remember? What you need is to convince Shaw to take an interest in Sweet Darlin’ without making you and Kendra both miserable.”
“I’ve tried, but maybe if you and I are convincing tonight, he’ll relent and let the deal proceed without this stupid corporate wedding. I don’t know. When he told me to bring the woman I’d fallen for, he was calling my bluff. So I suspect he’ll have some scheme up his sleeve. He isn’t the sort of man to go down without a fight.”
“Don’t worry about it now. Focus on your day. We’ll deal with the rest as it comes at the benefit tonight.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” The words fall off my tongue. I’m struck by how much we sound like a real couple. I talk. She listens. We exchange ideas and a touch and…life continues.
I reach for the shower door since I see steam filming the clear glass. I expect Ella will put on her short blue robe and head to the kitchen to make something both healthy and protein-based that I’ll pretend to complain about but actually enjoy. Then I’ll kiss her and head off to the office and spend my day wishing I were with her. She hasn’t even left the room yet and I already miss her.
Instead, she enters the shower behind me.
“Do you mind?” she asks as she eases against me, sliding her water-slick skin over mine.
“That you’re here with me?” I shake my head. “Not at all.”
Ella’s smile is sunny as she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me softly.
I wrap her in my arms, caress the soft line of her spine, skate my palms down to the curve of her hips, and drag her closer.
Again, I can’t help but wonder where this is heading. My life is here, and hers is in Los Angeles. My head knows that, but I’ve been subconsciously imagining our future together—and trying to figure out if I can make it a reality. Yes, Gregory Shaw worries me. If I don’t play this right, he can crush me in his fist. But that isn’t my only consideration.
The stark reality is, there’s nothing for me on the West Coast anymore except some friends and memories. Mom and Craig are gone, my childhood home sold. On the other hand, what’s in North Carolina for Ella except me? I can’t ask this woman to give up her dreams. She lights up when she talks about them.
The smart thing to do would be to get through tonight, then put distance between me and the “girlfriend” I’m paying. Turn away the sex, shut off the emotion, toss up a mental wall or two.
When it comes to Ella, I don’t know if I can be smart.
“Tell me something. What’s your fallback plan?” I ask her. “If you never make a living at acting, what else would you want to do with your life?”
She cocks her head. “I’d probably teach drama and theater to kids. I did a few camps last summer with children hand-selected from their respective schools as the brightest and most talented. We put on a couple of small productions throughout the summer and ended the session with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They really enjoyed it, and it was so rewarding to work with youngsters who have their whole lives ahead of them and such amazing voices and theatric gifts.”
“That sounds great.” I rinse my head under the spray and give her words some thought.
A camp like that is something she could do anywhere. And the glow on her face when she’s talking about molding kids and helping to shape their futures hits me square in the chest. It takes me a moment, but I realize why. I want to make Ella Hope happy, and her memories of last summer very clearly do.
Any chance she would be happy here with me, teaching kids how to develop their inner thespian?
Maybe, but after two days with this woman, I’m getting way ahead of myself. I’m on the verge of asking her to give up her life in California, her potential stardom, and whatever else she’s got going on out there for me—a man who can’t seem to work up the courage to tell her that he might be falling in love with her.
“It was really rewarding. I took the job because it gave me some great connections and a steady paycheck for a few months. But I think I got way more out of it than that.”
“You’d be great with kids.”
Her face softens. “Every one of them deserves attention and praise, and after my own upbringing…”
She feels compelled to make every child feel important and valued. It’s something I admire about her. I’m terrible about getting caught up in my day-to-day life. I don’t always stop to think about the people around me, what they’re going through, what they need. I should be better. Everyone around me should expect it. I’m glad Ella has made me realize it.
“You ever think about settling down, getting married and all that?” I reach for the shampoo like this is a nonchalant conversation.
But my heart is racing.
She shrugs. “Sure, as much as the next girl, I guess. That’s definitely in my ‘someday’ category.” Suddenly, she gives me a rueful smile. “But right now, I’ll bet you’re thinking a lot more about getting married than I am.”
Did she read my mind? Does she know that I’m resisting the notion of picturing my future without her? Then I realize she means Kendra.
“Yeah. It’s not that I don’t want to get married someday. I’m thirty. I think I’d be ready…with the right person for the right reason. Gregory Shaw’s sorority-house daughter to cement a business deal isn’t it.”
“I’m kind of looking forward to meeting her tonight, just to see her for myself.”
Kendra will be more than happy to meet her, too. Hell, my supposed fiancée would probably throw the entire line of the Rockettes my way if it would get her out of marrying me.
I finish lathering up my hair, rinse, and grope my way over to the nearby shelf to grab my bottle of shower gel, but it’s gone.
Moments later, Ella rubs her palms across my chest, and I inhale the familiar scent of my bodywash as the slick gel spreads over my skin.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?” I groan.
“Sending you off to work with a smile.”
She kisses me and lathers my body, then focuses all her attention on my cock, now raging for her touch. One caress, and I swear I feel as if I haven’t had her in a century. It’s crazy. It’s wonderful. It’s terrible—especially if this is all just fun and games for her.
I’m lost in a smoldering haze of pleasure that’s beginning to build when she plucks the portable showerhead from its holder and rinses me off thoroughly, skimming her teasing touch over every inch of me.
“Can I return the favor?”
“No. I’m not completely sure you’re squeaky clean yet. There’s just one more spot…”
Then she drops to her knees and takes me into her mouth. I lose my mind—along with the rest of my heart.
As I grip her hair in my fists, dying under the lash of her tongue dancing along the sensitive crest and wrapping down my aching shaft, I let go of my self-control, chiding myself that I either need to tell her I’m falling in love…or let her go for good.
ELLA
Carson is waiting for me on the living room sofa when I step from the bedroom, securing the second of my sparkly earrings. “I’m ready.”
He stands and turns—and I see that look in his eyes.
“Ella…”
He breathes my name like he’s mesmerized, and my pussy clenches. Everything about him has my heart stuttering dangerously.
“You like it?” I hold my arms out wide so he can get a good eyeful of my silvery-gray silk sheath. Its scalloped straps drape over my shoulders. The neckline is scooped deep enough to show my cleavage and the swells of my breasts before it narrows to my waist and flares out to accommodate the rest of my curves. From hip to hem, a band of lace exposes my right side. The dress nips in again at my knees, then spreads gently at the feet one last time like the bell of a trumpet.
Looking incredible in a tuxedo, Carson makes his way to my side. “Like? Wow, you look beyond amazing. Really. Words fail me, sweetheart. I’ve never seen a woman more beautiful.”
I have no idea if he means what he’s saying or if he’s merely pumping up my ego because he wants me to feel confident before we do battle tonight. Either way, he makes me blush and swoon. “Thanks.”
“Thank you. You’ll knock Shaw dead.” He wraps an arm around me. “You know, we’d send a whole different message if we were fashionably late. Or better yet, if we don’t show up at all. Kendra’s father already knows you’re real. He’s seen pictures of us kissing, I’m pretty sure. I could leave him a voice mail that—”
“Stop right there, mister,” I cut in, even though I’d twenty times rather stay home with Carson. “First, I took all the effort to get dressed up, so you’re taking me out and showing me off. Second…” I take his hand and give it a squeeze. “You owe this to Shaw. Six days ago he gave you a week to introduce me to him. If not now, when?”
Carson sighs heavily, as if he knows that fate and duty have left him little choice. “But I’d rather have you all to myself tonight. Well, every night.”
Not for the first time, I wonder if he’s just enjoying the sex…or whether this means something more to him, like it does to me. “Well, since you paid me to look pretty and act devoted, not have sex with you—because that would make me a hooker, which I’m totally not—I think we should go. You need to convince Shaw we’re in love. He’ll loan you the money, then you and Sweet Darlin’ will live happily ever after.”
He leans in, his gaze snagging mine and delving deep. I feel as if he’s trying to tell me something without words. “What if it’s more complicated than that, Ella?”
The question comes out so softly. My heart catches as he eases closer and brushes his lips against mine. “Then we figure it out.”
He drags in a breath that doesn’t sound entirely steady and nods. “Then let’s get this over with so we can come back here and shut the rest of the world out.”
I should probably be more careful with my heart, but I’m beyond all caution now. How did this happen so fast?
The drive to the hotel is quiet. It’s grating on my nerves. I fear Carson is thinking something, but I’m afraid to hope that he and I are on the same page. He’s too logical to fall in love in two days, right?
But even if we are thinking the same thoughts, what comes next? He’s not leaving Sweet Darlin’. It would be unfair of me to ask him to chuck his father’s legacy so I could pursue my very uncertain acting dream, which admittedly may never come true. What if he wanted me to move here with him? Could I give up the support system of my two sisters and all my friends and move to a city I barely know when it will most assuredly end any chance of landing meaningful roles and someday winning an Oscar?
On the other hand, am I prepared to give up Carson?
When we arrive at the hotel where the benefit is being held, the valet opens my door and takes the car. Hand in hand, Carson and I head inside the ballroom. Signs and banners proclaim this a charity event to build schools, daycares, and playgrounds via a Christian charity for underprivileged children.
“This looks like a great cause,” I observe, peering at pictures of their charitable work.
Carson nods tersely, already scanning the room. “My dad was the biggest sponsor of this shindig every year. I wanted to continue the tradition, but Gregory Shaw horned in. No doubt, he wants the good publicity.”
I refrain from mentioning that even if Edward Frost found this cause immensely satisfying, he probably started it for the positive press, too. Instead, I squeeze his fingers. The closer we’ve come to the hotel, the more nervous he’s become. Is he worried we won’t pass Shaw’s muster?
I tug on his hand and pull him around to face me. When his gaze falls on me, he seems to relax a bit.
With an encouraging smile, I reach up and straighten his tie. “We’re going to be great. Everything will work out fine. I’ll convince Shaw. I’m a professional, remember?”
“Yeah.” He nods, breathing out the absent reply. “I know.”
I frown. “Do you think something will go wrong?”
Carson cups my face. “My concern is so much bigger than that. What’s happening between—”
“Hi, Carson,” a lilting feminine voice interrupts.
Before me, he stiffens and slowly lets me go, turning to face a gorgeous blonde suddenly beside us. “Kendra. It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” she murmurs as she’s looking directly at me with unabashed curiosity. She’s also fidgeting like she’s antsy.
He dutifully brushes a kiss across her cheek—but never lets go of my hand. “You look lovely.”
And she does, wearing a champagne-glitter sheath with tiny spaghetti straps. Her hair is a perfect gold-to-platinum ombré. She’s got high cheekbones, glowing skin, a graceful neck, and the kind of delicate beauty that would be a huge hit back home.
A moment of jealousy flares through me until I realize that Carson doesn’t look thrilled to see her at all…and she doesn’t look any more excited about the idea of spending the evening with him. A glance at her hand reveals she’s not wearing her engagement ring.
“You look handsome, too. Dad told me you were bringing your…friend from California. Is this her?” Kendra nods my way.
“Yes. This is Ella Hope. Ella, Kendra.”
We exchange a quick smile and an even quicker handshake.
“Good to meet you,” she tells me, then turns back to Carson. “Can you and I talk for a minute?”
He shrugs. “Sure.”
“Alone, if you don’t mind.” She gives me an apologetic grimace.
I tense. Kendra is technically his fiancée, and she’s stunning. But Carson clearly has zero interest in her. The fact that he hired me at all, along with his less-than-thrilled expression, tells me to sheath my claws.
“Go ahead.” I nod. “I’ll grab a drink and get the lay of the land.”
“We have a reserved table at the front,” Carson says. “I’ll meet you there shortly.”
“Perfect.”
I start to walk away, but to my surprise, he brushes a soft kiss on my lips. I wonder what he’s trying to say with that gesture. Is it a reassurance for me, a subtle keep-away for Kendra, or simply a show for all?
“I won’t be long,” he promises.
With a nod, I leave the two of them in peace. I have no idea what Kendra wants, but she seems nervous, uneasy, anxious to talk. Has she changed her mind about wanting to get married? Is she jealous now that she sees Carson with someone else?
I pause at the bar and grab a club soda with a twist of lime, then saunter around the room, looking at all the jumbo screens designed to tear at the heartstrings and open wallets by flashing pictures of underprivileged children. It works. Those sad faces wrench at me. The misery and suffering of youngsters who should be far more innocent hits me right in the heart. I wish I could do something, but I’m flat broke. I’d give them my time and experience…if I lived here.
As I look away from a particularly adorable little girl in a threadbare dress, guilt pummels me.
“You must be Carson’s date.”
I whirl to the sound of a man’s deep voice. The resemblance between father and daughter is too great to mistake. Same narrow face. Same wide-set eyes. Same dripping-in-money aura.
Steeling my expression, I stick my hand out in his direction. “Ella Hope. I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Shaw. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I doubt very much you find it nice, Ella.” He gives me a tight smile. “You know, when Carson first told me he’d fallen madly for another woman back in California, I didn’t believe you even existed. You’re beautiful enough. He’s got good taste in women, I’ll give him that.”
Is he sizing me up or hitting on me? “Thank you.” I glance around the room to see if I can catch a glimpse of Carson and Kendra. “Where’s Mrs. Shaw?”
“She died six years ago. Breast cancer.”
His tone is clipped, as if the subject still causes him a great deal of pain. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
He gives me a gracious nod. “It’s not something I talk about often. Neither does Kendra.” He glances down at the drink in my hand. “I see you’ve found libations.”
“Yes. I’m looking at all the good work the charity seems to be doing. It’s touching and wonderful.”
“Hmm,” he mutters in a noncommittal tone. “Where are Carson and Kendra?”
Good question. Would a guy supposedly head-over-heels for me leave me alone in a roomful of strangers and take off with another woman, especially one he’s engaged to, two minutes after hitting the door? It sounds dubious, and I don’t want to arouse Shaw’s suspicions. Nor do I want to tell him that, even now, he and Kendra might be hiding in a corner somewhere, plotting the end of their wedding.
I paste on a smile. “When we arrived, I slipped away to the ladies’ room to check my lipstick, so Carson and I got separated. I’m sure he’s here somewhere, looking for me. He’s very attentive.”
“Indeed. Were you surprised when he called and told you how he felt about you?”
We’ve discussed our cover story more than once, so I’m completely prepared. “Stunned, really. If he looked at me twice when I dated his friend, I wasn’t aware of it. But he’s a gentleman and would never have risked a friendship. I’ve known for some time that the other relationship was doomed, but I was hanging on because I didn’t want to hurt my ex-boyfriend. Eventually, we decided to call it quits. After a few months, Carson tracked me down and admitted his feelings…and here we are.”
“Uh-huh. Did you have any thoughts or feelings for him before he confessed his undying love?”
The sarcasm in his voice is hard to miss. It makes me want to put him in his place, but he’s mostly right. Carson is lying to him. I can’t speak for the man who’s capturing my heart, but I’ll definitely defend myself because the truth works in my favor.
“Actually, I did. From the moment we met, he stuck in my memory. Of course, I would never have been unfaithful to my boyfriend while we were together, and I really had no way of knowing Carson felt about me the way I did about him. After my ex and I split, I didn’t want to look like a fool and throw myself at Carson. But when he called me to say that he’d never forgotten me and wanted me to come to North Carolina to explore what might be between us… Well, I’d been unhappy in my love life, and I had wondered once or twice if he had something to do with it. I had nothing to lose by coming here. So I said yes.”
“Right,” he says skeptically. “Did he tell you that he’s engaged?”
“He told me everything. And we both agreed that with his wedding to Kendra coming up, we couldn’t afford to wait another minute to find out how we felt about each other or it would be too late.”
“So you knew that I’d challenged him to introduce you to me before you ever stepped foot on the plane? And your decision to come here had everything to do with your heart and nothing to do with helping him bilk me out of millions of dollars?”
My decision to come here had everything to do with me needing rent money…and being curious about the guy I’d never managed to forget. Carson’s rival didn’t cross my mind at all, except to wonder why he expected to control his adult daughter.
“Mr. Shaw, you don’t know me, so I’ll let that insult slide. But don’t suggest again that I’m the sort of mercenary woman who would take a job simply for the terrible motive of stealing someone’s hard-earned fortune.”
His mouth flattens into a grim line. “Then how do you explain the money he transferred into your bank account the day you left?”
I’m shocked. I didn’t know Shaw even knew my name before I introduced myself. I didn’t think he’d go so far as to invade my privacy and have me investigated. “Not that it’s any of your business, but he agreed to pay for my plane ticket and a few other expenses I incurred for dropping everything and coming to visit him so quickly.”
Which is basically true. I’m not being paid the fee we negotiated until the end of our agreement.
I don’t think he expected me to have explanations for his pointed questions, because he studies me with a dissecting stare, like he’s trying to discern the truth. “You have odd jobs and no money to your name because you’re a wannabe actress. Why shouldn’t I believe he staged some long-distance casting call, plucked you out of a crowd, and hired you?”
I try not to blanch, but he’s asked the one question I don’t have an answer for that isn’t a blatant lie.
“Because I met her before I moved here and became engaged to Kendra, and I can prove it.” Carson rescues me, wrapping his arm around my waist and flashing Shaw a picture on his phone.
I recognize it instantly. A snapshot of the night we met at Shane’s party. I vaguely remember posing for this picture, the birthday boy hanging awkwardly off my left and Carson pressed against me on the right. Some more friends crowded around us, but I swore I could feel the heat of Carson’s skin on mine for hours.
He must have had this on his phone all along, and I can’t help but hope it’s because he wanted to look at us together over the last few months, not because he was too lazy to delete it.
At Shaw’s glare, Carson hits the screen and displays the date of the photo. Suddenly, March seems like a lifetime ago.
“So you knew each other before you moved here.” Shaw shrugs Carson’s way. “It doesn’t mean you’ve ever had a thing for her.”
“Your suspicion also doesn’t mean that I haven’t,” Carson shoots back, nudging me behind his back and positioning himself between me and Shaw protectively. “If you have an accusation, say it to me. But you don’t get to badger and insult her. That’s a non-starter.”
His words warm me. Butterflies start dancing. Sure, his behavior might all be an act…but given what I know about this man and the way we’ve been getting close, I don’t think so.
“Daddy?” Kendra appears just outside the confrontation, grabbing his arm. “This isn’t good for the cause.”
I look around and realize that some of the attendees are watching with interest, seeming to hang on our every word.
Shaw seems to realize it, too. He pastes on a sudden smile. “Perhaps you’re right, and I’m utterly wrong.”
He doesn’t believe that for a moment, but that’s fine—for now. The public confrontation is over. The reckoning will come later. Soon. In fact, it’s possible he’ll even find some way to maneuver a word with us in private before we leave the hotel this evening.
When he sticks out a hand, Carson pumps it furiously. “You are.”
“Let’s dance, Daddy.” Kendra pulls on the man’s arm.
With a curt nod, Shaw takes his daughter’s hand and leads her onto the floor.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
Carson turns to me and cups my shoulders. “You all right?”
“Yeah. I handled him pretty well until you approached. The rest of his questions we’d planned for and I didn’t have to outright lie,” I whisper in his ear. “But the last one…”
“I know.” He brushes a kiss over my lips. “We should dance, too. Look like we’re having a good time. It’s probably the best place to have an uninterrupted conversation.”
“You’re right.” I follow him onto the floor and brush my body against his as he takes my hand, swaying to an Ellie Goulding tune that’s both haunting and hopeful.
I nestle closer and take a moment to close my eyes. My argument with Shaw was stressful, but being near Carson calms me.
“What did he say to you before I crashed the conversation?”
I fill him in with a shrug. “The truth is, I don’t think he’s a terrible guy. I think he actually means well where Kendra is concerned. But he’s going about everything the wrong way. Obviously, he’s used to telling people to jump and them asking immediately, ‘How high?’ When I didn’t follow suit, it frustrated him.”
“That sounds about right. I don’t think he means to be an asshole, either. He wants to take care of his daughter. After my last conversation with her, I completely understand why.”
“Yeah?” I look up into Carson’s blue eyes. I’ll never get tired of the view. “What did she want?”
“I think I told you that before you arrived, I called Kendra to tell her that you were coming here so we could figure out our feelings for each other. We never talked much before that. Our engagement was arranged before we’d barely met. Apparently, she thought I was determined to make her my wife. Now that she knows otherwise, she’s opened up about her own feelings. Tonight, she wanted to tell me about Brayden, the ROTC officer she met on Tuesday, and their ‘ah-mazing’ spontaneous date last night.”
I raise a brow at Carson. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Apparently someone has a video of them kissing…um, vigorously, in the parking lot. Everyone here probably already knew except me, since I’ve been too busy with you.”
“So she wanted to tell you herself?”
He nods. “In all honesty, I don’t care. I want her to be happy, of course. But I’m not sure she’s mature enough to know what will make her life sunshine and rainbows. She has the body of a woman, but when it comes to men, she’s like a child with a basket of toys, swapping one out for another on a whim. Brayden is probably just the latest. Though I will say, she sounds more interested in him as a person than she has the others I’ve overheard her mooning about.”
“The others?” My jaw drops. “Has she been dating the whole time you’ve been engaged?”
“Dating might be a strong word. But flirting would be fair.”
“Batting her lashes or actually getting to know them?”
“Probably both. I’ve never asked, and she’s never confided. I wasn’t even aware until recently that she’d lose her trust fund if she bailed on me.”
“Do you think she’s slept with other men?”
“That’s something I’ve never asked. If I had to guess? Yeah. I didn’t exactly discourage her from seeing her friends, going to parties, or any of the usual college antics.”
I gape at him. It’s terrible that neither he nor Kendra is devoted to each other in the slightest, but neither knows how to put the kibosh on their pending nuptials without losing everything they value.
“So she wanted to tell you about Brayden. Because she suddenly wanted your blessing? I don’t understand.”
“I think Kendra wants someone to confide in. She can’t tell her father that she thinks this one might be serious.”
“How can she believe that? She’s only known him for a couple of days.” Instantly, I realize what I’ve said. I press my lips to his ear. “I know that’s technically true of us, too. But…I think we’re different.”
He brushes his thumb across my cheek with a smile. “I think so, too. I’ll admit I’ve never heard Kendra as intent about a guy as she is about this one. Brayden doesn’t sound like her usual frat-boy crush, so maybe this is more than a flirtation or a fling. Anyway, she said that after watching you and me together as we walked in, she realized that—” He stops abruptly, frowns, pauses, and seems to regather himself. “Well, she suggested we work together to make everyone mutually happy.”
I frown. What did he not say? “To dissuade her dad from forcing you two to get married?”
“That sums it up.”
“Great. How did she suggest you two do that?”
“She didn’t,” he admits wryly. “She left it up to me to devise a plan.”
“Naturally. Do you trust her?”
“In a relationship?” He shakes his head. “But we have a common goal here, so in this case I believe she’s on our side.”
Carson knows Kendra better than I do, so I’ll go with him on this. But I still have to ask one question. “You didn’t tell her anything about…us?”
“Not a word. She’s not the malicious sort who would rat us out, but she’s not cautious enough to stay silent.”
I agree. “So now what?”
“We wait. We eat, drink, laugh, kiss, schmooze. And at the end of the night, I’ll confront Shaw.”