by Jeannie Moon
Now it was Tessa’s turn to be without adequate words. “So you have a for-real date with the object of your affection since, like, forever?”
“That would be him.”
“And to think I thought your sister’s husband was gorgeous. Lordy. What the hell was in that gene pool? So you’re going to dinner? Where?”
“A new place. It’s on Tenth.”
“On Tenth? Porto Salvo? No one can get in there; they’re booked for months.”
“He didn’t tell me where. Is it fancy? He’s picking me up at eight.”
“Very upscale. Very in.”
“Great.” Caroline had no idea what to wear to a trendy, upscale restaurant. She looked at her hands. Her nails weren’t even done. “I’m screwed.”
“Nah. We need to work fast, but you’re going to look gorgeous.” Tessa waved her hand up and down. “First a shower. Then we start polishing.”
***
“I’ve seen three celebrities since we walked in here.” Caroline glanced over her shoulder at the latest actor to walk by their table. “I loved his last movie. Did you see it?”
Josh leaned back against the soft leather of the banquette and tried to be unaffected—he was always in places like this—but her enthusiasm was the best part of the evening so far. That, and she looked amazing. “No. I missed it. Believe it or not, going out with you has been the only real break from work I’ve taken in a long time. How is the soup?”
“It’s delicious. I adore lobster bisque.” Silence settled between them, and as usual his girl cut to the chase. She put her hands in her lap and stared at him. “Is work that bad?”
Josh thought hard about how he should answer. He’d spent so much time around his father and business that he’d forgotten how to actually share emotions. He was really out of his element, but he wanted to tell her. He wanted her to know what he was facing.
She asked if things were bad. Bad was one way to put it. His parents were currently away, so Josh had the investments and the day-to-day operations to worry about, but there was more. He’d noticed some problems with cash flow, and once he examined the records carefully, Josh came to the conclusion that someone was skimming capital from the accounts. The obvious suspect was his father. And if he were the one, he would brush him off and find fifteen ways to justify what he’d done to everyone else.
Fixing his eyes on Caroline, he didn’t know what he should say. Getting to know her had shown him that he led a pretty shallow life. He had only a couple of close friends, and she was hands-down the most important. He needed to tell her.
“The business is in trouble. My father isn’t just playing fast and loose with investments, he’s acting like the company is his personal money tree. I think his personal funds have been completely drained.”
Caroline’s eyes were locked on his. “They’re broke?”
“In a word, yes. And I’m facing the very real possibility that I might have to turn my own father in to the feds.” Her hands reached over and grasped his. The quiet support meant more to him than he ever expected or ever thought he deserved. Especially support from her. “This has been eating at me. You’re the only one I’ve told. I know I should tell Jason, but I can’t bring myself to do it.”
“Oh, Josh. I wish you’d said something sooner. You listen to me yammering on about the stupidest stuff, and you’ve been holding this back.”
“I’m not used to laying it out there, I guess. “
“You can share anything with me,” she said as she leaned into him, her head almost resting on his shoulder.
Caroline’s thumb was moving back and forth over his knuckles, but she didn’t say anything more at first, and Josh absorbed the feel of her tiny hands, of her soft skin, against his. Then she drew a breath, and sat back and faced him. Squeezing his hand, she wore a gentle, sweet smile that played at her lips. “You’ll do the right thing. I know you will. And remember that I’m here to listen if you need me.”
Josh felt a rush in his head and a pounding in his chest telling him he was in real trouble. It hadn’t mattered that he’d tried to keep this friendly; he realized at that moment, when Caroline put her faith in him, that he was falling for her. Hard.
A candle flickered in a smoky glass holder and the light fell across her face. Her skin glowed, and her eyes, those deep brown eyes that were locked on his, shimmered in the light. An ache crept through Josh’s body and settled around his heart. Caroline was his light. Her insecurities and her passion, her intelligence and the way she gave of herself, had consumed him. She was his person. The one who mattered most.
And he could never tell her.
A busboy came by and broke the moment when he cleared their soup bowls, while someone else came to the table with a bottle of Pellegrino and topped off their water glasses, all the activity taking them out of their bubble.
Caroline glanced around again and Josh wondered if she was hunting for more celebrities. Personally, he didn’t know what he thought of the place. Taking in the scene, he wondered if his problem with the restaurant had to do with the clientele. There were a lot of people he knew. A lot of people he socialized with. And not many that he actually liked.
The bar was packed with women in short, glittery dresses and heels that should be classified as lethal weapons. They were obviously pre-gaming before hitting the clubs. Josh knew their type. Driven, successful, and not in need of a man when they were younger, they’d all arrived at the age at which they realized they wanted one.
Caroline was a contrast. He kept going back to Vinnie’s words from the first night they were together— that she was a real girl. And she was. Even dressed up in a tight black dress and her own pair of mile-high heels, she held onto herself.
“You’re staring at me.” Caroline nipped at her lower lip and Josh felt his blood rush south.
He didn’t hesitate. “That’s because you’re beautiful.”
“Stop. Do I have something in my teeth?”
“No,” he said. “You’re perfect.”
Her smile bloomed. It was wide and bright and Josh was always amazed at how happy it made him to see it.
“Not bad considering how I looked earlier, huh?”
He chuckled, relieved that the mood was lightening between them. “Eh, your hot mess look is still pretty cute. Feeling better about the e-mail?”
Caroline’s face told him she’d rather not talk about the rejection, but her innate openness made it impossible for her to keep it to herself. “I guess. It won’t be the last, right?”
“Not if you listen to people who’ve made it big. You just can’t give up.” Nice. Get back into the safe zone. Feed her some platitudes.
Caroline shook her head. “It’s not something I’m used to. I’ve never failed at anything. Well, except the relationship thing. I suck at that, too. Maybe I should write zombie apocalypse books.”
“You don’t suck at relationships, and you hate zombies.”
“Aw, you remembered.” Now it was Caroline’s turn to plant a kiss on his cheek. He didn’t want to say that it was unlikely he’d ever forget one minute of their first night together. Damn, he’d never been so confused in his life. He knew he had to keep his feelings for her in check, but at the same time, he couldn’t get past the nagging sense that he’d be missing something really great if he held her at arm’s length. But that’s what he was going to try to do. He was too hard, too cynical from his own toxic relationships.
He was the one who didn’t know what he was doing.
“I’ll be right back,” she said while sliding out of the booth and placing the napkin on her seat. “Ladies’ room.”
He rose slightly when she left the table, and just as Caroline passed out of his line of sight, two other women came into his field of view. Two women he knew. Women he’d slept with. And they were heading right for him. Shit.
�
�Well, look who we have here. Hey, Josh,” said the tall blonde. What was her name? Gabby? Gina? Damn. Her friend was a redhead who had a great rack. Her name he knew—Becca. They’d gone to a couple of things together. She was nice.
But dumb. So, so dumb.
He received the requisite air kisses, and when they started talking Josh immediately zoned out and their words became nothing more than a buzz in his ear. His mind was on his beautiful date but they kept talking and talking. How long had it gone on? Five minutes? Longer? What finally caught his attention, however, was Caroline’s laugh.
Following the sound, Josh found her. She was standing on the other side of the dining room with a man who’d introduced himself when they arrived. He was the general manager and he was showing Caroline a case holding some local artifacts. Josh had noticed him when they came in, and wondered how long it would take his date to get a full history of the building. A quick check of his watch told him it had been less than an hour. Becca must have noticed him watching Caroline, and she pointed her out to her friend.
“New girl, Josh? She’s, ah, cute. Not your usual type.”
“I have a type?”
The blonde laughed. What was her name? “She looks very...” The woman kept staring at Caroline and cocked her head before continuing. “She looks sweet.”
He’d seen sweet Caroline, but the one he was looking at right now was hot. Her body was sheathed in a silky black fabric that outlined every curve, and she finished her outfit with a pair of sexy, strappy sandals. But it was her hair tonight that changed it all for him. She usually wore it pulled back and straight as a pin. Tonight it was a mass of gold and honey colored waves that fell over her shoulders and down her back. Josh was breathless looking at her and he didn’t care what anyone thought about what made a woman “his type”. He cared about Caroline.
She was still talking with the manager when the man reached out and touched her arm. The second it happened, something caught in Josh’s throat. A wave of... of something... washed over him and all he could do was stare as the man kept his hand on Caroline’s arm. They were laughing and Josh fought something raging inside, something primal, and in his head all he heard was one word.
Mine.
Aw, shit.
Josh reeled from the very proprietary reaction to seeing another man with his hands on Caroline. It was damn scary. One more thing attached to her that freaked the hell out of him. He didn’t like feeling anything unless it included a hot, naked woman or the burn from good scotch.
But it was because he got hot and naked with this particular woman that he felt that way. It was like she’d cast a freaking spell over him.
Caroline turned and caught him looking. She smiled but then seemed confused, probably wondering about the two women. The animation, the joy, left her face, and Josh went from feeling possessive to feeling like he’d fucked up in a split second.
None of this made any sense. It was true she wasn’t his usual type. He was doing his best to make sure this wasn’t going anywhere, but it was at times like this that she made Josh lose his mind.
Truly lose his mind.
The hardest thing was that he couldn’t read how this was going to go. Caroline was the enigma everyone always accused him of being. She was cautious, and while she had that cool, logical engineer’s reserve on the surface, an emotional gusher was lurking inside, just like her sister said. As he watched her walk toward him, her hips swaying and the mass of hair catching the light from above, Josh had no idea how he was going to handle this gracefully. The two women had slid into Josh and Caroline’s banquette on either side of him. Essentially, he was trapped— in more ways than one.
***
Figures. She was distracted for two minutes and the vultures descended. Who the hell were the women he was sitting with? Good grief. They were in short, tight dresses and wore long, sparkly earrings. A redhead and a bottle blonde. If Dr. Seuss had been here, he’d have called them Bling One and Bling Two. Could they be more obvious? Thinking about it, Caroline guessed they could.
Josh looked as uncomfortable as she’d ever seen him. She figured this was the way he spent a lot of Saturday nights... sitting in a trendy nightspot and surrounded by beautiful women.
Nothing was easy about this man, and she shouldn’t have been surprised. Even after the time they had spent together, she didn’t know anything about how he led his life, who his friends were, nothing. All she did know was that when he touched her she felt like she’d come home.
Watching him, all she could see now was that he looked embarrassed.
Situations like this normally made her cry, because as a rule she was overly sensitive, and old insecurities died hard. But when she felt the familiar burn around her eyes, she realized it wasn’t tears. It was anger. Caroline was seriously pissed off.
She took two deep breaths before taking the last steps to the table. Josh looked like the deer caught in the headlights as she approached. There was half a smile as the redhead, whose cleavage must have cost a fortune, scooted closer to him, making room for her but not really. Was she kidding? Caroline wanted to be good and pissed at him, but when she really took the time to pay attention, he didn’t look like he was enjoying it as much as she initially thought.
It turned out Caroline didn’t have to say anything. The redhead spoke first. “Josh, she really is so cute,” she said. Turning toward Caroline, she said something similar. “You are just adorable.”
What was she—a freaking puppy?
“Thank you,” Caroline responded. There was nothing for her to say. It wasn’t really an insult. So why did it sound like one?
“So how did you two meet?” This time it was the blonde one talking. What wasn’t lost on Caroline was that neither one of them moved so she could sit next to her date.
“Caroline’s sister is married to my brother, but our families have known each other for a long time.”
“Oooo,” the blonde cooed. “That’s a little incestuous.”
Josh shook his head. “No, nothing like that. We’re close friends.”
She was starting to hate being his friend. If Caroline hadn’t been determined before to get Josh back into bed, she was now. When she got the man alone, she was going to blow his mind. He cared about her. She knew he did, and Caroline wasn’t going to let him hide behind the noble mantle of friendship anymore. It was time for them to leave.
Caroline turned her head back and forth because the tension was building in her neck, and if she didn’t do something her head was going to explode.
“Are you all right?”
Josh nudged the woman to his right, who rose, and in a second he was at Caroline’s side.
“You know, I really don’t feel too well,” she said.
He stepped closer and touched her hand, sparking a reaction she felt in every nerve.
“Do you want to stay?” he asked.
She shook her head, looking up at him with all the sadness she could muster, and knowing it was wrong to play him like this. But she did have a headache, so it wasn’t a total lie.
“Okay. I’ll take you home.”
“It’s fine, Josh. I’ll get a cab.” He wasn’t going to let her take a cab.
His fingers brushed her chin, generating even more of that lovely heat, and he turned her face to his. His eyes were so clear, so blue, and his focus was clearly on her. Oh. My. God. It was all there, everything she ever wanted from him. “I’ll take you home,” he said quietly.
Caroline nodded and felt the warm rush of happiness that came from understanding. She’d never so blatantly manipulated a situation and it had worked great and she should feel a little guilty, but why? Josh didn’t want to stay, and if Caroline got her way later on, Josh was going to be so happy he’d be thanking her. He said good night to the women, being far more pleasant to them than Caroline would have liked, but she had to resign hers
elf to the fact that Josh was a nice guy who wasn’t going to deliberately embarrass overly-forward women. Josh Campbell... nice guy. Every day was another surprise.
The revelation consumed her thoughts as he paid the check, retrieved her wrap, and escorted her out of the restaurant.
They walked for half a block before he stepped to the curb to get a cab. “I’m sorry about that.”
The original plan was for her to act unaffected. Cool and composed like the two women at the restaurant who tried to hijack him, but Caroline couldn’t pull it off. She needed to be sophisticated and urbane, but it wasn’t going to happen. She was jealous. “It’s amazing how certain things make it feel like middle school all over again.”
Once they were settled in the ca,r he reached around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Why are women so bitchy to one another?”
“I don’t know. I try to be nice to people...”
“I didn’t mean you.”
“Were you referring to Bling One and Bling Two?”
Hearing his deep laugh burst out made her feel better. “I love that. Yes, I was referring to them, but in general you women are pretty tough on each other.”
“It’s hard for someone like me who... who...” What was it about him that made her want to spill her guts?
“What?”
“I’ve never been assertive enough that I didn’t care what people thought of me. I always wanted to be liked. I don’t understand the bitchiness.”
“No shit?” he asked with a smirk.
Caroline backhanded his knee lightly and grinned. “Don’t be an ass.”
The cab pulled up at the curb and Josh, surprisingly, took her hand as she got out of the car. He pulled her alongside him and they walked down the street to no known destination, hand in hand. The city was busy on this early spring night. A light rain had fallen earlier, making the streets shiny and everything smell clean.
“I don’t think confidence has anything to do with it. They’re always trying to one-up everyone. That’s not confidence or assertiveness, that’s desperation.” He nudged her into a coffee shop not far from her apartment that was known for delicious comfort food and great desserts. They were seated at one of the retro booths and he handed her a menu. “How’s your headache?”
