CHAPTER TWELVE #2
I stood up and walked around, forgetting I was only wearing one of his T-shirts.
He was a lot taller than me, though, so it was pretty much a dress on me.
“Why me? I mean, Nora and I have been friends for years, but she’s well aware that I’m not interested in her brother.
” I was mystified. “I’ve always had a friendly relationship with Garrison and Libby Hart, but they’ve never led me to believe that they wanted me to date Monty. ”
“I mean, you know Monty’s in love with you, right?
If he could’ve gotten away with it last night, he’d have crawled up on stage with you just so he could be closer to you.
He almost seemed obsessed,” Edward said, his eyes moving down my legs and back up again.
“But I think that whole family seems kind of bonkers. Except maybe Libby. I think she’s genuinely nice.
” He ran a hand through his wet hair, trying to smooth it down.
“Don’t you think it’s unusual Garrison has houses for all of his children within the gates of the estate? ”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I hadn’t thought about it before.
My family and the Whittakers were so close that other close families seemed fairly normal to me.
Plenty of people over the years had commented that it was strange that we were all so close.
It had been hurtful. Maybe that’s why I had no trouble accepting the closeness of the Hart family.
“Anyway,” he said, continuing his story.
“I told Garrison I was ready to leave. He already had my car pulled around, and I was all packed except for my suit, so that I could go change out of Monty’s ridiculous tux.
Then Garrison kept reminding me to come tell him goodbye in his office before I left.
It was like he didn’t want me to go back to the ballroom to see you.
” He took a bite of bacon. “Well, I didn’t give a fuck what he wanted, so I came and got you. And then you know the rest.”
“And you don’t think the gate not opening was accidental. You think they didn’t want me to leave with you?”
He gave me a look. “The guard asked if I was alone. Do you remember that?”
“Yes,” I said. “That didn’t seem… normal.”
“It wasn’t,” he replied flatly.
There was another buzzing sound. He looked at my phone and made a face.
“My God. What is their deal?” He handed it over to me.
I scrolled through the multiple missed calls and texts with growing concern.
They all said basically the same thing. They wanted to know where I was, who I was with, whether I’d seen Edward, and on and on.
What the hell?
Even though I had thought Edward was overreacting to a couple of comments made by Garrison, Libby, or both, these texts and voicemails were completely over the top.
But the last call wasn’t. It was Nora reminding me not to be late for practice that day. Crap. I looked at my watch and groaned. I still had to meet Livy at a coffee shop near the airport.
“What is it?” Edward was instantly hyperalert.
“Nothing. It’s just I have to be at practice in a couple of hours. What hotel is this?” I looked around as if I could find clues in the elegant, but generic, furnishings and paintings in the room.
“The Piedmont,” he said, “but don’t tell any of them where you are.”
“I’m not going to. I was just trying to decide how long it would take me to get home and get ready.
But you do know I work with Nora, right?
And she’s my friend.” I thought about it for a moment.
“I see the Hart family constantly. Her parents come to every single performance. Monty is at most of them. I can’t avoid these people. There’s no way.”
He frowned and acted like he was going to say something else, so I plunged ahead. “But I just needed to know how far from my townhouse we are. Could you drive me, please?”
He looked frustrated, but he came over and hugged me to him.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but you weren’t in that meeting with Garrison last night.
You didn’t sit with Libby at the ballet, either.
They were both very candid about their thoughts on you and Monty.
I think it’s even stranger now, knowing that you have no clue they’re talking like that about the two of you.
” He pulled back from me and stared down into my eyes.
“And I just found you again. So maybe I’m being overprotective. ”
“That’s sweet of you. It really is.” I winced. “But I have to get across town as quickly as possible. Can you take me?”
“Of course.” He pushed my hair behind my ear. “I’ve always loved your hair. It’s so shiny, like silk.” He ran his fingers through it. “To be honest, I’m just happy you haven’t thrown my ass out the door. I wouldn’t blame you if you had.”
“This is your hotel room.”
He laughed. “Yeah. But you know what I meant.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “It’s okay. Thanks for caring about me, but I really do think you’re worrying about nothing.”
He licked his bottom lip as he held onto me. “Cara,” he said softly, then lowered his mouth, kissing me softly, brushing his lips over mine. Before I could respond, he pulled back and let me go with obvious reluctance. “Come on. Let’s get your things together, and I’ll take you home.”
“Okay,” I said, my brain addled from his kiss. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I hurried around the hotel room looking for my shoes and dress. I picked them up but had no desire to put them on. “Do you mind if I wear your shirt home?”
“Not a bit,” he grinned at me, his familiar smile sending butterflies shooting through my stomach. “And if the pavement’s too hot for your feet, I’ll carry you where you need to go.”
Of course, he would. Because he was almost perfect.
He’d been a complete gentleman the night before.
He hadn’t even slept in the bed with me.
He’d taken my dress off but left my underwear and bra on and covered me in a T-shirt.
He was just as I’d remembered him, except for one thing.
Where Edward had been tall, lean, and handsome before, now he was tall, muscular, and the best-looking man I’d ever seen.
That was the difference, I realized. He was a man now, not the boy I’d last seen when I was nineteen.
We sped across town, and I directed him to my townhouse. “That’s me,” I said, pointing to the end unit.
“This is nice,” he said, taking in the row of two-story brick townhomes on the quiet, tree-lined street.
“Thanks,” I said, my hand on the door handle of the car.
“Can I come to the show tonight?” he asked, eyeing me carefully. “I’m not sure I ever got a clear answer on that last night.”
“Um… I think I’d like that. I can leave you a ticket at the will call counter. But how will you handle seeing the Harts again?”
“I don’t plan to see them. I got a pretty good look at the layout of the theater last night. And I know where Garrison’s seats are. Just promise me you’ll give me a ticket nowhere near where they’ll be.”
“Sure.” I was both excited and nervous to think about him being there to see me dance. The previous night had been different since it was a complete surprise. Now I’d have plenty of time to think about him being there and obsess over making sure I danced my very best.
“And you’ll go to dinner with me afterwards?”
I hesitated, worried that I was rushing into things. I’d told him I only wanted friendship, but then he’d kissed me this morning. And it had been… nice.
And I’d told him yes last night.
“Please. There are a few things I really want to tell you about what was going on back then.” The tone in his voice made it seem almost urgent that he talk to me.
“Didn’t you say everything you needed to say six years ago?
It seemed upfront. You didn’t want to be with me, you hooked up with a girl after you told me you couldn’t handle a girlfriend, and you went on to date her for like a year…
or more.” I realized that for all I knew he was still with Sara MacAllister.
He looked straight ahead as traffic went around us.
He was pulled over to the side, mainly out of the way.
“I broke up with Sara the day she got home from Florida. That was only a couple of days after I saw you at the party. And I didn’t date her for anywhere close to a year.
We had a very… loose sort of relationship for a few months.
Then I tried to date her for a couple of months, but it just wasn’t going anywhere. ”
My eyebrows went up. He broke up with her just days after I’d seen him? That was a surprise.
“I ended things with her two days after you left to go back to South Carolina. I tried to call you, but…” his face reddened. “I’m pretty sure you blocked my number.”
Oh, yeah. I did do that. “I did. And whether it was a loose relationship or a real one, you were with that girl for the better part of a year. Look, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.
I think we’ve said everything we need to say to each other.
I don’t want us to end up at dinner just rehashing old hurts and getting angry.
” I was starting to back out of this. Alcohol made me brave last night.
I felt much less so in the light of day.
“Please. I promise there’s more to say. I want to explain myself to you completely, but I know you don’t have time right now. Please come to dinner with me so we can talk it out. Okay?”
I nodded even though I felt anxious about it. “I’d like to be friends with you again. If you think you have some things to tell me that will make that easier, then I’m up for it.”
He beamed, and it was like I’d been punched. He was so freaking good-looking. He pulled his car forwards a little, so I’d be closer to my unit. “Then I’ll see you tonight. And Cara?”
I stopped fiddling with my bag and gathering all my things to look at him. “Yes?”
“I’m going to explain things so much better tonight than I did six years ago.”
My stomach felt like it was tied in a knot.
I wasn’t exactly looking forward to that conversation, but I knew we needed to talk things through if we wanted to try to repair our relationship, whether it was just friendship or led to something more.
I couldn’t deny that the attraction was still there for me.
His earlier kiss had more than proven that.
I said nothing, but I leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then grabbed my bag and hurried up the stairs to my townhouse.
I had to take a quick shower, meet Livy at the coffee shop, and go to practice.