It wasn’t Wes’s fault that now Cara wanted more.
But itwashis fault that he was so stupid. Wes padded quietly across the wooden floor, and then she heard the quiet snick of the bathroom door closing.
Cara lifted her head to punch her pillow. He didn’t love Melody, not really. How could he if he responded to her the way he did? Or was that just what she was telling herself? Had she convinced herself to believe it because she had finally risked her heart and Wes was still resisting? Scenes from the last couple of months played through her mind.
No, he cares about me. I know he does.
Just not enough to overcome his fears, she thought miserably. The bathroom door opened again, and Cara held still, barely breathing. Her pulse picked up. Would he join her in the bed? Did she want him to?
His footsteps approached the bed, and then the weight of the folded coverlet at the foot of the bed lifted off her feet, and her heart fell. She rolled her lips in, against the disappointment, simultaneously angry at herself for wanting someone who had rejected her.
The legs of the chaise scratched at the wooden floor under his weight. The antique was not designed for someone with Wes’s large frame.
Wes squirmed, the rustling from his attempt to find a comfortable position growing louder, followed by silence. The walls of the villa were thick, and the silence felt oppressive, remnants of the party too far away to hear. The darkness amplified her senses, and she strained to hear his breathing.
It made no sense. They had shared a home for months now, and then in Luke’s apartment the last night. How many times had she greeted him over coffee in her pajamas when he was just in athletic shorts? Why in the darkness did the thought of the sculpted planes of his chest a few feet away send fire straight to her core?
“Cara.” His voice was little more than a whisper. Should she answer?
“What?” She matched his quiet tone.
“I’m sorry.”
Cara bit her tongue.
The unmistakable sounds of him shifting on the chaise came again, then his feet hit the floor.
“I’m freezing,” he complained, and a small smile curled her lips. She pulled the blanket higher on her shoulders. It was cool in the room, but she knew the coverlet he had taken was more than thick enough to keep him warm.
It was a mistake to offer, but she also knew this would most likely be one of their last nights together. Cara wasn’t a masochist, and now that she had acknowledged to herself how she felt about him, there was no way she could go back to being just his roommate.
“Get in the bed.” She tried to keep her voice light, pretending it meant nothing to her. “But keep your giant, cold feet on your side.”
“Are you sure?” His deep voice in the darkness sent curls of longing through her belly.
She let out a loud beleaguered sigh. “I won’t be able to sleep with you moaning all night. Hurry up! I’m tired.”
The covers lifted, and Cara felt a brief draft before he slid in next to her, warmth radiating off him. She could feel his eyes, but she remained frozen, her back to him.
“Thanks.” Wes lay on his back, one arm folded behind his head. Cara waited for his breathing to even out, signaling he was asleep, but it didn’t come. She could practically hear the thoughts churning in his head.
Cara rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, too dark now to pick out the intricate, painted patterns that decorated it.
“When you invited me to come to this wedding, you knew why I said yes.”
Her heart turned over painfully. “It was always the plan.”
“It was.” She felt him nod. “It was always the plan. For my entire adult life, that was the plan. Make enough money so that neither Melody nor I would ever have to worry about it again. It’s how I’ve always operated. A goal in front of me that I can work single-mindedly toward. The end game was always a family, and when I pictured it, it was always with Melody.”
Cara swallowed past the lump that threatened to suffocate her. “I know all this, Wes. You’ve told me before.”
“Then I met you, and suddenly everything was different.”
Cara tried to squelch the spark of hope his words caused. He sounded so unhappy she knew there was a ‘but’ coming.
“We became friends and the more time we spent together, the more time I wanted to be with you. And then, when you were threatened, I…” His voice broke.
Cara fought the urge to roll toward him.
