However, when he slid the glass doors shut, Cara was nowhere in sight. Her door was open, so he assumed she had left. Sure enough, thirty minutes later she returned from a run, but Wes was on the phone with Nina and only gave her a half-hearted wave.
He was running the initial threat detector on a local private school’s website when Cara appeared again, her wet hair pulled into a sloppy knot on top of her head. When she walked past him to the kitchen, he got a strong whiff of the same floral scent he noticed the night before. It was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Wes listened while she filled a glass of water behind him. He needed to address the Melody situation, but he wasn’t sure how she would take it. Glancing at the software, he saw that it still had several minutes left to run. Wes half-turned in his chair to face her.
“You were right. Melody took another job so she’s going to be there longer.”
“A couple more weeks?”
He grimaced. “She didn’t say. But you don’t need to worry about the rent. I actually own this house. I’ve been renting it to Melody for a couple of years now.”
Cara’s eyes became saucers as they bounced around the house. “This isyourhouse? You said you were house hunting.”
“I am. It’s an investment property. I really was just crashing here until Melody left. I’m looking to buy a house to live in, but I was taking my time. I hope my owning the house doesn’t make this weird.”
He could practically see the thoughts racing around her head. Finally, she shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really change anything, and if something breaks, my landlord is right here for me to complain to.”
Wes’s shoulders sagged with relief. He appreciated that she seemed to roll with the information. He’d half expected her to immediately move out. Between him and Melody, they had thrown one surprise after another at her over the last few days. Her smile was bittersweet when she said, “I don’t have a lot of options.”
His stomach sank. Wes felt like an ass to have put her in this position, but he didn’t know what to say, so he only nodded before turning back to his monitor.
Cara took her water to the sofa and picked up the television remote. Wes tried to concentrate on what he was doing, but his thoughts kept returning to how annoyed he was with Melody for putting them in this situation.
“Are you watching Star Trek again?” he asked, surprised when the familiar music played.
She didn’t turn around because the answer was obvious. He stared at the back of her long neck for a minute before dropping his eyes to the project he was working on.
I’ll just take a little break, he promised himself as he joined her on the sofa. If she gave the slightest indication he wasn’t welcome, he’d get up, but she only glanced in his direction before tucking her feet up and leaning against the arm of the sofa.
After the third episode, he finally asked, “No school today?”
“Nope, I have the day off.” She looked over her shoulder to where his computer sat unused. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“Probably.” He gave her a lopsided grin, and she shook her head with a laugh as the next episode began.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Cara was just gettinghome from school the next day when her phone buzzed with a text from Amara.
Amara: How did the dating apps go?
All of her free time over the last few days had been spent watching Star Trek with Wes. She’d forgotten all about the apps and that she was supposed to be out meeting new people. It was weird how quickly she had become comfortable in Wes’s company. She’d only known him for a couple of days, but there was something about him that made her comfortable and secure.
He was confident, quietly sure of himself without the bravado or arrogance most of the guys she grew up with had. They had never questioned that their pedigrees and money would pave their way in life. Wes was making his own way, and she admired that.
Ithadbeen a weird moment when he told her he was actually the owner of the house. She had been concerned that it would change the dynamic between them. But he seemed more nervous about telling her than she was about receiving the news. She remembered Melody’s comment about the landlord having a crush on her and giving her a deal on rent. Cara was starting to wonder how well Wes actually knew Melody.
Cara: Not yet been getting to know my ‘roommate.’
Cara unlocked the door and hung her keys on the hooks by the door. Wes was seated as usual at the kitchen table with his headphones on, completely lost in his world of numbers and code. Today, however, he’d added a pair of black square-framed glasses. He rested his jaw on his fist for a second, causing the muscles in his forearms to flex. A flash of heat spread low in her belly, and her pulse picked up pace.Since when are forearms hot?
He needed a haircut, but she liked how his hair curled and waved, the overhead lights picking out little bits of gold in the thick chestnut. She could cut it for him—practice for school, of course. Her mind drifted, imagining her fingers combing through the waves, holding his head still… Her phone buzzed with Amara’s response.
Amara: Boring. You’ve got to start going out!
Cara shook her head at Amara’s enthusiastic use of eggplant emojis. She smirked, and raised her phone to take a quick picture of Wes.
This time she couldn’t hold in the laugh when Amara’s reply came through.
