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“Still got my eyes on you, Mitchell.”
Keith whirled. Meredith stood behind him, tapping one stiletto against the sand, which should have been impossible but the laws of physics apparently didn’t apply in the Chandler-Harris world.
“Great,” he growled. “You can watch me get back to work.”
The mock wedding was scheduled to round out the day’s events, and the crew still needed to tear down the runway from the fashion show before the chairs could be set up. A sunset wedding starring a couple of actors would put the cherry on top of the resort’s launch.
Without Cara’s help, he had a suspicion it wouldn’t go as well as the run-through. Mary would do her best but the resort still hadn’t hired a full-time wedding coordinator.
Thoughtfully, he eyed Meredith. “Since you apparently have nothing better to do than hang out with me, how about giving me a hand?”
“Are you out of your mind?” She laughed. “I wouldn’t help you if you were the last man on earth. Besides, I have a strict policy that I only help men who can repay me with sex, and I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over so well.”
“I’m pretty sure Cara wouldn’t mind,” he shot back without thinking and then cursed.
He might as well have come right out and admitted she’d messed him up. That he’d lain awake last night for hours trying to understand why he’d gotten exactly what he’d asked for—a short-lived affair, no pressure, no wedding bells—and he was miserable.
Not only was he miserable, Cara had already moved on, apparently, to someone who made her laugh as they strolled on the beach, arm in arm. So why would Cara care whom he slept with, even if it was her sister?
He never should have let even that much slip. This wasn’t a random drive-by. Meredith wanted something and she was smarter than nearly everyone gave her credit for. He’d never figured out why she hid it behind overblown sex appeal.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure she would mind. But I have a feeling you’d mind even more. Why are you standing here talking to me instead of going after her, anyway?” Meredith hit her head with the heel of her hand as if she’d just remembered something important. “That’s right, you’re an idiot.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your assessment,” he commented drily. “Is this your way of buttering me up before you get to the real point of this ambush?”
Meredith flashed him a smug grin. “Don’t tell Cara, but I’ve always liked you. For her, I mean. You’d drive me to homicide in under four seconds flat.”
“The feeling is mutual.” God help the man who fell in love with Meredith. He’d have to be made of sterner stuff than Keith.
Thankfully, he’d picked the right sister from the start. Cara was the only woman he’d ever considered an equal, the only woman capable of getting him to talk about his feelings—however brief of a discussion that had ended up being. The only woman who’d ever triggered such strange rawness in his chest.
And she was the only woman he’d ever tried to be there for when she needed him. Fat lot of appreciation he’d gotten for that.
“Since we agree we wouldn’t touch each other with a ten-foot pole, how about you stop being such a weenie about the woman you do want? Please tell me you’re not going to mess it up with Cara again.”
“You should be reading the riot act to your sister. I’m not the one messing it up.” They’d had something perfectly fine that worked for both of them. Why couldn’t their relationship continue as is, no pressure, just two people who liked spending time together? Cara’s insistence on being Mrs. Mitchell or nothing had ruined it all. Ruined the fledging feelings that Keith could barely admit to himself, let alone to her.
“You’re impossible. How do you think I know that’s not true? I did talk to Cara. She let you go because she didn’t want to force you into another unwanted trip down the aisle.”
He snorted unevenly, guilt crowding into his lungs. “Cara couldn’t have done that at gunpoint.”
“Exactly. And given what happened the first time, can you blame her for not wanting to introduce any more accidents into the mix?” Meredith’s laser-sharp gaze tore through his flesh to pierce his heart. “She gave you up, despite being madly in love with you, because she didn’t want to unintentionally trap you into marriage. Happy with yourself, Mitchell?”
Keith’s knees turned to jelly. “She’s in love with me? Why didn’t she say anything?”
