Page 76 of Unraveled

It calmed her.

Cara didn’t know what to do about those strange feelings, but she knew that she wasn’t ready to deal with them. Not yet, anyway.

If anything, she needed time away from the way Gian made her feel. Time to figure out what in the hell had happened that’d gotten her into this position with a man that she had no business being involved with. Time to breathe, before Gian called her and she stupidly went running for a feeling and a fuck.

Gian smiled as he crossed the café. Unlike her, he didn’t stop for something to eat or drink. Like usual whenever he was near her, she seemed to be the only damn thing on his mind or in his priorities. He dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head before taking the only other available seat at the small table.

“How do you walk around without any sort of umbrella?”

Gian shrugged. “You get used to it, really.”

“Seven years here. I’m not used to it yet.”

“Too wet for you?” he asked.

Cara scowled at the rain pattering against the café’s windows. “It’s like we go from snow to weeks of rain without any sort of warning or break.”

“The warning is the month of April, mon ange.”

Of course it was.

Canadians.

“Summer is right around the corner,” he said, the dimple in his cheek making a rare appearance as his smile widened. “It’ll go from wet to hot just as fast, as it always does.”

“Sure.”

Gian’s easy smile melted away fast, and he straightened a bit in the chair. “You don’t seem happy. It’s not the rain, is it?”

Cara looked out the window again, noting the bodyguard standing under a small ledge to keep from getting rained on. “Thanks for meeting up with me today.”

“I’ve been trying to meet up with you all week, Cara.”

“I know. I just … needed a break.”

“A break for what?”

Cara blew out a hard breath. “To think.”

“All right.”

“To breathe,” she added.

Gian’s lips flattened into a grim line, his face betraying nothing. Cara sometimes hated how easily he hid his emotions when he needed to, as though he didn’t want anyone to know his pain or irritation, or even his joy. She was sure it was a learned trait, born out of need because of his position—she knew her brother acted in a similar way—but that didn’t mean she understood it. Not entirely, anyway.

“I don’t have a lot of time today,” Gian said quietly, “and I have to head out for a meet across the city soon. Not that I mean to rush you, but I have to, unfortunately.”

Cara nodded. “That’s okay. I have another class soon, anyway.”

“Did your … break … help?”

“Honestly? Not really.”

Gian looked away. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to help to begin with, Cara.”

“This,” she said with a wave between them. “A couple of months ago, when we first started whatever the fuck this is, it wasn’t supposed to be anything, Gian. Fun, quick, dirty, and that was it. That’s all I wanted out of it, and here I am, confused again.”

“You’re confusing me,” he said under his breath.