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Rachel Foss.
* * *
Those two words felt like a bucket of ice water being poured over her. Her muscles – so relaxed only moments before – tensed up until they felt almost painful. A feeling of shame washed over her. She was half-naked beneath Breck, and the girl he was dating was calling him.
What the hell had she done? She wasn’t that kind of girl.
Caitie sat up quickly, wrapping her arms around her chest. Frowning, Breck pressed the end call button and threw it on the table beside the couch. It started to ring again. Breck sighed, sitting up to grab it.
“You should answer her.” Caitie sat up and grabbed her sweater from the floor. “I need to go, anyway. I’ve got so much work to do.” God, how the heck had she ended up like this? She felt sick at the thought of Rachel. Even if what Harper had said was true, you still didn’t do this to another woman.
It was the girl code. And she never broke it.
“I can call her back later. You don’t have to go yet, do you? I can make us coffee and we can sit out on the deck—” He stopped short. “Shit, bad idea. I can still make the coffee. Or we can drive out to some place. Whatever you prefer.” His voice was thick, as though he had something to hide. She could detect more than a note of panic in it.
She pulled back, mortified. “I’ve got these big meetings starting on Tuesday. I really need to work on my presentation. Thanks for the offer, though.” The air was buzzing with awkwardness, she could almost taste it. What the hell had they been thinking?
Or maybe they hadn’t thought. That was the problem. They’d listened to their bodies instead of their good sense.
Breck sat up, rubbing his face. “When do you leave?”
“I drive to L.A. tomorrow afternoon.” She couldn’t quite meet his gaze, too ashamed for him to see her heated face.
“And after that? When are you going back to New York?”
“Friday. I’m catching a morning flight with Harper. I’m hoping by then I’ll know if I’ve got this contract or not.”
“But you’ll be back here soon? You’ve got the wedding to organize. It’s less than a month away.”
“Yes, I’ll be back. I have to meet with the suppliers at the hotel in mid-December, then I’ll fly back for the wedding at Christmas.”
“That’s a lot of travel.”
“I’m used to it. I’ve been working on this proposal on and off for six months, plus I have other clients in L.A.. I can do a lot by Skype and email, but sometimes face-to-face is the only way.”
“I hear you.” Breck tugged a t-shirt over his head. He took a deep breath in. “Look, Caitie, what happened …”
She couldn’t talk about this now. “It’s okay,” she answered quickly. “It was a mistake, I know it was. Just a reaction to my panic attack. I was hyperventilating and you were trying to help me, it was nothing more than that.”
“You think I kissed you to stop you from panicking?” He frowned.
“No, I think you kissed me because we were in a heightened situation. I’m grateful you were here. I really am, but we both know it shouldn’t have happened.” She rubbed her neck, glancing over at the hallway door. She was desperate to get out of there before she made an even bigger fool of herself than she already had.
Breck frowned, his lips parted as though he was trying to find the right thing to say.
“I won’t say anything to Rachel,” she told him quickly. “I know you’re not that kind of guy.”
“What kind of guy?” Breck frowned, wiping a bead of water from his brow. His wet hair was hanging over his forehead, eclipsing some of the lines there.
God, she wished her heart would slow down. It was hammering against her chest as though it was desperate to get out. “It doesn’t matter.” She attempted a smile. “Thank you for taking care of me when I couldn’t take care of myself.”
“Cait…” He was still frowning.
“You won’t say anything either, will you?” she quickly added. “I don’t want things to get awkward between any of us. Not when Lucas and Ember’s wedding is getting so close. They deserve to have their big day without any drama.”
“Drama?” he repeated. “What kind of drama? And of course I won’t say anything. Not if you don’t want me to.”
She let out a mouthful of air. “Thank you.” She could see herself in his living room mirror. Her hair
