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“Oh, please,” Cara said with a scoff. “De Marco has gorgeous Stacy—you know, one of the stars of the show—wanting to get back together with him. And I’m not interested in uprooting my very cushy life for a man.”
Jerry laughed. “They all say that.” He took a huge bite of ice cream, then rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “So good.”
Cara packed up the leftover veggies and set them in the vegetable tray in the fridge. Jerry might be teasing her, but she was dead serious. She was where she wanted to be in both her life and career—having to miss family holidays notwithstanding. If there was one thing she learned from pining after a guy in high school who’d dumped her, it was to not live her life according to a man’s agenda. She was her own person, her own woman, and in her case, one was much better than two.
Yeah, so what if Roman De Marco was gorgeous and charming, and so what if his daughter was absolutely adorable? Cara also didn’t miss the irony that her “cushy job” was still a far cry from the wealth of a man like De Marco. But money didn’t matter to her—she just needed enough of it to survive and enjoy a few perks. Otherwise, her passion was cooking, not shopping or fulfilling some extravagant bucket list.
“Good night, Jerry,” she said, when everything had been put away except for his ice cream and spoon. She didn’t mind cleaning up, not really, but she wasn’t going to stick around to make sure Jerry did it himself. “See you in the morning.”
“What’s on the menu?” he asked, another spoonful of ice cream poised near his mouth.
“You’ll have to ask Lila. I’m doing the dinners.”
“Oh.” Jerry frowned. “But I can’t tease Lila and bribe her into making me special dishes.”
Cara lifted her eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure you’re still going to try.”
Jerry chuckled. “True. Now, before you go, did you know we’re going ice skating tomorrow night? I found a place. Then we can return here for some sort of fabulous dessert.”
“That I’m making, I presume?”
“Sure, of course. I was thinking something hot with something cold. Hot cocoa and a creamy, cold dessert.”
Cara held up her hand. “Leave the menu to me. I’ll be sure to have a fabulous dinner beforehand, then a fabulous dessert after.”
“Perfect,” Jerry said. “You’re going to make my job so much easier.” He held out his fist for a bump.
Cara tapped his fist, then headed out of the kitchen. The ranch house was mostly quiet, which was great for her. Not even ten p.m. and things were shut down, so she could relax. Get in bed and hopefully fall asleep.
She headed toward her bedroom, then realized she’d taken a wrong turn. She backtracked, then paused. Somewhere down the hallway, she could hear a man talking, and he didn’t sound too happy. He wasn’t arguing. It was more like he was trying to get a point across, but the person he was speaking to wasn’t having it.
When a few of the words became clear, Cara realized it was Roman. Was he on the phone with Stacy? Cara was curious, but didn’t give into the temptation to eavesdrop. She wasn’t as tacky as Jerry.
So Cara slipped away, this time finding the right area of the house with her bedroom. Tomorrow, she’d meet everyone else, she supposed. She wasn’t sure where the filming would take place, but by dinnertime, she’d know a whole lot more.
