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Cara swallowed against the rising emotion in her throat as heat rushed through her. “Right. I’m sure you’ve got to get back pretty soon anyway. Doesn’t filming start in a day or two?”
“Yeah, but I’m meeting with the director tomorrow to lay out a plan,” he said. “We’re going to ease Stacy out of this season. Big change for the cast, but I got an email about twenty minutes ago from her agent. She’s accepted a role on another project that starts filming in three weeks.”
Cara felt like she’d been kicked. “Oh . . . wow. Is this because . . .?” She couldn’t say it, because she hated to think that Stacy was that petty and unprofessional.
“It’s hard to say for sure,” Roman said with a shrug. But his casual tone told her that he suspected the reason for her leaving. “It’s a good opportunity for her, though. And . . . well, I’m not exactly sorry.”
“Oh.” Cara was surprised at this. “You’re not?”
Roman exhaled. “No. It wasn’t just that things were complicated between us . . . I guess she targeted Nick over the past couple of days. David texted me about it.”
Cara frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Again, Roman shrugged. “It’s only business, Cara, and I didn’t want to put a damper on things. Mia’s having the time of her life, and—”
“You could have told me,” she said, cutting him off. “Mia can still have a wonderful time, but you shouldn’t have to always carry this stuff alone.”
Roman’s nod was slow as he gazed at her.
“I mean, we’re friends, right?” Cara said, backtracking. “And future pen pals? Unless you changed your mind?”
“Not at all.” His half-smile warmed her heart all the way. “I guess I’m not used to sharing work issues with someone else.”
For some reason, after a week of flirting and conversations, some of them heart-to-heart, she felt like this moment was pivotal to the direction their relationship would take next. “If nothing else, I could be a sounding board.” She kept her tone casual, but she also wanted to be a trustworthy friend to Roman De Marco. As crazy as it might sound to someone else, she wanted to be there for him. If he needed her.
His next answer would tell her if he was interested in a deeper friendship, a closer relationship.
Roman’s gaze was still on her, and she was really grateful he couldn’t read her mind. “I wasn’t purposely shutting you out. But I was keeping it to myself. I guess the two are the same? I don’t know.”
It was Cara’s turn to give him a half-smile. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. Sometimes I can just be pushy, and well, I don’t want you to feel put on the spot.”
“I don’t feel that way,” Roman said. “Actually I do, but I think it’s good. You’re making me think of stuff that I haven’t in a long time.”
This intrigued her because his tone was light. He wasn’t annoyed or upset or bothered, and that was a good thing.
When he draped his arm across the back of the couch behind her, her pulse zipped up a notch. She smiled as she breathed in his fresh air and pine scent that she was now familiar with.
“Like what stuff?” she asked in a soft voice, though they were essentially alone in the house. Her mom had gone into town for a committee meeting to put together a New Year’s Eve celebration.
“Like . . .” Roman’s voice trailed off as his fingers brushed against the back of her neck. “How it would be to have someone to share things with.”
A warm shiver traveled through Cara at his light touch. She tried to steady her breath. “Like a pen pal?”
He released a half-laugh. “Maybe more than a pen pal.”
“So you’re telling me I can add heart stickers to my letters to you?”
His brown eyes were filled with amusement, but there was something more to their depths. Something deeper. Something more intense. “All the hearts you want.”
Would it be too forward of her to kiss him again? She’d done it once, and that had turned out pretty amazing. Yet she wanted him to instigate this—whatever this was. She wanted him to want her. To confide in her. To trust her. To need her.
The realization should have been startling, but it really wasn’t. It had been building for days, she realized.
She decided she’d say it. Speak her own truth. “I wish we had longer together. Before you have to leave and before I have to return to LA.”
Roman’s fingers continued to brush against her neck.
She had goosebumps now.
