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A candle flickered in a smoky glass holder and the light fell across her face. Her skin glowed, and her eyes, those deep-brown eyes, were locked on his, shimmering in the light. An ache crept across Josh’s chest and settled around his heart. Caroline was his light. Her insecurities and her passion, her intelligence and the way she gave of herself, had consumed him. She was his person. The one who mattered most.
And he could never tell her.
A busboy came by and broke the moment when he cleared their soup bowls, while someone else came to the table with a bottle of Pellegrino and topped off their water glasses, all the activity taking them out of their bubble.
Caroline glanced around again and Josh wondered if she was hunting for more celebrities. Personally, he didn’t know what he thought of the place. Taking in the scene, he wondered if his problem with the restaurant had to do with the clientele. There were a lot of people he knew. A lot of people he socialized with. And not many that he actually liked.
The bar was packed with women in short, glittery dresses and heels that should be classified as lethal weapons. They were obviously pre-gaming before hitting the clubs. Josh knew their type. Driven, successful and not in need of a man when they were younger, they’d all arrived at the age at which they realized they wanted one.
Caroline was a contrast. He kept going back to Vinnie’s words from the first night they were together—that she was a real girl. And she was. Even dressed up in a tight black dress and her own pair of mile-high heels, she held onto herself.
“You’re staring at me.” Caroline nipped at her lower lip and Josh felt his blood rush south.
He didn’t hesitate. “That’s because you’re beautiful.”
“Stop. Do I have something in my teeth?”
“No,” he said. “You’re perfect.”
Her smile bloomed. It was wide and bright and Josh was always amazed at how happy it made him to see it.
“Not bad considering how I looked earlier, huh?”
He chuckled, relieved that the mood was lightening between them. “Eh, your hot-mess look is still pretty cute. Feeling better about the e-mail?”
Caroline’s face told him she’d rather not talk about the rejection, but her innate openness made it impossible for her to keep it to herself. “I guess. It won’t be the last, right?”
“Not if you listen to people who’ve made it big. You just can’t give up.” Nice. Get back into the safe zone. Feed her some platitudes.
Caroline shook her head. “It’s not something I’m used to. I’ve never failed at anything. Well, except the relationship thing. I suck at that, too. Maybe I should write zombie apocalypse books.”
“You don’t suck at relationships, and you hate zombies.”
“Aw, you remembered.” Now it was Caroline’s turn to plant a kiss on his cheek. He didn’t want to say that it was unlikely he’d ever forget one minute of their first night together. Damn, he’d never been so confused in his life. He knew he had to keep his feelings for her in check, but at the same time, he couldn’t get past the nagging sense that he’d be missing something really great if he held her at arm’s length. But that’s what he was going to try to do. He was too hard, too cynical from his own toxic relationships.
He was the one who didn’t know what he was doing.
“I’ll be right back,” she said while sliding out of the booth and placing the napkin on her seat. “Ladies’ room.”
He rose slightly when she left the table, and just as Caroline passed out of his line of sight, two other women came into his field of view. Two women he knew. Women he’d slept with. And they were heading right for him.Shit.
“Well look who we have here. Hey, Josh,” said the tall blonde. What was her name? Gabby? Gina? Damn. Her friend was a Kardashian look-alike who had a great rack. Her name he knew—Becca. They’d gone to a couple of things together. She was nice.
But dumb. So, so dumb.
He received the requisite air kisses, and when they started talking Josh found that he immediately zoned out and their words became nothing more than a buzz in his ear. They kept talking and talking. How long had it gone on? Five minutes? Longer? What finally caught his attention, however, was Caroline’s laugh.
Following the sound, Josh found her. She was standing on the other side of the dining room with a man who’d introduced himself when they arrived. He was the general manager and he was showing Caroline a case holding some local artifacts. Josh had noticed him when they came in and wondered how long it would take his date to get a full history of the building. A quick check of his watch told him it had been less than an hour. Becca must have noticed him watching Caroline, and she pointed her out to her friend.
“New girl, Josh? She’s, ah, cute.”
“Cute?”
The blonde giggled. “She looks very...” The woman kept staring at Caroline and cocked her head before continuing. “She looks sweet.”
He’d seen sweet Caroline, and the one he was looking at right now was a stunner. Her body was sheathed in a silky black fabric that outlined every curve, and she finished her outfit with a pair of sexy, strappy sandals. Caroline looked anything but sweet, and Josh guessed the comment was meant to suggest that she wasn’t his type. He couldn’t argue. But did that make him wrong for her?
She was still talking with the manager when the man reached out and touched her arm. The second it happened air caught in Josh’s throat. A wave of... of something... washed over him and all he could do was stare as the man kept his hand on Caroline’s arm. They were laughing and Josh fought something raging inside and in his head all he heard was one word.
