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“It was kind of a disaster, actually.”
Tessa bent over and laughed. “Perfect. Why was it a disaster?”
“Porto Salvo was a disaster. We ran into two women I know. It was uncomfortable.”
“How was Caroline?”
He wanted to say she was perfect. He didn’t think the woman ever made a misstep. “Caroline was classy. We went to a diner after. That was nice.”
Tessa held up the box of cupcakes. “And why were these on the floor of the living room?”
Josh ignored the panties that were also dangling from her finger, but he didn’t ignore the cupcakes. He took the box from Tessa, and opened it to see if the treats had survived being flung halfway across the room. Not bad. One was smushed against the side of the box, but it was still edible. The other one looked okay, the one with glossy, dark-chocolate icing. He held the box out to Tessa and when she reached for the chocolate cupcake, he regretted making the offer.
“Not that one?” She was grinning. Great.
“Oh, uh...”
“Well?” Tessa was messing with him. She knew.
“That’s for Caroline,” he said with a grumble. Jesus, was he that done in already?
Tessa took the almond/coconut cupcake and smirked as she took a taste of the icing. “So tell me about you and my buddy.”
“Nothing to tell.”
“No? There was underwear hanging from a lamp in my living room. I think there’s something to tell.”
“I’m not getting into this with you. If you want information, talk to her.”
Josh turned to leave because her smug attitude reminded him of Meg, and Josh had no intention of feeding into it. Tessa touched his arm, probably realizing she’d overstepped. “I’m sorry. I’m worried about her. She doesn’t do anything halfway and she has a history with you...”
“A history?” There was a history? She dreamed about him? He had to get to the bottom of this.
“Never mind. Be good to her. She’s the best person I know.”
“I happen to agree with you.” Josh grabbed his glass of water and headed back to the bedroom with the remaining cupcake. Maybe Caroline would be awake. They could eat and maybe... Damn. He had to stop. She was like a drug and Josh was becoming more and more addicted.
But when he walked into her room and gazed upon her sleeping under the puffy down comforter, just looking at her gave him a wash of happiness. He flashed back to the whole pretty sister-smart sister conversation they’d had the first time they were together, and let it roll around in his head. Taking her in, he had no idea what she was talking about because from his vantage point Meg couldn’t hold a candle to her.
But there was more and that’s where things got dicey.
Climbing into the bed, he wrapped an arm around her and held her against his chest letting her scent seep deep inside him. He felt like he was all in with her, and that was not how he rolled. Tonight, between the awareness he felt at the restaurant and the sex, Josh wondered if he was up to it. He knew he could fall in love with her. Hell, he was already on his way, but could he be who she needed him to be? He never figured himself to be a guy in a relationship, and he still didn’t. But she was becoming his everything and he couldn’t give her up.
Feeling her move, Josh thought about making love to her again. He had a feeling he’d be thinking about that a lot, and that’s when Caroline turned to face him. Her hand came up and stroked his face, and his heart twitched.
“Is Tessa home?”
“We ran into each other in the kitchen.”
“Was she nice to you?”
“Yes.” Sort of. It was hard to say how she acted. Except for the fact that she looked at him like he was an ax murderer.
“She gets protective. I love her, but she’s scared off a bunch of guys.”
Okay, so Josh liked that. He had to thank Tessa for being scary because he didn’t even want to think about Caroline with another man. The thought made him crazy.
He hadn’t noticed that the weather had turned until he heard the rain start to hammer against the windows. Caroline turned into him and he noticed she was tense. Rubbing his hand up and down her spine seemed to help, until the first thunderclap.
