She turned her head so that her gaze met mine. “I’ll text you the next time I want to go running.”
My lips tipped up. “I’d appreciate it. It’d be bad for business if a tenant got mauled by a mountain lion.”
Taylor shoved her shoulder into me, and I wrapped an arm around her. She fit perfectly.
I paused outside Caitlin’s door, my hand hovering just in front of her apartment number. Fuck. I did not want to do this. I knocked three times.
Hurried footsteps sounded, and the door swung open. “Baby. I’m so glad you’re here.” Caitlin’s hair was piled on top of her head in artful curls. Her face was done up to the nines, including her lips with that red stuff I hated because I always came away from kissing her looking like the Joker. She wore a low-cut tank top and shorts so short, they looked more like underwear.
I shuffled my feet. “Hey, Cait.”
She leaned in to kiss me, but I brushed my lips against her cheek instead, then hurried inside. I headed for the couch, patting the seat next to mine. “Come here.”
Caitlin’s lips pressed together in a thin, hard line. “Is something wrong, honey?”
What was with all the pet names all of a sudden? She’d only ever called me Walker before. I steeled my spine. “I think we should stop seeing each other.” I’d thought of at least a dozen different ways to say it. But, at the end of the day, I needed to shut the door, and she needed to know I wasn’t leaving it cracked open for later. Some people might consider me a bastard for just coming right out with it and not tempering the blow, but I’ve always thought honesty is the kindest route you could take.
Caitlin’s mouth opened and closed like a fish on a line. Her lower lip began to tremble as tears filled her eyes. “Why?”
“I’m not the one for you, Cait. You’ll find someone who can’t wait to settle down with you. Get married, have lots of babies. But that just isn’t me.”
She reached out and gripped my hand, hard. “Walker, I’m sorry I pushed about moving in together.”
I fought the grimace that wanted to surface. “It’s not just that—"
Caitlin jumped in before I could continue. “I can wait as long as you need.” Tears spilled over her bottom lids, causing my gut to clench. “Please, Walker. I love you.”
“I’m sorry, Cait. My mind’s made up. I care about you, and you’re a wonderful woman. You’re just not the woman for me.”
Her jaw got hard, and her tears seemed to evaporate into thin air. “It’s not you, it’s me.”
I cringed. It was cliched, but true. There was nothing wrong with Caitlin, we just weren’t right for each other. “We’re just not the right match.”
“And who are you the right match with? That new bitch renting your parents’ cabin?” My eyes widened. Where had that come from? “Oh, didn’t think I knew about her, did you? Bridgette saw you walking with her in town last night when you were supposed to be with your family.” Caitlin stood, throwing her hands wide. “How long have you been cheating on me?”
I pushed to my feet, my gaze going hard. “Hey, now. I have never been unfaithful to you. That’s not the kind of man I am, and you know it. I ran into Taylor and was walking her to her car. We’re friends.” Friends seemed like a bit of a stretch, but she’d told me something about herself that morning. Something it was clear she didn’t tell many people.
“Oh, well thank you, Mr. High And Mighty Walker Cole, for breaking up with me before you went out and screwed the new girl.”
“I’m not going out and screwing anyone right now. I’m just saying we aren’t the right match. I don’t know that I’ll ever find that.” An image flashed in my mind of Taylor’s compact curves as she ran through the morning air. So, I was attracted to her. That didn’t mean I was going to act on it. She was fragile right now. She needed a friend, not some guy trying to get his rocks off with no ability to love her the way she deserved.
“Everyone thinks you’re such a great guy. Let’s see what happens when they find out what a heartless bastard you really are.”
Great, just what I needed. Caitlin was going to spread her lies, and in a town the size of Sutter Lake, they’d spread like wildfire. I couldn’t believe I’d never seen this side of her before. Jensen had warned me that Cait had a vicious streak, but I’d thought she was exaggerating. Apparently, not. “Caitlin. We were friends before we started dating, can’t we just go back to that?”
She picked up an empty wine glass that had been sitting on the coffee table waiting to be filled and threw it at the wall. Glass flew in every direction. “I don’t want to be your fucking friend, Walker! I was to be your wife!”
My eyes bugged out just a bit. My wife? We’d been seeing each other exclusively for three months. How did three months of seeing each other a couple of times a week equate to getting married? I swallowed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that.”
“Get out!” she shrieked.
I didn’t have to be told twice. I headed for the door.
“And you are going to have to fucking grovel when you come crawling back to me. Because you will come crawling back, Walker Cole.”
Dear God, I hoped not.
14
Taylor
I hoisted a bag of groceries from my cart into the back of my SUV. It was lucky my wheels had arrived when they did, I’d been running out of food.
“Taylor! Did your car arrive?” I turned to see Sarah and an elderly woman walking towards me. “Walker said you were waiting on it, and I’ve been meaning to stop by to see if I could take you anywhere.”
“It came the other morning, just in time for me to start work.”
“Oh, good. Now you won’t have to run into town.”
I chuckled. “Well, I still might do that.”
Sarah shook her head and smiled. “Taylor, this is my mother-in-law, Irma Cole. Mom, this is Taylor Lawson.”
Irma gave me a toothy grin. “Ah, the infamous Taylor. Young Noah has been talking about you and your friends nonstop.”