“Get another one.” An obvious solution to any self-respecting five-year-old. Grown-ups were so stupid, and I smiled in spite of myself. Brad did the same.
That smile hit me broadside. It wasn’t about his power or his ability to control his daughter. It was about a moment’s delight in a child’s logic. I liked him again. He was likeable for a hundred reasons he got paid good money for. But there was more to him. He was genuine. He listened. He was open to change yet stalwart in his beliefs. He spent his money on things that pleased him or minimized inconvenience, not status objects. He never pretended to be more than he was but didn’t suffer from insecurity or false humility.
He was who he was. Utterly and authentically.
His smile lasted less than a second, and in that slice of time, I pivoted.
“What are you looking at?” he asked, smile gone. The effect of it lingered in the form of a skipped heartbeat.
I’m looking at you.
Really.
Just you.
I swallowed the words because I didn’t even know what they meant, crouching in front of Nicole so I could look away from him.
“You get to spend the day with your dad. Do you know how many girls want to spend a day with your dad?”
“You need to come too.” She folded her arms in a righteous huff. “Or I’m not going.”
“You’re going to let Daddy go by himself?”
She nodded decisively.
Brad glanced at his phone. “The car’s ready.”
Nicole tightened the tension of her arms and mouth, pointing her chin up just enough to display proud intransigence.
I started to explain, “This is a you-and-Daddy day.”
“Miss Cara has to come,” Nicole interrupted. “Or I’m not going. I don’t want to sleep in the princess hotel or ride the spaceships or anything,” she whined, nearly in tears. “Please please please come.”
“I can’t.”
I looked up to her father, hoping for a little backup. What I got was a guy with his arms crossed and half a shrug on his shoulders.
“It would be a hell of a lot easier if you came, I gotta say.”
“Do you want to do this or not?”
“What if she has to pee?”
“There are family bathrooms.”
“She’s going to be bored without you.”
“She’s never bored.”
“What does she eat? Do I have to feed her?”
I wanted to kill him, but then I’d have to touch him. And if I touched him, all the violence would flow right out of me.
“Can we talk?” I growled.
He just smiled at me and followed me onto the back patio.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Nothing?”
Had I felt a shadow of admiration and desire cross my heart thirty seconds before? Had I melted at his genuineness and sincerity? God. There must have been drugs in my breakfast. I put my hands on my hips. Sometimes, an authentic person can be an authentic ass.
“You’re changing your mind.”
“If you know what I’m doing, why are you asking?”
“You. Are. Infuriating.”
“You know what’s funny?” He pointed as if formulating the idea. “I see you with her, and you never lose your temper. She’s a real thorn, but you’re a saint no matter how bitchy she gets. But with me? You’re blowing a gasket here. Why is that?”
“She has an excuse.”
“So do I.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re not going to tell me all about what’s wrong with me?”
“Go to hell.” I spun to go in the house, but he stepped in front of me.
“I want you there because I want you. Okay? I like you. I like being around you. I want you to come because it’s more fun with you. And I want a shot at getting on top of you. That’s it.”
There it was again. Full-frontal honesty. No smile this time. No delight. Just the brutal reality of who he was. He took a step in my direction—just a half step too close. I put my hand on his chest and pushed just a little against the hard muscle.
“We were waiting until I wasn’t on the payroll. Remember?”
“I hate waiting.”
“You—”
He kissed me and I swore the kissing thing was going to have to stop.
Tomorrow.
Because on the morning of Disney Day I was weak and unprepared. I was shocked at feelings I didn’t have time to process. And we’d kissed already, and no one was around—so I let him. And not only did I let him, I tasted his tongue and said whatever. Whatever whatever. I didn’t have to worry about where we stood or what our roles were because he was with me and it felt good. So good.
“What are you doing?”
Nicole’s voice came from the house, two feet away, where we’d stupidly left a girl who didn’t like to be alone. She was on the other side of the screen, smiling so wide her face looked as if it was going to break into an explosion of dimples.
Worse than a thousand paparazzi seeing us together.
CHAPTER 40
BRAD
I didn’t know what Cara’s problem was. Like a kid never saw two people kiss before. But she froze worse than the first time I kissed her. She went totally fucking silent on me. Not a sound. Not a word.
I was the one who had to tell Nicole to get her jacket on. I was the one who had to tie the bow on her princess dress. It was like Cara had stage fright or something. I tapped her and asked her if she was all right and she said she was fine but man, I didn’t believe her. Something was up.
She’d kissed me back. Couldn’t be that. She was totally into it. I promise you I know when a woman wants to be kissed and when she doesn’t, and Cara wanted to be kissed. One hundred percent into it. Until Nicole asked what we were doing and I said “kissing” because it was pretty obvious what we were doing. What was I supposed to say?
And Cara turned her back on me as if I were a stranger. Complete system shutdown.
I mean, come on. The three of us had shared a twin bed. Couldn’t be any closer. Why was one thing okay and not the other?
“Please reschedule,” I said. “I’m begging you. Don’t hold what’s going on between us against Nicole.”
She slowed, resting her hand on the wall. She had beautiful fingers. Each one was engaged, tense, revealing her emotions just by the way they rested.
“You’re good,” she said. “You know just where to get me.”
“I figure it’s not going to work forever.”
She stepped back into the foyer. I didn’t hear what she said, but Nicole clapped and jumped up and down. Ten minutes later, we were at the helipad.
Nicole was scared of the helicopter. She clung to me like a spider, cringing the whole time. Cara was still in shutdown, but when she looked at Nicole she smiled. The smile was bullshit. It would fool a five-year-old, but me? No. I was not fooled. Not at all.
CHAPTER 41
CARA
I wanted to explain this to Brad Sinclair.