Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Cara turned to him with an unexpected smile on her face. “They have good taste.” She unzipped her jacket, and he stepped forward to take it, still waiting for the fallout from his earlier stupidity.
“I didn’t realize you had an apartment here, though I guess I should have. New York is your home, after all.”
The tightness in his throat that he usually associated with visiting his parents’ house suddenly rose here. “Right now, Serendipity is home. It just didn’t make sense to give up a low rental when—”
“You plan on returning as soon as you can. I know.” She looked away and headed for the windows to check out the view.
He came up behind her, standing close as she looked at the high-rise across the street. “Can we just get it over with?” he asked tightly, wanting to know what she was thinking.
“Get what over with?”
She spun around to face him, and he braced his hands on her hips . . . just because he wanted to touch her.
“Lauren,” he said.
“Your contact?” Cara asked innocently.
Too innocently, and he narrowed his gaze. “You’re mad I didn’t tell you about her?”
“That you didn’t tell me Lauren was a woman? It might have been nice to be prepared.” She tilted her head to one side, her blue eyes bright.
But he couldn’t read her. Damn that cop training.
“Or do you think I’m upset that you’re obviously involved with her and didn’t think to mention it? Yeah, that would have been good to know too.” She held herself tight but didn’t step out of his grasp.
No anger. Yet. Mike’s heart beat harder in his chest. Lauren had come close to slapping him when he told her he was involved with Cara and had shown up with her without giving his ex-lover a heads-up.
Mike glanced at Cara, whose level of anger he still couldn’t gauge. Perhaps he ought to put his hand over his groin. Just in case.
“Or maybe it was the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous that I’d have liked to know?”
Mike winced, knowing that Lauren looked nothing like the computer geek she actually was. “I didn’t think about it ahead of time because we’re not currently involved.”
Cara raised an eyebrow. He was certain many suspects had shriveled under that steely gaze.
“Come on. Her greeting left no doubt. And I’m not that stupid.”
He couldn’t help but grin at that. “No, but I am. We had an understanding. That’s all it was. She scratched an itch.”
Cara shook her head and tried unsuccessfully not to groan. “You’re such a man.”
“Yet you aren’t yelling, screaming, or pitching a fit. Why is that?” The woman confounded him.
And wasn’t that why he liked her so much?
“Because turnabout is fair play and while we’re together, you’re mine,” she said, repeating his words back to him.
He burst out laughing, but it wasn’t funny. She was one in a million, and he wasn’t ready to let her go.
Apparently she agreed because she finally wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him flush against her. Those lush curves were a perfect cushion for the harder planes of his body and the even harder ridge of his aching erection.
“Do we have an understanding?” she asked.
“Seems only fair.”
She blinked, looking into his eyes. “Did you and Lauren have that understanding?” she asked.
As he threaded his fingers through her hair, he could honestly say, “No. Lauren and I were an occasional, when-it-was-convenient thing.”
“And what about me? Am I just . . . scratching an itch?”
God, he was an ass.
“No, you are most definitely not just scratching an itch.” He shifted his hips, and a soft moan escaped her lips.
“Now that we’ve got that settled, can we get on with our night?” He’d more than satisfied her curiosity, and she liked his answers.
She smiled. “I’d like that. Very much.”
* * *
Cara’s body hummed with sexual need as Mike held out his hand. One last glance out the big window overlooking the city showed her that the light flurries the weatherman had predicted had turned into more of a full-blown storm, and they might not get back to Serendipity tonight. She wondered if she cared.
She should. So many red flags had been waved in her face today, she knew she ought to heed them. From the day Mike left Serendipity when everyone knew he couldn’t get away from Tiffany’s expectations fast enough, to the present, the warning signs were clear. He had affairs with no emotional connection. He’d failed to warn her she’d be meeting a woman he’d slept with. He kept the lease on his apartment, though he had no idea how long he’d be in Serendipity. All were signs that he was a restless man who moved through life without thought to how his actions affected the people who cared about him. She knew better than to think he didn’t care in return. He just didn’t know how to deal with relationships.