From Ex to Eternity (Newlywed Games 1)

He grinned. “Come on. You said it was going to feel very real after the ceremony was over. That kiss was genuine, grade-A attraction between two consenting adults. Let’s get real, Cara. Real naked.”

At that, she did laugh as he’d predicted, and it warmed him dangerously.

“You’ve got an expo to organize and I’ve got dresses to alter so I can launch my designs into the big leagues. That’s as real as it’s going to get between us. For now.”

With that enigmatic parting comment, she sailed toward the main building, leaving Keith to wonder if she’d developed a fondness for playing hard to get.

The first time, he’d pursued her pretty fiercely but she’d proved easy to catch. Had that decreased her attractiveness back then more than he’d credited? Because he couldn’t deny he wanted her ten times more now than he had two years ago.

And neither could he deny he’d thoroughly compromised his ability to stay focused on this job. The faster he got Cara into bed, the faster he could burn off this blinding need to figure her out. She was one target he refused to miss.

Five

Rain began pelting the window shortly after Cara escaped to her room. The drops hit the screen with an unsatisfying thud, a distinct contrast from the rhythmic showers of Houston.

She wished she’d never heard of Regent’s bridal expo. If she hadn’t, she’d still be holed up in her condo, blissfully unaware Keith could still knock down her defenses and blessedly certain she’d fill the yawning chasm inside with a career until she could do a relationship again.

Her lips stung from being kissed by Voldemort Mitchell, who was every inch a wizard of seduction. But the real pain crawled through her chest, and she’d had enough of that for a lifetime. Keith equaled heartbreak. Period.

Why hadn’t she slapped him silly? She’d known instantly what he meant by not skipping parts, and even if she hadn’t caught the drift, the heated vibe shooting in her direction had been obvious. Every second she wasted on Keith was another second she couldn’t get back.

Meredith spilled into the room, laughing. She was drenched down to her underwear, evident by the outline of her bra under her blouse. It had probably been by design—Meredith had never met an exhibitionist tendency she didn’t like.

Water pooled under her ruined Pradas as she squeezed out her hair. Cara frowned. Scratch that; they were Cara’s ruined Pradas.

“When did I tell you that you could borrow my shoes?”

Meredith scrunched up her face as if attempting to recall. “When you were born? It’s a sister rule. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine, remember?”

“Whatever. Ask next time.”

“As if you’d have said no or something?” She eased off the shoes and shed her wet clothes as she strode to the bathroom, unconcerned, evidently, about spreading water into the rest of the room. “And stop taking your bad mood out on me. It’s not my fault you still have a thing for Keith and he’s impossible to escape on a tiny little resort property.”

Cara made a face at Meredith’s back. “That’s not why I’m in a bad mood.”

The door to the bathroom shut midsentence, before Cara could insist the real problem was that she’d spent so much time helping Keith today, they were behind on alterations. The hope of gaining national attention for Cara Chandler-Harris Designs was the only thing that made being in this situation with Keith bearable. Her company was like her family and she refused to let them all down because she couldn’t stop being attracted to the wrong man.

No matter. Meredith would pick up on the lie. Oh, the alterations were definitely behind, but Cara’s current black mood had more to do with the unsettling realization that she hadn’t slapped Keith because she’d wanted him to kiss her. The mock wedding had been fun to organize, and she’d gotten caught up in the moment. Who could resist a wedding and Keith and the ocean breeze, all wrapped up in one romantic package?

Except it wasn’t her wedding and she wasn’t marrying Keith. Just like the last time.

Cara stabbed a needle through the dress in front of her but couldn’t get into the right spirit for alterations to wedding dresses. Once again, she’d wear one and still be single when she took it off.

But in stark contrast to last time, she would have a thriving business. These alterations represented something greater than the required steps before a model wore the dress down a runway—Cara had a real and lasting place to belong, which this expo was an integral part of promoting.