I sighed, remembering our horrible, confusing breakup. I’d been shattered and miserable for a long time afterward.
My phone buzzed with a message and I tugged it out of my pocket, relieved for the distraction.
It was Carlotta again. She’d sent several messages while I’d been too busy to check them.
One message said, Why haven’t you called me? Are you and Kade celebrating in bed?
I sighed wistfully. If only.
The next message said, Do you realize you’ll be my sister-in-law? How cool is that!!
And the latest one said, Is it too soon to start looking at bridesmaid dresses?
I typed a quick reply. I’m still single. Call you when I get home.
A moment later, her reply came through. That’s disappointing. You sure you don’t want to be my sister-in-law?
And then, I’ll be waiting by the phone.
“Making plans for tonight?” asked Kade as I put my phone on the counter.
“That was Carlotta wanting to hear about our fake engagement. Actually, I have no plans for tonight. I’m completely free. As a bird.” I bit my tongue to stop myself asking if he wanted to come around for a fun game of Naked Twister.
He wasn’t looking at me, seemingly focusing all his concentration on draining the sink and wiping it down, so I grabbed another rag to help.
“You’re not going out with Willis tonight?” he asked.
“What? No.” I blinked, then remembered Willis’s surprise visit to the café, when he’d tried to bully me into setting a time for his next lesson. “Willis and I aren’t dating. I’m just…” I trailed off, because I couldn’t tell him the truth. Willis’s poor grammar had been holding back his career until I started tutoring him, and he’d been so embarrassed about his lack of written language skills, he’d sworn me to secrecy. “Uh, I’m helping him out with something. It’s like a business arrangement.”
“Oh?” Kade wiped his hands and turned to face me, moving disconcertingly close. “What kind of business might that be?” His teasing tone and the quirk of his mouth made the question sound dirty. Just another flirtatious joke.
But there was something in his eyes that made me wonder if that was all it was.
Was Kade turning it into a joke because it bugged him?
“Sorry, I wish I could tell you.” Instead of keeping the joke going, I stayed serious. “I promised Willis I wouldn’t say anything.”
My phone buzzed on the counter, and I glanced over as a message flashed onto the screen. Willis’s ears must have been burning, because the message was from him.
Are we on for tonight? Nine o’clock at your place?
I frowned. What was up with Willis? He’d tried to set that time yesterday and I’d said no, hadn’t I? Why was he being so pushy?
“Another message from Carlotta?” asked Kade, glancing down at my screen.
I snatched my phone off the counter too late, because Kade’s expression stiffened and I was pretty sure he’d read the message.
“I don’t know why Willis thinks he can come over tonight. Like I said, I’ve been helping him out, but I don’t remember telling him I had time to…”
I broke off, because Kade had turned away and was heading for the door. “I’d better get going,” he said over his shoulder. “Need to get back to Asher’s to finish working on some new recipe ideas.”
I blinked, taken aback and feeling far more disappointed than I had any right to be. “Okay. Um. See you tomorrow?”
At the door, he turned and gave me an actor’s version of his gorgeous smile, one that included both dimples, but left out his eyes. “Sure.”
“Wait,” I said before he could leave. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong?” He looked surprised. “Of course not.”
I nodded heavily. “Okay then. Bye.”
Bitter experience had taught me it was useless to push for a real answer.
The day Kade and I had broken up started with good news. To my surprise, I was offered an amazing job at the Chicago Tribune.
But as overjoyed as I was, I was also torn.
Kade had been talking about going to France and working in a restaurant in Paris. I couldn’t ask him to go to Chicago instead. So if I accepted the job, we were likely to end up working in different countries.
Though I’d told Mom I’d never give up my dreams for anyone, I was falling for Kade. I loved every moment I spent with him. He made me feel like the luckiest woman alive.
But I still had doubts about us.
Kade never said anything about his childhood. He smiled whenever his eyes were sad. And even when I knew something was bugging him, he wouldn’t admit anything was wrong. Could I trust our relationship was worth giving up my amazing new job for when I had no idea why he wouldn’t open up?
When I saw him later that morning, I wanted to tell him about the job offer, but I hadn’t decided whether I was going to accept it. Before I thought about giving it up, I wanted to find out how serious he was about our relationship.
But as usual, when I started asking questions, he seemed determined to distract me.
“Stop.” I pulled away as he kissed my neck. “Talk to me instead.”
“Talk about what?”
“About yourself. About how you feel, and if you really think we could have a future together.” I held my breath, hoping he’d tell me what I wanted to hear.
Kade had cocked his head. “You don’t think we have a future together?”
“How can I know when you won’t tell me anything?” I’d sighed. “You know everything about me, but I barely know anything about you. I’ve bared my soul, and you’ve given me nothing in return.”
Right away I could tell that was the wrong thing to say. His expression had gone tight, and I wasn’t sure whether it was anger I saw in his eyes, or fear.
“You think I don’t give you anything?” His voice had turned hard. “So I suppose you’re going to walk out now? You’re going to leave?” His face had twisted in a way
