Delicious (Cooking Up A Storm) (18 page)

He didn’t trust
Miranda’s motives. “Thanks, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“
Aiden, Cara is my friend as well. I know her pretty well.”

“She still thinks there was something between us,
Miranda. Cara thinks we’ve slept together.”

“Yeah, well no such luck there. And by the way, why didn’t we? I mean I all but threw myself at you.”

“Miranda, do you really want to have this conversation right now?”

“Yes, I do. In fact, I’ve wanted to know the answer to that question for a while.”

“Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe you and I need to have a heart to heart but that’s it. Nothing else and frankly I don’t understand why you’re here, when you’re living with—what’s his name?”

“Jean Claude.” She didn’t answer his question.

He’d made so many mistakes trying to get close to Cara. Maybe Miranda was right. Maybe it was time to clear the air once and for all, starting with his reasons for dating Miranda in the first place. “Where are you parked? There’s a coffee shop around the corner. We could grab some coffee and talk?”

One double espresso latte later,
Aiden discovered there was a lot about Miranda he’d never got before. The sex kitten attitude she all but oozed most of the time was just an act. Miranda was just as scared about screwing up in love as the rest of the world.

“I’m sorry that I used you like that. I know it was a terrible thing to do. But it sounds like it worked out best for you in the long run. I mean, you’ve met Jean Claude. Are you in love with him?” It had been hard to admit that he’d just been using
Miranda. Somehow, that only added to his insecurities with Cara. How would she feel knowing that he was capable of such a thing?

“I don’t know? How do you know you’re in love?” she asked him and he actually believed she wanted to know. “I mean how do you know it’s not just the sex talking.”

“I don’t know. But maybe if you have to ask that question then you aren’t in love?”

“Maybe you’re right. So what are you going to do about
Cara?”

“I don’t know. What do you suggest? I won’t just walk away from her but she’s just so damned closed up about her feelings. In some weird way, I think she still sees us as friends.” He stopped when he heard
Miranda’s amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. I just think you two are the cutest things. Okay, I’m going to help you out here. I’m going to tell you a little secret but you have to promise not to tell her you heard this from me?”

“I’m not promising anything,” Aiden told her calmly.

“Okay, fine.
Cara’s had a crush on you forever, Aiden. I can’t believe you’ve never noticed it. She doesn’t think of you as a friend. I’d say Cara’s been in love with you since the first day she met you.”

“You think
Cara’s in love with me?” Aiden forced down the small amount of hope that came from those words.

“I know she is.”

“Then why doesn’t she tell me how she feels?”

“Have you ever told her how you feel?”

“Well, no, but that’s different. She’s been the one insisting that we’re just friends.” But as he thought back over all the times they’d been together, the truth was they spent most of their time in bed. No wonder she wasn’t sharing her feelings with him. She probably thought he only wanted a sexual relationship with her.

“Oh, God. I don’t know what to do. What should I do?”

“Go slow.”

* * * *

Two weeks before Christmas, every single time Cara talked to Aiden he seemed even more distant than the time before.

He hadn’t been home since Thanksgiving. He’d canceled out on their only weekend because of work. This wasn’t good. This was a sign as far as
Cara was concerned. It was the beginning of the end. And to top it off, Miranda had called, asking some very strange questions, which ended in her telling Cara that she had ‘met up’ with Aiden the week before.

When she told
Shelby this, her friend was quick to point out another factor. “I hate to be the bearer of more bad news but we have a meeting on Monday morning with the Brady people.

“Oh no.”
Cara sank down into the sofa and covered her eyes. “I completely forgot about that.”

“Clearly. So what are you going to tell them?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know what to tell them.”

“Well, you’d better think of something and fast. You have two days to decide our future.”

No pressure there. Just her and
Shelby’s entire future was riding on this one decision.

Which was probably why she couldn’t sit still when she got home.
Cara wandered around the empty house until she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. Then she decided to take a walk. A long walk. By the time she arrived back at the house it was after midnight.

She unlocked the door, wondering if she’d actually left every light in the place on. From the living room,
Cara heard voices. She didn’t remember the TV being on when she left the place.

She walked into the living room and saw
Aiden. Then Miranda. Her footsteps froze. She couldn’t move.

“Oh, there you are. I was starting to get worried.”

Aiden took a step closer, but Cara backed away. “What are you doing here? And Miranda?” Her eyes met his, full of questions she couldn’t ask.

“
Cara…” He took another step closer then stopped.

“I should go,”
Miranda told him before giving him a kiss on the cheek. She stopped next to Cara and smiled. “You are one lucky lady. Tell him the truth, Cara. Tell him you love him.”

Without another word,
Miranda left. And then they were alone. Cara started for her bedroom. She couldn’t do this now. Not after what Miranda had just done.

Aiden
stopped her. “Where are you going?” he asked, reaching for her arm. “I haven’t seen you in weeks and you’re walking away.”

“You’re seeing her again?”
Cara couldn’t look at him. She wanted to cry.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, Aiden. You didn’t even bother to tell me that you’d spent the evening with her. Miranda told me everything.”

“
Cara, Miranda and I had dinner together and nothing more. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d react like you’re reacting now.”

“I’m leaving. I’ve heard enough.”

Cara pulled away from him and started for the door. “Is it true?” Was it possible that Aiden’s voice sounded almost desperate? She couldn’t bring herself to look.

“I can’t talk about this now.” She reached for her keys and moved toward the front door.

“Where are you going?” he asked again. This time there was no denying the desperation there.

Cara
closed the door without answering.

* * * *

Aiden couldn’t move. He couldn’t bring himself to take a single step from where he stood when she walked out on him. He didn’t know what to do. He heard the sound of her car disappearing in the city traffic and still didn’t move. Where would she be going? Why was she willing to believe the worst of him? Was Miranda right after all? He was betting everything, all of his hopes, that she was.

So the only thing left to do was wait. And hope that she would come back.

She didn’t. By two, he was desperate enough to call Shelby and wake her.

“Have you heard from
Cara tonight?”

“Who is this?
Aiden? What do you mean? What time is it? What happened?”

“She walked out hours ago. I can’t reach her on the phone. I thought maybe she might be with you.”

“No, I haven’t seen her. Why, what happened?”

“She came home and found
Miranda here and jumped to all sorts of wrong conclusions.” Aiden hated admitting that to Shelby.

“Not good.”

“I realize that, Shelby,” he snapped then added, “but she didn’t even wait to hear why Miranda was there. She just assumed that Miranda and I were up to no good.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.
Miranda is kind of a sore spot with Cara.”

“It’s my fault really. I’ve let her believe there was more between
Miranda and myself than there was. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”

“Did you try the store?”

“No.”

“You’ll need a key. Chances are if she’s that mad at you she won’t open the door for you. She keeps a spare in the desk in her room. Don’t you tell her I told you so though.”

“Your secret’s safe. Wish me luck.”

“Luck? You’re going to need more than luck,
Aiden Wilder. You’d better be as good as she says if you plan on fixing this one.”

The shop appeared dark when
Aiden parked the Rover in front. Cara’s small car was parked to the side. He could just make out a faint light coming from the kitchen area through the closed door. He unlocked the door and went inside.

“
Cara…” He didn’t want to frighten her but she didn’t answer.

Aiden
pushed open the door of the kitchen area and stopped. She sat at the small table tucked away in a corner. She barely glanced up at him. Shelby was right. This was going to be hard.

“
Cara, we need to talk.”

“Why?” This wasn’t what he was expecting.

“Because…Cara, do you love me?”

She stood and faced him across the kitchen. She was ready to bolt.

“Because I love you,” he blurted out before she had the chance to.

Her reaction was nothing like he was expecting. “That’s a lie,
Aiden. You don’t love me. You can’t. You were in love with Miranda just a few months ago. You don’t love me.” She shook her head, dismissing his claim entirely.

“Dammit,
Cara, that’s not true. I never loved Miranda.” It was time to tell her the truth. Still he hesitated.

“That’s a lie. You wanted her to move to
Arkansas with you. You wanted to marry her. You wanted kids with her.” Her eyes pleaded with him to deny it. He didn’t even hesitate.

Aiden
strode over to her and caught her arm when she would have walked away.

“I never loved
Miranda. I never wanted her to come with me to Arkansas and I certainly never wanted marriage or children with her. I used Miranda.”

“I don’t want to hear about it.” She tried to pull away. He didn’t let her.

“Too bad, because you’re going to. In fact, you should have heard this a long time ago. I used Miranda. I kept stringing her along because she was my insight to you. I never touched her.”

“That’s a lie.
Miranda was always bragging.”

“And I’m telling you that was just it.
Miranda trying to save face. She couldn’t stand it that I didn’t want her physically. But I’m telling you that I didn’t.”

“But that night. The night we…you were so angry with
Miranda. Because she hurt you by sleeping with someone else.”

Aiden
started to laugh. She grew angry.

“
Aiden, it’s not funny.”

“Actually,
Cara, it is. It’s hilarious now that I think of it. You thought I was angry with Miranda for sleeping with someone else when she and I had never been together.” At the sight of her tears, all laughter died away. She was upset. He’d hurt her. “I was angry with Miranda that night because I was planning on telling her that it was over between us. And she screwed it up by standing me up. I was thrilled that she had moved on. What happened between us, well, that was a miracle, in my book.”

* * * *

The gentle sincerity in Aiden’s voice was enough to make her question everything Miranda had ever said to her. But still, she couldn’t believe that he loved her.

“Then why did you let me think you were sleeping with her,
Aiden? Why did you let me think you were hurt by what happened?”

She watched the hurt come into
Aiden’s eyes. “That was stupid. I realize that now. But you were always pushing me away and giving me such a hard time about the models I dated. I never thought you’d believe the truth.”

“What is the truth,
Aiden? she asked with just a hint of a smile forming in those sultry eyes.

He took advantage, bringing her into his arms. “The truth is I’ve been crazy about you…no, I’ve been in love with you since the beginning. I knew I wanted you in my life from the second you walked into my office and looked at me with the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen. When you gave me a hard time about the women I dated and you argued with me about being a
Texas fan, well, I knew I was in love long before I slept with you. And I’ve wanted to tell you that for just as long. But you were so busy preaching to me that we were just friends while proving yourself wrong every time we were in bed together that I thought you needed more time.”

“You love me?”