“She hasn’t had the opportunities we did, Clo, that’s not fair,” I whisper back with a frown. “She’s my sister.”
“I know. I’m just saying be careful, Cara. Don’t let anyone take advantage just because they share half of your DNA.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
“I just have a bad feeling like you might regret letting her into our world,” she says quietly, scanning my eyes. “I mean, her name is literally Con. But please, prove me wrong.”
She leaves the kitchen and I’m left with a sick feeling in my stomach.
Is she right? Will I regret meeting Con and bringing her around the people I love?
They say no good deed goes unpunished.
Only time will tell.
Chapter Thirteen
Decker
The evening isn’t as awkward as I expected it to be, especially after we’ve all had a few drinks. Cara and Con seem to get along like a house on fire, but I can tell that Clover isn’t as convinced. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that she is protective of Cara and isn’t accepting Con after just one meeting. We all need a friend like Clover.
“So what’s going on with you and Cara?” Felix asks me when we have a moment alone in the kitchen.
I glance around before I answer. “Nothing. She literally only just became single. I don’t think now is the time.”
“Since when have you ever cared about being a rebound?” he replies, eyes widening. “You like her.”
“I like lots of women.”
“I mean you really like her. You normally don’t think twice about anything. I know you, Decker, and I’ve seen you work. Damn, even a few times I was impressed with how fast you managed to get a woman into bed.”
I cringe, realizing how bad that sounds. “She’s your wife’s best friend. Did you ever think that I don’t want to make it messy for you?”
Felix blinks. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Clover steps into the kitchen and purses her lips. “I can’t find anything to complain about Con except a gut feeling. And I don’t think that is going to cut it.”
“Maybe she is just a genuine person,” Felix says, wrapping her in his arms. “We’ll be here for Cara no matter what happens. But you can’t protect her from everything.”
“I know,” she replies, her voice muted by Felix’s shirt. She lifts her face. “And we’ll be here to pick up the pieces. I’m also not opposed to punching Con in the face.”
“We know,” Felix says in a dry tone. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Clover looks over at me. “So what’s going on with you and Cara?”
I scrub my hand down my face. “Nothing.”
“Ten bucks they sleep with each other in the next few weeks,” Clover says to Felix.
“You’re on. I say this week.”
I open my mouth, and close it. While I wouldn’t be opposed to Felix winning that bet, I don’t know. For once I’m a little out of my element with a woman. I don’t know how to approach what may, or may not, be going on with Cara and me.
“We all just going to pretend that Rhett didn’t exist? Isn’t he your best friend, too?” I ask Clover.
“Yeah, but he didn’t do right by her. He let her learn to live without him. I love him, I really do, but he got himself into this situation. He lost the best woman he’s ever going to get because he was too busy in the club life. So Rhett is not an issue here. Cara has been getting over him long before she would have ever even admitted that to herself.”
Cara’s musical laugh makes all of our heads turn.
“Come on, we better go in there. We are being rude hiding in here,” I tell them both.
I sit back down next to Cara, and she turns to me, big, brown eyes filled with happiness. “Do you have to work tomorrow?”
I shake my head. “Nope I’m taking the weekend off, why?”
She lifts up a bottle of tequila off the coffee table. It’s the one with the scorpion in the bottom of the bottle. “Shots?”
Damn, these teachers are wild.
I glance up at Clover, who perks up a little. She turns to Felix. “One of us has to stay sober and be a parent. We should flip a coin.”
Felix smirks, amusement dancing in his eyes. “You can have a drink, babe. I’ll take one for the team.”
She rubs her hands together menacingly. “Wonderful.”
“I mean, I guess I could have one,” Con replies, smiling widely. “But I do have to drive home.”
“One it is,” Cara replies.
Clover brings out some shot glasses and pours the first round.
“To family,” Cara toasts, and we all do the first shot, licking the salt and sucking on the lemon to finish.
“Just one, right?” I comment.
* * *
“Why am I always drunk whenever you are around?” I ask Cara, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the leather couch. “You are a bad influence on me, you know that?”
She laughs. “I’m sorry, I actually haven’t drunk this much in a long time. Probably because my life is in shambles right now and I have no idea what I’m doing, so having a drink does sound appealing.”
“Your life isn’t in shambles, you’re just going through change. You’ll adapt, and you’ll be happy again. You’re a butterfly, but you’ve gone back into your cocoon for a little while. Nothing wrong with that.”
She turns her head to me and smiles just as I reopen my eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. I will adapt. A breakup and a long-lost sister in the same month has kind of thrown me for a curveball, though, not going to lie. And then there’s you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you,” she sighs. “You’re sexy as hell, and I kind of want to rip your clothes off every time that I see you, but I know it’s not a good idea and—”
I groan, cutting her off. “You saying that to me right now isn’t a good idea.”
“Why not?” she asks.
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “Because we’ve had too much to drink.”
Although I’m suddenly feeling sober right now.
And I’m hard as a fucking rock.
I knew we had a connection, don’t get me wrong, but I never thought that she would openly admit it. I’m surprised. There’s an undeniable sexual tension between us, and I thought we were just ignoring it and pretending it wasn’t there.