Delicious (Cooking Up A Storm) (4 page)

“And you were what? Just being a good friend?” Was that anger? Or wishful thinking on her part? She could almost imagine that
Aiden hadn’t liked her answer.

“
Aiden, we both know it was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened. It wouldn’t have happened had you not…”

“Been upset because my girlfriend has been cheating on me?”
Aiden supplied. Cara felt even sicker.

Her hand clamped over her mouth. “
Aiden…hold on.” She dropped the phone on the bed and ran to the bathroom praying that he couldn’t actually hear the sound of retching. She had behaved horribly the night before. She was a terrible friend. To Aiden. To Miranda.

“
Cara? Are you okay?” she could hear him asking as she picked up the receiver again. He’d heard.

“I’m fine. Just a little under the weather.”

“You’re sure? Because you don’t sound fine. You’re not…”

He couldn’t finish the words and her mind went crazy with possibilities? What? She wasn’t what? She wasn’t sick. Guilty. Pregnant? Her heart literally missed a beat at that thought. They hadn’t exactly taken precautions. They’d both acted irresponsibly.
Cara dropped the phone again.

“
Cara?” She caught the panic in Aiden’s voice.

She grabbed the receiver once more. “I’m okay. I just ate something that didn’t agree.”

His silence told her he wasn’t convinced, but he wasn’t ready to argue either. Aiden’s mind was on other things.

“
Cara, we should talk about this.”

  “No, no. We don’t need to talk about it,
Aiden. Not at all. Ever.” There’s nothing to talk about really. She tried to sound untouched, but her voice came out strangled. “Look Aiden, it happened. We both know the reasons why. And we both know that it was a mistake. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Really? Are you really as unaffected by last night as you sound? You know you’re not very good for my ego right now,
Cara?” He tried to make a joke but Aiden still sounded angry.

Unaffected? No,
Cara wasn’t unaffected. She was hanging onto what was left of her pride by a thread. She wanted to ask him if last night had meant anything to him beyond just a way to get back at Miranda. She couldn’t. She was afraid of what his answer might be.

“Look, there’s really no need for
Jason or Miranda to know about this.”

The silence that greeted those words was deafening. She tried to guess what he was thinking. She couldn’t.

“Have you spoken to Miranda today?” The sharp sound in his voice had her wondering how much Aiden missed her already.

Cara
considered her answer. What did Aiden want to hear?

“No, but I’m sure she’s traveling so…”

“I spoke to her, Cara . She knows. I’m sorry. The words were out before I could stop them.”

“
Aiden, how could you do that? How could you…”

“Easy, she had just told me she’d been seeing some old, extremely wealthy, French guy for months.” His voice edged with resentment.

“Aiden, I’m sorry.” Cara pushed the phone away, held her hand over her mouth, and breathed until the uneasiness passed. “Miranda’s just…”

“Yeah,
Miranda’s just Miranda. Apparently, she’s been sleeping with the guy for quite a long time. While I was away in Little Rock. I’ve been working like crazy trying to…” He stopped. Was he remembering that he’d just slept with her last night?

“
Aiden, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“That’s bullshit,
Cara. You knew she was seeing him.”

“Yes,” she told him quietly. She couldn’t deny it.
Aiden knew her too well. She started to cry silent tears.

“How could you do that to me? How long? How long have you kept it from me?”

“Aiden, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She hated the wobbly sound of her voice. She knew that he’d picked up on her tears by the silence.

“Are you crying?” he asked in a tense voice.
Aiden didn’t like her tears.

“Yes. I’m sorry,
Aiden. Can you ever forgive me?”

His answer cut like a knife. “I don’t know. I trusted you. I can almost forgive
Miranda. After all, she’s selfish. But you? I expected more from you, Cara. You were my friend.”

Were? “
Aiden…” She couldn’t think of anything to say. What could she possibly say? Aiden was right. They had been friends a good six months before she made the fatal mistake of inviting Miranda to the benefit party Aiden’s firm was throwing. Aiden had taken one look at Miranda and ditched his then current flavor of the moment model. Miss December.

And that just about summed up
Cara’s relationship with Aiden. Mistakes and a long continuous series of bad calls on her part.

They met by accident.
Aiden had gotten roped into helping plan a Christmas party for the firm as its newest and youngest member of management. It was some sort of rite of passage he’d told her later. Aiden had been just unhappy enough to do the opposite of what his firm normally did. Which was to host one of those glamorous black tie get-togethers. When Aiden called Shelby to set up the interview Cara was thrilled. She didn’t realize that calling her small, party planning, slash catering, slash sweet shop, had actually been done as a joke. Aiden didn’t tell her that little detail until much later, after she’d gotten the contract and won his respect, his firm’s and a great deal of Dallas, Texas’ as well.

That party had made
Delicious the talk of the town and had put Cara on the map. She was the ‘new up and coming, quirky, little party planner’ as the local paper had hailed. That had set the town on its ear.

“
Aiden, please, you have to forgive me. I never meant to hurt you. I just didn’t think it was my place to tell you.”

“I can’t believe you’d say that
Cara. You were my friend.”

“Would you stop saying that? I’m still your friend,
Aiden.”

“Really? Then what was last night?”

Suddenly, she couldn’t catch her breath, much less think of any unmoved response to that angry condemnation.

“Do you sleep with all your friends, Cara? I’ve heard of going the extra mile for a friend, but I think you took that way beyond the extra mile, don’t you? Does Jason know? Poor bastard.” She barely caught that last part.

“No!
Aiden how can you ask that? And leave Jason out of this?”

“Why, doesn’t he deserve to know the truth? I mean didn’t you just do to him what you couldn’t tell me
Miranda was doing to me?”

“Didn’t you?” she couldn’t keep from saying.
Aiden’s anger hurt. Almost as much as what he’d said.

Cara
listened to the silence once more and tried to keep from being sick. In the past, she and Aiden had their share of disagreements. Mostly when he talked about the hoards of models who all but threw themselves at his feet. She hated that Aiden could be so shallow when it came to women. He, on the other hand, never stopped poking fun at her selection of men. Jason being the latest was his favorite target. Jason was an attorney at his father’s law firm and completely head over heels in love with Cara, though she didn’t feel the same about him. How could she? She was crazy for Aiden. And even though she hadn’t as much as slept with poor Jason, Cara knew it was time to end the thing. Especially now.

“Oh, God.” She realized that she’d actually said those words out loud when
Aiden asked if she were going to be sick again. No, just riddled with guilt.

She’d given into Aiden way to easily. She wasn’t any different from the hoard of models. And she could just kiss the old excuse she was fond of giving Jason, of wanting to wait until she was sure she was established and set financially to start an intimate relationship, out the door. She hadn’t been waiting for anything but Aiden.

Please don’t let him guess the truth. Don’t let him know how crazy I am about him.

“Dammit, Cara? Are you sure you’re all right?” Aiden asked again, forcing her to answer.

“Yes, I’m sorry I was just thinking about
Jason.”

“Great. That’s just what I wanted to hear from the woman I’d spent the night making love to. That she’s thinking about another man.”

“Oh, like you weren’t thinking of Miranda every time you…you were only trying to get even. Get her out of your system. Hurt her. Looks like you did. Jason doesn’t deserve that. Even if Miranda does.”

“Just shut up about
Jason will you, Cara? I don’t want to hear about him or how happy you are with him. Apparently not happy enough. At least not in bed.”

If he’d actually been standing in front of her at that moment,
Cara would have given into the need to slap the hell out of him. As it was, she was glad that Aiden wasn’t. Otherwise, he’d see the color in her face. And the truth in her eyes.

“I’m hanging up now. I’ll call you in a few days when you’re thinking more clearly.” She almost had the receiver replaced when she heard him say, “You can’t,
Cara. I’m leaving today, remember?” It took a minute to get air in her lungs. Aiden’s promotion. The move to Little Rock. She remembered the promotion party because she’d helped plan it. But the fact that Aiden was leaving for Little Rock had always seemed far away. It wasn’t any longer.

Last night he’d told her that was what he needed to talk to
Miranda about. The promotion had been moved up when the current senior executive of Shelby Advertising ran away with his secretary. Aiden was now in charge and needed to get things in order as soon as possible. Apparently, the man had left a disaster in the wake of leaving his wife of twenty odd years.

Aiden
had told her all of this last night, right before they’d made love. Cara forgot all about the promotion and the fact that Aiden was leaving today after that. Until now.

Now, it felt as if her heart would literally break into a million tiny pieces. She tried not to show him how much the thought of him leaving hurt.

“Well, I guess you don’t have any reason to stick around Dallas anymore, do you Aiden? With Miranda…unavailable,” she told him frostily.

“I guess not,” he added, equally as cold. And the silence between them returned.

Cara stood in the middle of her bedroom, still dressed in her robe; her short, brown hair wet and dripping. All thoughts of the client she was supposed to be meeting in just a few minutes were gone. She wanted to cry. To beg him to stay. Instead, she was silent.

 
Aiden was the one to call an end to their childish behavior. She heard his heavy sigh before he told her he was sorry.

“I don’t want to fight with you
Cara. You’re my…friend. You mean too much to me. I’m sorry, but after last night, I don’t know how I should be treating you, I guess. Things got a little out of hand, didn’t they?”

“Yes.” She hated his apology. It only confirmed what
Cara knew already. Aiden would always only be her friend.

“
Cara, look, we should talk about this. I can change my flight.” She couldn’t speak. He was leaving now? She hadn’t expected him to be leaving so soon.

“I’ll come over there. We need to talk this through, baby?”

All heartbroken thoughts ended with that endearment. “No! And don’t call me that. I’m not one of your women, Aiden.”

“
Cara,” he added with another sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t think that you were. But we need to talk.”

“No,” she said, trying to control the sobs. She was crying again. She didn’t want to cry. She hated hearing the pity in his voice. The regret. She couldn’t talk to
Aiden like this. Not when he was leaving. Not when she was feeling this vulnerable.

“
Cara, please. I don’t want to leave it this way.”

“I can’t,
Aiden. I have a meeting in ten minutes.” Did her voice really sound as cold to him?

“Oh, I see. Silly me. I was actually worried that you might be upset about last night.” The anger was back. At that moment, she was almost glad. She didn’t know if their friendship could survive this mistake.

“Aiden, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant…” What? What did she want him to think? “I just think that we need some time apart. We’re both too emotional to discuss this right now. You’ve been hurt. I know that you loved Miranda…”

“Oh really?” he snapped.
Aiden’s anger had her even more confused.

“Yes, I mean you wanted to marry her, right? You must love her?”

“Does it matter now?” he said without really answering the question.

“You were upset. I was…”

“What Cara?” he asked softly, his voice reminding her of the way he’d talked to her last night. “You were what? I’d really like to know.”

“I was upset with
Miranda and I felt bad for you.”

Aiden
made a noise that sounded like a growl. “You know what, Cara. Go to your damn meeting. You’re right. Now is not the time to talk about his. Because right now, I want to ring your neck. I’ll call you later.”

“
Aiden,” she cried out, her voice cracking under emotions. She was too late. He was gone.

Cara
made a promise to herself to be unavailable when Aiden made that call.

* * * *

I was upset with Miranda and I felt bad for you? Aiden slammed the phone shut and somehow resisted the urge to throw it across the airport terminal. That was it? She was upset? She felt sorry for him? That was what last night had meant to her?

Breathe,
Aiden told himself when he caught the shocked reaction of several people walking by. They probably thought he was a terrorist.

This morning after waking up alone he’d been ready to drive over to her apartment and repeat last night all day long. He’d been willing to cancel his flight. Hell, he’d been willing to cancel his plans, his promotion. Everything for her and she’d felt sorry for him?

“Damn it.” Aiden repeated soft enough this time as to not arouse suspicion from the folks close by. She hadn’t wanted to upset Jason. Jason? That was all she could think about? Jason followed her around like a puppy. She couldn’t be in love with him. Not after last night. He might not know a lot about the hearts of women, but he’d learned some things from his two sisters. And he knew a woman did not give herself to a man, as Cara had to him, if she were in love with someone else.

Aiden
opened the flip phone and considered calling her back. He should apologize. He’d lost his temper. And she apparently wasn’t well.

The thought of the possibilities behind that sickness was frightening as well as satisfying. He never had sex without protection. Ever. He hadn’t even thought about it last night. Last night was the fulfillment of twelve long months of obsessing over a woman.
Cara could well be pregnant. That didn’t bother him at all. She could just as easily be sick at the thought of making love to him. That bothered him.

Cara
thought he was in love with Miranda. Where had that come from? Did she just assume because he’d kept Miranda around longer than most, or had Miranda actually told her as much.

Not once in the months that he and
Miranda had dated had Aiden ever led her to believe there was anything serious between them. Miranda believed all men were in love with her. He wished the poor chump that was her latest all the best. At least he could afford her.

Aiden
closed the phone without calling Cara. He needed to give her time. She was angry. Upset. She needed to cool off. He’d call her later and apologize and try to get her to listen.

He heard his flight announced and grimaced. Flying to
Little Rock was last thing he wanted to do right now. Arkansas only reminded him of Cara. She was a native of Arkansas just as he was a native Texan. She was a diehard Arkansas Razorback fan and he was a Longhorns fan. They argued over which team would win their yearly rivalry. Now their citizenships had been reversed. That had to be some kind of sign.

Chapter Four

Cara had avoided making eye contact with Shelby since her assistant returned from covering her meeting for her.

Shelby
’s voice had been full of unasked questions when Cara was forced to call and tell her friend that she’d overslept. That wasn’t exactly the truth. She hadn’t slept at all. At least not until it was almost too late for sleep.

“I’ll be in as soon as I can, but I need you to cover for me.”
Shelby’s silence had been enough to tell Cara how odd her behavior was. Cara never blew off a meeting. She’d gotten out of bed suffering from the worse case of flu in years to host a private party for a women’s group.

Now, as
Cara sucked down her fourth cup of coffee in less than an hour, she tried to shut out all thoughts of Aiden, her reckless behavior the night before, and all the possible things she’d given away to him.

Her stomach churned on empty. The coffee hadn’t helped her queasy stomach one little bit. Just the opposite.

She finished preparations for the evening’s party and pretended to miss Shelby’s curious glances until she could no longer stand the silence.

“Okay, stop it. I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned and faced her friend.

“What? I didn’t say a thing,” Shelby insisted with a blank expression as she finished the last of the decorations on the cake intended for tonight’s party.

“Oh yes you did.”

“Cara, I’ve been quietly putting red roses on this cake.”

“But you’re dying to say something,” she told her childishly.

Shelby put down her colored frosting and grinned impishly, looking more like Shelby. Those quiet little looks of hers were completely out of character. “Okay, yes. I want to know what’s going on with you today.”

“Nothing. Why?”
Cara couldn’t quite meet Shelby’s glance.

“Oh please!
Cara! You never miss an appointment. Never. And you haven’t even asked me about my evening?” Shelby knew her too well. She’d picked up on things that Cara hadn’t expected.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried about tonight. How was your evening?” she asked politely only to have
Shelby snort in response. Then the phone rang and their eyes locked.

“Aren’t you going to get that?”
Shelby wanted to know. Cara quietly shook her head and turned away.

Another snort.
Shelby was getting close to guessing the truth.

“
Delicious,” she answered sweetly while Cara resisted the urge to tell her to let it go.

A very pregnant silence followed as
Shelby held the phone away.

“
Cara, its Aiden,” she said quietly.

Cara
turned and shook her head, mouthing, ‘Tell him I’m not here.’

“I’m sorry,
Aiden, she’s out with Jason.” Cara groaned. Of all the excuses to give, that was the wrong one. She glanced at her friend’s expression. Shelby’s eyebrows lifted higher. “Can I take a message?” Silence while Shelby shot the obvious question back at her.

“Sure, I’ll tell her you’ve landed and that she should give you a call.”

The second the receiver hit the cradle, Shelby started the questioning.

“What the hell is going on between you two? You never dodge
Aiden. What happened last night?”

“Nothing.”

“Cara…”

Cara
turned and ran to the bathroom. She felt sick again. When she could finally leave the stall safely, Shelby stood waiting for her, Sprite in hand.

“Hear drink this,” she said quietly.

Cara took a couple of sips. “I slept with Aiden last night,” she mumbled, unable to meet what she knew would be Shelby’s shocked expression.

“Just say it…” she said, close to tears.