“You’re taking time off? What the hell is going on?”
“I just…I need some time away.” She thought about telling Iris about the emails and the newest video, but somehow she couldn’t muster the energy.
“You’re running,” Iris said flatly.
“What?”
“I saw how you looked at Branden yesterday, Cara. And I saw how he looked at you. There’s something crazy strong between you and that’s freaked you out. You’re running scared.”
“Maybe I am,” she cried. “What I feel for Branden isn’t healthy, Iris. He makes me forget common sense, for God’s sake.”
“That’s what passion and love is supposed to do.”
“I’m not in love with him,” she said flatly.
Iris’s silence said loud and clear that she didn’t believe her.
“I’m not, Iris. But…” She hesitated, then said, “But I could see myself falling in love with him. And that’s crazy. He doesn’t represent the real world.”
“Fuck the real world,” Iris snapped. “What has the real world gotten you besides losing your father and having to take on responsibility for your mother and brother? You deserve more than that, Cara, and if Branden’s willing to give that to you—”
“He’s not. He had his housekeeper pack up my things and he approved my vacation, Iris.”
“That makes no sense.”
But it did, Cara thought. Sure, he’d said he wanted her gone to keep her safe, and he’d said that things weren’t over between them, but Cara wasn’t a fool. After he’d left her office with Deena, he’d obviously come to the conclusion that her leaving was for the best. Why else would he have written that note? He sure as hell hadn’t come after her.
“It makes perfect sense, Iris,” she said quietly. “Now, can we stop talking about Mr. Branden Duke and focus on the first vacation I’m going to be taking in years? I’m sitting here with the laptop open, staring at deals for vacations. I don’t want to go out of state, in case something happens with Mom or Glenn, so I was thinking about Niagara Falls. I’ve lived in New York my entire life and I’ve never been up there.”
Iris didn’t speak for a while, and Cara knew she was struggling with dropping the subject of Branden. Cara gave that to her, thankful when Iris finally said, “That sounds like fun. I’m jealous.”
“I’d love to take you with me. Think of all the fun we’d have.”
“Yes, but I just started a new job. I’d have a blast and come home unemployed. You’ll have to just have fun for me. Send me lots of pictures and I’ll live vicariously.”
“I will,” she said. “I’m going to book my flight and try to leave by Wednesday if I can. I’ll go see Mom and Glenn tomorrow and make sure all is well there.”
“Have them call me if they need anything. I would be happy to check in on them, too,” Iris told her. “Have your vacation, Cara. You take care of everyone else; go take care of yourself for a change.”
Her friend’s support bolstered Cara in a way nothing else could. “Thanks, Iris. I love you.”
“I love you more,” Iris said before hanging up.
Cara booked the flight, got herself a hotel room, and then went to bed. She would get up early tomorrow and go visit Glenn and her mom, then spend Tuesday night at her apartment before catching her flight first thing Wednesday morning.
In his Long Island mansion, Branden prowled the room in which he’d first set eyes on Cara. His skin was itching with the need to call her. With the need to command her to come to him and forget going on vacation by herself.
He could only imagine how she’d react to that.
Despite his frustration, he smiled.
She had to be the most exasperating woman he’d ever met. She was also the strongest, softest, sexiest, smartest… He could go on and on, and he could even use different letters of the alphabet. The problem was, he didn’t know what to do about it.
She seemed scared by the fact she threw caution to the wind around him, but the truth was he felt the same way about her. He’d never let his desires rule him to the point that he’d gotten involved with one of his employees. And he’d never, ever called a woman he was seeing “his.” Nor had he ever seen himself staying with one woman, but whenever he closed his eyes and thought about his future, he saw Cara by his side. The idea of spending the rest of his life