to go home,” she said back to him. She felt him shift and moved before he could reach for her. It was like pulling herself away from a magnet. Her clothes were strewn across the floor, and she quickly gathered them and padded to the bathroom.
In the bright light of the small space, Carrie dressed and then studied herself in the mirror over the sink. Her face was flushed, but she couldn’t quite keep the panic from showing in her eyes. Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to curb the panic that threatened to rise up inside her. She blinked several times, telling herself that she had things under control.
She understood that the physical connection could be amazing with Dylan, but it wouldn’t translate to anything more.
Allowing her heart to lead would only end in him breaking it all over again.
She straightened her sweater, finger-combed her hair and then exited the bathroom with what she hoped was a serene expression on her face.
“Is everything okay?” Dylan asked. He stood next to the bed wearing a faded T-shirt and athletic shorts and looking as invitingly rumpled as the sheets and comforter.
“I have to check on the other kittens,” she told him, once again using them as an excuse like some sort of throwback spinster.
“Are you going to come back?”
She shook her head. “Not a good idea.” Before he could argue, she took a step toward the door. “Are you okay with Barnaby staying here? It really wasn’t my intention to add another animal to your household. You can sneak in and grab him from Sam’s room now or I could pick him up in the morning if...”
“He’s fine.” Dylan’s tone was laced with frustration. “I don’t want to talk about the kitten, Carrie.”
Funny, she didn’t want to talk about anything at all. Not with the effort she was making to control her feelings, to prevent them from overruling her good sense. “Okay,” she answered. “I’ll see you later.”
He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends until it stood out in a half dozen spiky peaks. God, how she wanted to smooth them down. To smooth over all of both of their rough edges. “That’s it?”
“It’s better this way,” she told him, clenching her hands into fists at her sides. “We have fun together, but both of us know there’s nothing more to it.”
“We do,” he murmured without sounding the least bit convinced.
“Don’t forget the meeting tomorrow and the final run-through of the weekend schedule. We’re also going to talk about the new businesses interested in coming to Magnolia. They might be a good fit for the buildings you own.”
“I’ve got plans for those buildings and we both know they don’t involve whatever mom and pop shops might want a deal on a lease. That was Niall’s territory and look where it got him.”
A sharp ache cut across her chest. His callous reminder should make her happy. This was exactly the reason they couldn’t be together long-term.
“We’re not repeating the mistakes my father made in town.”
He walked toward her, and she instinctively backed away. Between the emotions of what had just happened between them and the overwhelming anger and frustration at his hardheadedness, she didn’t trust herself to allow him to touch her. Not when she felt like she might shatter from the inside out due to the riot of feelings pulsing through her.
Dylan immediately stopped. “Do you really want to do this now?”
“No,” she admitted. “I want to go home.”
His mouth thinned but he nodded. “Like I said, the kitten is fine here. What’s a little more poop to scoop in the grand scheme of things? At this point I’m up to my eyeballs in crap as it is.”
She knew he didn’t mean that as a personal attack, but the words still stung.
“Thanks for tonight,” she said, the manners her mother had insisted upon hard to relinquish.
“For the orgasm?” He gave a tight laugh. “Anytime, Carrie.”
Her cheeks flushed hot, but she didn’t respond. What in the world could she say to that?
Instead, she turned on her heel and fled the room, detouring to the kitchen to grab her purse and then heading out into the cool December night. She didn’t pause as she hurried to her car, driving the few blocks to her house on autopilot.
There was far too much to process about this night. Things she couldn’t deal with in her current state.
Things she wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to handle.
* * *
“I ALREADY