Dare to Resist (Wedding Dare, #0.5)(19)
Didn’t it? Or maybe not. Because it didn’t alleviate his concerns about what Tyler would think if he ever learned what Colton was like. Granted, Colton wasn’t a kiss-and-tell type of guy and these days, Tyler was often away saving the world one patient at a time, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear something through the grapevine.
Kady’s interest also didn’t resolve his concerns about where something between them might lead if he actually gave it a chance. He wouldn’t want to lose her over a night of great sex, that was for damn sure. Which argued for giving something more real, more lasting a fair shake. But that required opening himself up to the possibility that an affair could turn into a relationship that would become serious. Could he deal with that? Because if he couldn’t, then what this book meant to her should mean absolutely nothing to him.
Easier said than done. The thought of another man—any other man—roughing her up, holding her down, or f*cking her until her legs could no longer bear her weight made him want to smash something with his bare hands. Repeatedly.
Hell, just imagining some other guy having sweet, tender, missionary sex with Kady Dresco made Colton’s chest squeeze and gut sink.
Question was, what was he willing to do about any of it?
Chapter Five
Kady woke up slowly. She was so comfortable that she didn’t want to move. Her brain had a different idea, though, because it was immediately firing thoughts that tugged her into consciousness. Like, that she no longer heard the constant drumming of rain on the roof. Like, that she had no idea what time it was. Like, that she’d slept with Colton last night…and didn’t remember a thing about it.
That one jolted her upright onto her elbows. Looking to her left, she found the other side of the bed empty. She frowned. The covers were all flat, like they’d never been rumpled because they’d never been slept under. Shifting into a sitting position, she gasped.
Colton sat staring at her from the chair in the corner, arms crossed over his chest, long legs out in front of him. He must’ve inserted his contacts, because he no longer wore his glasses. And sadly, he’d tucked his T-shirt back into his dress pants and secured them again. He looked gorgeous, but he didn’t look happy.
“Hey,” she said, shaking off the fog of sleep.
His eyebrows hitched and an unreadable expression passed over his face. “Hey,” he said in a low voice.
She smoothed her hands over her hair. “It stopped raining?” He nodded. “What time is it?”
“Eight thirty,” he said, his jaw ticking.
He was irritated with her. Why? What could she possibly have done? “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Just peachy, cupcake. Why don’t you get dressed? You won the bet, so I owe you breakfast.”
Kady’s stomach squeezed and an icy dread slithered down her spine. Nothing about his tone or his eyes or his expression was playful. Normally, she’d be bragging about winning and he’d be doubling down on a new bet to regain the upper hand, but none of that seemed right with the way he was acting. “Uh, sure,” she finally said. Sliding her legs off the bed, she ensured that his dress shirt covered her before she retrieved her skirt from the floor and stood. “Just give me a minute,” she said as she scooped up her blouse and purse and made her way to the bathroom.
She freshened up and made herself presentable. Since he seemed to be in a rush for breakfast, she’d shower when they got back. When she was done, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Good enough.
Colton hadn’t moved at all. Still just sat in that chair with that implacable look on his face. Finally, when she stepped into her still-damp heels, he pushed himself out of his seat, and that was when she noticed that he already wore his shoes, too.
Kady frowned. “Did you not sleep last night?”
Collecting the key chain from the little table, he shook his head. “Couldn’t.”
“I’m sorry. Was it me? Did I do something to disturb you?”
His eyes narrowed and his lips pinched. Just for a moment. And then his expression was neutral once more. “Just had a lot on my mind,” he said.
Something was seriously wrong, but what could she do if he wouldn’t open up about it? Regret and disappointment chased away her appetite. She really thought they’d connected and clicked yesterday, but he must not have felt it. “Okay. Well, maybe a yummy diner breakfast will help,” she said, hoping to cheer him up and bring back even a little of the comfortable companionship and good times they’d had the night before.
He opened the room’s door and gestured for her to go first.
When she stepped outside, the air was so humid it literally sat on Kady’s skin. Dark clouds hung low in the sky as if the storm wasn’t yet sure it was done. As they made their way to the diner, she sidestepped all the huge puddles that filled the low spots in the parking lot. Great lakes of water also sat on the road and on the scrubby field of grass on the other side of the street. What were the chances that the roads that led to the airport were clear with so much standing water everywhere here?
Yesterday, they’d run across this parking lot, Colton holding her tight against his side, the rain hitting them despite the big golf umbrella. They’d laughed and teased and had a good time. Now, the four feet between them felt like a world, as distant as he was being. Kady just didn’t get it.