Affinity (Part II)

He sauntered over, that sexy walk of his drawing her eyes toward his hips, bringing back memories that heated her face. His smile was one of joy, not surprise. Hmmmm…she wondered what that meant, exactly, but she didn’t intend to stick around to find out. One look into those gorgeous, long lashed hazel eyes of his, and she knew she had to run like hell or get caught in his spell, and the latter was not her idea of intelligence. 1

Pushing aside the chair, which she was afraid she might get her feet wrapped around in her determination to get away, she hastily headed for the door to the kitchen. She didn’t make if far, though, and deep inside she’d known he would catch her…she’d wanted him to catch her, in all honesty. As much as he terrified her, he excited her too, on some elemental level she couldn’t explain. 2

His scent drifted over to tease her as she was flooded by warmth from the fingers that tightly held her wrist. She put up a token resistance, but she knew she couldn’t cause a scene here, though she wouldn’t fight him anyway. 3

“What do you want?” she whispered, not really sure where the words came from. It was obvious from the look in his eyes that he wanted her…4

He had the nerve to smile. “It’s nice to see you again, too,” he offered wryly.5

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever. I asked you a question. What are you doing here?” she asked, a little more confidently. After all, they were on her turf, now. She was the one calling the shots.6

“I’m doing great. Thanks for asking. How have you been?” he said, his voice mocking her discomposure. 7

“Will you stop, damn it?” she hissed, leaning a little closer as she lowered her voice. 8

“If you think you can be civil, I guess I can manage being nice.”9

“Awww…you’ve just so sweet, Cade. I’d forgotten that about you, you know? But you haven’t changed a bit. You’ve still got to be the most wonderful person who ever walked this planet,” she simpered, her eyes filled with mock sincerity.10

“Yeah? I guess Nikki rubbed off on you and turned you into a smart-ass, too, huh?” he asked sweetly.11

“She taught me a few things I’ll need to get by in this world,” she corrected. Finally, she sighed. “Will you just tell me what you want? I have work to do, and my husband will be here soon.” Her tone was syrupy-sweet, and she smiled as she watched emotion flicker through his remote eyes.12

“Yeah, I heard about him. He got you working with the hired help?” 13

“No, I choose to work. Now will you just ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION?” she practically shrieked. 14

“Alright, alright. Just spare my eardrums, please,” he begged.15

She tapped her foot impatiently. She hoped he’d feed her some pretty lie, though she knew he wouldn’t. That wasn’t his style. He had many faults, but honesty wasn’t one of them. 16

“I got a job about an hour away, so Shane asked me to drive down since I haven’t seen him in a while, right? So I came down here, and I stayed in one of Nikki’s spare bedrooms. God, her house is huge. Why would one person need a house that big? She’s even got a guesthouse, ya know? I’m sure you do, though. After all, you’re still best friends, aren’t you?”17

“Get to the point,” she commanded.18

“Okay, okay… so I started thinking. It’s just like old times. Shane and Nik are together, better than before, it seems. All that’s missing is you and me.”19

“Hello, did you hear me? I’m married. What are you getting at?”20

He reached out and ran a finger down the side of her cheek. She brushed him off. “You don’t love him,” he stated, and she turned her head, refusing to admit the truth in his statement. “I’m not offering you the world, Kara. I’m not offering much of anything. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll walk away and you can go back to your wonderful marriage, I’ll go back to being single. I just want to see if we still have it, the way we used to.” 21

He smiled that charming smile, and she almost found it hard to refuse him. Somehow, she managed to stare coldly into those piercing eyes. “Is that all?” she asked haughtily.22

He looked a little taken aback by her abrupt change in attitude. “Yeah, that’s it.”23

“Good. Now get out of my restaurant. You’ve thrown your bait, but this fish isn’t biting,” she ground out between clenched teeth, sending her hair flying as she turned forcefully and walked away, leaving him staring at her back. 24