Page 42 of My Mistake To Make

‘I’m sorry,’ he grunts, and it takes a moment for confusion to overtake my desire. ‘Cara, I can’t.’

And then he’s gone. Out the back door without a second glance.

What just happened?

I sag against the wall, my lips still tingling from the fierceness of the kiss. That kiss. Oh, my god, I’ve never experienced anything like that. That kiss was better than any sex I’ve ever had. I raise my hand and press my fingertips to my mouth, then inhale shakily at the memory.

I hear the music outside and the clang of tools. He went back to work. He left me standing alone and went back to work.

Pushing away from the wall, I take some deep breaths as I look around the space. The wreck of a house I looked at a few weeks ago now looks like a blank canvas ready to be made into something beautiful.

The debris of years of neglect is gone. Any broken wood on the floors and walls has been replaced. I walk around, taking it all in. He’s worked his socks off to get it here.

I run my fingers over the now smooth wood of the banister and take a tentative step. The stairs don’t groan in protest—they feel strong and safe.

Making my way upstairs, my stomach knots with emotions: confusion, lust, joy, and hurt. So many feelings I don’t understand and don’t know how to manage. Upstairs it’s the same story—gone is the mess, and in its place, an empty shell.

‘Oh, Mum.’ I breathe, sadness tightening my throat and wetting my eyes. ‘I need you.’

She’d understand all this. She’d know what to do.

I head for her old room and make my way over to the window. Looking out, I see Doug sitting on the bed of his truck, staring out at the view. He has on a shirt now, and I have no idea what he’s thinking, but he looks as lost as I feel. As if he senses me watching him, he turns his attention up to the window, and I step back. I need to get away from this man, from these feelings, because I can’t help but think he’s going to crush my heart if I let him get that close to me again.

Risk-averse, Cara. You need to remember who you are.

Just because he looks nice and smells wonderful and kisses like heaven, don’t forget, he’s dangerous. He’s broken glass, an unsupervised fire, a broken balcony balustrade, and if you don’t watch out, you’re going to get cut, burned—you’re going to fall.

‘Cara,’ Doug says as I step out of the front door. If the expression on his face didn’t say he regretted kissing me, his voice definitely did.

‘It’s okay, Doug. It’s fine, really. I’m going to go.’

I start to walk toward the road, being careful not to get too close to him.

‘Let me take you back to town.

‘No,’ I shake my head. ‘I need the walk.’

His brow furrows and I notice his fists clench and then release, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he lets me walk away.

‘Missy.’ I can’t keepthe smile off my face as I welcome my new friend back to Forest Falls with a hug. ‘I’m so glad you made it.’

‘Me too,’ she chuckles. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a night away from home.’

I’m so excited to spend the evening with my friends. We’re all sleeping at Bree’s house, and it’s a new experience that I’m actually excited about.

‘So, you think your new friends will like me?’

Missy and I haven’t seen each other since she dropped me off outside the bar, but we talk and text all the time.

‘Yes, absolutely.’ I open the door to my cabin and let us in.

‘Ohh, this is nice.’ She flops down onto the bed. ‘So, are you going to tell his sisters what happened yesterday?’

My stomach knots at the memory, and I sit. I told Missy all about the kiss while I walked back to town because, honestly, I just needed to vent.

‘No, I can’t. It’s obviously something he doesn’t want to repeat and deeply regrets, so I’ll leave it at that.’

‘You haven’t heard from him since?’

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