Page 19 of Caden's Situationship

You know why you can’t concentrate,my inner voice taunted me as it had every day for the past three days. Ever since I almost kissed Cordelia on the top of the hill. The rest of that day had gone smoothly, and for two days after, myself and the staff showed her the ins and outs of how Wild Valley Ranch worked. I even signed the contract yesterday, eager to have some help with the expansion, and true to her word, Cordelia had already reached out to her cousin. Come Monday, I had a construction crew scheduled to finish up the villas and updates to the cabins.

Work wise, things were going great. Regarding me and Cordelia, I guess I could only blame my damn self for why things were so awkward.

“Where’s your mind at?” Houston asked when he walked into the cabin we were working on.

“Nothing really,” I lied. “Just got a splinter, so I was debating on taking it out now or later.”

Houston froze. “You were thinking that deeply about a damn splinter?”

“Nah,” I said with a laugh, because it really did sound stupid. “I was thinking about how I almost kissed Cordelia a few days ago and things have been weird since then. I was the one who stopped the kiss.”

“Why? We both know yo’ ass been thinkin’ ’bout kissing her since she got here.”

“That may be true,” I admitted. “But even though she’s different than she used to be, she’s still kinda the same, too. Meaning, sex would be off the chain with us, but we couldn’t get into something serious.”

Houston laughed as he went about fixing the bench that I’d been fucking up. “Man, I don’t get you sometimes. You already know you’re the relationship type of guy, yet you get yourself into these situations with women where they are practically begging you to be with them. Or even fuck them. I know you got a thing for Cordelia. And yeah, she’s a little out there with her clothes, but she’s your type. She’s only out here for another two weeks, so why not just see where it goes?”

“You know why,” I told him. “She thinks she has me pegged, but you and I both know that there is a lot about me that she doesn’t know. Or have you forgotten some of the shit we’re involved with?”

“Dude, I know you better than anyone, so I already know that you’ve convinced yourself that opening up to Cordelia and telling her things about you that not even your family knows is some shit she wouldn’t be able to handle.”

“She wouldn’t,” I confirmed. “She’s not the only one who has changed some. You remember how hard times were for us back then? I’m not proud of all the decisions I made, but I’m damn proud of the man I am today. But Cordelia ain’t one of those type of women who would understand a man who isn’t wearing a business suit every day and involved with the shit I’m involved with.”

"Damn, you make it sound like we out here doing some illegal shit. I'll admit that Cordelia is a bit too prissy for our usual crowd, but, Caden, I didn’t tell yo’ ass to tell the woman all your secrets then marry her ass? You just signed the contract to work with her family’s business, so I know you ain’t that stupid anyway. Not to say it would affect your partnership, but I’m just sayin’ you could give her a chance and quit cockblocking yourself.”

I shook my head in frustration. “I don’t know, man. I’ll think about it.”

“Listen, I’m just tryin’ to help you out. But we got shit to get done, so while you’re standing there assessing your feelings, can you pick up some tools and get to work?”

I laughed because Hou was right. I could think about Cordelia later. Funny thing was, since she’d popped up at my house it seemed I couldn’t think about much else.

I wasn’t really a homebody,but every now and then, I liked to stay home and chill. After putting in a hard day’s work with Hou, I was ready to check out this new Netflix series I heard everyone talk about. And if I was lucky, I could keep my thoughts off Cordelia until we met tomorrow about the next steps of Wild Valley Ranch and Red Rose Investment Firm’s partnership.

Crazy how the moment I finished making my popcorn and started the series, my doorbell rang. Before I even opened my door, I had a feeling it was, “Cordelia …”

My voice trailed off and my heart tightened because the Cordelia standing on the other side of my door wasn’t the same one I’d been seeing since she arrived. Gone were the big hats, fluffy dresses, and fancy shoes. Instead, she was wearing loose white and pink striped pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved white shirt. Nothing was too tight. And I wasn’t surprised to see her feet covered in colorful unicorn slippers. Yet, it was her smooth, brown skin that was free of even a hint of makeup that made me pause.

I’d seen her hair down and curly over the past few days, but tonight, it was pulled back in a loose, low ponytail. Her big, round eyes that were one of my favorite parts about her were wide and curious; her eyebrows as neat and put together as she was.

Damn, she’s beautiful.She’d always been beautiful though. And even in her normal, everyday outfits, she stayed on my mind. But I’d always been a simple man, and the Cordelia that was still standing on my porch waiting for me to stop eyeing her like an idiot and invite her in was my kryptonite.

“Hi, Caden. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” Her voice was low, and I was so busy staring at her, I almost missed her slow perusal of my body. It wasn’t until her eyes stopped at my chest that I realized all I was wearing were jogging pants and hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt since I’d gotten out the shower.

“You aren’t bothering me,” I told her, finding my voice. “Please come in.”

“Thank you,” she said bashfully. When she stepped more into the light in my foyer, I noticed a slight glossy neutral tint on her lips. I wasn’t sure if it was lip gloss or lipstick, but shit, seeing her clear-faced with only that minor color was suddenly fucking with my mind in unwanted ways. Which meant, I at least needed to get decently dressed. “Let me put on a T-shirt real quick.”

She raised an eyebrow, mumbling something under her breath that sounded a lot like, “Do you really?”

“Uh, what was that?”

Her eyes widened in slight panic. “Nothing, I was just saying good idea because you could get chilly.”

“Ahh, okay. Be right back.” I was sure my laugh on my way up the stairs to my bedroom seemed as nervous as she was making me feel. When I got back, she was already sitting on my large couch watching the first episode of the series I forgot to pause when I went to answer the door.

“Everybody I know is talking about this show,” she said. “I started this series on my laptop when I got here. Just finished episode two.”

“I’ve been hearing a lot about it, too.” I grabbed an extra bottle of water and plopped down on the couch next to her. “If you don’t mind re-watching an episode or two, I’d love to have company.”

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