Page 55 of No Place Like Home
He crossed his arms over his chest, warring against the temptation to pull her back against him. “That you did. So why fight this?”
Her eyes darted to the side, then to their feet. “I have my reasons.”
“Which are?” He ducked down, trying to catch her gaze.
“It’s getting harder to remember them, I can assure you.” She ripped the ponytail holder from her hair and twisted it between her fingers.
Was she tearing up?
Cade gestured between them. “We can go as slow as you want. I promise—I make an excellent tortoise.”
“You don’t understand.” She wrapped the tie around her wrist, then appeared at a loss for what to do with her hands. “I know it’s confusing.”
“Very.” Frustration rose in his chest and he fought to tamp it down. But the sudden crash back into reality—her version of it, anyway—was more jolting than he could handle. He wanted to go back to the dream world. The world where it was them and everything made a lot more sense. A world where Rosalyn confided in him and needed him. “I’m not seeing these reasons you keep talking about.”
“I can’t do this.” Her voice cracked. “I’m not—I’m…”
“What? You’rewhat?”
She shoved her hair behind her ears and met his gaze directly. “I’m married.”
Cade stilled. His heart stopped pounding, the rain stopped falling, and the wind stopped blowing. The world stood silent, all color bleeding to gray. His stomach dropped out from under him and he swallowed. Then nodded once. “I’d say that’s a pretty good reason.”
* * *
He wasn’t supposed to find out that way.
Or at all.
Rosalyn shoved her hands through her hair, now rapidly frizzing in the post-rain humidity, as she followed Cade through the French Quarter. Her stomach cramped with nerves. That hadn’t gone the way it should have. “Cade, wait.”
Without looking, he continued pushing through the crowds, heading for the parking lot where they’d left his Audi. “We’ve got to get back.”
Rosalyn struggled to keep up. Oh, why had she told him? That amazing kiss had thrown her off. Made her wish for things even a genie couldn’t grant. Then the guilt had slammed, stealing her breath. Cade didn’t deserve this. She’d wanted so badly to backpedal into friendship, but there was no going back after a kiss like that, was there?
They’d played with fire today, and she’d burned them both.
“Cade, please.” He’d pushed for a reason as to why she’d changed course suddenly…which was understandable but had also forced her premature confession out.
But he didn’t understand the whole picture.Shebarely understood the whole picture.
She trotted faster, weaving around a baby stroller and a man walking a bulldog on a diamond-encrusted leash. “Let me explain.”
Cade spun around on the sidewalk. “I don’t know that you can.”
She rocked backward. There it was. The expression she’d never wanted to see on Cade’s face when he looked at her—eyes cold and distant, jaw hard and set.
She’d lost him.
Rosalyn forced her hands to stop shaking, wishing she could throw herself back in his arms and forget the rest. She opened her mouth, but her words stuck. Now that she had his attention, she wished she didn’t. Zydeco music drifted from a nearby patio—the sound of tourists having a good time after the storm.
Except she’d launched herself and Cade straight into a new one.
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Are you married, or aren’t you?”
So much story to tell—and it was hard to form coherent sentences when he was staring at her like that. She squeezed her hands into fists. “Technically.”
Sadness replaced the anger in his eyes. “Then that’s all I need to know.” He started to turn back around.
