Page 45 of Trashy Affair Duet

I’m still not sure why I agreed to it in the first place, other than I seem to have an issue telling people no lately.

“He mentioned you and your friend stopped by.”

Flicking my gaze over the top of the menu, I study his expression, but if Kaden told him about our upcoming date, Cash doesn’t show it.

“Les and the guys have been trying to get a gig there for a while. I had no idea your brother owned a club.”

“It’s that whole separate paths thing I was telling you about. The family business didn’t interest him, much to our father’s irritation.”

“Parents can be a bitch sometimes. My mom hasn’t spoken to me in weeks. She’s not happy that I moved out here.”

“Why not?”

“Control, maybe? She likes to meddle. My sister goes along with pretty much everything she wants.” I shrug. “I’ve always butted heads with my mom.”

The server stops by our table, offering wine, but I decline.

Alcohol and married men don’t mix for me.

We give the server our dinner orders, and after he leaves us alone again, Cash picks up our conversation as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I know what you mean. Kaden and our father have never seen eye-to-eye.”

“What about you? Do you get along with your parents?”

He frowns. “For the most part. I’ve always followed the plan my father laid out for me. I imagine if I veered from it, things would get tense.”

“Your father sounds headstrong.”

“That’s putting it nicely. My mom had to strong-arm him into stepping down as CEO. He had a heart attack last year.”

“That had to have been scary.”

“It was. It happened right in the middle of the merger with Blake Holdings. The doctors said he was taking on too much and needed to slow down.”

“So you took his place in the company?”

“Didn’t have much choice. It was going to happen at some point anyway.”

The despondent note in his tone tugs at my heart. I know he loves his job—especially when he’s working on expansion projects. Those days tend to end long after the sun sets, because he’s too caught up in blueprints to take notice of the time.

Those are the days I stay to help him, even after he tries to send me home.

The server returns with our plates, breaking through the heaviness of our conversation. Cash ordered risotto, and I opted for lasagna. We’re quiet for a few minutes as we eat, gazes flicking up every so often and crashing together.

And this is starting to feel more like a date instead of a dinner between two colleagues, or two friends, even. I think about this Friday and my date with Kaden.

If I can only let my guard down long enough, maybe it’ll be fun. The thought makes me want to groan. Going out with Cash’s brother is too much of a bad idea to be considered fun. But he held up his end, since the band is playing at his club in a couple of weeks, so I need to keep my word and suck it up. Who knows, maybe it won’t be so bad.

Maybe some nothing-serious-kind-of-fun is what I need. Am I even the type of girl that can do that? I have no idea, but I think it’s time I find out. Because pining for a man I can’t have is more than pathetic. It’s unhealthy and wrong.

And dating a carbon copy of him is right?

I squash that annoying righteous voice into a pancake.

“I can hear the wheels turning in your head,” Cash says with a teasing smile. “What’s on your mind, Jules?”

“Things I shouldn’t be thinking about.”

His eyes darken, following the movement of my fork as I shovel a bite of lasagna into my mouth. After swallowing, I lick the sauce from my lips. My mind is screaming retreat, retreat, retreat! But my mouth has other ideas, because my next words betray me.

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