I doubt either of us will bring it up again. Maybe we had to see, but now that we have, that’s bound to be the end of it.
I’ll focus on business, on doing my job and being the boss.
I haven’t lost anything. Not really.
The following Friday, I’m sitting at my uncle Beau’s bar next to Gabe. This time I’ve been smart and gone with the crowds, instead of to the remote dive where I ran afoul of Caden last week.
Gabe smiles at me. He’s all handsome and shiny, with his dark brown eyes and mussed auburn hair.
He tilts his head. “Things still going well with Caden?”
“Yep.” We are back on the right track. I take a sip of my beer before shrugging. “He’s great. Burt running off is almost a godsend.”
Since the day in my office, Caden and I have kept our distance, speaking only about business. He’s so cool it almost makes me wonder if I imagined the whole thing, like it was some boozy dream.
I should be happy. I’m getting there, but he still affects me more than I want. My saving grace is I’ve been pretty good at hiding it.
He’s been better, though. Not that I’m keeping score, but if he’s hiding his attraction at all, I couldn’t tell.
“Good. I knew you wouldn’t be sorry,” Gabe says, twisting his bottle in his large hand.
I nod. Wyatt, Jackson, and Gwen are so happy I’m getting a little tired of all their raving. It irritates me that Caden’s so much better at managing the farm than I was. It stirs up things I’ve been ignoring for a long time.
Things about my place in my family. My usefulness. My purpose. I do my job well; I’ve worked hard to learn everything I could about the distilling process and the farming for Jackson and Gwen’s restaurant. But I don’t have the same passion that infuses everyone else. I’m going through the motions, while they’re all humming with barely contained excitement.
Reminding me I don’t share whatever’s fueling them. It makes me feel…lonely.
I realize Gabe is watching me, and I plaster a smile to my face. “Thank you again for the recommendation. I’m forever in your debt.”
I’ve become somewhat obsessed with Caden’s past, and have taken to scouring Google, even though I already know he’s a ghost on the internet. It’s fascinating. He’s like a relic from the past. He doesn’t have a smart phone. He’s never even asked for wifi in the cabin where he resides. The only time he appears to use a computer is in his office, and he’s obviously kept his digital life to the barest minimum.
It’s so frustrating. How come you can never find the guy you’re looking for on the internet? What good are all these stalking tools when they don’t give you information on the people you want?
I sigh.
Gabe chuckles. “What’s that for?”
I shrug. “Nothing. Hard week.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I shake my head. “Nope.” I point to the dance floor where the bayou music piped through the speakers has people swaying to the beat. “You want to dance?”
“Sure thing, Kit-Cat.” He calls me by the nickname I’ve had since we were twelve. He grabs my hand. “Let’s help you blow off some steam.”
Yes, that’s what I need, since sex is nowhere in my foreseeable future. That didn’t bother me in the slightest before, but now it’s like a dull ache living inside me. Clearly, I’ll have to supplement. Dancing seems as good a sport as any.
I tap my free hand on the bar and yell over to my uncle. “Don’t let anyone steal our spots.”
My uncle Beau, still good looking and rugged at sixty, grins at me. “Would I let anyone do that, girl?”
No, he wouldn’t. He practically raised us after our father took off to parts unknown. He’d protect us at any cost, and a seat at the bar is no exception.
Hands loosely clasped, Gabe and I push past the crowd make our way onto the floor. He swings me into his arms and pulls me close, before leading me into a two-step.
We’ve been dancing together forever, and we find our rhythm without fail. I do my best to lose myself in the music and forget about the man I can’t seem to shake from my thoughts.
One song turns into two, and then three. We sway and twirl around the floor, and the movement feels good, the heat and sweat like a tonic.