I flinched. Ouch. That felt unnecessary.
“Yeah.Lucky,” I echoed dryly. “Since people are usually disgusted by me.”
Cade finally looked at me. “I didn’t mean it like that?—”
“No, I get it.” I waved him off. “You already told me I’m not your type, so it makes sense you’d think he wouldn’t like me. After all, your mom clearly doesn’t.”
Cade’s fingers paused on his fifth button. “It’s been a long day, and I don’t want to argue with you. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“I’d rather talk about it now.” I frowned. “Honestly, today sucked. Really sucked. We’re supposed to be in this together, but it feels like we’ve been on different pages ever since your mom showed up.”
I was on the page where we still treated each other like human beings, while Cade seemed to have forgotten basic kindness.
He finished unbuttoning his shirt and shrugged it off, followed by a white undershirt he stripped off in one fluid move.
It usually would’ve been distracting, but I resolutely kept my gaze on Cade’s face instead of all the smooth bare skin, even as my left eye twitched.
“My mother thrives on manipulating everyone around her.” He tossed his shirts into the closet and rubbed a hand down his face. “I spent all day with that exhausting woman, and I don’t want to waste more time talking about her now. Just get in the bed, Ellie.”
I blinked as he stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. The shower turned on moments later.
I glanced at the cloudlike bed before looking at Whiskey, who peered back at me from his red pillow.
“‘Just get in the bed’?” I mimicked with a scowl, earning a tail flick from my cat.
I didn’t want to get in the bed. Not now. Not until we talked about this, and definitely not while Cade had this stick up his butt.
Nope. Screw that.
Instead ofgetting in the bed, I collected Whiskey and my pillow—making sure to tuck my nightly piece of chocolate into my bra before wedging the pillow under my arm—and marched to the cabin’s exit.
I cracked the door open before pausing, and my grip flexed on the polished doorknob.
This felt… wrong.
Whiskey wiggled in my arm, and I tightened my hold on him while slowly closing the door with a frown.
“Give me a sec,” I whispered to him as it dawned on me. “I just need to do one thing…”
Retracing my steps to the bed, I grabbed the chocolate off Cade’s pillow before walking out the door without looking back.
empty bed
. . .
Cade
The shower was supposed to help.
It didn’t. Not even a little.
Water beating down on my back did nothing to ease the knots. Tension stayed lodged between my shoulder blades. My mind raced, trying to predict how my grandfather would play this going forward. What had Ellie said to him? Did he believe our ruse, or was this about to blow up in my face?
He liked Ellie—that I was sure of. The fact was as gratifying as it was surprising.
Finding her talking to him had been…alarming. I’d instantly imagined all the different things she could be rambling to him about—from unicorns to cuddling to slippery crabs and cat café stories.
I’d gotten whiplash when Grandfather grinned at her. The most I’d seen that man smile was when he pulled out the cigars after closing a major deal, yet it only took two minutes after meeting Ellie for him to smile.