Chapter 9
Cara
I seriously had no other explanation, other than that I was dreaming. This is the stuff that Prince Charming was made from. Which reminded me again that it meant he was too good to be true. I was torn between completely letting myself go and enjoying it, or running before I found out what he was hiding underneath the charming facade.
Sure, this could end in disaster, like things had with LJ, but I’d resolved to put LJ from my mind for the rest of the weekend. I just needed to focus on enjoying myself because after the hell LJ put me through last week, I needed this break.
As we parked at Buoy 44, he opened my door as usual.
“Would you like to sit outside?” Caden motioned to the deck. Bright blue umbrellas matched the blue of the ocean, and were positioned over picnic tables that made the restaurant even more endearing. I wondered why I had never been here in any of my previous visits.
“Absolutely!” I turned to him and locked my eyes with his.
The salty breeze blew a few strands of hair across my face, and gently pushed them back behind my ear.
“You are so beautiful,” he said quietly.
Everything in me wanted him to kiss me, standing right there in the parking lot. I could tell he was feeling it too, but then he grabbed my hand and turned to lead me to the entrance instead. Feeling disappointed, I followed along.
The inside was the typical nautical-themed restaurant, and the waitresses and waiters were friendly and all wearing smiles, though not as large as the one that seemed like it was now permanently tattooed on my face. As we followed the hostess toward the outdoor area, I could feel the other patrons watching us. No doubt they were looking at this gorgeous man, with his broad shoulders and confident walk and wondering how I had gotten so lucky. If possible, my smile broadened even more as I allowed them to envy me, and they didn't even know the half of it.
My dress blew slightly in the breeze as we stepped through to the patio, and I smoothed it down, feeling the butter-softness of it again. I didn't remember ever having such a simple dress that felt so good on me. I would have never bought it for myself. I would have never let a man buy it for me before now, because it went against my theory of being practical with money, and would have made me feel bad. However, Caden seemed to really enjoy being able to buy the clothes for me, in a way that I didn't feel like he would ever want anything in return.
Caden allowed me to take my seat before sitting across from me at the picnic table, and he thanked the hostess. Turning his bright blue eyes to me, he smiled as he shook his head, “Cara, I don't know what you do to me, but I like it.”
I blushed in response and said, “Caden, you make me feel things I've never felt with anyone before. It honestly makes me nervous. I feel like there's so much I don't know about you.”
“Ask me anything. Let's get to know each other. But, first,” he nodded toward the waiter headed our way, “let's start with one of their famous cocktails.”
Caden ordered two “summer punches” and some shrimp skewers while I watched the waves roll in to the shore and then recede. The motion of the waves always relaxed me, but not even the waves could quench the anxiety and desire that I felt sitting across from Caden, who had once again taken charge of ordering for us.
I realized that while I was staring off in to the distance, the waiter had left and Caden was watching me, his eyes twinkling in the sun as I turned back to him. I had to think of what I wanted to know, other than everything. I started with, “Where did you go to college?”
“I went to UNC. Go Tarheels!” He laughed. “I was there on a track scholarship. The 400-meter was my best event, but once my sophomore year hit, I lost my steam. I was no longer placing, and I lost the scholarship money. I wasn't sure what to do with the General Business degree I was going for, so I added Marketing Management as my minor. I took out a student loan, got a job at a factory counting screws for money, and the rest is history.”
“Wait, you counted screws?” I chuckled, imagining him sitting with hunched shoulders counting smalls crews all day.
“Yes. I worked for SCO, the Screw Company. They sold screws for automobiles. My job was to constantly inventory the amounts of screws we had available and let the more important people order more when we needed them. I even got my special forklift license,” he added the last sentence in a bit of a country accent. Somehow him having a lower level job and paying his way through school made him even more attractive.
Our drinks and appetizer arrived, and Caden ordered the fish tacos for us both, and then turned back to me. “Do I get to ask you questions, too?”
“As long as they’re appropriate,” I quipped.
“How do I get you to trust me?” he asked. “I can tell you're holding back. I want to know all of you.”
“Wow. It's that obvious?” I wondered aloud, but mostly to myself.
“I want to know how to get Cara Lauren to let go. How to allow her to have a good time.”
He was waiting for an answer that I didn't know how to give. I mean, obviously I was reserved with this man that I had just met, but I realized that it was more than that. I had picked LJ because he was safe. He wanted simple, and I could give him simple, but also show him things he hadn't had before. I was different from the pretentious girls LJ had known from law school. Laidback, in touch with the part of him that wanted something bigger than the paperwork the law required. I also had lived a few years in the luxury of a six-figure salary, thanks to a job in sales right out of college, where spending wasn't an issue. I didn't have to try to impress him, and I had no guard to let down. In a sense, I didn't realize it, but I’d felt comfortable with LJ because I felt a bit superior to him. I think that's why I was so hurt when he left. How could he leave me, who was better than anyone he'd had? I gave him everything. However, the one thing he wanted, I never had given him, and Caden picked up on that. I wasn’t quite ready to admit to that, though.
“What do you mean? I'm having a great time. It's just that I barely know you,” I automatically responded.
“I can't tell there are still walls that need to come down. And, I will be here waiting for when they do. That fool of an ex-boyfriend must be on the same level of my ex-girlfriend.” He looked in my eyes as if he was looking right through me. Luckily, I was saved by the arrival of our meals.
“Wow, I guess we need to at least start on the shrimp,” I observed, as we hadn't even touched our appetizer yet.
“Yeah, I guess we should,” Caden agreed, reaching for my plate to serve me some of the shrimp, in addition to the fish tacos. My mom had not raised a girl to eat like a bird, so I had no trouble digging in to the fresh seafood.
“Wow. This is delicious,” I noted after a bit of the taco. I was never a fan of slaw on tacos, but the vinegar and pepper in these tacos made for the perfect balance of spice and bitterness.
“The fish tacos here are renowned,” he raved, “even Jonathan Gold flew here from L.A. to try them. He wrote an article naming them the best fish tacos on the East Coast.” Did Caden really just say that he followed a food critic? Either he had the psychic abilities to know all I cared about in life, or he was so in tune with my world that it was crazy.
“You certainly know the way to this girl’s heart,” I teased, taking another juicy, and messy, bite of the taco.
“I work so often that when I do get a chance to eat out, it’s always alone. What else is there to do but critique and find the best food in town, when it’s your only companion?” He looked down at the food, with only a touch of sadness in his eyes.
Suddenly, there was a bellow from just inside the door, “Caden, you dog! I've been looking for you everywhere!”
It was Graham. How had that fool found out where we had gone?
“Graham,” I heard Caden clear his threat, and looked over to see why Caden had stopped mid-sentence. Trailing behind Graham was LJ. My LJ.
My heart jumped in my throat, stopping the air from entering in my lungs. I could feel my face start to get flushed, and I couldn't even think. What was he doing here? Why was he with Graham?
“I believe you know this lad,” Graham said, jabbing a thumb toward LJ. “I overheard him at the front desk, asking for you, Cara. Once he told me his story, I knew I had to help him find you.”
Graham winked at me, purposefully avoiding Caden’s glare. Caden looked at me, his eyes full of confusion, and then, in an instant, full of clarity as mine filled with tears.
“LJ,” I started, but I couldn't finish. I looked back at Caden with the hope that he could read the apology in my eyes as I pushed back my chair. “Excuse me.”
Rising on shaky legs, I walked to the ladies’ room. It wasn't a graceful exit, nor a brave one, but I could not make my mind cooperate and help me understand what was even happening.
I splashed cold water on my face and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Wasn't this what I had wanted? For LJ to show up and woo me back? I couldn't shake the understanding look in Caden’s eyes, though. I was a woman. I was supposed to want two men to try to win my heart. I just didn't know which one I wanted to win this battle. I didn't know which one I even wanted to explain things to when I got back to the table. And damn Graham. Why would he cross his brother like this?
I couldn't stay in the bathroom any longer without drawing concern, so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and walked back out. As I approached the door to the patio, my heart was beating faster than I had ever experienced before, as I wondered what they would be talking about when I got there. I realized, after another four steps, that I didn’t need to worry about them talking. Only LJ was left at the table.
“LJ, how did you find me? Where have you been? Why did you leave me?” The questions I'd been wanting to ask coming pouring out with my tears.
“Cara, my beautiful Car,” he reached toward my hand, and as I turned away, he searched to meet my eyes, “I was so wrong. I'm so sorry. I asked at the gym, and one of the instructors said you came here—I’ve been asking for you at every hotel. We are so good together, and I got scared. But I'm here now, and I'm never going to leave you again. You are my everything.”
Tears flowed down my face, but I didn't even care. The person who I’d known I would spend the rest of my life with was back for me. And he was sorry. What more could I ask for?
Caden’s eyes flashed back in my mind. He was everything that LJ wasn't. He was worldly, kind, less social, but more introspective and romantic. And he wanted me to trust him. He had begun to trust me, and I had let him down. Caden hadn't even stayed to try to see my side of what happened. Who knew what LJ had said to Graham. There was no going back.
“Let me take you home, Cara. Let's go back to our home,” LJ pleaded.
“I can't just leave. I still have a room reserved for tonight. I also need to get my bill here,” I stumbled over words as I tried to put thoughts together.
“Your new guy friend paid the tab for you two,” LJ snorted. “Don't worry, I forgive you. I know why you went on a date with him. We will make it all better.”
Hesitantly, I glanced at the beach that had held so much beauty a half hour ago, and now, like my life, was starting to rise and crash in a more erratic manner. No longer were the waves calm, but they were pushing against the breeze that had become a fury of gusty winds. I took LJ’s hand, the hand I had known for so long, and followed him out.