Page 12 of A Little Bit Engaged
She handed back his phone. “Caitlin claims not to have planned this, and that everything just happens to tie into the movie.”
“Do you believe her?” The question slipped out.
“You must be rubbing off on me because I want to believe her.” Cara’s gaze traveled to the engagement ring sitting on the coffee table. “But this situation has disaster written all over it. Epic failure.”
“Maybe, but what choice do we have?”
“I get you’re willing to go all in. You’re a portrait in concern with your tone matching your creased brow.” Her mouth slanted. “But I’m not as sure of what we need to do as you are.”
His muscles bunched tighter.
“What’s it going to take to convince you?” He regretted asking the question. Yes, he was annoyed and frustrated, but he shouldn’t take out his feelings on her. She hadn’t asked for any of this. Still, he needed to know her answer.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I have serious doubts about whether we could even pull off acting engaged.”
“We just have to fake it.” He spoke too fast. His filter had completely turned off. That happened when he was losing patience or upset. Tonight, he was both. He would try another tact. “It’ll only be for two weeks, three max. What’s the big deal?”
“You can’t seriously mean that?” Disbelief dripped from her voice. “Everyone who sees that interview will think I’m…not a nice sister.”
“Come on.” He tried to laugh off her concern, but he sounded more anxious than amused. “You’re the best sister and friend. Caitlin and I know that. What others think doesn’t matter. This will be a big adventure.”
“Caitlin’s the adventurous one.” Cara’s face puckered as if he’d asked her to swim to Alcatraz. “I prefer to escape between the pages of a book.”
“Then it’s time to close the cover and live your own story.”
After he removed the ring from the velvet box, he held the diamond so flashes of color shot around the room. She’d never been into jewelry. The way to her heart was with a first-edition book, the older the better, but money had to be tight after being laid off for so long even with her part-time job, which was why Caitlin had offered free rent. If he’d given Cara a book to sway her, she would keep it. The engagement ring wouldn’t mean anything to her.
“When this is over and life is back to normal, sell the ring. Use the money however you want. For yourself or the library programs you want to start.”
As her mouth formed a perfect O, hope filled her eyes.
He’d been right. She needed the money.
That made him feel guilty for not helping her sooner.
Still, Cara didn’t shout yes, but he didn’t expect her to. She never jumped into the deep end of a pool. Instead, she waded in, using the steps, one at a time. She was the type to hesitate, weigh the pros and cons before making any decision.
Loki meowed and rolled over.
Her gaze went from the cat to Brody. “No one will believe we’re engaged. I look nothing like Caitlin or someone you’d fall in love with.”
“You’re beautiful, too.” Cara was, just not in the same way as Caitlin. “Remember how you turned heads at the Academy Awards?”
“That’s only because you hired hair and makeup people to make me pretty after a day of being pampered at a spa.”
Being Caitlin’s twin hadn’t been easy on Cara. Growing up, she’d never attempted to compete with her sister. While Caitlin starred in one of their garage or backyard productions, Cara was the one who’d made up the stories and directed the plays. She hadn’t minded letting Caitlin take the spotlight every single time.
“Stop selling yourself so short.” They’d had this conversation before, though usually Caitlin sided with Cara. “All you have to do is look in the mirror, and you’ll see I’m right.”
“You’re my friend,” Cara countered. “You have to say that.”
Letting this discussion drop was the smart thing to do, but he wanted to say one thing first. “Someday, you’ll see that I’m right. Until then, we’ll just have to convince people we’re in love. That’s no different from what Caitlin and I have been doing.”
“Except you’d been in love before.”
Love? He wasn’t so certain he’d been in love with Caitlin. Oh, he’d cared about her, but something more like mutual survival had brought and kept them together. He and Caitlin had clung to each other during the rocket ride to stardom, a thrilling journey, but one also filled with desperation and uncertainty.
“Forget about that.” Brody tried to sound nonchalant, but wasn’t sure he’d succeeded. He needed Cara to agree without him having to beg. But if that ended up being required, he would. “You can do this.”
