Page 13 of A Little Bit Engaged
“I haven’t agreed,” Cara fired back. “Caitlin said I didn’t have to decide until tomorrow.”
That meant Cara would take each minute, every second, allotted to her before deciding. Unless he could push her along faster. “One night will make that big a difference?”
“Yes. No. Maybe.” Cara had a faraway look in her eyes. “I need time to think.”
She could be stubborn. If Cara needed time to decide, she would take it.
Which sucked. But what could he do?
“Fine, but remember,” he said. “The clock is ticking.”
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The imaginary second hand reverberated through his head. He never imagined Cara not saying yes, but now he wasn’t sure she would. “It’s late. Go to bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Goodnight, Brody.”
“Sweet dreams.”
He needed her to wake up willing to wear his engagement ring and be his fake fiancée…his pretend bride. Otherwise, he had no idea what he would do…or tell Caitlin.
CHAPTER FOUR
The phone was ringing. Eyes closed, Cara groaned. She hadn’t slept well, and she didn’t want to answer the call. Was it even time to get up? She didn’t want to know the answer.
Another ring. And another.
Wait a minute.
Her eyelids opened.
That wasn’t her ringtone.
It only took a second for her to remember…
Brody.
He was here. Sleeping on her couch.
She hadn’t dreamed last night.
A weight pressed against her. Muscles tightened into hard balls and knots. The churning in her stomach had nothing to do with needing breakfast.
I need you to marry me.
She buried her face in the pillow.
Why was this happening? Cara wasn’t any closer to deciding whether to accept the fake marriage proposal than she’d been last night. The reasons were twofold—Caitlin and Brody.
Cara didn’t want to hurt her sister, but she couldn’t shake her own misgivings. Growing up, Caitlin had been the puppet master with Brody and Cara as her marionettes. That had only worsened as they got older because they both wanted to make sure Caitlin’s anxiety didn’t send her off the deep end again. Yet something about this particular scenario screamed self-created drama. Cara had played into her twin’s hands before but never in such a public way.
And then there was Brody.
Once upon a time, Cara had wanted to be with him so badly she would have settled for a make-believe engagement. Anything to give her a taste of what dating him would be like. But she’d put those feelings behind her. Moved on—physically and mentally—as best she could. No sense dredging up her crush or the emotions again.
“What?” Brody yelled from the living room, his angry voice echoing through the condo. “How did they find me?”
Uh-oh. The edge in his voice didn’t sound good.
