Page 47 of A Little Bit Engaged
Jackson handed Cara a spiral notebook. “Write down anything you’ll need for the next few days. The basic stuff we know to pack.”
“You make a habit of packing for people?” she asked.
Jackson was handsome with rugged good looks and an athletic physique, but his eyes were dark, serious, and…haunted. “We do whatever the job requires.”
Probably better not to ask. She wrote several items, including Loki’s scratching post, to the list. That might save the expensive furniture from his claws. After pulling her keys from her purse, she handed them and the list to Jackson. “I think that’s everything.”
He scanned her list. “Not a problem. I’ll call if we can’t find something.”
“All my stuff is on top of my bag in the living room,” Brody said.
Jackson and Rizzo raised their eyebrows.
Uh-oh. She forced a smile. “I toss and turn. Can’t get comfortable. Am nauseous almost twenty-four hours a day. Poor Brody can’t get any sleep.”
“That’s right. She keeps me up all night.” Brody picked up right where she left off. “We’re hoping things improve after the first trimester. Sleeping on the couch and celibacy suck.”
Rizzo and Jackson laughed. Cara managed to keep smiling and not cringe.
“Then it’s a good thing there are two bedrooms here. This place belongs to a friend,” Jackson said. “Make yourselves at home. Help yourself to whatever’s in the kitchen. Lex and Kai are stationed in the apartment across the hall.”
That got her attention. “Apartments next to each other?”
“You can never have too many friends.” Smiling, Jackson headed to the front door. “Be back shortly.”
“Don’t worry about your cat,” Rizzo said, as if knowing she was concerned about Loki. “He’ll be fine.”
With that, he followed Jackson out of the apartment. The door closed behind them, and the lock clicked into place.
Cara rubbed her arms, trying to warm up. She’d been chilled all morning even though it wasn’t that cold out. “How do you get used to this? We’re prisoners.”
“It’s for our own safety.” He touched her shoulder.
The warmth of his hand comforted her. Common sense told her to step away, but she didn’t listen. Instead, she leaned closer.
“And Loki’s, once he arrives,” Brody continued. “Funny, but I love that silly black cat. And I…”
Her breath caught. Was he going to say he loved her, too? Suddenly, this day didn’t seem like her worst ever. He’d said he loved Caitlin on many occasions. But he’d never said that about—
“I owe you,” he finished.
Cara’s shoulders drooped. Her disappointment wasn’t a twinge. It was more like an ache, a pain deep within that squeezed her heart.
So not what she wanted to hear, especially when he felt he’d owed Caitlin for his career, but Cara half-laughed at herself for thinking he would say anything else, feel more than friendship or camaraderie for her. She knew better.
He motioned to the table. “You should eat.”
“No, thanks.” The thought of food made her stomach gurgle. “The stress got to me earlier. My tummy still hasn’t settled.”
“I don’t know why Caitlin said you were pregnant. I asked my publicist to check the Trouble in Tulle script. No characters are pregnant.”
“I appreciate you looking into it, but Caitlin saying I’m pregnant has nothing to do with her movie.”
His forehead creased. “Then why?”
“Ego.” Caitlin wasn’t that difficult to figure out when Cara stepped back and studied this analytically. “My sister didn’t want others to think you dumped her. The pregnancy allows her to save face because I trapped you into doing the right thing by marrying me. You were forced to leave her. So under this new scenario of hers, I not only stole my twin’s boyfriend, but I also slept with him and got pregnant on purpose.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “That’s…”
