Page 95 of Long Shot

“That’s not it,” Carrie interjects.

I sigh. “You mean Cade.”

“Well?”

“Cade and I aren’t serious. I was up-front with him that I didn’t plan to stay here forever.”

“Was he up-front with you? He usually only spends one night with a woman. But you . . .”

“Yes, he was honest with me about that. He wanted more than one night, but nothing serious. So we were on the same page about that.”

“So if you move to Los Angeles, it’s no big deal.”

My heart contracts and I bend my head. “It shouldn’t be.” I do a fast breath in and out. “There’s also . . . you. And Hayden. And Marco and Beck. You all are m-my friends now.” My voice shakes and I fight for control.

“Yes, we are. And selfishly—I don’t want you to go.” Carrie reaches over and squeezes my forearm.

I attempt a smile.

“I know your career is important to you,” she says slowly. “But make your decisions for the right reason. When I was going to Spain, I thought I had to prove something. I thought I had to prove myself to my family. To everyone, really. But it turned out I actually didn’t, and I’d made this crazy plan to move to Spain for the wrong reasons.”

I move my head up and down, taking in her words, but this isn’t really the same.

“Anyway, we can still be friends,” Carrie says brightly. “L.A. isn’t that far.”

“Right. And thank you.”

“I think you and Cade need to talk about this.”

I scrunch my face up, then relax it. “Yeah.” I sigh. “I, uh, never mentioned that Graham and I had a relationship . . . years ago . . . when I worked for him.”

“No. You didn’t mention that.” Carrie leans forward. “Does Cade know that?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Carrie draws out the word. “Does Graham want to renew that also?”

“No!” I pause. “I don’t think so. No. This was a business offer.”

“Okay.” Carrie nods, her face wearing a troubled expression.

“I’ll talk to him,” I say. “It’ll be fine.”

So why do I feel like throwing up?

20

REESE

I can’t put it off forever, since Graham gave me only a couple of days to think about his offer. Cade is coming to my place tonight after work, which has become a routine in recent weeks. Sometimes I stay at his place, but I have to plan ahead and bring Jack when I do. Poor Jack, who still has no forever home.

Oh, my God, what will I do without Jack? The idea of giving him back to the shelter makes my chest hurt.

On top of my stomach, which has been in painful knots all day.

“All set?” Cade smiles at me as I leave the kitchen.

“Yeah. I’ll get my purse.”

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