Page 21 of Love or Leave

Lucky for him, Cara was tipping toward a panic attack and hadn't noticed that he stopped speaking.

She fidgeted with a charm dangling from her bracelet as her eyes darted around the room. "Is your family going to ask me things?"

His gaze scanned her body, from her gorgeous red lips down her tight dress and endless pale legs. There wasn't a chance hewas going to walk in and not draw everyone's curiosity. Not only because Cara was gorgeous but also because his family had only ever seen him with Fran.

And they were the nosiest bunch of people on earth. Plus, he was sure his mother was going to have a coronary.

But that didn't seem like helpful information to share at the moment.

"Here," he said, handing her his phone.

She took it in her shaking hand and looked down. "Scrabble?"

"It'll calm your anxiety."

She stared at the Scrabble board, and her gaze flicked around the screen.

He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and immediately regretted how close he’d positioned himself to her. From his vantage point he could see her chest heaving with laboured breaths. "Maybe we shouldn't do this—"

"No," she said. "I'm always nervous before things like this. I'll be better after we walk in."

Antonio inspected her, but she didn't notice. Her eyes seemed to be less wide, her shoulders less strained. "I'll say I'm on call so we can bail if it's too much," he said.

Maria was the only one who would know that's not true, but she wouldn't say anything.

Cara nodded as she clicked a few buttons on the screen and stood. She handed him back his phone as the winning jingle played.

"Did you win?"

She gave a half smile and a cocky brow. "Of course."

"Already?"

No way.

He took the phone from her and stared at the game board in disbelief. He had the worst luck in that game, all z's and f's and g's and q's with no u's.

"How did you do it?"

"Well, you had a great hand," she said. "I saw you were saving the highest scoring letters to win at the end."

His thoughts scrambled and a laugh escaped him. "Uh… yeah," he said, shaking his head. "That'sexactlywhat I was doing."

She laughed. "So youdosuck. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I didn't think I was that bad," he said, slipping his phone in his pocket. He held her gaze, searching her brilliant eyes for a moment longer than he should have before turning and heading for the door. "What word did you play?"

She followed him and stepped through the doorway into the hall. "Freezing. Three hundred and twenty-four points."

"Holy shit," he said, locking the door behind him and starting down the hall with her. His face split into a grin he couldn’t control. "I didn't even know the points went that high."

"I'm not surprised," she said with a snicker. "What with all the cat's and cow's you played."

He burst into a laugh. "I guess what you lack in golf you make up for in Scrabble?"

She shrugged as he pulled open the door to the parking lot. "Scrabble's never been a favourite, but I've always loved games. Can we talk about tonight?"

He glanced at her with a smile, loving how quick her mind was. "I'd rather talk about—"

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