Page 119 of Romance and Peppermint Lattes
“Withyou?” His voice rose half an octave with disbelief.
“Don’t make it sound like such an impossibility,” she said crossly. “I’m reasonably attractive, you know.” If she was expecting Joe to list her myriad charms, Cait was disappointed.
Instead, his frown darkened. “So what’s Paul being in love got to do with anything?”
“Absolutely nothing. I wished him and Lindy the very best.”
“So it is Lindy?” Joe murmured as though he’d known it all along.
“You didn’t honestly think it was me, did you?”
“Hell, how was I supposed to know? Ithoughtit was Lindy, but it was you he was taking to dinner. Frankly it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
“Which is something else,” Cait grumbled, standing so close to him, their faces were only inches apart. Her hands were on her hips, her pose mirroring his. It occurred to Cait that they resembled a pair of gunslingers ready for a shootout. “I want to know one thing. Every time I turn around, you’re telling anyone and everyone who’ll listen that we’re married. But when it really matters you—”
“When did it really matter?”
Cait ignored the question, thinking the answer was obvious. “You casually turn me over to Paul as if you can’t wait to be rid of me. Obviously you couldn’t have cared less.”
“I cared,” he shouted.
“Oh, right,” she shouted back, “but if that was the case, you certainly didn’t bother to show it!”
“What was I supposed to do, challenge him to a duel?”
He was being ridiculous, Cait decided, and she refused to take the bait. The more they talked, the more unreasonable they were both becoming.
“I thought dating Paul was what you wanted,” he complained. “You talked about it long enough. Paul this and Paul that. He’d walk past and you’d all but swoon.”
“That’s not the least bit true.” Maybe it had been at one time, but not now and not for weeks. “If you’d taken the trouble to ask me, you might have learned the truth.”
“You mean you don’t love Paul?”
Cait rolled her eyes again. “Bingo.”
“It isn’t like you to be so sarcastic.”
“It isn’t like you to be so... awful.”
He seemed to mull that over for a moment. “If we’re going to be throwing out accusations,” he said tightly, “then maybe you should take a look at yourself.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” As usual, no one could get a reaction out of Cait more effectively than Joe. “Never mind,” she answered, walking to the door. “This discussion isn’t getting us anywhere. All we seem capable of doing is hurling insults at each other.”
“I disagree,” Joe answered calmly. “I think it’s time we cleared the air.”
She took a deep breath, feeling physically and emotionally deflated.
“Joe, it’ll have to wait. I’m in no condition to be rational right now and I don’t want either of us saying things we’ll regret.” She held open her door for him. “Please?”
He seemed about to argue with her, then he sighed and dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. Wide-eyed, she watched him leave.
***
Lindy was waiting in Cait’s office early the next morning, holding two cups of freshly brewed coffee. Her eyes were vulnerable as Cait entered the office. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Are you angry with me?” Lindy whispered. She handed Cait one of the cups as an apparent peace offering.
“Of course not,” Cait murmured. She put down her briefcase and accepted the cup, which she placed carefully on her desk. Then she gave Lindy a reassuring hug, and the two of them sat down for their much-postponed talk.
