Convincing Cara (Wishing Well, Texas Book 2)

by Melanie Shawn

  He was strikingly handsome. The first thing that caught my attention was his strong jaw, which was clean-shaven. Normally, I liked a little scruff, but Dr. Hall could definitely pull off not having a five-o’clock shadow. The next thing that I was drawn to was his eyes. Even from a few yards away, I could see that they were gray, which was an unusual color. Dark lashes surrounded his unique irises, and his dark brown hair perfectly complimented his olive-toned skin. He was…hot.

  Harmony had been right. McSteamy and McDreamy who?

  My unnoticed observance was over when bachelor number two’s gaze met mine. I lifted my hand in greeting and stood. His lips split as a smile formed on his too-handsome face, and his steps turned more purposeful as he made his way towards me.

  “Cara?” he asked as he approached.

  “Yes,” I replied a little more breathlessly than I’d meant to.

  “Hi. I’m Brett.” He extended his hand.

  I held my breath as I placed my hand in his. I braced myself for a tingle, a shiver, a jolt—some kind of reaction to our first physical contact. But, when his fingers wrapped around me and we were palm to palm, I felt…nothing. Not a tremor, not goosebumps, not even a tickle of anything. My reaction—or lack of one—was both surprising and disappointing, but I pushed that to the back of my mind.

  Fun. This date was going to be all about fun.

  “Nice to meet you.” My voice was stronger now.

  “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. There was an emergency, and I couldn’t get away,” he explained, still holding my hand in his.

  “No problem. Are you ready to go?” I was more than ready to get out of the hospital. In fact, if I never stepped foot in another hospital for the rest of my life, it would be just fine with me.

  “Yes. Let’s get out of here.” His smile grew wider, and I was once again struck with just how good-looking he was.

  He dropped my hand, and as we made our way out the sliding doors, his hand rested on my lower back. The weight of his touch was fine. It didn’t send me to giggly-school-girl status, but it also didn’t make me uncomfortable.

  “Did you want me to drive?” he asked when we reached the parking structure.

  “No, I’ll meet you there.” If I had learned anything from my first date, it was that I was relieved that I hadn’t had to share an uncomfortable car ride with Peter.

  “Great. See you in a few.” Brett leaned down and kissed my cheek before heading towards his car.

  For a moment, I watched him go. He was gorgeous—there was no denying that. And he had a sexy stride combined with an air of confidence and maturity Peter did not possess. It was strange that, after having shaken his hand and his having led me by the small of my back, his appearance seemed less appealing than it had before. Did chemistry happen immediately? There was no question that I found Brett attractive; but I wasn’t sure if I was attracted to him.

  Shaking my head slightly as I walked to my car, I tried to silence the voices in my brain. They were bringing up a certain sandy-haired cowboy I was attracted to. Tonight was not about Trace; it was about fun. Fun with a handsome, available, maybe even interested doctor.

  That prospect should have made me a lot more excited than I was.

  Chapter 13

  Trace

  “He could find a whisper in a whirlwind.”

  ~ Dolly Briggs

  A yawn claimed me as I pulled up in front of the barn at Circle M. It was early Saturday morning, and I hadn’t slept a wink last night after I’d seen Cara leave her house in another knockout dress. In all the years I’d known Cara, I’d only ever seen her in dresses at church on Sundays, her high school graduation, and the few school dances she’d been able to attend. But none of them held a candle to the two I’d seen her in over the past week.

  The red dress she’d worn on Wednesday night had been hotter than a tar roof in the middle of July. Last night, she’d stepped out of her front door in a pinkish dress that had clung to every dip and mound, every slope and valley of her incredible figure. That skintight material had showcased her incredible body like nothing else I’d seen her wear. Cara was a petite girl, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t rocking a pinup-girl-worthy body. Last night, her dangerous curves had been on full display, and—unlike her normal, much more conservative wardrobe—it had left little to the imagination.

  After cutting the engine, I stepped down from my truck and adjusted my jeans. I might’ve still been half asleep, but the image of Cara as she’d walked to her Jeep, the sun setting behind her casting her in a seductive silhouette, had the man downstairs wide awake. I hesitated before making my way into the barn, where my office was located. The entire drive over, I’d been trying to convince myself that I was going there, to my office, on a Saturday to catch up on work. Work I’d been having a difficult time staying focused on over the past few weeks. Now that I was there, the real reason for my arrival was undeniable, even to myself. It wasn’t to catch up on paperwork.

  Instead of heading into the barn, my feet carried me past it and down the path that led to the east side of the property, where Cara’s single story farmhouse stood. Her red Jeep was sitting in front of her house. It was six thirty a.m., so chances were she hadn’t spent the night anywhere. I might not have had any right to be relieved, but I was.

  Just as I was turning to do what I’d told myself I was there for, her front door opened. My heart stopped beating when I heard her voice. Sound carried pretty far on quiet mornings on the ranch.

  Was someone with her? Had the “lucky” underwear she’d told me about when I’d taken her home from the bar actually been lucky? Was the guy she’d worn that body-hugging dress for still there?

  Her vehicle was the only one parked in front of her garage. But that didn’t mean anything. They could have driven together, or maybe he’d taken Lyft or Uber.

  My heart began beating once again as Cara stepped out onto her porch. Alone. Talking on the phone.

  Relief swept through me like a tidal wave. It was immediately followed by another sensation crashing over me: arousal.

  This morning, Cara wasn’t in a drool-inducing dress. Instead, she was wearing the country-girl equivalent of Victoria’s Secret lingerie—at least what country boys considered its equal. Daisy Dukes and a white tank top.

  Holy shit.

  Her face was scrubbed clean, and I don’t think she’d ever looked as beautiful as she did right then. The rays of the rising sun blanketed her with an ethereal glow. Her golden skin shimmered like a diamond. I was so mesmerized that I almost missed hearing the conversation she was having about her date the night before.

  “I wore my coral bodycon dress,” she relayed as she made her way down the three steps of her front porch.

  Coral. I had been close with pinkish. And I wasn’t sure what bodycon was, but I liked it. A lot.

  From where I was standing beneath the large oak, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t notice me unless she walked to the end of her driveway. For a second, I thought about whether I should head back to my office or step out of the shadows and announce my presence. One of those things had to happen because, let’s face it, I was definitely dipping my toe into stalker waters.

  I hadn’t made up my mind what my next move should be when she spoke again.

  “Yes, you were right. He is so hot…”

  Seriously.

  “And really, really nice…”

  Great.

  “And the doctor thing is really working for him. He is hotter than McSteamy and McDreamy…”

  Fuck me.

  “And he was so funny…”

  Funny? That single declaration had my heart sinking like a cement-shoed body the mob was getting rid of. Hot, I could deal with. Nice? Whatever. The doctor thing was definitely a blow, yet not a fatal one. But funny? Funny was real competition.

  This conversation kept getting worse and worse. There was no reason I should wait around to hear about the new great guy in her life. Biting my tongue and not telli
ng Cara what I felt was a crapshoot. I had been betting on her not meeting someone special, that somehow, someway, her dating would make her realize that what she really wanted was right in front of her. Obviously, I’d overestimated my appeal. Knowing I only had myself to blame, I turned to leave her to her girl talk—when I heard one word that stopped me dead in my tracks.

  “But…”

  I’d never been so happy to hear the word but before in my life.

  “We just didn’t click. You know. I mean, it was fine. Nice. We talked a lot about his career. I totally understand that he lives and breathes medicine, but I’m ready to put anything even remotely medical-related behind me. Plus, I don’t know… He was attractive, yes, but I wasn’t attracted to him. Even before we went to dinner. We shook hands and there was nothing there. I mean, it was fine. But I want more than fine. I want fireworks. Or at least a sparkler.” She sounded disappointed. Defeated.

  She didn’t need to be. Hell, if she wanted fireworks, I could give her fireworks.

  “Yeah, no… I don’t think I’ll see him again.”

  Score!

  “Actually, I think I’m done with the blind-date thing. I appreciate you and Harm setting me up, but I think I’ll take a shot at it.”

  Okay, so, if she wasn’t talking to my sister, then she must have been on the phone with the third in their trio, Destiny.

  “Yep. As a matter of fact, I’m going out with him after work Monday. When I agreed to coffee, he asked for dinner. I guess that’s the litigator in him.” She laughed, and the sound hit me like a punch in the gut.

  I wanted to be the one making her laugh.

  “I insisted on a drink, not dinner. I learned my lesson. As much as I enjoy getting to know new people and eating, first dates are strangely not the best environment for either of those things,” she said with a chuckle.

  First a doctor, now a lawyer. Apparently, she had a type, and I wasn’t so sure cowboy fit into it.

  “No, you didn’t wake me up. I was up, I promise. I haven’t been sleeping that well.” Cara balanced the phone with her cheek as it rested on her shoulder. Then she leaned forward and lifted her garage door.

  Join the club, I thought as I took in the amazing view her current position provided. This new visual of Cara bending over in Daisy Dukes was going to cause some tossing and turning for quite a few nights to come.

  When she straightened and held her phone once again, her posture stiffened. “No, I was awake. Really, don’t apologize. But it doesn’t matter if I had been asleep. Seriously, Destiny—call or text any time you’re up. I don’t care what time it is. Believe me, I know how it feels to be the only one awake and feeling miserable.”

  My heart might’a sunk like the Titanic when Cara had sung her date’s praises, but hearing her talk about being lonely and miserable made me feel like someone had reached in my chest and was squeezing my heart like an almost empty bottle of Ketchup. Thinking of Cara lying awake, sick, scared, and alone, ripped me to shreds. The painful reminder of her past served to do two things. First, it showed me again what a fighter and a survivor she was. Second, it spotlighted the fact that she deserved every happiness she could possibly experience, including dating Peter the Prick, who’d shown her his prick, the hot doctor she’d had no sparks with, or the lawyer she was only having drinks with.

  If it made her happy, who the hell was I to stand in her way? The last thing she needed was for me to complicate things by dumping a decade’s worth of pent-up feelings on her.

  “Okay. I’ll come by this afternoon to check on you. Love you.” Cara disconnected the call and put her phone in the back pocket of her shorts as she grabbed a bucket and a sponge from the garage.

  I couldn’t count the number of fantasies I’d had starring Cara in cut-off shorts or a bikini, washing my truck. It had to be in the hundreds. As much as I’d have loved to watch my fantasy play out in front of me in real life, I wouldn’t have just been dipping my toes into stalker waters if I did. I’d have been belly-flopping into the creeper pool.

  I needed either to leave immediately or let her know I was there. The decision was not difficult to make.

  Clearing my throat, I started up her driveway. “Hey. You want some help?”

  “Ahh!” she screamed as she spun around, dropping the bucket, which crashed to the ground.

  “It’s me. Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” I rushed to her.

  Within a second, I was directly in front of her.

  She proceeded to slap me with the rag she was gripping for dear life. “You scared me!”

  “Sorry.” I couldn’t help but laugh as I ducked away from her assault.

  Her hand flattened against her chest as it rose and fell in her attempt to catch her breath.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  I motioned towards the barn. “I had some work to catch up on.”

  “Oh.” She nodded before a wrinkle formed at the bridge of her nose. “Wait. But what are you doing here?”

  Shit. I could tell her the truth, that I’d come to make sure she had been home after her hot date last night and then I’d stayed to listen to her private conversation, but somehow, I thought that would go over as well as a pregnant pole vaulter. If I went with that story, I might have had to duck a hell of a lot more than a rag.

  Thankfully, I’d always been good at thinking on my feet. It had gotten me and my brother out of more trouble more times than I could count.

  “I forgot my key, so I was coming to grab the extra one.”

  Colton kept all the extra keys for his house, the equipment, the storage unit, and the barn in Cara’s garage because, if he kept them at the main house, no one would ever be able to find them. Cleaning was not Colton’s strong suit. Cara, on the other hand, was somewhat of a neat freak. I’d always known that about her, but I hadn’t been aware of the extent until the night I’d brought her home from the bar.

  In her drunken state, she’d insisted on me getting a shirt she’d wanted to sleep in for her out of her drawer. It had taken opening a few for me to find the one she had been talking about. In my search, I had seen that all of her clothes were folded perfectly, like they were on display at the Gap. And the cherry on top of her organizational sundae was that they were all color coordinated.

  It was adorable.

  “Oh, right. Keys.” She snapped her fingers and spun around then crossed to the back corner of the garage. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “What do you need?”

  “You.” The word slipped out before I could catch it and pull it back in.

  “What?” Her hand froze in midair as she stared at me, her blue eyes as wide as saucers.

  “You to help me wash my truck. Travis and I took it four-wheeling and it’s caked with dirt. I was thinking I could pull my truck around and we could wash ’em both together.” Maybe I wasn’t as quick on my feet as I’d thought. “You’re washing your Jeep, aren’t you?”

  “Oh…yeah…” Shaking her head slightly, she smiled. “Sure. We can wash them together.”

  Well, that had been a close one.

  “Let me go grab my truck,” I said.

  As I jogged down the path towards the barn, I thought about this situation, which was getting stickier than duct tape with each day that passed. I knew a couple of things to be true. First, I needed to do a much better job at watching what I said. And second, spending the morning with Cara in wet jean shorts and a tank top was going to be a trial by fire of finding out if I could do just that.

  Chapter 14

  Cara

  “He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.”

  ~ Dolly Briggs

  The saying ‘third time’s a charm’ was being quickly disproven by this date. Unless your definition of charm was worst, then yes, the third time was definitely a charm. We were only fifteen minutes into this train wreck disguised as casual drinks, and I was already counting the seconds until I could make my escape.

  If I were mo
re assertive, I would have politely excused myself and told him that I didn’t think this would work out. But, since I was about as assertive as a wet noodle, I listened to Derek talk about the women he’d dated and how impressed they all had been when they found out who he was, which apparently happened to be the heir to a large pharmaceutical company.

  Seriously? I just can’t get away from medicine.

  “So that’s when I knew she was just a gold digger. I mean, before she finds out who I am, she wants nothing to do with me. Then, after, she’s all over me? Come on. No tits in the world are perfect enough to put up with that shit.” Derek smirked.

  And I wanted to throw up.

  “Here you go.” The cocktail waitress placed our drinks on the table, and I was so happy to see her that I could have kissed her. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Two words came to mind: the check.

  I returned her friendly grin as she left and promptly lifted the beverage to my lips. The silver lining to this cloudy situation was that I could slam my cosmo since I’d taken the train to work and would be taking an Uber home from the station tonight. After one gulp, my silver lining turned out to be the outline of the gray cloud—I started choking. My transportation might have dictated that I could down this sucker, but my lightweight drinking capacity had something else to say about it.

  “Whoa. Slow down there, tiger.” Derek laughed as he patted my back. “I didn’t know you were such a party girl.”

  I’m not. I would have thought that that was obvious—I clearly couldn’t do more than sip my cosmo without choking. It took me longer than I’d hoped to regain my composure. When I was breathing normally again, I wiped the moisture beneath my eyes away.

  “I’m not a party girl,” I corrected him. I wasn’t sure why I had. It wasn’t like I cared what he thought about me. I didn’t.

  Derek’s hand covered mine as he lowered his voice and leaned forward, a knowing glint in his eyes. “I can imagine you probably want to blow off steam after getting the good news.”