Drew listened to all this back-and-forth with a smile on his face. He’d always liked Gray’s mom, and having Gray and his dad get along so well had to be such a relief for Gray. All through college there had been such tension between them.
Now his life was settled. He had a woman he loved and his family was whole again. He was happy and in love and looking forward to a secure future.
In the meantime, Drew had spent a lot of years wandering aimlessly, dating women who definitely weren’t the settling-down type.
Until . . . recently.
Though Carolina wasn’t ready to settle down, not with what she had going on in her life right now.
He shifted his gaze toward her. She was smiling as she listened to Gray and Evelyn talk wedding plans. He wondered what she thought about that, about where her life was. Did she even compare them, or was she satisfied and thinking only about her fashion line?
He knew it was her priority, that her career was the number one thing in her life.
And where did he fit into all that?
Maybe he didn’t fit in at all, and he was just someone she fucked to ease the tension.
He sure as hell had used women in his past to ease the tension from his job, and then thought nothing about letting them go.
Why did he even care? They were just having fun, right?
• • •
AFTER LUNCH, CAROLINA TOOK HER GIFTS UP TO HER room, needing a few minutes of quiet time. It had been nonstop motion after rocketing out of bed this morning.
She needed to pack. She’d head back to New York tomorrow morning, back to the frenetic pace of work and deadlines. This had been a relaxing interlude, and she was grateful to have been able to spend time with her family, because it would likely be the last bit of relaxation she’d have before Fashion Week.
She fingered the necklace Drew had given her. Such a surprise. He didn’t seem the romantic type. She hadn’t expected a gift from him at all, and if he had gotten her one, maybe a Travelers jersey or something. Nothing like this. She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
The necklace was simple. Nothing extravagant, and yet what she’d told him had been the truth.
It was perfect. She felt his touch burn into her skin even as she stared at the necklace.
Ridiculous. She no more belonged to him than he was hers. Drew saw a lot of women, and none of them on a long-term basis. And why would she even be interested in what he did? They were just having some fun. He was going to go back home, play hockey, and no doubt hit on other women, while she was going to head back to work and not have sex with anyone else. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted out of him—hot sex and tension relief.
But as she stared at the necklace, she wondered how Drew felt, if what was between them was more than just sex.
Right. Like it could ever be anything more than just sex.
“You’re being such a girl, Carolina.”
A soft knock at her bedroom door saved her from her ridiculous thoughts. She opened the door and smiled at Evelyn. “Hey, come on in.”
“I thought you might be up here packing. Have you had enough of family time?”
She let Evelyn in, then shut the door behind her. “Actually, I’ve really enjoyed these past few days. I don’t get to see Mom and Dad all that often, or you and Gray. Even less this past year since I decided to start working on creating a fashion line. So this has been nice. Really nice.”
Evelyn took a seat in one of the chairs. “I’m glad. And I think so, too. Though Gray and I love to have time alone, he needed this time with his family, too.”