**Cat POVLuke had a town car pick us up outside the hotel. He'd even called for a personal driver. I felt awkward, sitting in the back seat with him. Thankfully, he didn't try to strike up a conversation. I kept my eyes out the window, watching the city fly by. Despite all the craziness, I was looking forward to exploring it and making it my home. I'd never lived close to a city this size!"What was here before?" I asked when the town car pulled into the development. It was only a few blocks from the hotel. "Low income housing," Luke replied. "Too many of the buildings became condemned and had to be torn down.""Ahh, making it the perfect dream for developers," I said, glancing at him quickly. He smirked. "Though, this development doesn't resemble anything like what was here before. It is a completely different kind of housing.""I can see that," I muttered as the car pulled into the development. The development Luke's company was working on was only a few bl
**Cat POV"What's going on? Tell me everything! I keep getting calls from Aaron and your mom. They sound pretty worried," Barbs said. I groaned and tilted my head back, throwing my free arm over my eyes."Did Aaron tell you anything?" I asked. "Just that he's been trying to get in touch with you and wanted to know if I'd heard from you. He's really worried. You should call him," she urged. "No!" I sat straight up again and stared across my temporary living room. There was a small television mounted on the wall. "Cat, what is going on?" Barbs asked. Sighing heavily, I told Barbs what happened with Aaron when I showed up at the house. She listened, offering the right scoffs and annoyed sounds as I told her about my run-in with Fiona at work and how gracefully I'd handled it all. "Well, they said the city would be interesting. Geez, Cat, try not to have all the excitement happen at once," Barbs said with a dry laugh. "Thanks," I muttered sarcastically. Barbs
**Cat POV"Cat, we need to talk," Aaron repeated. He took a step forward, pushing the door open. I stepped back again. My mind couldn't even process what was happening. "I'm not ready to talk to you," I argued, holding my hands up when he got closer. Aaron sighed and bowed his head. I heard him sniffle and realized he was crying. Aaron was actually crying! He lifted his eyes to mine. They were red and puffy, tears brimming over and streaking his cheeks. "Cat, please. I want to talk to you, I want to explain everything," he said. He reached for me, and I held my arms up, ready to fight him off. "I'll listen, but don't… don't touch me.""Thank you, thank you," Aaron sobbed. He dropped onto his knees in front of me. I cringed and looked around the guest house. This was starting to get awkward. "I need you to understand that I messed up. I didn't mean to hurt you," he said, his voice cracking. "Did you think I'd be happy to find you sleeping with someone else?"
**Cat POVI woke with a start. It took me a minute to realize something must of woken me, but as I looked around, I saw nothing.Aaron was still snoring softly on the couch. He muttered something and kept sleeping. I glanced at the clock. "Crap!"It was late in the afternoon. I had to get ready to go to the event!Carefully, I got up so I wouldn't wake him. When I walked through the living room, I realized the porch light was on. It was a motion sensored light, which meant that someone had been out there. Was that what woke me up?I peeked out the front door. There was no one there, but I could see something on the ground in front of the door. It was a box. Opening the door, I bent down and pulled the little note off the box. It was from Luke. A smile spread across my lips, but then I thought of Aaron, and the smile went away. What was I doing?? He wrote that this was a gift to get me through my first official event. It also told me a driver would pick me
**Luke POVStanding on the edge of the crowd, I waited for Cat to come back. The blush on her cheeks, that innocent look in her eyes… I wanted to see it again. "Luke!"I cringed as soon as my name reached me, the voice sending a shiver down my spine. "Mom," I muttered, clenching my jaw. My mom appeared through the crowd and ran right up to me. She was all smiles as she patted my cheek. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "We heard about your success with this development and thought we'd come celebrate with you," she said, beaming another smile at me. I crossed my arms and leaned casually against the wall. "We?""There he is! There's my genius son!" My father's voice boomed through the venue. Groaning, I rolled my eyes. It wasn't that I didn't love my parents. I did. They were great and supportive. They were also really proud of me. So proud they had to advertise it everywhere. "Hi, Dad," I grumbled. My father clapped me on the shoulder and gave m
**Cat POVLeon parked in the driveway, and I collected the skirts on my dress, sliding out of the car. "Thank you, Leon," I said as he held a hand out for me. "It was my pleasure, miss. You seem… upset," he said as he helped me from the car. "It's been a long day," I muttered with a sigh. Glancing at the guest house, I noticed all the lights were still off. Either Aaron was still sleeping, or he'd left already. If he was still there, I'd have to confront him about what I'd heard. My stomach shifted uncomfortably, and I grimaced. "Leon, do you think you could hang out here for a little while?" I asked. He creased his brow. "I don't understand. Will you need a ride somewhere else?""Oh, no. I just… I'd feel better having someone else on the property for the time being," I admitted, my cheeks getting hot. "Then, of course, I will stay. Mr. Carter told me to take good care of you," Leon said. Smiling shyly, I nodded and headed up to the guest house. If
**Luke POVI hadn't noticed my parents and sister were following until their limo had pulled onto the street that led to the development. "What the h*ll are you doing here?" I snapped as they all climbed out of the limo. I crossed my arms and glared at them. "We're staying with you, silly. Did you expect us to stay at the hotel, like a bunch of strangers?" my mom asked, walking up to me and patting my hand. "We wanted to see this little 'vanity project' of yours," my father added. "You know, brother, when someone takes on a project of this size, people might think you're compensating for something," Fiona said, cackling and tossing her hair back. I rolled my eyes. "Right. If you want to insult my work, you can do that over the phone.""It isn't an insult, son. We are very proud of you," my dad said. "Then why are you here, checking up on me?" I raised an eyebrow at him. My dad chuckled playfully and shrugged off my question. "Come on, let's see this masterpi
**Cat POVThe more I tried to ignore Luke, the more he tried to interact with me. I just wanted to get out of there. Now that everyone was worried about Fiona being pregnant, the drama had nothing to do with me. "Luke, I'm tired. I just want to go lie down," I said with a sigh. He came up behind me and put his arm around my shoulders. He kept touching me. It was comforting, but also strange. The weirder part was that I wasn't moving away or pushing him back. Maybe it was because I was so lightheaded. Had I really lost that much blood?"I can get a room made up for you here," he said. "I'm not staying here. That's why you lent me the guest house in the first place," I reminded him. My eyes were tired. They stung a little, and I could have fallen asleep right there standing up. My mind hadn't really processed everything that had happened. I wanted to be alone to think things over. I wanted to curl up with myself, cry, and snuggle up in a big comforter with a c