**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
**Cat POV"Honestly, Mr. Carter, I was here to break up with Cat," Aaron said, breaking the silence. I laughed, shaking my head and looking down. That was news to me. "When I got here, she was on her way out for the party. We didn't have time to talk. I was waiting for her to get back," he continued. Luke glanced sideways at me. He had questions, but he wasn't going to ask them right now. I was grateful that he wasn't going to pester me or put me on the spot while everyone else was standing around. "I've been wanting to break up with her for a while," Aaron added, smirking at me. My jaw dropped open, and I stared straight at Aaron. He was such a liar! My blood boiled, and I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I wanted to shout to everyone that Aaron was a liar, a cheater, and no good scum! I looked around. Fiona, Mr. Carter, and Mrs. Carter we all looking at me expectantly with blinking eyes and curious looks. Fiona looked just as curious as the
**Cat POV"I also brought you some towels. There is an en-suite bathroom right over there," Adelle said, pointing to a closed door. "There is?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder. I hadn't seen it before. I didn't think this bedroom had a bathroom."Mr. Carter made a few personal modifications to the floor plan. Did you see the second-floor deck that connects this room to the master bedroom?" the maid pointed to a set of sliding doors behind a closed curtain. "No, I didn't," I admitted. Adelle giggled and then disappeared into the bathroom. She came back out holding a bathrobe. "If you want to put this on, I can take your dress to be dry-cleaned," she said, handing me the robe. "Thanks."I went into the bathroom and put on the robe. Adelle took my dress and wished me a happy bath. Sighing, I ran right back into the bathroom. I was so excited to get in the tub!It would be easier to take a shower, but the doctor had said I couldn't get my stitches wet. In a
**Cat POVI opened my eyes and stretched. For the first time in days, I felt completely refreshed and rested. Curling my toes, I stretched my arms above my head and giggled as I rolled around on the amazing mattress. Wherever Luke got his furniture, it was divine!A steady stream of light was coming through the open balcony curtains. The conversation I'd had with Luke the night before was fuzzy at best. I remembered enjoying it and feeling like we were getting to know each other. I couldn't really remember how I'd gotten in bed. There was a funny, tickle in the back of my mind. It was a dream, or a feeling, that Luke had carried me to bed and kissed me on the forehead. It was so silly!Laughing, I looked out the window again. The sun was pretty high. "Oh, crap!" I cried. I jumped out of bed and started pulling my clothes on. "Crap, crap, crap!"It was late. I was late! Luke had given me chance after chance to prove myself, and now I was running late for my