Falling for Mister Wrong (29 page)

Mimi considered that for a moment, then shook
her head, hot pink streaks sliding through her black hair. “Nope,
I’m pretty sure he’s a dick. None of the producers made him tell
both you and Samantha that you’d make the perfect mother to his
children. That isn’t the kind of thing you just throw around on a
date.”

“I’m not sure he even wants kids,” Caitlyn
admitted. “He thinks he does, but I get the sense he’s pretty
confused about what he really wants right now. I think being Mister
Perfect has really gone to his head.”

Did Will want kids? It was the kind of thing
they hadn’t really talked about. She knew he had wanted them with
Tria, but did he still or was he leery of making that kind of
commitment with another woman? He’d said he was her boyfriend—which
still gave her little shivers just thinking about it—but that
wasn’t exactly wedding bells and baby booties.

Caitlyn wasn’t sure where they were heading,
but she didn’t have to be. They didn’t have to work out all the
details by a certain date. No love-on-a-clock here. Things could
develop between them at a slower pace—though the chemistry sure
wasn’t slow.

But right now, she would live in the moment.
And the moment was good.

As long as she didn’t look at the
Marrying
Mister Perfect
-shaped ax hanging over it all, waiting to
fall.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

Will stepped out of his post-work shower and
tipped his head as a shriek of feminine laughter carried down from
the apartment above. Another Tuesday night. Mimi would be up there,
watching
Marrying Mister Perfect
with Caitlyn. He was almost
tempted to turn on the television and see what was so funny, but
he’d avoided the show so far and didn’t want to break his streak
now.

His sisters would be watching. Only two more
weeks until the live reunion show, according to Caitlyn. Was this
the episode she got voted off?

Another burst of laughter filtered down to
him. Mimi, by the sound of it. Caitlyn’s laugh was quieter, like
she wanted to hold the amusement close to herself rather than
releasing it all into noise.

Most other Tuesdays he’d either picked up an
extra shift or had a family dinner to attend, but last week had
been Valentine’s and this week he was on his own, straining for a
trace of Caitlyn’s laugh. He liked Mimi, liked that Caitlyn had
someone to watch with. He wasn’t jealous of their time together but
he realized he was a little jealous of their friendship.

When was the last time he’d laughed like that
with a friend? Probably before the Wedding That Wasn’t. With
Andy.

Shit. He really had cut himself off from the
world. While Caitlyn had been throwing herself out there in the
biggest way, he’d been burrowing into his cave and become a full-on
hermit. He wasn’t ready to call Andy and make amends—not even
close—but he was overdue for some male bonding.

His sisters would be watching
Marrying
Mister Perfect
. Which meant Dale, Bryan and Don would be free
to grab a beer at the Lodge pub.

Will reached for the phone.

#

“
Mrs. Gregg, I know I’ve only known your
daughter a short while, but feelings can develop very quickly in a
journey like ours and if she’s the one standing beside me at the
end of all this, I just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t have your
blessing before I got down on one knee. Would you give me the honor
of your permission to ask your daughter to be my wife?”

Another Tuesday, another train wreck.

It was the night of her Meet the In-Laws
Date, when she showed Daniel around Manhattan and took him to meet
her mother. Caitlyn sat with Mimi on the couch, watching with
unmitigated dread as he gave her mother almost the exact same
speech he’d given Elena’s papa and Samantha’s parents—though there
hadn’t been any such speech with Yasminda’s parents. Spoiler
alert.

“He’s smooth,” Mimi commented.

Caitlyn’s stomach churned.

Watching the episode had been nauseating on
several levels. It wasn’t just that he seemed to have the same
level of sincerity when he was talking to each of the parents and
gazing soulfully into the eyes of each hopeful Suitorette. It was
the way they looked back at him.

Elena, with that knowing
I’ve got you,
chico
look of hers that was both sexy and possessive. Yasminda
with desperate adoration. That was bad enough, but it was the way
Samantha looked at him that was the worst. Hopeful. Yearning. With
that first little flicker of faith, as if he’d given her back a
dream she’d almost stopped believing in.

“I think I might be sick.”

“Milk,” Mimi suggested. “Soak up some of the
sweetness.”

They’d been binging on the leftover
Valentine’s candy and now it wasn’t sitting well in her stomach.
Caitlyn went to the Keurig and brewed herself a cup of coffee
instead of the milk. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be sleeping
tonight anyway.

The episode kept playing behind her.

Her mother’s joyous permission granted. The
laughing. The hugging. Their return to where Caitlyn was waiting.
The one-big-happy-family cheer of it all.

“I need to tell Will about Daniel.”

Sudden silence behind her. Mimi had hit
pause.

“What did you just say?”

Caitlyn waited for the cup to finish brewing
and wrapped her hands around it before turning and facing the
music. “I haven’t told Will that Daniel proposed. And I accepted.
And then broke it off.”

Mimi’s jaw hit the floor. “I thought you told
him when you told me!”

Caitlyn shook her head miserably. “He didn’t
seem to care about the show—he was my reprieve, you know? My
support system. And then we started—you know—and it never seemed
like the right time to tell him—it’s not like he ever asked about
it or anything. But now… He called me his girlfriend last week. Or
rather, he called himself my boyfriend, but my heart about stopped,
Mimi. It was so freaking hot.”

“Oh sweetie. You’ve got it bad.”

“I have to tell him.”

“Yes, you do.”

She would. She took a sip of her coffee, but
it did not find her stomach to be a hospitable environment. “I’m
definitely going to be sick.”

#

“To football!”

A roar went up in the pub and Will added his
voice even though he’d never really been that obsessed with the
game. The Guys Night Out that had started when he called his
brothers-in-law to meet him at the Lodge pub had snowballed until
half the married men in Tuller Springs were huddled around the bar,
celebrating all things testosterone with more gusto than
selectivity. So far the toasts had covered a variety of sports,
trucks, lawn-mowing, hunting and steel-toed boots. Laney’s husband
Bryan seemed to be leading the charge on most of the toasts—which
was particularly entertaining since Will happened to know Laney was
the better shot in their marriage and could probably run circles
around him in most of the sports he’d mentioned.

Will and Don had retreated to one of the
booths, but they still joined in whenever another toast erupted
from the group at the bar.

Don raised his beer in one massive fist as a
bellow for motorcycles rang out, grinning in his mild way. He was a
dead ringer for an action hero, but the man was mellow as the
Buddha. He nodded toward Bryan, three sheets to the wind at the
bar. “He’s gonna make a good dad.”

Will’s head snapped around. “Do you know
something I don’t know?”

Don shook his head. “Just a hunch. I’m
guessing they just found out it’s a boy.”

Will twisted in the booth to study his other
brother-in-law. Bryan’s smile was of the dopey, shell-shocked and
euphoric variety that both Don and Dale had worn when their wives
were expecting. “Why haven’t they said anything?”

Don shrugged. “First trimesters are tricky.
And… you know.”

Will frowned. “I know?”

“They probably didn’t want to rub their
happiness in your face after the Tria thing.”

Will stiffened at the suggestion that his
sister might not feel like she could admit she was happy because he
was so miserable. “That was months ago.”

“Yeah,” Don agreed. “And this is the first
time you’ve done anything remotely fun that wasn’t a mandated
family activity.”

He was tempted to argue. His work was fun
most days. And Caitlyn was certainly fun, but he couldn’t admit he
was seeing her yet. Two more weeks.

He couldn’t wait until he could tell
people.

It was funny, when he’d been with Tria he’d
never really been possessive or cared much about telling everyone
that they were together, but with Caitlyn he couldn’t wait to shout
it from the rooftops. Maybe because he couldn’t. Or maybe because
something inside him knew this was different.

“How did you know Claire was The One?”

If Don was startled by the touchy-feely
question, he didn’t show it. “She told me I was never going to meet
another woman as amazing as she is.” He shrugged. “She’s usually
right about stuff like that.”

Will blinked. “You knew Claire was The One
because she told you she was?” That sounded like his sister.

“Yep.” Don took another pull of his beer.

Caitlyn wasn’t going to tell him. She wasn’t
arrogant like Claire. All of her confidence seemed to be reserved
for her music.

Though maybe she was trying to tell him with
the Pathetique.

Everything felt right with Caitlyn, but then
everything had felt right with Tria too and he’d been wrong about
her.

“Did you guys know that Tria and I weren’t
going to make it?” he asked Don—and realized he’d definitely had
more to drink than he thought. He’d often wondered if his family
had thought he was an idiot for proposing to her in the first
place, but he’d never said the words before.

Don studied him for a moment, taking another
swig of his beer as he considered the question. “No one knew,” he
admitted. “Probably would’ve been easier for your sisters if they
didn’t feel guilty for not seeing she was going to hurt you.”

Will frowned. He’d never thought of it that
way. He’d always just seen his own stupidity in not seeing the
truth. It had never occurred to him that his sisters would feel bad
for not protecting him. They’d always been his romantic advisors
and when he’d needed it the most, they’d all been wrong about Tria
together. It was comforting in a way. Making him feel like less the
fool.

“I was completely blindsided,” he admitted.
And that had hurt as much as the betrayal. That he’d been so wrong.
That he couldn’t trust his instincts anymore where women were
concerned. The fact that Caitlyn had been through her own nasty
break-up was probably the only reason he felt like he could trust
himself with her. They were both walking-wounded, romantically
speaking.

“We all were,” Don said. “But better to find
out now than five years down the road with two kids.”

Another cheer went up from the bar and Will
turned to look at Bryan where he was attempting to crowd-surf with
limited success. Will still wanted that—the house, the kids, the
dopey grin, though maybe he’d skip the crowd-surfing.

He might be rushing things with Caitlyn, but
he’d always liked going fast—on the slopes and in life. For the
last seven months he’d forgotten he was the guy who threw himself
into things. But Caitlyn had reminded him who he was and he wasn’t
going to screw things up with the girl who could do that.

#

It was after midnight, but Caitlyn was still
awake when she heard the heavy
thud
on her landing, followed
by the world’s softest knock. She hadn’t been able to sleep—her
mind too busy spinning in circles, trying to find the words to say
what she needed to say to Will. She climbed out of bed and
scrambled down the loft steps, padding across the dark apartment to
the door where she could faintly hear a male voice sing-songing
“Caaaaaitlyn
” ever so softly on the other side.

She knew even before she opened the door that
he was drunk. She just wasn’t prepared for how adorable he was
drunk.

Will listed against the doorjamb, peering up
at her through the hair that had fallen into his eyes, blinking
slowly and smiling blearily. “Hey, you’re awake,” he told her,
still whispering.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she admitted—not sure why
she whispered back. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded tipsily. “My brother-in-law was
sort of celebrating, but not really because they can’t tell me
because I’m not as happy as them.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Am I supposed to
understand what that means?”

He shook his head, grinning like a fool. He
really was too cute when he was hammered. “I made you something.
It’s a romantic gesture. I’m an enlightened man.” He stumbled a bit
on the word
enlightened,
but managed to get it out. Nodding
triumphantly. “I read romance novels.”

“You do?”

“I do. My sisters made me start because
girls know stuff
, but they’re actually really good.”

“I’m sure they are.” She had no idea why they
were talking about romance novels.

“Do you want to read one? I’ll get you one
from downstairs.” He swayed suddenly away from the doorjamb and she
had a terrifying vision of him taking a header down the stairs.

She reached out, catching his arm and tugging
him into her apartment. “I’m not sure you should be navigating any
stairs right now, champ.”

“You think I’m drunk,” he declared, with the
careful authority of extreme inebriation.

“I do.” She got him into the apartment and
kicked the door shut.

Will swayed, his head wobbling and eyelids
seeming too heavy. He paused and she wondered if he would remember
what they were talking about, then he nodded. “I might be
drunk.”