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He tilted his head, studying her. “That’s a fair point. And I would have told you . . . if I was actually dating her. But I’m not. Where did you get that idea?”
“From the magazines? The tabloids? And every other word out of Daphne’s mouth about how she’s staying clean because you want her that way?”
His brows drew together, and for a moment he looked really, really confused. “But where are they getting that information? I’m not dating Daphne. I haven’t even seen her since last week. She’s texted me a few times, but I’ve spent all of my time talking to you.” He raised his brows. “You probably see her more than I do.”
“She texted you, huh?” Kylie asked, then wanted to bite back the words. They sounded jealous as hell.
“We’ve texted in the past,” Cade said. “But the only one filling up my phone with love notes this last week was you.”
Kylie snorted, feeling defensive. “Mine weren’t love notes.”
“A guy can dream, can’t he?” He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and began to thumb through a few things. Then he offered it to her. “Here. Take a look.”
She knew she shouldn’t be as suspicious as that. She knew she should just turn it down and say she trusted him and let it go. But because she was small and petty and couldn’t really believe that a guy like Cade preferred her to megastar Daphne, she took the phone and peeked through his text history. He wasn’t lying; everything was from her. There were a few short messages to Daphne, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that screamed “we’re dating.” And because she was nosy, she swiped over to his phone records. Daphne’s number wasn’t in the last couple of weeks.
“Find anything good?” Cade asked, grinning.
She handed the phone back to him. “No. I’m sorry if I got all suspicious. But, Cade, you know that we shouldn’t go out.”
“Actually, I don’t know anything of the sort,” he told her, moving a little closer. Heavens, he was standing so close she could smell his aftershave, and he smelled amazing. He leaned in and murmured, “Why not go out with me? Just tonight. We’ll go to dinner, have a glass of wine, see if we still click. If we do, great. If we don’t, I’ll leave you alone.”
He made it sound so simple. Kylie hesitated, then glanced down at her feet. She wiggled her toes in her green flip-flops. She could use her clothes as an excuse to get out of this. “I’m not really dressed to go out.”
“Then we’ll keep it someplace casual,” he said, turning and opening the limo door.
“I should go upstairs and change,” Kylie hedged.
“Absolutely not. You’re not getting out of my sight again until we have a date,” he said, and gestured at the open-and-waiting limo door.
It was like he could read her mind. Instead of being annoyed, though, she was amused. She paused for only a moment longer.
“Someone might see you out here with me,” Cade teased. “It’s safer in the car.”
“Damn it,” Kylie said with a laugh. Then, clutching her potted flower, she crawled into the limo.
No sooner had she sat down than Cade got in behind her. The look he gave her was an intense one, and he gazed at her up and down. “You look great.”
Like a silly girl, she put a hand to her hair and tried to finger-comb it. She was wearing old jeans, a faded T-shirt, and her hair was a mess. Her roots were even starting to show. It wasn’t like she’d planned on going out, of course. Jesus, she was even wearing granny panties. But now that she was here with him, it seemed silly to put up a fight. “Thanks. You look pretty good, too. I’m sorry I canceled on you.”
“I’m sorry you canceled on me, too,” he said, grinning to take the sting out of his words. “Any place in particular you want to go tonight?”
“You pick,” she told him. She didn’t care where they went as long as it was private and she could spend time talking to him. Heck, she didn’t mind if he did all the talking and she just got to stare at him. He was so gorgeous she didn’t even care.
“Well, this is Vegas,” he said. “There’s bound to be someplace open.” He was smiling at her, and her heart pitter-patted at the sight.
“Let’s go someplace quiet and low-key,” she told him. She knew Daphne’s crew was hitting the town and the last thing she wanted was to run into them at one of the better-known nightspots.
“All right. Do you like . . . seafood? I know a great place that has an amazing wine list.”