Page 144 of See You Soon

“I’ll get these to,” he looked at Luke, “my friend. It shouldn’t take long.”

After Declan left, Cara turned to Wes. “Believable?”

“Eerily.”

“Excellent! I’m going to go take this off because, believe it or not, it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world.”

Cara disappeared, leaving Wes alone with Luke.

“I never saw it before,” Luke said absently, walking to pour himself a hefty portion of whiskey from the bar.

“Didn’t see what?”

“How much Courtney looks like Corinne. I mean Corinne is in a class of her own, but it is a little weird.” Luke shook his head. “Love is a funny thing. I wonder if it was because Corinne was the one who didn’t want him, that he ended up marrying a woman who looked similar?”

Wes wasn’t sure what he should say. Collapsing on the sofa, Luke slugged the drink back. “Cara’s told you about us, right?”

Wes nodded, not exactly sure what the man meant.

“You grew up in foster care?” Luke waved the glass. “We checked up on you, obviously. She mentioned you were in love with a girl you’d been in foster care with.”

Wes bristled. This was none of their business, but as much as he would like to tell them to fuck off, they were Cara’s brothers, and on some level, he understood they were looking out for her.

“I love Melody, my foster sister, but not like that.”

“But a few days ago, you thought you did.”

The door opened, and Wes knew Cara had returned. She leaned against the wall just inside the door, waiting for his answer.

His eyes were on her when he said, “For a long time, I confused the love I felt for Melody with something else. I didn’t have the benefit of siblings. There are very few people in my life who have ever made me feel... I didn’t understand how to differentiate.” Wes stared into her eyes, across the room, willing her to see. “What I feel for Cara is different. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her, nothing I wouldn’t do to make her smile, laugh, make her dreams come true.”

Luke leaned back, a smirk on his lips, aware of what was happening, but Wes wasn’t embarrassed.

“I don’t care how youthinkyou feel about my sister,” Luke finally said. “Just know that if you break her heart, I will destroy you. Now, that I’ve done my brotherly duty, I need to find where Declan is hiding the good whiskey cause this,” he waved his glass, “isshiite.”

Luke disappeared into the second bedroom of the suite, but Wes’s eyes were all for Cara as she made her way towards him.

“You love me?”

“I told you I did.”

She came to stand before him. “And it’s different from how you felt about Melody?”

Wes grabbed her hips and pulled her hard against him. “I watched Melody for days with Luca and didn’t care, but the sight of that ass Damon touching you made me want to break out every dirty fighting trick I’d ever learned.” His hands lifted to frame her face, his thumb carefully brushing the lurid marks on her jaw.

“I love you. I want to take care of you. You aren’t fitting into a fantasy of mine.” He brushed his lips across hers. “Youarethe fantasy.”

She gasped when his hands slid beneath her and hoisted her against him, and she wrapped her legs around him for stability.

“I don’t care if your brothers hate me. I love you, and if it takes the rest of my life, I’m going to make you believe it.”

“I don’t know about the rest of my life, but you are welcome to try for the rest of the night.”

Wrapped around each other, they heard Luke yell. “Take it to your own room please, before I throw up!”

CHAPTERFIFTY-THREE

It wasa little awkward to face her brothers over coffee, but she’d met plenty of her brothers’friendssneaking out of their father’s pool house in the early morning hours, so they could deal with the fact she’d spent the night with Wes. Cara still wasn’t sure what would happen when they got back to Georgia, but she knew Wes loved her.