WILD THING (18+) - COMPLETED

HER

Later that day, Cara watched Jonah make them lunch from a comfy seat in a corner of the kitchen, her attention fluctuating between how hot he looked in an apron and jeans – he'd neglected to wear a shirt again – and Laurie's barrage of texts asking how everything was.

They haven't kicked you out and left you to fend for yourself on the cold lonely streets of London, have they? Laurie texted.

Cara smiled at her phone.

No, Laurie. I have a whole room to myself, and the house is very cute.

Oh? Take pictures. I wanna see.

Don't be silly, Laurie. I haven't even apologized properly yet. I can't start taking selfies in his brother's house.

Oooh, the brother! Is he as hot as Coleman? No, hotter? I bet he's hotter!

Laurie, you have a boyfriend.

And I am deeply in love with him, but I also have eyes that work. Send pictures!

We'll talk later.

SEND PICTURES.

Cara laughed quietly and put her phone aside. When she looked up, Jonah was looking her way, his hands busy with the vegetables he was chopping up.

"Laurie?" he asked.

"You guessed it," Cara said. "She's being a nuisance, as usual. Watch that knife, babe. Those hands are very precious to me."

The words had escaped Cara out of habit, bypassing the part of her brain responsible for sound decision-making, and she immediately wished she could take them from the air and shove them back into her silly mouth. Jonah's hands had paused what they were doing, and Cara wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

"Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to – "

"No, it's okay," Jonah said softly. His mouth curved in a little smile, and he went back to chopping up the vegetables.

"Want some help?" Cara asked tentatively.

"Sure," he said. "Come help me get the pasta off the stove."

They worked together in near-silence, brushing up against each other occasionally, slight touches that had Cara's body heating up with each instance. When they were done, Jonah led her to the seating outside in the garden, going back inside to return with a bottle of wine.

"This is a little fancier than I'm used to, Mr Coleman," Cara said, only half-joking. The wine looked very expensive, and clearly, Jonah hadn't even shown her his final kitchen form because the meal he'd whipped up looked restaurant grade.

"Just pretend we're on vacation," he said.

The words were like cold water over whatever warmth Cara might have been feeling from their interactions since the day had begun. She set her glass of wine down and looked across the table at Jonah.

"But that's not what this is, is it, Jonah?" she said softly, forcing herself to hold his gaze. The moment lasted a short few seconds that felt tenser than anything she had ever felt, and then he looked away first.

"Damn," he said, "I'd hoped we could pretend for a little longer."

"Pretend? What, that we are okay? That nothing happened?" Cara asked, her voice rising. "Why would you want that?"

Jonah set his cutlery down with a deep sigh. Now, with the obviously carefully crafted mask of nonchalance dropped, Cara could see the tenseness in his face. Pretending was just as hard on him as it was on her. So why was he doing it?