Page 38 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
The sun was all but fully set and there was a coolness to the air that hadn’t been there when he’d returned from the outing. He headed back into the bungalow, wondering how much longer until his food arrived. His head wasn’t any clearer than before, and he had no idea what to do about talking to Leona about it. So he figured he’d stick with a de-stress ritual he knew worked—comfort food and a bubble bath.
Just as he was locking the sliding glass door, he heard the latch to the front door disengage and open up, followed by the sweet voice of his favorite little blonde.
“Room service!” she called, slipping inside. She didn’t turn to look to see where he was, just made her way over to the glass table in the living room, setting down the tray she had been carrying. When she looked up to find him standing only a few feet from her, she jumped, letting out a little yip.
“Hi. Miller sent me over with your dinner.”
“Is that the only reason you’re here?” he asked, his voice cool and rough. He didn’t want to be an asshole in this moment, but he didn’t know how else to react. Still unsure about what he had actually witnessed back there, he wanted to make sure that his guard was up.
“Well, I guess that depends on if you want me to stay,” she said, trying to feel out his mood.
“Depends on what I just witnessed back there,” he remarked.
“You mean Carlos?”
“Carlos? Good to know he has a name,” he gruffed. “He your boyfriend?”
“No, he is most certainly not my boyfriend,” she said, very matter-of-factly.
“He know that?”
“He is very aware of that fact. Especially since we just went over it.”
“Could have fooled me. He certainly looked like a man who thought his toes were being stepped on.”
“You mean like how you look right now?” she asked, calling him out.
He closed his eyes, sighing. She was right. He was acting in the exact way that it seemed like Carlos had wanted to but hadn’t, at least not in front of Cullen. He circled the side of the table across from where she stood, and collapsed onto the couch.
“Touché,” he said.
“You really think I would have let you touch me the way you have the last couple of days if I was in a relationship?” she accused. Her voice was strained and the look on her face was one full of fury.
“No, I don’t,” he answered. “But between the look on his face, and Drea telling me you’d explain, I may have let my imagination get the best of me. I owe you an apology.”
He saw her body relax upon hearing those last few words. Shifting her weight, she started to lift the covers off the dishes and plate the meal. She handed him the plate with some utensils, grabbing the second plate she made for herself, and slipped in between the table and couch, making herself at home next to him. She curled her legs up underneath herself and snuggled into the throw pillows behind her.
“Carlos is one of our maintenance technicians here. We have known each other since we were teenagers, since we started working here around the same time. A few years ago, we upped the ante on our friendship and added benefits into the mix.” She took a bite of the mac and cheese on her plate and chewed slowly, letting him digest her words.
“So you’re fuck buddies,” he clarified, also digging into the food on his plate. Miller’s mac and cheese was incredible, but it was his garlic Brussels sprouts that did Cullen in every time.
“To put it bluntly, yes. I was very clear when we started out that I did not want a relationship, and he accepted that. It was about meeting physical needs, not emotional ones. We have never been more than friends who sometimes meet up to replace light bulbs.”
“Replace light bulbs?” he asked, confused.
“That was our code. Whenever one of us had the urge, we would text the other that a light bulb needed replacing somewhere, and then would go meet up.”
“Well, aren’t you a naughty little girl,” he said teasingly.
She blushed, trying to hide a smile. “He and I are not together, Cullen. Not even close. Even if he got down on his knees and begged me—which, for the record, he did no such thing this evening. I have no interest in him that way.”
“Are you interested in me that way?” he asked, finishing his plate and putting it back on the coffee table. He wanted seconds, and there was more than enough left on the tray, but he wanted to hear her answer more.
“I know what it meant for you to open up to me the way you did this afternoon. I want you to know that it means so much to me that you would trust me with that secret,” she said, looking down at her plate.
Cullen could tell she was getting nervous, and he wanted so badly to take her in his arms and comfort those nerves away. But she still hadn’t answered his question, and he dared not touch her again until he knew what was going through her head.
“You didn’t answer my question, Menina,” he pushed.
