As she did, Daphne knocked a drink out of someone’s hand and shot him the bird. “Get out of my party, asshole.”
Everyone around her looked shocked. The room got quiet again, a sure sign that Daphne was lashing out unexpectedly.
Kylie swallowed. Okay. Maybe now was not the time after all.
As she watched, Cade leaned in and murmured something in Daphne’s ear. His gaze caught Kylie’s from across the room, and he oh-so-subtly pointed at the door.
Yeah, okay. For now, she’d go and have fabulous forbidden sex with the sexy rich guy. Like that was a hardship. She just wouldn’t think about the bad things that could happen, like sending a junkie into a downward spiral . . . or losing her job and her senile Nana getting kicked out of her nursing home.
Not that Cade, Mr. Money himself, would let that happen. He’d probably swoop in and try and pay all her bills to rescue Kylie. But damn, she would be a horrible person if she just rolled over and let him. If she just threw her hands up and allowed herself to be a burden to him.
She didn’t need rescuing; she needed to make better choices in life.
Besides, if she did let him swoop in and pay for everything, what was to stop him from holding that stuff over her head? Bad enough he had her panties. And then what? Throw the money in her face every time they disagreed? Remind her constantly that she owed him?
That she was a burden? And then when he was tired of “supporting” her, would he toss her out on the street, too, leaving her humiliated and alone?
No, it was best if Cade didn’t know about her Nana and wasn’t involved, no matter how “easy” it might be to confess her money woes to him and let him handle things.
So she quietly slipped out of the room and headed to the front of the concert hall.
As was becoming familiar to see, a stretch limo waited at the curb in front of the building. The driver was leaning against the car and he straightened as Kylie headed toward him.
“I’m with Mr. Archer,” she told the man.
He gave her a surprised look, and Kylie felt a flare of annoyance. What, a fatty like her didn’t deserve a hot, wealthy guy? She hated seeing that expression on people’s faces. Maybe that was why she was pushing so hard against Cade as he tried to get closer to her. At what point was he going to up and realize, Oh, Kylie’s not all that attractive, and dump her? Everyone else seemed to be waiting for him to wise up, so why not her?
She got in the limo in a sour mood. It didn’t help that her phone didn’t have a single new text lighting it up. Maybe he’d changed his mind and decided to hang with Daphne after all. Even if he wasn’t interested in her romantically, Daphne still had to be more fun than “Fat Marilyn,” right? Maybe he was regretting his pushiness toward her. He could have anyone. Why was he working so hard to get her?
Kylie stewed for a few minutes, staring at her phone, wanting a text to appear. As five minutes dragged into ten, and then twenty, she contemplated texting him a snotty little remember me? sort of text.
But she knew Daphne, and she also knew how hard it was to sometimes detangle from her when she wanted you there. So she was patient. Sort of.
Just when her patience had reached its limits, the door to the limo opened and Cade slid in. The driver got in the front, and before Kylie could snap out some quip about how long he’d spent, his arms went around her and he pulled her close to him.
“Can I hold you for just a moment?” he asked.
And all of Kylie’s anger melted, because of all things she’d expected to hear coming out of him tonight, that wasn’t it. She nodded. His arms tightened around her and he buried his face against her neck.
She remained still, unsure what to think of this.
“She’s using again,” Cade murmured against her skin, and Kylie caught the notes of sadness in his voice. “I can tell by the way she acts. She says she’s clean, but she’s on something. And every time I tried to bring up the topic, she changed it.”
Her hand went to his hair, and she stroked it. However turbulent and strange her own relationship might be with this man, she understood his frustration and unhappiness at seeing someone he cared for destroy herself. “I figured.”
“You can’t even talk to her right now. She just . . . refuses to hear it. Any of it. She acts like nothing is wrong, but she’s not the old Daphne.” His hands hugged her tighter. “The woman there tonight? I feel like she was a stranger. And it shouldn’t surprise me, but every time . . .”
“You still hope for the best. I know.” She felt that way with her nana. Every time she saw her, she went in hoping that this would be the time Nana would smile when she saw Kylie. Would feel real love and affection for her. Would view her as a grandchild and someone to love and not just an unhappy burden that cost money and a reminder of everything she’d lost. She knew how devastating it was to get your hopes up, only to have them dashed over and over again. “You can’t be blamed for having hope, Cade.” Her fingers brushed through his soft, soft hair. “You can be sad you want more for her than she wants for herself, but you can’t get angry that you hope she’ll change. The day we stop hoping is the day we stop caring, I think.”
He lifted his head from her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. “You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”
“Maybe I am.” She tried to give a halfhearted little shrug. He didn’t need to know about her personal sob story. Not tonight. So it was time for a distraction. “Does this mean I can have my panties back now?”