weekend?” She forgot to even try hiding her dismay.
“Not the weekend.” Before she could breathe a sigh of relief that he’d only be here for the night, he added, “I’ll be staying a couple of weeks. Maybe three, depending on my schedule.”
Brynn couldn’t have been more appalled.
“Let’s go, big guy,” urged the Alpha Kappa sitting across the table from him, sliding his raised arm toward Cade in challenge.
Through a nightmarish haze, Brynn watched Cade plant his elbow next to the challenger’s, grip his hand and engage in another battle, while the other guests moved closer and cheered them on. The air virtually hummed with testosterone.
Brynn backed away from the action, struggling to come to grips with the reality of the situation. How had this happened? How could Cade Hunter be a registered guest at her inn—for two or three weeks, yet?
It had to have been Trish. The moment Brynn had turned her back, Trish had allowed riffraff of the worst kind to register at their inn. Not that Trish could have known how Brynn felt about this particular specimen of riffraff. Brynn had had her pride back in college and hadn’t carried on about her feelings, bad or otherwise, for Cade Hunter. They were merely two people who had once dated, fought and gone their separate ways, as far as any of her friends would remember.
And not even that, as far as Cade remembered. Brenda, he’d called her. Why should that sting as much as it did?
The remainder of high tea passed in something of a blur for Brynn. Lexi, whose shift had ended after she’d set out the snacks, had left for the day, hurrying to get ready for a hot date with her guitarist boyfriend, and Trish remained occupied at the registration desk. Cade continued to win arm-wrestling contests until the last match, when a Kappa Alpha finally beat him.
He then challenged the winner to a double-or-nothing competition that involved balancing stacks of beer-bottle caps on their noses. Every one of the Kappa Alphas joined in, and the beauty queens found the men’s antics delightfully amusing.
“Double or nothing, did you say?” Brynn cried, unable to refrain from pouncing on this transgression. She arched her brows at Cade and said in her most quelling voice, “I hope you’re not gambling in my establishment.”
Immediately the merry chatter and comical action ceased. Smiles wilted. Bottle caps fell off of noses. All eyes turned her way. All faces took on varying degrees of surprise, dismay and contrition.
So much for promoting a happy, tolerant environment.
Cade settled back in his chair and regarded her with the expectant air of a bystander watching a spectacle. Brynn wished she could retract her hasty rebuke, but didn’t know how.
Quietly, apologetically, Smitty broke the silence. “Aww, Brynn, we’re not playing for money. Only for beers. You know, like we always do.”
Only then did she realize the full extent of her mistake. Of course they always wagered for beers, usually regarding football. She’d never complained about their betting before.
Forcing a smile despite the heat blazing in her face, she said, “I…I meant to say…surely you’re not gambling in my establishment…um, without letting me in on the action.”
Smiles returned to her guests’ faces. Smitty hurried to accept her bet, and bottle caps were promptly realigned on the Kappa Alphas’ noses.
Tongue clearly tucked in his cheek, Cade met her gaze. His tawny eyes brimmed with silent laughter. She swore he knew perfectly well what had driven her to that outburst. He had. But how could he realize that unless he remembered their past relationship? The suspicion that he was playing some kind of secret game with her flooded Brynn with an oddly energizing heat.
They’d played many secret games together, once upon a time….
The heat took on a sensual burn, and she pivoted away from him, feeling shaken. This would never do! How could she bear to have Cade Hunter here for two or three weeks?
Teatime lasted forever. Though she tried to focus her attention on the refreshments and the needs of her other guests, she found herself preoccupied with her awareness of Cade, an awareness she’d rather die than show. By the time the guests went their separate ways for the evening, her face ached from forcing a smile.
On their way out, the Kappa Alphas and the beauty queens told Cade they hoped to see him around the inn that weekend. As usual, he’d been a big hit.
It was enough to turn Brynn’s stomach.
Most disturbing of all, though, was when Trish ran into Cade on his way out of the parlor. For the first time since her divorce from her cheating ex, a sparkle leaped in her bright blue eyes. With flushed animation, she talked to him, flirted with him and insisted that he have dinner with her to “catch up”—although they’d never been close friends.
“Brynn, you’ll come too, won’t you?” she asked as an afterthought, probably because they were the only three people left in the entryway.
Brynn actually considered going, just to prevent Trish from being alone with the big bad wolf. The thought of Cade and Trish as a couple, even for the briefest time, was too horrible to tolerate. But if they were intent on pursuing a relationship, she couldn’t imagine anything worse than being with them as a third wheel. “No, you go ahead. I’ve had a busy day.”
“So have I,” Cade said, surprising her. “And I have a lot of work to catch up on,” he added, surprising her even more. Brynn wondered what kind of work he did. “Think I’ll turn in early, too,” he said.
The crestfallen look on Trish’s face made Brynn want to shake her.
“But let me take a rain check on those dinner plans, huh, Trish?” Cade’s smile was as rich, warm and powerful as cognac.
Trish visibly brightened and assured him he could. Brynn gritted her teeth. Of all the guys her friend could have gotten interested in, why Cade? She’d be going from one lowlife to another.
“If you two are turning in early,” Trish said, “I’m going over to the campus to help decorate for the festivities tomorrow.” With a wink at Cade, she made her exit.
Which left Brynn very much alone with him. Her tension shifted into higher gear as they stood watching the door close behind Trish. Brynn braced herself for whatever he might say or do.
But with nothing more than a courteous nod, he turned and strode to the stairway.
Again he’d surprised her. And not in a good way. She felt curiously deflated. Robbed, even. He apparently thought he could slink off to his room without a face-to-face confrontation with her.
She allowed him that delusion as she followed him silently up the stairs to the second floor. All the way to his door, actually. It wasn’t until he pushed his key into the lock that Brynn halted beside him.
He glanced at her in surprise.
She scowled. “You might not remember much about me, Cal,” she said in a furious undertone, deliberately getting his name wrong, “but I remember plenty about you. Trish is my friend. She’s been through a tough time lately, and she doesn’t need a wolf like you ready to pounce on her. Stay away from her.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up, and he leaned a broad shoulder against the doorjamb. “So, you’re worried about your friend, are you?” His gaze played over her face with gathering intensity. “Then maybe you’d better keep me occupied.”
A dark thrill shot into her stomach. A spear of sensual heat, the kind she hadn’t felt for years. Nine years. The realization alarmed her. “Don’t play your mind games here. With anyone. Or I promise you, I will be your worst nightmare.”
With that passionate threat, she whipped around, stalked to her room and shut the door behind her, her knees deplorably weak, her blood humming in her ears. She had no idea how she would ever carry out that threat, but she meant it. Something about Cade Hunter never failed