Her laughter came out of her nose as an embarrassing snort. Way to go, Kylie. They held the ice cream bowls in front of them, standing awkwardly and staring at each other. Finally, Kylie decided to break the silence. “I’d offer for us to sit in the dining room, but that’s Star’s work area.”
“Is she . . . a fortune-teller?” Cade asked.
“You’d think that, but no, she’s just a flake.” Kylie smiled. “She goes to estate sales, scrounges through dead people’s stuff, and resells it on eBay.”
His brows rose. “Sounds morbid.”
“She says it’s an adventure and beats working in an office.” Kylie shrugged and gestured at the old brown sofa. “Shall we?”
They both sat down, and Cade gamely ate a spoonful of Cherry Garcia, his gaze on her the entire time. Kylie couldn’t eat. She was too nervous, too awkward, too ready to fling herself into his arms and sob that she wanted to love him desperately but fate was a cruel bitch.
“Are you . . . not hungry?” Cade asked, glancing at the bowl clutched in her hands.
Dutifully, she put the spoon in her mouth and took a bite. Phish Food. Her favorite. Today, though, it tasted more like Phish Glue. She forced herself to swallow, and gave him another awkward smile.
“Daphne’s good,” he volunteered, taking another mouthful of ice cream. “She hates rehab but we’ve got new people around her and she’s determined in a way I’ve never seen before. Carmela’s sticking at her side, too.”
“Good,” Kylie said. “That’s good.” Great, now she was just parroting back his words. Way to be a stunning conversationalist, Kylie.
“Good,” he agreed.
Silence fell again. Kylie twisted her spoon in her melting ice cream. The bowl was cold against her thighs, but she didn’t have any other place to put it. Cade was still cradling his bowl in his hands, glancing around Star’s shabby apartment. God, this was all so awkward.
Then he looked at her with those gorgeous blue eyes. A hint of a smile curved his mouth. “You know, I pictured this reunion with a lot more making out.”
For some reason, that struck her as insanely funny, and Kylie began to giggle.
He grinned at her, visibly relaxing. “It’s true. I thought maybe you’d see the band and fling yourself passionately in my arms and we could ride off into the sunset. Or down Sunset Avenue, at the very least. And I’d hold you close—much, I imagine, like a spider monkey would—and tell you all about how much I love you and miss you, and we’d kiss and I’d end up with most of your lipstick on me and it’d be pretty damn great.”
More giggles erupted from her, and she stared at her bowl. To her horror, her laughter turned into a sob, and she started to cry. Shit, not again.
“Please don’t cry, Kylie. Please. God, I can’t stand to see you hurting and not be able to do anything about it.” Cade set the bowl down on the floor and moved closer to her. His hand went to her waist and he pulled her close, burying his face in the curve of her neck. “Please. I’ll go if you want me to, okay? Just don’t . . . don’t be so sad. Tell me to go and I’ll go.”
“I . . . don’t want you to go,” she admitted softly. She wanted to burrow against him and forget the world.
He took the bowl of ice cream out of her lap and set it on top of his. Then he shifted closer to her on the couch and began to kiss her neck, her ear. “Tell me to stop and I’ll stop.”
Her breath shuddered in her lungs. “I don’t want you to stop, either.”
His fingers moved to her chin and he tilted her face until she was looking at him. “Tell me not to love you.”
She . . . couldn’t tell him that, either. “Oh, Cade.”
“That’s not a no,” he told her.
“I love you,” she admitted. “I just . . . I’m trapped, Cade.” She shook her head, feeling a bit hopeless. “I love you. I want to be with you more than anything, but with circumstances how they are, I just can’t. I can’t be a burden to you.”
“A financial burden?” he guessed.
Her entire body stilled. “You . . . how . . . ?”
“Carmela mentioned that the label had put the screws to you in your contract and they were doing something similar to Daphne.” He smiled broadly. “So I bought myself a record label.”
“You what?” Her heart pounded.
“I bought the label. Reviewed the contracts for myself and found them rather unfriendly. Daphne’s now in better hands, and I have this for you.” He pulled an envelope out of a pocket inside his jacket.