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“I could have just been ignoring the doorbell.” I didn’t know why I countered with that, but the words were out before I thought them through.
“Which is why Austin used his key. He was worried about you.” Kayla cocked her head to the side. “What’s going on?”
I groaned. “Cody and I went to New York. It was amazing. We saw a show, ate in a Michelin starred restaurant—in the back at the chef’s table where we could see the kitchen in action. We stayed at the Plaza and had a private tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty before driving around to see all the other sights.”
Kayla crossed her arms. “You said you weren’t sleeping with him.”
I squirmed. “Well, we did sleep in the same room, it’s true. And actually, I have fallen asleep once when we were watching a movie. So I have slept with him, I guess, if you’re going to be technical.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. I’m wondering when it became your business.” I mirrored her posture. I was starting to get annoyed with her attitude. “Did you forget that I’m an adult?”
“Did you forget your brother feels responsible for you?”
“Did I ask him to?” I threw my hands in the air. “And if he’s so upset, why isn’t he here giving me the third degree instead of sending you?”
“Because we decided we’d divide and conquer.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” I grabbed my phone and texted a warning to Cody. “Is it any wonder we didn’t tell everyone when we started dating?”
“Do you think it’s possible that if you’d been up front about it, maybe people wouldn’t be upset?”
I glared at Kayla. Maybe—just maybe—she had a point. On the flip side? When Cody and I had talked about it, we’d had valid reasons for believing that they’d do exactly this.
“I guess we’ll never know. But let me just encourage you to do a little soul searching—and to invite Austin to join you in it—to see what your response really would have been.”
Kayla seemed to deflate. She scrubbed her hands over her face. “Okay. Maybe that’s a point. For the record, I think sneaking around was dumb.”
“Noted.” I sighed. “Are we okay?”
“Not yet. But we’ll get there.”
“Is Austin going to kill Cody?”
I could close—or leave Kayla here; she knew how to use the register—and run over there. I wasn’t sure how the guys would respond to me showing up, but maybe it would keep them from physical violence. Not that I could actually picture Austin throwing a punch, but Wes might.
“No. And he’ll probably keep the other guys off him. But the two of you were stupid. If you were going to keep a secret, you shouldn’t have gone on an overnight trip together using the plane that everyone shares.” Kayla studied my face. “You’re okay?”
“I love him. He’s…everything.”
I couldn’t—wouldn’t—lie and say that there hadn’t been a good deal of temptation when we’d been at the Plaza. The whole avoiding situations that made it easy to sin hadn’t been part of that weekend trip, but nothing had happened.
I was mostly glad.
There was a small part of me that wondered if it would really be so bad. I loved Cody. He loved me. I was reasonably certain we were heading toward marriage. Cody had said a few things here and there that pointed in that direction. So did it really matter if the government had a piece of paper beforehand?
Kayla’s expression softened. “I’m glad you found each other. We should order dinner. To celebrate.”
“I’m game. Celebrating is better than berating.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that we kept our relationship secret. I actually kind of thought you’d figured it out.”
“Suspected.” Kayla held up a finger. “Which is not the same as knowing. But I didn’t push and, when I think it through, you didn’t lie. Though you skirted the line a few times.”
“We said we wouldn’t lie about it. That was something we agreed on. I think…I think Cody knew the trip would force the issue.”
Kayla snorted. “Understatement. I’ve been working hard since Wednesday to get Austin to wait until today to confront Cody. I was hoping he’d cool off. Not sure if that happened or not.”
I winced and sent up a quick prayer for Cody’s safety. I didn’t imagine the guys were going to be as quick to forgive as Kayla seemed to be.
