The Sweet Spot (Sweet And Spicy) by Mary Eason Page A

with them?
    With any luck, Shelby would be out of the shop making deliveries by the time Aiden arrived.
     
    “Oh, no you don’t. Cara, you have a lot of competition out there. You have to dress nice for Aiden. Trust me, you’ll like this outfit.”
    Hours later, standing in front of the tiny bathroom mirror, looking at the woman who wore a slim fitted knit black top that stopped just above her waist with a matching skirt that barely met the top, Cara wasn’t so sure. Why had she gone along with Shelby’s crazy idea in the first place? She looked…sexy. That was not how she wanted to look for Aiden. She wanted there to be no misconceptions, didn’t she? So why had she let Shelby talk her into wearing the dress and the matching shoes as well as more makeup than she was accustomed to wearing if she only wanted to be Aiden’s friend? Did friends dress sexy for each other?
    Cara closed her eyes. “I look like a whore,” she told Shelby who let out a whistle when she emerged from the bathroom.
    “Are you kidding? You look fabulous. Perfect. Just sexy enough but not too much so that he’ll want to skip dinner altogether.” At Cara’s shocked expression, Shelby winked. “Hey, a girl’s gotta eat.”
    “I cannot believe I let you talk me into this.” She glanced at her watch with hope. Then sank into the chair. There wasn’t time to change again. She dreaded Aiden’s reaction.
    Shelby on the other hand was thrilled when Aiden walked through the door and stopped dead in his tracks the second he got a good look at her.
    Vaguely, Cara was aware of Shelby laughing and whispering in her ear, “Bingo. That was the look we were going for,” before her friend disappeared and it was just the two of them.
    Cara clinched her hands, and felt her palms grow damp. This was not the reaction she wanted to have to Aiden, who looked casual but very, very sexy in his dark blue slacks and lighter pullover in muted shades of blue.
    Cara had to turn away to keep from gaping. Aiden looked fabulous. Better than she’d remembered. She forgot what she was doing. She wanted to run.
    “Wow, you look amazing.” She closed her eyes tighter and shuddered as Aiden’s words washed over her. This wasn’t good. She was a nervous wreck already and they weren’t even really alone.
    Cara tried to come up with some way out of the dinner. She really wasn’t feeling too well was she? In fact, she hadn’t been feeling well since…
    “Ready?” He was standing close behind her, his breath brushing her cheek. Cara felt his hands touch her shoulders, turning her to face him. “Cara?”
    Had his eyes always been that blue? Cara wondered as she watched him reading all of her reactions. She closed her eyes and stepped back.
    “We should go. I really need to make it an early night. I have lots to do tomorrow.”
    Cara didn’t even have to turn around to guess Shelby’s reaction to that statement. Shelby probably thought she’d suddenly gone stupid or something.
    The Range Rover had never looked more intimidating as Cara considered the possibilities. Alone with Aiden in the small confines of the SUV was not where she needed to be after spending two long weeks thinking of nothing but being alone with him.
    “You did say casual…” Aiden said when Cara’s eyes collided with his as he parked the Rover outside of his house.
    “ Aiden…”
    “Relax. When I said I had a proposition to make, it wasn’t exactly that, although with you looking the way that you do right now, it sounds a whole lot more enjoyable than dinner, but I really did invite you here to eat,” Aiden added quickly as Cara felt the embarrassing color returning in full force.
    She followed him inside to the living room, while trying to block out images of the last time she’d been here with Aiden. When they stood facing each other in too familiar territory, Cara regretted ever letting Shelby talk her into wearing that skirt.
    “You said you had a proposition.” Why did the