Complicated Desire

Chapter Four

A tap on the door of the guest house caused Bianca to put her current task on hold. Seeing as her wardrobe was incredibly limited given she was only there for the weekend, it was a lost cause anyhow.

As if reading her mind, once she opened the door, Bianca saw Kara standing there with a sleek black dress on a hanger, dancing around in front of her body. "Figured you didn't have a lot of options for your date."

Kara's teasing tone wasn't lost on Bianca, and she delivered a lazy glare and sigh in return, snatching the dress before Kara could take it back. "It's not a date."

"It's okay if you have a thing for my dad," Kara assured her as she walked into the living room. Even the way she dropped herself onto the couch appeared like an elegant dance. Pretty much everything Kara did was the epitome of grace. "There isn't a single friend I've had since fifteen who hasn't had a thing for him. You could say I've grown used to it."

Bianca laid the dress across a dining room chair, trying to act casual about the accusation. "Why would you think I have a thing for your dad? You were upstairs the whole time."

Kara leaned her head forward to brush her long black hair to the side, then turned her attention to her long fingernails. "Because Matt said you were acting all weird around him, and blushing like a schoolgirl having her first crush. And seeing as your brother is just about the least observant person I've ever met, if he noticed that, you can bet your ass there was plenty he didn't notice."

"I'll admit, he wasn't what I was expecting."

Although Kara never showed off her wealth, there was such a natural sophistication about her. What Bianca expected from Kara's father was that same sophistication. She pictured clean cut, a suit, and a serious expression. She pictured someone who looked more like her father's age. She pictured Doctor Calloway.

What she got was Kade; a man with a killer smile, sweet dimples, and the fountain of youth coursing through his veins. Not that he didn't appear older, but there were boyish features that would keep him forever younger than he was.

"If it helps, Matt isn't freaking out too bad. For one, my dad swore off women after the divorce from hell. Two, when my dad bought me this house, he hired an interior decorator. She was the hottest thing on two legs, and couldn't have been more than thirty. I had to smack Matt upside the head a couple of times for checking her out. I don't think my dad even noticed how attractive she was, so younger women fly way under his radar. Hell, everyone seems to fly under his radar.

"Anyhow, those two things combined seemed to be put his mind at ease. I told him everyone gets a little crush on my dad, and that doesn't mean he has to worry about his sister becoming his mother-in-law."

Bianca's nose scrunched up as she thought about it that way. When she looked at Kara, however, she seemed eerily calm. Almost in a daze. "Say what you need to say."

Kara waited a few beats before nodding. "I just came back from my dad's, and he was asking about you. If I think you'll be staying, what you enjoy eating, if you brought anything nice to wear for dinner, hence the dress from my closet that I still can't fit in. And when I asked him what he thought about you, he just smiled and said you weren't what he expected, either.

"Like I said, everyone seems to fall for my dad. Good looks run in the family. He's also extremely generous and kind. The guys a catch, so it's natural for you to see that. The thing of it is, I'm not used to seeing him reciprocate. Not after the terrible divorce, and certainly not with someone his daughter's age."

Asking aloud would confirm every one of Kara's suspicions, but at this point, Bianca was pretty sure it didn't matter. "And your dad's age is?"

"Fifty-three."

Fucking hell, she should not have fallen for this man. She suspected Kade Calloway was two or three years younger than her own father, though he could pass for a bit younger yet.

Nope.

He was two years older.

It wasn't hard to do that math. She'd just turned twenty-six last month. The man was twenty-seven years older than herself.

Kade Calloway may have aged like fine wine, and she may have daydreamed once or twice about tasting said wine, but indulging in her fantasies was trouble of the epic proportion variety. Add the age difference to the fact that they were legally considered family on some level, and this had trouble written all over it.

"I'm trying to make light of the situation, and not read too much into it, but it was pretty hard to ignore after hearing my dad talk about you. I swear, I want you here. You're the sister I never had, and I love you to the moon and back. But I'm not sure if working for him is the best idea anymore. It's just going to make things confusing and messy, and Matt and my dad have bonded so much after Brandon was born. I can deal with this whole thing, as weird as it would be, but I'm not sure if Matt can."

Bianca licked her lips and shook her head. "There's nothing to deal with, Kara. There's no situation. Your dad might be good looking, but I have no intention of dating him. I've been officially divorced for all of two weeks, and my life doesn't have room for more confusion. He might be good looking, but your dad isn't my type."

"He's every woman's type, Bianca, whether they know it or not."