by Natalie Ann
With her hair towel dried and hanging damp around her shoulders, she walked into Cade’s room just wrapped in a towel. She was going to go in search of her own clothes when he walked in holding them in his hands. “Looking for these?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I seem to keep leaving them in other rooms.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “You said your throat hurt last night.”
Her throat. What the heck was she doing? She thought she remembered everything. “Huh?”
He laughed at her. “You did a lot of yelling. You told me to stop after the fourth orgasm because your throat hurt from trying not to yell. It didn’t work, you were pretty loud.”
She felt heat fill her face and then every other part of her body imaginable. “I did tell you to make good on your promise.”
“I believe I did that. Unless you’d like me to try again. I’m always up for second chances.”
“I’m good,” she said, reaching a hand out. “Can I have my clothes?”
“For a price,” he said.
She fought back the groan, barely. She doubted her body could give him another orgasm. Sure she’d like nothing better, but she was positive everybody had their limit and it seemed Cade was finding hers.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Just a kiss,” he said, walking forward and laying his lips to hers. Softly. Tenderly. Gently. He tried to do that last night too, but she changed it up. Going down the softness route with Cade would be dangerous. She was trying to avoid danger at all costs in her life.
“Can I get dressed now?” she said, fighting the urge to lean into him some more. For anything that he was willing to give her.
Scary thoughts that had no business being in her head when she was telling herself repeatedly that this had to stay in the friends category. That she didn’t have it in her to be hurt again. Especially knowing that if she let her guard down with Cade, it would only hurt so much more than anything else in her life when he decided he’d had enough.
Weeks of lectures were helping a little, but she’d get in his presence and then forget that guys like him didn’t want forever. They didn’t even think about it. And if you brought it up to them, they ran in the other direction faster than Usain Bolt.
“Sure,” he said. “I was just going to see if you were hungry. I’m starving but have held off.”
“You didn’t need to. Have you been up long?” Didn’t all his siblings say he slept all the time?
“Not too long. Maybe thirty minutes before you. I’ll get you some coffee and start the pancakes. I think we could use the carbs this morning.”
“You really are just about perfect,” she said before she could stop the words from tumbling out so foolishly.
He looked startled, then sent her that slow assessing smile he often had. The one that said “Ah, you fell for my ways, my little pretty. Time to enter my web.”
“Why’s that? Because it’s the second time I’ve cooked for you and you haven’t done it for me once?” he said, grinning.
He sure had a way about him. “Now you’re going to make me feel bad.”
“Is that possible?” he asked, watching her while she started to put her clothes on. His stare could turn her to mush.
“Of course it is. Why would you even think to ask that?”
“I wasn’t sure. Some people feel no sense of remorse or hurt in their life,” he said.
“I didn’t think I was giving off the impression that I was one of those people.” She was trying to keep the tone of insult and injury out of her voice.
“You haven’t,” he said, holding his hand out to hers now. She took it hesitantly, trying to get a read on him right now, and they walked into his kitchen together. He sure did like to hold her at times. More than she was used to from a man, reminding her to keep that guard up strong and high.
“Then why say it?”
“Just conversation.”
“It’s an odd conversation,” she said.
“I’ve been known to be the odd duck of the family.”
She was watching him now. She really didn’t know what to make of him or this talk they were having.
“Say what is on your mind, Cade.” The direct approach might be the only way to get her point across, or give her some understanding of where his thoughts were lying.
“You don’t want to hear it,” he said so softly that for a second she thought she was talking to a completely different person.
Gone were his smile and confident swagger, and in its place was someone that seemed to be doubting himself, almost hedging.
She sighed. “Probably not.” She went to open her mouth and say something else but heard her phone ding in the distance.
“That’s gone off a few times. I’m assuming it’s your phone.”
“Yeah. Just a text. I better go see it. It could be work or my mother.”
She walked out of the room and pulled her phone out. Keith. Not who she expected to see, nor this message Call me now. Which she wasn’t even going to consider doing. He had no right to order her around.
“Everything okay?” he asked when she walked back in, his normal self back in place, making her wonder if he was putting up a front for some reason.
“Yeah. Nothing important. Now let’s get those pancakes going because I think my body is still burning calories from the workout you gave me last night.”
***
Cade had lost his chance. She was wavering, he knew. He saw it in her eyes. She understood where he was going with his conversation and he thought maybe she was getting close to opening up. Even if it was just a little.
But her damn phone went off. And even though she didn’t blink an eye or change any feature that it was anything important, it was a break from the direction his train had been heading. There was no putting it in reverse or even turning the train back now. He’d have to find another track to navigate at a different time.
Like how they were more than friends and he was determined to get her to at least admit that much.
“So what are your plans today?” he asked as he started to mix batter in the bowl.
“Not much. I was going to go into the shop at some point and play around with a few things.”
“What things?” he asked.
“Just something a customer asked me for. Some samples.”
“Ella’s glasses for the shadow boxes?” he said.
“She told you?”
He laughed. “No. You just did. She’s been looking at them for a long time and I heard her talking to Brody about them last week. Just feeling him out.”
“Cade! Don’t let her know you found out. I promised her I wouldn’t say a word.”
He winked at her. “Your secret is safe. I promise. And we know I keep my promises.”
She eyed him hard. “I’m counting on you to act surprised. She was really excited about this and searched high and low for exactly what she wanted. It’s taken her this long to get me the glass to test a few out.”
“I won’t say a word. Do you really have to work today?”
“It’s not really work. I’ve got a lot of big orders coming up and sometimes I’ve got to put the extra time in to do these samples. I’ve been able to get staff to do a lot of the work, but some of the equipment can’t be used without me doing the initial draw-up or set-up.”
“How about you show me how you do those things?” he asked, pouring the batter in the pan and turning to see her reaction. He was grasping, he knew, but he just didn’t want their time to end again, to leave him wondering when they’d see each other after he brought her home.
“How about not. It will be boring for you and I don’t need someone looking over my shoulder. Right now I just need to design it on the computer based on the dimensions. It’s CAD at the moment. You’ll do better with the finished product.”
“CAD?”
“Computer aided design. Trust me when I tell you it’s boring for you and it will drive me cr
azy if you’re standing around staring at me.”
He saw the look in her eye and knew she meant it. The last thing he wanted to do was get on her nerves. “How about if you cook me dinner when you’re done then? This is twice now I’ve cooked for you,” he reminded her again. Would guilt work to get him more time? It was worth a shot in his eyes.
“Think you’re being so smart and charming right now, huh?”
“Is it working?” He flipped the pancakes over, leaning down to inhale the scent. “Wow, these smell really good. Do you have any specialty dishes you cook?”
She walked up to him and slipped her arms around his waist, then laid her head on his shoulder. “You’re wearing me down.”
“That was the plan.” He turned his head and kissed her on the forehead.
“Why don’t you run me back to my car after breakfast? I’ll go do a few things at work and if you don’t have plans today, we can have dinner at five at my place. I guess it’s only fair since you’re cooking me breakfast.”
“I like being fair.”
More Up Front
Alex finished up the last of the samples for Ella. She was thrilled with the way they turned out and, as much as she wanted to show Cade, she wouldn’t. She did snap a picture and send it to Ella as a teaser though and offered to show her in person this week, if Ella had time. But she did slip a sample in her purse to bring home and admire later.
When she was done with the text, she looked at the message from Keith. He’d sent her two more today and she ignored them too. She couldn’t imagine what he could possibly want from her, but she knew if she didn’t call him soon, he wouldn’t leave her alone. He was like a Chihuahua trying to get a damn bone from a T-Rex.
She took a deep breath and called him. He answered on the first ring. “What took you so long to call me back?”
“Excuse me?” she said, her hackles rising. He was the only one who had the ability to do that to her now.
When she realized what he was really looking for in a mate, or out of a relationship, she told him she wanted no part of it. It wasn’t what she looked for in the future and she’d never be happy. It wasn’t the life she saw herself living and never had been. He didn’t even try to talk to her about it. Didn’t try to compromise at all.
No. He told her it was important to him to maintain a healthy relationship in the public eye and if she wasn’t willing to be part of that, then she wasn’t for him. Pretty much end of story. Three years of losing her heart to him were out the window and it was time to move on.
“I’ve sent you several messages. It’s Saturday. What could you possibly be doing on a Saturday? I even tried to respect the fact that you want to work and gave you the benefit of the doubt you might be busy this morning but it’s taken you all day to return my call.”
“What I do with my time is no business of yours,” she said. “What is so important that you’ve had to send me multiple messages in one day when I haven’t talked to you in almost two years?”
“I’m running for Senate.”
“And?” she asked. It wasn’t news to her. She knew it was what he wanted all along. Or what he told her two years ago when she was trying to figure the reason he had to go out all the time and wanted her all dressed up and working less. Keith was young. He came from money and he was hoping to reach the middle class with his money by having a mate from that class. “I’m not a part of your life anymore.”
“No, you aren’t. I’m engaged and Angie is exactly what I need for my significant other.”
His condescending tone wasn’t lost on her. “So why did you need to call me if you’ve got exactly what you need now?”
“Because there will be people looking into my past. My relationships. If you’re contacted by anyone, your answer is to be ‘no comment.’ There is no reason to acknowledge or deny anything. No comment is all you will say.”
She thought that was odd. A statement like that would just cause more curiosity than anything. “Fine by me,” she said.
“You’ll let me know if anyone contacts you and their name.” He didn’t ask, he demanded. She’d never seen this side of him until things started to go sour.
“No. I won’t.” She wasn’t going to be directed on what she could and couldn’t do when she had no tie to him any longer. Even if she were in a relationship with him, she wasn’t one to be pushed or controlled.
“Alexandra,” he said, drawing her name out. He was the only one that called her by that name. That should have been her first clue he wasn’t for her way back in the day.
“What?” she snapped, knowing it would set him off. No reason two of them couldn’t be frustrated right now. She wished she hadn’t called him back.
“I’m asking you to respond that way and let me know. It would be in your best interest to follow my lead on this.”
“No. It’s in your best interest, not mine. What you do in Texas is of no concern to me. I doubt anyone will even find out about me. I sure the hell won’t be shouting off the rooftops that we had a relationship.”
She could picture him right now grinding his teeth. He was probably narrowing his eyes at the same time, but he knew if he wanted her to do what he asked, snapping at her wouldn’t get him anything.
“I treated you well and you know that. We just wanted different things.”
He was trying to put some hurt in his voice, but she knew he was just playing the politician card, telling her what he thought would help to get his way. If she was in front of him with a baby in her arms, he’d be trying to kiss a chubby cheek all the while silently praying it didn’t toss its cookies on his crisp white shirt and red tie.
“I didn’t say one way or the other. I just said there is no reason for me to go shouting about our relationship. If I wanted the lifestyle you were offering me and things didn’t work out, maybe I’d be mad. But I didn’t. Things happen for a reason and this was one of them. I wish you well. If someone contacts me, I’ll tell them what you said.”
“And you’ll let me know?” he asked, pushing some more, though his tone softened a touch. It had to be killing him to do that and she fought back the giggle.
“If I think about it. Now have a good day. I’m busy.” She disconnected the call. She wouldn’t feel guilty about it either.
He was never fully honest with her until years into their relationship, once she moved to Texas to be with him. It was her fault thinking there was something there when there wasn’t. She wouldn’t blame him, even if she wanted to.
He was a political science major and then got his MBA on top of it. She’d thought he wanted to go into the family business eventually. She thought wrong.
He was out of her life and she was happy about it.
She’d much rather spend her time trying to figure out what was up Cade’s sleeve right now. Someone that hadn’t lied to her once and was trying to have more communication with her.
Maybe Keith’s message was a wake-up call for her to look at Cade and be more up front.
***
Cade showed up at Alex’s house at five on the dot. Being early would give the wrong impression. Being late might just set her off. The last thing he wanted to do was set her off.
“Wow, you’re on time,” she said, opening the door wide, her smile telling him she might be softening toward him some more.
“I told you I’m on time when it counts.”
She laughed. “Come on in. Do you like Italian?”
“Is the Colosseum in Rome?” he asked, tugging on her hair.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m not nearly as good of a cook as Aiden.”
“Very few are. I grew up with my mother’s cooking, so trust me when I say most are better than hers. Though you better never tell her I said that.” His mother would skin him alive, even if everyone busted on her about how often she burned things.
“Have a seat. I’d offer you some wine, but I forgot to pick some up. I do have some beer in here somewhere. I’m sticking with ice tea after
last night.”
“I thought last night was pretty memorable.”
“Oh, it was. I’d rather not have to worry about it being clouded by alcohol again.”
That sounded promising for the night ahead. “Do you not remember last night?”
“I remember everything. I was just...what is it you said? Oh yes, loose last night. And you made me feel limber. Then this morning I was all knotted up though.”
He grinned at her wink. “I can massage it and make it all better for you.”
“You could. Or you could tell me what was on your mind this morning.”
He didn’t think she’d bring it up and was pretty excited that she did. He liked that she wasn’t really avoiding it like he thought, making him think he might have been wrong about her. In a good way too.
“I’m curious about this thing we’ve got going.”
“What about it?” she asked, opening the oven. Looked and smelled like baked ziti to him.
“Where do you see it going?”
“I thought we had discussed this already. We’re more than friends with benefits.”
That damn hurt he’d been trying to hide was still there and making a nasty appearance even though she was acknowledging it was more. It just wasn’t enough and he was trying not to be greedy, but like his siblings had told him his whole life, he was a greedy son of a bitch.
“Definitely more than that. I guess the question is, are you going to avoid me again for two weeks until I can twist your arm to go out with me? Or am I only good when you’ve got an itch that needs scratching?”
She flushed—good. She knew he meant business now. “I was busy with work.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
She turned and pulled the makings for a salad out of her fridge. “Both,” she said quickly. “And I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to do what I did. I’m not used to this. To the rules. To any rules.”
“There aren’t rules. Can’t you just admit we’ve got some type of a relationship that is more than friends that have sex?”
He was holding his breath now and wondering if his damn mouth was going to make matters worse. If he shouldn’t just suck it up and enjoy it while he could. Most guys would be thrilled with this arrangement.
