by Jarrod, Cait
The women hugged, and a pinch went through Cadence. Trina had always been the sister she didn’t have, and they stayed tied together by that invisible bond. Now she wanted to actually be a sister not only to Trina but also to Autumn. The thought took her by surprise.
“Besides–” Trina eased away. “I didn’t do anything but hire a party planner. She organized it.”
“Well, you gave her expectations and paid for it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Sunk into her own worries, Cadence hadn’t given any thought to a baby shower for Trina. Autumn must have thought the same since she locked eyes with Cadence as if a light bulb went off. Cadence nodded, and they made a silent agreement to plan one.
“As for going into the breeding business…not now. The owner requested the jill, sorry the female, be spayed once the kids are weaned in about six weeks.”
Trina rose and sat in the chair, holding her stomach as if she picked it up. “I’ve got to pee.” She rushed out of the room and they laughed. Autumn straightened, scooted the box next to the wall, and scanned the floor. “Where is the key?
“Have you asked Hopper?” Cadence snickered.
“Ah-h. Ho-op-per!” With her hands on her hips, and her head jerking between the rooms, Autumn looked very much like a mom ready to scold her child.
“Here he is.” Trina came back in the room. Hopper followed, watching her bare feet and carrying the keyring in his mouth The missing key clanked against the wooden floor.
“He loves your feet.” Autumn sighed and surprise-grabbed the key from him. He hissed in returned then peeked back into the box.
“You said ferrets will eat their young.” Cadence sat in the chair next to the window and raised a brow. “Hopper looks like he wants to kiss-lick them.”
“His reaction to the kids is unusual but then again, Hopper is a strange ferret.” As if he understood, he jerked toward her and stuck out his tongue.
“Ha!” Cadence laughed. “He told you.”
Autumn scooped him up and flopped into a chair near the box. “I can only remember him doing that one other time. It was on the flight from New York to Montana when Travis said Hopper looked like a rat.” In her lap, his front legs touched her chest, and he licked her neck, just below the ear. Autumn curled her head toward him and clutched him between her hands.
“When did he start doing that?” Trina laughed. “He used to go for the nose.”
“From Travis. We have to start putting him in another room. “He mimics everything we do.”
“No-o.” Trina’s eyes widened. “Even sex?”
Autumn waved a hand. “I don’t want to talk about it, but I will say this.” She pointed to the box. “After I examined the jill, I thought it’d be fun for Hopper to meet her and brought him into the exam room. When the other vet needed some help with another patient, I left him in there and gave the receptionist instructions to call me if they made angry noises. She’d been around Hopper enough to know if either ferret grew upset. Over a month later, Hopper becomes a dad.”
“A proud one,” Cadence added, as Hopper peeked over his owner’s shoulder at the box.
“There’s nothing like finding your missing part, isn’t that right Cadence.” Her best friend sent her a knowing look. “In your case, the one that you didn’t know belonged to you.”
No arguing with logic. “There’s nothing like it.”
“At least you got a better deal than me,” Autumn said, smiling at her teardrop diamond, bursting with the colors of the rainbow. “Trina threatened me.”
“I did not!”
“You did. You said don’t hurt my brother-in-law.” Autumn straightened, settled Hopper on the floor, and poured a cup of coffee. “What would you have done if I did?”
“Grab your ponytail.” Trina tugged on it as Autumn returned. “And cut it off in your sleep. You’d have the name Bobbitt branded on you forever.” Cadence busted out laughing with Trina.
Autumn arched her eyebrows, clearly not understanding their joke. “A woman cut off her cheating husband’s penis while he slept.” Cadence regaled in telling the story.
“Rumor has it, some man and his son found it the middle of the road.” Laughing, Trina covered her mouth. “Can you imagine finding a piece of deflated meat?” She giggled so hard, she had to grab her lower belly. “Oh, I’ve got to pee again. Don’t say anything until I get back.” Trina waddled out of the room, and Cadence grinned at Autumn’s annoyance. What a great feeling having her sidekick back.
“They sewed it back on,” Cadence said as soon as Trina stepped into the room.
“Ewe!” Autumn scrunched her nose. “Why call it Bobbitt?”
“It’s their last name,” Cadence and Trina said at the same time.
“Just say no to Bobbitt.” The sound of the door closing heightened the firmness in Matt’s voice. “That name isn’t allowed in this house.” He rounded the corner, followed by Travis and Bradley, all three men donning cowboy hats.
They were hot, muscular men, but only one fluttered her heart. Bradley winked at Cadence as he headed toward the coffee pot.
“How do you know what we’re talking about?” Autumn asked as she eyed the ferrets.
Travis chuckled, not a har-har type of laugh, but one that sounded painful. He lifted the pot after Matt deposited it. “I imagine at one time the whole country knew. Kind of stays with a person, like that movie Fatal Attraction. It scared the shit out of every man and boy in America.”
Bradley filled his mug and Trina raised hers for a toast. “Here’s to no reason for bobbitting.”
Matt choked on his coffee. It spurted on his arm and the floor.
“Heck Sis,” Bradley grinned. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you said that so Matt would send you to your room.”
“Worked for you with Mom and Dad.” Trina beamed. “Me, I wasn’t so lucky.”
“Figured you’d have better luck with me?” Matt wiggled his eyebrows.
“Yes.”
“I don’t blame the woman. I can’t stand cheaters.” Cadence mother’s infidelities gnawed at her conscious.
Trina and Matt’s odd exchange had Cadence’s back straightening. “What’s up?”
“You need to go to your room.” Matt ordered Trina.
“On it.” She waddled out of the room, with her husband tagging along like a puppy dog.
“We should go.” Travis tucked the box of ferrets under his arm, bracing it against his side and reached out to his fiancée. She picked up Hopper and accepted his hand.
As the last of their friends fled, Cadence narrowed her eyes on Bradley. He leaned against the counter with arms folded across his chest, ankles crossed, looking hot and totally edible, yet guilty as sin. “What just happened?”
****
Bradley had danced around the subject long enough. He eyed Cadence from under the brim of his hat. No telling what kind of reaction she’d have. He hadn’t cheated, but she despised anyone who had. She would probably blow a gasket when he confessed he’d had a fling with a married woman. “Promise me you’ll listen to everything I say before you react.”
She leaned forward, plopped her elbows on the table and folded her arms, each hand clasped around her bicep. That position didn’t bother him. The tilt of her head and the clenching of her jaw, mixed with distrust in her gaze, did. “Go.”
“Backstory first.”
“Just spill.”
They’d come a long way since he first arrived at Divine. To have a setback would throw all hope to the wind. “Cadence, promise me you’ll stay quiet.”
She tapped her fingers against her arms. “Okay.”
“Jesus Christ, give me a break. You don’t know anything yet and you’ve already condemned me.”
“I’m scared of what you might say.” She rubbed her lips together and stilled her hands. “I haven’t condemned you. Please, tell me.”
“I’m gonna be honest here, and what I’m about to say is no way your f
ault. You need to understand how I got to the point where I did something I’m not proud of.”
On her head nod, he fixed his gaze out the window. Looking at her would only slow the inevitable conversation; every reaction put him in knots. He’d get it out and wait for the backlash. The mountains in the horizon faded as his mind flashed back to the hospital. He’d arrived at the hospital eager to declare his love… He blew out a hard breath as the memory of her harsh reaction washed over him. She had dismissed him. Said they would never work and asked him to leave. Knowing her reasons now didn’t lessen the stab of pain that hit whenever he pictured that scene.
“You had dumped me. Trina was still in the hospital. My parents cruelly sent her best friend away, a man I started to rely on. His brother was cross-country doing his search and rescue thing. No one was there to talk me out of doing what would hurt my father most, not that anyone could have made me see reason. His continuous accusations that I didn’t know my own head from a hole in the wall pushed me over the edge. I wanted to shame him.” His eyes burned. How he let his anger get the best of him and do something out of character was beyond him, but he had. “I’m flawed Cadence. I was weak.” Not looking at her became impossible. Tears welled in her eyes, and her grip tightened on her arms. “I wanted to hurt him so fucking bad and knock him off his high horse. Let him know he didn’t control the universe, and he didn’t control his children. We were not game pieces for him to maneuver. So, I had an affair with his partner. I learned later she was married.”
For a long stretch of time, she studied him, as if she waited for more. “That’s it?” Her head rocked back and forth, and her eyes darted around as if she tried to digest everything he said. “Did it work? Did you put your asshat of a father in his place?”
“I got disinherited.”
Her lips twitched and a muffled noise escaped her. She’s laughing? “I don’t like what you did, but I wholeheartedly understand. He was unbearable! He tried to kick me out of Trina’s life! Remember?”
Yeah, he’d never forget their incredible night. “Maybe in some odd way, I owe them something.” He paused, recalling their first time together. No way would he give his parents any credit for bringing them together. “No, that was all us. Somehow, we would have gotten together.” He wished he didn’t let his parents get to him. “I’m weak, Cadence.”
She bolted out of the chair, tugged his arms until he no longer crossed them, and leaned into him, clasping both sides of his face and bored those delightful green eyes into his. “You are not weak. You did what you did to get revenge, and it went against your character. I will never condone sleeping with someone’s spouse, but calling yourself weak, no—bad judgment, yes.
“You’re not upset with me?”
“No, I’m not.”
He released a breath, and the bricks that pressed down on his shoulders lifted.
“If you felt the pain half as much as I did for turning you away, then you weren’t thinking clearly. With your parents sticking it to Trina and you every chance they got, they drove you to desperate measures. How are you holding up not having their money?”
He shrugged. “I don’t miss it. It was always a burden. Though Trina is holding seeing the baby over their head until they put me back in the will.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I don’t much care, yet I understand her motives. She is getting control back where they are concerned. I got mine.”
“Do you? Do you really?”
“I do.”
She slid her hands down his chest and pressed her lips to his. “I love you, Bradley.”
His heart swelled, blew up like a hot air balloon ready to lift off. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her until she straddled his waist, knocking his hat off.
“I want you, only you.” Her sexy kitten voice sung to his heart as her hips rocked into him.
He didn’t want to make to love with her against a wall or on a kitchen counter, not yet. Their first time together in this new, hope-to-be-permanent relationship, would stand out at a unique location. One she’d never forget. “Soon.”
“Soon!” She slipped her hand between his legs and grasped his killer erection. “I think soon is now.”
“Engagement party in one hour!” Trina boomed before a door banged shut.
“Our warning,” Cadence said.
He groaned and kissed the sweet, tender skin under her neck. She whimpered and arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward. Resisting took more willpower than he possessed. He’d get a nibble to hold him over until tonight. Her fingers dug into his back as he tugged the yoke of her cotton shirt down, exposing the swells of her breasts. He kissed one then the other and pressed his face into her cleavage.
Blood pounded through his veins; his heart thumped a happy beat. He kissed the spot, tugged her shirt back in place, and brought his mouth down on hers. They connected hard and fast. His body was on fire. It had been since he arrived. Just when he got rid of blue balls, he’d see her and boom! They grew to the size of coconuts.
“Party in fifteen!” No way did time pass that quickly. Matt’s heavy footsteps echoed over the wooden floor. “Cadence, Trina has your dress,” he said a second before he appeared in the doorway between the family room and kitchen.
Bradley released his grip on her butt and she lowered to the floor, every soft inch clinging against him, begging him not to let her go. “Let’s take Thor for a ride.”
“What? Now?” When she declared moments ago how she felt about him, only him, he planned to carry out what he’d been dreaming of for the last week. The idea put him on a tight time schedule, but he didn’t care. This would happen today. “Trust me when I say I want to, but there are a few things I have to take care of before the party. Afterwards?”
Her eyes widened and shone as her mouth tipped up and spread into a gorgeous smile. “Got lots and lots of condoms?”
“You do know it’s snowing,” Matt interrupted.
“All the better.” Cadence brushed her lips across Bradley’s, winked at Matt, and scooted toward Trina’s bedroom.
Bradley eyed the microwave clock. “What the hell? You lied about the time?”
“The sounds you two were making…” Matt touched a finger to his suited chest. “I had no choice but to lie. My kitchen, Trina and I are the only ones allowed to have sex in here.”
Point taken. To change the subject from his sister and brother-in-law doing the deed, he said, “Nice monkey suit.”
“Trina picked yours up. She figured you’d forget. It’s in the spare room.”
Bradley swiped a hand down his face and retrieved his hat from the counter. “I did.”
Chapter Six
Cadence stared into the cheval mirror in the bedroom her and Bradley had shared. He’d chosen to get ready for the engagement party in the room that he’d stayed in the first night at his sister’s house. Just as well, she needed the time to think. She slid a hand over the sequined, lace bodice to the ruched material at the right side. The misty lavender color brought out her green eyes and offset her dark hair. Trina said she bought the cocktail dress ages ago. Cadence had her doubts. This dress had her name written all over it. When they had lived together, she pulled the same stunt on Trina. She’d tossed a skirt at her, saying she’d had it forever, when in fact she bought it for Trina in hopes it would drive Matt crazy.
This afternoon Bradley and her relationship would change. Exactly how much, she wasn’t sure. She loved him more than she’d ever loved anyone in her life. He understood her, fought for her, and gave her incredible support. And most importantly, he’d been her best friend, her confidant for years. She loved being near him, hanging out and talking about a bunch of nothing. Trina was right when she’d said Cadence didn’t have her missing part, the one she didn’t know she was missing.
With time to spare before the party started, she walked into the hall, noticed Bradley’s door open, and headed downstairs. She grasped onto the railing. The ste
ep steps didn’t bide well with her four-inch heels.
A loud whistle brought her attention to Bradley standing at the foot of the steps, a hand in his pocket and the other one stretched out toward her, looking more dapper than ever. He wore a dark suit with a white silk shirt underneath and a lavender tie. “Let me guess, Trina picked out your clothes?”
“Did my matching tie give it away?” His smile brightened his eyes. “Miss America,” he belted out as she stepped beside him. “You’re stunning!”
“And you can sing.”
“One of my many talents.” He grasped her hand and pulled her into his arms. “Later, I’ll show you more.” He brought her close and held her hand against his chest, over his heart.
She didn’t want to wait. “Do we have to go to the party?”
“I like how you think.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Let’s make an appearance, chat a little while, and then take Thor out. You’ve done remarkable things with your stallion. He rides smooth as silk.” Bradley’s gorgeous eyes captured hers and his pupils darkened, revealing where his unspoken thoughts went…to their next time together.
As much as she loved her horse, there was only one person she wanted to bend to her will. “You broke me ages ago,” Bradley said, as if he read her mind. A sexy-growl-like groan escaped him as he thrust his hands in her hair and settled his lips over her mouth. She closed her eyes and leaned into him.
Their body heat increased, and her breathing grew heavy. She eased back. If they didn’t stop, they’d end up in bed, naked and missing the party. “We better hurry.”
“Roger that.” Coughing, he squirmed as if he adjusted the long length that had deliciously pressed against her. “Here, Trina left this coat for you.” He held it up for her to slip on.
“Thank you.”
He donned a dark, masculine dress coat, probably Matt’s. They stepped outside into the cool, crisp air. Beautiful white flakes fell from gray clouds, reminding her how in touch she was with nature, and how her life compared—the snow wiped away the past, leaving a brighter future. The same with her. With Bradley’s help, she grasped the reins of her life that had dangled out of reach since the accident. Taking control, she gave herself a future to look forward to.
