by Jill Sanders
“Honey, every seventeen-year-old girl deserves a party,” her mother had said eagerly. “Besides, I’ve thrown you a birthday party every year of your life.” Her mother’s tone dropped as it always did when the discussion was over. “And I have no intention of stopping now.”
All Raven had wanted that year was to be left alone. Maybe a quiet night with Reggie and her friends. She’d attended a few of her friend’s birthday parties earlier that year and, to be honest, didn’t care to host one herself.
The last party she and her friends had gone to had been a complete disaster. Heather’s parents were some of the richest in town, and they had gone all out for her seventeenth birthday party last month.
That hadn’t stopped Heather from complaining all the way through it or her friends from making fun of her for weeks after, all because her mother had decorated everything in pink, as if Heather were still a little girl instead of a seventeen-year-old.
“Dad, talk to Mom.” She’d rushed over to her father, who had been directing some waitstaff.
“About what sweetie?” Her father barely spared her a glance.
“My party,” she’d whined.
“Don’t worry, your mom says she has everything under control.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t want a party,” she’d reiterated.
“Honey, I’m working.” Her father had waved her away. “Go talk to your mother.”
“I did. Daddy.” At this point she was positive that she had stomped her foot.
“Raven.” He’d finally looked at her. “Go. Now.” The tone of his voice had assured her that he was done playing around. So, she’d left.
That was one of the last memories she had of her parents.
“Hey.” Cade pulled her into his arms. “What’s wrong?”
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. “It’s nothing. I was just remembering my parents. They would have loved all this.” She motioned around them.
“They’d be proud of you,” he told her. “Now, I called ahead and had Tim make us something special.” He dropped his arms from around her and walked over to pull out a chair for her.
“I’m underdressed.” She motioned to her grey slacks and black blouse.
He smiled. “You look perfect.” He leaned in and kissed her before she sat down.
As if by magic, two of her waitstaff appeared out of thin air and poured them each a glass of water and then wine.
“I heard my uncle took my mother into Redding for dinner tonight,” Cade said right as she took a sip of her wine, “I hope he wasn’t planning anything… special.”
She couldn’t help it; he’d spoken right as she’d taken a sip of wine. For the next minute, she coughed and choked on air while Cade gently slapped her on the back.
“You okay?” he asked when she could finally breath.
“You did that on purpose,” she accused him. His guilty grin was the only reply she needed. “How did you know?” she asked.
“My uncle has been acting strange for a while now.” He took his own sip of wine.
“And what? You figured he was going to propose to your mother because of it?” she asked.
It was his turn to choke on the wine. Now it was her turn to slap his back until he could breathe.
“Jesus, who said anything about proposing? I was thinking they were…” He shook his head and took a deep breath.
“What?” she asked as she sat back down.
“Moving in together,” he admitted with a slight shrug.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A burnt child dreads the fire ~ English proverb
For the rest of the dinner, he tried to get his mind off of his mother and uncle getting hitched.
Tim had outdone himself this time with the meal of beef Wellington, fresh honey-glazed carrots, and new potatoes. He’d always enjoyed the guy’s meals, but this time, he was seriously thinking about ordering seconds.
Raven leaned across the table and lowered her voice.
“Do you think it would reflect badly on me if I ordered this meal every day for the rest of my life?” she asked.
He chuckled. “God, I was thinking the same thing. How fat would we get if we ate dinner here every night?”
“Okay, so we’re in agreement. This”—she motioned to her empty plate— “goes on the menu.”
“For sure.” He nodded. “I can’t wait to see what’s for dessert.”
The Baileys and coffee cheesecake was some of the best he’d ever had. Not that he was a big cheesecake fan. His mother tried each year to get him excited about her fresh blueberry cheesecake, but he just couldn’t get behind it as a dessert. He rather enjoyed anything with chocolate instead, which this cheesecake had plenty of.
“If my mother made this kind of cheesecake”—he pointed with his fork— “I would have been a much heavier kid.”
“My mother used to make this caramel almond toffee each Christmas that I couldn’t get enough of.”
It had been one of her favorite desserts, and her mother made it just for her. She hadn’t thought of that dessert or of her mother in that way for so long that tears streamed from her eyes immediately.
Cade reached across the tale and took her hand in his.
“I’m just emotional.” She waved her free hand and then quickly picked up her wine glass and downed the rest of the dark liquid. She knew she was being overly emotional but didn’t care. The lack of sleep mixed with hormones was wreaking havoc on her system. Besides, she figured she deserved to be a little emotional every now and then. At least once a month anyway.
Cade had showed only kindness and understanding when she’d told him that she’d wanted to stay at the resort for the last few nights.
She’d never really been around men during… well, except her father. She didn’t plan on starting with Cade. She knew from past experience that she could be… well… emotionally challenging.
The one thing she was sure of was that she didn’t want anything to get between her and Cade. Least of all her period.
“You’re allowed to be,” Cade responded. “After all, look at all that you’ve accomplished.” He waved his hand around the room, his eyes following the movement. “I can only imagine how wonderful it feels to see something you’ve worked so hard on turn out this… wonderful.”
She smiled. For a moment, she’d believed he was going to treat her like some emotional woman. Even though rationally she knew she sometimes was, that didn’t mean she didn’t want to be treated as such. He hadn’t done so before, and she didn’t want him to now.
“It did turn out rather grand, didn’t it?” She beamed as she looked around. “We can have guests dining in here this weekend.” The smile slipped. “If the tables weren’t set to arrive on Monday.” She groaned.
“Don’t rush it,” he said, getting her attention. “For now, we get to enjoy all this ourselves.” He held up his glass of wine. Somehow, during her complaining, her wine glass had been refilled.
Lifting it, she smiled. “Remind me to give the waitstaff a raise.” She tapped her glass against his.
“I was thinking the same thing.” He sipped his wine.
They sat in the gorgeous room for at least another hour, chatting about all the improvements. She hadn’t realized she’d had the equivalent of an entire bottle of wine until she went to stand up. The entire room tilted and, thankfully, Cade was there to catch her.
“Easy.” He chuckled. “I’ll walk you up to your room.” He wrapped his arms around her.
“No, I want to go home,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Actually, I was thinking of crashing here. My grandmother has Blue for the night.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“That would be great. I can’t sleep without you,” she admitted drunkenly, her arms thrown over his shoulders while he walked them into the elevator. “I can’t even ride in these without thinking about Rachelle,” she blurted out.
She knew her speech was slurred. That she
was wobbling on her feet. But at this point, she didn’t care. When the elevator doors shut, she plastered her body against his.
“God, I love these,” she said, running her hands over his arms, his chest. “I love the way you feel against me.” She trailed her mouth down his neck. He’d shaved for their dinner tonight, and she couldn’t get over how smooth his face and neck were. She wanted to run her tongue all over his face, taste every inch of him with her lips.
“Raven.” His tone was a warning.
“You taste so good,” she moaned as she started working on the buttons on his shirt. When the elevator doors slid open, she no longer thought of Rachelle. The only thing in her mind was getting Cade naked and in her room.
She fumbled with the credit card key several times before Cade took it from her hands and easily opened the door.
“I’m not used to the new system,” she mumbled as she tossed her shoes off her feet and reached for him.
“Raven.” He took her hands and held her at bay. “You’re drunk.”
She laughed. “And horny.” She jerked his shirt open, sending buttons scattering around the room.
He laughed, a burst of it echoing in the smaller room.
“Raven.” He laughed again when she pushed him onto the bed.
Her eyes ran over him. The worn black jeans he wore. The tanned, toned skin of his arms and chest. His messy hair from her fingers. The look he was giving her. All of it together had her wanting him even more than before.
In one quick move, she tossed off her shirt and slacks, leaving her in only a pair of black cotton panties and a matching bra.
“I like those.” Cade ran his eyes over her. Then they locked with her own. “I like you.”
She hesitated for a moment and in that split second, she came crashing down to reality. She wanted to be with him but couldn’t. She didn’t know how to tell him. What to say to him?
Then Cade stood up, took her hand, and pulled her into the bathroom.
“Let me. There’s a lot we can do. If you trust me,” he said softly as he ran his mouth over her jawline.
She melted. At that moment, she would have gladly given anything, let him try anything.
He reached in and turned on the shower and smiled as he turned back towards her, his eyes running over her.
“Give me a moment.” She held up her hand and stepped into the private bathroom area.
When she came out again, he was standing, gloriously naked, under the spray of water.
She stepped in behind him and ran her hands over his back, across his shoulders, down his back. Then she reached around to his front and gripped him.
His breath hitched and then he moaned as she started running her hands up and down his length.
He turned around and nudged her against the tile wall and covered her mouth with his.
“I’ve missed you. Missed this.” He ran his hands over her, sliding down her wet body. Then he cupped her and glided a finger into her heat.
She arched into him, moaned his name as he pleased her. She’d never imagined it would feel this good. That it could feel this good even while the cramps tightened her gut. When he thrust into her, she was consumed with pleasure. Obsessed by his every movement.
She’d never felt more alive than she felt now, here with him.
She told him that while he moved inside her. When she felt her powerful release vibrate her entire body, she dug her nails into his shoulders and cried out his name.
She felt him start to run his shampooed hands across her body, massaging his fingers throughout her hair, and groaned with pleasure.
She leaned against the tile and let him pleasure her in a different way. After he turned off the water, she allowed him to wrap a towel around her.
When they climbed into bed, she was wearing her cotton pajamas, her long hair braided back away from her face. Cade wore his boxer briefs and spooned her like he had missed her.
She slept like the dead, enjoying a full eight hours of deep sleep, catching up on the sleep she’d missed over the past few nights.
When she woke, Cade was there, smiling down at her.
“Morning,” he said, shifting above her.
“Morning.” She smiled.
“I thought that since we both had the day off that we’d take a hike. We can pick Blue up from my grandmother’s and head out to enjoy some of this nice weather,” he suggested.
“I’d like that.” It had been so long since she’d gone up into the hills that surrounded the resort. She desperately wanted to see the view from the top of the ski runs but hadn’t dared to go up there alone.
“If possible, I’d like to head up the hill.” She motioned towards the window. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen the view from above.”
“We can pack a picnic lunch,” he replied. “How about after we order room service, I head into town, grab Blue and my hiking boots, and pack us a lunch? Then I can meet you back here.”
“Sounds like a plan. God, I love living in a hotel,” she admitted.
Since she was feeling particularly pleased, she ordered strawberry French toast with extra whipped cream on top. Cade had one of his usual breakfasts, steel cut oatmeal with fruit and a cup of coffee.
“I’ll eat healthy later,” she joked with a grin.
“You don’t hear me saying a word.” He smiled over his food. “My mother taught me one of the most important lessons ever—once a month, you don’t complain about what a woman eats or wears.” He leaned forward and grinned. “No matter what.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Smart woman.” She nodded. “Even smarter man for heeding her advice.”
After Cade left, she showered and changed into some hiking clothes. She decided to head down to her office until Cade returned.
She was surprised to see her aunt in the hallway just outside her office door. Temper surfaced quickly. This was the first time she’d seen Roslyn in the resort since she’d threatened her last time.
She pulled out her cell phone to call security, only to have her uncle yank the phone out of her hands.
“I think it’s about time we sat down and had a talk.” Her uncle took her arm and pulled her towards her office. She thought of screaming, but then her uncle warned. “Don’t.”
“You changed the locks,” Roslyn complained as she held out her hand for the keys.
“Go to hell.” Raven narrowed her eyes at her aunt.
“Soon enough,” her aunt replied with a smile. “But not before we get what we’re due.”
“You’re not due anything.”
Her uncle’s hold on her arm tightened, and she cried out slightly at the pain.
“Don’t you think we’d be more comfortable having this conversation inside?” he asked.
She pulled her keys from her pocket, if only to make him loosen his grip.
Colin shoved her inside, and Roslyn shut the door behind her and locked it.
“Now, isn’t this cozy?” Colin asked. He walked around the desk and sat in her chair.
She wanted to bark at him to get out of her seat, but stood there, rubbing her wrist where he’d twisted it instead.
Roslyn walked over to the file cabinet and tried to open a drawer.
“You locked this too?” Her aunt turned to her. “What’s the matter? Don’t trust anyone else?”
“No,” she said, holding her chin up in defiance. “What do you want?”
“Where is the policy?” her uncle said calmly.
“Policy?” she asked, having no clue what he was talking about.
Her uncle’s greyish eyebrows shot up. “The insurance policy?” he answered, as if she knew what he was talking about.
“If you’re talking about the policy with you and Roche as beneficiaries’ if this place goes up, I cancelled it,” she answered easily.
Roslyn’s eyes moved to Colin’s. “What?”
“She’s lying. The policy is in our names.”
“No.” Raven shook her head an
d crossed her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t.” She took her keys and unlocked the bottom drawer on the file cabinet. She handed the piece of paper to her aunt and stood back to watch the repercussions of her uncle’s deceit.
After five minutes of listening to them argue, she interrupted them.
“As fun and as entertaining as this is, I have a date.” She tried to look bored and glanced down at her watch.
“Enough of this deceit. Where are the real papers? The ones with our names on it?” Colin shouted.
“There is no such thing,” she said clearly. “Whatever policies you signed up for are gone. I have one policy on this place.” She motioned around them. “And if this place is destroyed, you get nothing.”
“Not this place,” her uncle spat back just as the office door was flung open.
“Are we late?” Cade asked, stepping inside, his uncle in tow. “We thought we’d stop in since Cemal was kind enough to inform us that there was a surprise party going on in here.”
Raven had never been so thankful to see Sean before. Then Blue came trotting in and jumped up on her, demanding attention.
Cade walked over to her, and she saw his eyes darken when he noticed the redness of her arm where her uncle had grabbed her. She grabbed his arm and stopped him from turning on her uncle.
“Don’t. He’s not worth it,” she warned in a soft tone.
“He hurt you,” Cade replied.
“Is that true?” Sean asked, his eyes going to the redness of her wrist.
“I didn’t do anything,” Colin spat out. “Whatever she says, she’s a liar. Besides, if you touch that girl, she turns red.” He pointed a finger in her direction.
She glanced down at her wrist and realized it was now a dark purple. “Yeah,” she motioned, not wanting to deal with her uncle any longer, “he did this.”
Over the next half an hour, her uncle was cuffed and hauled away by one of the other officers while Sean took her official statement. All the while, Roslyn screamed, cursed, and at one point, tried to kick Sean. Sean placed cuffs on her as well.
