by JM Stewart
She couldn’t deny it anymore. Deep down, she yearned for a real relationship. Not for two weeks, but for forever. With a man who wanted her the way she was, scars, fears, and all. Was Cade that man? Could he be?
She didn’t know, but she couldn’t stay at this auction. It was a selfish position to put him in, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t sit around and wait to lose him. Which meant this would end one of two ways. If Cade truly wanted her, he’d follow. If he didn’t…well, then she’d know where she really stood.
Decision made, heart seated in her throat, Hannah rose from her seat and left the room.
* * *
Cade watched, helpless for a moment, as Hannah strode up the center aisle like she couldn’t get away fast enough. The pain written in her eyes had a hard knot forming where his heart ought to be and panic closed his throat. Gut instinct said he had about thirty seconds at most before she walked out of his life.
He dragged his hands through his hair. Something had gone wrong. This wasn’t the way it should’ve happened. He hadn’t planned it this way, damn it. She was supposed to bid. She was supposed to win. He had the entire weekend planned out, right down to the gifts, but somewhere along the way he’d screwed up, because there she went.
He darted a panicked glance at Maddie, still seated in the front row, hoping for a clue. Her eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at him. She mouthed the words, “Do something!” then launched out of her seat and ran up the aisle after Hannah.
Silence settled over the room as all eyes focused on him.
Chris touched his elbow. “Caden? Is everything all right?”
He jerked his gaze to hers and shook his head.
“No.” Helpless and flailing like a fish out of water, he tossed a hand in Hannah’s direction. “She’s leaving.”
He hadn’t the foggiest idea what to do. He’d never felt this helpless in his life. No one woman had ever mattered this much to him.
Chris blinked, studying him for the span of a heartbeat. “You love her.”
He dropped his hands, shoulders rounding as the truth of the words sank over him. He’d been fighting the emotion since he arrived in town. “Yes.”
Chris shoved the microphone at him. “Then stop her.”
As his gaze followed Hannah to the back of the room, a pair of familiar blue eyes stood out from the audience. Dread sank over him. Amelia. Seated in the back row, she smiled, smug and self-satisfied, and it hit him why Hannah had likely left. He’d failed to share one vital detail about his past with her. Amelia had obviously gotten to her, and whatever she’d said, Hannah had clearly bought every word. The self-satisfied glint in her eye said Amelia knew it, too. Damn it.
He took the microphone from Christina and sent up a silent prayer. “Forgive the interruption, ladies. I’m sorry to have to back out on a promise, but I’m afraid this auction is going to be one bachelor short. My heart and my future just walked out that door, and I can’t let her go. This fund-raiser is one my family believes in. We’ve lost more than our fair share to this cruel disease, so I’ll make you a deal. We’re all here for the same reason…to find a cure. For the next five minutes, whoever donates will receive the prize package that should have come with me. I’ll also match your donations.”
An older woman in the back of the room stood. Wrinkled brow furrowed, she shook her head. “Son, for heaven’s sake, put the microphone down and run. She’s bound to be out in the parking lot by now.”
He laughed and handed the microphone back to Chris.
She gave him a soft smile. “Go get her, little brother.”
He jumped off the stage and jogged down the aisle, ready to burst into a full-on sprint the second he hit the hallway beyond. As he rounded the corner, however, he came up short. Turned out, he didn’t have to go far. Hannah and Maddie stood halfway down the hallway.
Maddie shook her head. “I managed to catch her and drag her back, but you sure took your time getting here.”
He looked to Maddie first and smiled. “Thank you. I realize you should probably hate me, but I’m grateful for the help.”
To his complete surprise, Maddie returned the smile.
“I don’t hate you, hot stuff. You make her happier than I’ve seen her in a while, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. If you hurt her, though, you’ll be answering to me.” She jabbed a stern finger in his direction, then turned to Hannah, touching her elbow. “I’ll be inside if you need me.”
Hannah nodded, flashing a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
Silence rose over the hallway, heavy with tension, as Maddie turned and strode around him. Hannah dropped her gaze to the floor and wrapped her arms around herself. Vulnerability hung all over her, and he ached to take her in his arms, to eradicate it.
She amazed him. Flat out amazed him. Love had snuck up on him, and he had to admit it awed him, how simple it was. Her happiness mattered, over everything else. Obligations and fears be damned.
When Maddie disappeared back inside the ballroom, Cade closed the distance between him and Hannah and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He ached to touch her, to take her in his arms and tell her all the things he should have told her days ago, but whether or not she’d allow him to had to be her decision.
“Did you hear anything I said in there?” He nodded in the direction of the ballroom entrance, behind him.
“Only the last bit, about matching their donations. I tried to get away as fast as possible, so I didn’t have to hear the bidding process, but Maddie dragged me out of the elevator.” Hannah darted a glance at him, then jerked her gaze to something off to her right. “Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t do this anymore. Watching Christina’s pain as they auctioned off Sebastian, I realized I couldn’t put myself in the same position. I couldn’t risk ending up like her. If someone else won? It made me realize I need more, too, but I’m not sure our ideas of what that entails are the same.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Amelia got to you. I saw her in the ballroom, before I left the stage. I’m sorry. She wasn’t invited, but it’s an open event.”
Hannah’s gaze jerked to his, her brow furrowed in accusation. “Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant?”
He gave a slow shake of his head, his chest full of sorrow and regret.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you at some point. I never thought she’d drag you into this. I feel certain the baby isn’t mine. She’s been with several other men, which is why I’ve been letting the lawyers handle it.” Unable to resist touching her any longer, he picked up her hand. “Baby, I have to ask…why would you believe anything she said?”
The walls came back up over Hannah. Her back stiffened, and she turned her gaze off to the right. That soft vulnerability crept over her again.
“Because she’s right. Coming here tonight made me realize how different we are. I’m not part of this.” She swept her hand in the air, encompassing the lavish event around them. “I’m not part of your world, your rich lifestyle. I’m a simple girl with a small bookstore. I grew up working my tail off in order to survive. I still struggle every month to make ends meet. I’m not sophisticated or worldly, and I’m not that kind of beautiful. I realized, while sitting in the audience watching your sister’s heart break, that I have no desire to compete for your attention.”
“May I ask why?” His heart thumped in his chest, a dull pounding hope beating behind his breastbone. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew the answer, but he needed to hear her say the words like he needed to draw his next breath.
Her brow furrowed, golden eyes narrowed in hurt and masked by anger. “Because I’m in love with you. And I—”
He cupped her face in his hands, silencing the rest of whatever the hell she was about to say by covering her mouth with his. Those had to be the best damn words he’d ever heard. The rest of her protests be damned. She loved him, too. Nothing else mattered.
He took a moment to relish the softness of lips and the way, despite all those protests, she m
elted into the exchange with a quiet, maddening little sigh. When her soft curves hit the hard planes of his body, he forced himself to pull back. Hannah’s eyes fluttered open, heavy-lidded and stunned, and his need for her flared like a raging inferno barely held in check.
He smoothed his thumbs over her soft cheeks and traced the scar cutting across the skin there.
“For the record, I know you loathe this scar. You let it define you. But to me, it’s a part of you. Like your nose or your lips. It doesn’t make you any less beautiful. It’s just another little detail that makes you who you are.” He dropped his hands and met her gaze. “When you left the ballroom, I dropped out of the auction. I told an entire room full of strangers, a room full of women all ramped up on alcohol, that my heart and my future had walked out the door and I had to follow.”
Hannah froze solid, staring at him like he’d grown another head. “What?”
Heart ready to burst from his chest, he pressed his nose to hers.
“I’m. In love. With you.” He pulled back enough to look into her face. “Baby, I’m sorry. I should never have asked you to do this. It was unfair of me to put you in this position. I’m also sorry Amelia cornered you. I have no idea why she’d do that, except maybe as an attempt to blackmail me. She’s tried it before.”
He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out the light blue Tiffany’s box. He held it in his hands, stroking his fingers over the ribbon tied around it. The memory of his impulsive decision to buy it came back to him.
“I’d planned to give this to you tonight, after the auction. I had a whole weekend planned for us. When I bought it, I only knew I wanted to give you something to show you what you’ve come to mean to me. The sentiment behind it makes a bit more sense now, though.” He smiled in spite of himself and held the box out to her.
She accepted the gift and ran the pad of her thumb over the words written on the top of the box. Her brows shot up and her gaze jerked to his, her eyes wide and round. “Tiffany’s?”
He nodded at the box. “Open it.”
She shook her head and pulled at the white ribbon with trembling fingers. “Cade, you really shouldn’t have.”
“Yes. I should have.” He took the ribbon from her fingers. “Like I said, it makes more sense now. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen in love with you until you walked out of the ballroom.”
Hand on the lid of the box, she paused and looked up, eyes brimming with tears. “Say it again.”
He smiled. She didn’t have to explain. He knew what she meant. His heart knew.
“I love you.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, then playfully rolled his eyes. “Now open the damn box. You’re killing me here.”
She lifted the top off, peered inside, and gasped.
“Oh, Cade…” She reached inside, pulled the necklace out, and held it in the palm of her hand. “It’s beautiful.”
The locket was small and heart-shaped, made of rose-colored gold, on a long matching chain. When he’d gone into the store that day, the necklace had jumped out at him from the display case. He’d taken one look at it and had to have it. It belonged around her neck. At the time, he wasn’t sure how she’d react, but tears were in her eyes, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. His heart swelled in triumph. The buy had been an impulse, but one he was glad he’d listened to.
“It’s a locket.” He took the box from her hands. “I thought you might want to put pictures of your family in there.”
The tears in her eyes overflowed, several dripping down her cheeks. She pressed a hand to her trembling lips and didn’t say anything for a moment, but stood blinking rapidly.
Cade couldn’t help but smile as the memory of the first day he met her filled his thoughts. He’d take her silence as another positive sign.
“You carry with you the memory of the day you lost them. Every time you look in the mirror you get a reminder. It hangs on you, baby. It’s in everything you do. I wanted you to remember despite everything you’ve been through, you were loved. I wanted you to be able to carry a piece of them with you.” He took the locket from her hands. “Turn around.”
When she did, he set it around her neck and latched the clasp.
She faced him again, her gaze on the locket as she cradled it in her palm. After a long moment, she looked up again. A single tear escaped the corner of her right eye, meandering down her cheek. “This has to be the sweetest thing anybody’s ever done for me.”
“I have one more.” He kissed her softly, wiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys he’d hidden in there earlier. He held them out to her, cradled in the palm of his hand.
She took them, holding them up between them, before meeting his gaze with a puzzled frown. “Keys?”
He smiled and nodded.
“To my new condo. I’ve been talking to my father for a while about making a move to the Seattle office. Most of my clients are here. It may take me a month or so to make it happen, but I wanted the space to serve as proof that I’m serious.” He looped his hands around her waist and drew her to him, holding her close. That she let him filled his chest with hope. “In case there’s any doubt, what I want is you, Hannah, all of you and only you, for as long as you’ll have me.”
Several heart-pounding moments passed as Hannah stared up at him, tears dripping down her cheeks. Finally, she took the last miniscule step separating them and pressed her body into his.
She slid a hand up his chest to the back of his neck and pulled his head down. Just before her mouth claimed his, she paused, whispering between them. “I love you, too.”
His arms closed around her, crushing her to him, and he opened his mouth over hers. They drank each other in, tongues tangling, and Cade reveled in the moment. Of allowing himself to fall in love, to believe in it, and the simple, amazing fact that she loved him back.
Somewhere behind them, applause erupted. Hannah jumped and pulled away. She leaned sideways to peer around him, then blushed to the roots of her hair. Cade turned, unable to help laughing at the sight behind him. Some ten feet down the hallway, what looked like the entire ballroom stood crowding the entrance, all of them clapping, a few whooping and hollering.
Christina stood at the front of it all, her smile somewhere between amusement, triumph, and joy. She cocked a hand on her hip and arched a brow. “You should be proud of yourself, little brother. You trumped Baz. Your romantic display earned us triple what we brought in last year. You left the ballroom and hands went up everywhere.”
Despite everything, even Sebastian had softened. While he wasn’t exactly smiling, the left corner of his mouth quirked upward. The sight filled Cade with hope. Maybe their relationship wasn’t a lost cause after all.
Turning his gaze back to the crowd at large, Cade grinned, folded a hand over his stomach, and took a bow. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my girl and I have some urgent business to attend to.”
Another round of raucous applause exploded behind them, a few wolf whistles piercing the air.
He glanced over at Hannah and held out his hand. She smiled and accepted, threading their fingers. They walked in companionable silence to the elevator around the corner.
When the doors closed behind them and the car lurched into movement, she turned to him. Hands braced on his chest, she pressed her body into his. “You’re an incredible man, Cade McKenzie. I’m so glad you decided to argue with me over that book.”
His hands were on her before he even drew his next breath, closing over the soft, roundness of her ass and pulling her tight against him. “I agree. The best thing I ever did was challenge you.”
She nipped at his bottom lip, her hips grinding against his for a moment; then she froze. The vulnerability written in her eyes made him pause.
Attempting to set her at ease, he caressed her back. “What?”
“For the record, I came tonight because I couldn’t stand the thought of y
ou with someone else. You asked me that earlier, and I never answered. Truth is, I watched Christina auction Sebastian. Her reaction made me realize I wanted all of you. I wanted you to be a part of my life, and I wanted to be a part of yours. I have no idea how we’ll make this work, but I don’t want bits and parts anymore. I don’t want only two weeks. I want it all. For as long as you’ll have me.”
He tightened his arms around her, holding her as close as he could get her. God help them. He wasn’t sure they’d make it to his condo. “Baby, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
Epilogue
Six months later.
Time to wake up, beautiful.”
Hannah came awake to Cade’s warm body sliding against her side. His warm, smooth palm slid over her belly and up her stomach to curve around her left breast. He rocked his hips, pressing his erection into her thigh as his mouth sought her throat.
She smiled. The brightness shining against her closed eyelids told her morning had come, but she had no desire to open her eyes and greet the day. She’d fallen asleep last night wrapped in his arms, the way she’d done every night. They lay in his bed, in his room, in his condo. She was surrounded in him. Even the warm, familiar scent of him pervaded her senses, and all she wanted to do was stay there.
Instead, she reached for him, sliding a hand down his side and pulling at him. Cade slid on top of her, his gentle weight pressing her into the mattress. She purred, arching her hips against his. He woke her this way every morning, with tender kisses and soft, wandering hands. Like always, her body came alive to the touch of his, every inch of her already tingling with the promise of the slow lovemaking that lay ahead.
When he didn’t sink into her but went still and silent, his fingers sifting through her hair, Hannah opened her eyes. Instead of the playful heat she expected, Cade’s expression remained somber and thoughtful. She knew that look. It meant something heavy weighed on him.
She slid her hands up the smooth, warm skin of his back. “What’s wrong?”
