Kade's Worth (Butler Ranch)

by Heather Slade

  “You’re giving up.”

  Peyton shrugged. “It’s a sign, don’t you think? I decide to tell him I want to date him, and he doesn’t show up.”

  “You’re forgetting they had an unplanned family dinner.”

  “Exactly. Part of the sign.”

  Alex groaned and rolled her eyes.

  The next day, Peyton went riding with her boys and then spent the afternoon with her mom while Jamison and Finn went fishing with the grandfather.

  “What’s on your mind?” asked her mother.

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “Let’s see. Ten heavy sighs in few minutes and you’re biting your lip. Come on, fess up.”

  “There’s a guy.”

  Her mother sat up a little straighter. “Anyone I know?”

  “Sort of. I mean, you know the family.”

  “Who?” Peyton didn’t like the way her mom’s brow furrowed.

  “The Butlers.”

  “Oh.”

  “Nice, Mom. Forget I said anything.”

  “It isn’t Maddox, is it?”

  Now Peyton’s brow furrowed. “No. Why?”

  “No reason. Which one, then?”

  “Kade.”

  It look a long time for her mother to say anything. “I see,” were the only two words she finally uttered.

  “It’s nothing. We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

  Her mom nodded and stood. “I best start dinner.”

  Peyton stayed seated. There was no point in asking if she could help. Dinner wouldn’t be for another few hours. “Starting dinner” in their house was code for, “I’m ending this conversation.”

  When it came time to leave, her boys were as tired and irritable as Peyton was. The drive home went straight by Butler Ranch and she did her best not to look over at it. Not that she could see anything if she did.

  Once home, she sent the boys into take a bath while she poured herself a glass of wine. When she pulled out her phone and tapped the screen, nothing happened; the battery must’ve died. She plugged it in and went to check on Jamison and Finn, who she could hear arguing about who was taking a bath first.

  “You,” she said, pointing at Jamison. “Go take a shower in my bathroom.” She looked at her younger son. “You take a bath. Bedtime is in thirty minutes. If you want any free time, you better get moving.”

  When Peyton went back into the kitchen, her phone was chiming. She picked it up and saw there were ten messages from Alex. Her friend knew she was at her parents all day, why hadn’t she just called her there?

  She scrolled through the texts and got her answer. All ten were to tell her Kade was at Stave, hoping to see her.

  It didn’t matter now. Stave was closed and she had to get her boys to bed. Peyton saw it as another sign. How often had she let the battery die on her phone. Next to never.

  While she had to work tomorrow, Stave wasn’t open to the public. It was also closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The first chance she’d have to see Kade would be on Thursday, if he came in.

  She finished her wine, grabbed a book, and went into her bedroom once she knew Jamison was finished with his shower. Her mother’s reaction today was still on her mind. What did she have against Kade? As far as Peyton knew, she didn’t know him well enough to have any opinion whatsoever. And why had she made sure Peyton wasn’t interested in Maddox?

  When she arrived at Stave on Thursday, Peyton was jumpy and it pissed her off. She’d known Kade for four years and all of a sudden, she couldn’t think straight because he was on her mind constantly.

  It was mid-afternoon when Addy arrived, looking frazzled herself.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Addy dropped her bag on the floor in the office. “What? Oh, right. Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “You don’t seem fine.”

  Addy took a deep breath and looked into Peyton’s eyes. “Men,” she sighed.

  “I hear you, sister.”

  “What makes it worse, is this particular man is Alex’s brother.”

  “Oh. That does make it worse. Can I ask which one?” Alex had six—each hotter than the next.

  Addy looked into the wine bar as if to see if there was anyone else around. “Gabe.”

  Gabe was Alex’s oldest brother. He and Kade were the same age and Addy was three years younger than Peyton.

  When Addy put on her apron and went to the prep room, Peyton didn’t ask any more questions. It was a fine line, as she well knew, to talk about someone when you were already conflicted about your feelings.

  Peyton heard the front door open. It was early for someone to be coming in for a tasting, but she wouldn’t judge—too much—after all, they were open. When she came out to the bar, she knew something was wrong the minute she saw the look on Kade’s face.

  8

  “Hi.”

  “Hey, Peyton.” He couldn’t stand it when people beat around the bush, so he didn’t. “I have to leave again.”

  “Oh.” She turned her back, no doubt to keep him from seeing the look on her face. He knew she was disappointed, though, just like he was.

  He wished he could tell her why, but that was out of the question. “Could you take a walk with me?”

  She hesitated, but Addy answered for her. “Yes,” she said to him and then looked at Peyton. “Go on. I can handle things here.”

  “Okay,” she murmured, taking off the apron she’d just put on. She walked down the hallway and came back wearing a jacket.

  “Beach okay?” he asked once they were outside.

  “Sure.”

  They crossed the highway and walked along the boardwalk, stopping at a rock that sat right across the road from one of his favorite restaurants. It was where he sat most often, either watching the surfers or the sunset. In fact, it was where he’d been sitting the night before when the call came in saying the other physician’s assistant in their element had been wounded while out on a mission. The guy would make it, but he’d be out of commission for at least two months.

  He wouldn’t say no, not that he could’ve, but that didn’t stop him from wishing he had the choice. There’s only one thing that would allow him to pick and choose the missions he accepted, and that would be if he resigned from the agency and started his own firm.

  Kade looked at Peyton who was studying him.

  “I wish…” she murmured.

  He reached over and cupped her cheek with his palm. “Me too.” When she leaned into his hand, Kade shifted so he could put his arm around her.

  “It seems as though the universe is conspiring against us.”

  Kade understood why she might say that, although he didn’t agree. Mainly because he didn’t believe in things like that. “Maybe it’s just a matter of timing.”

  She nodded and looked out at the sea. “Or maybe—”

  Kade shifted and brought his lips to hers. “There’s no other maybe, Peyton.” He kissed her and when her mouth opened just slightly, he angled his head to deepen it. He pulled back and looked into her pale green eyes.

  It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, and it would be longer still, yet Kade knew that no other would do. “I wish we had more time.”

  “Me too.”

  “You gonna miss me, Peyton?”

  “I will.”

  “How much?” he asked.

  “A lot,” she confessed.

  “Then, go out with me when I get back.”

  She nodded and Kade kissed her again. The agony of finally doing what he’d longed to do for months—even years—and then needing to walk away was soul-crushingly disappointing.

  His flight to DC left this afternoon, which meant they didn’t have much more time before he’d have to walk her back to Stave and say goodbye.

  “When do you have to leave?” she asked as though she could sense his anxiety.

  “In a few minutes.”

  Peyton rested her head on Kade’s shoulder and sighed. Unlike other women who had been in his li
fe, she didn’t complain. She didn’t ask if there was any way he could stay longer, any way he could refuse to go. She didn’t question when he’d be back, or where he was going. Something told him she never would, and oddly, that made him sad. The one woman he wished would ask, would care enough to want to know, never would. But was that fair? Was it that she didn’t care? He knew better than that and it was only feeling sorry for himself that made him question her.

  She kissed him, quick and chaste, and stood. She brushed the damp dirt from her jeans and stretched her legs. When he groaned, she held out her hand.

  “Come on, old man. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back.”

  Her words filled him with the warmth he needed after sitting on the bone-chilling boulder.

  It was thoughts of the kisses they shared that kept Kade sustained through the eight weeks he was gone. By the time his stint was over, his PA counterpart had recovered enough to come back to work. Not only that, he offered to stay four months instead of the requisite two. Kade accepted happily.

  9

  Saint Patrick’s Day was never a big day for Stave. That it fell on Monday this year, meant the weekend would be slower than normal too. Most of the tourists—and residents too—opted to partake in the Irish pub’s offerings, including Alex and Peyton.

  “Cheers, girlfriend!” shouted Alex over the noise of the crowded bar.

  “Cheers!” Peyton shouted back, clinking her black-and-tan to Alex’s.

  Kade had been gone two months, which meant he might be back any day. On the other hand, she hadn’t heard a word from him since he left. Not even an email, and that made her heart hurt.

  When the bartender set a shot in front of her and Alex, Peyton threw it back and thanked her.

  “That wasn’t from me,” Alex shouted back.

  She waved at the bartender and mouthed thanks. When he pointed toward the end of the bar, Peyton turned around. There stood Kade and two of his brothers, Maddox and Naughton.

  Tired of pretending she wasn’t thrilled to see him, Peyton got off her stool and weaved through the crowd in his direction. He met her halfway and wrapped his arms around her waist when she put hers around his neck. They kissed without speaking.

  The noise of the bar fell away. All she could hear was the beating of her heart. Kade didn’t pull away and neither did she. As their kiss deepened, he lowered his hands, cupping the cheeks of her ass, grinding his hardness against her. She felt him start to release his hold and kissed him harder.

  She turned in his arms, grabbed one of his hands, and pulled him out of the bar, not bothering to tell Alex she was leaving. Once outside, Kade kissed her again, lifting her up so her legs wrapped around his waist.

  “Peyton.” When he growled her name and kissed her harder, she wanted him to take her right there on the front porch of Paddy’s Grill.

  His truck was parked just down the block and he carried her there, never taking his lips from hers. She slid down his body and he unlocked the passenger door.

  “Where?” he asked.

  Her sex-addled brain was having a hard time processing the question. What were the choices? Didn’t he live in Paso Robles? There was no way she’d survive a thirty-minute car ride without climbing all over him. “My place?”

  He drove straight there without directions, which should’ve bothered her, but it didn’t. He parked in the driveway but didn’t get out of the truck right away.

  “You sure about this, Peyton?”

  “It’s either in there or right here.”

  Kade smiled, jumped out, and opened the door. He walked behind her with his hands on her hips. As soon as the front door was unlocked and they were inside, Petyon was back in his arms, legs around his waist, their mouths fused together in a kiss.

  When he slid her down his body a second time, she pulled his shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants and unfastened the buttons. Kade dropped his hands to his sides and watched. Peyton did the same with the buttons on the sleeves and then pushed the shirt off his shoulders, laughing when it got “stuck” on his massive upper arms.

  Next, she unbuckled his belt but when she tried to unfasten his pants, Kade stopped her. “Let me.” He grasped the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head and then leaned forward to suck her nipple into his mouth through the lace of her bra. At the same time, he reached around her and released it. Peyton wiggled her arms and it fell to the floor while Kade resumed his assault on her hard nipples.

  She reached between them and unfastened her own jeans, pushing them and her panties down her legs at the same time she toed off her shoes.

  He released her nipple with a pop and she stepped away from her clothes, taking him by the hand and leading him down the hall to her bedroom.

  She spun around so she could see his eyes as they took in her nakedness. The heat she saw in them burned away any insecurities about the state of her body after giving birth to two babies.

  “I could spend hours looking at you,” he murmured, “but I’ve run out of patience. I need to touch you, Peyton.”

  This time when she put her hands on the waist of his pants, he didn’t stop her. She carefully lowered the zipper when she realized underneath them, he was naked. She gasped when his cock sprung free. It had been a long time since she’d had sex. It was hard to believe he’d fit inside her, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

  Kade grabbed his pants before they hit the floor and took a condom out of one of the pockets. He tore it open with his teeth and sheathed himself while she watched. “Get on the bed, Peyton.” He growled her name like he had before and she squeezed her legs together.

  She scooted up the bed so her back rested on the pillows, taking in his body. It was even better than she’d imagined—like no other she’d ever seen. Kade was rock solid everywhere. His torso tapered from his chiseled pecs to a narrow waist. His thighs were huge, again like none she’d ever seen. It wasn’t just that they were defined, they were massive. “I could spend hours looking at you too,” she murmured. “But I need you to touch me, Kade.”

  He knelt at the end of the bed and spread her legs. When he leaned in and licked her folds, Peyton almost flew off the mattress, but he held her in place, lavishing her with his skilled tongue.

  “Be still for me, Peyton,” he demanded before diving back in for another taste of her. His hands moved from the inside of her thighs to her ass; he squeezed her cheeks and held her tight to his mouth.

  “Kade, I’m going to…”

  “Do it, Peyton,” he said, thrusting two fingers inside her aching sex and rubbing her bundle of a thousand nerves with the pad of his thumb. “Let me watch you.”

  She couldn’t have stopped herself even if he’d demanded it. “Kade,” she cried out, gripping the comforter tightly in her hands. “Oh, God.”

  Before she could catch her breath, he was on top of her, his hardness taking the place of his fingers. He slowly eased in, waiting for her to adjust to his size.

  “Baby,” he moaned. “It’s been a long time for me.”

  “Me too,” she whispered, writhing against him.

  He tortured her with slow, languid strokes until he was finally as deep inside of her as he could get. Only then did he start to thrust, harder each time as he pulled almost all the way out and then plunged back inside. Peyton grabbed his ass like he’d done to her but she was no match for his strength. He controlled the pace, as agonizing as it was.

  “I can’t hold back,” he groaned.

  “I don’t want you to.”

  His momentum increased until she found herself once again hovering on the precipice of another orgasm. She held off, though, until she felt his spasms as he pounded out his pleasure. He thrust once more and then stilled. His tongue on her neck sent a chill coursing over her overheated body.

  “Peyton?”

  “Shh,” she whispered, wanting to bask in the afterglow of the most powerful orgasm she could remember.

  “Peyton?” he repeat
ed.

  She opened her eyes and looked into his. “Kade?”

  “I need you again.”

  They spent most of Saturday in bed, only venturing out at night to pick up food from the local Italian restaurant and more condoms from the drug store.

  By Sunday morning, Peyton ached everywhere.

  “You’re sore,” Kade said as he settled between her legs and licked between her folds, the stubble from his beard was prickly on the sensitive skin of her thighs.

  “But I’m happy,” she groaned as he brought her body to yet another orgasm.

  He rolled her to her side, wrapped his arms around her, and settled in with his back to her front.

  “My boys will be home this afternoon.”

  She felt him nod.

  “Kade, I’m not ready—”

  “Shh,” he whispered. “I know you’re not.”

  “It isn’t you.”

  “I know that too.”

  10

  Limited to when her boys were in school and Peyton wasn’t working, Kade treasured every minute they had together. He let himself be selfish and didn’t share her with anyone else. They surfed together, went on hikes, and kayaked. Other than when they were having sex, they spent most of their time outdoors. Sometimes they’d take a blanket, some food, a bottle of wine, and spend the early afternoon on the beach, like they were today.

  “Kade, school gets out in a week,” Peyton said, setting the book she’d been reading on the blanket and biting her lower lip.

  He rolled to his stomach and rested his chin on his hand. “We’ll have less time together.”

  “I was thinking…”

  Kade smiled. “Yes?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, maybe you could just meet them. Something casual.”

  “Do you have something in mind?”

  Peyton shook her head.

  “How about this? You take them out for pizza and when I show up, you ask them if it’s okay if I join you?”

  “You’d do that?”

  “Why not?”