“Sure. Hang on.” Allison paused to send the video, then went back to the call. “It’s a little long, so it may take a few minutes to come through. In the meantime, how are your plans for return?” she asked.
“The doctors finally decided it’s safe for Shawn to travel. So we managed to get a flight home first thing tomorrow morning. But there’s a possibility of bad weather coming in that could delay our flight out of Switzerland, so we’d rather not tell the girls we’re coming home until we actually make it as far as Dallas.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
Sarabeth grinned as her phone dinged. “The video just came in!”
“Enjoy it,” Allison said, then let them go so they could watch the very memorable performance they had missed.
Cade turned onto the street where he lived. Surprised, Allison asked, “Are we stopping by your house?”
“Do you mind?” he said. “I need to check on a couple of things.”
“Do you want me to wait outside or come in?”
He sent her a droll look, then surveyed her head to toe, as if he found her completely irresistible. “Come in.” He chuckled, a deep rumbling low in his throat.
Trying not to think how attracted she was to him, too, Allison wrinkled her nose. “Okay.” Aware she hadn’t been in his Laramie home yet, and curious...as a woman and as an interior designer...to see what he had done to the elegantly updated Craftsman, she followed him inside. It was every bit as opulent as everyone had said. With a pitched roof and expansive front porch, centered with a beautifully crafted front door with windows on either side, as well as above. Inside, the large foyer opened up into a great room with a state-of-the-art kitchen on one side, a cozy gathering space the other. Dark wide plank oak floors coordinated perfectly with heavy masculine furniture and jewel-toned area rugs. Through the picture windows that flanked the rear wall of the home, she could see the wooden privacy fence and the waterfall pool, now covered for winter, contained therein.
Cade turned to her. “What do you think?”
Finding his steady regard a little unnerving, Allison continued moving about the room. She paused to examine the big-screen TV hidden behind double doors above the mantel. “It’s very masculine and luxurious.” Very much the perfect bachelor lair. Just as her home was the ideal abode for a single woman whose sole focus was her career.
Apparently not realizing that those two facts alone should tell them something, he sauntered over to join her. “I think it needs a new design.”
Allison pushed aside a feeling of déjà vu. “That’s up to you.”
“I think it’s too Big-City Bachelor for Laramie.”
True, but that was exactly what he had been when he’d been playing for the Wranglers and purchased the place. “What did you want it to be?”
He paused to look over at her, all indomitable male once again. “Small-town baseball coach.”
And family man? Deciding she was getting way ahead of herself, she smiled. Then, attempting to keep the mood light and carefree between them, she said, “If you want me to give you some names...”
He ambled close enough to kiss her. Tunneled both hands through her hair and lifted her face to his. “I want you to do it,” he said gruffly.
Splaying her hands across his chest, she inhaled his familiar cedarwood-and-rain scent. Afraid of progressing too far, too fast, she challenged, “Haven’t we been down this road before?”
He lifted one of her hands and kissed the back of it, rubbing his lips erotically over her skin. “And what road is that?” he asked softly, still holding her gaze.
A tingle of awareness swept through her. Lingering, low. Yearning welling up inside of her, she swayed against him. “You don’t have to hire me to design the interior of your home to spend time with me when our babysitting gig ends. We agreed to date, remember?”
He regarded her affectionately, looking sexy as all get-out with a day’s worth of beard rimming his ruggedly handsome face. “What if I just want you to design the interior of my home?”
Telling herself this was not the time to indulge in unrealistic fantasies, Allison stepped back and replied in her most matter-of-fact tone, “I’d still suggest you think about having someone else do it.” She perched on the back of the sofa.
He sat beside her and covered her hand with his. “How come?”
She looked down at their entwined fingers, aware how much she enjoyed being with him, no matter where they were or what they were doing. “I don’t want to start something and not be able to finish it.”
“I don’t, either.” Guiding her to her feet, he danced her backward until she was standing on the edge of the foyer and the great room.
“If I get the TV show—” as she was very close to doing, especially with the work she had put in the previous night and posted very early this morning “—I’ll be so busy I won’t be able to finish this.” She gestured around them.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close until they were touching in one electric line. “You could, if you took your time.” He pressed a kiss to the sensitive place behind her ear.
A whisper of desire swept through her, weakening her knees. “Cade...”
“Like I’m planning to do right now.” He kissed her nose, her cheek.
Allison moaned. “I...”
“Look up,” he commanded.
Curious, she did. “Mistletoe!” She laughed at the sight of it. Shook her head in wonderment. “So, you did get some after all!”
“Not just one sprig,” he relayed as his mouth locked on hers in a slow, sexy caress that made her tingle from head to toe.
It was in the foyer. The hallway. His bedroom doorway. Even over his bed.
He kissed her beneath every single mistletoe. So warm and strong. So unbelievably tender and persistent in his pursuit of her. And she opened her heart in return. Wreathing her arms about his neck, shifting her body close. He tasted so good. So dark and male. And he felt even better. All warm, solid muscle. She could feel the hard evidence of his desire as he slid his hands down her body, cupping her against him. And still he kissed her, sweetly and irrevocably, possessing her heart and soul, until she thought she would melt from the pleasure of it.
The next thing she knew, they were stripping down. Exploring rapaciously. Tumbling together onto his bed. He shifted onto his back; she straddled his middle. Then, with his big, strong hands molding her breasts, kissing her ravenously again, he moved up, then in. Satisfaction flooded through every part of her. And finally, there was no more waiting. Or holding back. Her back arched, her body shuddering and coming apart, the passion she felt for him dissolving in wild carnal waves. She whispered his name... He called out to her in return. And then they both surrendered to a molten hot passion unlike anything she had ever known.
Afterward, they cuddled together, and she knew this was what it felt like when it was right, when love was about to happen. All over again. He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. Regarded her quietly. “What are you thinking?” he asked, still holding her in a way that made her feel incredibly cherished and protected.
Joy rose inside her. Figuring she might as well admit it, she said, “That as much as I can’t wait for Sarabeth and Shawn to come home and be reunited with their girls, I am definitely going to miss playing house with you and the kids.” This had been the first time in her life she’d had even an inkling what it would be like to really be part of a big, boisterous, loving family. And she had adored it.
“Hey.” He brushed his lips reverently over hers. “We don’t have to stop playing house just because we don’t have to watch the girls...”
Her body still humming deliciously, she chided, “You know what I mean...”
“I do.” Tunneling both hands through her hair, he kissed her again, with all the tenderness she had ever hoped to receive. “And I’m serio
us, Allison. I want you back in my life. Every day. And every way. From now on...”
“Oh, Cade, I want that, too.” Her heart filling with deep, searing emotion, she blinked back tears of joy. As she kissed him back, she felt him begin to get aroused. As did she.
“Round two?” he teased.
“Why not?” she started to say. “We’ve got time...”
Her phone dinged to signal an incoming text. Cade groaned at the interruption, dropped his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. “I know...” Allison said softly. “I don’t want to look at it, either, but with all I am responsible for at the moment, I have to...”
She read the message once, her mouth going dry with apprehension. And then again.
Alarmed, Cade pushed to a sitting position. “What is it?” he asked.
Allison sat up, too. “The HITN execs are on their way to see me. They have a very serious matter they want to discuss with me in regard to the story that just broke on the Personalities! magazine website.”
* * *
Cade got his laptop and brought it back to bed. Together, they looked up the Personalities! story that included photos of her and Cade. Waiting to see Santa at the mall. Driving the kids to school. Hugging—and kissing—on Sarabeth and Shawn’s doorstep, as they said goodbye to each other at the end of the night. And the salacious print article was even more damning:
Rekindled Love?
Forced to retire, Wranglers pitcher Cade Lockhart returned to his hometown of Laramie, Texas, hoping to begin a high school coaching career, and instead has found love again with his former sweetheart, up-and-coming lifestyle blogger Allison Meadows. That love could come at a cost, however, if she loses a potential TV-hosting gig because of the romance. HITN isn’t against marriage per se. In fact, the other candidate for their proposed new lifestyle show geared for thirtysomethings, City Lights blogger Jennifer Moore, is admittedly on the hunt for a fiancé. It’s been Allison Meadows who was set to speak to other thirtysomethings who definitely don’t want or need a love relationship in their lives to be content. In fact, that’s what her popular blog, My Cottage Life, is all about. “I don’t know who HITN is going to choose,” Jennifer Moore said when asked to comment. “I just know they want whoever it is to be authentic.”
“Uh-oh,” Cade said.
Her heart racing, Allison dashed out of bed and began to get dressed. She turned to see the distressed look on his face. Her heart sank. “What?”
“There’s another story on the Celebrity Grapevine website.” With a frown, he showed her the article.
Nothing but a Fraud?
My Cottage Life blogger Allison Meadows has been writing about how great the holidays are for a single lady (see sidebar photos from her blog) while in actuality spending all her holiday time with four adorable little kids and her ex-love Cade Lockhart, a retired pro baseball player who has had his own problems with honesty. (He lied about his fitness to return to play, a move that cost the Wranglers their bid for the division championship.) Now, check out the photos from her real world. Doesn’t look like the satisfied single life to us...!
His expression turned unrelentingly grim as he and Allison studied the pictures.
The first was of Cade, in uniform, on the pitching mound, shortly before he suffered his final injury. Another of when he was being helped off the field. And later, one of Cade politely listening to the Wranglers-cap-wearing fan at the mall while Allison and the kids sat nearby.
But that was just the beginning...
There was a snapshot of Cade and Allison picking out a tree and buying mistletoe with the girls. Another of them all walking into the school together for the pre-K Christmas performance. Those were juxtaposed with her photos from her recent blog posts. Single-handedly decorating her cottage. Making meals for one. Putting up a “single woman” holiday tree.
It did look like it was all a lie, Allison realized miserably.
“It wasn’t just an accident we ran into that man in the Wranglers cap at the mall, or that he had a woman with him, taking pictures that day, when he tried to start something with you,” she said, thinking about the time she thought she had seen him outside the preschool, too. “He was following us, all along!”
Cade nodded in agreement. He got up and began to dress, too. “He may have even been hired to do it.”
Allison bent to slip on her shoes. “By whom?”
Shrugging, Cade zipped his jeans and pulled on his shirt. “Jennifer Moore warned you that she was going to prove you weren’t authentic.”
Allison accompanied Cade down the stairs. “But how would she know I would fall for you?” she asked, upset.
“Maybe she didn’t.” Cade’s glance narrowed. “Maybe she was just set on catching you in any kind of potentially controversial incident that would put you out of the running and leave the field wide open for her. The fact that you were babysitting the quadruplets at the time, and we rekindled our love affair again after I lent a helping hand, was just plain dumb luck.”
Or inevitable. With effort, Allison forced herself back to the problem at hand. “Well, whatever the case, we can’t let this misconception stand. We have to come up with an explanation HITN will accept.”
“What do you mean?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t publicly be part of a couple because that’s not my brand.”
He stared at her as if she were a complete stranger. “We’re talking about your career?”
“Yes,” Allison explained patiently, sure she could make him see things her way. “I won’t get my own television show with HITN unless we go to the executives, when they get here, and explain to them that this was all a misunderstanding.”
His brow furrowed. “In what sense?” He stepped closer.
“Well...we’ll just tell them that the pictures are misleading. And admit that while we once had a thing, explain that the fact it didn’t work out was what propelled me to seek an independent life of my own for the last eight years. And even though we recently spent a lot of time together helping out friends by jointly caring for their children, we’re still just friends.”
“And the picture of us kissing?” he demanded gruffly. “What do we say about that?”
Allison hesitated. Finally, throwing up her hands, she said, “We’ll just both say that it didn’t mean anything. It was just a brief kiss goodbye. A peck on the cheek that missed its target when things got awkward.” Starting to feel embarrassed, she swallowed. “I mean, that could happen, couldn’t it? Pictures can sometimes be deceptive.”
He gave her a slow, critical once-over. “What about the lovers part?”
Heat moved from her chest into her neck, then her face. With effort, she inhaled sharply and kept her eyes locked with his. “Well, obviously, we wouldn’t tell them that.”
His tone hardened. “We’d lie.”
“Maintain our privacy,” she corrected.
“Lie,” he argued.
Planting her hands on her hips, she glared up at him. He wasn’t playing fair here. She’d been nothing but supportive when he’d had his shot at the big time... “Why are you being like this?”
Anger flared in his eyes. “For starters,” he countered in a take-no-prisoners voice that set her pulse to racing, “I don’t want to pretend I don’t want to be with you when I do.”
The ache in her throat grew exponentially. “I don’t want that, either.” Without warning, she found herself fighting back tears as the emotional ties they had forged this last week began to splinter.
He shrugged. “Then it should be simple.”
Except it wasn’t. Especially since, up to now, he had been so supportive of her work. Aware this could easily blow up into something neither of them wanted, she tried again. “Cade, you had your shot at the big time. You lived your dream. I haven’t had mine, and I’m not going to lie to
you,” she said softly. “I want it.”
Just as she wanted Cade to love her so much he would do anything to find a way for them to be together.
But he hadn’t in the past, and he didn’t now. So...
Cade scowled and shook his head in silent remonstration. “Yeah, I can see that,” he said.
Allison struggled to hold on to what reason she had left. Hands spread wide, she pointed out, “We can be together... We just can’t act like it in public.”
“Like I said.” Hurt and resentment scored his low tone. “I don’t want to lie. Adhering to half-truths...promising everyone I was one hundred percent ready to pitch...when I knew damn well I wasn’t there yet...is what cost me my pro career, remember?”
“This is different! It isn’t about your fitness as an athlete!”
“Doesn’t matter. Adhering to any half-truth would definitely set a bad example and cost me the position as high school coach.”
“And you’re not willing to give that up,” Allison said sadly, doing her best to contain her hurt.
“No.”
Anger sparked. “So once again it’s what you want that matters most.”
Silence fell. His nostrils flared. “This is about us,” he corrected. “But you’re right about one thing. There is no way I am trading my soul for fame and fortune. For you or for me. Not ever again. And if you’re smart, you won’t do so, either.”
“It doesn’t have to be that cut-and-dried, Cade.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Clearly, he thought there was only one right way to proceed and one wrong.
“Listen to me, Cade,” she pleaded softly, urging him to be reasonable. This was a terrible situation. But like the flooded upstairs carpet at the Bailey home, it could still be repaired. “With a little time, and the help of a good crisis manager, we can figure out a way to allow me to hold on to everything I’ve built thus far, as a successful single woman, and still let it be known I have a right to love and a private life.”
Four Christmas Matchmakers Page 18
