by Taylor Hart
Everything inside of him hummed with desire for her. He let out a laugh. “Slow it down, Song.”
She stared up at him. “I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
Reaching up, she carefully put her hand on his chest.
He tensed, feeling his heart kick up speed. Every part of him felt sensitive to her touch.
“For not giving up when I pushed you away.”
The sincerity of her words meant everything to him. He thought about her, about everything she’d been through. About how she put on such a tough exterior, but when it came down to it, her heart was fragile in more ways than just physically. “I’m not easily pushed aside,” he said quietly.
She beamed at him. “Such an understatement.”
Gently kissing her, he forced himself not to get lost. He needed to ask this. “I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I want to know more about your heart.” When she tensed, he held her tighter. “Don’t shut down on me, Felicity.”
Her green eyes fluttered.
“I’m in this, and I want to know what you hold back from me. I want to know everything, the good and the bad. I want to know the field.”
Looking annoyed, Felicity relented. “I need another surgery soon.”
Kade loosened his grip, and his mind whirled in confusion. “When?”
She shrugged. “I need to get in and consult with the doctor, but after the last surgery I got, they said it would be roughly ten years before I would need another.”
Letting her go, but keeping her hands in his, he tried to tamp down his frustration. “Why haven’t you gone in?”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “I’ve been a little bit busy trying to help my mom and take care of some bratty …” She trailed off, and tears swelled as she looked down. “The truth is, I’m terrified of what the doctor will say.”
Worry coursed through him. “What do you mean?”
She looked up at him, hesitated, then shook her head. “The surgery might not work, Kade.”
He felt like he was staring down the field and trying to figure out how to play this obstacle. “So, you need a heart?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want another surgery. I can’t …”
Uncertainty was something Kade didn’t like. “Not good enough.”
Sharply, her head snapped up, and their eyes met. “You have no idea how many failed surgeries I’ve been through. How hard it was for my parents.” Tears bubbled in her eyes.
His heart beat rapidly, but he realized he couldn’t handle Felicity with force, not like his father had handled him and his brother. He softened and carefully put his arms back around her, thinking of how she’d said she loved to be in his arms, to feel safe. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out together, Song.”
For a moment, she relaxed into him, and he realized this relationship was so different than every relationship he’d had with a woman because she didn’t treat him like the “bratty, selfish, billionaire” he was. He frowned and held her close. It was also different because it was the only time he’d ever wanted to protect a woman from the harsh world, more than he wanted to protect himself.
Out of the blue, Felicity smiled. “I already built a castle earlier. I don’t think you can build a bigger one.” She took off running out of the water and down the beach.
Watching her go, he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. He was falling in love with her. He took off in a mad dash and let out a whoop as he landed next to her castle.
She held a bucket of water she was going to mix with more sand, but at the last minute, she turned on him and dumped it.
“Ahh!” he yelled, the cold shocking him.
She laughed and took off again.
He was quicker and caught her easily, putting his hands around her waist and pushing her into the ocean. “Can’t get away from me now, Song!”
She didn’t try to fight that hard, and he didn’t actually throw her in the water, more or less just got them out there and they both jumped into it. She splashed him and swam a bit away.
All the memories of his brother and him here assaulted him. Of him and Anthony coming and going.
Felicity floated next to him. “Okay, Kincaid, your turn. What are you thinking? What’s with that faraway look?”
He didn’t know if he liked that she could tell he was thinking something.
“It’s not so fun, is it?” she asked, and he noticed she had a tiny scar next to her lip he’d never noticed before. “Someone pushing you all the time, demanding they know you. The real you.”
She was right. He didn’t like it.
“Kincaid.”
“Fine. I was thinking about Anthony.” He pointed to the castle. “We used to go up there and pretend we were going to throw each other off.”
She turned to look with him. “Your fear of heights.”
The walls were more than twenty feet high, and he thought of the fun and the fear of it. A derisive laugh came out of him. “Dang, I miss him. I can’t even imagine never being here with him again. Bringing our families here, seeing our kids play.” He turned back to her, searching those beautiful, green eyes. “Maybe little redheaded kids. You could live in the castle with Prince Charming.”
Her walls went up. She turned away from him and scoffed. “I can’t believe you haven’t brought any other women here.”
He put his arms around her, glad that she didn’t try to move away.
“What else about Anthony?” she asked.
He exhaled. “Sometimes I feel like he’s already gone. Dead. Like these memories are of a dead brother because we don’t have any modern memories. We have nothing anymore.”
Surprising him, because he’d always been the one to initiate affection, she turned in his arms and kissed him gently on the lips, then trailed her lips sweetly down his neck.
He smiled wryly and pointed at her. “Remember, it’s in the contract I can’t fall in love with you, so you better make sure you don’t fall in love with me.”
Annoyance rippled across her face. “I got it handled, Kincaid.”
He laughed, took her hand, and pulled her with him as he climbed out of the water and sat on the beach, still thinking of his brother.
She relaxed. “Why don’t you end the feud or whatever? Why don’t you make it right if you want to make it right?”
“I’ve thought about it a million times, but something else always happens. Of course, during the season, both of us are consumed with football, the next game, practices, the press, the competition. Our father.”
“Why has your father allowed this?”
It was a question Kade had been asking himself his whole life. “Dad says he hates it, and he tries to make everything seem okay. But at the same time, he feeds into it, telling us things about the other. Things that tick us off.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a second, wishing he could push it all aside. Wishing he could rinse his mind of all the bad of the past few years.
“Tough love,” she said.
“What?”
“Your father. I’ve done research on him. There’s this article about him, about how his father was hard on him, whipped him.”
Kade knew this, but he didn’t really want to talk about it. “Media always airs all this crap.”
“Your father whips you in a different kind of way. There was an interview with your father where he said he’d done everything he could to make you boys tough.” She shook her head. “It’s not right, but I would bet your father would think everything he did made you the best.”
Of course his father thought he was right. He thought he was right about everything. “I don’t know.” Kade sighed. “I have so many regrets with my brother. I told you about the girl in high school, but after we talked the other day, I also thought of something else.”
She waited.
“In high school, he got a high ankle sprain. It was my senior year and his junior year, but see, he was the starting quarterback.”
/> “Ouch.”
“Yeah. Part of me was happy he was down because it meant I moved up. My dad was awful to Anthony, yelled at him all the time. He said Anthony was lazy and continually razzed him about the ankle sprain and how he was weak because of it.” He cringed as guilt writhed in his stomach. “We’d lost our mom the previous year, and Anthony and I had been tight. Really tight. I was the older brother, so I’d tried to lead out and be strong. When all of this happened, I abandoned him.”
“What do you mean?”
Kade thought about his father’s tongue-lashings. “I should have stopped my father, but I didn’t.”
For a few moments, it was quiet between them.
Felicity played with his hand, covering and uncovering it with cool, soothing sand. Finally, she looked up and met his eyes. “Ya know, you are a lot like your father.”
He frowned. “How come I feel offended?”
She squeezed his hand. “I mean … sure, he pushed you hard, and his methods may not have been right, but he did get a result.”
Tugging back his hand, he scowled at her.
She grabbed his hand back. “Tough love can be good … and bad. If you hadn’t been so relentless, I wouldn’t be here with you right now.” She blinked. “And I am grateful you didn’t quit on me. And I think that’s a quality you might have inherited from your father.”
Once again, his emotions seemed to bunch into his throat. He’d never thought of it like that. Gently, he pulled her in for a hug.
“I believe in you, Kade. You can fix things with your brother. Just talk to him. Tell him this.”
It kind of stunned him that she knew him, and she was saying this. He’d never spoken so freely with someone about his problems before.
“What?” she asked, pulling back from him.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Just feeling grateful right now. Thanks for listening. I think talking about this with you is just what I needed.”
“I’m happy to help. I have to admit I like the fact you might need me, too. Because … I kind of like having you around.”
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he murmured, “That’s good, ’cause you’re not getting rid of me.” He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her down to the sand so they were side by side.
The sun was warm, but not too hot. The waves rolled onto the beach next to them. He closed his eyes, listening to birds chirping, and decided he could do anything with Felicity next to him.
She drew back after a few moments, staring up at the sun.
The quiet moment broken, he quickly moved and started the process of burying her feet. She giggled as the sand tickled her toes. At the end, he noticed her just staring at him.
“Hey.” He bounced back next to her buried form.
Her eyes danced with happiness.
“I should probably put sunscreen right here.” He tapped her nose, and she giggled some more. They stared in each other’s eyes, and more and more he was determined that this woman would be his.
He unburied her and found himself kissing her again, holding her, getting back into the ocean with her and splashing around.
At one point, he was holding her and noticed she had gone quiet. “What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “About my dad. A vacation we all took to the beach before Jimmy passed away. It was a lot better then.”
He frowned and hugged her to him.
“I just wish …” She sighed. “My mom says I need more grace in my life for my father.”
Chills washed over him, and he thought of her sweet mother. How she was humble and grateful and how she liked his rabbi, priest, and cowboy jokes.
She looked out into the ocean. “Mom says I need to have grace for Jimmy dying. I need to have grace for myself and my heart condition, and I need to recognize God’s grace in my life. Mom says grace is something God gives you. The thing between right and wrong, sin and death, that thing that’s intangible but puts you closer to him when you may not deserve it.” She blinked, and he saw tears in her eyes. She put a hand on his face. “I think you’ve brought more grace into my life, Kincaid, than I deserve.”
Emotion clogged the back of his throat. Gently, he kissed her forehead. “Ah, you deserve me.”
She laughed. “And your humility astounds me.”
He laughed, too, and kissed her head again. “All I know is I want to spend the rest of my life deserving you.” He gently squeezed her tighter and then pulled back, staring into her eyes. “We’re going to figure everything out with your heart, then come back to this castle and live happily ever after.”
She put her cheek against his chest. “I hope so.”
All he knew at this moment was that his bachelor days were done.
Chapter 23
The next morning Felicity choppered into Dallas with Kade at the helm, and she couldn’t believe her pitter-pattering heart. She was in love with him.
Before, she could have convinced herself that it was just twitterpation. She’d never really dated anyone. She would have told herself he was a womanizer and wasn’t worth it. But there were no excuses anymore.
She thought of how she hadn’t planned on doing another surgery, despite her mother’s wishes. Now, with Kade in her life, the prospect terrified her. She didn’t know if she could go through another failed surgery. She had to make that clear to him.
They got to his house, and he turned off the chopper and looked at her with a large grin on his face. “Want some lunch?”
She took off her headset and decided there was no time like the present. “Can we talk?”
“Sure, I’m starving. Can we talk over lunch?” He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against hers.
Part of her was paralyzed by his touch.
He grinned, and there was something so hopeful in his expression. He leaned in and kissed her again.
She found herself wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer, not wanting to give this up.
He laughed, his lips still on hers, but broke the connection. “Come on, Song. Let’s eat.” He got out of the helicopter and rushed to her door, yanking it open for her.
Before she could tell him, both of their phones went crazy with incoming texts. Many of hers were from DaVinci, discussing the projects she was working on. They both scrolled through their messages.
“Oh my gosh!” Kade exclaimed.
She didn’t have to ask what he was upset about. It was there on her screen in plain lettering: “Anthony Kincaid, car crash.”
Her heart raced, and she turned to Kade. He had one hand on his heart and the other gripping his phone shakily.
She scrolled through the details. It had happened a half hour ago, and he was at Houston Hospital Riverside General.
Kade just stood there, staring at his phone, scrolling down.
“Kade. Get back in the helicopter and fly to Houston.” From what she’d read, his brother had a neck injury and other broken bones and was in critical care.
Shaking his head, he kept his eyes glued to the phone. When the phone rang, he jumped a little. Kade glanced at her, then answered it. “Dad.”
Her heart skipped a beat. This was crazy. Adrenaline poured through her. Go, go, go. He needed to go now!
“No, Dad.” He held the phone away from his ear, and she heard his father ripping into him.
Her eyes weren’t on the phone. They were on the tears running down his face. She thought of yesterday at the beach and how he’d said he felt like his brother was already dead.
Tears of her own slid unchecked down her cheeks.
Kade put the phone back to his ear. “Keep me posted.” He pushed end.
He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers into them, like he could erase the pain if he pushed hard enough.
“Kade.”
He didn’t move.
She went to his side and gently put her hand on his arm. “Kade, you have to go. “
“No, he wouldn’t want me there. We … I told you
we aren’t even friends. Pretty much archenemies.”
Every part of her felt shaken up, but she sucked in a breath and focused. What he needed was to get to Houston and be by his brother’s side, so for his own good, she went into client mode, as she’d seen Mr. DaVinci do. “Kade, how would it look if you didn’t go? What will the press say?”
A curse word came out of his mouth, and he ripped away from her. “Don’t give me that BS. Not from you. Not about this.”
She realized he was right. She was an idiot. They were way past that. “Kade, he’s your brother. If I could get one day, one hour, one minute back with Jimmy, I would do anything.”
He stared at her, a mix of vulnerability, anger, and pain on his face, and started sobbing and shaking his head. He punched the center of his chest and hunched over, holding his knees as his body shook. “My brother. My brother’s …”
She held him. “Shh. Go to him. He needs you.”
After a couple of moments, he sucked in a huge breath and turned to her. “Will you go with me?” His voice was shaky, and he reached for her hand, tears streaming down his face. “’Cause I don’t think I can do this alone.”
She squeezed his hand. “Of course.”
Tugging her into him, he held her, kissing her forehead. In that moment, Felicity knew she would do anything to be with him.
Chapter 24
The helicopter ride from Dallas to Houston had taken roughly an hour and a half. Kade had gotten special clearance to land on the tarmac above the hospital. Now, he rushed through the hallways. Felicity’s hand was tucked inside of his, and all he could think about was everything between him and Anthony and how he could fix it.
Regret pummeled his gut. He could only hope for the chance to tell him he missed him. When he’d been at the castle yesterday, all he could think of was how they might never go there together again. Tears streamed down his face, and he swallowed the grief. He hated crying. Hated feeling this way. He knew when his father saw him, he’d probably rip him for being a weenie.
Finally, the hospital employee who had been guiding them pointed to a door. Felicity tugged her hand back. “You go. I’ll wait right here. I promise.”
