Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six

by Rachelle Ayala

  Andie’s nostrils flared and a fierce blush colored her face. “You know full well this has nothing to do with you. There’s no way we’re sending Bonnie to a foster home. Maybe you don’t see it, but your mother was always kind to me, and I care about her. She’s out there somewhere, and if we invited her, she’d be here.”

  Was Andie naïve or what? Oh, right. She was. Her parents were still together. She lived with them even while working at the library. She’d been sheltered by a religious mother and an intellectual father.

  Cade clenched his teeth and swallowed, closing his eyes. Patience. Patience. She meant well. That was one of the things he loved about her—hoping for the best and believing the good in everyone.

  “I’d like my mother to attend, too,” he said. “In fact, I’m going to miss the mother-son dance as much as anyone, but sweetheart, I know Barbara Prescott. She may mean well, and she may care about you, or me, or Bret, but she’ll never, ever put anyone in front of her survival. Ever.”

  That had always been true. His mother was a heroin addict. She’d gotten pregnant at a young age and gave up her baby to the system when Cade was born with a cleft palate. For a living, she’d blackmailed Dick Davis, Cade’s biological father, who was married to a wealthy socialite, Dinah Silver. Sure, she did befriend Andie when she was new in town, but if push ever came to shove, Barb Prescott would save her own skin. No one else’s.

  Andie must have felt his anguish, because she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her softness lowered his blood pressure, a little, but he couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of loss from swamping him. She was right. He’d never have a normal life, much less a normal wedding. There would be no mother-son dance, no grandmother at Bonnie’s baptism, no baby shower, no birthday parties with her presiding as the matriarch of the Prescott clan.

  “Let’s not argue about this,” Andie said, hugging him tight. “Even if we don’t know where she is, I bet she’s following your social media. Maybe she’ll make contact under a fake name.”

  “We can’t wait forever.” He stroked the side of her cheek, loving every bit of her. “I can’t wait to make you mine.”

  “I already am, Cade, whether we have the piece of paper or not.” She flashed him a tentative smile. “I think you’d regret it if you didn’t give her a chance.”

  “I wish she’d regret disappearing and absconding with all the money. If only she’d turned in the chips to the FBI, she could have come off as the hero. I’m disappointed.”

  “As am I.”

  “We have to have the wedding and the honeymoon before the end of July when training camp starts. You know I can’t take vacation once that happens.”

  The prime time for professional players to take vacation was after the Super Bowl and before training camp. Some players spent June in conditioning camp, and he owed it to his team to get himself back in playing shape especially after these few months as a celebrity.

  The creases between Andie’s eyebrows deepened and she twisted her lips. “Does it have to be this year?”

  Her words punched the breath from him. Why was she dragging her feet? Wasn’t she in love with him? Didn’t they have a baby coming? Didn’t they already have a son, Bret, whom she was adopting?

  A zinging chill snaked its way down his spine, and he couldn’t shake the suspicion. This had nothing to do with his mother disappearing. After all, she could very well stay away forever. Was Andie going to wait two years, three? Ten?

  He blew out a breath and focused on her jewel green eyes. “What’s really going on here? What’s the real reason you won’t set a date?”

  Without answering him, she stripped and stepped into the shower.

  Chapter 2

  Andie’s glance lingered on her hunk of a football player as she dragged the shower curtain closed. Oh, he was hot all right, especially when he was angry. Her skin tingled at the way his muscles had bunched together, and the intense glare he’d sent her way made all her womanly parts squirm.

  Half expecting him to sweep the curtain aside and step in, she raised her arms above her head and let the water run over her face. But when she opened her eyes, she was still alone in the shower.

  Shame engulfed her. What was she thinking? She was eight months pregnant. Of course he’d run as fast as he could out the bathroom door once she’d started stripping.

  Andie lowered the temperature of the water and stared at her protruding belly—not that she could avoid it. Could she blame him? He hadn’t made a move, even though her doctor had given her the go ahead. He’d been in the consult room and heard it. In fact, the doctor had given Cade a wink about it being a way to spur labor in case she was overdue.

  Forget about it. Right now, Cade had a one-track mind about the wedding—scratch that, not the wedding, just the piece of paper. Like a check box. Done, next?

  Everyone acted like she was the holdout. They wondered what woman in her right mind would hesitate to marry the Super Bowl MVP. It wasn’t that she wanted to piss Cade off, and she definitely wasn’t rebelling against her mother.

  She simply needed time, and Cade needed his mother. How would it feel if his side of the church were empty and her side packed with family and relatives? With his mother and brother gone, his father dead, and his only sister in jail, who would stand by Cade?

  Grabbing a piece of soap, she slid it over and around her breasts and belly. Bonnie’s little feet kicked and poked from within. There was nothing like the feeling of a little person tossing and turning inside her body. What special moments she’d had, despite lying in bed for so long. It was all worth it, and the doctor had said she could go into labor at any moment. Why would any sane person want her walking down the aisle ready to pop?

  Knowing her luck, Bonnie would choose to make her appearance right before the “I do.”

  That would only add grist to Cade’s celebrity status. Not that Cade enjoyed the adulation. Not at all like her ex-husband, Declan Reed, who created or exaggerated news just to see himself being gossiped about. She often wondered why he’d married small town Andie rather than a Kardashian or a Jenner.

  Andie’s heart rate sped, and she dropped the soap. Could it be possible black-hearted Declan had actually loved her? Or thought he had?

  Tucking that disturbing thought away, Andie foamed her legs and reached for her razor from the shower caddy. No more Miss Grizzly lying in bed. If the weather permitted, she was wearing a sundress to her birthday party—one for a bloated whale, but still, something bright and cheery.

  Her father would love that. He was trying so hard to walk before her wedding. It wasn’t easy being disabled, especially since he used to be an active archaeologist, always the first to rappel down a mountainside in search of artifacts.

  The warm water soothed her skin, and the scent of her lavender and olive oil soap refreshed her, but the gloomy thoughts refused to dissipate.

  She’d already had one busted marriage, and despite what everyone said, having a baby together was no reason to enter into a marriage. Even Pastor Stewart seemed to indicate that. Although he counseled marriage, he also counseled communication and common goals in life.

  Face it. Cade right now was a bigger celebrity than her actor ex-husband had ever been. Only a scant year ago, Cade had been a playboy with two or three women a night. Now that he was Super Bowl MVP, he could be vacationing in Vegas or the Bahamas instead of stuck in a small town in upstate New York—even if it was by the most beautiful lake on the planet.

  They hadn’t had sex since January, what with her bedrest and pregnancy, and after the Super Bowl, he’d been on a nonstop celebrity ride with interviews, endorsements, deals, and more. Sponsors flew him all over the country to pitch products, and he was even on the newest Wheaties boxes.

  Floods of fan mail showed up at her parents’ house—so much that the local post office suggested he rent a storage room to hold the mail.

  Andie only had to peek into a few of the notes to know that ninety-fi
ve percent were from women seeking hookups. Some even had nude photos enclosed.

  As for his cell phone? He never brought it home, claiming he didn’t want to disturb their peace. She believed him, for the most part, but there were only so many temptations a man could take before breaking. What would happen once the next season started and he was on the road all the time? They’d be separated for months, since they’d agreed to raise Bret and Bonnie in a small town far from the hullabaloo of the stadium.

  Andie wet her hair and spread shampoo into her scalp.

  Sure, Cade was pissed with her for wanting to delay the wedding. But the only reason he wanted to get hitched so quickly was for Bonnie’s sake. Not that Bonnie wasn’t important, but a baby shouldn’t be the only reason.

  How many people “made it legal” one year and then split the next year? Wouldn’t it be worse to drag children through a divorce?

  Her mood dampened, she finished up with her conditioner. He was probably tending to Bret or feeding Red and Gollie, their his-and-hers pair of dogs. Better to feed dogs than stare at her bloated body.

  Once, not long ago, a shower was an invitation to intimacy. Now? Not even worth a sideshow.

  She shut the water off and pulled aside the curtain.

  Cade stood leaning against the wall, naked, his big hands cupped across his groin.

  “What, er, are you doing here?” Andie couldn’t help gaping at his corded muscles and that wonderful area under his eight-pack abs—the part he was hiding from her.

  “Waiting my turn for the shower.”

  “Oh, in that case, have at it.” She reached for a towel to cover her gargantuan proportions.

  “Not until you get your birthday present.” His hands remained over his groin. Of course, he wouldn’t want her to see how limp she made his dick. He was, if anything, a sweet and considerate man.

  “Sorry, for the horror show.” Andie lowered her face to step carefully from the shower.

  “Honey, does this look like I’m horrified?” Cade uncovered his groin.

  Out popped his huge cock tied with a pretty puff of ribbons.

  Andie’s mouth dropped and drool pooled under her tongue. She lowered to her knees to take it in. It was the only thing she was still capable of giving him.

  “Not yet.” Cade’s grip was firm under her arms, lifting her and guiding her back into the shower. “It’s your birthday. Not mine.”

  “I, uh, in case you haven’t noticed …” She gestured to her all-too-obvious belly.

  Not answering her, he turned her, his hand firm against the nape of her neck and captured her lips, grinding and crushing her mouth. The other hand fondled her breasts, massaging their weight and, oh goodness, his stiff, hard erection was pressed against her abdomen, right over her belly button.

  Heat ignited deep within Andie’s body, and she kissed her football player hard and fast, crashing her body against his. She wanted him badly, especially after all those days and nights on bedrest when he was afraid to touch, afraid to trigger contractions. Talking and playing card games, board games, backgammon and chess. Last night, she’d fallen asleep, exhausted from her first day out of bed—her muscles unused to holding her weight. He’d held her, comforting, but not making a move—like she was fragile and delicate.

  Cade groaned in her mouth and dragged his lips down to her neck, sucking hard while his fingers and hands played havoc with her hormones.

  Her nipples peaked, begging for his touch, and she moaned with relief when he wrapped his tongue around one while rolling the other with his fingers. Her knees weakened dangerously, and being out of shape from bedrest had her sagging and collapsing.

  “Whoa, there,” Cade said, breaking his expert lips and tongue from her. “Bed?”

  “Yes, bed. I’m too big to even turn around.” Andie’s breasts bounced on her heaving chest.

  “You naughty girl.” With a single swoop, he picked her up and lifted her from the bathroom. “Ordinarily, I’d do you in there, on the sink, in the tub, against the wall, but not today. You have to stay pregnant, else there’ll be six more weeks of torture for me.”

  “Six weeks? What do you mean?”

  He placed her gently on the waterbed, one he’d bought for her to relieve pressure on her body. “Weren’t you paying attention? The doctor said no lovemaking for six weeks after the baby’s born.”

  “Oh, well in that case …” The blood surged through Andie’s veins with more urgency. “We’d better make the most of this.”

  “Yes, we’d better, before Bret wakes up, or Red and Gollie want a walk,” Cade reminded her of their existing responsibilities. Propping her legs over his shoulders, he knelt at the side of the bed and dipped his tongue over her sensitive bud.

  Andie closed her eyes and gave herself over to the delicious sensations coursing over her body. Cade was so good to her. Maybe it would work this time. If only she could capture this moment and keep him as loving and devoted as he was now, even with her stretchmarks and mood swings—maybe it could work.

  Chapter 3

  Later, much later, after Cade had satiated her, turning her insides to jelly, and rubbed and massaged every square inch of her, Andie was finally ready to go out. While she’d snoozed in her post-orgasmic bliss, Cade had changed and fed Bret, then dressed him in one of his many New York Warthog jerseys—all with number ten, Prescott, on the back.

  “How’s my little Bonnie and her mommy feeling?” Cade bent low and planted a kiss on her abdomen. “Any contractions?”

  “We’re both great.” Andie reached for her son. “And how’s my little man and his daddy?”

  “Pleased as punch that you’re up and about. Where do you want to go walking?”

  Andie gave Bret a kiss on his chubby cheek and tickled him. “I’m thinking of a stroll to city hall.”

  “City hall?” Cade’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Are you thinking?”

  “Yes, at least we can apply for the license. Maybe that way, you’ll contact your mom.”

  “I wouldn’t know where to start. The world is huge and she could be anywhere.”

  “Not really.” Andie tugged socks onto Bret’s feet. The baby wiggled and squirmed and at eight months old, he wasn’t weak. “She’d need help. Fake IDs, people to cover her tracks. It seemed as if she was in cahoots with Dick.”

  “No, she wasn’t.” Cade’s retort was sharp. “Dick was after her for the password to her bank account.”

  “Yes, but where was she living between the time she disappeared from the rehab facility to when she showed up at Vegas, at the exact moment to intercept the loot?”

  “She was probably trying to save you. Tailing you to make sure you’re okay. She didn’t want you to be in danger, so she took the chips.”

  “Except I was in danger.” Andie hated to open up wounds, but facts were facts. Other than taking the shot meant for her, Barbara’s actions had put her in more danger. “If she’d let me go through with the deal, I would have handed the money to Devon. The FBI agents, Natasha and Fernando, who were hidden in my room would have taken him into custody after recording the transaction.”

  Cade rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, my mom swore she was protecting you. I believe her.”

  “Sure, let’s not argue.” Andie tucked Bret into his car seat. “I’m only getting the license application so we can announce it on social media. I’m sure your mother is watching everything you do from afar.”

  “Unless she’s somewhere where there’s no internet.”

  “True. Except I bet Roxanne knows more than she’s telling.” Andie swallowed the disgust at the way Roxanne and Cade’s mother had arranged Bret’s conception in an attempt to entrap Dick and extort money and favors from him.

  “Do you want to ruin our day?” Cade’s expression turned to stone. “I don’t want to talk about Roxanne, Rob, Dick, or Devon.”

  “Sorry, but if we want to find Barbara, they’re the smoking guns who can lead us to her.”

  “
If I want to find her.” Cade picked up his son, car seat and all. “You’re the one who insists on bring past ghosts out of the closet.”

  “Fine, fine, let’s not argue.” Andie put on a light jacket. After all, Cade wasn’t the only one who had social media accounts. If Barbara was out there, she was sure to be monitoring the gossip blogs and tweets about her Super Bowl MVP son and his librarian fiancée—or as one blogger called them, the “New Odd Couple.”

  # # #

  A few hours later, Cade and Andie sat inside an ice cream shop. He’d treated her to a chocolate lava cake with raspberry topping over dark chocolate ice cream. After all, she’d signed on the dotted line, and they had their marriage license. All he had to do was wait the twenty-four hours as required by the state of New York, find the mayor of Itasca, who’d promised he’d do their wedding, get two witnesses and he was done. No fuss, no mess, no drama.

  With all the attention he was getting, the last thing he wanted was a big media circus for his wedding. Fortunately, with Super Bowl fever fading, they’d had a relatively quiet time as the snow thawed and the town got used to having him around. But a wedding? Especially with his notorious mother making an appearance? The feeding frenzy would light up a thermonuclear explosion.

  Cade sat, holding Bret, with his back to the wall so he could view the entrance of the ice cream shop for signs of reporters. A young mother stood in line with her two children who argued over getting cones instead of cups. Two elderly men walked in, holding hands, and wearing identical John Deere caps.

  He narrowed his eyes at the dowdy woman who’d been in the line in front of him. She had her baseball cap pulled tightly over her eyes and was sitting in back of Andie, with her back turned. With so many empty tables in the shop, why did she pick the only table close to them?