He followed her, grabbed her arm. She yanked it away and started running.
He was right behind her. “Sophie…”
She whirled on him. “How could you?”
“You need help. We’re less than three weeks from opening. We don’t have time to do it all ourselves. And give me credit—I knew better than to pay the workers myself on the sly. Though I thought about it,” he muttered. “But I knew you’d be embarrassed.”
Her whole chest was on fire. “And this won’t embarrass me? To show that I was so incompetent that you had to call in every relative and friend you had just to make up for my bad planning? Your parents live six hundred miles away!”
“I told you, the landscaper wasn’t your fault. And my parents like to come and visit. They have grandchildren here.”
“Then let them visit their grandchildren and—and…play, not work!” Then something else hit her. “Zane? Your brother the movie star, he’s coming, too?”
“He and Roan and the kids are taking his private plane and picking up Mom and Dad, as well as Diego and his family. Linc and Ivy and their three are driving down from Palo Verde. Ivy is Caroline and Chloe’s sister.”
“Oh—oh, Cade they can’t! You can’t!”
“Sophie.” He gripped her shoulders. “It’s really okay. I only asked Jesse and Vince. Everyone else offered when they heard about it. My family loves stuff like this. Think of it this way—you’ve given them a chance to have a family reunion, and it’s not even Christmas. My mom is over the moon to have all her kids in one place.”
“But this is not a reunion. This is not fun. This is charity…”
“No, it’s what a family does, sweetheart.”
“I’m not family.”
“You don’t have your own, so I want you to borrow mine. You’re Jenna’s friend, and you’re my— Well, I want to help you, too.” She wondered what he’d started to say. “It’s not a big deal, honest. And the only way they’d think less of you is if you didn’t accept.”
When she opened her mouth, his eyes warned her. “You promised not to complain.”
“I’m not complaining, I’m—I’m horrified. Humiliated.”
“Stop that. It’s in your head, no one else’s.” Exasperation was all over his face. “Do you know how long it’s been since my folks have had me around this much? Since I wasn’t the only one of their chicks missing from a gathering? For that alone, Sophie, my mother would plant every blasted shrub by herself.”
“But—”
“It’s happening, honey. Now you can be gracious and accept it, or you can make all these good people feel bad because you refuse to take this in the spirit in which it’s offered and reject a neighborly gesture out of hand.”
Sophie struggled to compose herself. “I just… Cade, I’m not ungrateful, I’m just overwhelmed. I… No one’s ever done something like this for me before…”
“Come here.” He drew her in and clasped his hands behind her waist, but remained apart enough to see her. “I come from simple people, Sophie. Some of us might have prospered financially, but at our core we’re country people, descended from the pioneers who settled Texas. In that tradition, neighbors help neighbors. You need a barn built? Everybody shows up one Sunday, and a barn that would take weeks for you to build by yourself is erected in one day. The families bring food, and even the little kids pitch in. It was the early version of a block party. That’s how they survived, by helping each other out in times of need.”
“But what can I possibly do to pay them back?”
“That’s not what it’s about, sweetheart. There is no ledger—that isn’t why they’re coming. The shame in all this is that you’ve had to be alone so long, that you haven’t had anyone but yourself to depend on.”
“I’ve done fine.” Her chin jutted out.
“You have. I admire the hell out of you for what you’ve accomplished, but now you do need help. And you’re too smart not to realize it. So are we going to keep arguing over this? Do you have the time to waste?”
“No,” she said sadly. “I don’t.” She fell silent, struggling to accept his point of view when it flew in the face of everything she’d ever experienced. “Okay.” She blew out a breath and placed a hand on her jittery stomach. “But no one’s bringing food. I’m feeding everyone. I have a perfectly good chef who’s itching to get started in the kitchen, so we’ll use this as her first catering opportunity.”
Cade started to say that she couldn’t afford to feed so many people, but he knew her pride was already stung, so he said nothing. “Sounds great.”
Her discomfort seemed to ease, and as she made plans all through lunch, he watched her excitement grow. She peppered him with questions about what kind of food his family liked, were there any allergies, what would they do with the kids, how many children were there. Cade was half dizzy watching Sophie swing into action. Before they finished their meal, she’d called her new chef, Patty, and they’d selected the menu with impressive efficiency.
It was fun watching her, and he was surprised to find himself wishing he’d be around when her hotel opened and in the months that would follow as she brought her vision to life. He made a mental note to recommend her hotel to his agent and editor, to others with a taste for the authentic. Austin was becoming a destination for entertainment types and the fashionable crowd, and Sophie’s hotel, he was absolutely convinced, would be an extraordinary place to stay.
Even if a part of him balked at sharing it. Sharing her.
But this place was not his and neither was she. God willing, if he ever got past the roadblock in his head, he’d be traveling again more often than not. But oddly, for the first time in his life the thought of wandering didn’t excite him.
And that scared him more than anything thus far.
Just then they reached the vet’s office, where a surprise waited. The dog was healing beautifully and he was ready to go home. Sophie took it in stride, though, and once again Cade was treated to the sight of the woman who’d juggled huge conventions and angry guests and housekeeping disasters as she calmly compiled a list of what the dog would need.
She didn’t fight with him over the bill he’d paid, but he was sure she made a note in her mental ledger.
Cade offered to take the dog to Jenna’s until after the opening, but she quickly rejected that suggestion.
“That’s only a temporary solution,” she chided. “He’s been through enough. He needs a home.”
Cade thought she might be speaking of herself just as much, but he wisely didn’t point that out. More and more, he had begun to understand just how alone Sophie had been for many years. It was a damn shame. She had so much to offer the right man. And Sophie’s children? They’d be lucky as hell.
Damn that right man. Cade wasn’t ready to think about his replacement. Nor was he keen on picturing Sophie as he’d seen his sisters-in-law, round with their babies.
“What’s wrong?”
He realized his hands were clenched into fists over the things he couldn’t offer Sophie. Not in the only life he knew.
“Nothing.” He tore himself out of the thoughts that would help no one. He was here for her right now, and he wouldn’t think beyond that.
He dropped to a crouch as the dog bounded through the half door. “Hey, Skeeter!” He ruffled the dog’s fur and grinned up at Sophie, who was sinking to her own heels.
“Don’t listen to him, Finn.” She glared at Cade, but it was playful. “He’s blind to your dignity. Skeeter is all wrong for my handsome boy, isn’t that right?” she crooned, then laughed as he slurped her cheek and knocked her backward.
God, she was beautiful, even more so when she laughed.
With a twinge in the direction of his heart, Cade reminded himself that his thoughts were
his problem, not hers. She might say she was still open to a casual relationship with him. But that wouldn’t be fair to her. She was firmly planted here, more so every day.
She wasn’t a part-time woman, not one to let him fly in and out of her life.
And he couldn’t stay. Without his career, he was nothing.
The dog turned to him, enthusiastically wagging his tail and slurping at him, too. “She’s wrong,” he muttered loudly enough for her to hear. “But she’s stuck on that name, buddy, so we’ll humor the lady, all right?”
A soft woof was his only answer.
“Let’s go home, Sophie.” Even if it wasn’t his to claim. And that shouldn’t bother him. Didn’t.
He’d hate sharing with a bunch of strangers, anyway.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHEN NIGHT FELL, SOPHIE didn’t want to leave Finn downstairs, but the vet had advised that he shouldn’t climb steps yet. “I wish I could carry you, but you’re just too big,” she said softly as she fluffed his bedding one more time.
“I could carry him upstairs for you, but I’d need to be here in the morning to carry him back down.” Cade leaned negligently against the door frame, but his gaze was more intense than his posture.
Sophie bit her lip. She wanted him to stay, but it wasn’t wise. Her earlier casting of caution to the winds seemed foolish. He would soon leave on another trip and then this idyll would be over. She should protect herself by cutting things off now.
But didn’t she deserve this, just one kindness from life? She was sick of keeping herself on the outside looking in, too afraid to take a risk.
Spending more time in Cade’s arms before she had to let him go would hurt, possibly more than she could bear. But she was going to do it anyway.
She smiled at Cade. “Thank you. That would be nice.”
“You’re not expecting me to sleep in a guest room, right, Queenie?”
“The beds aren’t set up.”
“I’m asking you a question, Sophie. Are you going to let me make love to you? Spend the nights with you until…”
Until. A sharp arrow to her heart, and she nearly backed out.
No. She was still going to do it and damn the consequences. “I was kinda thinking…” She tilted her head. “That I might make love to you instead.”
His gaze remained fierce. “Be sure this is what you want, Sophie. Be very sure. Because you know I’ll have to—”
“You’ll have to leave.” She nodded. “I understand.”
“I shouldn’t stay now. It’s not fair.”
“Deciding what’s fair is up to both of us, isn’t it?” She smiled, even if it was bittersweet. “Stay, Cade.”
He still seemed conflicted.
She wasn’t going to beg. “Suit yourself.” She began to turn back to the dog only to find herself spun around and locked into his arms.
“Damn you, Queenie. Why can’t I just walk away when it’s smart?”
Then he kissed her, an edgy, almost angry kiss.
“Because neither of us is too bright,” she murmured. And poured herself into answering his passion.
No, not bright at all, Sophie thought later as she left Finn curled up in his bed in the guest room just below hers where she could hear him if he needed her. But she wanted to be with Cade, even knowing she would feel more alone than ever when he was gone.
She entered the bedroom where Cade waited, shirt already off, jeans unbuttoned, barefoot with boots scattered on the floor…and so ruggedly male he stole the breath from her body.
To be with him tonight and whatever nights were left to them would be sublime and bittersweet. For a second, Sophie let herself feel a sliver of the sorrow that lay down the road.
But that sorrow wasn’t here yet, was it? Besides, she knew better than anyone that happiness was always ephemeral. You only ever got it in brief bursts. So she would live in this moment, the one in which she had a gorgeous, half-naked man in her bedroom.
Who was looking at her with worried eyes.
Stop thinking, Sophie. Don’t ruin this.
She sauntered over to him, removing the elastic band from her hair and shaking it out. As she started to comb her hair with her fingers, he picked up her brush from the old-fashioned vanity she loved.
“Let me.” Gently he guided her to the bench and began to brush her hair, as the woman who’d owned this vanity a hundred years ago might have experienced with her own lover.
Their eyes locked in the mirror. “That feels amazing.”
“Just wait,” he promised. He took his time, every stroke loosening the tension that had become her constant companion.
When her bones were all but liquid, he placed his mouth at the point where neck and shoulder met. The scent of him was part sun, part earth. It surrounded her, dizzied her. The simple touch sparked a sizzle beneath her skin. Sophie’s eyes closed as his lips cruised back and forth, as soft as a whisper…a murmur…a dark, sweet promise.
The wet heat of his tongue on her skin startled a gasp from her. Her nipples hardened.
Lazily, his fingers trailed into her blouse and down to first one nipple, then the second. “Look at yourself, Sophie. Look at us.”
She watched in the mirror, mesmerized by the sight of his big hands on her body, his skin bronzed by the sun. The calluses on his fingers were rough velvet as they traced the edges of her neckline.
“Unbutton it,” he urged as he set the brush down and began gently massaging her scalp.
Her lids drifted shut as bliss flooded her, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off him, off herself, as she complied to open the blouse with unsteady fingers.
He spread the two halves and slowly bared her, inching the blouse down only enough to trap her arms, then releasing the front clasp of her bra.
“I thought…” She could barely think, let alone speak. “I was going to make love to you.”
“Honey, you are,” he replied, his eyes a fire barely banked. He slid the bra straps languorously over her shoulders, his lean fingers trailing goose bumps in their wake, until he’d bared her halfway to naked. Who was this woman she saw in the mirror, her eyes gone dark, skin so pale in contrast to his hands?
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
She dragged her gaze to his then down to the breadth of his shoulders, the sun-dusted hair on his muscled chest, the corded arms she’d watched work so hard on her behalf, arms that had held her tightly yet never once hurt. “So are you.” She was faintly amused by the brush of color over his cheeks.
“I’m not.” The golden glow from one lamp didn’t hide the marks, old and new, of the dangerous life he led.
“We all have scars, Cade. Yours is a warrior’s body, and it’s beautiful.” She turned a little and traced every mark on his chest, gently kissing each one. “I’m so glad you survived.”
“Right now, Queenie, I’m glad as hell myself.” But a shadow drifted over his face, and she knew it was the shadow of his friend’s passing.
Before she could apologize for making him remember, he shifted her back to face the mirror and stood behind her, cupping one breast in each hand.
The fine hairs on her body rose at the sight of the strong, tall man ranged so protectively, possessively behind the woman in dishabille, so alive with longing…
Cade bent and captured her mouth with his, a kiss so hot and deep and greedy that she melted against him. He kicked the stool out of the way, no longer patient but hungry and demanding.
He held her in place in front of him, one big hand splayed over her midriff as the other roved restlessly over her body. Roughly, he unfastened her jeans and slid his fingers inside her panties with unerring accuracy, arrowing straight to the heart of her.
The climax ripped thr
ough her.
“Look at you,” he said fiercely. “Just look at you.”
She wanted more, needed more. She stripped off her jeans as she faced him, intent on getting him naked, too. They kissed as though the other held the only air in the world, as though life itself were in the balance. When he kicked away his pants and yanked her hard against him, Sophie gasped at the feel of him, so powerful, so tempting. She was ready to whimper, to climb his body to demand what they both wanted.
“Wait,” he said, gripping her hips, chest heaving. “Turn around. Look at us, Sophie.”
Need raging, she growled her frustration. She didn’t want to look, she wanted to touch, to lose herself in sensation and yet… She glanced over her shoulder at the two of them in the mirror, him so strong, so tall that he made her seem delicate. His fingers dug into her hips then slowly he turned her to face the mirror as he stood behind her.
But not before she saw him in all his naked glory.
She drank in the sight of them, her hair streaming over her shoulders, his bronzed arm a slash across her belly. He was a pagan warrior, eyes dark and brooding, claiming his prize.
Slowly she rubbed herself against him, and the mood between them shifted, the storm rising.
“You are unbelievably beautiful,” he said hoarsely. She waited, locked in the moment.
But instead of conquering her, he half turned her and sank to his knees, burying his face in the most intimate of kisses.
Sophie grasped for support as her knees went to jelly. “Cade…” Was that her voice, so guttural?
He spared her one glance, his smile a wolf’s, a threat as much as a promise. Sophie sucked in her breath, eyes locked on the electrifying sight in the mirror, then dug her fingers into his hair and let Cade take her.
And as the aftershocks rippled through her, he rose to shelter her as she shuddered against him, relishing in the glory of his warm flesh, his strong arms, dizzy from the scent of him, the feel of his flesh straining against her.
A Texas Chance Page 16
