Catch Him If You Can

by Jennifer Shirk

  “Oh, um, yeah.” She looked up and forced a smile. “She really liked them. Especially the one you came up with about the pictures with some of the shelter animals.”

  “That’s awesome.” Wade searched her face, then reached out and took hold of her chin. “Hey, what’s the matter? You just told me she loved your proposal. This little deal of ours is working out great for you.”

  Their deal. Right. That’s pretty much what it all boiled down to for Wade. He wasn’t letting her get close at all. His world still revolved around Miranda and her family. There was obviously no room for her there. Had she really expected anything more?

  Maybe.

  Maybe a small part of her thought this time could be different. But that wasn’t Wade’s fault. He had never led her to believe he wanted anything more serious in their relationship. She managed that thinking all by herself.

  She stepped back out of his reach, forcing him to drop his hand. “You’re absolutely right, Wade. I’m sorry. I must just be hungry. Come on, let’s go to the table and order. Everything is working out great.”

  Yeah, she thought miserably. This little deal of theirs was working out fantastic for her career. Just as she hoped. But for her love life?

  Not so much.

  Chapter Eleven

  Wade got a little concerned when he didn’t see Arden waiting for him at the coffee shop on Monday. She normally was there before him, seeing that her office was just down the block.

  Something was up with her. It was as if Arden was giving him the cold shoulder. He thought dinner with her clients had gone well. He’d played the part of devoted fiancé perfectly. Even managed to have fun with everyone. Vance wasn’t such a bad guy to hang out with, especially after he had discovered that Vance was a huge Star Wars fan.

  Wade had a feeling he’d hurt her by going to the hospital without her. When the Burkes had called him asking for a ride, he’d initially been torn. Normally, if Miranda’s parents needed him for anything, it was no trouble at all. But that night had been different. Instead, he wanted to be with Arden. Which—the more he’d thought about it—was all the more reason to go and help them.

  Not long after dinner, Arden had told him she had a headache and wanted him to drop her off at her home. He’d planned to stay with her that night anyway, but she’d quickly turned down his offer of company. She’d said she wanted to be alone.

  Alone. Well, hell. He didn’t know why that had bothered him so much.

  But it had.

  They’d been spending a lot of time together. He was used to it. Enjoyed it. She thought she had, too. And it wasn’t like he wanted to be with her only for sex. Not that that part wasn’t fantastic. But he thought they were friends, too. More than friends. And if he wanted to stay there with her to make sure she was okay and to take care of her, well, that was what more-than-friends couples should be allowed to do for each other. Right?

  Wade shrugged out of his jacket and sat down at the last empty table in the coffee shop. He was just about to text her when she walked through the door, looking as sweet and fresh as a bowl of strawberries. His heartbeat kicked into overdrive at the sight of her, and he stood to greet her.

  “Hey,” Arden said in a breezy tone. “I got so caught up with this upcoming corporate event I’m doing, I almost forgot our coffee date.”

  Arden seemed full of nervous energy this morning and he didn’t like that she had yet to meet his gaze, so he shot out his hand to keep her from sitting down. Eyes wide, she stared at him for a beat.

  Taking advantage of her questioning silence, he took her face into his hands and gazed into her eyes. “It’s really good to see you,” he whispered. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Huh? What do you mean?” She pulled back, her cheeks flushed as she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck.

  “You had a headache the other night at dinner. I didn’t hear anything from you on Sunday, so I thought maybe you still weren’t feeling well.”

  “Oh, no. I’m in perfect health. Just busy, I guess,” she said with a shrug.

  He drew himself up, steel in his spine. “Too busy to let me know you’re okay?”

  Good grief, listen to me. I sound like a nagging spouse.

  Evidently, Arden must have been thinking the same thing, because she cocked an eyebrow and regarded him steadily. “I wasn’t aware that you wanted me to check in with you.”

  “I don’t,” he rushed out. Do I? Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted anymore. The lines of the deal they’d originally made suddenly seemed blurry and skewed, and it frustrated the hell out of him.

  Judy Tavish came bustling over with a tray of coffee and food in her hands. “Good morning, you two lovebirds!” she said brightly.

  Arden turned toward Judy and smiled. “Good morning.” She glanced at the tray and pointed. “Ooh, is that what I think it is?”

  Judy nodded with a knowing smirk. “Gingerbread muffins. Your favorite. Just came out of the oven. On the house.” She placed the tray down and unloaded everything onto their table with quick and efficient hands. “It’s so nice how you two come in here on a regular basis. It warms my heart to see such a happy, loving couple in town. Well, you two and Kinsley and Damon, of course.”

  He noticed Arden’s smile fall a little. “Of course. Thanks for the free muffins, Judy. You’re sweet.”

  Judy waved off the compliment and went back to the main counter. Wade and Arden sat down, then Arden took the lid off her steaming cup.

  Wade didn’t touch his coffee. He just sat back and watched Arden go through the motions of adding two sugars and milk into her own. She had pretty fingers, he noticed, her nails painted a bubblegum pink. He’d bet not many people knew what a fan of that color she was. He liked the fact that he was privy to such personal information, and found he wanted to know even more about her. And that need was growing. He wanted to know what she was thinking. Wanted to know what she was feeling…

  “Do I have something on my face?” she commented, still focused on getting her coffee to her liking.

  “What?”

  She looked up then, pinning her blue gaze on him. “You’re staring.”

  “No, I’m not.” God help him, he totally was. “I was just thinking.” Thinking I need my head examined.

  “Well, you wouldn’t be the only one staring,” she said, grabbing a muffin and breaking it in two. “Judy and that woman over there have been gawking at us, too. Like they’re up to no good.”

  Wade made a face. “Then they’re probably plotting their next Facebook post as we speak. I can only hope that your theory is correct and this all stops after Kinsley’s wedding.”

  Arden snapped her fingers. “Oh, that reminds me. Speaking of weddings, would you like to come to one with me this Saturday as my date? Normally I’d have Jessica or Maggie do it, but I’m happy to say we’re double-booked with a fiftieth anniversary party, so I’ll be by myself that night.”

  “This Saturday?” Wade frowned. “Actually, I can’t.”

  Arden took a sip of her coffee, then looked at him over the rim of her cup. “Are you volunteering at the shelter?”

  He shifted in his seat. “No, I, uh, will be at Miranda’s parents’ for dinner.” And thank goodness for that. He needed the check-in with them. Needed the reminder as to why he was done with risking his heart again and steer his thoughts about Arden back to where they should be.

  “But I thought you usually go to dinner on Sunday nights.”

  “Yeah, I do. It’s just that they moved it to Saturday this week because of the baby. Miranda’s brother and sister-in-law plan on taking the baby to her parents’ on Sunday, so Miranda’s parents moved their family dinner to Saturday this week. Mrs. Burke is counting on me to help move some furniture to their guest room.”

  “Miranda’s family.” Arden nodded and calmly placed her coffee down. “Right. I know how important they are to you.”

  “I’m sorry, Arden. Normally I’d love to go with you. Any other time
…”

  “I know. It’s fine.” She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Really. It’s not a big deal at all. I’ll ask Kinsley if she wants to come with me. She’ll do anything for free cake.”

  Wade sat back and studied her. There was absolutely nothing wrong with what Arden was saying, yet her tone and body language spoke volumes. “Are you upset?”

  She pushed away her half-eaten muffin and shook her head. “Not at all. I understand you have family obligations. However…”

  “‘However’ what?”

  “Do you think it odd that the Burkes ask you to do so many favors for them still?”

  No. He rubbed the back of his neck. Sometimes. “Well, they seem to need me. I don’t have the heart to say no to them…or hurt them.”

  “Is that why you never told them about us?”

  He nodded. “I figured bringing them into this wouldn’t serve any purpose. They don’t even live here in town, so it’s not like they’d hear any gossip from anyone.” It was a poor excuse. He knew that. After all, he was sure Miranda’s parents wouldn’t be shocked to know that he was dating someone. But in all honesty, he didn’t have any other answers.

  She looked down and bit her lip. “I guess you’re right. And it will all end shortly anyway,” she added quietly.

  It will all end. Meaning they would be broken up soon.

  Yeah… He supposed that was true, too. But expressed so matter-of-factly into words didn’t sound quite right to his ears, even though that was their original agreement. Then, why did he all of a sudden feel as though he’d gotten a bad case of indigestion?

  “Hello, Wade,” a feminine voice said.

  He looked up and saw Violet Jenkins smiling down at him. Talk about indigestion. “Oh, hello, Violet.”

  She immediately turned her attention toward Arden and stuck out her hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met. You must be Wade’s…fiancée.”

  Arden extended her hand. “Yes, I am. Arden Pearson.”

  “I’m Violet Jenkins,” she said, sizing Arden up with a quick glance. “I’m new on the board of the Happy Paws Shelter. My dog, Butters, is a patient of Wade’s.” She slid a glance over to him. “Congrats on pulling that fundraiser together so quickly. I know most of the other board members are superexcited about it as well. I’m surprised you had the time. I figured you’d be planning your wedding instead.”

  Although he knew Arden was not an easily intimidated woman, Wade couldn’t help himself and inched his chair closer, tossing an arm around her shoulder possessively. “Well, I couldn’t have done it without Arden’s help. She even gave me the idea for it.”

  “Then I suppose I should be thanking you, Arden.”

  Arden shook her head. “No thanks necessary. I’d do anything to help Wade.”

  “I’m sure any woman would,” she said with a tight smile. She turned back to Wade. “I’ll be honest, I thought you were lying to me about your relationship with Arden so you wouldn’t have to date me.”

  Wade choked on his coffee. “Why would you think that?”

  She shrugged. “When we met you seemed very adamant about not dating. I guess I can understand now why you wanted to keep it private for as long as you could. Since my divorce, my therapist says I’m dealing with a lot of trust issues.”

  “Oh.” Wade cleared his throat. “Well, no harm, no foul. Nice to see you again, Violet.”

  “Yes, and nice meeting you, Arden. Well, if I don’t see you before, I’ll see you both at the Fur-Ball.” Then with a toss of her hair off her shoulder, she turned away and walked up to the counter to place her order.

  Arden watched her leave with a frown. “She’s an odd character.”

  “She’s okay.” Although every interaction with Violet left him feeling more and more uneasy and now guiltier for lying to her.

  “You do know that she has the hots for you, right?”

  He turned to her, happy to see playfulness in her eyes and the earlier tension between them gone. “Jealous?”

  “Of her?” She scoffed. “Hardly. I know your type and she isn’t it.”

  He grinned, scooting even closer to her. “Oh yeah? What is my type exactly?”

  “Let’s see… Smart, funny, beautiful, blond,” she said, ticking each word off a finger. “Oh, and partial to large dogs, Hawaiian pizza, and Doctor Who.”

  This made him smile. “I’m impressed. You do know me well.”

  She shrugged. “I feel as if I’m a Wade Roberts expert. I’ve been studying your habits for a few weeks now.”

  “Is that so? I’m sure Violet and Judy Tavish are studying us at this very moment, too. We better make sure they don’t have any doubt I’m off the market right now.” Then because he’d been dying to kiss her since she’d come into the coffee shop, he leaned in and covered her mouth with his.

  Arden broke the kiss and smiled up at him. “I hate to break this to you, but I don’t think they were looking over at us.”

  “Well, then…” He stretched out his arms and cracked his knuckles before reaching for her again. “Let’s give them something worth noticing.”

  …

  On Friday morning, Arden wrapped her scarf around her neck tighter as she made her way down the boardwalk steps. Milena and her fiancé followed closely behind. They had just met with Kinsley about having the reception at the Harbor Light. Since their wedding was in early October, there was a good chance the weather would still be warm and they could have the ceremony on the beach. Unfortunately, a wedding on the beach was kind of hard to imagine at the moment. It was bad enough that it was thirty-seven degrees, but as soon as Arden reached the sand, a huge gust of frigid wind hit her in the face.

  Ugh. Maybe not one of her more brilliant ideas to explore a beach wedding in winter. But Milena had been persistent.

  “This is so great,” Milena said, snuggling in her fiancé’s arms for warmth.

  It is? All Arden could concentrate on was having a hot chocolate as soon as they got back inside. She hadn’t exactly dressed for the occasion and left her gloves in Kinsley’s office. She blew into her hands, trying to remain upbeat. “I’m glad you think so. If you decide to have those pictures with the animals from the shelter, they’ll love running around out here, too.”

  As soon as she’d said those words, she was shoved from behind and knocked to the ground. Her hands hit the sand and as she struggled to roll over, her face became covered with fur and wet, dog kisses.

  “Roxy, what are you doing here!” she exclaimed between giggles. She tried to pry the dog away from her chest, but the dog was too excited to see her.

  “Bad dog!” she heard. Before she could blink, Roxy was pulled off and she was staring into a pair of amused brown eyes.

  “Hey,” Wade said, smiling down at her. “This is an unexpected surprise.”

  She arched an eyebrow as she continued to lie sprawled out on her back. “You could say that again.”

  Grinning, he held out a hand and helped her up. “Sorry,” he said, brushing the sand off her coat and hair. “But not really sorry, because I get to see you.”

  Arden’s heart thumped erratically at his words. Truth be told, she was happy to see him, too. More than happy. So happy she had yet to let go of his hand.

  Milena cleared her throat. “I’m glad you’re okay, Arden. And nice to see you again, Wade.”

  Wade blinked as if he’d just realized there were other people on the beach. “Hey, guys. Sorry we had to interrupt your wedding planning. Roxy loves to take beach walks.” He glanced at Arden and winked.

  Arden’s cheeks heated despite the cold air. She and Wade often took Roxy for walks on the beach together. She’d originally agreed to it so people would see them in town together. Then, they took the walks because… Well, just because. It was so nice to have that time to chat about each other’s day. She had to buy warmer socks and better walking shoes, but it had been worth it.

  “Oh, no problem,” Milena said, reaching down to
stroke Roxy’s fur. “Vance and I are going to take off now anyway. We’ve seen enough and have a lot to think through.”

  “Are you sure?” Arden asked. “I’d be happy to go back to the hotel and discuss more options with you.”

  Milena glanced at Vance with a smile. “No, we’re good for now. I’ll call you next week.”

  “Okay.” Arden watched them track back up the beach, to the steps, and onto the boardwalk. Once they were out of sight, she folded her arms and turned back to Wade. “Did you come down here on purpose?”

  “What?” Wade’s eyes widened as he placed a hand over his chest. He couldn’t lie worth a darn, but she had to admit, he was totally adorable when he attempted.

  “Kinsley told you I was here, didn’t she?”

  “No, I—yeah.” He let out a self-depreciating laugh. “Yeah, she totally did. But only after I begged her to tell me if you had any appointments with her this week. Does that make me a stalker for hoping I’d run into you?”

  “Kind of.” She smiled, then stepped closer, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. “But I find it sweet, so no restraining order will be necessary at this point in time.” The wind kicked up again and she shivered.

  Wade took her chilled hands and rubbed them against his own to warm her up. “Do you have time to walk with us for a bit?”

  Besides being cold, Arden had a wedding tomorrow and needed to run though her checklist a few more times. She also wanted to call the bride to give her a much-needed pep talk. However, a few more minutes in Wade’s company was something she was finding harder and harder to say no to, which should have set off her alarm. After all, her business always came first. Had always come first.

  But one look into Wade’s hopeful eyes and she found herself caving in. “I can give you fifteen minutes,” she told him. “Then I have to get back to the office.”

  “Fifteen minutes is more than I need.”

  “For what?”

  Wade lowered his head and kissed her.

  …

  Saturday night, Arden found Kinsley standing by the band shoving a forkful of cake into her mouth. “Kinsley, how many pieces of cake does that make for you tonight?”