But God, how I’d wanted to tell her! I’d basically said it in every other way possible. I’d felt like I saw whole new colors when I’d come inside her the second time that night, Laura whimpering through her multiple orgasms. She’d become a fucking vice of mine and I felt euphoric every time I fucked her.
I’d wanted to make her come a hundred times, to make sure that she’d never forgot me. If I could have stayed inside her, with her wrapped up in my arms forever, I would have chosen to do it. Instead, I could only give her as much pleasure as possible, feel her come as many times as I could make her, and try to preserve each moment into my memory.
At least I’d succeeded in doing the last part, if nothing else. Standing in this bedroom for the first time in almost a decade, I could still remember everything like it had been yesterday. I loved her, undoubtedly, even after all these years. But I would have to keep holding on to that memory because I knew I wouldn’t ever get anything more.
6
Laura
My heart beat wildly in my chest as I waited for Cade. You would’ve thought it was a first date at a fancy restaurant instead of a business meeting with a local caterer regarding the menu options for the wedding reception.
This is just business, I told myself for what felt like the hundredth time. Just business.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. My dreams were about the memory of his hands on my skin, his mouth on mine, his cock throbbing inside me. I couldn’t help but remember his fond endearments, how he knew all the spots where I was ticklish, how he used to call me “kitten”, and how he’d told me that I was the smartest and most capable woman he’d ever met.
But all this had been a lie. The morning of our last day at the lake house, he told me that he was leaving for D.C. because he got into Georgetown.
But what about our future? I’d asked him, stunned at the news. I hadn’t been able to believe what he’d said. I’d thought that he was in love with me.
We had fun together, but now it’s over, he had replied.
We’d been planning to attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor together. We’d planned to move in together, find a place off-campus, which he could afford because his parents were so rich. We’d talked all summer about our plans, as we’d shared our desires, our hopes, our dreams, our families’ lives. I’d told him about my absent father and my neglectful mother, how out of place I’d always felt, and how I’d never had many friends growing up.
He knew everything about me, and I’d thought that we shared something special. That we were going to build a life together.
Instead, that morning, Cade had given me a smile that was amused but full of pity. It was a fun fling, but now it’s over. That’s what he had said. I was a fling. I was fun. Nothing more.
Then he’d called a car to take me home. I hadn’t believed it at first—couldn’t believe it even during the car ride. couldn’t believe that Cade would humiliate me like that, hurt me that way. It hadn’t been until the car had dropped me off at home, at the trailer park, that I’d realized that it was all real. Cade hadn’t really cared about me. He had just used me for fun, as a distraction, and then dumped me when he was ready to move on to his “real life”.
Humiliation couldn’t cover the entirety of how I’d felt. I had been devastated. I had never been hurt like this before. I was used to disappointment from my mother, I was used to having no friends, but Cade was the first person that I’d ever really pinned any hope on, the first person that I’d ever truly relied on and trusted. But he’d turned around and thrown all that trust out.
I’d been in love with him. And he’d used me. I’d meant nothing to him.
So, the realization that I was pregnant had been like a splash of cold water on my head. But I was determined to see it all through. I wanted my child, and I wasn’t going to let anything take that child, or my career, away from me. I could make it work—I had made it work—and now, I was a successful and happy single mother. I wouldn’t let Cade distract me from the life I’d built or take anything away from me, no matter how strong our chemistry still was.
Obviously, sleeping with Cade again would be a huge mistake. He wouldn’t want anything more than a quick fuck and I wasn’t going to set myself up for another heartbreak. Besides, I was a mother now. I couldn’t afford to have one-night stands or hookups.
I paced frantically outside the caterer’s office, which was a chic, small business that I’d loved working with. I could vouch for their work and quality, and I knew they’d be able to pull off a short-term wedding even though the chefs would good-naturedly complain about it for the next six months.
To say that I was calling in favors for this thing would be an understatement. But luckily, all my vendors understood the value of my customers and wanted to break into that upper crust along with me. So, they were only happy to work something out with me.
However, I hadn’t been able to think much about the wedding for the past few days because my mind was swimming with thoughts of Cade. Should I tell him about Drew? No. I shouldn’t. But the idea of keeping secrets never sat well with me. I’d kept the secret of our relationship in high school because I’d been certain that we would be together once we graduated, that it was only a matter of time until we could be open to everyone about it.
How wrong and naïve I had been. He’d been keeping me a secret, so that nobody would know that he was associating with trailer trash like me.
Drew didn’t deserve to have that kind of man be his father. And I had no idea how Cade would react to the news. Would he try to take Drew away from me and raise him to be just like Cade? What if his parents tried to step in? I could never let Drew be raised by such people, even if they got partial custody.
Drew would know about the truth in time. I would tell him that his father and I had been high-school sweethearts, but his father had left before I’d known that I was pregnant, and I had no way to contact his father. But this would happen when Drew got older, and I wasn’t going to give him any more detail. Cade couldn’t know about his son, which meant that he wouldn’t get to ruin Drew’s life or mine. Not again. Not after he’d badly hurt me once already.
Someone called out my name, “Laura.”
I looked up and saw Cade walking toward me. He was dressed in a suit and tie, looking sexy, with his hair styled to make him look effortlessly stylish but not dressed up or snobby. His gray suit and blue tie contrasted perfectly with his green eyes.
Cade smiled at me. “Sorry, I’m a bit late. I don’t remember this town as well as I thought I did.”
“That’ll happen when you’ve been gone for a decade,” I said as a matter-of-factly, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
Cade looked slightly contrite, but I didn’t give him the chance to say anything, as I immediately turned and opened the door for him. “Shall we meet the catering director?”
Again, I didn’t give Cade a chance to respond, as I headed inside, where Sharon, our catering director, was ready to meet us. I heard Cade walk in behind me and made the necessary introductions. Cade shook Sharon’s hand, giving her one of his devilishly handsome smiles, which sent a pang of jealousy through me.
He shouldn’t be allowed to be this charming when I was trying so hard to remind myself of all the reasons to keep my distance. But to my heart, it was like he’d never left, had never hurt me—every time he smiled, it fluttered, full of butterflies.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sharon,” Cade said. “My mother’s running late, as usual.” He winked at us like it was a private joke. “But she’ll be here soon to join us.”
Of course, I had never met either of Cade’s parents when we’d been dating. I’d respected the fact that he didn’t want to talk about them. But I was deeply, painfully aware of my background, and wondered whether he kept me hidden from his parents because he didn’t want them to see the person he was dating—a poor girl living in the trailer park. However, his fiancée would have met his family obvio
usly. Jealousy pricked at me. Of course, Melinda James, the actress famous for her high-end fashion style, would be helping Cade and his fiancé make this wedding the best that it could be.
Stop being jealous! I hissed at myself. There was no reason for me to be upset! I should be glad to have dodged a bullet, that I wasn’t spending the rest of my life with someone as selfish as Cade. But I couldn’t help the sick feeling in my stomach that had me wishing he’d loved me enough to make our relationship work and introduce me to his family.
“We can wait for her,” I said. “It’s not a problem. There are other things we can discuss.”
“You just call me back when you’re ready to discuss the menu,” Sharon said, smiling.
Cade thanked her profusely, making Sharon blush before she headed back to her office. He should’ve been an actor, I thought bitterly, followed in his mother’s footsteps. He sure had the talent for it.
Cade turned to me with a grimace. “I am sorry about my mother. She’s made being fashionably late her motto.”
“It’s not a problem,” I repeated.
“She’s going to be involved, but I’ll try and keep her to a minimum.”
“It’s your wedding,” I reminded him. “And I’ll be following your tastes and your choices. Not anybody else’s.”
This was something I’d say to people before when planning their events—coworkers, friends, and family. Inevitably, various people would try to get involved and offer their opinions, trying to get their vision and ideas be materialized. But I was loyal to the client that hired me, the client whose event it was, be it a baby shower or a work event or a birthday. However, saying this line to Cade, I could feel my voice getting soft. But I looked into his eyes, telling myself that I wouldn’t let him see that he still affected me, that he would be treated like any other client.
Cade smiled, as if in gratitude. I didn’t want his gratitude. I wanted him out of my life again, so that he could stop messing with my head.
“We’ll need to rent a lot of things,” I said quickly, desperate to change the subject before Cade could say anything and prolong my inner panic. “Normally, the wedding venue has tables, chairs and such, but as you’re doing this at your lake house, we’ll have to rent everything. We’ll even need to rent the supplies to set up a dance floor, including lighting.”
Cade nodded. “All right. What do you need from me?”
“I’d like to get an idea of how many people will be attending and what kind of ceremony it will be. And because of the tight timeline, I need to start reserving things now.”
He grimaced. I stopped myself from thinking about how adorable he looked. “I haven’t gotten a vision yet, but there will be at least two hundred people.” He paused in thought, “Tables and chairs sound like a great idea.”
I laughed, unable to help myself, “I love your strong opinions on things.”
Cade laughed as well. “Yeah, well, I hadn’t given much thought to all of this. I’ve kind of had to wrestle this whole planning thing away from my mother, so I never expected to be working so closely with the planner.”
“I’m used to working with brides, some of whom have been planning their wedding since they were little girls—so they have strong opinions.”
“I’m sure you’ve got some crazy stories of demanding brides,” Cade replied, smirking conspiratorially.
Don’t swoon, I reminded myself sternly. I wouldn’t fall under his spell again.
But it couldn’t hurt to relax around him, just a little. After all, I didn’t want him to know just how badly he had hurt me. Or how much it still hurt to think of him. I didn’t want Cade to know that he had that much power over me.
“Oh, plenty,” I said, laughing. “It’s not just the brides, either. I’ve dealt with some spoiled teenagers who wanted a sweet sixteen party, company reps who needed to impress their boss…it’s nuts!”
“What’s the worst one?”
“Definitely the one with the ice sculpture,” I said with a chuckle. “The bride wanted this huge ice sculpture of—I think it was dolphins or something—and it was just so big and unwieldy. And of course, it was a warm day and ice melts quickly…it was such a mess! I had tried my best to deter her, I had told her that we could do something else because for a wedding in June, it just wasn’t going to work out the way that she wanted it to. She refused to listen. I mean, after a while, it’s just easier for me to do as the person asks and let the chips fall where they may. I try to guide my clients but it’s their event, at the end of the day.”
Cade spread his arms wide. “Well, lucky you! I’m a blank canvas for the most part. I had kind of resigned myself to the idea that my mom would be dictating everything, so I never thought about what I wanted. But now, I’m happy to listen to what you think is best and then go from there.”
I knew it was probably just because he was caught off-guard on what he would want and because he didn’t want to do all of the work, but I had never had a client who wanted to hear what I thought was best and work off of that. Almost all of them had their own vision that they wanted me to make true. Cade looked so earnest, like he was really listening to me, and it warmed my heart.
Stop it, I chided myself.
Still, the conversation had removed some of the awkwardness, but I feared that my next question would bring it back. “And what about the bride? I would’ve thought that she’d have quite a lot to say about this whole thing.”
I had yet to meet a bride who didn’t want to be involved in her own wedding.
Cade nodded, looking solemn all of a sudden. “Yeah, I imagine she’ll have some opinions. She’s currently working as an intern in my father’s office on Capitol Hill. He has promised to give her some time off in the summer to lend a hand with the planning process, but for now….” He shrugged. “You’re stuck with me and my mother.”
This sounded odd to me. A job in the government was going to have long, demanding hours, of course, but the man who would be her future father-in-law was not giving her time off to plan her own wedding! And why wasn’t the couple waiting until her internship was finished to get married, if it would give them more free time to plan? Why did Cade say that he imagined his bride would have opinions? Had they not discussed their own wedding?
My mind whirled, curiosity pricking at me despite myself. I knew there was more to a story than what the clients told me. There would be old rivalries, family drama, or demanding bosses lurking in the background, and my clients would never admit to any of it at first. Instead, I had to pick up on the clues in order to navigate the clients’ complex relationships and throw an event that everyone enjoyed. Whether or not people wanted to talk about it, their personal drama was always involved in an event. It influenced their behavior and choices. So, I needed to find a way to know about these things.
But not this time. Trying to find out more about Cade and his situation was a slippery slope that could lead to me caring about him. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to maintain distance and not get involved.
“Speak of the devil,” Cade murmured.
I wondered who he was referring to, and then none other than the famous Melinda James swept in, dressed to the nines, with a skinny young woman following her.
“Cade, my dear!” Melinda kissed her son on both cheeks. “Thank you for waiting.”
“Mom, this is Laura Loomis, she’s our event planner. Laura, this is my mother, Melinda James.”
“Oh, thank you ever so much for agreeing to take on this project.” Melinda shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek. “You came so highly recommended and I’m excited that we’ll get to work with you.”
“Of course,” I said, feeling a little starstruck. “Let me get Sharon, the catering director.”
I went in and grabbed Sharon, happy to make her the focus of Melinda James’s attention. Cade looked torn between exhaustion and amusement, and I wondered, again, about the whole story regarding him and his family.
“We have several pre-pl
anned menus for large events,” Sharon said, launching into her spiel, as she guided Cade and Melinda over to a tasting table.
I was glad to sit back for this one and let Sharon work her magic. She had fantastic and varied menus that had something for everyone and was accommodating towards allergies and things like kosher diets. Knowing Melinda James, and with Cade’s father being a senator, there would be many well-known faces in the crowd on the wedding day. I hoped that there wouldn’t be too many special requirements such as vegan or paleo or whatever the latest dieting fad was. But I knew that Sharon would make it work. I wasn’t going to fall flat on my face with this opportunity. I was going to make this event shine.
Even if it hurt my heart.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Melinda said, holding out her hand. “But I have a few questions.”
The assistant, who still hadn’t said a word, handed Melinda a sheet of paper that seemed to have lot of bulleted items. It was a long list.
Oh, man. I settled back into my chair. This was going to be a lengthy appointment.
7
Cade
Did my mom think she was planning the menu for the Academy Awards?
I swore that we had tasted just about every food item that the catering company offered, and Mom was still trying to find out more, ask more questions, whether they could do this, that or another thing, until it seemed like she was requesting a completely original, never-done-before menu from the poor, patient catering director, Sharon.
It was enough to make me want to bang my head against the wall.
“Honestly,” I said, pushing my plate away, “I can’t take another bite. I haven’t eaten this much since I was a teenager, and it was Thanksgiving.”
The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Page 6