A Lifetime to Find Love

by Ava Riley

  “Cade! I do not snore!”

  He couldn’t keep the laughter in. She was the one person that brought joy to his life and laughter to his heart. He’d planned on carrying her to the car so that he could get her home, but there was no way he could resist those delicious, tempting lips that formed a smile reaching to her eyes. He gently placed her feet on the ground, bunched his fist in her hair and covered her mouth with his. He needed to taste her, to know that she was real, not just some figment of his imagination. They devoured each other until they were both breathless, both fighting for air. As he pulled away from her mouth, Cade cupped her cheek and stroked it gently with the pad of his thumb. He bent his head to hers once more, his mouth lingering near hers.

  “Thank you,” he whispered against her lips.

  “For what?” She was taken aback by the emotion that filled those two words.

  “For accepting me, for being willing to give this relationship a chance, and for trusting me with a memory that is very precious and painful to you.”

  “Then I must say thank you also. This place is absolutely amazing and I’m glad you shared it with me. You know, not many men would be able to put up with me, Cade. Are you ure you’re up for it?”

  “Oh, I know that and, yes, I am,” he said with one last quick kiss. He pulled her into the shelter of his arms as they walked to the car.

  Chapter 16

  After the blissful weekend Tessa just encountered, she hated that her week was starting off on the wrong foot and to top it off it was as if she were walking through hell. Monday’s were never her best days as it was, so it was icing on a cake she didn’t want to eat. After Cade dropped her off Sunday night, she spent the remainder of it editing pictures from the first photo shoots for the calendar. As a result of the time she spent with Cade, she forgot all about the pictures and her deadlines causing her to be rushed and panicked at the same time. Two things she didn’t handle well. She hadn’t realized she’d gotten so many good shots and so she ended up working until two in the morning. When she did finally stumble into bed, she couldn’t fall asleep. Oh, she was tired enough, but Cade’s scent permeated her entire room. It reminded her of all the wonderful things they had done in the very bed she now tossed and turned in. She lay awake for two more hours inhaling every inch of air that took up the space of the small room. Then, what seemed like only minutes after she had fallen asleep, Susan called her to work on the week’s schedule. Why people didn’t feel the need to understand someone else’s need to sleep was beyond her comprehension. Tessa was a cranky old bear if she didn’t get at least eight hours of sleep. And, she had not gotten eight hours of sleep. Susan informed Tessa that of the five doctors she had left to photograph, only one had changed his shoot to a different day. She didn’t have the names, but knew that Wednesday she would be shooting the two remaining doctors from the hospital and on Thursday she would shoot two of the three private practice doctors. The last one re-scheduled for Friday in the afternoon. She hadn’t really wanted an afternoon shoot on a Friday, but what choice did she have. News like this only made waking up so early more of a nuisance.

  Cade didn’t keep Friday afternoon office hours, so she had planned on taking full advantage of some alone time with him. Between his patients and her deadline, spending time with him during the week would not be an option for them. Come Friday, some alone time would be required and she had planned on an afternoon and evening enjoying a lot of hot earth shattering sex. Visions of her enjoying every inch of his body played out within her mind. Her tongue tracing every muscle his body had to offer her, her mouth devouring his cock, and a ride that would last hours on end. She needed release and if she had to do it herself this morning, she would as soon as she got Susan off the phone.

  “Which doctor scheduled for Friday?” she asked quickly.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure which one it was, but I’ll check.”

  “Well, if there’s any way you can get him to either move it to Thursday or even Friday morning that would be helpful. I was really looking forward to being done by Friday afternoon.”

  “I will see what I can do, Tess.”

  “Thanks, Susan. I really do appreciate you taking care of the scheduling.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “Well, not to cut this short, but if we are done, I am going back to bed.” Tessa wanted to have some playtime with her favorite sex toy, her jack rabbit, and then to close her eyes and shut herself off from the world for a while. If she could get a couple more hours of sleep she would be good for the rest of the day, not perfect, but at least enough to make it through without biting anyone’s head off.

  “Yep, I will email you the schedule of the shoots and I will see you tomorrow morning for the meeting with Dominick.”

  Tessa hung up the phone and rolled over to retrieve her toy and some lube. As she reached down to shed her panties, her cell rang out with that wretched song Sexy Back that Rowan had programmed into it so she would know it was him when he called. She let it ring until it went over to voicemail. She wanted some alone time with her battery operated boyfriend and then sleep, so Rowan was just going to have to take a number until she was ready to deal with anything else. Well, maybe there was one other thing she wanted more than sleep, but Cade was working and she just couldn’t wait for him. Her phone belted out that horrible song again. This morning was not going to happen the way she hoped, so as she answered the phone, she returned B.O.B. and the lube back to their place in her bedside dresser.

  “Seriously, Rowan. Are you really calling me this early in the morning? How many times do I have to tell you not to?”

  “Sorry, Sis. It’s just that I hadn’t heard from you after your date with Cade and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. I thought you were going to call me.”

  “I was, but the date turned into days and I thought you didn’t want details. And have you not talked to Cade?”

  Quickly, before she could say anything else Rowan told her, “No, I haven’t talked to him and, no, I don’t want any details. I don’t want to know. I just wanted to make sure you were still alive. I see that you are and apparently the date went well, so I will let you get back to sleep.”

  Tessa could just imagine the look on Rowan’s face. She delighted in tormenting her brother and she realized her relationship with Cade would be the ultimate torture.

  “Thank you. I will call you later. I’m just so tired Rowan. I was up late doing, um…”

  “Tess, please. For God’s sake, I don’t want details!” he practically yelled at her.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. Rowan was just too easy to pick on that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make him squirm.

  “I was going to say editing pictures, Rowan. Geesh. Cade and I only had sex on Saturday night, not the whole weekend. Although, I wouldn’t have complained...”

  She laughed and rolled over once she heard the click from his end of the phone. She should have shut her phone off, she knew this but apparently she was a glutton for punishment. As soon as she closed her eyes, it rang again. It was as if everyone she knew got together and had decided to call her at the same time. Let the tormenting of Tessa commence.

  As she picked it up she practically screamed into the phone, “Damn it, if one more person calls me today…”

  “Well, good morning, beautiful.”

  “Cade. I am so sorry.”

  His laughter filled her ears and she thought it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. “I’m so sorry. It’s just I didn’t get to bed until early this morning and I’ve already gotten two phone calls before yours. And one thing you will learn quickly about me, if you don’t already know, is that a morning person I am not.”

  “It’s okay, Tess. I just wanted to call and say good morning. I’d actually been hoping I would be the first voice you heard this morning.”

  “Well, yours is the only voice I heard this morning that matters. So, what’s your schedule like today?”

 
“I’m pretty booked up. I have an appointment at seven tonight, so it’s going to be a late night.”

  “I guess that means I won’t get to see you today then?” It had not even been but a few hours since he had dropped her off and she was already craving his company.

  “Unfortunately, not today or tomorrow. I’m pretty busy here at the office until Wednesday. I was hoping maybe we could get together for lunch on Wednesday.”

  “I can’t, I have photo shoots starting on Wednesday and going through Friday. As a matter of fact, one of the jack-hole doctors rescheduled for Friday afternoon. I was hoping to be done with the shoots on Thursday so that I could get all my editing done. Which means now my weekend is going to be spent doing nothing but that. If Dominick had not dragged his ass on this project, I wouldn’t be so rushed.”

  Cade let out a laugh. “Did you just say ‘jack-hole doctor’?”

  “I did! The guy must not have much of a life if he’s willing to participate in a photo shoot on a Friday afternoon. Don’t all you doctors go play golf on your days off anyways? Golf was probably a prerequisite for your degree wasn’t it?”

  “Now you’re just stereotyping. I have never played golf in my life. I’m sure that whatever reason this ‘jack-hole’ has, it’s a damned good one.”

  “Yeah, okay, whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that because of him I’m going to be a day behind on this project.”

  Tessa heard Cade being paged in the background. She thought she recognized the voice but wasn’t sure.

  “Is that Erin’s voice I hear? I still can’t believe you haven’t fired her yet.”

  “Tess, you know why I can’t fire her. I can’t very well just fire her because she cheated or tried to cheat on my best friend.”

  “Cade, she didn’t just try to cheat on Rowan. She tried to seduce you in his home while he was passed out drunk on the couch the night before they were supposed to get married. I’m pretty sure you could go ahead and fire her.”

  “Well, that had nothing whatsoever to do with work and was on a personal level, not anything she did here. Besides, she’s already threatened me with a lawsuit if I fire her. Something about how she will accuse me of letting her go because my best friend called off their relationship the day of their wedding. And honestly, I can’t afford a lawsuit, so I deal with it.”

  “What a spiteful little bitch! You never told me she threatened you. I don’t like her being in the same vicinity as you, Cade. I don’t like it at all. And did you tell Rowan about this?”

  She wanted to make it perfectly clear that she would never be okay with Erin still working for him, no matter what the reasoning was. Not after what she’d done to her brother and to Cade and her for that fact.

  “No, I did not tell Rowan and I don’t want him to know, so that stays between me and you. I know you don’t like Erin being here or in our lives, Tess. I don’t like it either, but I really do not have a choice in the matter. I’m just waiting for the day she screws up around here so I can fire her immediately, but honestly she’s too damn good at what she does, medically speaking.”

  He wanted to end this conversation centered on Erin. He didn’t want to waste the small amount of time he had to talk to her on someone that had almost wrecked his friendship with Rowan and Tess. He could talk to her for hours on end, but he was busier than normal and patients were waiting. Once again, Erin’s voice came over the pager.

  “Look, it seems I’m needed, so I better go. I’ll call you later, okay.”

  “Cade, just do whatever you can to avoid Erin. I know it’s almost impossible, you being her boss and all, but I really don’t like it.”

  “I always do, Tess. I always do. And, I know you don’t like it, but give me some credit, will you.”

  “I know. I just want you to know where I’m coming from.”

  “I’ve known, since it happened, where you were coming from. Don’t you think that of the two of us, I am the one who had the most to lose? My friendship with Rowan was almost destroyed because of her. I have no desire, whatsoever, to have anything to do with someone so vindictive, but my hands are tied on this one. I’m sorry, Tess. It seems like I am really needed. I’ll give you a call when I get a break.”

  “Okay, just make it much later. I plan on staying in bed for a long time. Don’t work too hard.” Tessa let out a sigh. “And, Cade?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Just so you know, you are always needed, at least here.”

  “I wish I could be there in bed with you. Nothing sounds better than lying with you in that bed wrapped in my arms,” he said seductively. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Thanks again for this weekend, Tess. I really did have a good time.”

  “I did too, Cade. I did too.”

  Tessa ended the call and quickly shut her phone off. She had every intention of getting as much sleep as she possibly could. The problem now was that she couldn’t get the whole situation with Erin out of her mind.

  Rowan met Erin at the hospital he works at and started dating her right away. They connected right off the bat and never seemed to slow down. They were together constantly. They both worked in the E.R., she was a charge nurse and usually worked the same shifts as Rowan, but when the hospital started laying people off she was one of the first ones to go, since she was one of the last ones hired. Rowan had actually talked Cade into giving Erin a job at his practice. Cade had needed someone to help the other girls and she needed employment, so it had worked out for everyone.

  When Tessa first met Erin, they hit it off right away, which was really unusual because she didn’t normally have girl friends, but with Erin she felt really comfortable. She understood right away why Rowan was attracted to her. She was beautiful. The typical California girl, long blonde hair, perfect tanned skin, deep blue eyes and a body to die for with all the right curves in all the right places. And she was completely into Rowan. It seemed as if her whole world revolved around him. She fit the mold of the perfect doctor’s wife. Sometimes Tessa actually felt inadequate around her, although Erin never made her feel that way. She always made sure that Tessa and Rowan still had their weekly breakfasts and Rowan still called her regularly. They got along great. And Tessa had never seen Rowan so happy. His eyes lit up when Erin walked into the room and it was as if everyone else ceased to exist as far as he was concerned. When Rowan announced that they were going to get married after only six months of dating, Tessa and Cade were a little taken back. Rowan was not an impulsive person. He’d always planned everything out. Since he was a kid, he had known he was going to go to college, was going to be a doctor and knew he would work in an E.R., so for him to make that step of commitment in such a short time of knowing her, it was huge. Of course, she completely supported him and had even accepted Erin’s request for her to be her maid of honor. Unfortunately, things didn’t stay so wonderful.

  Tessa remembered so vividly the first time she got an uneasy feeling about Erin. It was a week before the wedding and she had helped Erin move some of her things into Rowan’s place. After they got everything moved in, Erin made them a few margaritas. It’s amazing the things you find out about a person when they’ve had too much to drink. They sat on the living room floor drinking as they were unpacking one of her boxes.

  “So, Cade is pretty hot, huh?” Erin blurted out from nowhere.

  “What?”

  “Cade. He’s pretty hot. I’d do him. I mean if I were going to have one last fling before Rowan and I got married, it would definitely be with Cade.”

  “Erin, you shouldn’t even be thinking that way. You and Rowan are getting married next week and not only that, Cade is Rowan’s best friend.”

  Erin gave an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m just kidding, Tess. Of course, I would never do anything like that to Rowan.”

  Looking back now, Tessa knew she should have said something to Rowan and Cade, but she never in a million years would have thought that Erin would do something like that to her brother. Low and behold though
, she did. Cade had taken Rowan out the night before the wedding with a bunch of their buddies to celebrate his last night of “freedom,” as Cade put it. Rowan had way too much to drink and had gotten totally shit faced, so much that Cade had to actually carry his ass inside when he brought him home. Erin wasn’t even upset by the fact that he was passed out on the couch the night before they were to be married. From what Cade relayed, she seemed happy. Of course, he found out quickly why she was so happy. Once Cade laid him down, Erin pounced, literally. She was all over Cade, kissing on him, trying to get his clothes off. Cade did the only thing he knew to do and left right away, but not before he explained to Erin that she was acting ridiculous. First thing in the morning he called Tessa to tell her what had happened. Once she let him know what Erin told her the week before, Cade asked her to go with him to tell Rowan. Neither of them had been looking forward to informing him that the woman he was about to marry had not only tried to get his best friend in bed, but tried it in his home while he was passed out on the couch.