Big Sexy: Mercy Springs Heroes Series Book 1

by Bliss Carter

  After seeing no threats, Cade met Kresley back in the center of the large room and took a long look at her. She had the beginnings of a big bruise on her cheek, scrapes over the top of that. Her temple area had a small scratch where the bleeding came from earlier and she had some blood matted in her hair. Red had dark circles under her eyes and her skin was very pale. She needed to go to bed and sleep dreamless. He decided to wait until tomorrow to talk with her at length about what happened earlier tonight and her connection to Drake Harris. She just wasn’t up for it or anything else.

  “Red, I think we should wait until tomorrow to officially talk about what happened earlier and also what’s going on between you and me. You are exhausted and barely standing on your own two feet right now. Do you feel safe here by yourself or do you want to call one of your sisters to stay with you? Or I’ll be glad to sleep on the couch if that will make you feel safe”, Cade innocently said.

  “I’ll be fine, Cade. You’re right, I am exhausted. And I know I should be terrified of that note left downstairs, but honestly, I’m just too tired to care. I’ll lock all of the locks on the door and set the alarm. My security system also alerts and triggers a call to MSPD if the windows are opened or broken as well. So, no need to worry about me. I’m a big girl and have been taking care of myself for a long time.” Kresley didn’t mean for it to come out sounding less than grateful. She just wasn’t used to anyone worrying about her. She was the one who did the worrying and taking care of people. This was definitely new and a little uncomfortable.

  “Oh, I know you’re a big girl Red. Nothing child like about you anywhere”, Cade gruffly stated, his eyes roaming over Kresley from head to toe. He put his hands on her waist above her hips and gave it a soft squeeze. “I just want to make sure you feel safe without someone here. If you do, great. I feel comfortable leaving you here with the alarm system and locks you have in place. But if you feel unsafe for any reason, then I’ll be glad to stay. It’s your call.” As Cade talked, he had been slowly drawing Kresley closer to him until they were an inch apart. “You need sleep baby, and I need to leave so you can get it. But before I go, I have a question. Can I hold you for a minute? Please?”

  Kresley looked up at the handsome man that was so close to her that she could see the individual hairs that were making up his heavy 5 o’clock shadow. Instead of verbally answering, Kresley raised her arms and wrapped them around Cade’s waist. She took the extra steps until she was touching him from chest to knees. She felt Cade wrap his arms around her and draw her in further to his body, hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head. Kresley lay against his chest, feeling the warmth oozing from him. This felt so right, so perfect. It felt like home. And that scared that bejeezus out of her.

  “I no longer consider you an asshole”, Kresley quietly stated, hugging Cade tighter.

  Cade was trying to gather his wits together as he tightly held Kresley in his arms. He let out a snort at the asshole comment and couldn’t remember ever feeling this complete before. He had relationships in the past with women. Some of them even lasted longer than a few months, but he had never had a closeness like this before with another female. They were a perfect fit together. His hardness to her softness. Her curves fit into his ridges like pieces of a puzzle. Her head fit right under his chin and her hair smelled like flowers and sunshine. How that was possible Cade didn’t know. He took a deep breath of that smell again and squeezed her tighter for a moment before letting go. He backed away a few inches and took his fingers, raising her chin up to his face. He waited until she opened her eyes and said the only thing he could. “Thank you Kresley”.

  “Why are you thanking me? Because you’re not an asshole after all?”, Kresley asked with a dry, broken voice. She cleared it and waited for him to answer.

  “I’m thanking you for trusting me to hold you. I’m thanking you for trusting me enough to let go and let someone else take care of you besides yourself. It means a lot. So, thank you baby.”

  Kresley didn’t really know what to say to all of that so she softly stated, “in the words of all Chic-Fil-A employees, my pleasure” and then watched as he let out a loud laugh, his head thrown back for good measure. He then let her go and straightened to his full height once again. Cade checked his watch and groaned.

  “It’s midnight already and I have to be at work at seven in the morning. What time is a good time to come here and talk tomorrow?”, Cade asked Red.

  “Mornings are always better for me work-wise. What about 8 AM here and I’ll make us breakfast. We can eat while we talk. Sound good?”, Kresley asked hesitantly. She wasn’t really good at this whole pursuing a man thing.

  “That sounds amazing. I haven’t had anyone cook me breakfast since the last time I visited Aunt Mae. That was four years ago. Count me in Red”, Cade happily stated.

  Kresley grinned back and then took his cue, walking him to her apartment door. They walked downstairs together to the back door. Kresley noticed that Cade had the note in his hand, holding on to it by the corner. He opened the door and reminded Kresley about locking up tight. Cade turned around quickly as he was walking through the door and took Kresley by surprise, pushing her back against the wall. He placed his hands around her waist, against her back and the back of her head and quickly leaned in and took her mouth for his own. He didn’t kiss her softly or sweetly. No, this was a taking. He took what she eagerly offered. Mouths open, tongues soft and wet, teeth nipping at lower lips. This kiss was heavy and spoke volumes to anyone who dared to observe it. Cade slanted his head slightly to the side and took the kiss even deeper than before, slanting and moving his mouth side to side, pushing his tongue into Kresley’s and devouring her. The hot meter in Kresley’s brain rose to the extreme and then exploded. Big Sexy was accurate. At that thought, Kresley began to giggle softly.

  “Please tell me you aren’t giggling at my kissing abilities, baby”, Cade gruffly spoke as he looked at the mark he’d left around her mouth with his heavy beard scruff. Her lips were swollen, soft, full, and wet from his kiss. He was definitely trying to make a statement with that kiss. He only hoped Red got the message. She was his. Period.

  “No, of course not. I was giggling because I thought your new nickname from my girl tribe is definitely correct. Big Sexy shall forever be Cade Grantham’s call sign. So, when I want a kiss or need you to hold me or flirt, then I’ll call out for Big Sexy to show himself. And you best come running, Cade”, Kresley flirted in her best southern accent.

  Cade hadn’t seen this flirty side of Red before now, but he was loving what he was seeing. He decided to play into it and leaned into her heavily. His chest, pelvis and legs were touching hers and he nudged her with his hips. Cade saw the widening of her eyes and knew she had felt his arousal. “Just to warn you baby, when you call out Big Sexy, you need to be ready for me. Because I will find you and have all my weapons ready to drive you wild.”

  Kresley began fanning her face and stated “so noted. I’ll make sure I put that info into my brain for future reference. But for now, I really need to try to sleep some. But I want you to know, Cade, that I am so glad today happened. Not the way it happened, but I’m glad all the same. Because it allowed me to meet you. I like you and want to get to know you.” The blush on Kresley’s face was a tomato red. Cade’s knuckles rubbed over her blushing cheek.

  “You have nothing to worry about Red. I’ll protect your heart while I’m doing all I can to capture it for my own. Now, give me your cell number so I can have it. Respond to the text I’ll send when you get locked up tight upstairs and the door has been locked and secured. I’ll call in the morning and let you know I’m on my way so you can watch for me to let me inside. Goodnight sweetheart, I can’t wait to see you tomorrow morning”, Cade sincerely stated.

  Kresley gave him her cell number and heard the ding from her phone in her pocket right after. She looked and saw it was an unknown text from someone sending a kissing lips emoji. Kresley just shook her head and laughe
d. She responded back with Cade standing right there the bird finger emoji. Cade looked and laughed hard. He gave her a quick peck on the lips, told her to lock up tight and left without a backward glance. Kresley quickly shut and locked the door, setting the alarm. She eased through the dark warehouse and made it to her steps. She walked up them, noting how much darker they were. She hadn’t noticed that before.

  Once inside her apartment, she locked the locks and alarmed the system. Kresley then took out her phone, took a picture of the locks and alarm and sent it to Cade with the words “see, I can follow orders”. Cade soon replied with “we’ll see how much you can follow orders later on” and added a wink emoji with it. Kres sent back an eye roll emoji and stated goodnight. She then walked to her bedroom, took off all of her clothes and got into bed naked, ready to fall asleep quickly. Her last thought before dozing off was of Cade, laying there with her, rubbing her back and looking into her eyes from his beautiful blue depths. He seemed to be such a wonderful man. And with that last thought, Kresley’s eyes closed and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  What a jerk! Cade Grantham was a pain in the ass jerk. Kresley was irritated this morning and it was mostly because of Cade. It all started at 7:00 with a text.

  Cade: Good morning beautiful. Hope you slept well. Won’t be there at 8. Have to take Aunt Mae to run an errand. How does 9 AM sound instead?

  Kresley: Seriously? Don’t ever text me this early unless there is a big emergency, life and death and all that crap.

  Cade: Uh oh. Sounds like someone’s a grumpy bear in the morning. Want me to bring breakfast instead and you go back to sleep?

  Kresley: *thumbs up emoji*

  Cade: glazed plain or chocolate glazed? Or cream filled? Maybe raspberry filled? I know! What about powdered sugar?

  Kresley: I. DON’T. CARE. Going back to sleep now. Bye Cade. One more text and Big Sexy will be retired from the vocab.

  Cade: Kres the Kranky is my new nickname for YOU. And since I was typing this as you sent your last, this doesn’t count as “one more text”. See you at 9 sharp baby.

  Kresley: *turd emojis*

  Kresley put her phone back after changing her alarm to 8:30 and went back to sleep. A banging on her door woke her up at 8:59 AM. Dang it! She had either slept through her alarm or didn’t actually turn it to active before going back to sleep. Cade would be here any minute and she probably had one or more of her sisters banging on her door. Great, just great. Good morning Kresley!

  She sullenly got up from bed and put a long tshirt on with a pair of men’s boxer shorts, then moved through her bedroom across her apartment to the door. She looked through the peep hole and saw that it was in fact Francie, Gertie, Birdie and Grace. Oh, joy. Kresley turned off the alarm system and opened up the door without any greeting and turned around, heading to the kitchen. Coffee. She needed it as much as she needed oxygen to breathe.

  “Well good morning to you, too, sunshine”, Francie stated, watching Kresley struggle to get her coffee maker set up. “All of us were worried about you and wanted to check on you first thing this morning. Grace told us to wait until you showed up down stairs, but we all know that wasn’t going to happen. So how ARE you doing?”

  Kresley turned around as she waited on her first cup of coffee. All of her sisters and Grace were sitting at her kitchen granite counter, watching her silently. Kresley sighed. “I’m okay. Headache is gone and feeling a little sore from the push against the wall, I guess. I slept hard last night and would have slept longer if not for 7 AM text messages and sisters beating down my door.”

  “Who text you at 7 this morning?”, Birdie asked, walking over to Kresley and giving her a tight hug and telling her to sit down. Birdie began making Kresley’s coffee just as she liked it, 3 sugars, 2 creamers and stirred with a cinnamon stick.

  “Cade woke me up with a text at the ass crack of dawn”, Kresley grumbled as she looked at her phone. She missed the look her sisters and Grace all passed around to each other.

  “Why would he text so early? I thought he was going to interview you last night”, Grace asked slyly. She raised her eye brows and waited for Kresley to answer.

  “He brought me home, checked out downstairs and up here for intruders, then hugged me, kissed me downstairs and told me he would see me at 8 AM to talk to me since I looked so tired. But then he texts this morning and said he needed to change it to 9 AM since he was taking his Aunt Mae to run an errand instead”, Kresley said as she took her first sip of coffee and sighed happily.

  “Okay, so he gets more brownie points when he ditches you, a woman he is liking, to take care of something his aunt needs instead. That’s really sweet”, Gertie stated with a hand over her heart.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not much of a morning person when I wake up. Y’all all know that. And now Cade knows it, too, if our text convo was any indication.”

  “Don’t be a rude heifer to him Kresley. Just because you aren’t Suzie Sunshine in the mornings doesn’t give you the right to be so harsh with everyone else. Now who’s acting like an asshole.”, Francie stated in her older sister way.

  Kresley was about to rebuke her sister and remind her of her own bitchy ways, but was stopped by Birdie. “So, I hear an ex of yours got axed outside our building last night. What’s up with that Kres?”

  Kresley put her face in her hands and let out a groan. Okay, so it was out this morning. She shouldn’t be surprised. The gossip mill in town was fast and furious. “I don’t have any answers of why, Birdie. I wish I did. But I don’t. But I’m not saying anything else until Cade gets here because I don’t feel like saying this over and over again.”

  At that moment, a knock came at the partially open door and Cade walked in, looking like sex on a stick. He didn’t seem surprised that the room was full of women. He nodded his head toward the stairs and stated, “morning ladies. If the phones ringing downstairs are any indication, it’s going to be a busy day. You also have two people who came in behind me looking for some help”. At that statement, Grace took off downstairs.

  Kresley took in a deep breath and held it, giving her a moment to take in just how beautiful this man looked. She took a look at her sisters and all three of them had similar looks on their faces of total shock and awe. Francie seemed the least effected, but she had seen Cade last night in action, so she knew what she would see today. Cade was dressed in khaki slacks, a white polo shirt with the MSPD logo on the pocket area. His brown loafers were clean and shining and he wore a heavy metal watch with all kinds of gadgets on the face. His dark brown hair was brushed and tamed and his blue eyes were sparkling as he took all of the red-haired women into his view. He was freshly shaven and Kresley had a thought that she missed his scruff. Standing at his full height, Cade was much taller than the Anderson girls, but that didn’t stop Birdie from sizing him up and walking up to him with a slight swagger of bravery.

  “You Cade?”, Birdie asked. When Cade nodded in the affirmative, seeking out Kresley at the counter, Birdie took a deep breath and stated in only her way, “Well done, God. Well done on making this one. Cade, do you have any brothers?” Cade raised his eyebrows at that question and threw his head back and laughed.

  Kresley’s three sisters all grinned at that laugh and immediately began fighting over who would give up their chair for Cade to sit at the bar. He carried with him a box of donuts and a carrier of coffee cups from the local bakery. He set both down on the counter and immediately walked to the end of the bar where Kresley sat, sipping on her coffee quietly.

  Kresley wasn’t going to freak out. So, what if she had bed head, and wore ratty old pajamas that had seen better days. She hadn’t brushed her teeth yet and probably had a pillow crease on her cheek still. She wasn’t that girly-girl kind of woman who needed to vamp for her man all of the time. But a mint would be a good idea probably. She watched as Cade walked over to her and pulled her out of the chair. She stood before him, both hands held in his, looking up into his
eyes intently.

  “Good morning baby. Hope you were able to go back to sleep after I woke you this morning. Sorry for doing that, by the way”, Cade stated warmly, looking down at Kresley’s sleepy puffy face. He really wasn’t that sorry because it showed him another facet to Kresley’s personality. Not a morning person. Got it. Because he felt like confusing her and making a statement in front of her sisters, Cade leaned down and gave her a sweet, affectionate kiss on her lips. Mouths closed, hands still only holding each other’s, he wanted to show her that he wasn’t just about the passion. He was about the caring as well. Hearing her sigh, as well as her sisters, he took a step back and indicated for her to get a donut from the box on the counter. Kresley silently opened the lid and selected a chocolate iced donut and began eating, her eyes bouncing from person to person in the room.

  Cade stood by her, watching her eat and sipping on his own coffee. Gertie, Birdie and Francie all stood quietly, watching Kres and Cade like they were objects under a microscope. Finally, Kresley couldn’t take it any longer and asked her sisters to give her and Cade some privacy so he could interview her. She told them that she would be down to work at lunch. She followed them to the door and shut it, securing one lock. Cade cocked one dark eye brow at that and Kresley quickly told him that her sisters are nosy nellies and she wouldn’t put it past them to come barging in and interrupting. Cade nodded once and motioned her to come back to him with his fingers.

  Kresley sat back down and finished her donut, feeling Cade’s fingers slide over her long, red hair, over and over in a soothing motion.