by Jarrod, Cait
His eyebrows rose, rounding some delicious chocolate-colored eyes, but his energy didn’t spark her nether regions. The greenish-blues, however, did. Body betrayal was the only way to explain her smiling at the cute cowboy and accepting Bradley’s hand. “Just one dance.”
Jace scowled his displeasure as he sauntered back to the table.
Bradley pulled her into his embrace, snuggling her close. A unique, hyper-masculine scent engulfed her and increased her primal instinct to lean against him, to press her body into his until the hard planes of his chest called out to her longing nipples. Then together, they would embrace the monsoon of need passing over them.
No! They couldn’t! She shifted until air passed between their bodies, her stomach dropping at the disappointment. “Stalker,” she teased, falling into their easy banter. Again without thinking, she gave into need and leaned into his cheek, touching the side of her head.
“I am.” He swayed to the beat of the music, his knee inching between her legs. The brush of his body against her core sent her girlie parts on a merry-go-round. His gaze bored into hers, the light bouncing off his eyes. He squeezed her hand as he moved effortlessly over the floor. The same scenario from a few years ago flashed in her mind. He’d danced and charmed her right out of her pants, the same as he was doing now.
“You’re good, I’ll give you that. But this,” she said with a step back and waving a hand between them, “isn’t happening.”
“You’re giving yourself a lot of credit, Sparky.” Winking, he lifted his hat. “I have my night filled.” With that, he strolled off the dance floor, passed Jace, and headed to the women he left sitting at the bar.
Her emotions went on a field day, too many to figure out which to grasp and react to first. Confused, flabbergasted, mortified, and the worst, the one she couldn’t name moments ago, jealousy. They hoofed over her chest and mind, shutting down her thought process and body movement.
“Are you okay, darlin’?” Jace’s warm hands stroked her back, and he nudged her into his hard, heated body. He captured the attention of the other females in the room that weren’t drooling over Bradley. But not her. She focused on the bunny bitches smashing their breasts against her friend’s shoulder and watched how they bent over to check out their boots to entice him with their goods.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
In essence, she had. Her beaten soul reflected in the depths of Bradley’s eyes. At one time, their tightly bonded friendship held value. He would have never walked away, never passed her over to another man. And he would have never acted careless.
Mystified, she rested her head against Jace, concentrated on his caresses, and his low hum vibrating through his chest as he sung in her ear. Dreamy, flat-out romantic. If only the man walking out the door with his arms draped around two women didn’t occupy her desires.
****
Damnit! Cadence didn’t come home last night! Madder than a horse with a nagging fly on its back, Bradley refrained from snapping the rope against the dirt and ground his back teeth. Negative energy wouldn’t break Thor. He needed the beautiful, ebony stallion broke as quickly as possible to get away before Cadence ripped his heart from his chest. Thor eyed him from the opposite side of the round training pen, his ears up, as if on high alert for the enemy.
Shifting closer, Bradley rested his back against the fence, not far from where the magnificent animal stood rigid. Staying quiet and relaxed would draw Thor’s attention. Once the stallion showed calming signs, by lowering his head and licking his lips, he would work him. He’d stand in the center and twirl a rope behind Thor to get him to move. As if the horse knew his scheme, he dipped his head and tossed it backwards, drawing out a snort, which ended on a rumbling neigh.
“How’s it going?” Matt asked, approaching the outside of the fence behind him.
“Referring to the horse or Cadence?”
Matt made a noise similar to Thor. “I’m not going near the Cadence topic. That girl isn’t the same woman I knew.”
Nope, she wasn’t. “She and Thor have a lot in common. They’re both misplaced.”
Matt’s focus drifted off to the mountains bordering the rear of the property. Not long ago, his brother-in-law had been the king of lost souls. Bradley often wondered if he and Travis hadn’t found Matt passed out on the footbridge back in Maryland, where he would be. Where would his sister be?
“She’s worth fighting for.” Matt cut into Bradley’s thoughts.
The sincerity in his tone stuck a lump in his throat. The five of them—Trina, Matt, Travis, Cadence, and him—had known each other most of their lives and endured difficult times together. Autumn was the newcomer, and she blended into the childhood-friend-family easily. “Agreed.”
“Think you can break him?”
Thankful for the subject change, the lump scratching his throat disappeared. The quarter horse was green but wouldn’t take forever to train. In three to four weeks, Thor would come around enough for a trail ride, maybe sooner. “Definitely.”
Matt lifted his neckline higher, covering his exposed skin. “Florida’s high and mighty rubbed some of their cockiness on to you?”
Bradley laughed half-heartedly. No chance he’d picked up their ways. The millionaires he worked for and drank with couldn’t come close to the integrity and loyalty he wanted from friends. Though, they did seem concerned about Heartbreaker. “Stating facts. I don’t get it. Cadence is one of the most capable equestrians on the east coast. I’ve witnessed her break a wild horse within a few days. What she possesses comes instinctively. Not many people have such gentleness.” The sentiment of her former self swelled his chest. “Thor is reacting to her pent-up energy. Judge for yourself.” He jutted his chin toward the stallion moving closer.
“I’ll be.”
Whatever wrung Cadence tight scared the horse. “They’re smart animals. They feel and sense problems like us.”
“You would know. You and Trina grew up around them.”
“Lived with them was more like it.” His insides twisted. “The river and you were Trina’s escape. The stables were mine.”
“She was my oasis. Still is.” Damn, he hated that he recognized the dreaminess in Matt’s voice. “I appreciate you putting your Florida life on hold.”
Bradley wanted to comment, “No problem” or “Did you think I wouldn’t?” but Matt’s downward mouth stopped him.
“Cadence quitting her job and acting out of character has taken a toll on Trina.” Matt’s heavy words sounded as if it was hard for him to speak. “With a little less than two months left in the pregnancy, her doctor insists she stay quiet and relaxed to lower her blood pressure. If she doesn’t end this nonstop worrying, she’ll be admitted to the hospital until the baby is born.”
“Another extended stay would drive her crazy.”
“Exactly. I don’t want her dealing with it.”
“Listen, I know you’re protecting my sister and may not have been forthcoming in front of her yesterday when we talked. Do you have any ideas to Cadence’s flippant behavior?”
“None.” Matt leveled stern eyes on Bradley. “Cadence needs help. Has something transpired between the two of you?”
Kicking a booted foot against the dirt, he considered confiding what had plagued him since he and Cadence slept together. He removed a work glove and wiped his nose. In his gut, he knew he hadn’t ruined their friendship. Neither of them had done anything wrong. Drunk and lonely, they shared themselves with each other. Nothing wrong with that, yet his mind preached a different story.
Yesterday in the yard, a light shone in her eyes, as it had when she teased him as a child and later when the teasing grew to flirting. The same light that revved his engines the night they slept together showed itself in fragments. Cadence’s inner beauty, the ingredient that made her vivacious and gorgeous, hid so deep within her. He wondered if it could resurface.
A sensation spread over his skin, beneath his coat. He agreed with Matt’
s comment about Cadence needing help. She did. He flew to the cold state of Montana and left the warmth of the south behind to do so, but mainly he went through the motions for his sister. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
How could he react to Cadence without losing a piece of his soul? Forgetting how she had treated him was the only way. To help her, he’d have to dig into her past. The problem was her history intertwined with his. Stings covered his skin from the thought, and he blew out a breath. The reason why he came to Montana flashed in his mind’s eye. Trina. For her, he would do this. He’d figure out what troubled Cadence, help her work through whatever put her in a funk, and leave. She deserved happiness, and his sister deserved to have a smooth pregnancy without worrying about her best friend. And damnit, he deserved to know the truth.
A nagging prickle ran down his neck and wrapped its icy tendrils around his heart. It evoked a fear that as he unveiled the past, he would suffer the same as her. A happy, levelheaded Cadence didn’t crash easily. Whatever spooked her held power. Were his parents the cause of her personality change? Were they meddling again? They campaigned hard to remove Matt from Trina’s life. Had they found out about his and Cadence’s tryst and done the same to her?
“You have some thoughts going on there.” Matt poked Bradley’s forehead. “Want to share with the class?”
“Not yet.” He slipped his glove on and coiled the lead rope. Thor raced over to the rails, closest to the petting zoo, and hung his head over the top rail, neighing. “With training and,” he didn’t know how to say what he was doing with Cadence, “dealing,” he said after a long pause. “I need another set of hands. Do you have someone you can spare?”
“Actually I have two. I call them when I’m shorthanded.”
“I need one. Two will get in the way.”
Matt chuckled. “You got it. I’ll see if one of them is available tomorrow.”
Thor nickered softly, and Bradley glanced up. Cadence moved toward them, wearing the same clothes she’d worn yesterday. In the middle of the afternoon, she finally comes home. His stomach twisted and his jaw clenched.
****
Despite Bradley’s accusing glare, Cadence’s heart rocked in her chest like one of those hobbyhorses. It banged forward against her ribcage then pitched backwards. Seeing him after a sleepless night of erotic dreams, her pulse jumped.
She moved toward the round pen, and remembered him leaving with two women. A horse-kick sensation knotted her stomach, crushed her desires, and jerked her back into the familiarity of numbness. This time, the dull feeling didn’t come because of the accident. This time, it came from him flaunting two women in front of her. Her fault. She allowed him to think she didn’t want his company. No reason for Bradley to think that his presence might halt her from pursuing other men, as it had last night.
With a hand on her quivering stomach, she sucked in air and headed toward Bradley and Matt, a surge of mortification flushing her. For the first time, the impact of her behavior hit her full force. By falling down the pit of darkness, she didn’t have a job, didn’t have a clear mind to train a horse, and now faced a man that turned her insides to mush.
To gain her bearings and let the humiliating remnants from the walk dissipate, she avoided eye contact with mush man. “Hi, Matt! How’s Trina?”
“She’s cooking up a storm.”
The excitement her friend must be feeling tugged her lips into a smile. “She’s nesting.” As soon as she muttered her thought, her heart sank and emptiness ripped the good emotion out. Was something wrong with her? Enough time had passed since she lost her child to stop dwelling on it. How long did it take a person to move on? Yet, grief had no time limit. It knew no boundaries. It played havoc with emotions and reactions until by some mysterious marvel, it disappeared to some dark part of the brain, unheard yet not forgotten.
“I believe so.” Matt’s face lit up as he headed toward his house. “I’m gonna check on her. Catch you two later.”
When Bradley learned the truth, would he want her out of his sight? Could she give him totally up? When she left the hospital, she’d turned him away from having contact with her, but he wasn’t truly out of her life. She had control, held the reins, and steered their relationship in the direction she thought best, one that kept him wanting her and not disowning her. It was selfish, but once he heard her confession, she feared his opinion of her would change.
Days after their night together, she entertained the idea of a forever with him. A huge part of her really wanted him, still did, but her careless actions took away that option. She bit her lip and lifted her face toward the sky. Whitish-gray clouds hovered. Soon snow would fall, washing away everyone’s sins. If only that was a possibility for her.
A calloused thumb slid across her cheek, drying a tear she didn’t know fell. Cripes! She hated when they fell without her permission. “Let me in. Please, let me in.” During her sky gazing, he’d move out of the round pen. Now he gazed into her eyes with such sincerity, her heart leapt.
I want to but I can’t. Knowing I have you in my corner, even though not physically, is better than not having you at all. “Soon.” She nodded, relieved that the nervousness stayed out of her tone. A huge feat since she would rather fall into his arms, spill her guts, and cuddle against his yummy chest. If only—those nauseating words drifted through her mind again, and she straightened her spine. “How’s Thor?”
For a heart-stopping moment, anger tightened his face, and she thought he’d push. Something in her eyes must have begged for space since he pointed to her horse, eating grain out of a bucket near the barn.
“He reacts to you in a way that I haven’t seen for a long time. When you pulled into the parking lot, he trotted close. I didn’t know what excited him at first.”
Odd, since he stayed away when she came near. “He’s not paying attention now.”
Giving her a sideways glance, Bradley rested his forearms on the round pen and clasped his hands together. The masculine act not only fluttered her stomach, it tugged on her girlie parts. “What I’m about to say, you already know, but whatever is going on in that pretty head of yours needs reminding.”
No doubt, he’d lecture her for being careless. Trina had. Matt even attempted it; he might as well take a shot. She set her jaw. “Go on.”
He scoffed. “You think I’m gonna rake you over the coals for staying with that cowboy.”
“No,” she lied. “That’d make you a hypocrite since you left with two women. Was your threesome fun?” The words flowed out on a snarl.
That got his attention, as he presented his front view. Covered up with barely any skin exposed, Bradley was still drool worthy. “Jealous?” he asked with a smug grin and cocked eyebrow.
“No, I had my hands full. Unlike you, one partner does the trick.” What was up with her mouth? She smacked a hand to it, and her eyes grew wide with more shame, as she waited for his reaction. But he didn’t say a word. Just stood there, looking hot and sexy in his sweatshirt, his expression unreadable. Still, anger radiated off him in the way his body stiffened and sending her a virtual slap across the cheek. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Sure you did,” he said. “You’re agitated, angry, hurt, and a number of other emotions. The horse doesn’t know if he is coming or going.” He twisted, his eyebrows narrowing. This time, his expression didn’t hold anything back. He was mad. Then he blinked, and the truth was revealed in the darkness of his gorgeous eyes and the way he hung his head. He was hurt!
I did that! She rubbed a hand to her jacket-covered chest, but the discomfort increased. “I understand him. You’ve had me in fucking knots since you told me to get out of your life.” He moved closer, his boots hitting the toes of hers, something he did too often. “I don’t know what you’ve got up your butt. Don’t know if my parents have screwed with you like they did Trina, but I will not have it! Do you hear me?”
She did. She really did. Oxygen gone, she swallowed, and nodded her hea
d.
“Good!” Before she registered his gaze dropping to her lips, and his uneven breaths, he grasped her arms and crushed his mouth to hers. Her breasts pebbled as he smashed them against his hard, heated body. His tongue sought out and drank her as if she quenched his thirst. The kiss was demanding, powerful, and…wonderful! About to cave and give in to this lightning-fast, inferno need to have him plastered against her naked body, the velocity of the kiss lessened. Something different and unusual replaced his hunger. What was it? And then it hit her…
Cripes! What was she doing? Her body needed a time out along with her mouth. This kiss wasn’t about wanting her. It held pain. Not physical, but somehow his lips, tender and gentle, exposed the hurt deep within his soul. So deep, she couldn’t do this. She slid a hand to his chest and nudged him. He didn’t budge. Instead, his hands found her hips, and heavenly rocked her into his impressive erection.
No, kissing him was wrong. Wrong! “Stop!” Tears falling and her heart breaking again for torturing him, she rested her forehead against his chest. “I can’t, Bradley. I can’t.” She did an about-face. “Please, forgive me,” she whispered and headed toward the house to pack. Divine’s spacious grounds that had imparted her with a bit of reprieve from her burdens now banded an invisible lasso around her chest, constricting her breathing. Somewhere, there’s a place where I won’t feel.
****
“Too fast,” a sweet voice said from behind him. Travis’ girlfriend, Autumn, removed her ferret from his eye-level cage and attached a leash to his harness before setting him on the ground. Rufus charged toward Bradley as he met them at the entrance of the path to the training pen, and he pressed his front paws into Bradley’s chest. “Down boy.”
“He’s okay,” he said, enjoying something to pay attention to instead of Cadence’s sweet ass running into the house. He’d spent one day and night in his sister’s house and still hadn’t shared space under the roof with Cadence. More than likely, Autumn’s comment about “too fast” had to do with his reaction to his nemesis. “Is Divine closed?”