by Jarrod, Cait
“Yeah, the last customer left a few minutes ago.”
Where did the day go?
Autumn moved closer. “She’s scared, you know.” She rubbed her right bicep. Underneath the light jacket was her snake arm cuff. During brunch yesterday morning in Travis’ kitchen, she rubbed it when they discussed Cadence. It must be her “go to” place, along with the rainbow necklace she kissed often.
“Yeah,” he said absently, still wigged out for letting the kiss get out of hand. He compared a skittish Cadence to a green horse. Staying in best friend mode, tender and caring, would earn trust and tear down the erected walls formed out of fear and pain.
Touching her and looking into her big, soothing tropical eyes, reminded him of the Caribbean waters, of peace and calmness. The same serenity he used to feel when he peered into them, before they turned sad and depressed. He’d planned to explain in more detail why the horse acted like a watched dog, but his cravings stampeded over him.
When he finally reined in his body to slow the fuck down, she stroked his chest, igniting a stronger wave of desire and knocking out the memory of her shooing him from her life. His hunger took matters out of his hands. He eased back and stared at his palms, not believing he held her, cupped her sweet cheeks. The dropping temperatures should have chilled his skin. Far from it, he was hot and sweaty.
“Okay then, I’ll go.”
Shoot, he ignored Autumn. “Sorry, my mind drifted. What did you say?”
She laughed. “Yeah, I love when my thoughts drift like that and my skin flushes.”
Hell! He lowered his chin and coughed, clearing his thoughts of Cadence. “I’m good. What’s up?”
Travis’ chuckle drifted toward him. “I hope that’s not an invitation to my girlfriend.”
“What?” Bradley flinched and arched an eyebrow. The last thing he needed was for Travis to think he made a move on her. “Damn, don’t do that.”
“Not to worry.” He pulled Autumn against him, her back to his front. “Destiny Tours is closed for the day. Picnic is packed and in the truck.” He pressed his cheek to hers. “Ready?”
Bradley’s pent up energy blew out on a harsh breath. It slayed him to watch their admiration for each other. “Have fun.” He stuck up a hand as he headed toward the house. “I don’t want a report.”
“Don’t forget what I said,” Autumn said, picking up Hopper.
With no clue what she’d said, and having an idea he should listen, he asked, “What’s that?”
Her lips twisted and her eyes sparkled. “Listen when she talks.”
That was a crash and burn setup. “Point taken.”
“No, seriously. That’s what I said when you zoned out. Don’t do that to her. Trust me, the type of kiss she gave you made me hot and bothered.”
“Say what?” Travis snuggled a laughing Autumn closer, nibbled on her neck, and aimed them toward his truck parked beside the hangar. “Later, Bradley.”
“Take it easy,” he said and stopped short of plowing into Trina. The drink she carried splashed over her fingers. “Sorry.” He draped an arm over her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “How are you holding up?”
With dark circles under her eyes and face pale, she looked beat. She leaned her head on his shoulder and handed him a drink. “For you. I figured you needed something to offset that kiss you planted on Cadence.”
The unavoidable conversation about him and Cadence looked him square in the face. He accepted the drink and downed several swallows. “Thanks.” A large snowflake spiraled down and dissolved in his drink.
“It’s been snow-kissed.” Trina laughed, resurrecting childhood memories of when they played in the snow and challenged each other to come up with the best “snow name.”
“Good one.” This time, he sipped the bourbon, appreciated she didn’t add a mixer, and savored the burn sliding down his throat. “Perfect flake.”
“You botched it with Cadence.” Her light tone turned serious.
“How about we get mommy-to-be inside the house before you get wet?”
“Honestly Bradley, I’d rather stand out here stark naked to cool off, but knowing you won’t approve, let’s move to the barn.” She stopped and shifted a mischievous gaze on him. “Unless you’re cold.”
Not hardly. “The barn it is.” Situated inside, she sat in an aluminum foldup chair, and he leaned against a round hay bale a few feet away.
“Gonna tell me what’s up?” When seconds passed without a response, her eyes narrowed. “Bradley Lovett, don’t even try to tell me that was a first kiss.”
Man, he had to get her off the warpath. Calm her before her blood pressure escalated. “I thought Matt went inside to watch you.” He swallowed another mouthful of bourbon.
She grinned and folded her arms on top of her belly. “He did.” Her face flushed and she glowed.
Bring up Matt, and she turns to putty.
“Want the details?”
“Don’t!” He showed her his palm.
“Then spill.”
Would Trina figure out what transpired between him and Cadence? Would she understand why he’d rushed out of the house chasing her best friend, putting them in a situation that resulted in them barely speaking?
“When, Bradley?” He blinked, and refocused on his sister. “When did you two hookup?” Her tone was steel and spiteful. “Don’t clam up! My blood pressure can’t take it.”
Her mouth pinched and her eyes narrowed. With her face full from the pregnancy, she resembled the chubby-cheek, furry creatures that ran rampant in their backyard in Maryland.
“Okay, Chipmunk,” he said with the intention of bringing levity to the conversation.
“What?” Her lips quivered.
Ah, fuck! “I’m not responsible for what I say,” he continued. This topic was much better. “You gave me the alcohol. Blame the new chipmunk nickname on the bourbon.”
Immediately her hands went to her cheeks, to her stomach then to her head; she sat further back in her seat. Afraid she’d tip he rushed over, and stood behind her to brace a hand against the back of the chair. “Careful.”
Her shoulders shook and her head lowered. He wanted to kick himself in the ass. Their parents’ condescending tone had taught both of them not to use the same with others, but sometimes teasing went too far. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.” He knelt in front of her.
Her eyes shined from moisture but not from crying. The sneak laughed. “You had me sweating.”
“Serves you right for not telling me about Cadence.”
“Point made, and I won’t call you Chipmunk.”
Her patient demeanor left. “The name’s cute. It can stay. You, on the other hand, have to go if you don’t cough up the goods.”
“What have you done with my sister?”
“I’m still here, just short on patience. Any moment I’ll have to pee, so hurry.” She did the hand motion to go with cough-up-the-goods demand. “Tell me.”
Resting on the hay bale, his drink finished, he crossed his arms. “A month before your and Cadence’s accident, I overheard Mom and Dad telling her she wasn’t good enough to be friends with you.” Trina gasped, a hand covering her mouth. “No more sound effects so I can get through this.”
“Go.”
“Alarms went off in my head. Cadence never came to the house without you being home. By the time I reached the foyer, she was gone. I caught up with her in Georgetown. We had a few drinks and she told me—” he cleared his throat. “Mom and Dad told her to leave. The pain our parents inflicted on her showed in every inch of her face. That expression is burned into my brain.”
“Oh, Bradley.” Trina did what he asked her not to; she gasped.
“Don’t.” He held up a hand and pinched his lips together. “I comforted her. One thing led to another.” They’d connected that night on a different level than they had during their childhood and teenage years. They’d opened up to one another, told secrets, and shared their bodies. The openness cont
inued but they’d kept their experience private and didn’t have a repeat. Neither of them was ready to move forward in a relationship, yet neither of them gave each other up. Not until Cadence ordered him to get out of her life.
Trina remained quiet, a hand to her mouth, the other on her heart. Her eyes watered and turned bloodshot.
“What else could I do?”
“You pity fucked me!” Cadence screeched in an eerie octave.
Bradley’s heart sunk. At the barn entrance, her lips an upside down smile, and her hands perched on her hips. Damn it! Couldn’t he do anything right?
****
“Sweet, reserved Bradley thought I needed a sympathy screw?” Bile rose to Cadence’s stomach. “That’s just rich! You gave me a freebie…a handout.”
“Cadence that’s not what happened.”
“That’s what you said!” How dare he assume he was “it” for her? That he was the only one who righted her world. True or not, it didn’t matter. For him to think it…to discard their connection… Her thoughts scrambled as her heart broke. “I can get any guy I want,” she blurted out in defense, erecting a shield over her heart to stop the bee stings covering her skin and diving into her soul. Ah, geez! Their lovemaking had been out of this world, something she craved to relive.
Hearing the night she experienced love had meant nothing to him but pity… The sensation compared to someone reaching into her chest and tearing out her heart. It hurt, almost as bad as the day she lost her baby. Words didn’t describe the thoughts racing through her mind. It was just as well. Bad blood lay between them now. For Trina’s sake and that of her friend’s unborn baby, she’d harness in her emotions toward him and continue on the path of getting herself together. She breathed in deeply. The only way to do that was to confess to Bradley. Criminey!
With arms folded over his chest and legs shoulder-width apart, he stared at her with his heart-stopping greenish-blue eyes as if he didn’t know what to do with her. Welcome to her world.
His sister didn’t have the same problem. Nope, Trina went to the place that controlled her mouth from spouting off. She touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip, an act she did when disappointed. Cadence witnessed that look a lot when Trina dealt with her parents, and now her best friend used the expression on her. If that didn’t knock the wind out of her. “Trina,” she said, pleading in her voice.
“Don’t.” Her sweet friend shook her head and stood. “I’m not the one you need to talk to.” With that, she stepped backwards out of the barn, as if by showing her back she’d get an imaginary knife in it.
Numb and dazed, Cadence reflected on the friendship she’d acquired as a young girl. Trina and she loved each other like sisters, but Bradley was Trina’s blood. He came first, always had. She admired the bond the siblings shared, though it made her a touch jealous. Her focused returned to the man she’d rudely snubbed.
Bradley’s tanned skin etched with a tinge of pain; his arched eyebrows slanted, pupils darkened, and his jaw tightened. He opened his mouth and she cringed, waiting to receive his rebuttal to her outburst.
“You’ve more than proved you can get any guy. From where I stand, you go through men like you went through a bag of candy as a kid. One at a time, chewing them up until the flavor disappears.” His face turned to disgust. He was on a roll. “Then spitting the used portion on the ground and tossing them aside like trash, ready to search for the next victim.”
She covered her mouth and tears sprung to her eyes. That wasn’t true. Why did he think so poorly of her? “Jerk,” stayed on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t utter the insult. She’d belittled their night together. With him having every right at a comeback, she still didn’t expect his snip retort. His words hit their target—her heart, her conscious. They burned, stung, and tortured. Despite the false accusation, denying it wouldn’t make a difference. Her behavior showed the opposite.
Admittedly, before their night together, she did sleep with more guys than she’d care to count. After him, she didn’t have the itch to fill the void. Even after she kicked him out of her life, in the back of her mind, she knew he was always there. She prayed he didn’t disown her after she spilled the rest of the story. Although he probably already had after her snappy remark. Bradley didn’t pity fuck her. In her heart, she knew it, but listening to him talk to his sister and downplaying their attraction hurt.
Cadence flashed back to the hours leading up to the accident. Matt had seen an engagement ring on Trina’s finger. Though Cadence begged Trina not to wear the present from the man her parents forced on her. Her friend did so with the intentions of giving it back to the guy later that day. The idea seemed harmless until Matt surprised Trina, saw the ring, and not knowing that her parents had manipulated her into accepting the symbol, he had stormed away. Her friend was in such a state that Cadence didn’t have the heart to tell her she was pregnant and they’d gone to one of their favorite hangouts.
One bad decision after another, lead to another. On vacation, the resort doctor didn’t say the baby was harmed when she admitted to having a few drinks, so why not a couple more? Besides Trina would have thought something was up if she hadn’t. Telling her friend that night she was pregnant would have brought more anguish to Trina’s already upset world.
Cadence sucked in an exasperated breath. Her actions had caused more grief. If only, she could do it all again…
Guilt piggybacked with grief and sliced through her. Her head felt woozy, and her body went weak. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t confess. Bracing a hand on the back of the chair Trina vacated, she plastered on a fake I-have-it-all-together expression. “Then you know to stay away.”
For several long beats, they stared at each other. His internal battles revealed in his etched expression, no different from what hers would reflect look like—sadness, hurt, regret. She longed to reach out to him, to touch his skin and relive the tingles that would no doubt cover her skin.
His rock hard body stiffened and all thoughts of closing the gap for physical contact vanished. Thoughts of doing or saying anything evaporated as if an industrial-size vacuum made a pass through the open barn, taking the energy and the air. She had to get out of there, get away from him and his air-sucking presence. She spun on her heels fast, too fast, and stumbled backwards.
Warm hands, strong arms, and a firm body engulfed her. Lord help her. She moaned and relished in the body contact, his heat easing her rattled nerves. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, next to her ear. “That was out of line.”
“It’s the truth,” she managed to say, though the intensity in her voice dwindled. “No need for an apology.”
He didn’t reply, didn’t move, just held her close. A soothing feeling sparked her insides, stimulating her libido and exciting her. She relaxed more fully against him, giving him her full weight. With an arm under her legs and one around her waist, he carried her to the front of a large, round hay bale where he lowered to the ground and rested her in his lap. He didn’t speak, didn’t try to kiss her, just held her close and tight. His compassion, his toasty body, and his security oozed a welcoming invitation, and she burrowed into him. Her libido would have to wait; she needed this, wanted his solidness. Inhaling his yummy, outdoorsy scent, she released a slow shaky breath.
“I gotcha,” he said. “I always have.” His words faded as her body gave into the fatigue of not one stressful day, but over seven hundred.
Chapter Three
Bradley woke to a horse neighing and rolled his neck to relieve the kink. Pricks to his skin, and the smell of hay and manure, clouded his mind a moment before it caught up to the excited, hardened part of his body. Sitting with his back against a hay bale, his legs out in front of him, he held Cadence’s butt in one hand while the other held her wrist against his chest. Her breaths escaped in deep, slow puffs. Beautiful. Absolutely, undeniably beautiful. Her silky, black hair fanned over his flannel shirt; her rosy, pink lips parted slightly and a wet spot graced a place over his hear
t.
He squinted against the bright morning sunrays beaming through the barn doors. They’d spent the night together, clothed and in each other’s arms. This was a good moment, a right one. One that should have happened every day since they’d connected back in Virginia. He kissed the top of her head and slid a strand of her hair off her ivory skin. Every fiber wanted her and needed her in his life.
He wasn’t much different from his sister. From the similarities in their lives and personalities, the two of them easily passed for twins. As a pre-teen, Trina had found the person she knew she’d marry. So had he, but he was much younger—a mere child hanging out with his sister and her best friend in the horse stables.
Yet their relationships had one difference. Where Trina and Matt both knew the other was “the one”, he was the lone wolf in the relationship equation. When he thought she’d felt the same, she dumped him. And now, she put him in his place. I can have any guy. His body and heart wanted her, but if they ever managed to bypass the torment plaguing her and found their way into each other’s bed, her behavior would have to change. He would be the last man she slept with.
Her gasp vibrated through his chest and he slipped his hand from her butt to her waist. “Good morning.”
She flinched, and he tightened his grip so she didn’t fall off his lap, as she sat squarely on his legs. “I slept with you? On your lap the entire night?”
“Yes ma’am, you did,” he said as what they’d done wrapped around his soul and slipped a smile on his face. This Cadence, sweet and tame, he really did love. “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”
“Out of pity again?”
He withheld a retort. Like yesterday, her low opinion of him stabbed his heart. Yet was she far off? Did a revenge affair rate the same low-life classification as pity-fucking? Probably, but now wasn’t the time to bring up his past. He braced himself and let the remark bounce off his chest.
The way he saw it, he had two choices: talk sense into her or show her. Make her understand the reasons why he wanted her that night, just like now. Open his heart fully to her again while taking the chance she’d cast him aside. Or demonstrate what he felt—no words or sex, just actions.