by Taylor Hart
She shrugged and looked away. “Mostly. I don’t always eat a hot dog. Sometimes I …” She trailed off. “Do other things.”
He knew she was trying to keep him at a distance. “Fine, don’t tell me. Keep your secrets, Ms. Song, but in my experience, secrets always have a way of getting free.”
Quietly, she turned to him. “Then what’s your secret about Anthony? How come you don’t get along, and how come you both work so hard to keep the fact that you don’t get along quiet?”
Okay, he hadn’t been expecting this question. He felt the center of his chest tighten, and almost pulled away from her, but she held on to his arm and tightened her grip. “Oh, no. You can’t think I’ll be letting out all my secrets without up-front payment.”
It sounded cocky coming from her. Maybe that was part of the reason he liked this woman. She wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted, and when she asked, you had better be prepared to give her what she wanted or all bets were off.
He thought of skydiving with her and how she’d figured out how much he hated heights and used it against him. Admiration for her increased even more. He let out a slow breath and decided to do something he never did—trust. “It started a long time ago. My dad …” His mouth went dry, and he coughed.
“Here, let’s go get a bottle of water.”
He coughed again and again, unable to stop. Maybe he was having a reaction or something.
She let go of him and ran to a water vendor, buying two bottles and rushing back to him.
He opened one and downed half of it. His eyes watered, and he sucked in a breath.
Her hand was on his shoulder, rubbing a small circle. “Are you okay?”
It unnerved him to let anyone see this, but he nodded. “See? I swear my throat closes up just thinking about my family.”
Sympathy flashed in those green eyes, and she shook her head. “You don’t have to keep talking about it if you don’t want.”
Oddly, he found he did want to. “My father always pitted us against each other. Anthony is one year younger, and we played on the same high school team. He used Anthony’s talent to drive me to be better, and he used me against Anthony. We were fine.” He hesitated.
“And?” she pressed.
He sighed. “First, there was a girl. Charity Stone.”
“Ah,” she said, raising an eyebrow. She must not have found this in any interview she’d seen of him.
“We both liked her. She was Anthony’s age, and she lived on the ranch next to us. Her father was a horse breeder, and she was a cheerleader.”
“Of course she was,” she said sassily.
“I think Ms. Song might be jealous.” He winked at her.
“You wish.” She waved her hand in the air when he didn’t automatically resume the story. “Continue.”
“Anyway, he asked her to the homecoming dance, but ended up with the flu …” He trailed off.
“You took her?”
“Hey, he was sick. She’d bought a dress.”
She pushed him again. “You’re horrible.”
The truth of her statement sank into his gut. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, regretting it. Thinking of how it had started so much between them. “I should have stayed loyal to Anthony, and I failed him.” He wasn’t comfortable with so much self-reflection.
Even though it might not be the right time, he wanted to know the answer to a question, and he’d just been real with her, so he was hoping she would be real back. “Tell me about this surgery your mother said you needed.”
Anger flashed into her eyes. “What happened to ‘we’re both being reckless, and we’ll just deal with it’?” She took off, walking across the park without him.
“Wait.” He caught up to her and grabbed her arm.
She yanked back. “No. No heart condition talk.”
“Fine,” he said quickly, not wanting her to leave. He put up his hands. “Fine. I just …”
“You what?” she challenged him.
He ached to spill his guts to her and tell her that he liked her, cared about her, and wanted to help, but right now he felt like the second-string quarterback without a say. With a sigh, he muttered, “Nothing … To finish answering your question, things between Anthony and me chilled for a few years in college, mostly because we were at different schools. When he got drafted to the Sentinels in Houston, our rival, they heated up again. They kind of culminated last year.”
“Guess you winning the game didn’t help things.”
He blinked, supposing his brother would always be his inner demon. “He came to dinner at my dad’s house the next Sunday and sucker punched me.” Kade rubbed his jaw. “Got a good one in, too.”
“Really?”
Kade nodded. “I’ve been so angry at him, but the other day when he accused me of trying to steal Sheena, I realized it must all go back to high school for him. I guess I deserve what I got, huh?” Staring into her green eyes, he felt vulnerable, and he didn’t like it.
Frowning, she sighed. “Family stuff. There’s a lot of guilt.”
Everything inside of him went numb, and he shrugged away from her. It didn’t suit him to feel all those things. He tried to keep himself mentally focused so he didn’t have to deal with this crap.
“Kade, are you okay?”
Wandering to one of the large birdcages, he looked into it and stared at the largest bird he’d ever seen in his life. “Yeah.” He exhaled.
She hooked her arm back through his. “Sometimes we all need support.”
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt the support of someone close to him. Not that he’d known her long, but the sincerity he felt was undeniable. Yes, that’s what it was. This woman didn’t want anything from him. Not his fame or his money. She just … Emotion pulsed through him, and he had the urge to pull away again.
“Are you okay?”
He blinked and told himself to get a grip. “I just, maybe I shouldn’t have blackmailed you into friendship.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly smiled. “Why?”
It was weird how they were having a moment. “You’re really asking me this?”
“So you hide your feelings about how much you’re upset about your brother by never talking about it? And when you do, it scares you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Sounds about right.” She exhaled and looked to the birds, lifting and lowering a shoulder. “Maybe we could be like real friends.”
He turned to her as happiness surged within him. “Really?”
She shrugged. “If you want.”
The urge to kiss her surged within him, and he looked away, not wanting to lose the yards he’d gained.
“So what cheerleader are you going to ask out this week?” she asked. When his shoulders slumped, she let out a soft laugh. “I actually think playboy Kade Kincaid might not want to ask any cheerleader out this week.”
Rolling his eyes, he reflected on the truth of his image. “Any kind of PR person should recognize I’m not a playboy, even though I do a lot of things to maintain a certain image.”
She winked and started walking away. “Well, this PR person will see you again sometime after you’ve gone out on some public dates.”
“But we’re real friends now,” he called out pathetically.
“Exactly. So you need to dispel all thoughts of KadeSong.”
Three days later, Kade stared at Felicity’s office building, waiting by the hot dog stand and decked out in incognito gear again. She hadn’t returned his texts all morning, and he had to see her.
He’d accommodated Felicity and gone out for the last two nights with cheerleader types. One was an actual cheerleader. The other was a girl he’d met a couple of weeks ago at one of his father’s parties; she’d been kind of stalking him since the championship game.
Both were uninteresting. Both were overly interested in him. On both nights, he’d gone out on the town, let the paparazzi do their thing, and h
ad been home by nine. He swam laps while waiting for Felicity to return his texts.
Which she had. Sparsely.
How was he supposed to flirt with her via text if she wasn’t hanging on his words, waiting to give a return reply like most women? Now, as he stood watching her office building, he felt like a stalker.
Even though he’d run an extra five miles this morning, it hadn’t helped his angst about this woman. He had to see her. So, here he stood, waiting for her to come out for lunch. Waiting to take his chances of being rejected, unable to stay away.
His palms were sweaty. And he was not a “sweating as he waited to meet a girl” kind of guy, which meant this ticked him off.
After another ten minutes, Ernie offered him a hot dog.
“Naw,” he said, still distracted.
“She never eats hot dogs on Fridays,” Ernie said.
“What?” he asked, feeling like he was doing something wrong. He turned to face Ernie.
“Fridays she goes somewhere.”
Kade’s heart raced. Had she already gone?
Ernie pointed to the building. “There she is.”
Without thinking, Kade took off into a sprint after her.
She was faster than she looked, rushing to the curb and pulling open what looked to be an Uber car. It took him by surprise to see she was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, hoodie, and tennis shoes. “Felicity!” he called out just as she started to get in.
She paused, whipping back to him.
He got to her, not the least bit out of breath, but definitely out of sorts.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with accusation in her voice.
Unable to make up a lie, he took off his sunglasses and searched her face. “I had to see you.”
Rolling her eyes and looking put out, she shook her head. “Not today. I have to go somewhere.”
He wasn’t the type to be deterred. “C’mon, I went out on two dates. There’s no more KadeSong,” he said, feeling stupid but not caring. “Plus, we’re both incognito.” He flashed his Zeus smile at her.
“Lady, get in, or I’ll go find another passenger,” said the Uber driver.
Scowling at Kade, she let out a breath. “I’m probably going to regret this, but get in.”
A hole in the defense. He pounced on it. “You won’t. I promise.”
Chapter 19
The homeless shelter was in the inner city, and there were clusters of men huddled outside of it. A bigger group of men was clumped together a safe distance away, next to a bridge. Before she’d left the office, she’d changed into jeans and a crappy hoodie. She’d learned the hard way not to come dressed nicely into this neighborhood.
“What are we doing?” Kade asked quietly, looking around and staying glued to her side.
“Good thing you came as your inconspicuous self, or I couldn’t have brought you.” Unfortunately, she thought he would still stick out a bit. It was hard to hide his good looks. “Next time, skip the Top Gun sunglasses.”
He spread his hands. “You make no sense.”
Looking back to the shelter, she scooted closer to Kade. “Shh.”
She looked for her dad, but couldn’t see him among the men. Nerves pounded in her gut. Why had she had a moment of weakness and wanted to show Kade her biggest vulnerability? Why? Why? Why? She’d regretted it the whole way over.
His hand grasped hers for a moment before releasing it slowly. “Hey,” he said.
She met his eyes and noticed he’d pulled his sunglasses off. Those beautiful blue eyes stared back at her. They weren’t intense and laser-like. They were kind.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Looking around one more time, she grabbed Kade’s hand and ducked into a store doorway. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.” Her heart pounded into her chest. “Let’s just get another Uber.” She whipped out her phone.
His hand gripped hers firmly, preventing her from typing on her phone. “No. We’ve watched too much game tape for that, don’t you think?”
His football analogies always made her smile, but she didn’t understand them as quickly and naturally as he handed them out. “Sometimes, I don’t understand anything you say.”
“It means you’ve seen too much of my offense, and I’ve seen too much of your defense. Now, we’re in this together.”
“But you haven’t seen the defense,” she said. “Not yet.”
Kade looked past her. “I’m pretty sure your dad’s at two o’clock.”
Before she even turned, she was baffled that Kade remembered what her father looked like. He’d only seen him that one night. She caught sight of her dad, but stayed in her hiding spot next to Kade.
Snaking an arm around her waist, he pulled her into him. His cologne filled her senses. “I think it’s better to hide here. No one will see you.”
Meeting those deep blue eyes, Felicity felt a nervous energy sizzle through her nerves. The same energy that was always there when Kade was near her, but it had intensified. She thought of the night of the dinner cruise again. How it had felt to be held in this man’s arms. How it felt now to have the feeling of being protected.
Leaning into her ear, he whispered, “You’re so beautiful.”
She shivered. For so long, she’d tried to deny what had started between them. Deny how much she needed this feeling, this protection and attraction and the intensity of being wanted by a man. She hadn’t let herself get close to anyone for so long. Hadn’t let herself feel wanted, needed. Kade had been running the ball down the field, and somehow, when she’d taken her eye off the ball for just a second, he’d broken through her defenses. She smiled, realizing she was actually thinking of her own football analogy.
Sensing her weakness, she felt him pull her closer. “What are you smiling about, Felicity?” His breath was on her face, and every part of her wanted to tilt her head and meet his lips.
“Football,” she said, gently leaning into his shoulder, relaxing against him.
“What?” he laughed. He didn’t complain about her being closer to him, just held her tighter.
“I’ll explain later.” She watched her father, chatting with his buddies, light up a cigarette. He looked filthy and haggard, but at least he had other filthy and haggard friends. As sad as it made her feel, it was better than him being alone.
Kade ran a hand down her hair, and she felt herself giving in to his touch. “Everything okay?” he whispered.
Pulling back from him, she nodded. “Let’s go. I just wanted to—”
Unexpectedly, her father turned, and it appeared he was staring right at her.
Felicity ducked into Kade’s embrace and pressed her face into his neck, panicking. “He can’t see me.”
Kade put an arm around her and started walking in the other direction. “It’s okay. Why do you come here?” he asked as he navigated them down the sidewalk to the bridge.
She was confused. “Because he’s my father.”
“I know that,” he said patiently. “I saw him the night of the auction. But what is the purpose of these Friday lunches? Does he meet you? Do you talk?”
“No.” She knew it would be impossible to explain it to Kade. “I just I have to check on him. I can’t … even though it’s been awful, I can’t …”
“You feel responsible,” Kade said quietly.
They were still walking, and they’d gotten halfway across the bridge and far enough away that she could relax. She stopped, moving closer to the side so people walking by could pass easily. How could he know that? Annoyed, she grasped the chain link fence that prevented people from jumping.
Next to her, Kade grabbed the fence too. “Your father began to drink when he couldn’t stay on top of all the bills. Your medical bills. Your parents fought. You feel like the unraveling of their marriage is your fault.”
Her heart thumped, and she didn’t like being on this side of it. “Don’t be my psychologist, Kade. I just have to make sure he’s okay, and it wa
s a bad idea to bring you.”
For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Kade took her hand, and she let him, hating how much she liked the warmth of it. Hating the way having him here and hearing that he understood, as no one had understood before, was more than comforting. She blinked.
“He’s talking with some guys and laughing. He looks good,” he whispered.
She didn’t turn back to look. “Sometimes I don’t even get this close. I just look through these.” Lamely, she pulled out mini binoculars. “Whenever he sees me, he freaks out around me. But I have to check on him.”
“You’re a good daughter.”
His words brought her a huge amount of validation and comfort. Much as she hated it, it would be a lie to say she didn’t want them. She found herself resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t family relationships always complicated?”
She smelled his spicy cinnamon scent as she stared out over the bridge at the boats on the water and the Tours of Dallas boats that were showing people around the city. “I told you about Jimmy. That’s when my dad really lost it, after he got killed. It was like he kind of lost hope, ya know? I had had all these unsuccessful surgeries, and my brother died. I think he just … well, I know he just couldn’t handle it.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
It was strange that she actually felt better after telling him. “Kade.”
“Yeah.”
“You won’t tell anyone about any of this, will you? Or that you came here with me today?”
He put his arm fully around her, and he pulled her into him. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
She snorted, and then felt embarrassed she’d asked him that. She knew he wouldn’t. “I know, I just … thanks.”
He tugged her chin up, eyeing the tears silently falling down her cheeks, and tsked his tongue. “I’m not gonna lie to you, Felicity Song. It makes me kinda feel better that you may actually need my friendship too.”
She blinked and ignored her rapidly beating heart, uncomfortable that he had seen the real her.
“Exposed again.”
It was like he could read her mind. “What?”