Her mouth tasted as dry as a desert.
“Bells, what are you doing here?” he asked, releasing her from her hot-man coma. “It’s after midnight.”
Well, there was no escaping now. She might as well go back to her original plan. “I’m pretty sure you know.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he pushed the door farther open, making room for her to step inside.
The beauty of the exterior was nothing compared to the interior. She stepped onto the white marble covering the entryway. A chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling. The double stairway with hardwood flooring led to the upper level. She followed Kaden through the entrance between the staircases, which led to his gourmet-styled kitchen. These appliances could give her industrial-quality bakery equipment a run for their money. The exquisite granite countertops just happened to be the exact shade she wanted for her kitchen.
“You look surprised. What were you expecting?” Kaden asked.
She circled the island in the middle of the kitchen, tapping her index finger against her bottom lip. “With three twenty-something bachelors living alone, I imagined a huge flat-screen TV, a shot glass collection, and lots of sports memorabilia. At the very least, an indoor tiki bar.”
He chuckled. “Well, you’re right about the flat screen.” He pointed through another doorway.
The mounted television took up most of the wall. On the other side of the room, logs burned inside a brick fireplace, surrounded by a leather sectional sofa and matching chaise lounge.
She picked her jaw up off the floor. “This place is incredible.”
Kaden gripped the refrigerator handle. “Would you like something to drink? Maybe a glass of wine?”
Light-headed at the thought of more alcohol, she said, “Is there any chance you have coffee?”
He reached inside the fridge, pulling out a glass container filled with dark coffee beans. “No problem. It’ll only take a minute.”
She sat on one of the kitchen table chairs, watching as he poured the beans into a grinder and then headed for a machine almost too large for his countertop. She was sure it was one of the same ones the baristas used at Starbucks. “Why do you come to my bakery every day when you’ve got all of this here?”
Facing the coffee machine, he said, “I don’t come for the food. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. But I come for you.”
A shiver rippled through her.
He jolted. “I mean, I look forward to our conversations. You’re always entertaining.”
He finds me entertaining? She had a vision of herself as one of those circus bears riding on a bicycle. Sexy. “Oh.”
Hazelnut and cinnamon wafted toward her, and she inhaled deeply. Nothing smelled better than freshly brewed coffee. He sat a steaming ceramic cup in front of her along with a side of creamer. “I think you’ll enjoy this,” he said, plopping down in the seat next to her. “The beans were imported from Indonesia.”
She took a sip; the warm liquid heated her throat. “Thank you.”
He watched her as she drank. Neither said a word for several minutes until he broke the silence. “I want to apologize for what happened. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
An apology? She’d waited months for something to happen between them, and he regretted it. “You ruined my date with Michael.”
Tension built between his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I wish I could take it back.”
“You’re sorry?” she said, eyes wide. “You can’t just say that and expect things to go back to the way they were.”
He shifted in his seat as if he were uncomfortable. “We could try to forget about it.”
How was she supposed to forget the feel of his hands on her body, his lips on her skin? She thought about throwing her empty cup at him. “Maybe you don’t know what came over you, but you were certainly into it while it was happening.”
He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. Heat raced up her arm, through her body, and settled in her core. “I’m not denying it. You’re a beautiful woman, and I lost control. It happened, but that doesn’t mean things have to change between us. We can get through this. Our friendship means everything to me.”
Finally, he’d said what she had feared. What happened between them wasn’t worth risking their friendship. She wasn’t worth the risk. She wasn’t enough. A thick lump swelled in her throat. “Is that really what you want, Kaden? Are you telling me you feel nothing for me?”
He glanced away. “It doesn’t matter what I want. This is for the best.”
So he did want her? She tried to make sense of the confusion. “Why? What does that even mean?”
His body visibly tensed. “It means I don’t have a choice in the matter. There are things outside of us in play here, and I can’t say any more than that.”
Outside circumstances? She was determined to solve this mystery. “I’m just supposed to be satisfied with your cryptic answer? No frigging way.”
Kaden put his hand on her cheek. The heat of his palm radiated through her skin. “No. I’m asking you to trust me.”
“Trust you?” she questioned, trying hard not to think about how close his lips were.
“Yes,” he replied, eyes full of a longing that didn’t match up with what he was saying. His emotions were erratic at best, but his expression seemed almost painful.
She forced herself to look away, focusing on a bowl of lemons sitting on the counter. “Will you ever tell me the truth?”
“I hope so.”
The room cooled when he pulled his hands back. There was a long, uncomfortable silence. “So where does that leave us?” she asked.
Her question brought a smile back to his face. “That’s up to you. I don’t want things to change. I don’t want to lose your friendship.”
Regardless of what happened between them, he was her best friend. She couldn’t imagine not having him in her life, even if it wasn’t exactly what she wanted. Something was always better than nothing at all. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”
“Then it’s settled.” He pulled her into an embrace. “It’s been a long night for both of us. How about I drive you home?”
Inhaling a deep breath, she was overwhelmed by the woodsy scent of his bare skin. Desire surged through her—a euphoric sensation, vibrating all the way to her core. A second later, her nipples pebbled. Worried he might notice, she pulled away from him, covering her chest with her crossed arms. What was happening to her? “I think that’s a good idea.”
Chapter Eight
Sunday was a day of relaxation for Annabelle. A full day of fun without any timers going off or customers. She typically stopped by the farmers market for the ingredients to make salsa and guacamole. Kaden showed up around noon with the pita chips and beer. They’d spend the afternoon eating and cheering for their favorite football team—the Baltimore Ravens.
This Sunday was different.
Instead of sleeping in, Annabelle had been up since Kaden dropped her off. She’d tried to sleep, but her mind wouldn’t shut off. He was keeping secrets. Something from his past haunted his present. She had to find out what. To do that, she needed help—but she had no idea where to start when it came to digging up information on someone.
Lucky for her, she knew exactly whom to call.
Hilary showed up at her door, uncharacteristically in a black tank top and matching yoga pants. Her blond hair was tied up in a loose bun on top of her head, and she had a bag with two doughnuts inside. “I rushed over as soon as I got your texts.” She sat on top of the kitchen counter, rummaging through the bag. “Now, spill. Don’t leave anything out.”
Annabelle took her through every detail of the night, from the make-out session through Kaden driving her home. As Annabelle got to the end of the story, Hilary burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, Bells. I just can’t believe after all that, he’s still in denial. What an idiot.”
She wasn’t sure about the denial. To her, it was a rejection. “Do you think I’m right?
Is he hiding something?”
“Oh, hell to the yeah,” she replied and then put her hand up as she paused to take a big swig of her coffee. “Now we’ve got to find out what it is.”
That was the question of the day. Kaden never spoke about his past. There were no clues and no clear place to start looking for answers. “How do we do that?”
The wicked smile on Hilary’s face made Annabelle nervous. “Well, for starters, did anything turn up when you Googled him?”
She used the search engine every day for simple things like spell-check, ordering from vendors, and most recently to find recruiters for the three job openings she planned to fill as soon as possible. “I never Googled him.”
Hilary shook her head. “Oh, sweetie, you should’ve done that the first time you met him.” She hopped off the counter and gave Annabelle a pat on the head. “You have so much to learn, my naive apprentice.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And why would I want to do that?”
Mr. Crisco entered the room, settling himself on the sofa. She was surprised it had taken him this long. The cat was very nosy.
Hilary made her way over to Annabelle’s laptop and powered it on. “It’s the easiest way to start your research. If he’s into social media, links to his Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will pop up. You can tell a lot about a person just by reading their feeds.”
All the research talk left Annabelle feeling a bit dirty. “This feels like an invasion of privacy.”
Hilary placed a hand on her chest as if she was offended, but she knew better. “How? You decide for yourself how much you want to put out there. All we’re doing is reading it. It’s not like we’re sneaking into his house and rummaging through his underwear drawer.”
The mention of underwear made her wonder if Kaden wore boxers or briefs. With a body like his, either would look amazing. Her mind drifted off, imagining him standing over her at the foot of her bed in black briefs. Her core tightened. Man, she couldn’t believe a mental picture made her body react so strongly. Looked like Orgasmo would be getting another workout tonight. “I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” Hilary sat down at her computer desk. “Now, let’s see what we come up with.”
Annabelle stood behind Hilary while she searched the internet. She moved so quickly through the pages, it was like watching a ninja. “Your investigative skills are pretty impressive. Homeland Security could probably use someone like you.”
Hilary peeked over her shoulder with a cheeky grin across her face. “They could never afford me.” A second later, she was back to ticking away on the keyboard, then stopped abruptly. “This is so weird.”
“What?” Annabelle bent down to get a better look at the screen. Scanning the Google background, all she saw was a long list of website names and links.
“There’s nothing,” she said, pointing to the screen.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can’t find anything under the name Kaden Chance. Nothing on social media. Nothing in the white pages. Nothing at all. The guy’s a ghost.”
“There must be some kind of mistake.” Annabelle grabbed a pencil and wrote on a sheet of paper sitting on the desk. She handed the paper to Hilary. “Try using his name and address.”
“Good idea. See, I knew there was a stalker in you.” Hilary entered the information into the search box. “The only thing that comes up is a map to the house.” She leaned back in the chair. Frustration crinkled the corners of her eyes. “Again, nothing with his name.”
“Try one of his brothers: Hayden or Camden.” She bit her bottom lip while Hilary clicked away on the keyboard. There had to be something on the brothers. Hayden worked for the federal government and Camden was a college student. Cam must have had a Facebook page full of friends and girls he’d dated.
Hilary tapped her red-painted fingernails against the computer desk with a perplexed look across her face. “This is unbelievable. There’s nothing on either of them.”
She had run out of ideas. It was as if the Chance brothers never existed in cyberspace. How was that possible? Hilary continued searching through public criminal records and newspaper archives. The girl had a serious talent, but even she couldn’t figure it out. Their inability to find information on Kaden only validated Annabelle’s concerns that he was hiding something. And whatever it was, she had a feeling it was big. “What should I do?”
Hilary pressed her lips together. “I know someone who may be able to fill in some of the blanks. I’ll make a call and cash in a favor.”
Annabelle couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have a friend like Hilary. In all the years they had known each other, she could always count on her. “I really appreciate you doing this for me. Thank you so much.”
Hilary shrugged her off like it wasn’t a big deal. “I have to admit, my curiosity is piqued. I’ve never come across anything like this before. Usually there are pages of information, especially for people our age. This whole thing is beyond weird.”
Something popped in Annabelle’s head that she’d never thought of before. “Do you think it’s possible those aren’t their real names?”
Hilary’s eyes filled with excitement. “Oh, you mean like fake identities? This story is getting juicer by the minute.”
Kaden had told her he worked for a company out of Virginia. Something having to do with mechanical engineering. Once he’d told her he spent most days staring at blueprints, which was why he could work remotely from home. He made the whole thing sound really boring, always choosing to redirect the questions back to her. Was it possible he’d made all that up? “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let’s wait to see if your contact can help us.”
Hilary nodded her head. “Exactly. I’ll call him today.” She pulled her into a hug. “I gotta run anyway. I’ll call you as soon as I hear back from him.”
Annabelle stood in the kitchen with her arms hugging her waist. Confusion and worry plagued her thoughts. One question lingered in her mind: Who is Kaden Chance?
“You can’t be serious,” Cam said, catching Kaden as he was about to walk out the front door.
Kaden had a twelve-pack of beer in one hand and a bag of pita chips in the other. “What do you mean? It’s Sunday.”
Cam shook his head. “Look, man, I know you don’t have much experience with human girls, but you can’t show up at Annabelle’s house like nothing happened.”
He sat the twelve-pack on the floor. “We talked about it last night and decided we’d continue being friends.”
Cam raised an eyebrow. “And that would be well and good if she wasn’t your mate.”
Mate. He’d told Hayden he would stick to his routine. That meant watching the game at her apartment on Sunday and maintaining their friendship. His logical mind fought against his growing urges. Last night, he couldn’t have a simple conversation without touching her. And she didn’t make things any easier. He could smell the desire pouring out of her. It took every ounce of his self-control to hold himself back. At times, it was painful. “I know what I’m doing. I’ve got the situation under control.”
Cam laughed. “Like you did yesterday? Dude, we both know it’s only going to get worse. You’re like a ticking sex bomb.”
Deep down, Kaden knew he was right. Annabelle would become an irresistible, unquenchable thirst. Ordinarily, she would feel the same pull, but there was no way to know how a human would react. “There’s no such thing as a sex bomb.”
Cam spread himself flat across the sofa with his arms crossed behind his head. “Yeah, well, there definitely should be.”
“Be serious.”
He sat up. “I’m trying to tell you, it’s foolish to fight the bond between you. You’d be better off going with it and letting the panties drop where they may.”
And what would happen if he did bond with her? There was no chance it would ever work out between them. He had to hide who he was from the world. A life with him meant Annabelle would have to lie t
o her friends and family about their relationship. He would never be able to marry her or give her the children she wanted. They’d talked about her dreams for a white picket fence and a family. Even if she were willing to give up those things, wouldn’t he be putting her life in danger? A dull ache formed in the pit of his chest. “You know that’s not possible.”
If he could somehow push away these human emotions of his, maybe he stood a chance of keeping her in his life. Maybe someday he could actually be happy for her if she found a suitable mate. He dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands at the thought of her with a human. “I have to go. She’s waiting for me.”
“Don’t forget the condoms,” Cam shouted out. “Matter of fact, you might want to double up. With all your pent-up frustration, there’s bound to be an explosion.”
“Hilarious,” he replied, shutting the door behind him as he made his way toward his truck. Once inside, he slid his seat belt on and leaned back against the head cushion with his eyes closed. Filled with self-doubt, he worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. But he had to.
For the sake of everyone he loved, he had to find a way.
Chapter Nine
The roar of the call box jolted Annabelle out of her seat. She glanced over at the clock. It was almost one. The game was about to start. Had Kaden decided to come watch football? No way, after all the tension between them, would he show up. She spoke into the box. “Hello?”
“It’s me, Bells. Buzz me up.”
Mr. Crisco headed into the spare bedroom as soon as he heard Kaden’s voice. For some reason, he never warmed up to him.
“Okay, sure.” Her legs weakened. What was she supposed to say? The last time she’d seen him, she’d shown up drunk on his doorstep. “Come on up,” she said, pushing the button to unlock the front door. There was no time to think. She hurried to the refrigerator to check out the food situation. Opening a container of salsa, she sniffed it to see if it was still edible. It was odor-free. Then she remembered making it two nights ago. She poured the mix into one of her football-shaped dip bowls.
Under His Skin Page 5