by Addison Cole
“Mung,” Evan answered. Mung was fisherman’s speak for thick seaweed that tangled in their lines.
“Gross. I hate that.” Jenna scrunched her nose.
“Yeah, it’s pretty gross,” Evan said.
“Are you just out for a walk?” Caden gripped the bucket tighter to ease his nerves. It had been so long since he’d been interested in a woman that it took him a minute to get used to his quickening pulse and the tightening in his gut.
“We’re having a bonfire.” Bella pointed to the fire down the beach. Her friends waved, and Bella waved back.
“Want to join us?” Jenna asked.
Bella shot her a look that Caden couldn’t read—she was either pissed or excited—and the two emotions were so far apart that he went with a safe answer, giving her an easy out.
“That’s okay. We don’t want to impose.”
“A bonfire might be fun,” Evan said.
“Of course it’s fun.” Jenna grabbed Evan’s arm and pulled him toward the bonfire. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
The sound of waves breaking filled the silence that stretched between Caden and Bella. Oddly, he didn’t feel rushed to break that silence. Just being in her presence felt nice—almost natural. He forced himself to say something, in case she felt uncomfortable, although she didn’t appear to, the way she was smiling up at him.
“I guess that means we’re staying, but really, if you’d rather we didn’t—”
“No. I’d rather you did. Stay.” Bella seemed quieter than she’d been the previous evening, and Caden didn’t know how to read that, either. A gust of wind swept off the ocean and whipped her hair across her cheek. She shook her head to clear it away. It flew right back again.
Without thinking, he stepped closer and tucked the wayward lock behind her ear.
Bella’s eyes narrowed, as if she were uncomfortable. “That means we’re married, you know.”
She said it with such a serious face that for a second he worried he’d crossed a line. What the devil was he thinking?
Oh, just go with it. “Cool. I’ve never been married before.”
Bella slid a confused glance at Evan, who was making himself right at home with the others.
“Evan’s mom and I were never married,” he explained. Why was he nervous talking about Evan? That was new, too.
“Oh,” Bella said.
He was sure she was waiting for an explanation, but he’d found that when he shared the story of how he and Evan came to be a family, women got weird, like he was a lost puppy who needed taking care of. He didn’t need that garbage. He loved his life with Evan, and he’d never regretted his decision to leave school to take care of him.
“So, you sure you don’t mind if we hang out for a while?”
“The more the merrier, as long as you don’t mind hanging out with a bunch of women. It’s pretty chilly. Do you want to go sit by the fire?”
He’d much rather wrap his arms around her. Short of that, sitting by a fire with Bella sounded just fine. “Sure.”
At the fire, Jenna threw Caden a blanket. “Here, you and Bella can sit on it.”
He almost made a joke about being already married and checked himself before the words left his lips. He didn’t need to freak out Evan, although from the looks of things, he was feeling pretty darn comfortable. He had his hand buried in a bag of marshmallows.
Caden glanced at the others. “I hope we’re not intruding.” He held a hand out to the brunette that had stuck her head out of the cottage window. “I don’t think we met last night. I’m Caden Grant. And this is my son, Evan.”
“I’m Leanna.” She shook his hand. “Evan already introduced himself.”
He was glad to hear that.
The skinny blonde waved to him. “I’m Amy. Want a glass of wine? Oh, and, Evan, we have Sprite if you’d like, too.”
“No, thanks. I have to drive,” Caden answered. The cop in him cataloged that all four of them were drinking.
“That’s why we take a cab to the bonfires. They’ll pick us up at eleven. Like our personal chauffer,” Amy explained.
“Good to know.” Responsible. He liked that. Caden and Evan hadn’t been to a bonfire on the beach, and it wasn’t something Caden would have instigated on his own. He was glad for the opportunity not just to see Bella again, but for Evan to be exposed to something new.
Amy handed a plastic cup of wine to Bella, then dug through the cooler and handed a can of Sprite to Evan.
Caden sat beside Bella on the small blanket, hyperaware of their close proximity. Bella’s hair swept across her face again.
“Does anyone have a ponytail holder?” she asked.
“No, sorry,” Amy said.
The others shook their heads.
“I’m going to the flea market tomorrow and buying three boxes of them. One for my beach bag, one for my car, and one for at home. That way I’m never without,” Bella said. “Anyone want to go with me?”
“The Wellfleet Flea Market?” Evan asked.
“Yeah. Do you want to go?” Bella was asking Evan but looking at Caden with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“Ev?” Please say you want to go. He never thought he’d be hoping his son would want to do something so he could spend time with a girl.
“Yeah. I’m looking for a few PC games, and that discount guy is there on Sundays, remember, Dad?” Evan leaned forward with hope in his eyes.
Bella pulled her hair off her face again, and with the next breeze, it blew back in her face.
“Sure, we can go.” He tried to contain his excitement.
“Great.” Their eyes connected, and for a beat the world stood still. Bella blinked several times, as if she’d felt it too, and then she leaned forward and patted Evan’s leg, while Caden tried to catch his breath. “I know that video game guy. We’ll negotiate a better deal than the three for twenty.” When she turned her attention back to Caden, her eyes were guarded. “Swing by and pick me up at ten?”
“It’s a date.”
“It’s a trip to the flea market,” Bella said with a serious stare.
“Whatever it is, be sure to stop by and see me,” Leanna added.
Another gust of wind made the fire crackle and sparks fly into the air. Bella’s hair whipped around her face again. She reached up with both hands to push it away once more.
“Ugh. I always forget about the wind.”
“I can fix that.” Caden withdrew his tackle box from the bucket and cut a clean piece of fishing line. He sensed their eyes on him as he gathered Bella’s thick, luxurious hair in his hands. He wanted to linger there, with his hands in her hair, so close they’d brush cheeks if he leaned in a few inches. He cleared his throat and pushed the thought away. His son was sitting right there. What was he thinking?
He took Bella’s hand in his and wrapped her fingers around the thick rope of hair, holding it in place so he could tie it back. He leaned in close, inhaling her warm, inviting scent, and set to work tying the fishing line around it.
“So, you’re a cop and a hairstylist?” Jenna teased.
Bella touched the knotted fishing line and turned to face him. “Thank you. I think you just might be the best husband I’ve ever had.”
Evan’s eyes met his—and held.
Caden rolled his eyes to indicate it was a joke, and Evan, the king of eye rolls and whatevers answered with a knowing nod.
“Husband?” Leanna reached for a stick and pushed a marshmallow onto it. “Did I miss something?”
“It was a joke. He did something before and I said it meant we were married.” Bella finished her wine in one gulp, then reached for a marshmallow.
Jenna shot her a narrow-eyed stare and nodded toward Evan.
“Oh, Evan. I was kidding. Really. We just met last night,” Bella clarified.
“It’s okay. My dad doesn’t even date, so…” He shrugged.
Caden didn’t have time to respond before Amy said, “He doesn’t?”
When did you become Mr. Social?
“Why not?” Jenna asked.
“What is this, the Cahoon Hollow Beach Inquisition?” Bella turned to face him. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer them.”
Uh, yeah, I do. He wasn’t about to let them bat around reasons that would either make him look like a loser or a psycho. “Between work and Evan, there isn’t much time for a social life.”
“So, like, you never date? Or…” Amy asked.
“Maybe this isn’t something we should be discussing right now,” Bella suggested.
“I don’t care if my dad dates,” Evan said.
Caden hadn’t dated much over the years, and the few times he had, he hadn’t told Evan because he knew they weren’t dates that would lead to anything real. Now he read the silent question in his son’s eyes. Why don’t you date, Dad? And he decided that was a conversation best held in private.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I recently gave up dating, too,” Bella said before loading up her stick with another marshmallow.
“She’s kidding,” Jenna said quickly.
“Nope. I’m one hundred percent serious. I’m done with commitments.” Bella waved her hand in the air.
Her admission hit with the weight of lead, but the harsh looks Bella’s friends slid her way were skeptical.
“What’s wrong with commitments?” Caden wasn’t sure he could keep the fact that he actually cared about the answer out of his voice.
Bella stared at the fire as she answered. “They’re only as good as the people who make them.”
He saw pain in her eyes, and he wondered how deep that wound went. He needed to change the subject before they got into a discussion that could lead to Evan’s mother and make his son uncomfortable.
“So, how long are you guys at the Cape, or do you live here year-round?” A benign topic that would also give him more information about Bella. Perfect.
“I live here,” Leanna said as she handed out graham crackers and chocolate for s’mores.
“I’m here for the summer.” Amy passed a chocolate bar to Bella.
“Same here,” Jenna said.
Bella finished cooking her marshmallow in silence.
“Bella? Are you here for the summer, or do you live here?”
She stacked the chocolate on top of a graham cracker, added the warm marshmallow, and then topped it off with another graham cracker. She stared at it for a minute before cocking her head in his direction and answering.
“I’m here until the s’mores run out.”
Then let me run to the store for more marshmallows.
She took a bite of the gooey treat and licked a streak of chocolate from her lower lip. She had a dab of marshmallow on her cheek, and once again, it felt natural to reach over and wipe it clean with his finger.
Bella narrowed her eyes. Oops. There was that invisible boundary again. Maybe she wasn’t into him after all.
“I was saving that for later,” she said. With her back to Evan, who was preoccupied with his own dessert, she grabbed his hand and brought it to her mouth. His pulse quickened with the expectation of a sensually evocative suck. With wide, amused eyes, she turned his finger sideways and nibbled the sticky marshmallow off like it was corn on the cob.
“I’ll teach you not to steal my sugar. Open up.” She shoved the s’more toward his mouth.
“No, that’s okay.” He leaned out of reach to tease her.
“Come on. No one can resist s’mores.” She leaned in closer, holding the s’more to his lips. Her knee pressed against his thigh. “You know you want it.”
Yeah, I do. He took a bite of the sweet, sticky treat. Heat flashed in Bella’s eyes as she dragged her finger along the edge of his lower lip and held it up to show him the smear of chocolate before she slowly, seductively, sucked her finger clean.
Holy. Moly.
Beautiful, smart, and sexier than any woman he’d ever met. Bella piqued curiosities and desires that had been slumbering for way too long.
Chapter Four
SUNDAY ARRIVED WITH the promise of sunshine and a swarm of butterflies in Bella’s stomach. She was supposed to be focusing on getting her new life together, not getting all quivery about going to the flea market with a man, and yet there she was, walking into the flea market beside a handsome, charming man and his soft-spoken son. She’d even taken extra care in choosing the brightly colored sundress she wore, and Jenna had insisted that she wear her sexiest bikini beneath, along with matching sandals, because that man deserves sexy. She tried not to stare as she ran her eyes over his handsome face. He had a chiseled, square jaw, and today it was peppered with stubble, darker in the cleft of his chin, giving him an edgier—and impossibly sexier—appearance.
The flea market was held in the parking lot of the Wellfleet Drive-In movie theater. They sold everything from designer duds to cheap jewelry and antiques, and even when it rained, the place was packed. They crossed the parking lot toward the sea of vendor tents and booths, set up in long rows for as far as the eye could see, and joined the crowds of tourists and locals looking for great deals they couldn’t pass up.
“Can I take off, Dad?” Evan shoved his hands in the pockets of his camo shorts. His hair was damp and uncombed, and in his gaming T-shirt, he blended in with every other teen wandering around the flea market.
Caden withdrew a twenty-dollar bill from the pocket of his shorts and handed it to Evan. “You have your phone?”
Evan held it up, like he’d been asked the same question a million times. He probably had.
“Okay. Text if you need me, and don’t leave the grounds.”
“I know,” Evan said with an exasperated sigh, then disappeared into the crowd.
“He’s a sweet kid,” Bella said.
“Usually. He’s in that stage where testosterone can win out over common sense, so if he appears snappy at times, or disinterested, I apologize ahead of time.”
“I’m a high school teacher. I know probably more than I should about teenagers.”
“So you’re a teacher?” He ran his hand through his thick hair, then placed it on her lower back as they maneuvered through the crowd.
He emitted a confident and tender vibe, and it was such a strange combination that Bella found herself sneaking peeks at him. She tried not to focus on how nice his hand felt on her back, and forced herself to respond.
“I’ve been teaching in Connecticut for the last five years, but I’m working for the Barnstable County school system this summer. I’m hoping it leads to full-time.”
She stopped to look at a display of necklaces, and Caden’s hand slipped away. She sensed him behind her, protectively shielding her from the masses as they meandered by. Bella was not a woman who needed protecting, and she’d never had a man treat her like she was. Everything about Caden felt different from the other men she’d dated, and she wondered if it had anything to do with his having a son and being a cop, and protecting others for all those years. It was a strange sensation to have a man she wasn’t dating stand so close that she could feel his warmth and smell his earthy, spicy, almost primal scent—and, wow, she loved the smell of him.
Bella looked for Leanna, but her vendor space was empty. She wondered what had come up that would cause her to leave the flea market so early, but she knew if it were something bad, Jenna would have tracked her down. Probably one of Kurt’s surprise outings.
The crowd thickened near a popular L.L. Bean display, and Bella felt his big hand settle on her lower back again as they wove their way through to the next booth. His hand felt nice. Maybe too nice. I’m not getting involved. It’s just a hand. She rolled her eyes at the thought and reminded herself that she wasn’t really going to swear off men, just commitments.
“So you’re moving from Connecticut?” He stopped and flipped through a box of CDs.
She was considering how much she wanted to reveal about her cu
rrent situation when he glanced up with that easy smile that distracted her from her thoughts. She realized she was staring and turned her attention to the CDs.
“You don’t share personal details of your life very easily, do you?”
“I just don’t want to bore you.” Even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t the truth. He was so easy to talk to that it took effort not to share everything with him, but she’d made a promise to herself. She knew it would be ten times more difficult to make life decisions based solely on what she wanted if she were involved with a caring, protective man like Caden. He wasn’t someone a person just dated. She knew that already. Caden could be a game changer.
“Bore me. Please.”
His voice was so full of sincerity that it drew her eyes to his again. Heck if they weren’t also honest and interested. Definitely interested.
“There’s not much to tell. I’m in a transitional period, looking for a new job. You know, figuring things out as I go.” And shoot, why do I want to hold your hand? She fisted her hands to keep from doing just that.
They continued down the row of vendors, and every time the crowd grew thick, his hand returned to her back. A gesture as possessive as it was protective, it made her warm with desire—and shiver with worry, because being with him felt that good that fast.
They turned down the next aisle and Caden stopped. He was tall and broad, making it easy for his eyes to dance over the heads of the crowd, finally settling on Evan, talking to a couple of teenagers by the discount game vendor in the next row over.
“I can probably negotiate a deal for him if you want to go over. Everyone here barters.”
Eyes still on Caden, he pressed his hand a little firmer to her back. “No, not yet. Maybe he’ll meet a friend or two.”
“Doesn’t he have many friends?”
“We just moved here a few weeks before summer began. He didn’t really have time to get to know anyone.” His brow furrowed, and his eyes grew serious. He placed his hand on her back again. “Come on. Let’s find you those hair things you wanted.”
You remembered. “It’s tough on kids to move, especially teenagers. What brought you to Wellfleet?”