Love Collides (Fate's Love #3)

by L A Cotton

  “I’m on birth control. It’s fine,” I said confidently, disguising my nerves. Tonight was about accepting our feelings for each other, and I wanted nothing between us. No barriers or scars of my past. Just us.

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded, running my hands down his back and to his butt. He pulled out slightly and thrust back in and I cried out. The feel of him was almost too much.

  “Ahh, Kade, more, more,” I moaned against his mouth as he set a measured pace. My body responded all on its own; rising to meet each thrust as Kade gripped my hips.

  “Fuck, you feel so good,” he panted, increasing his stride. Taking us higher and higher until my stomach started to coil. I clung to Kade while he stole my moans with his mouth.

  Chapter 11

  ~ Kade ~

  “Mom, I was thinking, I’d like to bring Staci by to meet you before she leaves.”

  Mom stared at me across the kitchen like I’d grown a second head. And then her frown melted into a huge smile.

  “My boy’s in love. I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “Okay, okay." I held my hands up. "Let's not do this. It’s not prom, Mom. I’m not your little boy anymore.”

  She huffed. “Kade Ford, it doesn’t matter how old or ugly you get, you’ll always be my baby. And, of course, I want to meet the girl who’s stolen your heart.”

  Mom made it out to sound like one of her sappy romance books. I didn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing. Staci was still keeping a part of herself from me, and I hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about my childhood.

  We both had secrets.

  But since the night of Livy’s birthday, things had been good. Better than good, things had been fucking amazing. Staci wasn’t clamming up at the first sign of things getting real, and she’d spent pretty much every night at my apartment. There was only one more weekend before she headed home to Kaplan and then flew out to Ecuador.

  She would be gone for three weeks.

  It was nothing. A spec in our future. Except once she returned, I would be counting down until the next time she left. It was the other thing we still hadn’t talked about. Staci had only just acknowledged there was something real between us, and I didn’t want to scare her off with the whole long distance thing. Not yet.

  I would just have to strap down my balls and suck it up.

  "I'll cook, make your favorite?"

  I rose from the chair and pressed a kiss to her head. "Whatever Mom, don't go to too much trouble."

  But I could already see she was plotting, her eyes alive with excitement. It was the most animated I'd seen her in years. Even before what happened. And I couldn't help but think that maybe Staci wasn't only good for me.

  ~

  "She likes flowers, right? Or should I trash the flowers and buy wine?"

  I watched with an amused smiled on my face as Staci paced my living room.

  "Could you at least help? Flowers or wine? Fuckety. I should have got wine."

  "Calm down, you're going to burn a hole." My eyes dropped to the carpet. "Mom doesn't need gifts. You're enough excitement for her."

  "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Staci's head whipped around to mine, and if looks could kill, I would have been dead where I sat. "Staci, my mom has been waiting for the day I took a girl home to meet her."

  "Oh."

  I chuckled at the perplexed look on her face.

  "Another first to add to the list."

  "Okay, so everything should be fine, right? We'll go meet your mom, I'll dazzle her with my personality and charm, and then we'll come back here and you can make sure you give me something to remember you by while I'm away."

  Staci was joking, but it didn't stop the sinking feeling in my chest. One more weekend. And then who knew where that would leave us.

  It wasn't enough time.

  I caught Staci's hand in mine as she paced past me. "Stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine. You already both have something in common. Me. That should be more than enough to break the ice. She'll love you."

  Just like I do.

  I was over denying it. The tiny blond girl staring back at me had barreled into my life and captured my heart, and I didn't ever want her to give it back.

  “I’m not sure your mom will appreciate me telling her how much I like your dick.”

  Pulling her tighter, I barked out a laugh. “And here’s me thinking you were head over heels for my personality and charm.”

  “Come on, Ford. Take me to thy mother, before I run for the hills.”

  ~ Staci ~

  Kade was a sneaky bastard. He’d tricked me into agreeing to meet his mom, catching me off guard after making me come, twice. I would have agreed to anything right after sex with him, and he knew it.

  Jess Ford’s house was only around the block from Kade’s apartment, on a nice street with a mix of one and two-story houses complete with perfectly tended lawns and hand painted mailboxes. It was cute. The kind of place you could imagine parents wanting to raise their kids. It looked friendly. Safe.

  “Nice neighborhood,” I said, as we climbed out of Kade’s truck and walked hand in hand up the path to the porch.

  Kade seemed more uptight than he had earlier. He shrugged and muttered something under his breath. I was too busy fighting the tidal wave of nerves in my stomach that I didn’t bother asking him to repeat it.

  “Mom, it’s us,” Kade called out into the house.

  The sound of a woman humming floated through the hallway. The tune was full of sadness, and I found myself lingering behind Kade, not wanting to intrude on her private moment.

  “Come on, she’s cooking.” He tugged my hand gently, his eyes locking with mine to tell me that everything was okay. I nodded and followed him into the kitchen.

  An older lady with dark hair tied loosely at the nape of her neck was busy chopping vegetables and adding them to a huge pot on the stove. Her eyes were all Kade, only wrinkled around the corners showing the life in her years.

  Noticing us, she wiped her hands down her apron and beamed, “Son, you’re here. And this must be Staci. My, you’re beautiful. Get over here and give me a hug.”

  All I could do was hug Jess back as she enveloped me in her arms. She wasn’t as tall as Kade, but she still stood higher than I did. “I’ve been waiting to meet you.” Her voice lowered enough that only I could hear her, and she said, “Thank you.”

  Thank you?

  Too stunned to reply, I nodded and smiled back at the woman who resembled Kade so much more than I first thought. They shared the same mouth and jaw and chiseled cheekbones. Jess Ford was beautiful.

  Kade had left us to fetch drinks from the refrigerator, and he returned placing a wine glass in my hand. I would have preferred a beer, but needing the extra courage, I took a sip and pulled up a chair to the small wooden table in the corner of the room.

  “Smells good, Mom.”

  “Nothing but the best for my son and his girlfriend.”

  I almost choked on my mouthful of wine, gulping down the bitter fizz while I pretended that I didn’t just hear that. But Kade caught my panic and his lips curled up in a smirk. He loved this. Watching me squirm and sweat under the limelight gave him pleasure.

  “I hope you like pot roast?”

  “I’ll eat anything, Mrs. Ford.”

  “Staci has a healthy appetite. Right, babe?”

  Babe? I glared at him, and Kade flashed me another grin. Heat shone in his eyes and I wondered if he was talking about just food or something else entirely.

  “Honey, please, call me Jess. It needs another hour to stew, but that’s good for me because I want to know everything about you.”

  Oh, fuckety.

  Jess wasted no time in ushering us to the living room and launching into her Spanish Inquisition. Where did I grow up? What was my family like? Did I go to college? What did I do for work? Who was I voting for in next election campaign? The barrage of questions was never ending. Kade intervene
d on a couple of occasions, steering his mom away from talk about my past and family.

  After what felt like all evening, she clasped a hand over her mouth and said, “My, I’m sorry. How rude of me. You’ll have to excuse me. I’m sure Kade has explained that I don’t get out much; I’m just a little excited to have company.” Her eyes flickered to Kade and so did mine. He’d never explained anything. Apart from once mentioning a deadbeat father, talking about his past had always been a no-go area. I stored the piece of information away for later. “And I want us to get to know each other while we have a chance. Kade said you’re leaving soon?”

  My eyes shot to Kade, and I gave him my best we’ll-be-talking-about-this-later smile.

  “It’s only for three weeks. I’ve been working with a particular family since I first started work out in Portoviejo, and Camila just had her third child. I missed the birth, so I want to make sure I get to see them soon.”

  “It must be so eye-opening being in a country like Ecuador. I’ve never left the state.” Jess swallowed hard before pursing her lips and staring out of the window. The look in her eyes haunted me, causing shivers to run over my body.

  “I asked her to come back for New Year’s, but she blew me off,” Kade’s voice pulled Jess back to us.

  I discreetly covered his foot with mine and pressed down hard, pissed that he was pulling such a stunt. He remained unaffected, leaving the room and heading back to the kitchen.

  His laughter followed.

  ~ Kade ~

  Staci had Mom hanging off her every word in no time. All it took was a clean plate and a couple more glasses of wine. We’d finished dinner and moved back to the living room for cherry cobbler and cream.

  “You didn’t,” Mom gasped, her eyes shining brightly with shock.

  It was nice to see her so animated and happy.

  “I did. I grabbed him by the balls and told him if he wanted any chance of carrying on his family name, he better remove his hand from my ass and walk on by.” Staci sipped another mouthful of wine like there was nothing strange about reliving college stories with my fifty-four-year-old mother.

  “And what did he do?”

  “After I handed him back his balls? He walked right on by and out of the club.”

  Mom exploded into fits of laughter. “Excuse me, I need to pee. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.”

  The second she was out of the room, I turned to Staci and said, “Thank you.”

  “For what? Telling your mom inappropriate college stories?”

  I brought a finger to the corner of her mouth and brushed away the drop of wine. “For being here. For making her laugh.”

  Staci’s mouth opened ready to say something, but she hesitated and clamped it shut. I had no doubt she wanted to know about Mom. About us and our story. But it wasn’t the time or the place.

  “So, what are your plans for tonight? I’m sure you don’t want to sit around with this old woman all night.” Mom sank into the armchair and smiled at us.

  I knew what I planned on doing, and it involved Staci naked in my bed, but she had been unsure about coming back to the apartment tonight when I’d asked her earlier. She was making excuses that she still hadn’t packed or said bye to Livy. Staci was leaving for Kaplan on Monday, which only left tonight and tomorrow night.

  There was no way I was spending either night without her. Not happening.

  “It was really nice to meet you, Jess. That cherry cobbler was to die for. I had a lovely evening. We’ll have to do it again when I’m back.”

  My heart picked up speed. It was the first time Staci had talked about the future. Sure, she was probably just humoring Mom, but I couldn’t help but hope she meant it. That she was really coming back…to me.

  Fuck, the next three weeks were going to be harder than I thought.

  “Bye, Mom. Thanks for dinner. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” I dropped a kiss on her head and glanced back at Staci, waiting for me in the doorway.

  Mom’s hand grasped my shoulder, and she leaned up to whisper, “I love her. Don’t screw this up, Kade Ford. I will kick your butt ten ways to Sunday. Girls like Staci don’t come around often.”

  I didn’t need to hear the conviction in her voice to know she was right. I’d known it for a while now. Staci was special. One of a kind.

  And I didn’t intend on letting her go without a fight.

  ~ Staci ~

  I pocketed my phone. Kade was expecting me, and I was late. Packing one suitcase was much harder than it looked. My life’s belongings littered my room at Lou and Russ’s. The plan had been to spend the night packing and then go for drinks with the girls, but Kade whined like a little bitch when I said he would have to wait until tomorrow to see me.

  It was cute. I could picture him pouting on the other end of the line. His sexy bottom lip just begging to be nibbled. It totally worked, and packing ended up a girl’s evening in. Now I was slightly tipsy, only half-packed, and walking the short distance from Lou’s to Kade’s. He’d offered to pick me up, but I wanted the chance to clear my head.

  The familiar apartment building came into view and I quickened my pace, eager to see him. Since meeting Jess Ford last night, I’d spent the day thinking about the future. I’d even looked into catching an earlier flight to be back in Gainesville for New Year’s. I wanted to surprise Kade. He’d been patient with me—he’d pushed me enough to admit what he already knew—and I wanted to show him that I did feel the same. Even if I wasn’t ready to lay all my cards on the table, I could do baby steps.

  For him, I’d try my damn hardest to be that girl.

  Kade buzzed me right up. Walking into his apartment was like walking into another world. Darkness cast over the whole room; only the amber flickers of hundreds of tea lights lit the space. Kade had dragged his small table into the living room and covered it with a plain tablecloth. A large candle was burning brightly in the center and the table had place settings for two.

  “Wha-what is all of this?” I asked a little shell-shocked.

  Dating was one thing, but this, this was something else. This was intimate and heartfelt and beautiful. It was as if Kade had dressed his apartment up in his feelings for me.

  “Liv might have let it slip that it’s your birthday over the holidays. I wanted to celebrate with you.”

  My mouth dropped open. I had nothing.

  “You haven’t bolted yet.” Kade’s eyes darted to the door behind me. “So I’ll take that as a good sign.”

  My head nodded, but I still couldn’t find any words.

  Luck was on my side because a timer started beeping from the kitchen and Kade left me standing there—mouth hanging open—while he went to attend to dinner.

  “Food’s up in ten, so you might want to grab a drink and make yourself comfortable.”

  “Okay.” My voice cracked as I dropped into one of the seats.

  I watched Kade move around the kitchen with ease. The guy had been holding out on me. He could cook, and I wondered if it was a talent passed on from Jess. They both looked completely at home stirring the pot and tasting their creations.

  My stomach rumbled and I tore off a piece of bread and popped it into my mouth.

  “I heard that.” Kade laughed over his shoulder, and I looked around me again, unable to comprehend the effort he’d put into tonight.

  Was this really happening?

  Because it was a side to Kade I’d never seen, and yet a side I figured he’d only ever shown to me.

  The thought left me breathless.

  ~ Kade ~

  The plan had been dinner and dessert—with Staci being dessert. But sitting across from her, it felt like I should say something, anything, to acknowledge that she was leaving in less than forty-eight hours.

  Goodbyes weren’t something I had much experience with. People came and went in my life—friends, relatives—but none would leave a hole the way Staci would. And she hadn’t even left yet.

  I think part of me expe
cted her not to come back. I was still waiting for her to shake herself out of it and realize this wasn’t what she wanted. But over the last week, she’d become more and more at ease around me. And the ties between us were growing tighter—for me, anyway.

  “You’re looking at me funny. Do I have something in my teeth?” Staci bared her teeth to me, swiping her tongue across them.

  “No, there’s nothing in your teeth. I’m just admiring the view.”

  “You do that a lot,” she said casually. As if the fact she knew I watched her a lot was normal.

  “I do not.”

  “You do. You think I can’t see you, or that I’m not looking. But I feel you.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Staci dropped her napkin on the plate and held her hands up. “Guess only I’ll ever know.”

  I collected up the empty dishes and left them in the sink. Washing could wait. Time was ticking by too quickly, and my gut was telling me to make the most of tonight because I had a feeling Staci wouldn’t be the kind to do grand goodbyes.

  Ignoring her protests, I looped my arms under her legs and waist and lifted her off the chair.

  “Put me down. This is ridiculous. I can walk, Ford. Put me down.” Her hands beat against my chest, but I stalked forward to my room.

  Staci landed on my bed with a bounce and glared up at me. “Do you want me to puke all over your bed?”

  I didn’t reply. Words were backing up in my throat. Choking me.

  I had so much I wanted to say.

  “Stay.” The single word found its way out, rolling off my tongue.

  “Kade, seriously? We did this already. I have to go. It’s three weeks. It’s not like it’s forever. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “Will you?”

  Fucker, I cursed myself.

  Staci scooted to the end of the bed and beckoned me to her. I went willing, dropping to my knees in front of her.

  “I’ll be back January fourth. It’ll fly by, you’ll see.”

  “January fourth.” I hooked my pinky finger around hers, holding them in front of our faces. “I’ll hold you to that.”