by Cate Beauman
She smiled, certain that Cade Paxton had already stolen her heart. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
He played with the ends of her hair. “You don’t have to thank me, Gwen.”
She bent down, kissing him again, cupping his cheeks, letting their embrace heat up as she sought his tongue. Moments passed before she eased back. “Thank you, anyway.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Will we see you for breakfast in the morning?”
“Count on it.” But he frowned, pulling her face closer as he held her gaze. “What’s up? You’re literally an open book.”
It was her turn to frown. “No, I’m not.”
He smiled a little. “I can read every emotion that plays over your face. All of a sudden, something’s bothering you.”
She shrugged. “I just feel awful that it’s late—that you’ve helped me out, and I’m not ready to let you stay over yet.”
He brought her knuckles to his lips, kissing them gently. “This isn’t a bartering service for sexual favors, Gwen. When you’re ready, we’ll have our sleepover.”
“It’s not even the sex—or at least, not all of it. Letting you wake up in my bed. Kaitlyn seeing you lying there. That’s a big deal—another step.”
He nodded. “And that’s why we’re taking our time.”
“But is this working for you? Waiting? You’re a gorgeous, successful man. You can have anyone you want.” And she loathed that she had such deep insecurities—that her time with Liam had left her questioning whether she was enough.
“I want you, Gwen.”
She wanted so badly to believe that everything could be so simple. Because if she’d learned anything over the last couple of years, it was that things changed. People changed their minds all the time. She’d been one of them. The idea of Cade changing his terrified her. “My life has a lot of complications—a lot of baggage.”
His frown was back as his eyes grew hot. “I knew what I was walking into when we decided to move forward. And I don’t like you referring to Kaitlyn as ‘baggage.’ She’s certainly not a complication or a burden.”
Gwen studied the fierceness in his gaze as he defended her daughter. Where had this wonderful man come from? “I know that—”
He abruptly sat up, keeping Kaitlyn cradled against him. “Men with bank accounts like mine have women throwing themselves at them all the time. Ten years ago, that worked for me. Ten years ago, it didn’t matter if someone liked me for me or if they were looking for a night out on the town and a good fuck.”
She blinked at his frankness.
He grinned. “It matters now, Gwen. We’re moving forward for all the right reasons.” He nudged her close, kissing her again. “Trust that.”
She brought her lips back to his, deciding she was going to do her damnedest to try.
He eased away. “As much as I want to stay and talk, I’m going to give you our bug here, so I can get home and get to bed.” He handed over Kaitlyn.
The baby opened her eyes, then closed them again as she settled in her mother’s arms.
Gwen stood as Cade did. “I’ll walk you to the door. Leave your shirt, and I’ll wash it. I’m throwing in a dark load tomorrow anyway.”
He slipped his feet into his usual black slides. “I appreciate it.”
She walked him to the entryway, standing on her tiptoes, kissing him again, keeping him close with her hand at the back of his neck, so she held his gaze. “I don’t care about your bank account or what your name means in this world. I only care about you.”
He smiled. “I know that.”
She smiled back. “I just wanted to say it—for you to hear the words out loud and know that I mean them.”
“I do.” He kissed her again. “And I want you to know that I mean it when I say that you and Kaitlyn are the best things that have ever happened to me.”
She grinned as her heart soared because she believed him. “Aw. Cade.”
He kissed her, then pressed a quick kiss to Kaitlyn’s forehead before he opened the door.
“Good night,” she said, still beaming. “Safe flights tomorrow.”
“Night.” He tossed her a wink. “And thanks.”
Chapter 19
Gwen held Kaitlyn while she stood by Cade’s side, smiling for the camera. The Deacons, Brad, and the rest of the Carter crew joined them, crowding together for the shot that would appear in tomorrow’s edition of The Sanderson Gazette. Today was a big day for the founding families and the entire island alike—the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Carter Island Splash Pad.
“Let’s do one more,” Clarke, The Gazette’s longtime photographer, said. “Give me another smile.”
On cue, Gwen curved her lips, hoping that Kaitlyn was at least looking in the right direction. There was plenty going on to distract her little girl: music blaring through speakers while Teddy Drake hosted a live radio show, dozens of food trucks lined up along Main Street, hordes of eager children waiting to explore the new playground where water sprayed and dumped from brightly colored nautical-themed gadgets. Carter Island’s pretty park was officially in chaos.
“Give me just a second,” Clarke said as he shaded the camera’s screen with his hand, then gave a thumbs-up. “Looks good. Thanks, guys.”
“I’ll be right back,” Cade said close to Gwen’s ear as everyone separated, moving away from the park’s fountain and flower gardens in the blazing sunshine.
“Okay.” She smiled, fixing Kaitlyn’s hat, following him with her eyes as he headed toward the red ribbon with Charlotte, Buzz, and the other members of the town council. The morning had started chilly and overcast, but that wasn’t a problem anymore. By lunchtime, the cloud cover had vanished, making way for bright, sunny skies and plenty of heat.
But Cade was so much hotter in his tailored navy-blue slacks, a white button-down that accentuated his excellent build, and the pair of dark aviators he often wore that made Gwen’s mouth water. As Paxton Enterprises’ official representative, Cade had dressed to impress—and he’d outdone himself.
He said something as he took his place next to Charlotte and Buzz, the three of them holding on to the handles of a gigantic pair of scissors as the council crowded around them for another picture.
“One, two, three!” the crowd shouted together, with Teddy Drake’s help from his DJ booth.
Grinning one of his spectacular grins, Cade cut through the ribbon with the Deacons.
“Now, go have some fun!” Buzz yelled to the kids, and another round of pandemonium ensued.
Laughing, Gwen headed Callie’s way when she spotted her sister-in-law standing in the shade by one of the massive oak trees. “How crazy is this?”
“It’s nuts, but I love it.” Callie beamed, looking like an adorably sexy fertility goddess in a sleeveless, fitted mauve maxi dress. “This is what summer’s all about.”
Nate walked over, dressed in his official sheriff duds instead of his usual jeans and black-collared shirt. “Damn, it’s hot out here.” He kissed Callie, sliding his hand over her belly. “Are you doing okay? You’re not getting overheated?”
Callie smiled, wrapping her arm around Nate’s waist. “We’re doing just fine. I have my water. And I’m in the shade.”
He nodded. “Make sure you’re taking it easy.”
“I am.”
Then Nate turned his attention to Gwen, hugging her. “Hey, big sister.”
Gwen smiled, returning his embrace. “Hey there, Sheriff.”
Kaitlyn reached up, grabbing at Nate’s badge.
“Whoa,” he said to his niece. “Who’s this adorable little thief?” He snatched Kaitlyn from Gwen’s arms. “Give me some kisses, cute stuff.” He left noisy kisses on Kaitlyn’s cheeks, making her laugh.
Grinning, the baby reached for Nate’s nose this time.
He avoided her hand with a move of his head. “What do you think, Baby Girl? Should we take a look at all the new toys waiting for you?” He handed
Callie his radio, then started toward the splash pad.
“Nate, don’t get her all wet,” Gwen called after him.
“You can’t bring her here and not let her play,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Plus, if Kaitlyn gets wet, that means I get wet, which means I can change.” He wiggled his brow.
Callie and Gwen laughed.
“By all means, then,” Gwen conceded, her heart going out to her brother as sweat dampened the back of his shirt. “Have fun.”
Chuckling and shaking her head, Callie gave her attention to Gwen. “Molly had to run back to the bakery, but the impromptu plan is that we’re all getting together for dinner out at our house, since your parents can’t make it on Sunday. We’re meeting up in about an hour or so.”
Gwen adjusted the diaper bag on her shoulder. “Yeah, count us in. What can I bring?”
“Just yourselves. Molly’s packing up a bunch of stuff since it’s closing time, and we’re not doing classes. Nate’s nearly off duty, and Brad’s not on call since Kenzie’s on the island. We thought this would be the perfect chance to get together since everyone has the night off.”
Gwen nodded. “It’s a summer miracle.”
Callie chuckled, rubbing her belly. “Tell me about it.”
Moments later, Nate came back with a thoroughly soaked and grinning Kaitlyn. “I’d say that should do it.”
Gwen gaped as water dripped down Nate’s face and streamed off Kaitlyn’s sun hat. “And what am I supposed to do with my soggy baby? I didn’t even bring a towel.” But she laughed because it was obvious that her daughter was delighted. “Did you have fun with Uncle Nate?”
“She did.” Smiling, Nate gave her a bounce. “It was totally worth it, huh, Baby Girl?”
“I’ll take this sopping critter here,” Cade said as he came up behind them. “She looks nice and cool, and I could use a bit of that. Come here, Water Bug.” He took Kaitlyn from Nate, instantly saturating his shirt as he snuggled the baby close. “Damn, that’s glorious.”
“Well, I should probably get changed,” Nate said with a zing of satisfaction in his voice. He turned to Kaitlyn, kissing her hand. “Thanks for the favor, kid. I owe you one.” Then he looked to Gwen and Cade. “We’ll see you guys tonight?”
Cade frowned. “I don’t know. Will we?”
“Everyone’s meeting at Nate and Callie’s since Mom and Dad won’t be able to make it on Sunday,” Gwen supplied.
Cade nodded. “I guess we’ll see you soon, then.”
Nate took Callie’s hand. “Ready, Mama?”
She nodded. “We’ll see you in a bit.”
“Bye,” Gwen and Cade said in unison.
Gwen waited for them to walk toward the sheriff’s station, then beamed up at Cade. “Hey, you.”
He hooked his arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Hey.”
She returned his embrace, wrapping her arm around his waist, hooking a finger through one of his belt loops. “Congratulations on all of this. The splash pad’s an official success.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It certainly looks that way.” He kissed her lips this time. “Sorry about breakfast this morning.”
She shrugged. “Some mornings don’t work. It’s no big deal. But we missed you.”
“I missed you ladies, too.”
She grinned as Kaitlyn focused on Cade’s shirt, furrowing her little brow as she fiddled with one of the buttons on his button-down. “You look handsome—very GQ and professional.”
He winced, tugging at his collar. “I appreciate it. But I’m eager for a change. Shorts and a T-shirt would work just fine right about now.”
She smiled her sympathy as the oven-like breeze wound its way through her arms and legs in her sundress. “I bet. What do you say we get out of here?”
“Definitely.”
They cut through the park to Main Street’s crowded sidewalks, weaving their way around tourists and fellow townspeople on the way to their vehicles. She glanced up when Kaitlyn grinned, bringing her hand to Cade’s mouth to play their game. “It looks like someone wants to feed you.”
“I couldn’t tell,” he said as Kaitlyn squished her palm against his lips.
Gwen laughed.
His grin vanished as he growled, nibbling the baby’s fingers.
Gwen laughed again, just as Kaitlyn did. “Thanks for tonight, by the way.”
He frowned. “Tonight?”
“The impromptu dinner. I hope you don’t mind that I accepted plans for us without talking to you first.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. Dinner out sounds like fun.”
She looked at him again, hearing the forced enthusiasm in his voice. But she smiled as he smiled at her. “Do you want to drive over together? I need to give Kaitlyn a bath—wash off her sunblock—but we should be ready after that.”
He twisted his wrist and peeked at his watch. “I’ll probably have to meet you there. I have a few things I need to take care of first.”
“Okay.” But something was off. She sensed him growing distant again. Something had been wrong for the past couple of days. Cade had been distracted and quiet. His smiles weren’t the same; he’d left early last night, and he’d missed breakfast this morning.
She nudged him off to the side and out of the crowd when they reached her Audi. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah.” He opened Kaitlyn’s door, letting out a rush of trapped heat. “Everything’s fine. It’s just been a chaotic few days with the grand opening.”
It was more than that. Their lives were always chaotic. But she took Kaitlyn from his arms, then kissed him instead of arguing. “We’ll see you in a little while.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of Kaitlyn’s sun hat, then to Gwen’s lips. “Drive safe.” Then he walked off, leaving her staring after him.
What was going on? This hot and cold version of Cade was new—and she didn’t love it. She forced a smile for Kaitlyn as she put the baby in her car seat. “Let’s go home and give you a bath. Then we’ll snuggle up for a snack before we head over to Uncle Nate and Aunt Callie’s.” She secured the straps over Kaitlyn’s wet romper. “Tonight, we’re having dinner with the whole family. You’ll be able to play with Winston, but we have to remember to be gentle—that we can’t pull on his ears. Doggies don’t like that.”
Kaitlyn babbled her response, adding a couple of “ma-ma-ba-bas” to her vocabulary as she happily took the toy Gwen pulled from the diaper bag.
“That’s my girl. You play with your rattle. We’ll be home as soon as Mommy can get us through the insanity going on around here.” Shutting the door, she got in the driver’s seat, cranking up the air conditioning to make the cabin tolerable. Flipping on her blinker, she inched her way into the flow of traffic, then turned on Kaitlyn’s lullabies, recognizing that they weren’t going anywhere fast.
“This is nuts,” she whispered, glancing around at the cars and people everywhere, while several of Nate’s deputies coordinated traffic and crowd control. Even with the trolley system and police presence, things were madness with the island’s action-packed weekend—the new splash pad today and Music in the Park tomorrow night. “I wonder how long Uncle Nate and Uncle Brad will actually get to stick around with us this evening.” Technically, her brother was off duty—and so was Brad—but as sheriff and Carter Island’s head physician, they were always on call.
Eventually, Mac waved her through the four-way stop toward Highway 1.
She grinned, tossing him a thank-you wave only to press on her brake again when she got caught in another traffic jam.
“Finally,” she said twenty-five minutes later as she pulled into the Carter House driveway. She put the Audi in park as her phone alerted her to a text.
Kaitlyn stopped playing with her toes, her head whipping toward the front seats.
Gwen chuckled as she stared at her daughter in the mirror. “Someone wants to tell us something, huh? Let’s see what they have to say.” She snatche
d up the phone from the console, her smile fading as she tapped on the screen.
I have to cancel tonight. Sorry for the short notice. Tell everyone I say hello.
She swallowed, reading Cade’s three sentences several times—the second cancel-by-text in one day. First, this morning, when he’d let her know that he had to head into the office early. Now this.
“Okay, then,” she muttered, getting out, trying her damnedest not to be upset as she unhooked Kaitlyn’s car seat from the base. She’d made plans for them without asking, but Cade tended to be direct. If dinner at Nate’s didn’t work for him, he would have said so while they were still at the park. Struggling to shrug off her annoyance, she curved her lips for her daughter. “It looks like it’s going to be just us girls tonight.”
Gwen let herself into Carter House at nine thirty, yawning as she set her keys in the bowl on the entryway table. She should have headed home an hour ago, when Mom and Dad did, but she’d been having fun—mostly.
The evening had started off a little rocky when she’d been forced to slap a smile on her face and make excuses for Cade’s absence—a game that felt all too familiar to the one she used to play when Liam often canceled on her at the last minute. But tonight, she’d refused to let anyone or anything ruin her precious family time.
“Let’s get you into bed,” she whispered to her sleeping daughter as she hauled Kaitlyn’s car seat over to the living room couch in the dim lamplight. She moved to release the clip secured at Kaitlyn’s chest but stopped, doing a double take when she looked out the massive picture window, spotting a man sitting on the beach in the moonlight. The wash of annoyance rushed back with a vengeance when she realized that it was Cade.
Because he sure as hell didn’t look busy to her.
“No,” she heard herself say, adamantly shaking her head. She wasn’t doing this again—giving her time, attention, and affections to a man who didn’t deserve them. Cade had been patient with her over the last several weeks, but she couldn’t extend him the same courtesy—not about this. He’d been distant and evasive over the last couple of days. Tonight, he’d been dishonest. Heating up, letting herself feel the hurt instead of ignoring it the way she used to, she grabbed Kaitlyn and headed outdoors.