A knock sounded on the door. With one last look at the mirror, I headed to the door before I pulled it open. Cade wore a tie, button-down shirt tucked into dress slacks, and dress shoes.
“Wow. I’ve never seen you in anything but casual clothes.” He was attractive in whatever he wore but I’d come to love his worn faded jeans, soft flannels, and the smell of sawdust that always permeated the around him.
His eyes darkened as he looked me up and down. “I could say the same about you.”
I looked down at my summer dress and sandals. “I’ve dressed up around you before.”
He took a step closer, his eyes intent on mine as he cupped the back of my head. “Not like this—soft, warm, and all-woman.”
The warmth of his body surrounded me. “Cade, we’re supposed to meet your parents. We can’t—”
He’d backed me into the apartment, shut the door with a loud click. He gripped my hips, pulling me into him to feel his erection. He tilted his head, a smirk playing on his lips. “You were saying?”
“I don’t think we have time—”
“We have time for a kiss.” Then his lips crashed down on mine—possessive and claiming.
I wrapped my fingers in his hair and pulled him tighter to me. I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist and for him to carry me to bed, but we didn’t have time.
When he finally pulled away, both of us were panting. “Later.”
It was a promise that filled me with longing and anticipation. “Yes.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“Let me just fix my hair and then we can go.” I hurried back to my bathroom to smooth the hair he’d mussed. I took in my flushed cheeks, my bright eyes, my hard nipples visible through my lace bra and thin dress before I reapplied my lip gloss. No one had ever had this effect on me with one kiss. Kisses had never meant anything more than the physical act, but with Cade, it was as if he was staking his claim.
Satisfied I was presentable, I headed back to the living room where Cade stood looking at the framed pictures on my bookcase.
He turned slightly—a picture in his hand of our family at Christmas. “Is this your family?”
“It is. It was the last picture taken before—”
Cade’s eyes softened as he placed the picture back on the shelf. “I’m sorry.”
Whenever I looked at that picture, I felt a sharp pinch in my heart. But as the years passed, it dulled. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”
“I’m sure you don’t ever get over losing a mother.”
“You don’t. Time helps and you adjust to a new normal.” There were still times I missed her presence more acutely, like when I graduated from college and high school. I knew it would be worse on my wedding day or when my children were born. It was different sharing those things with a mother. Nothing could replace her.
“What was your new normal?” He shifted, so he faced me.
What to tell him? The truth was something I didn’t talk about with anyone. I hid the worst of it from my brother and friends. I wanted to show him a piece of myself like he’d done at the home reveal. “It was different because my mother raised us. My dad was focused on work.”
“And after?”
“He focused on us, but not in the way you’d think. He made sure we were taking the right classes, activities, and friends with the right kids. Kids whose parents he knew from the country club or were business associates.” He wasn’t worried about our safety or our needs.
“What about what you needed—love, affection, and care.”
“He was never like that with us. My mother was the one who provided that.” That was the hardest part to adjust to. The stark cold reality of our house without our mother’s warm presence. Afterward, we had a housekeeper and a nanny who cared for us. But it was a job for them and they’d report to my dad if we did something outside his rules.
“I tried to fill her absence in my brother’s life. I’m not sure if I was able to. We had nannies, but it wasn’t the same. I was there for him. I gave him band-aids when he scratched his knee, I helped him with his homework, and I asked him how his day was at school.”
“How old were you when she died?”
“I was twelve and Colin was five. It was a brain aneurysm, so it was sudden. I had to be strong for Colin even though I was falling apart inside.”
“I’m sorry. My heart breaks for the little girl you were, but you were also brave and fierce to protect him like that.”
“I didn’t feel courageous.”
He stepped closer as he played with a piece of my hair and stared into my eyes. “You were. The way I see it, you were doing everything a twelve-year-old could do to love and protect her little brother.”
I flushed. “I never thought about it that way.”
“Well, you should because you’re pretty amazing.”
Staring into his eyes, I could fall so easily into him—I’d lose myself. A relationship was lifting each other up and supporting each other. Being each other’s safe place and that’s what we were doing for each other tonight. “Thank you. But your parents aren’t going to think so if we’re late for dinner.”
“They’ll be happy if I’m there at all. Family dinners were a tradition once we moved out of the house, but I couldn’t sit at a table without Caroline and pretend everything was fine week in and week out—I couldn’t
