“Yes, sweetheart. I love you. Always have and always will.”
This time it’s me moving into him for a hug, my arms clasp around him tightly. “Promise?” I whisper barely audible. Not sure if I want him to hear me or not, but unable to keep myself from asking.
“Yes,” he says in a firm, reassuring voice, and I know he means it.
We stand like that for a minute, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Until Gram stands up and claps, startling me. “Finally, it’s about time that’s all out in the open. All those family secrets and misunderstandings.” I can practically feel the eye roll in that last statement. “How about you all go home and let me get some rest. Taking care of y’all is exhausting.”
I smile at Gram’s cantankerous statement, knowing she’s trying to lighten the mood for my benefit. If anyone has been aware that not everything is as it seems it’s her. I move toward the woman and give her a hug, this one less forceful. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, girl. Now, let my grandson take care of you. I can tell he’s a second away from carrying you out of here, whether you want him to or not.”
And she’s right. When my eyes collide with Kade’s they’re burning with an intensity I’ve never seen before, his jaw clenched tight, like he’s holding himself back from throwing me over his shoulder again.
Clearly growing impatient with me not going to him, he growls, “Come here, Princess.” I smile at his command, for some reason I enjoy testing his control, especially when it’s so clearly about to snap. “Montana…” When his tone turns borderline menacing, I know it’s time to stop pushing him.
“Okay, caveman. Chill,” I say with a smile while I walk toward him.
As soon as I’m within reach, his arms wrap around me, and I’m pulled into his body. Once he has me where he wants me, his body relaxes. His eyes, though, lose nothing of their intensity as he studies my face. “You going to be okay?”
I can hear the genuine concern in his voice. This isn’t the rhetorical ‘are you okay,’ we all only ever answer with a phony, ‘I’m fine.’ He wants to know the truth; no matter how complex it might be.
“Yes, I think I’m going to be okay.” I cup his cheek, stroking his rough stubble. “Though, I’m probably going to schedule a call with my therapist as soon as she has an opening.”
“You go to therapy?” He seems surprised to learn this.
“Of course. I’ve been going since I was seventeen. After what happened… I couldn’t deal, and my friend’s mother suggested I go see her therapist. They saw me spiral, who knew where I’d be today if I hadn’t gotten the help I needed.”
“I’m glad you got help when you needed it, honey,” Lizzie says from next to us. I look at her, still feeling slight unease at the thought of what she might think of me after everything that happened today. But all I see is love shining from her eyes, a blinding smile on her face. “And I’m really happy you two finally got it together. Lauren and I were about to meddle to help you see reason.”
Kade bursts out laughing at her words and the tension all the revelations have caused is finally broken, and I can breathe easier. His whole frame is vibrating with laughter as he lets go of me and slides one arm across my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
I look at his profile, not really sharing in his hilarity. “This isn’t funny. Everyone will know that we… What we…”
“Spent the night together? Had sex? Fu—” My eyes grow wide at his words and a high-pitched squeak escapes my throat as I cover his mouth with my hand, preventing him from finishing that last word.
“Kade!”
I can still feel his smile against the skin of my palm. It’s like he has a death wish. I doubt Dad is going to take kindly to him talking like that.
“I like you, Kade. But you and I will need to have words later,” Dad says, his voice filled with a thinly veiled threat.
Kade pulls my hand away with a squeeze. “Of course, Wayne. But I can tell you right now that this isn’t just some random fling for me. I like your daughter, a lot, even when I was being a dick to her, or we were yelling at each other. She’s special, I know that.”
With every word he speaks, my body stills more until I’m a cheap imitation of an old Roman statue. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours with a truce between us, since we first slept together. We never even talked about what this is, if this is more than just sex. I mean I live in Seattle, and he lives here. His business is here while mine takes me all over the world.
And yet, he’s talking to my father like he’s already made up his mind about me.
This is not to say I don’t like him, because I do. And I really like how he makes me feel, especially in bed, but this is all happening so fast I barely have time to think.
“I’ll spend the next weeks trying to convince this one”—he nods in my direction—“of the same thing. I imagine I have my work cut out for me if today is any indication.”
“Hey,” I cry in indignation.
“You’re like a skittish horse waiting to flee at the slightest noise whenever you are vulnerable.” His eyes slide to mine, daring me to call him a liar.
“Well…” I grumble and look away, knowing he’s telling the truth, and I just don’t have it in me to lie about this anymore.
“How about we go
