The door swings open, leaving me breathless and my pulse racing. In front of me stands Kade, shirtless with low-hanging sweatpants highlighting his defined abs.
“Hi, Princess.” I forgot how his deep voice affects me, and I have to bite my lip to not jump him then and there.
“Hey,” I mumble, still staring at the muscles moving as he chuckles. Without waiting for me to move, he grabs my hand and pulls me inside. I don’t hear the door close behind me, or the latch fall into place. I’m still staring when my face is tilted upward before soft lips land on mine.
I sigh and fall into the kiss; it never took much for me to respond to him. I forget I came here to talk, to make sure there aren’t any secrets left between us, no misunderstandings hiding around the corner to interfere with what we have.
But one touch of those lips, and I lose control.
“Fuck, I missed you,” he whispers, kissing down my neck as desire pools in my stomach. I become very aware of the fact that I haven’t showered all day, too anxious to get here once I was finally done, when he starts to pull off my red coat and throws it on the floor.
“Kade,” I try to make him stop as he tugs the white shirt out of my white breeches. I try to push his hands away, but he’s not deterred. “I really need a shower.”
His eyes find mine, burning with lust so intense I’m afraid it’s about to burn me alive. “I don’t care. It’s been three months since I held you in my arms. Since I kissed you, since I worshipped your body like you deserve. And I’ve missed you every single day of those three months, every minute you were ignoring me was torture, every second that passed chipped away at my soul a bit more. I need you.”
I stare at him in awe, stunned speechless at his words. No one’s ever been this vulnerable with me, laid every card on the table to fight for me, which is exactly what he’s done by flying to a different continent.
Over the years, I’ve grown used to most people walking away whenever the circumstances grew tough. Dakota and Bob being the exceptions. But no one’s ever fought for me.
It’s time I stop running from my mistakes and my fears. “I need you too. These past three months have been horrible. The only way I could get through them was by quite literally working ‘round the clock. I don’t think I took a break.”
“I knew you were running. I just couldn’t figure out from what. What I did to make you run. It all makes sense now.”
“Why…” Anxiety fills me thinking about the question that’s been burning inside of me since he showed up here. I press my eyes close, terrified of the answer, but knowing I need to know to be able to move on from all of this. “Why did it take you three months to chase me down?”
I mean if he can fly across the world, he could have flown to upstate New York, or Europe.
“Stop. Whatever you’re thinking right now, stop it,” he commands. “I would have chased you down that same week, but Lauren convinced me to give you a couple days of space. But then you flew to Europe right after Vegas, and as much as I wish I could have, I couldn’t just drop everything and fly out on a day’s notice. Not during calving season. And then Grams got sick, and I—”
“She what?” I yell, louder than I wanted, but hearing she got sick is like an arrow to the heart, sharp and unexpected. And learning this makes me feel like scum, the one person who accepted me for me was sick and I wasn’t there. I didn’t even call her or send her a message.
I’m the worst.
“She’s fine. She caught a mild form of pneumonia, but between that and the practice I just couldn’t leave, not when I could never tell for sure where you’d be next. But I knew one definite competition you’d be at—the Olympics. So, I planned to corner you here, a place you couldn’t run from me or make too much of a scene.”
“Oh,” I mumble, still feeling horrible Gram was sick while I was ignoring everyone back in Montana.
“Don’t beat yourself up. I called her today, and she understands. She always knew something was going on that none of us had any idea about. She kept saying something wasn’t right.”
“I still feel bad about not being there. She was the only one who never made me feel like I didn’t belong.”
He frames my face and I notice I scored an unintentional hit when pain distorts his features. “I’m sorry I was such a jackass, Princess.”
“It’s fine. We all make mistakes. I know that better than anyone.”
“So you’re going to forgive yourself for your mistakes as easily as you’re forgiving mine?”
His statement shocks me, so much so I draw my head back to look at him. “I…”
“It wasn’t your fault. You believed what she wanted you to believe, and anyone in your position would have believed the same thing after hearing what you did.”
“I guess.” I shrug. “I should call Grams.”
When I make a move to grab my phone, he presses me into the door at my back. “You can call her
