He’d chuckled. “Whatever you want, sweetheart. I’m willing whenever you are.”
“Hmm…in that case,” her hands slid down his back to grip his ass, “I can’t wait to see what you do to me tonight.”
Her invitation and praise had filled his chest with warmth and more than a little pride. There’d been no questions about taking her up on her offer last night—not that he’d had much choice. The sexy, red summer dress she’d been wearing for dinner had his blood heating from the minute he saw her.
Their third time around had been as fantastic as the first two, and the feelings inside him grew with each encounter and every exchange. The closeness they shared frightened him, but he also longed to hold her again. If he was honest with himself, he liked her too much, and that’s why he stayed. He wanted to find out what would happen next.
A few minutes later, Cade pulled into a parking spot beside the coffee shop, and, killing the engine, he hopped out of the truck. A little surprised by the small thrill that jabbed him in the gut at the thought of seeing Addie again, he took a deep breath and told his body to calm down.
Jerking open the glass door, Cade stepped inside. That’s when he heard the raucous laughter.
The coffee shop was packed with patrons and several in the far corner were laughing as if at something hilarious. Addie’s friends were busy helping their other customers, but Cade caught Veta’s eyes as she glanced toward the door. She signaled him with a frown and a tilt of her head toward the front counter. Glancing across the room, he saw Addie, standing beside the long front counter, her shoulders hunched, head down, and deep pink infusing her cheeks. She had her arms wrapped around her purchases from the office supply store he’d dropped her off at earlier, holding it against her chest like a shield.
Cade’s hands fisted at his sides and he turned narrowed eyes on the crowd. Whoever put that look on her face would soon learn what a mistake they’d made.
“Yeah,” a short but broad, dark-haired man near the corner booth stood, and pointed at Addie, “she wants to be a rancher, but she can’t even farm her own land.”
More chuckles floated around the packed café and several of the older men, apparently local ranchers themselves, hid their amused smiles behind cups of coffee.
“She had to ask how to start the tractor!”
Addie shook her head, studiously ignoring the heckler in the corner, but anger straightened Cade’s spine. No one would talk about her like that when he was around.
As he hurried to her side, the heckler spoke again. “Makes you wonder what else she doesn’t know.”
“She knows plenty.” Cade came to her defense, his tone low and hard as he glared at the speaker. Placing a gentle hand on Addie’s back, he whispered, “Are you okay?”
She looked up at him with so much relief and gratefulness that it made his heart clench.
How dare they make fun of her!
“How the hell would you know?” the taunting man asked, and Cade’s narrowed eyes swung toward him, but the guy didn’t take the hint. “She’s just a rich city girl who moved here to steal land from the locals. We all know it. We’ve seen it happen more than once, but this one…” he shook his head and laughed, “she takes the ignorance cake.”
More chuckles ensued.
“I’m fine, Cade,” Addie murmured, tugging lightly on his shirt. “Just ignore them.”
“I don’t think so.” He turned and sauntered toward the shorter man. “You shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
“I know enough about her,” the man said, once again pointing at Addie. “I used to work for her.”
“Ah, so you’re the one who half-assed all those jobs around her place,” Cade said and grinned along with several of the others sitting nearby.
The dark-haired man glowered at him. “You don’t know anything about it.”
“I know it took you and two other men a month to strip the shingles off one building and half of another, and then you left the pieces all over the ground. I know you couldn’t drive a straight line with the tractor while planting a cornfield. And I know you couldn’t fix a fence or plant a post that would stay upright to save your life.”
Everyone laughed at each of Cade’s comments and he gave the other man a challenging grin. His shoulders tensed, waiting for the man to attack. Come on, you bastard. Give me your best shot! He looked forward to bloodying the asshole’s nose.
The other man’s dark eyes glanced at the chuckling ranchers before focusing on Cade again. “I don’t have to listen to this bullshit,” he growled. “Come on, JR, Jorje, the rest of you, let’s get out of this shithole.” A tall, blond-haired man about Cade’s size immediately got to his feet, rubbing at his nose while his eyes were constantly on the move.
He must be JR, Cade guessed. Twitchy looking dude.
Giving Cade a narrow-eyed assessment that clearly found him wanting, JR grinned tauntingly as he sauntered by, followed closely by three more of their little gang—all of whom looked almost as disreputable as JR. They only made it two steps toward the door when the loud mouth turned back. His Latino friend—Jorje, no doubt, and the only one in the group who hadn’t laughed at Addie—stayed where he was, shaking his head and sipping his coffee.
“Jorje…?” Loud mouth called, though he kept pronouncing the Latino’s name in the English fashion of George. “Come on!”
Jorje shook his head again. “No, Ted, I’m staying. I haven’t gotten my order yet, and I want to eat. You deserved what he said after all your mouthing off.” Jorje inclined his head toward Cade. “Go, if you want, but I’m staying to eat my meal.”
Ted stared at his friend as if flabbergasted by his refusal to follow along. Or maybe it was Jorje’s mild castigation for taunting
