Then he remembered their earlier conversation about her moving to Montana with him and the smile slid off his face. His feet stuttered to a halt a short distance from her door.
“I don’t know, Cade.” Pain had lanced through his chest at her words. He hadn’t expected her to be overly excited about leaving the home she’d worked so hard for, but he hadn’t expected her to flat-out refuse, either. “This is my home… I don’t want to give it up now…”
But you don’t mind giving me up? Cade had thought and it had hurt far more to realize that. It still did. Absently, he rubbed at the throbbing ache in his chest that began that night and had never ceased.
What was he doing? He had no business thinking of continuing their physical relationship, knowing it would go nowhere, knowing how she felt. He had to go back home, at least for a little while, but she didn’t seem willing to do even that much. Instead of planning to deepen their connection—of investing his heart even more—he should be encouraging her and himself to let it go. He should turn around, shower in the guest bath, and then sleep in the other bedroom.
It was the right thing to do. But, damn it, I don’t want to do that. I want her…
Addie’s bedroom door opened unexpectedly as he stood debating himself in the hallway. His head snapped up and he met her gaze. She smiled and his heart fluttered as she started toward him.
“Well,” she said as her eyes swept over his nearly naked body, “you look all warmed up.”
He grinned. “Yeah, mostly.”
The moment she understood his real meaning—that there were parts of him that only she could warm—her smile broadened.
“Well, in that case,” she said as she reached him. Her hands were warm as they slid up his chest and around his neck, “let’s see what I can do about the rest of you.”
She tugged his head downward as she rose up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his. He went willingly, forgetting everything except how much he wanted this woman—only this woman.
His arms encircled her. One hand gripped her ass, pulling her closer, as the other dived into the silky glory of her hair. God, I’m going to miss this…
Her tongue slipped over his and then she pulled back.
Again, his heart stuttered. “Why did you stop?”
She brushed her fingers along his jaw. “We have company.”
“We could lock the door…?”
A soft smile curled her lips and heat burned in her eyes. “As nice as that sounds…we have company.”
“Cord won’t mind. And even if he did, I don’t care.”
Eyes clouding over, her brow suddenly furrowed and she stepped back, her nose wrinkling. “What’s that smell?”
He frowned. “What? I’m going to take a shower…”
“Not you.” She sniffed the air. “Don’t you smell that?”
Confused, he inhaled deeply. “I don’t smell anything.”
She lifted her nose and tested the air more thoroughly. “Something’s burning.”
Before he could reply or grab her, Addie slipped by him, jogged down the hall, and around the corner into the living room. Cade was only a few steps behind her. She swung opened the front door and started coughing as smoke lazily curled through the opening.
Alarm shot through Cade’s body and he stopped in his tracks, watching black smoke pool against the white ceiling.
Cord’s door opened down the hall and the brothers’ eyes met as he entered the living room fully dressed. That same internal dialogue passed between them—the same understanding of each other’s wants and needs, joys and fears. Cord’s posture changed instantly, his eyes searching for the cause of Cade’s distress and came to rest on the smoke sweeping into the front room.
Addie’s eyes were wide as she glanced at Cade over her shoulder from the doorway. “The barn’s on fire,” she said in a panicked voice while trying to suppress her smoke-induced cough. “The animals…” She ran out before Cade could stop her.
“Addie, wait!” He moved to go after her then stopped and looked down. All he had on was a towel. The nakedness didn’t faze him, but running out there unprepared could leave them both dead. He had to at least cover his skin and stomp into his boots. Still, the urge to run outside kept him rooted in place—indecisive—for longer than he would’ve liked.
A second that felt like a lifetime later, his eyes met Cordell’s. His brother nodded, instantly understanding Cade’s thoughts. Dread welled in Cade’s throat. He couldn’t lose Cord. Not now. But even if Addie didn’t feel for him the way he did for her, he didn’t want her to get hurt. He didn’t want to risk either of them, but he didn’t have a choice. The fear that Addie would rush in and do something rash that could injure or kill her spurred his decision.
“Go,” Cade said before he turned for the bedroom, and as he raced for his clothes, Cord ran for the front door. His brother would keep Addie safe until Cade could do it himself. He only hoped he got there in time to protect them both.
Chapter 28
Two short but excruciating minutes later, a hastily dressed Cade raced out the front door and down the steps. The thick stench of smoke hit him as he crossed the night-darkened dooryard and his lungs rebelled, doubling him over with coughing, while his watery eyes searched for Cord and Addie. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting to find, but what he saw as he got closer to the fiery barn hadn’t even been on his radar.
Black smoke billowed high into the cloudy evening sky, flowing from the barn’s hayloft doors like a chimney. Everywhere he looked, yellow flames licked at the old wood and cracked paint. Soon, the
