“He used to be the person who believed in me the most.” Saying the words out loud lit a burn along my sternum. “Enough about him. Tell me about the new house,” I said to Wren.
She filled us in on her and Holt’s new build, Maddie told us all about her new dog training clients, and I recounted the tourist trip from hell yesterday. Before I knew it, we’d been there for over an hour.
“I need to run, or I’m going to be late for work,” I said, pushing to my feet and throwing some cash onto the table.
“Hope there aren’t any delusional tourists on your trips today,” Maddie said with a laugh.
“Me, too.” I pressed a hand to Wren’s belly. “Take care of my bestie in there.”
She grinned up at me. “I will.”
With a wave at Aspen, I headed out the door. Laughter caught on the air from the kids playing at Dockside Park across the street, and the sun streamed down in a way that made me want to hold on to summer for just a little bit longer. I took a deep breath of fresh, pine-scented air. Days like these made me certain I’d never want to move away from Cedar Ridge.
“Grae,” a masculine voice called.
I stiffened as I turned my gaze to the figure hurrying down the street in his navy firefighter slacks and tee.
Rance came to a stop in front of me, but just a few inches too close. “You didn’t text me back.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. He was right. I hadn’t returned the three texts I’d gotten while at my SAR meeting or the four he’d sent after that. “I’ve been busy. And I honestly didn’t think there was anything else to say.”
Annoyance flickered in his brown eyes. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? We’re friends. We’ve been dating.”
“We went on three dates over a month ago. That’s not the same as dating.”
He waved me off. “You know what I mean.”
But I didn’t. I had no idea what Rance was fighting so hard to hold on to.
“You weren’t home until late last night. Is everything okay? I was worried.”
A chill skittered down my spine. “How do you know that?”
Rance scoffed. “We live in the same neighborhood. I was out for a late jog.”
My stomach churned. That much was true. Rance lived about half a mile from my cottage on the outskirts of town. But feeling like he was checking up on me had me on edge.
“Where were you?” he pressed.
Maybe it was growing up with four older brothers and never wanting to answer to them, but I had the urge to dig in my heels. “That’s not really any of your business.”
Rance’s eyes narrowed. “It’s a simple question.”
It didn’t matter that it was simple; I didn’t owe Rance any information about me.
He sighed, but a smile played on his lips. “Your stubbornness is one of the things I love about you.”
Oh, schnitzel. We were heading into stage-five clinger territory.
A flash of movement caught my attention. It was as if my body had some finely honed radar for Caden Shaw, no matter how far away he was. I blamed my desperate, short-circuiting brain for the word that popped out of my mouth next.
“Babe!” I called in Caden’s direction.
His gaze snapped to me so fast it made my head spin.
I widened my eyes at him, pouring every bit of silent pleading into the look. He was the last person I wanted to ask for help, but he was all I had.
Caden’s brow furrowed for a moment, but then he caught sight of Rance and glared. He crossed toward us in five long strides, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close. “Hey, babe.”
The gleam in his eyes told me I’d be paying for this one in the form of teasing torture for years to come.
“Babe?” Rance gaped. “But you hate him.”
Caden chuckled, the sound wrapping around me, along with the heat from his body pressed against mine. “Love, hate, two sides of the same coin, right?”
“Love?” Rance spluttered.
Caden squeezed my shoulder. “She’s got me wrapped around her little finger. I’d do anything for her.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, and it became painful to breathe.
Rance’s gaze ping-ponged between the two of us. “You’re dating?”
“Oh, I’d say it’s more than dating. Wouldn’t you, Gigi?” Caden asked, glancing down at me.
I let out a tiny squeak. “Yup. It’s pretty serious.”
“Since when?” Rance demanded.
“I’ve had my eye on her since the moment I got back, but I’d say the last couple of weeks really took things to the next level,” Caden said, toying with a strand of my hair.
Rance’s face reddened. “The next level?” His gaze snapped to me. “You can’t think that’s a good idea. He’s a total manwhore.”
Caden stiffened. “I was just waiting for the right woman to come along, and she has.”
Rance scoffed. “I’m sure. Do your brothers know?”
My hand fisted in Caden’s shirt. “My brothers have nothing to do with this.”
He arched a brow at that.
“She’s right,” Caden said, his voice going hard. “Not a damn thing on this planet could keep me from her. And I’ll be honest, it pisses me the hell off that you won’t stop texting her.”
“She didn’t tell me she was dating anyone,” Rance said, clearly flustered by the intensity in Caden’s tone.
“Well, you know now, don’t you?” he growled.
The ferocity in Caden’s words had me glancing up at him and pressing my hand harder against his abs.
Rance scoffed. “This is nothing. It’ll fizzle out in a few days, and then Grae will come to her senses and see who she really needs.”
Caden’s jaw clenched, anger flaring in his expression. Then he looked down at me, those hazel eyes swirling into a mix of greens, browns, and golds that hypnotized me. He lowered his head slowly and quickly, all at the same time. My heart hammered against my ribs as time slowed.
I should’ve moved, given him my cheek, something. But I didn’t. I was held captive in the spell that Caden wove with his presence alone.
At the first touch of Caden’s lips, I was lost. Heat and need swirled around me as my lips parted on instinct, and his tongue slipped inside, stroking. A buzz lit low in my belly—one I’d never felt with any other kiss, no matter how much I’d searched for it. That buzz deepened into a hum that spread through my muscles, making my knees weak.
When Caden finally pulled back, I blinked up at him and could only think one thing.
He’d completely ruined me.
4
CADEN
I was so unbelievably screwed.
As I looked down at Grae, her cheeks flushed to a deep pink, her blond hair mussed, and her blue eyes shining, I knew that I’d made a fatal mistake. I’d seen the gleam in Rance’s eyes, one that said he had no plans of giving up. I had heard the challenge in his words. I’d just wanted him to back off, and this seemed like the easiest way to do that. But I’d been so incredibly wrong.
Kissing Grae was like downing a shot of whiskey set on fire. She burned through my system in a way that would leave scars in its wake. It was hard enough to ignore her pull on a good day. Now that I’d tasted her? It would be nearly impossible.