Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six (48 page)

Two days later, Andie brought in the mail while her mother cooked. She flipped through the envelopes and found the DNA reports for the paternity retest she ordered.

Her heart froze and she swallowed, suddenly nauseous. Declan or Cade? Should it even matter? She was already in love with Bret, and soon, she and her mother would leave, or appear to leave, in her case.

Cade was due to be released tomorrow since the judge ruled the police didn’t have enough evidence to indict him. Either way, she’d break his heart, at least temporarily. Besides, it was necessary so that the criminals would have no suspicion she was working on his behalf.

They needed to believe she was desperate for money, that she’d been a gold digger all along.

She took a deep breath, one so deep it ached her sides, and walked into the kitchen.

“Mom, the mail came.”

Her mother looked up from the stir fry chicken she was preparing. “You mean the new paternity reports?”

“Yes. Should we open them now, or wait for Cade to come home?”

“Can you bear to wait?” her mother asked. “We’ve been so nosy and already overstepped our boundaries.”

“I know, and I’m going to miss Bret no matter what.”

“Miss Bret? What are you saying?” Her mother held the spatula up.

“I’ve decided to go home. Once Cade’s home, we don’t need to be here anymore. He can find childcare or take care of Bret himself.”

She’d hit a new low, lying to her mother so that when she told Cade she was going home, her mother would act in a convincing manner.

“O-okay.” Her mother resumed stirring. “So you finally agree with him to call it quits?””

Andie’s eyelid twitched, and she swallowed rocks down her throat. Her stomach turned again. “Exactly. I’ve had a lot of time to think. This. All of this isn’t me. Hollywood. Acting, even hanging around watching football. I miss Daddy and the library.”

“I’m glad you came to your senses. Granted we had to stay to hand Bret off to Cade.”

“True, since Roxanne’s such a flake.” Andie’s stomach churned and she swallowed bile. All this stress had made her queasy at the smell of food, especially spicy Chinese food, greasy burgers, and
kim chee
. Ever since her mother had tried the food trucks, she’d outdone herself with exploring the food cultures of Los Angeles.

Her mother turned off the gas burner. “Dinner’s served.
Kung pao
garlic chicken over crushed falafel, garnished with chorizo crumbs and cave-aged blue cheese.”

Ugh, what a horrid combination. If anything, her mother was overdoing the fusion cuisine. She doubted any sane food truck would serve
kung pao
with blue cheese!

“Can you save mine for later? I’m not feeling well.” Andie rushed to the room she was staying in and flopped herself on Cade’s bed. She hugged his pillow and snuggled with his rain-kissed male scent. “I love you so much. Please forgive me.”

The plan had already been put in motion. She’d even spoken to the FBI and had signed the waivers. Owen was the only other person who knew about the sting, and she couldn’t mention it to anyone. No one, not even Barbara Prescott, was above suspicion. Now that Barbara’s account with the half a million dollars was frozen due to the investigation and Dick Davis’s money was out of the picture, someone out there had to be hurting for cash, and someone was ready to make another bet, although for a football season opener, the payoff would be a lot smaller than for a Super Bowl game.

Still, pigeons always went back to their roost, and whoever had gotten the big payoff from Cade’s interception was dying to get more. Gambling was a drug as addicting or more so than heroin.

Yeah, like she knew. Andie kissed Cade’s pillow and closed her eyes.

Hours later, her mother woke her. “I brought some chicken noodle soup. I got the feeling you weren’t up for that food truck fusion food.”

You can say that again. Chorizo and falafel? Ugh.

Andie rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I’m so nervous about Cade coming home that my stomach’s been acting out.”

Her mother set the tray on the night stand. “Do you want to talk about it? Are you sure you want to go home right away? Bret might need a few days to get used to Cade again, and we’ll have to pack up Gollie.”

“She’s going to miss Red, but I have to make a clean break. I’ve made up my mind, Mom, and that’s that.”

“I’m surprised, that’s all. I thought you were trying to solve the mystery, traveling here and there and speaking to people. I mean, I knew it was dangerous, but I thought you were getting some leads.”

Andie shrugged and dipped the spoon into the chicken soup. “Hit a dead end. Cade didn’t do it, and Owen says the likely outcome is the charges are dropped for lack of evidence. Barbara’s safe as long as she stays at the rehab, and well, I guess the criminals moved onto greener pastures. Dick has no more money, and Cade’s not playing until week six of the season when his finger’s healed.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Andie’s mother rubbed her back. “Just be sure it’s what you really want to do. My intuition’s usually not wrong, and I thought you and Cade had something special going for a while.”

“This time you’re wrong,” Andie said woodenly, sipping the soup. “I’ve come to my senses and Cade isn’t the man for me. Did you open the paternity reports?”

“No, waiting for you.”

Andie sat up and straightened her spine. “Not that it matters anymore, but I guess it’ll give one more reason for Cade to hate me once he finds out I didn’t trust him.”

“Or it could still be Declan. Not that you care about him either.”

“Nope. I’m counting down the date to the divorce being final, and then I’ll finally be free.” Andie made a show of wiping her hands. She picked up the tray with the chicken soup and followed her mother to the kitchen.

Bret looked up from the battery-powered swing and waved his arms and legs, while Gollie wagged her tail and licked her chops, waiting for Andie to drop a piece of chicken on the floor.

Red lay near the refrigerator with his head in his paws, sad that Cade wasn’t around.

“He’ll be coming home soon.” Andie bent and patted his head. She picked two pieces of chicken from her soup while her mother unstrapped Bret from the swing and gave one to Red and another to Gollie.

“Are we ready?” Andie’s mother sat at the kitchen table with Bret. “Ready to find out who your father is?”

“You realize if neither matches, then it’s the guy Cade saved from the light rail.” Andie sliced open the first envelope with a knife.

“Which would be too weird, especially since we don’t know who he is.” Her mother took a deep breath.

Andie stared at the page and smiled. “No match for Declan Reed.”

Her heart thudding like a washing machine on spin cycle, she opened the second envelope. “Mom, you take it out. If he’s really Cade’s, then he lied to me. He insisted he never slept with Roxanne before New Year’s Eve.”

“Maybe he doesn’t remember. You know how he was.”

Andie shook her head. “He doesn’t drink during the season. New Year’s Eve was his only exception.”

“It could have been Halloween. She could have been in costume.”

“I know, but still. It hurts to think he’d have a baby with her and then cover it up with the Dick story.” Andie’s throat constricted, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Maybe I don’t want to know.”

“We can burn this right now if you want.”

“What’s the use?” Andie coughed and pounded the kitchen table. “There was no way you’d gotten Dick Davis’s blood on Cade’s clothing. Dammit. The baby’s probably his.”

“What are you two talking about?” Cade stepped through the door. “What baby and why would you get Dick’s blood from my clothes?”

Andie’s heart careened to the floor. She bent over as a surge of nausea punched the chicken soup from her stomach and she retched onto the wood floor. Gollie was right there to lap up the mess.

Oh, gosh. Gollie. You’re so gross.

“Andie, you okay?” Cade smoothed her hair from her face “Shall I get you ice?”

“No, I’m fine.” She coughed. “Choked on a piece of chicken. You shocked me.”

“Got out a day early. Owen was able to catch the judge and get the charges dropped. I’m free.” He kissed the side of her head. “I’m so glad you decided to stay.”

“Let me wipe that up.” Andie’s mother held Bret with one arm and grabbed a dishrag.

“I’ll get it.” Cade took the rag from her. “Thanks for everything, especially for helping me with Bret.”

“Yes, sure. We’re glad to.” Her mother sounded so nervous, Andie was sure she would spill the beans. “Shall I heat you up some food? I made food truck special –
kung pao
chicken and chorizo crumbed falafel with blue cheese—cave aged.”

“Yum, that sounds delicious. Thanks.” Cade finished wiping the vomit while competing with Gollie’s quick tongue. He rinsed off the rag and petted his dog. “Hey, Red, boy, so glad to be back.”

Andie remained frozen at the kitchen table. Now that Cade was standing not two feet from her, all she wanted was to be in his arms, to kiss him senseless, well, maybe after brushing her teeth, and to lie in the bed with him and talk.

“I’m, uh, going to brush my teeth.” She whipped herself from the kitchen table and strode out the door.

# # #

Cade held the baby and sat in the sunken living room, watching the sunset. This wasn’t quite the homecoming he’d had in mind. Andie had thrown up, and her mother practically had a panic attack. Plus they’d been talking about blood tests right before he walked in. Which meant one thing. They’d had Bret tested again and somehow Andie had gotten ahold of Dick’s blood.

He cuddled the baby and walked back to the kitchen. Andie’s mother had had an envelope in her hand when he walked in. Where was it? The kitchen table had been cleared and the dishes were put away. He opened the trash compactor and dug around. There, under the coffee grounds were the crumpled envelopes from a DNA testing company. Holding Bret in one arm, Cade shook the envelopes out over the sink.

One of them was from a hair sample, father’s blood type B, no match. The other one was still in the envelope. He slipped it from the envelope and unfolded it. Blood type O, taken from dried blood. 99.99% match.

“What does it say?” Andie’s mother stood behind him at the kitchen door.

“Where did you get the blood? Andie said something about Dick Davis’s blood?”

“No, she was saying I did not get Dick’s blood from your football jersey. Bret’s yours, as I suspected.”

A chill swept over Cade, but his heart thumped warmly. He held Bret up and couldn’t help smiling.

“You’re mine, buddy. All mine.” Staring into Bret’s big blue eyes, he said, “I promise to always be your dad and to love and accept you, no matter what happens.”

When he tucked Bret into the crook of his neck, everything felt right—plain old right. He had a son. A little boy who depended on him and would make him proud.

Andie jumped into the shower when she heard Cade’s footsteps padding toward his room. She couldn’t face him. Not yet. Not until she figured out what she’d say. Had she heard him correctly, that the charges were dropped? If so, did she need to go ahead with the sting in Vegas?

Maybe it would be okay to forget it. Barbara was safe, and no one thought Cade was guilty for giving drugs to his mother. Perhaps the police were simply sick and tired of him calling every day telling them to investigate. Maybe arresting him was a way to shut him up.

She dunked her head under the water to wash her hair. How utterly yucky that she’d puked in front of him. Great way to make a memory of his first day back from jail. Andie squirted shampoo over her head and rubbed it throughout her hair. What an idiot she and her overactive imagination were. She should forget about this sting operation and let it go. Cade was okay. There was nothing to worry about. She was the one who’d made the leap from heroin packets to gambling. Likely they’d already found the drug dealer and figured out it wasn’t Cade.

She relaxed under the warm water as it washed the shampoo from her head down over her shoulders, trailing around her breasts and down her hips. She took a deep breath as her nipples peaked and her sex throbbed between her legs. Cade was somewhere in this house and her body thrummed at the magnetic pull.

The latch of the shower door clicked and she jumped, startled and slipped, bumping into something hard—something definitely male.

“Cade.” She exhaled rather than whispered.

His arms wound around her, and he cupped her breasts as he showered kisses on her. “I missed you. All I did was think about you, Andie. Day in and day out.”

His words were broken between his lips busily nibbling and kissing.

Andie turned toward him, meeting his hungry gaze, radiating love and intensity. She flattened her palms over his bare chest and dragged them over the ridges of his abs, then encircled his waist and pressed her belly into his erection.

“I missed you, too. I can’t believe you’re back.”

“You didn’t seem too happy about it earlier.” He lifted her chin and dipped to kiss her neck.

“I was shocked, that’s all.”

“Shocked enough to throw up?” His fingers trailed around her breasts and tickled her nipples.

Andie sucked in a breath at how sensitive she was and the twinge of pain surrounding his touch. She backed away from him and let the water come between them. “I took some samples and redid the paternity tests.”

“Why? You think I was lying to you?” His voice was deep and growly in his throat, almost grizzly like a big bear. “I only just found out Bret’s mine.”

“But how? His blood type is B and yours is O.” Andie gulped, not really wanting the answer. After all, if Cade had already accepted Bret, then she should also.

“Basic biology,” Cade’s lips flattened into a line. “Roxanne is a B and B dominates over O.”

“Oh …” Andie swallowed at her mistake, even as her thighs pulsed and her tender nipples ached. “Well, that’s great, isn’t it? Bret’s yours and you’re happy. No problem, right?”

“Except you believed I lied to you.” He shifted his body and hemmed in on her. Andie took another step back until she was pressed against the hot-cold steamy tiles of his shower.

She lowered her hands to her sides, then felt exposed and raised them to cover her breasts. Every cell in her body quivered with need as his pure virile masculinity surrounded her. That and the way he looked, his gaze fiery like he wanted to devour her alive.

“Well?” His heated breath caressed her and his luscious mouth dipped so close she had only to purse her lips to kiss him. But she was in the wrong and he was waiting for an explanation.

“You didn’t lie since you truly believed Bret was Dick’s baby.” Her voice broke. “To clear it up, I tested Bret against you and against Declan.”

“Declan?” He pushed away from her, and instantly she felt a cold draft of emptiness. “We should probably turn off the water because of the drought.”

Goosebumps prickled her skin as he shut off the shower then crossed his arms. She couldn’t help her eyes wandering all over his chiseled chest, the jagged edges of the Flash tattoo over his pecs, the ridges of his abdominals and the dark trail leading to his throbbing cock, still bobbing despite his anger.

“Look at me.” He pinched her cheeks and raised her naughty eyes to his face. “Why did you test Declan? What right did you have to test my son?”

“I had no right.” Her voice was no more than a tiny squeak. She clenched her thighs again, hoping to calm the insistent throb between her legs. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just need you to trust me going forward. Now that the tests say Bret’s mine, I have to admit that I might have slipped up somewhere. Maybe I slept with someone I don’t remember. Maybe someone passed me a roofie. Should it matter to you? Especially when it happened before I met you?”

“No, no, it shouldn’t.”

He was so hot, even while angry, bearing down on her, his hair wet and flattened against his face, and rivulets of water beading down the planes of his chiseled body.

“It doesn’t matter because you are the only woman who’s having the rest of my children.” He licked his lips and he raised her hands off her breasts and held them over her head, arching her back so that her nipples pointed straight at him.

She sucked in a breath as he lowered his massive head and ran his tongue around her nipple, stinging her, but arousing the heck out of her. Her knees weakened and she sagged and would have slipped down the drain had he not been holding her arms over her head.

He wrapped one nipple with his tongue and smashed his face against the other breast, moving his jaw in small circles. The pain coupled with pleasure had her gushing between her legs and moaning in the back of her throat. She wiggled and squirmed as he laved the line between her breasts, and then dragged his hands down her arms to cup her breasts while he lowered himself to his knees, nuzzling her belly with his beard shadow, scratchy in contrast to his lips.

She gripped his shoulders and stroked the back of his neck, bending her knees to let him have access, her core pulsing and desperate, starving for his touch.

He cupped her ass with his right hand and crouched, dipping his nose between her legs, easing her open with his thumb.

Andie almost came at the touch of his tongue, darting around her clit. She knocked her head back and hit it against the tile, her hands tight over his head, pushing and guiding him. What had she done to deserve him?

The sensations were sharp, cutting her guilt like a knife, pleasurable, but too intense, as every oversensitive nerve of hers clamored for attention.

“Cade, it’s too much. Too good. I need you inside. Need to feel you fill me completely—till there’s no space between us.”

He smashed his lips against her center and wiggled his tongue in tight circles, shooting her orgasm into the stratosphere—shattering her with pure bolts of sweet, sticky, gooey passion as she lost control of her arms and legs. She gasped and moaned, begging. “Please, inside me. Complete me, Cade.”

“Not yet.” He lifted his face and looked at her, his eyes full of adoration. “I want you to feel utterly and completely cherished, loved beyond measure. So much that you’d never ever think about leaving me.”

“Oh, Cade …” Andie moaned. What could she say? She never wanted to leave him either. And she wouldn’t have to, not anymore now that she had no need to go to Vegas. “You’re much too good for me.”

He slid up her body, standing. “No, you are perfect for me. Stay still while I treasure you.”

Turning on the water, he let it warm, then took the soap from the holder and lathered, smoothing it over her shoulders and arms. Gently he massaged her body, running his hands up and down her spine, stroking her back until he had her practically purring. He cradled the globes of each of her breasts and trailed his fingers in circles over every square inch. One large hand splayed on her belly while the other one rubbed her behind.

The water ran over her like a warm waterfall as steam rose from the shower floor enveloping her and Cade in a misty reverie—a dream world of fulfillment.

After he finished washing her, Andie took the soap and lathered him, using her entire body to slip and slide over him and around him. His cock bobbed upright and delectable, and she reached to take him—wrap her mouth around his girth, but he turned off the water and muttered, “The drought.”

“Forget the drought.” She kissed the glistening tip of his cock while gripping his length. It throbbed and pulsed as he groaned, his thighs quivering. Before he could protest further, she took him in all the way until he slammed against her throat. A thrill shot through her as he surrendered and allowed her to pleasure him as much as he’d given her before.

Later, much later, they dragged their sodden bodies from the shower and fell onto the bed, wet and slippery without bothering to dry themselves.

Andie couldn’t stop stroking and caressing Cade, and he, likewise, touched her everywhere, craving contact and folding her into his arms as their eyes drooped and they fluttered together into a dreamland of loving forevers.