Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six (6 page)

Andie kissed her father’s clammy forehead and combed his thinning hair over his bald spot. Taking a warm washcloth, she dabbed at his face. His eyes remained closed, and he held his head still, as if she weren’t present.

“I get why you want to shut us out,” she said. “I truly do. You probably hate it when people talk about you like you’re not there.”

His eyelids flickered, and his lips tightened on the one side of his face he could still control.

Andie caressed his cheek into a smile. “But you’re still my Daddy. Mom and I need you.”

He shook his head and tried to turn away. His one good arm rose, gripping the rail of the bed.

“I found some new information about King David. Would you like to hear? I think he really loved the Princess Michal.”

Her father’s hand relaxed, and he opened his eyes with a spark of interest. He was always the one who had told her stories about ancient people like they were alive and sitting around the coffee table having a chat.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Andie said in a teasing voice while catching his eye. “I have concrete evidence.”

She’d draw the story out longer, now that she’d made headway. “As you know, in ancient Israel, there was a tradition that the older daughter should be married before the younger. You also know that King Saul offered his elder daughter, Merab, to David, but at the last minute, Merab was wed to another man. My theory is that David had something to do with Adriel marrying Merab.”

Her father’s eyebrows raised. Yes! She was getting a response.

“Did you know that Adriel’s father was Barzillai, a trusted friend of David’s? What do you bet David asked his buddy to set up Michal’s older sister with his son so he could have a shot at the younger daughter, Michal?”

Andie’s father nodded, and his eyes opened wider.

“This is something I came up with that’s original,” she said, with a hint of pride.

Andie had searched and searched through the literature and the many romances written about Michal and David, as well as the scandal sheets and books written to slander David, but no one had ever made this connection.

“So, you have it there. David, the master politician, engineered the removal of Michal’s sister, while making it look like Saul had slighted him, because face it, Saul was a king who wanted to be popular. Why would he snub a hero like David? A guy who won the princess’s hand by defeating Goliath?”

A slight shoulder shrug and smile from her father were reward enough.

Andie leaned down and kissed her father’s cheek. “Tomorrow I’ll tell you why David doubled the number of Philistine foreskins to win Michal’s hand.”

Her father made a face, somewhere between amusement and disgust.

“Don’t squinch your face, Daddy. What would you ask a man to bring you for my hand?”

A choked guffaw burst from her father’s throat and his shoulders shook. He was laughing.

“Don’t laugh. I met a guy, so this is a serious question.” Andie put on a stern face and crossed her arms.

Her father shook his head and chuckled, his working hand grabbing her arm, shaking it.

“You want to know all about him, I bet, but you’ll have to wait till you meet him. Do you want to meet him?”

“Yeh …yeeuh.”

“You’re speaking.” Andie’s mother surged from the doorway.

Andie startled and stepped aside. She hadn’t known her mother was listening. Now she was going to get the third degree.

Last night when had Cade dropped her back home, Mom had been waiting up. She’d received the grim news about Gollie, and rather than invite Cade in, she’d dismissed him without thanking him for helping with the search. Andie couldn’t fault her, of course. She was dead tired from caring for Dad and worrying about the dog.

With Mom fawning over her father and fluffing his pillow, Andie figured she should go for a walk and try to find Gollie. It was a Saturday morning so she didn’t need to be at work.

“Andie?” her mother called out. “Can you ask Cade over for dinner? I didn’t thank him proper for looking for Gollie, and I think your father wants to meet him.”

Andie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I was just joking about asking for my hand. Mom, Dad, please don’t embarrass me. We’ve been on one date, and he doesn’t want any strings.”

“We still want to be neighborly. When did he move here and what does he do?” Mom stepped to Andie’s side and shut the bedroom door. “Besides, if you weren’t serious about him, why did you tell your dad?”

Heat and chills flushed and fought over her face. Andie shrugged and pulled on her coat.

“It was only one date. I was just humoring Dad. You know I can’t leave you guys. We’re a family together, the three of us, and now that Dad’s sick, we have to stick together. This guy, Cade, he travels around and I’m just getting to know him while he’s here.”

“You like him, I can tell. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you were to find someone, we’d let you go.”

Andie gave her mom a kiss. “Now’s not a good time. I’m going to go look for Gollie.”

She’d called Fran and asked her to be on the lookout for Gollie, but unfortunately, no one had seen her in the neighborhood. Andie couldn’t sit around and do nothing.

“Sure, I hope you find her, but don’t hold out on us about Cade. We want to meet him. Your dad might have had a stroke, but he’s still your father, and he doesn’t want to be left out.”

# # #

The weights clinked on the weight stand as Cade hefted the three hundred pound barbell from his chest. His entire body ached, but he had to keep in shape. Even though his shoulder bothered him, the remnants of an injury two years ago, he had to power through and be ready for conditioning camp.

The late night with Andie and talking about himself had left him numb and drained. He hadn’t spoken about his foster parents to anyone, not his agent, or any of the people he met after going pro.

Nobody had cared, and nobody admired weaklings.

Hooking his feet on the sit-up board, Cade twisted and turned, and squeezed his abdominals at a punishing pace. Red lay at his side, his eyes following Cade’s motion up and down the board.

“You think I do this for fun, do you?” Cade wiped sweat from his brow and fanned his damp tank top. “This body’s all I got, and football is all I have besides you, buddy.”

Even as he said that, his heart ached for more, and he couldn’t stop thinking about Andie. She’d liked him for his good heart. She saw him as a friend, and in her eyes, he was the good guy. Now that they had this friendship, he wasn’t about to let his lust and sexual desire ruin it. She was never going to be one of his hookups or women he handed gift baskets to. She was better. She was his first friend.

“Come on, boy. Let’s go for a run.” Cade pulled on sweatpants and a hoodie, and checked the temperature before donning his knit cap and running shoes. He grabbed a leash and buckled it on Red’s collar.

The two of them bounded down the icy steps and slid across the sidewalk. Snow was actually fun for a California boy. Cade couldn’t help packing a snowball and drilling it into the side of a tree trunk.

College Town was dead on a Saturday morning, and no one was at the bar. Plastic cups littered the sidewalk with an occasional bottle thrown among them.

Cade and Red took off going up hill toward the campus. The university was surrounded by natural beauty, although right now, the trees were spindly sentinels devoid of leaves, and snow covered the landscape. The lake on campus was iced over, but droplets of water trickled down the partially frozen side of a cliff.

Cade worked up a sweat running up a slippery street. Somehow, he found himself going by Andie’s house. Should he stop and look in on her? Or would that be too stalkerish?

Her mother hadn’t been very welcoming when he’d dropped her off. Of course, everyone was worried about the dog, and it was very late.

Hopefully the reward money would help, but maybe he should be looking for her too. He flipped his phone from his pocket and called the vet for an update.

“Nothing yet,” Dr. Menon said. “I have an alert at the pound and sent their descriptions and pictures. Your reward money is very generous. Did you want it applied only to Gollie?”

“No, all the dogs. They mean a lot to their owners. Also, I’m handling any of the fees for Gollie.”

“Sure thing, except I haven’t examined her yet. From the way the male dogs responded to her, I’d say she was definitely in heat. That’s why I isolated her.”

“Cade?” Andie’s voice appeared behind him as Red barked a greeting. “Hey.”

“Hey, Dr. Menon. I gotta go. Let me know as soon as you hear anything.”

They said goodbye, and Cade turned his attention to Andie. She was a wondrous sight to get his pulse hopping and blood flowing. Her hair gleamed scarlet and bright in the wintry sun, and her white ski jacket made her pink cheeks glow in contrast.

“You out for a walk?” he stammered, finding his tongue thick and his throat stiff. His traitorous heart skipped like a puppy inside his chest and butterflies or bats beat their wings deeper down.

What the hell was going on? He was Cade Prescott, professional football player. He’d handled press conferences, meet and greets, cocktail parties, and female reporters in the locker room countless times.

But this was Andie, and suddenly he felt two feet tall and shy. He’d told her too much last night. He’d made himself weak and vulnerable. Women didn’t like that. They wanted a guy who never blinked. One who knew his game and played too cool to choke.

Yeah, like you choked at the Super Bowl. Way to go, buddy.

Andie patted Red’s head and ruffled his ears. “I’m looking for Gollie. I’m so worried about her. She could have spent a night in the cold.”

“Try not to think about it. Maybe the people who stole her are taking good care of her. Maybe they still don’t know which one is the expensive dog.”

“Has anyone claimed the reward?”

“Not yet. It’s only the next day. You’ll see, someone will find her. In fact, Red and I were looking for her. I’m sure he wants to find her, too.”

“I’m sure he does.” A smile slid over her pretty face. “They do make a pretty cute couple.”

“Yeah, I bet they’d have cute puppies too.”

The smile turned into a frown, and she stepped away from him. “That’s just it. I can’t imagine her alone and pregnant. What are we going to do, Cade? What if she’s never found, and she’s out there by herself trying to take care of the puppies? What then?”

Andie wasn’t sure how she found herself back in Cade’s apartment, but the walk had been invigorating, and even though they came no closer to finding Gollie, Cade had a way of reassuring her that things would work out for the best. She definitely appreciated the reward he put up for the dogs, despite not being well off.

“I can heat up some canned soup or make us some sandwiches,” Cade offered.

“Oh, you don’t have to feed me. We never even finished the wings from last night.”

“I was so starving, I kind of scarfed them up this morning,” Cade said. “I might have a few left.”

Cade unhooked Red’s leash, and the dog went to his water dish.

“It’s okay, whatever you have is fine.” Being so close and inside his space made Andie’s pulse race. She rubbed her hands on her jeans and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” Cade washed his hands. “Don’t tell me you’re going to pass out from low blood sugar.”

“It’s not that.”

How was she going to ask him to dinner with her parents without it seeming like more? Girls who got too clingy too soon always lost out.

He must have felt the same, because he didn’t ask her to clarify. Instead, he bent low looking for a pot.

Andie couldn’t help licking her lips at the well shaped ass pointed her way. On impulse, she reached out and swatted him.

“Ow.” He clapped a hand on his butt and looked back, a grin on his face. “What was that for?”

“Too tempting.” She giggled. “You offered a target.”

“Here I am, trying to be a gentleman and heat you a can of soup.” He pulled out a small saucepan and pointed to the cabinet over the counter. “Clam chowder, beef barley, or split pea. You can have anything you want.”

She wanted him, his lips on hers, and his hands around her waist, but he seemed to have lost interest. Last night, he was attentive, touching her, kissing her like she was his girlfriend. But ever since she ran into him out walking, he’d kept his hands to himself and seemed to always skitter out of her reach whenever she got too close.

“I’ll take whatever you’re having.” She tucked her hands behind her back and leaned against the counter. “Sorry about touching you inappropriately.”

“It’s okay. Like you said, too much of a target.” His smirk seemed to make fun of her, and when she tried to catch his eye, he fumbled through a drawer looking for a can opener.

Andie’s guts twisted into knots. After the talk last night, she thought they’d gotten closer. He’d confessed his doubts about himself and the hurts he’d endured growing up. Maybe she’d been too bossy and sure of herself to tell him he should be grateful to the donors. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and twisted the edge of her blouse.

“Could I get you anything to drink?” Cade emptied the soup can into the pot and opened the refrigerator.

How could he act so casual like nothing had happened between them? When he invited her over for lunch, she thought he wanted to get closer. What happened to the dating agreement for the six weeks they still had?

Cade stood in front of her waving a little round bottle of pomegranate juice. “You like this?”

“Uh, yes, thanks.” She bit her lip to keep the tears from welling.

“Hey, I know you’re worried about Gollie and this is the hardest, not knowing.”

She really had to get her head together. He wasn’t thinking of her or them, but only about Gollie, not that she wasn’t worth worrying about.

Glad for the misunderstanding, Andie took the juice and forced a smile. “I know. Sorry if I’m such bad company.”

“No apologies necessary. We’re both exhausted. I’m thinking of crawling back to bed for a nap.” He jumped back when she caught her breath and met his eye. “I mean, alone. Not trying to come on to you. Sorry.”

“Yeah, sure. I should be going.”

“At least eat some of the soup.” He switched off the stove. “I heated enough for two bowls.”

“We’re still friends, right?” Andie couldn’t keep the anxiety inside of her one minute longer. If he wanted to end it after the split pea soup, she could at least walk away with her heart intact. A week ago, she hadn’t even known a Cade Preston existed. Fortunately today was Saturday. After crying her eyes out tomorrow, she’d be ready to go back to her job and spend her free time with King David and his mighty men.

“Of course we’re friends. Or are you having second thoughts? It’s my fault your dog’s missing. If Red hadn’t met Gollie, she wouldn’t be lost right now.”

She couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. He had completely forgotten that magical moment in his SUV when parked at the side of the road, he’d opened his heart and she’d glimpsed the man he was, one who had a pure, although wounded heart, who needed someone like her to help him believe in himself.

Today, he was cold. Friendly, but distant. And all he thought about was her lost dog.

# # #

Women came in hormonal bundles with buttons and dials and settings that confused Cade. What had he said to set her off like that? It was his fault her dog was missing, and he hated being so freakin’ helpless. If only he could call in the National Guard to find that dog.

“I really have to go, Cade. I’m not myself right now.” Andie slashed at her tears as if they were a minor inconvenience.

“Sure, but I feel bad. I feel like I ruined your life or something. Shall I walk you home?”

“No, I know the way.” She scurried from the kitchen and unlatched the child safety door.

“Did I say something? Are you upset with me?” The bottom dropped from his stomach. He’d been apologetic about her dog. He’d offered the reward. He’d even called his publicist to create a website to alert the public to the dog theft.

“No, not you. Just myself.” Andie yanked her white ski jacket from the coat rack, causing the entire rack to tumble. The top hit her head, and she tripped over her boots.

Cade caught her before she slammed into the mirror near the doorway. “Whoa, careful there. What’s going on? Why are you mad at yourself?”

He steadied her. The feel of her body under his hands was overwhelming, and he was close enough to inhale that sweet fragrance of hers, like soap and sunshine, not flowery or overpowering, but sexy with a hint of fire.

“Because I’m not good at this, this friend zone thing.”

“What friend zone? You mean us?” Cade tightened his muscles to stop his hands from shaking. For goodness sake, he was a professional quarterback. No wonder he’d thrown away the Super Bowl because his hands shook under pressure. Stepping away from Andie, he crossed his arms and tucked his hands under his armpits. “You don’t want to be friends anymore?”

It figured. She’d seen his weak underbelly last night, and she no longer respected him.

“I do want to be friends.” She sniffled into her hands. “I do.”

“Good, then let’s do some friend stuff. What do you guys do in Itasca? I mean, there’s no beach and no mountain biking in the snow.”

Despite trying to sound upbeat, his chest hollowed out and his gut clenched, but he couldn’t let her go, not yet. A week ago, he’d been despondent and numb, not knowing how lonely he really was until he met Andie.

She’d swept into his life, a bright red breeze of hope, and occupied his every thought, as well as put him in a state of perpetual arousal.

His accusation of nothing to do in Itasca seemed to help Andie pull herself away from her depression over her lost dog. She straightened her stance and paced around the entryway. “There’s shooting clay pigeons, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, downhill skiing, snow tubing, and fat bikes. Lots of things.”

“Fat bikes? What’s that?”

“You think we have no mountain biking in the snow? You’re wrong.” She chopped her hand in emphasis, seeming to brighten at the challenge. “Fat bikes are mountain bikes with huge tires. Large, underinflated tires that hug onto the snow. You have to try it.”

“Got me there, snow girl. Let’s do it.” Cade rotated his stiff shoulder. His contract with the LA Flash banned him from downhill skiing and snowboarding, but nothing said anything about fat biking.

Of course he’d be careful not to reinjure his throwing shoulder.

“It’s not as easy as you think.” She stuck her pink tongue out at him.

Heat sizzled over every nerve, and blood thundered in both his big head and little head. How the hell was he going to stay sane with her teasing him?

He shoved his hands into his pockets to make room in his pants, and turned toward the kitchen to find a notepad. “Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”

“Pick me up in front of the library tomorrow morning around eight. Make sure to dress warmly, boots, gloves, ski goggles, if you have any, and biking helmet. I’ll pack some food, but if you have a backpack that would be great.”

Her voice was clipped as she slid her feet into her boots and tied them. Somehow the distance was back again. She was really upset about the dog, and he didn’t blame her.

But she’d left the door open with the fat biking trip. Whoever told him New Yorkers were unfriendly hadn’t been to Itasca.

“Sure, I can’t wait. Have a good evening, Andie.” He wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss her, the light and easy way they had last night, but what she saw right now was a loser. Her half-empty and half-full psychobabble was just that, a whole load of pity for the ugly baby who no one wanted to adopt.