Deceptive Cadence (14 page)

He reached across and pulled my legs over his lap. His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against him. “I’ve never gone to a girl’s house before. Not like this, anyway.”

“What? With your hand creeping up her skirt?”

He pulled his hand back. “No, I mean as a boyfriend.”

“Have you ever had a girlfriend before?”

He shrugged. “Not technically.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

He stroked my cheek. “Have you had a boyfriend before?”

“Yes, one, but that’s not what we’re talking about.”

"Who?"

“Tyler Hansen.”

He laughed. “That guy’s an idiot. You seriously went out with him?”

I slapped his shoulder. “Shut up.”

“He looks like he could be your brother.”

I grunted. “That’s what Geri said.”

I tried to pull away, but he held me tightly and kissed my cheek. “Cadence, stay here with me.”

“Then tell me what ‘not technically’ is supposed to mean.”

He sighed. “I don’t wanna talk about my indiscretions. I just wanna focus on you.”

I looked in his eyes. “Indiscretions? Geez, James! If you wanna date me, you need to come clean.”

His gaze fell onto my lips. “I don’t want you to dump me.”

“Really?” I shifted up onto my knees beside him. “When you first started hitting on me, you stunk from smoking pot, and at the disco, I’m fairly certain you were tipsy. But that was before. What’s important is what you do now.”

“Wow, you
are
amazing.” He turned to face me directly and lowered his voice. “I’m not a virgin.”

I sighed. “I kinda figured that.”

“It wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, and was more of an ‘everyone telling me to do it’ thing rather than me being into the girl.”

“Who was it?” I let slip.

He rubbed his neck. “Carla.”

“Oh gross.”

He groaned. “Shut up. It was Robbie’s idea.”

“I thought she was his girlfriend.”

“Eh . . .” He waved his hand. “Kinda sorta, but nothing serious. She’ll put out for anyone and he’s happy to take advantage of that.”

“That’s sick.”

James shrugged. “What can you do? To each their own, I guess.”

I slumped back onto the couch and folded my arms. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him telling me that. My gaze fell to his lap before I caught myself and looked up to his face.

His eyebrows furrowed as he watched me with concern. “Cadence, it meant nothing.”

I gnawed on my lip as tears burned in my eyes.
Why did it hurt so much?
I knew what he was like before, so why did it feel like he’d ripped my heart out of my chest?

“Cadence.” He shifted closer and caressed my face. “Don’t cry, please.”

“Why are you still friends with them? I don’t want you to go near her.”

He fought to hold back a smile. “You’re jealous.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

He pulled my face in and kissed me.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, desperately wanting to claim possession over him. Breaking away, I looked into his eyes. “Okay, maybe I am.”

He grinned and leaned in. He lifted me onto his lap and stroked my face as our kiss deepened, giving me butterflies.

The front door slammed. I pulled away from James to see Dad standing, stiff and red, glaring at us.

I jumped to my feet and rushed over, grabbing his clenched hand.

“Dad . . .”

But he didn’t look away from James. James sat frozen. Dad’s clenched fist tightened under my hand.

“Dad.”

“Is that the boy who turned you into a punching bag?”

“Dad, he didn’t do that.”

“But he’s the reason those girls attacked you.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

His arm wrapped around my waist. “Why’s he here?”

“He’s . . . he’s coming with us.”

Dad’s gaze finally pulled away from James and fell on me. “What?”

“He’s . . .” I sighed. He would find out eventually. “He’s my boyfriend.”

A crazed rage flashed into his eyes. He released me and charged toward James. I darted across and jumped between them before Dad could grab him. “Dad, don’t!”

“I’m gonna rip him apart!”

“Dad, stop it! Please!”

“He was all over you in
my
house! He’s
never
going to touch you again!”

“Dad!”

Mum rushed into the room and grabbed Dad’s arm. “David! Stop it right now!”

“He had his hands all over Cadence! I’m not going to stand for it!”

Tears burst from my eyes.
Stupid hormones
. Being a teenager again really sucked.

Mum pointed at me. “Look at her!”

Dad glanced at me. “Those tears are
his
fault!”

“No, David, they’re your fault! You need to control your temper. Can’t you see she really likes him? Why can’t you just trust that she can handle herself and knows her boundaries?”

Dad grabbed me and pulled me under his arm. “I trust her, I just don’t trust
him
.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” She gestured for James to stand up beside her. “He’s going to be in our life for a while, David, and I know for a fact that she’s made it very hard for him to catch her. He’s not going to do anything to ruin his efforts.”

James stared at her, gaping. She pushed his mouth closed.

Dad’s arm wrapped around me again. “She’s only fifteen!”

“Yes, David, she’s fifteen, not five.”

His arm tightened and he looked down into my face. He looked into my eyes and his expression softened. He gently wiped my tears away. “Cadence, do you really want this? Do you really want him around?”

I nodded.

He groaned and glared at James. “You! If I so much as see you
think
about touching her in a way I don’t like, I’m going to cut off your hands!”

James nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Dad grumbled something under his breath before walking me toward my room. “Cadence, if he tries anything, you tell me right away.”

“Okay, Dad.”

He kissed my forehead and lifted my bag off the floor in the hallway as we passed. “I wish you could stay a little girl forever.”

I giggled. “I’ll always be your little girl, even when I’m thirty!”

He grinned and we entered my room. He set my bag on the chair by my desk. “I love you, Cadence. You know that’s why I can’t stand boys around you.”

I sighed. “Yeah, Dad.”

The first time around, I probably would have lost it with him for humiliating me like that, but I knew better. He did love me, and I knew it wasn’t about embarrassing me.

He kissed my head. “Get ready to go while I interrogate him.”

“Be nice, Dad.”

He shrugged as he walked out the door. “Don’t worry. Your mother won’t let me be too cruel.”

I shut the door behind him and rushed to pull out the scrapbook. I opened to the photos of my wedding day to see the way Dad had looked at me. I found one of the daddy-daughter dance, and stared at his face. His brown eyes reflected such a deep love that goose bumps rippled over my body.

I scanned through some more and found one of him hugging me goodbye as Austin and I left for our honeymoon. A tear ran down his cheek as he clung to me. He was happy I’d found Austin, whom he loved, but a hint of sadness showed on his face too. His little girl had grown up.

I flicked to the next picture. Austin held me close, gazing into my eyes. There was so much love between us. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, having flashes of when I’d first met him.

I had just finished my first year of university. My friend, Tara, invited me to a Christmas party before I headed back across the country for Harper’s wedding. He had been there—Tara was one of his high school friends. I’d noticed him right away. He was handsome, with his thick dark hair and wide smile.

“Who’s that?” I asked Tara.

She turned to me, surprised. “That’s Austin Jones. Why?”

“Is he single?”

She laughed. “I believe so, yes.”

I met her gaze. “Is he straight?”

She laughed harder. “Yes.”

I looked him over again, liking his solid, strong body.

“Do you want me to introduce you?” she asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair. “He wouldn’t wanna talk to me. If we meet, then we meet. I won’t force it.”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I’d watched him all night, but he never once noticed me. It wasn’t until we returned to university that I saw him again. I’d gone out with Tara to a club for her birthday, and he was there. But that time, I was determined to catch his attention. I felt confident and cute, so I danced and whispered to my friend Lyla that I was interested. Finally, it got back to him. His head shot up and looked me over.

I pretended not to notice him as I danced with as much sex appeal as possible. I felt his eyes on me, and as one song mixed into another, I turned to face him. Our gazes met and he smiled. He liked what he saw. I smiled back.

He stood up and pushed through toward me. I turned and grinned to myself as he came up behind me and rested his hands on my hips. “Hey.”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “Hi.”

“Can I dance with you?”

I nodded.

We were attached the whole night. He even drove me home and we made out in his car. The next day, Saturday, I woke to a knock on my flat’s door. I answered it and found him smiling sheepishly at me.

“I hope I’m not being presumptuous, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

I giggled. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’re just so beautiful. I really wanna get to know you better.”

I bit my lip and pulled my robe tighter around me. His gaze fell onto my lips as I released the bite. I smiled at his obvious attraction. “Do you wanna take me out?”

His gaze met mine. “That’s why I’m here.”

I stepped back to let him in. “Watch some TV or something while I get ready . . .”

Someone knocked on my door, and I snapped the scrapbook shut. “Yes?”

“Shower’s free,” Harper said. "Unless you wanna share it with your boyfriend, then you need to wait until he’s finished getting grilled.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Harper.”

“You’re welcome, brat-face.”

ELEVEN

James used his charms shamelessly. He sat beside me as we ate and probably contributed to the conversation more than I did. Dusty loved him, and watched him in complete awe. Harper pretended to be disinterested, but fought back a smile when he cracked jokes. Mum was the chattiest with him, and I could see she liked him, too. Even Dad seemed to soften toward him.

As the night progressed, his hand came from holding mine hidden under the table, to being rested around the back of my chair. I watched Dad carefully while he watched James. He wanted to hate James, but he just couldn’t. James was too friendly and gentle with me.

When the cake came out and everyone sang “Happy Birthday,” James was bold enough to kiss my cheek. I blushed and looked into his eyes as he smiled down at me. As I turned away, I saw Dad pursing his lips with wide eyes, but he didn’t say anything.

We drove James home, and as we pulled into the driveway, his home surprised me. It sat on the end of a cul-de-sac with tall bushes out front to block the windows, and a short stairway leading to a small patio by the front door, located just beside the garage. It looked like a nice house. I’d expected something rundown considering the way both he and Melanie dressed.

James thanked my parents for letting him come along, and as he opened the door and wished me a happy birthday, a man appeared beside him.

James jumped. “Geez, Dad, you startled me.”

His dad bent over to look into the car. He saw me, then turned to Mum in the passenger seat. “I’m John Gordon.”

A large man, similar in size to Dad, he had the same chestnut brown hair as James. James looked remarkably similar to him, except his dad’s eyes were hazel.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Mum answered, offering him her hand. “I met your wife earlier.”

John smiled. “Yes, she told me. I was surprised to find my son wasn’t home when he is grounded.”

James grabbed his hair and grunted.

Harper laughed. “Good job, loser.”

Dad leaned across. “Grounded? For what?”

“Dad, don’t.” James grabbed his elbow.

“There was some fight at the school he was involved in a few weeks ago. I believe your daughter was at the receiving end.”

My head fell into my hands.
Here we go . . .

Dad leaned closer. “So he
was
involved?”

John nodded. “They were some of his girlfriends. They weren’t too impressed with a newcomer.”

“Gah!” James punched his dad’s shoulder. “Dad, stop it!”

“Girlfriends?” Dad turned to look at me with alarm. “As in
plural
?”

John sighed. “Yes.”

“No, Dad! None of them have ever been my girlfriend!”

Dad clutched the steering wheel as he glared across at James. Harper chuckled beside me, while Dusty kept whispering, “Dad’s about to lose it!”

I had to do something or the whole situation would explode. I unbuckled and jumped out of the car.

“Cadence!” Dad said.

I ignored him and grabbed James’ hand. “Mr. Gordon?”

He turned and looked me over with narrow eyes. “Can I help you?”

“Please don’t provoke my father.”

Harper burst into fits of laughter. Dad’s anger seemed to fizzle, and he shrank back.

John rested his hands on his hips and stared at my hand around James’. “I think you should go home now, sweetheart.”

The front door banged and Karen came charging out to us. She bent over at the car window and smiled. “Hello again, Harmony.”

“Uh, hi.” Mum smiled hesitantly.

Karen straightened and looked her husband dead in the eyes. “John Martin Gordon, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m trying to keep our son on track. He’s just barely cleaned up his act, and I don’t want some floozy screwing it all up.”

“
Floozy
?” Dad lost it and jumped out of the car.
Shoot! That’s not good.

Mum shot out and intercepted him. “David!”

“He called Cadence a floozy! No one calls
my
daughter things like that!”

John faced Dad with a smirk. “Don’t like it when someone points it out to ya, huh?”

Dad roared and tried to push by Mum.

“John!” Karen snarled. “This is embarrassing!”

It fell silent . . . other than Harper’s laughter from inside the car. Finally, James cleared his throat. “Dad, Cadence is the reason I cleaned up my act. I thought you knew that.”

Everyone faced him.

“James,” John said with a scowl. “Melanie told me what she’s like, and I don’t―”

“Melanie doesn’t like Cadence because
I
like Cadence. She’s not the best source of information for this.”

“John,” Karen said gently. “Cadence is a good girl. She keeps James on track.”

John glared at me, then turned to Dad. “Are you okay with this? My son has used drugs and gotten drunk at parties. Surely since she’s a ‘good girl,’ you wouldn’t want her around
him
.”

Dad’s chest rose as his glare burned into James. He surprised me when he said, “He knows I’ll kill him if he does those things around my daughter.”

I couldn’t help grinning.

He saw it and nodded to me. “I trust my daughter.”

Harper’s laughter stopped abruptly.

John stared at me. “Well then, Cadence, since your family has been able to spend time with James, I expect to see you here over the holidays so we can get to know you. Does that sound fair?”

I took a deep breath. “It does.”

He folded his arms as he looked me over again, then turned to Dad. “I’m sorry to insult you, but I can tell that you know how it is. My son has proven to be more of an idiot than a saint over the last year or so, so I had to be sure.”

Dad’s jaw fell, stunned.
I
was stunned. What a complete one-eighty. Dad scratched his head, perplexed. “Yeah, sure.”

Karen pushed John toward the house. “Say goodbye, James. It’s time to come inside.”

Mum and Dad slipped back into the car as James turned to me. “Well, you can’t say your birthday was boring.”

I smiled. “Nope.”

He stared at his feet. “Sorry about my dad. He’s overly strict. It drives me crazy.”

“I know how that is.”

He gazed into my eyes, smiling. “Yeah, you do. Maybe there’s hope for me after all.”

“What I’ve learned is that they do it because they love us, so I’ve learned not to fight against it.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Huh. I’ll have to try that sometime.”

“Maybe he’ll loosen up.”

“Maybe.”

He touched my face and leaned in for a kiss, but Dad cleared his throat loudly. James paused, and planted the kiss on my cheek. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, beautiful.”

He stepped back and waved to the car. “Thanks for having me, and I’ll wash the clothes and get ’em back to Cadence as soon as I can.”

Mum smiled and nodded. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you, James.”

He looked at me one more time, then lunged forward and smacked a quick kiss on my lips before darting toward the house.

Dad grumbled under his breath as I climbed back in, but I didn’t care. I stared out the window the whole way home, lost in my daydreams.

I grinned as the bus pulled up and I saw James waiting for me. My friends chatted excitedly before Amy said, “Are you an item yet? Seriously, how long are you going to string him along?”

I giggled and jumped into the aisle. The three of them gasped in unison.

“No!”

“When?” Elise asked.

“Yesterday.” I shrugged.

“Is that why you missed the bus?”

“Kinda, yeah.” I shuffled forward as the line started to move.

“Cadence, you are seriously the hardest person to gossip with.”

I laughed.

He saw me moving through the bus and stood waiting for me as I stepped out the door. “Hey, beautiful.”

I couldn’t help giggling as he took my hand. Seriously, the giggling thing when I was nervous needed to stop.

He pulled me under his arm as we walked through the school to my friends. Everyone stared at us as we passed by, and when I glanced up at James, he looked mighty proud of himself. As we turned the corner and my group came into view, Geri’s head popped up by the table. She came screeching over and threw her arms around me; I would have hit the ground if James hadn’t caught me.

“Cay-Cay! I’m so excited! You and James are
finally
together after months of you dodging your feelings for him.” She shook her head. “My little girl is all grown up.”

I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

James lifted my bag off my back and set it on the table, then went around greeting my friends. I watched, amazed that he seemed to know all of them. He really
had
worked hard to catch me.

He returned to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist as I talked with Geri and Michael.

The group fell silent.

I looked across to see Robbie and five other boys approaching us. I pressed against James, remembering my last encounter with Robbie.

He shoved Michael aside and grinned at James. “Hey, mate. So you finally got your girl.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet, huh?” James reached out and they shook hands.

“So will we be seein’ ya get back to your old self soon?”

“Nah, mate, her dad would kill me.”

Robbie’s gaze flashed to me. “Daddy’s girl, huh?”

“Yeah, big time.” James laughed.

I elbowed him in the ribs.

He looked down at me. “What? You are and you know it.”

“Why are you being such an ass?”

His friends “
ooed
” mockingly at me. He glanced around at them, agitated. “Cadence, stop being a―”

“You better watch what you say!”

His friends scoffed and Robbie said, “Bit of a ball crusher, ay Jimmy?”

James glanced at Robbie and rubbed the back of his neck. He grabbed me and pulled me in. “Cadence, please don’t embarrass me in front of them.”

I gasped and pushed him off. “Seriously?”

“Cadence―”

“James, just don’t.” I marched away from him as his friends cackled.

Geri was right at my side as we hurried away. A moment later, James rushed in front of me. “Cadence, they’re my friends!”

“They’re not very good friends if they make you turn into what I just saw.”

He swore.

“Hey!”

“Cadence, come on! I’ve made friends with all of your friends. You could at least give them a chance.”

Geri sneered. “You’re friends are jerks, James, and you turn into one around them. Cadence is the same no matter what.”

He growled in frustration. “You are so high maintenance!”

I stopped dead in my tracks and folded my arms. “Really? So that’s it, huh? Months of chasing me and you’re done after a day?”

His eyes widened as fear spread across his face. “No! Cadence, don’t do that.”

“Okay, James, how about this? Show me you can be the same no matter what, and I’ll try to get to know your friends.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, I can handle that.”

The bell rang.

James glanced around, then grabbed my arms. “Don’t dump me.”

“I’m not.”

He sighed, relieved. “Good. Let me get your bag for you.”

He dashed away as Geri and I watched him. “You’re seriously going to give those jerks a chance?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess.”

She turned me to face her. She looked worried. “They’re not good people, Cadence. If your dad finds out you’re hanging with them, he’s gonna flip.”

“What am I supposed to do? If I just keep it to when we’re at school, I should be safe.”