Kiss Me That Way: A Cottonbloom Novel (32 page)

“Nice of you to ride to their rescue, Tarwater,” Sawyer said. “If it’s not repainted by start of business on Friday, I’ll be back down here to file charges.”

Regan’s hand rose with the middle finger extended. Monroe caught it in both of hers before Sawyer caught sight. “You betcha, Sawyer. We’ll take care of it.”

Sawyer strode out of the building. Cade followed more slowly, throwing a glance over his shoulder that she avoided. There was too much tension and animosity and hurt feelings ricocheting around the room. Now that the threat of being charged or going to jail had passed, a headache knocked on her temples.

Andrew gestured her and Regan toward the front doors. “Come on, ladies. Let’s get you two home.”

Regan led the way, her head high and her stalk huffy. Unfortunately, her disheveled appearance did not lend to an impression of calm confidence. Monroe hoped she didn’t look quite as crazed.

She matched Andrew’s stride and stuffed her hands in her front pockets. Cade was leaning against a light post next to his beat-up truck, his arms crossed and one booted foot crossed over the other in a seemingly casual pose that was ruined by the stony look on his face.

“Thanks for coming down. I really appreciate it. Could you get Regan home? I need to talk to Cade.”

Halfway down the steps, Andrew caught her arm. “Are you sure you don’t want a lift, too? He seems upset.”

Monroe patted Andrew’s hand, inducing him to let her go. “I’ll be fine with him.”

Andrew’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t argue and headed to where Regan leaned against the side of his Mercedes. Monroe took a deep, steadying breath and walked toward Cade. No matter how angry or frustrated Cade was, he would always protect her. It was something she understood, bone deep.

“Why didn’t you call me?” His words stopped her in her tracks.

“Wait, what? Why didn’t
I
call
you
? You walked out of my house. You couldn’t escape fast enough. I freaking made you pancakes, and all I got was crickets. I’ve got the T-shirt you were in too much of a hurry for. Feel free to drop by and pick it up at your convenience.”

His stance of aggression changed into something more defensive. All of the hurt and anger and betrayal had built like storm clouds inside of her since he’d walked out. She unleashed.

“I am not your booty call, Cade Fournette. I don’t do one-night stands.” She stepped closer and poked him in the chest. “Was it just about sex? Because if it was then I—”

“Slow down, woman.” He put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “It was not just about sex. But can we leave that for a minute? I want to know why you called Andrew Tarwater instead of me.”

“Because he’s a lawyer. And sort of a friend. And, to be honest, after you walked out, I have no idea what you are. What
we
are.”

“I’m your…” He looked toward the halo of light above them.

“See, you don’t even know. Are you my lover? My boyfriend? My booty call?”

“I thought you were
my
booty call?” The hint of a smile crinkled his eyes.

“No. You don’t get to be all cute and charming. I’m seriously trying to define us here.”

He ran his hand down his face taking all amusement with it. “Don’t you get it? We are indefinable. We always have been. I don’t know what we are, but it goes beyond being lovers or friends, and it scares the hell out of me.”

His words struck a chord inside of her. They moved at the same time, coming together in a fierce hold, his arms holding her close, her fingers biting into the muscles of his back.

Their lips collided in a kiss at once sensual and desperate. She wasn’t sure how long they would have stayed making out in the parking lot, but the piercing siren of a police car cut them apart.

He tore his mouth away from hers but dragged her body closer. Into her hair he whispered, “Can I take you home?”

“You can take me anywhere,” she whispered back.

At first she wasn’t sure he even heard her, but eventually he loosened his hold and opened the driver’s side of the old truck. She slid to the middle of the bench seat.

He started the truck but didn’t get them moving immediately. Shifting toward her, he circled his hand around her neck and kissed her again. Slower this time, their lips giving and taking. More. She needed more.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and made a fist, pulling him closer and sliding her tongue inside his mouth, taking charge of the moment. He groaned and gave her what she craved. One hot kiss followed another until she was cutting her legs against each other, bordering on uncomfortable in her arousal. She grabbed his closest hand and drew it between her legs.

“I love the fact you look all sweet and innocent yet detonate in my arms.” He spoke against her lips, the husky, sexy vibrations traveling straight to her nipples.

He squeezed her upper thigh with his bad hand, his fingers slipping under the hem to trace the elastic of her panties. She was close to shattering.

He pulled away, putting both hands on the steering wheel and sounding like he was practicing deep-breathing exercises. “We are in the parking lot of the police station. You don’t need to be hauled in for defacing property and indecent exposure on the same night. I’m not sure Sawyer would come bail us out.”

He put the truck in reverse and got them headed toward her house. She squirmed on the seat, the break only growing her arousal. She leaned over and nipped his ear. “I swear, if my house was farther away I would totally go down on you while you were driving.”

He tapped the brakes, throwing her forward a few inches, her breasts rubbing against his biceps.

“I’d be happy to cruise up and down River Street a few times.”

She laughed. God, she loved his teasing, questioning tone. If she gave him the green light he would totally drive around. “Another night. Right now, I need you to get me home as quickly as possible. Without getting pulled over by the cops.”

This time it was his turn to throw his head back with a husky laugh. He drove fast and parked in her garage. Her car was still in front of Regan’s store.

He slid out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close. They stumbled up the porch steps and into her house. Once inside, he pressed her against her front door with his big body. The crinkles at his eyes and the lines bracketing his mouth weren’t from laughter. A desperate intensity had replaced his tease.

She didn’t need him to tell her what he needed, because she needed it, too. Slipping her hands between them, she went to work first on her pants, pushing them down with her panties. His jeans were next. After loosening them, she curled her hands around the curve of his hip bones before pushing his jeans and underwear far enough down to free his erection.

There was no preamble necessary. He hiked her leg up and around his thigh, fisted the base of his erection, and pushed inside of her. They exhaled in synchronicity. It was about more than pleasure—at least for her.

He grabbed her hips and ground himself deeper. Their hands brushed, both working to get her shirt off. She unclasped her bra, needing to bare herself to him.

The cotton of his shirt was a soft caress against her breasts as he pushed her against the door, taking a small thrust in the process. Based on their ride, she’d expected something quick and dirty, yet he seemed to be in no hurry, and she was glad for it. The longer he took, the longer he would be inside of her, part of her. A dangerous way to think.

He set his forehead against hers. “You’re beautiful. And funny. And strong. And sexy.” Each compliment was punctuated by a long, slow thrust.

Words were beyond her, so she kissed him with all the emotion she’d kept pent up since he’d come home. Maybe since he’d left home. No man had ever measured up to her memories of him. And while her old memories were colored by childhood and innocence, she was making new memories of him, not better but different, deeper, shaded by a woman’s experience.

His hips moved faster to mimic the franticness of their kiss, the grind like nothing she’d ever experienced. She wanted to wait, savor him, but the friction drove her into a blinding orgasm. He followed soon after, his groan echoing in her entryway.

Thank God he didn’t move, or she might have tumbled to the floor. Her entire body trembled. She didn’t feel strong at the moment; she felt weak and vulnerable.

Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she kissed his neck, slightly damp, the pulse jumping against her lips. For better or worse, she loved him. She’d always loved him in her childish way, but now she loved him as a woman loved a man.

The words battering around her heart didn’t come out. She didn’t know if she’d be strong enough to handle the fallout if he turned and walked out the door again.

Chapter Twenty-five

Cade hid his face in her hair, searching for words. Anything he thought to say sounded either too trite or too revealing. His tongue had developed the habit of running away from his brain while they were having sex. He couldn’t seem to stop it. She was beautiful and funny and strong and sexy, and dammit, she deserved to hear that every day.

He could have stayed leaned up against her and the door for a while longer, but her trembles were growing more noticeable by the second. He pulled away. Her head lolled back, her eyes closed, her lips puffy and red from the hottest kisses he’d ever experienced.

Slowly, he withdrew, his body fighting him every inch. Being inside of her offered a comfort and solace that went beyond sex. To a place he’d never been, had never cared to go, but now that he’d experienced the wonder he wasn’t sure he could ever leave.

“That was hot,” he said, and immediately felt like a crass adolescent. “I mean, it was more than hot; it was amazing. Surreal. Unbelievable.” He tucked his tongue in back of his teeth to stem the flow of words.

“It was all those things, but especially hot.” Her voice was sweet and sexy at the same time.

“That’s twice now I haven’t gotten my pants off.” He pulled his jeans up but didn’t fasten them. Her palms were flat on the door as if still needing the support. She was naked while he was clothed, and the contrast was turning him on in a major way.

His gaze wandered up and down her body, enjoying every slope and curve. Her arm came up to hide her breasts, a flush spreading from her chest up into her cheeks. He could almost feel the heat of her embarrassment.

He took both her wrists in his hands and pressed them over her head. “The woman who offered to go down on me in the truck and let me fuck her against the door is suddenly feeling shy?”

“That was in the heat of the moment. This is…” She turned her face into her arm.

She didn’t have to say it. He understood. This wasn’t about being physically stripped but about being emotionally bared to him.

“Are you staying or going?” The vulnerability in her voice made him want to gather her close. So he did.

“Staying, if you’ll have me.”

“I’ll have you.” A trust he didn’t deserve lit her face.

He loosened his hands but didn’t entirely let her go. “I don’t suppose you have anything to drink?”

“Water, tea, or there’s a bottle of wine a client gave me for Christmas in the frig.”

“You realize it’s June.”

“I thought wine got better over time. Feel free to open it. I won’t ever drink it.”

He dropped his hands, and she sashayed toward her bedroom, her confidence restored. Had he done that?

Her refrigerator was only half-full. Lots of healthy fruits and vegetables, but also leftover pizza. He grabbed the pitcher of tea and the bottle of wine that was tucked into the back. Muscadine wine. The bottle was a screw top. He found a glass and poured, swirling the wine and sniffing.

Another memory rocketed him backward in time. His parents drinking wine and slow dancing in the kitchen. The music or maybe their muffled laughter had awoken him. It had been before Tally was born, and Sawyer was a baby. His mother rarely drank, but muscadine wine was her favorite, and Cade remembered the same sweet smell on her breath when she’d tucked him back into bed.

He closed his eyes and took a sip, grimacing as the overly sweet tartness hit his tongue and burned the back of his throat. It was terrible. He spit the rest of his mouthful out in the sink.

“What’s wrong?” The T-shirt she’d thrown on was the one he’d left. It slipped off the curve of one shoulder and hit the top of her thighs so he couldn’t tell if she’d pulled on underwear or not.

“That is the worst wine I’ve ever tasted.”

“Really? Let me see?” Instead of taking the glass, she covered his hand with her own and lifted the rim to her lips. He watched, mesmerized, as she wet her lips and then licked them.

“Tastes fine to me, but what do I know?” Her teasing smile only drew him closer to her mouth. The urge to taste the wine on her lips was undeniable.

With their hands still wrapped around the wineglass, he captured her lips, the sweetness of her and the wine nearly undoing him. If he could drink the entire bottle off her lips then he would award it a blue ribbon.

A cold wetness on his chest had him pulling back. The wine had spilt on him, the aroma more appealing than the taste.

She wiped at the spot. “Goodness. You should get out of that wet thing.”

His laugh was spontaneous. “Isn’t that normally the man’s line?”

Laughing, she took his hand and tugged him into her bedroom. The light from a candle lent romantic overtones. The scent that wove the room wasn’t a flowery one but a combination of pine trees and the sea air.

In his previous life, he might have felt trapped and boxed in, but none of the familiar restlessness came over him. He didn’t barter with himself this time about staying. There was no question he was waking up in her bed.

Still wearing his T-shirt, she slipped under the covers. The flash of little white panties was more erotic than the entire Victoria Secret catalog. Taking his cues from her, he stripped off his shirt and jeans, leaving his boxer briefs in place.

“Why did you run off the other morning?” Her question lilted in the peace.

He propped his head up on his hand and played with a piece of hair that tickled his chest. “That morning—” He cleared his throat, the remnants of emotion still raw. “The last time someone cooked for me like that was my mother.”