One Funeral (No Weddings Book 2) (10 page)

Kiki narrowed her eyes, her gaze shifting from Cade to me. “We see plenty, you two. Deny it all you want. Something is going on between you, whether you choose to admit it or not.”

“Hannah’s hot.” Cade shrugged. “What hot-blooded man wouldn’t want to be near her? I’m not denying anything.”

He didn’t confirm anything, either.

I shook my head and plopped a pillow onto Cade’s face. “Hello? I’m sitting right here. And you can all stop planning my make-believe impending hookup with Cade. I’m good with the brother–sister camaraderie here. No need to rock the boat.”

It was true. I’d become comfortable among this clan. Protected and loved as one of their own. It made me forever grateful I’d met Kiki in college and that she’d thought of me first when they needed a baker for Invitation Only. And I felt honored and humbled to be pulled in even further, becoming a part of their extended family on event-planning nights like tonight.

After we cleaned up the game and I said my good-byes to his sisters, Cade and I tossed the bottles and pizza boxes outside in Kristen’s barrels while he walked me out to my car. Thoughts of his warm and loving family and how tight he and his sisters were swirled around in my head.

When I turned back toward him, he’d moved closer, and I crashed into the brick wall of his solid chest.

He gazed down at me, smirking as he wrapped his arms around me. “So you’re okay with the brother–sister camaraderie?”

Confused by the sudden body contact after distancing himself from me in front of his sisters, I put a palm to his chest, leaning back. “You said I was hot, but you didn’t confirm anything more.”

Tightening his embrace, he leaned down, brushing his lips across my jawline and up to my ear. “I’m confirming. I want you. I need you.”

Shivering from his heated touch, from how he overwhelmed me when holding me like this, my thoughts scattered. I turned my face, teasing my lips over his until he growled. I felt the rumble quake through my body, settling into a hot, demanding ache between my legs seconds before he captured my lips in a fervent kiss.

I wanted him too. And I needed him to touch me like this, even if it was only in private for now. To hell with the whole “non-kissing” thing.

The rest would have to wait.

T
he following Tuesday, I walked into Abigail’s office with a little more direction on what to expect than the first visit. I noticed the tissue box had been moved just outside of arm’s reach of the chair I’d sat in the last time. I grabbed a green pillow off the couch, propped it behind me in the chair, and stared at the tissue box. The new distance would require me to get up or lean far out of my chair. Funny how I considered a tissue box a security blanket.

“Will you move the tissues further from the chair as we go? Is this your way of weaning me off of getting upset?”

Abigail turned toward me after hanging her in-session sign on the doorknob and closing the door. She suppressed a smile, but amusement danced in her eyes. “Would you like it be?”

Lips twitching at the corners, I shook my head. “No. I wouldn’t want to pull a hamstring lunging halfway across your office.”

Abigail laughed. “So tell me how the week went.”

“It went well. A couple of days after our session, I tried to befriend an employee by taking her to lunch, but bailed on the attempt at the last second, realizing we had nothing in common besides work. But at the end of our lunch, I struck up a conversation with the café owner, Lila. We have a lot in common, both starting up local businesses, both of us having dealt with, or dealing with, loss. We met over the weekend to compare notes and discuss events and people in the local community. I’m looking forward to getting together with her again.”

“That sounds promising, Hannah. I’m proud of you for putting yourself out there.” She jotted a quick note on her pad, which she seemed to do every time I mentioned a new person’s name. “Anything else?”

I nodded. “Saturday night, we had one of our usual event-planning sessions at Kristen’s house. She’s Cade’s oldest sister. His other two sisters, Kiki and Kendall, were there too. Kiki’s the one I told you about last time. She and I’d met in a college art class. On a whim, while handing her a beer, I invited her to go out together sometime, just her and me. And she agreed.”

“And how did you feel each time?”

“With Lila, I was surprised. Trying to start a friendship with Chloe felt forced and awkward. But with Lila, there was an instant chemistry. Wanting to spend more time together came naturally from it.”

I tilted my head, staring at the woven rug in the room for a moment in thought before meeting Abigail’s gaze again. “It was different with Kiki. We’ve always had an easy connection, sharing creative interests as well as having something in common through our work together with Invitation Only. Asking her had been even easier than with Lila. We should’ve tried to connect as friends sooner.”

“Why do you suppose you didn’t?” More quick notes on her pad.

“I think I closed myself off to trusting anyone after Brandon dumped me. Cade gave me the impression that I’d been standoffish when I first met him at his bar’s grand opening, which was the same timeframe I’d been taking art classes with Kiki. Maybe I’d given a closed-off vibe to more than just him.”

“And now?”

I smiled. “Now I feel like I have a very open vibe.”

Abigail nodded. “I feel that about you too. How are things with Cade?”

“Good, I guess.” I let out a sigh. “One thing is bothering me. He seems to act differently with me in private than when we’re around his sisters.”

“Different how?”

“He is so open and flirty with me when we’re alone. But when we’re with his sisters, he distances himself, rarely touching me and only when they might not be looking. It’s as if he’s hiding his intentions with me from them.”

“Are you and Cade together around other people besides his sisters?”

I nodded. “Twice a week, we make dinner at his place with his best friend, Ben, and his roommate, Mase.”

She pulled her pad closer and made a couple of notes. “And does he distance himself from you in front of his friends too?”

I gave a slow nod, reflecting. “Now that I think about it, he does seem to treat me platonically in front of them. He’s a little possessive, but that could be construed by them as him being possessive of his friend and not anything more.”

“Why do you think Cade might be hiding your growing relationship from his friends and family?”

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly drying up. “I’m not sure. But it makes me feel like he doesn’t trust moving forward with us, even though he says the opposite.”

“Could it be anything else?”

Confused, I furrowed my brow. “Like what?”

“We tend to jump to our worst fears when we’re unsure about someone else’s behavior. When we give them the benefit of the doubt, a better alternative sometimes presents itself.”

“Maybe he wants to keep it a secret so that whatever we have is just ours, no one else’s?”

She nodded. “That sounds plausible.”

“But not likely?” Maybe she knew something. She was counseling Cade separately from me, after all.

She smiled. “Even if Cade divulged something to me—and I’m not suggesting he has—with separate sessions, each of you have decided to keep what you’re working on private until you share details from the sessions with each other.”

“But what if it’s my worst fears, or something I hadn’t even thought of?”

“My suggestion is to not give in to your fears. You’re both feeling your way around a relationship together, but maybe neither of you have fully given in to the idea of a relationship. My understanding is that’s why you are here. To get beyond your past and be able to move forward with Cade.”

“It is.”

“Then trust in Cade until he gives you a valid reason not to. And pay closer attention to how he acts in front of his friends and sisters. Rather than broach the subject, when you’re ready, maybe take a brave step and be the one to initiate contact. See what happens. If it still seems like an issue and it bothers you, then I suggest you talk to Cade about it.”

She made the idea sound easy. Putting my apprehension aside and actually doing it would be another thing altogether.

T
he following night at Cade’s, the boys were in rare form. Needing a breather from the heated discussion about who would play in the World Series in October, I grabbed the makings for dessert. Since it was the first time we’d been with his friends after my last counseling session, I was paying careful attention to how Cade treated me in front of them.

Mase shook his head. “The Yankees have it. With their star player retiring, he’s motivated to go out on top.”

Cade leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “And he wasn’t motivated last year? Or the year prior? He’s been making seventeen million a year for the last three years, but this year’s contract is for twelve mil. The Yankees know he’s a gamble with all his injuries last year.”

Ben joined in as I poured the cherries into the heated pan. “He’s got passion enough to win. I’m with Mase. Money isn’t a big enough motivator, but his heart in the game is.”

Enjoying their debate, I smiled as I added sugar, lemon juice, vanilla bean, and its seeds. I stirred over the medium-high heat until the sugar dissolved.

Cade stood from the table and collected the demolished dinner plates. “I don’t see it. The guy is an amazing baseball player, I’ll give you that. But his forty-year-old body’s giving out on him. He knows it. That’s why he’s retiring. I hope he has a record-breaking season and takes them to the World Series, but I’m not seeing it.”

I pulled the pan from the stove and added a quarter cup of brandy. When I returned the pan to the burner, I grabbed a long match and lit it. “Heads up, guys.”

When everyone turned my way, I ignited the cherries into a burst of blue flame. A bass
whoosh
sounded out.

“Holy shit.” Cade rushed up behind me as if to tackle me away from the dessert.

“I’m okay, Cade. I’ve done this before.” I stirred the mixture as the bluish flame dwindled.

His huge exhale ruffled the hair beside my right ear. “Warn us, would you?”

I glanced up at him, smirking. “I did. Hence the ‘heads up’ signal.”

Mase snorted, standing from the table. “I’m with Cade. Something along the lines of ‘guys, I’m about to set your house on fire’ would’ve been more effective.”

I dropped a hard look at Ben, who continued to sit at the table as I stirred the mixture while it flamed out. “Have anything to add over there, O Quiet One?”

Ben shook his head. “Nope.” He crossed his arms, glancing at the other two. “I’m good.”

“Cade, grab the vanilla ice cream out of the freezer and scoop it into those three bowls, would you?” I turned off the burner and gave the mixture a final, gentle stir.

He grudgingly went to the freezer and plopped two scoopfuls into each bowl. “What about you?”

“I’m having different ice cream.” I brushed by him and grabbed my lactose-free vanilla ice cream from the lower freezer basket. “It’s made from coconut milk.”

As I poured the cherries over the ice cream, Cade moved the bowls around, lining each one up under the pan so I didn’t need to move. Mase grabbed four spoons, fresh napkins, and the first two bowls and brought them to the table.

Cade leaned into me the moment Mase left. “Seriously, Hannah. That shot my heart into my throat.” He huffed out a sigh.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” I looked up at him.

Solemn worry was etched into his face. “It’s okay. Just glad you’re safe.” He threaded a hand into my hair, skating his fingers across the back of my head as he bent down to kiss me. On the forehead. Still, it was a lot more affection than he’d ever shown in front of the guys at his place.

But when I turned around, Mase and Ben weren’t paying us any attention. They were back in a heated discussion about World Series hopefuls. This time, the Dodgers were under the microscope.

Cade picked up our bowls and guided me back toward the table with his arm practically around me as we walked. Maybe it was my imagination, but he suddenly seemed to have moved closer to me. Less distance existed between his body and mine as we sat in our chairs.