Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Contemporary Romance (11 page)

“Bella, you’re not saving the world. You’re developing a program for those who want to better themselves,” Leanna said. “I think the idea of an essay is a good qualifier. Think about it. Do you really want to sell companies on a kid who is in it only for the time out of school, or do you want to really help the kids who want to be helped?”

“Don’t forget, guidance counselors can recommend to the kids that they take part,” Jenna added. “And the ones who follow through are more likely to do a good job anyway.”

“True. And the application already requires teacher and personal recommendations. You know what?” She gathered her towel and hugged Vera again. “I’m going to text Caden and tell him that we’re officially dating and then I want to work on this. I have a new boyfriend and a pitch to develop!”

EARLY AFTERNOON FOUND Caden taking a report for another break-in at Duck’s Pond. The pond was located off a back road, at the bottom of a hilly, wooded path. Like many ponds on the Cape, the parking lot was a good distance from the water, and unfortunately, it made for an easy target for vehicle break-ins. He took the report and then drove down the main drag to the center of Wellfleet to grab a soda from the Wellfleet Market.

He parked behind the church and was crossing Main Street when he noticed Evan and his friends sitting on their bikes in the gravel area beside the market. He recognized two of the boys from the flea market, Mike and Bobby. Unlike Evan, both boys wore their dark hair cut short, while the others had longer hair, like Evan.

“Ev,” he called as he approached.

Evan’s shoulders dropped as he reluctantly stepped from his bike. “Be right back,” he said to the others.

“Hey, buddy. How’s it going?” Caden eyed the boys on the bikes, and when Mike shifted his eyes away, Caden had a funny feeling in his gut. He wrote off the discomfort to a combination of the distance he’d felt between him and Evan and to not knowing Evan’s new friends.
This too shall pass
, he hoped.

Evan stared at the sidewalk and kicked at a stone. “Fine.”

“Where are you guys heading?”

Evan shrugged.

Evan’s friends rode to the edge of the gravel area, where they were waiting for him, obviously trying to signal Evan that they were ready to leave. Caden slid them a narrow-eyed stare. He wasn’t about to be rushed, but he was also walking a fine line of not wanting to embarrass Evan with his new friends.

“Dad, can I go, or did you want something else?” Evan asked.

He didn’t like the way Evan wasn’t looking at him or answering his questions. “You know I don’t like you loitering. What’s your plan?”

Evan shrugged again.

“Damn it, Evan. Are you going to just ride circles around Wellfleet? Head over to someone’s house and play a game? What’s the deal? And look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Evan lifted his eyes. “Beach, I guess.”

Caden didn’t like his reticence one bit, but he’d cut him some slack this time. “Fine. Stay out of trouble, and remember to be home in time to go to Jamie’s tonight.”

“Whatever.” Evan walked away.

Caden opened his mouth to call him back, then thought better of it and shook off his irritation. He knew that being a cop’s kid had all sorts of things that came along with it, including new friends looking shady with nervousness even if they weren’t bad kids. A uniform could make the calmest of kids jumpy. He’d let this go with Evan, but he’d have the station secretary run a background check on the two boys Evan had met at the flea market—just to be sure Mike’s shifting eyes were only a sign of a typical nervous teen around a cop.

AT THE END of his shift, Caden was poring over the crime reports from the night before when he received a text from Bella. Her smiling face filled the screen with the caption,
Guess who this is?

He texted back,
The hottie who likes leather boots?

What was she up to now, and why the hell did she still make his body fill with anticipation like he was sixteen years old? His phone vibrated a minute later.

Your new girlfriend. Yup, it’s official. Alert the media. We’re dating. That is…if you still want to. If not, well, check out the racy boot pic, and you’ll change your mind. Xox.

Caden was laughing when Kristie Palken, the executive assistant for the station, stopped by his desk with the report he’d asked her to run on the two new friends Evan talked about most often, Bobby Falls and Mike Elkton. He shoved his phone in his pocket and cleared his throat, but there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be able to stifle his grin.

Kristie chewed bubble gum like an addict. She was never without a pink wad, and she blew bubbles midconversation in the most annoying fashion, but she was efficient as hell, and after working with cops for the last ten years, she was savvy enough to actually get blood from a stone.

“Okay, spill it. What’s got you looking like the Cheshire cat?”

“Nothing. What’ve you got?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve raised a teenager. I know what a juicy secret looks like, and you, my friend, are totally in that secret zone.” She smiled and blew a bubble. “It’s okay. It’s a small town. I’ll find out eventually if it’s worth knowing. Anyway, I’ve got your info.” She wiggled her plump bottom into the chair across from Caden.

“And?” He tried to read her expression, but she was looking past Caden at two officers joking around behind him.

She blew a bubble and shrugged. “I’ve got nothing on them. They go to Nauset High, parents are respectable, no history of delinquency on either.”

Caden breathed a sigh of relief.

She shifted her eyes back to him and blew a big bubble, then sucked it back into her crimson lips. “Is this a case of little boy growing up and his daddy being overprotective, or did you have a reason to worry?” Kristie was a single mom with a twenty-year-old daughter, and the way she tossed her red hair over her shoulder and then narrowed her eyes and set her stare on Caden told him that she’d been there and done that.

“They acted a little nervous around me earlier today
,
but it must have been the uniform. And the superintendent of the high school said there were some troublemakers around, so I was just checking.” He shook his head. “I’m glad they’re not troublemakers.”

“Wilma Ritter?” She waved her hand in the air. “Willa thinks any kid who’s not a robot is trouble. What does your gut tell you?”

“I only met them briefly a couple of times, but they seemed like normal kids.”

“Cops usually have good instincts.” She leaned across the desk and stopped chewing long enough to lower her voice. “Spend time with them. Let them know you’re a cop and you’re watching them.” She pointed her index finger and her second finger at her eyes, then pointed them at Caden. “You’d be surprised how a little fear can instill good behavior in kids.” She walked away with a curt nod.

Caden knew damn well what fear could do. It could backfire as easily as it could instill good behavior. He’d have to find a middle ground and hope those kids weren’t trouble in the first place, because he also knew that if a kid was set on getting into trouble, sometimes there was no deterring him.

He read over the reports one last time before heading home for the evening. There were three vehicles broken into, each within a few miles of Bella’s cottage, and in the late afternoon another cottage had been hit. Luckily, no one was home at the time. His muscles tensed with the thought of anything happening to Bella.

Caden drove home thinking about how important Bella had become to him. He wanted to protect her as much as he wanted to protect Evan, and even though she wasn’t quite as forthright with her emotions, he knew in his heart that her feelings were just as strong for him.

His cell phone rang on the way into his house.
Evan
. “Hey, buddy.”

“Hi, Dad. Do you mind if I hang with Bobby and Mike tonight? We’re gonna play video games at Bobby’s house.” Evan sounded excited.

Two thoughts fought for Caden’s attention—his son’s safety and a few hours alone with Bella. He had an instant reaction of jumping at that time with Bella, but the father in him made him slow down and ask the right questions.

“Are his parents going to be home?”

Evan sighed. “Yes.”

“You’re not going out anywhere? You’ll be there all night?” In Boston Caden had known most of Evan’s friends’ parents. Not knowing the adults who would be in charge of the boys was new to him, and refraining from being overprotective was a struggle.

“Yes, Dad.” Evan’s annoyance came through loud and clear.

Caden’s gut told him to stop by and meet the parents, but he trusted Evan, and he didn’t want to make his son appear to be a daddy’s boy. Kristie had already given him both of the boys’ parents’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. He decided to give Evan a little rope and hope he didn’t hang himself.

“Okay, but be home by ten. Do you want me to pick you up?” He felt like he was sending him off to preschool for the first time. At least with preschool he could sit in his car and watch Evan playing safely under the guidance of the teachers. This was much scarier.

“Nah. I’ve got my bike, but can we say eleven instead?”

“Evan.”

“What? I had a curfew of eleven back in Boston. And it’s summer, Dad.”

The frustration in Evan’s voice shot straight to the center of Caden’s chest. He was right. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, and it would give Caden an extra hour with Bella.

“Okay, but not a minute later.”

Caden showered and changed, excited to spend a few hours alone with Bella. On his way out the door, he grabbed his leather tool belt. He loved this little ruse they were playing, and he intended to make the most of it.

He pulled over to the side of the road before driving into the Seaside complex. He removed his shirt and wrapped the leather tool belt around his waist, feeling the thrum of anticipation. He caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror and shook his head. He had no chance of quashing the smile from his lips. He tilted the mirror so he could see his abs. He worked out often and he was in great shape. As he confirmed that fact, he felt incredibly silly. He hadn’t done anything even remotely similar to this since his college days, when he and a group of his buddies went to an Anything But Clothes party wearing nothing but plastic beach inner tubes and their private parts.

He pushed the mirror back into place and leaned his head back.
What am I doing?

He pulled out his cell and brought up the picture of Bella in her lingerie and leather boots. The mischievous glint in her beautiful eyes gave him confidence.

Hell yeah, he was
so
going to do this. He threw the truck into drive. After he parked at Bella’s cottage, a quick scan of the immediate area told him that no one was outside, which was good, because while he loved the idea of surprising Bella in his shirtless, boot-clad getup, he knew damn well that there would be no hiding the thought behind the outfit.

With a deep breath, and his stomach doing all sorts of funny things, he climbed from the car.

“She’s at Leanna’s.” Tony came around the side of the cottage and assessed Caden’s outfit with a knowing smirk.

“Christ.” Caden closed his eyes for a beat and shook his head.

“Dude, let me get her. Trust me. You don’t want those girls seeing you like that. Bella yes, but Jenna? Man, she’ll eat you alive.”

Caden couldn’t even thank him, he was so embarrassed. He banged his forehead against the door, then reached for the buckle on the tool belt to take the damn thing off.

He heard their giggles before he could get the tool belt off.
Fuck
.

“Oh, come to mama,” Jenna teased.

“Damn. You are one hot handyman,” Bella said as she came up behind him and patted his butt.

“Wowza,” Amy said. “I told you that lingerie, leather boots outfit would put a spark in your relationship.”

“Holy Christ.”
We needed a spark?
What else could he do but roll with it? Caden turned, threw his hands up in the air, and spun around slowly. “There you go, ladies. Get an eyeful, because it’s the only one you’re gonna get.”

“Dude, you’re upping the ante here big-time. How are we supposed to keep up?” Kurt and Leanna followed Jenna onto the deck.

“Well, you know. You’ve already got Leanna, so you probably don’t need to do this stuff anymore. I’m still wooing Bella.” Bella trailed her fingers lightly along his abs, with such a lustful look that he was thankful the tool belt was hanging in front of his junk.

Kurt shook his head. “If you think it ends after you’re together, boy, you’ve been out of the dating scene for too long. I know I was.” He pulled Leanna close, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Bella hooked her finger into the belt and smiled up at him. “I love that you came over ready to work.” She lifted her brows and nibbled on her lower lip.

Holy hell
. He shot a look at the others.

Tony held his hands up in the air. “I tried, dude.”

“Thanks, man.”

“If you thought we’d miss this, you were sorely mistaken.” Jenna and Amy made no effort to hide their gawking.

“If you’re going to drool over me, you’d better have a few dollar bills ready.”

Bella put her hand flat on Caden’s chest. It was warm and soft, and even with all the people around them, he couldn’t help taking her in his arms and kissing her.

“Hi, sexy,” she said. “Kurt and Leanna were helping me write up some of the stuff I need for the project I’m working on. We can finish tomorrow.”

“No need. It’ll take me some time to get these locks on. Why don’t you guys finish and then we’ll spend time together.”

She ran her finger down the center of his chest. “Will you stay dressed like this?” She fluttered her lashes and nibbled on her lower lip.

Did she have any idea how crazy that drove him?

He glanced at the others, talking among themselves but still close enough to hear them. Being with Bella had calmed his nerves, and he no longer felt embarrassed. It struck him that Bella’s friends had already become
that
comfortably familiar to him.

He shrugged. “Why not.”

Bella went up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Hot damn! And in case you didn’t get the memo, we’re dating, so you can totally do boyfriendy things.”

He lowered his cheek to hers. “I got the memo and the racy selfie. Do you really think I’d have dressed like this if I didn’t think we were dating?”

Her smile didn’t falter.

“Does this mean you’re committing to seeing only me, or do you plan on dating anyone willing to don a tool belt?”

She drew back and searched his eyes. “I am totally breaking my plan for you, you know.”

“I do know.”
But I’m hoping your new plan will include me and Evan
.

BELLA HAD A hard time focusing on the marketing pitch and designing the outline for the work-study program with Caden walking around half naked. They’d been trading heated glances that made her feel like a high school girl crushing all over again. Only Caden was not a high school boy. He was one hundred percent man. She wondered what he was like in high school. Was he strong and silent, a little mysterious, the way he was as a man? Or did that come with being a father or simply growing up? Had he been a jock or a studious nerd?