Cade leaned over the scant space between us to press his lips to my neck. A light, open-mouthed kiss against my now speeding pulse that ended way too soon. When I tilted my head to accept more of those kisses, he pulled away.
His smile was predatory even as he held himself in check. “T-tell me.”
My fingers went to the turtle pendant as I spoke. “When my parents were still together, we took a family vacation to the Bahamas. The last vacation we went on as a family, actually. My mom and I swam with the sea turtles. It was my favorite thing ever.” I smiled at the memory. Dad had been off somewhere working, his cell phone glued to his ear, but Mom and I had explored. It was fun to hang out with her. “They have these large, soulful eyes and massive shells, and yet they are ridiculously graceful. On land they are painfully slow but in the water, they glide like dancers.”
For a moment I worried I’d killed the mood by waxing poetic about aquatic reptiles, but a glance at Cade showed he wasn’t bored. His lips were curved into an amused smile.
“My mom and I visited the island gift store and she bought me this necklace. That Christmas, my parents told me they were splitting up. I blamed my mom at the time and chose to stay with my dad. She forgave me, of course, but I still feel bad about it.”
Sympathy flitted across his face so briefly if I would’ve blinked, I’d have missed it. He knew what it was like for a family to be ripped apart.
“Things will be better for you and Joyce and your dad eventually. Healing takes time.” I brushed the hair off his forehead, loving how vulnerable and open he was in this moment. His gaze intensified when I traced his cheek with my fingers, ran them over his full bottom lip. I couldn’t resist him when he was staring at me rapt, potent male lust simmering in his eyes.
I pressed a delicate kiss onto his mouth, but he took over. He slid his fingers into my hair as his tongue plunged into my mouth. Warmth slicked through me on contact. I gripped his shirt in one hand and tilted my head, kissing him deeply as I moaned into his mouth. Lust zapped me like a live wire.
He moved his hands along my ribs before experimenting with cupping my breast. When he pulled his mouth from mine, I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to remind myself not to go too fast too soon. Then his lips suctioned, warm and wet, on my neck and every thought zoomed from my head. Only when his fingers touched the bare skin beneath the hem of my shirt did I come to my senses.
Breathing like I’d run around the block, I held his hand firmly at my waist. I gave him a shaky smile, letting him know I was okay, but…was I?
“Sorry,” I said.
Cade shook his head, the gesture meant as an apology, and then put his hands behind his back to demonstrate how harmless he was. When he leaned in, his breath feathering over my lips, I let him kiss me again.
For the next twenty minutes or so we kissed instead of talking or doing speech therapy. He kept his hands to himself.
I lied and told myself I respected his self-control.
Chapter Twelve
Cade
The Camaro was running like a dream. With everything in working order under the hood, I could start on the outside. Repair those rust spots, give her a new paint job, and then the fun part. The chrome and leather interior. Fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview and maybe even a chain-link steering wheel.
I gunned the engine, tooling around town with the top down, killing time before Tasha stopped by the house for our session. I planned on distracting her with more kissing today if she allowed. Distracting myself with it.
I liked her a whole hell of a lot. I liked kissing her more. After our make-out sesh ended with me sporting a massive boner, she tried to apologize again. I pressed a finger to her lips. She didn’t have to apologize for anything. Especially since she’d let me continue kissing her after I’d taken things a bit too far. I could control myself around her. Not fun, but I could. But I noticed her fists clenching uselessly on the couch like she’d wanted to let her hands roam too. She could touch me anywhere she wanted—everywhere she wanted.
Damn. At the traffic light, I adjusted the hard-on stirring in my pants Nothing made Tasha more irresistible than when she was having trouble resisting me.
The traffic light turned green and I hesitated, a car horn behind me reminding me it was time to go. Against what was probably my better judgement, I turned left toward the business district. My shoulders stiffened as I hung a right at the four-way stop on Poplar and I felt sweat prickle my armpits when I turned left on Claire. I parked across the street from the building I once believed would be mine.
Well, ours. In our freshman year, Miller, Brian, Carey, and I had sat in the empty bank parking lot toasting with a bottle of whiskey wrapped in a liquor-store paper bag. We were celebrating our plan. Too early, as it’d turned out. Our plan had been to live there while we finished school and then set up shop. “Work your life and live your work” was our motto.
Resting my wrist on the steering wheel, I imagined my name on one of the office doors inside. I wanted that. Or the idea of it, anyway. Now I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Guess it didn’t matter. I was currently stuck with what I didn’t want.
That’s bullshit.
Yeah. It was. If I had something I didn’t want, changing it was as simple, and as difficult, as changing it. My former nurses were understandably frustrated with me. One by one they’d informed me that if I didn’t start speaking, I might never regain the ability. If they could see me now, I thought with a crooked smile. I spoke more than I had all year with Tasha. She made me want to try. Granted, because I could impress her, but motivation was motivation.
The front door to the office building swung aside and I sank down in the seat, hoping my friends didn’t spot me even though the car’s top was down. Hand partially hiding my face, I was glad my Camaro was a junker. Once I had her polished to a fine shine she’d be harder to overlook.
Carey walked outside, Miller behind him. Brian followed, pausing to prop open the door. The three of them then walked to a large moving truck parked in the alley and unloaded a massive desk. I heard them laughing as they maneuvered it through the doorway and disappeared into the darkness inside.
Envy, or maybe good old-fashioned bitterness leaked into my bloodstream.
Other boxes, flat packs, leaned against the interior of the truck. Likely more office accessories, these with some assembly required. The three of them couldn’t put together a LEGO set, so I wondered how the hell they planned on erecting office furniture. I could. With one hand tied behind my back.
Or both.
The thought made me think of kissing Tasha with my hands behind my back. Thinking of kissing Tasha was better than the hollow, pitching feeling in my stomach as I watched my former friends take over “our” future office. Lately she was the only person who was able to erase the constricting feeling in my chest.
I raced home, needing to see her soon.
Tasha
Cade’s tongue stroked mine with confidence. He’d resisted my other therapy exercises, but he was eager to kiss me.
When I arrived, I’d expected to climb the stairs and knock. Instead, he met me in the garage and led me by the hand to his room. A second later, my back was being pressed against the closed door, my arms lifted overhead, and he was kissing me for all he was worth.