Chapter Three
Angel gripped his shoulders to lift herself up, but the feel of his fingers settling at her waist stopped her in her tracks.
She knew he wouldn’t stop her from returning to her seat, but one look at the green depths searching her face so intently it was nearly a caress, she knew neither of them wanted her to move.
Sensing her caving, he grinned, the slow smile promising to undo her completely.
“How much did you tip him to hit that bump?” she asked, nodding to indicate the driver.
“You think I’d be that devious?”
She waited.
“He owed me a favor,” Cade teased.
Now that she gave no indication of moving, he used his grip on her hips to draw her just the tiniest bit closer. Her hand slid from his shoulder to his chest, his heart beating strong and steady under her palm. And maybe just a little bit faster than it should have been.
Cade’s attention dropped to her amulet, and he lifted it in his palm, his thumb tracing the stone’s surface.
“Family heirloom,” she managed, half imagining his reaction to hearing the truth about what she really was. “So,” she added, needing to change the subject. “You’re not a cowboy, bartender, cop or salesman. What is it you do for a living?”
“Want to make sure I can afford the good condoms?”
Angel laughed, but the others in the wagon seemed oblivious to their conversation. “Gran isn’t usually so…blunt. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I’m not. I wish my grandparents were still alive, though my grandmother would have made sure my father sat me down to talk about being responsible, and then she would have made sure my grandfather followed up, and an uncle or two as well.”
“Responsibilities. That’s how my father saw it too.”
“You two aren’t close?”
“I wouldn’t say that. He’s just…overprotective,” she settled on. Anything else required too much of an explanation.
“And he doesn’t know you’re here.”
Angel shook her head. “Sapphire Falls is the last place he’d want me.”
“Can’t wait to hear that story.”
And that wouldn’t be happening. Ever. “Bottom line, I let him down.” And had spent the last thirteen years trying to make it up to him. She wasn’t sure her father knew that, though.
“I know a little about that. My parents wanted me to take over the family farm, and I wanted to play football professionally.”
“And?”
“Well,” he began, pointing to his leg. “They weren’t disappointed for long.”
Not sure what he meant by that, she opened her mouth to ask as the wagon slowed.
Cade nudged her to her feet. “Let’s go.”
The others remained on the wagon while they climbed down. He caught her around the waist, lowering her to the ground in a slow slide that made them touch everywhere.
If she wasn’t already so hyper aware of him the move wouldn’t have left her fingers curling into his shirt. It took a moment to realize she was the one not letting go, and she hastily stepped back.
The wagon rolled on, and she glanced around. “What happened to not walking in the woods?”
He gestured to the right. “Technically, it’s a field. I figured we should check out the maze before heading down to the river.”
So that’s where the others were going, she realized, falling into step with him as they cleared the trees and reached the edge of the field. If not for the clear sky and faint glow of orange from the setting sun in the distance she might have missed the structure Cade pointed to in the distance.
She had no business doing this. She had no clue what she was doing when the festival ended and she went back home, and she wouldn’t find an answer in the middle of a field in Nebraska. She knew that, so why did it feel like this was exactly the place she needed to be?
“Why does Scottie want me to keep my distance?” she asked a few minutes later, needing a reason to stop thinking about being up against him, the heat and strength she’d felt under her hands playing havoc with her common sense.
“She knows where the bodies are buried?” he ventured.
“Hey, it’s creepy enough out here without revisiting the topic of horror movies.”
“I’ll keep you safe.”
Angel scoffed. “That’s what the hero always says and then…” She drew a line across her neck.
“And I’m the creepy one?”
Laughter and the occasional scream drifted on the air as they drew closer to the maze.
“You didn’t answer the question,” she pointed out.
“To be honest, Scottie has never warned me to steer clear of anyone before, so this in new territory for me, too.”
“She warned you?”
“Strongly suggested,” he countered, stopping to face her. “I guess she thinks you’re different.” He took her hand, staring at their fingers, his gaze touching on her amulet before reaching her eyes. “She’s not the only one.”
It started low in her belly, a rise in temperature that curled through her middle, and when it hit her bloodstream, she couldn’t think about anything but kissing him.
And two days ago that’s exactly what she would have done. She would have dove in head first and worried about the rest later. It was exactly that kind of attitude that got the best of her whenever her father got under her skin, and she’d embraced it the last time she’d been in Sapphire Falls years ago. And she’d screwed up. Bad.
She didn’t want to make that mistake again. Not with anyone, and especially not with Cade.
That didn’t mean she was ready to sever the connection that snapped and crackled between them like a live wire exposed to the world.
She tugged on his hand until he followed her across the last half of field. The back of the maze loomed ahead of them.
“We spent most of the day finishing it up.”
Angel tried not to picture him lugging hay bales in the sun, his shirt off, muscles straining as he hefted them in place. Now she really did need a drink.
She surveyed the walls quite a few feet taller than her, releasing his hand to test the strength of the outer wall. “Must have been quite the workout,” she said, unable to help herself.
Cade didn’t respond.
She turned, scanning the area. “Cade?” Nothing moved in the field behind her. Where the hell did he go? She paced a few steps in either direction. “This isn’t funny.”
She pivoted back to face the maze and found Cade directly in front of her.
Her heart kicked against her ribs, and she punched him in the arm for scaring her. “Ass. Where were you?”
“Backdoor.” He stepped back a few feet, the shadows swallowing him.
She lifted a hand, realized she’d missed the narrow opening in the hay bales. She stepped into the maze, coming to a fork in the path not much past the hidden door.
He motioned for her to pick a direction. “First one to the center drinks free tonight.”
“You brought a cooler.”
He grinned. “That’s right. I brought a cooler.”
“You helped set this up. You’ve got the advantage.”
Shrugging, he nudged her forward. “So I’ll give you a head start. The clock is ticking,” he tacked on.
Alright then.
She went left, the light from battery powered lanterns built into the walls offering her enough light she could see well enough to chance running to get ahead of him. People continued to talk and laugh, but no one sounded very close. How big had they built the maze?
She took a series of turns, trying to follow the sound of music in the distance but it seemed to move farther away from her as she walked. The path in front of her grew dark, the next lantern she passed dimmer than the others, and the next one off altogether. She could barely see three feet in front of her.
She walked up to the faulty lantern. Maybe there was just a bad connection. She tapped the plastic covering. It didn’t help. “Luminarium,” she whispered, her amulet warming against her skin.
The lantern blinked back on, and she grinned, pleased with herself. She had the center of a maze to find.
She took a few steps and froze. Cade stood less than ten feet in front of her.
Shit. How long had he been standing there?
She resisted the urge to glance down at her amulet to check if it had brightened from the burst of magic, not wanting to draw any more attention to it. If there had been any glow, Cade would probably assume it was just a trick of the light.
“If you found the middle already and are coming back to gloat…” she began, trailing off when he shook his head.
If he’d had a vague master plan before then he had come up with a guaranteed strategy, one he was moments from executing based on the intense expression on his face.
Cowboy wasn’t the right costume for him, not by a long shot. Nascar driver was a better fit because he moved toward her like he was tearing up the track to reach the finish line, and she was holding the checkered flag.
Cade caught her hips, pulling her forward even as she moved with him, coming up against the bales of hay stacked behind her.
His hands slid up her back, one palm cupping her nape as she tipped her head back, their proximity frying half a dozen nerve endings in the first five seconds. Oh, wow.
He smiled, slow and sexy, telling her she’d said that last thought aloud. “And I haven’t even kissed—”
Angel rocked up on her toes, slanting her mouth across his. To hell with the plans she needed to make and the bad decisions that might come back to haunt her. She sighed against his mouth, and for one furious beat of her heart, she was in control. Hands caging his face, nails scraping the scruff on his jaw, all slick heat and bone-melting friction.
And then his tongue pushed past her lips and blew every thought about plans and good choices—every thought she’d ever had—right out of the water.
* * *
Half a second. Max.
That’s how long it took Cade to realize kissing Angel was unlike anything he’d experienced with any other woman.
Half a second to convince him he couldn’t get her close enough, even though he’d sacrificed his hold on her hips to cup her cheek.
Half a second to fall…
The logical part of his brain scoffed at that thought despite the fact that his heart pounded so fast it was getting harder to breathe. But he didn’t stop kissing her, sinking as deep as he could while she melted into him.
God, he wanted her undone and shaking at least half as much as he was, and all because of a woman he never expected to cross paths with.
Angel nipped his bottom lip, and he groaned into her mouth. He scooped her up, kissing her hard as she wrapped her legs around him. He was probably two seconds from losing his balance, but it would be worth it.
Tasting her, the soft slide of her lips, the silken slide of her tongue against his, first fast and then agonizingly slow, was so fucking worth it.
Her nails grazed his nape, and she arched in his arms, testing more than just the limits of coordination with a bad leg. Heat pooled low in his stomach, then even lower as he rocked into her, so damn hard and hot for her.
How easy it would be to tug her panties down, along with his zipper.
The image superheated his body, but somehow he managed to cool everything down at the same time. He didn’t want that right now. He wanted long and slow, right after he’d tugged off her clothes one item at a time, pausing to kiss every inch as he went.
Angel’s breath caught as he rubbed against her one last time, unable to curb the need for her as quickly as he should. He softened the kiss, breathing against her lips for a long moment as the world around them came back into focus.
“Yeah, wow,” he murmured, and was rewarded with the sweetest smile he’d ever felt curve against his own.
Voices rose on the air as someone approached, and he lowered her back to the ground, straightening her dress as she tucked her face into his chest, her hands working the edge of his shirt, like maybe she was thinking about getting him naked too.
“Cade?” Levi walked toward them dressed in a long coat, frilly shirt and oversized bow tie. A top hat finished off the look.
Levi had moved to town almost two years ago, giving up the wild Vegas lifestyle for the small-town pace, which probably had a lot to do with meeting the woman next to him.
“Hey, Willy Wonka.”
Levi took in Cade and Angel’s closeness, then nudged his wife. “Told you people would be making out in here. It’s not all about the Haunted House.”
“I’ll remind you of that when you try to lure me in there half a dozen times this weekend,” Kate quipped. “How about we let them have their privacy?”
“We were just heading out.” Cade grabbed both their hats off the ground and reached for Angel’s hand, a feeling of deep satisfaction pumping through his veins when she gave him a soft squeeze. “Enjoy.”
“See you at the bonfire,” Levi called out, tugging his laughing wife after him. “Oh, and tell your mom she needs to talk to Mary about taking her pie recipe in a new direction.”
Cade laughed. “Pumpkin flavored Booze?” Of course, this was Sapphire Falls. “I’ll pass it along.”
“I’m not sure whether to call it genius or a bad, bad idea,” Angel added as they moved through the maze. The closer to the center they got, the more people they encountered, until they finally made their way to the main entrance.
“There you are.” Scottie pounced like she’d been waiting for them all night. “I’m stealing my BFF for a while. I’ll consider a joint custody arrangement at the bonfire.”
He knew he’d been encroaching on their time together, and couldn’t monopolize all of Angel’s evening, no matter how much he wanted to. “I’ll see you in a bit then.”
“Don’t forget to bring your cooler,” Angel said, her gaze pausing momentarily on his mouth before Scottie led her away.
So he wasn’t the only one still thinking about that kiss then. Okay. He was still smiling after them when he heard the familiar lazy drawl next to him.
“What’s with you?”
Cade turned and clapped his brother on the back, refusing to let a damn thing ruin his mood, least of his brother’s unexpected return to Sapphire Falls.
His parents were happy, and Cade was happy they were happy, even if it was all bound to be short-lived. Ethan never stuck around for long.
Preferring to think of the days when they spent most of their time together, before a stupid accident changed both their futures, he steered his brother toward his truck. “Want a ride down to the river?”
“Not if you’re gonna keep smiling like you just got your first blowjob.”
Cade snorted. “I am not.”
“Bro, if you had boobs, I’d even say you were glowing. It’s the blonde, huh? Same one from yesterday?”
“Angel,” Cade said, nodding hello to a few friends as he and Ethan walked back to the truck.
Shelby was with one group, and if looks could kill, he’d be six feet under with her holding the shovel. They hadn’t been together for weeks, after one night of too many drinks compromised his judgment, and he’s assumed she’d moved past it long ago. She proved him wrong about that when she’d picked a fight with him at The Stop yesterday, at least until he’d slipped away and waited her out at the Come Again.
Ethan stopped, frowning. “You just met her and you spent last night and most of today staring into space.”
“I’m not nine years old, dumbass.”
“You were distracted through supper and disappeared to have breakfast with her.”
Cade caught himself scanning the area for Scottie and Angel, and refocused his attention on his brother. “Are you going to get to the point before midnight?”
“Then you put on that—” Ethan nodded to the cowboy hat, “—just to make her laugh. Because there’s no way in hell you’d wear one for any other reason. And then you emerge from a goddamn hay bale maze like it was the tunnel of love. You’re into her.”
“Are you done?”
“Really, really into her.” Ethan shook his head like the sheer notion of getting hung up on someone that fast was a foreign concept. “There’s got to be something amazing about her.”
“There is. I just haven’t figured out if it’s real or I’m just crazy.” He grinned.
“And you’re sure you just met her yesterday?”
It sure as hell didn’t feel like that, but he was keeping that to himself for now. Ethan was on too much of a roll to give him any more ammunition. “That’s when she got to town.”
Ethan whistled. “Never thought I’d see the day any woman would turn your head like Wild—”
Cade narrowed his eyes menacingly. “You want me to punch you, don’t you?”
Ethan laughed, seeing right through him, and continued walking until they reached the truck, or more precisely the cooler in the back. “You got Booze in there?”
“You’re not a fan.” Hadn’t been for years, though Cade couldn’t recall the exact reason anymore.
“Today I am.” His brother fished a bottle from the cooler and then climbed into the passenger seat.
“This have anything to do with Scottie?”
Ethan grunted. “You’re keeping some things to yourself about the blonde, so I’m taking a page out of your book.”
“Fair enough.” Cade started the truck, mindful of the people in the area as they drove away, leaving the farm behind.
“You’re not headed to the bonfire,” Ethan said after a few minutes as Cade turned the truck toward the center of town.
“Pit stop first. We’re gonna need more Booze.”
Ethan took a swig from his bottle and shuddered, but didn’t let that stop him from following it up with another long drink. He capped the bottle and set it aside right before they drove past a parked police car.
Cade didn’t see Ed behind the wheel, but that just meant he was probably strolling around somewhere, keeping an eye on things on foot.
He parked in front of the liquor store, still thinking about Angel and the maze while he waited for Ethan, who ran in for another bottle of Borcher’s.
“You’re staring into space again, bro,” Ethan said through the open window a few minutes later, then climbed back into the cab. “We should stop and get you a collar and a leash so she can lead you around like the lovesick pup you are.”
“Dickhead.”
Ethan laughed and stared out the window. “You never realize how much you miss the small town scene until you’re back in the middle of it.”
Cade wouldn’t know, but he wasn’t rocking that particular boat tonight.
“I had an interesting conversation with Mason today. His company is really doing some incredible things. Dad said you’ve been talking to him about trying something new.”
“Nothing is set in stone yet.”
Ethan nodded. “Quite a few new faces around. And when the hell did Ty and Hailey get married? I don’t remember mom and dad mentioning that?”
“It was a while ago now,” he answered, not bothering to elaborate on that or half a dozen other things that had changed since the last time his brother had been home.
Cade turned the music up to fill the strained silence that fell between them, but Ethan surprised him by pressing the issue.
“Just say it.”
“Say what?” He wanted to get to the bonfire and see Angel, not stir up shit with his brother.
“I’ve been back for three days and you haven’t asked yet, so go on.”
Apparently they were going to get into it after all. “How long are you in town for?”
Ethan waited a beat. “For good.”
Cade nodded, but his expression didn’t quite mask his skepticism.
“I’m serious.”
Just like the handful of times his brother had been before no doubt. “And what makes this time different?” he found himself asking even after he decided to let the subject drop right there.
“A lot of things,” Ethan said as they reached the bonfire site and parked at the end of a row.
He met Cade’s gaze, waiting for his usual remarks about not disappointing their parents. Again. Knowing it wouldn’t matter in another few days when Ethan realized he didn’t want to stick around at all, Cade didn’t waste his breath.
He merely bumped his brother in the arm and nodded to the two bottles or Borcher’s. “Don’t be a pussy in the morning and complain when it feels like your head is going to explode.”
Ethan laughed, dispelling some of the tension. For tonight that was good enough for Cade.
He dropped down out of the truck. He had a witch to find.
* * *
“I kissed him.”
Scottie choked on the mouthful of beer she’d just swallowed. Bottle still pressed to her lips, her eyebrows shot up. “What?” she said around the opening of the bottle.
“I said, I kiss—”
“Hold that thought.” Scottie pivoted and walked twenty feet away to a group chatting not far from the bonfire that blazed close to the river’s edge.
The mood here was just as festive as it had been at the farm, but more adult and with a whole lot more alcohol involved.
Angel shivered, drawing her sweater a little tighter to her body. The temperature had dropped after the sun had gone down but with the heat thrown by the flames nearby, she was warm enough. She probably should have worn tights or something a little warmer.
Scottie returned with two cups. “We’re both going to need something a lot stronger.”
Angel sniffed the contents, the faint strawberry scent tugging hard at her memory.
“So,” Scottie prompted. “You kissed him.”
“Or he kissed me,” she took a long drink of the Booze, wondering if the moonshine stood half a chance of calming the soft buzz in her stomach or would only make it worse, make it impossible not to relive every second of that kiss.
“It was that bad you need to wash the taste out of your mouth?”
Not even close. She was a little worried she wouldn’t be forgetting the taste or feel of him for a very long time. She didn’t get into that, though, opting to shake her head and buy herself a little more time by taking another sip.
“And?”
Another mouthful of Booze burned down her throat, but the heat didn’t compare to the flush of warmth that slid up her backbone when she spotted Cade’s truck hunting for a place to park.
“It was…” she trailed off, unsure what to say. She didn’t even know what it was that drew her so completely. They’d barely known each other twelve hours and yet she found herself so comfortable with him, like they’d known each other for a while, had shared their stories, their secrets.
And that made even less sense than the deep-in-her-gut certainty that no man had ever kissed her like that and never would again.
“Shit. It was good, wasn’t it?”
Pumpkin pie was good. Kissing Cade… She finally found her voice after another mouthful of Borcher’s and managed, “Yeah.”
“And on a scale of one to one-in-a-million?” Scottie asked, revisiting the criteria they’d devised years ago to ensure they didn’t linger in dead-end relationships.
Angel just looked at her, pretty sure she was wearing every emotion that kiss had stirred up without even trying.
“Shit.”
“You keep saying that. What don’t I know, Scottie? Does he cheat on his girlfriends, or get them pregnant and walk away? Is Sapphire Falls full of his baby mommas or something?” She meant it as a joke, but Scottie didn’t laugh.
“What happened to staying away from country boys, or anyone with a penis for that matter?”
“I know.” How in the hell was she going to decide what she really wanted to do with her life if she got distracted by whatever the hell was happening between her and a guy who lived thousands of miles from the east coast?
It was exactly the kind of complication her sister Bree would have embraced, but not Angel. Coming to Sapphire Falls pushed the limits enough without coloring that far outside the lines. Sooner or later she would have to face the proverbial music with her father, and she needed to be prepared, not clueless about her next move.
And she really didn’t need to be thinking that Cade felt like the right move.
Conscious of Scottie’s scrutiny, she revisited the subject that had been circling in the back of her mind. “Not that I don’t appreciate the reminder to make good choices, but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”
Scottie blew out a breath. “Yeah, and you’re not going to like it.” She went to take another drink and found her glass empty. “And I definitely need another drink first.” She walked back toward the group she’d scored the other two glasses from.
Angel’s phone chimed and she pulled it out of the little bag decorated in pagan symbols that Scottie had picked out for her earlier.
A message from her sister lit up the screen. “Have you heard from Lewis? Finn says he’s disappeared.”
Lewis wasn’t back home? A shiver snaked across the back of her neck.
If Finn wasn’t one of the best private investigators around, she might have assumed he had his information wrong, but he and every other Calder who worked at their family firm would have made sure before they told her.
Another message popped up.
“He doesn’t know where you went does he?”
Even if he’d somehow found out where she’d gone, Lewis wouldn’t have followed her all the way to Sapphire Falls. He wasn’t that determined to talk to her, was he?
She thought of the texts that came through when she’d landed at the airport in Omaha, asking her to call him. They’d broken up weeks ago, but he’d become more persistent about reconnecting lately, falling into the habit of showing up unexpectedly.
The feeling of being watched pressed down on her, and she scanned the area. Scottie was still chatting and avoiding their conversation, and no one else seemed to be paying any attention to her, but anyone could be watching her from the shadows and she wouldn’t be able to see them.
And now she really was being paranoid.
She replied to the text, telling Bree that Lewis had family on the west coast and maybe he was visiting some of them. Shaking off another shiver, she stuffed her phone back in the bag and slid the string back around her wrist.
Lewis has disappeared.
The message flashed through her mind again. It was just a coincidence. Nothing more.
“Hey!”
Angel jumped, her paranoia not just in her head apparently. She gave Cade a push. “Sneaking up on me is getting to be a habit, Cowboy.”
He caught her hand, holding it to his chest. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“So why are you smiling?”
“Because I knew this weekend would be fun. Festival weekends always are. I just didn’t realize how unforgettable it would be.”
Green eyes burned into hers, and that feeling was back, the one swimming fast and furious through her veins and telling her to get closer, so much closer.
He glanced down into her cup. “In case Scottie didn’t tell you, drinking Booze can lead to dancing with men you barely know on nights like this.”
If there was music playing she couldn’t hear it but somehow doubted that would stop them.
“I’m actually well versed in how potent this stuff is.”
“Good, then no one can say I’m trying to take advantage of that.”
“Head’s up,” someone called out.
Cade stepped to the side, expertly catching the football that sailed out of the darkness. He rolled it around in his hand for a minute, his expression thoughtful, then he threw it back with an ease that told her he’d spent a lot of time on the field at some point.
“Nice one, Wild Thing,” someone called out.
Wild Thing.
Angel froze as the name rocked through her.