MIA SAT IN the truck cab absently staring out the window, her mind focused on the man driving beside her. He took the streets and turns to her house like he knew exactly where she lived. She tried to remember if she’d cleaned up before her date with him last night. God, had it been only last night? It felt like a month had passed. So much happened between her reluctantly agreeing to meet him last night and his taking her home right now. Everything changed in twenty-four hours.
Caden reached across the wide seat and touched her cheek. “Hey, you’re so quiet. You okay?”
She leaned into his hand, savored his warmth and the sincerity in his concern and touch. Drawn to him, she unhooked her seat belt and slid over to the middle seat beside him. He glanced over at her. She gave him a soft smile. He didn’t say anything, just slipped his arm around her back and drew her in close to his side. He held her against his big, warm body. She melted into his side and laid her head on his shoulder.
His lips pressed to the top of her head. “Hook yourself up, honey. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He didn’t release her, just loosened his hold enough for her to reach for the seat belt and pull it across her hips.
She snuggled into him again. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s because of what happened last night, but I don’t want to be alone right now.”
Caden’s strong arm tightened around her. “It’s about a lot more than last night.”
He pulled into her driveway and cut the engine. Reluctantly, she sat up and stared at her little house and the fading garden she loved.
“Nice place. It’s almost exactly what I thought it would be.”
That made her smile. “I shudder to think of your place with all the dead plants.”
“It could definitely use you.” Caden gave her another of those looks that said so much. She hoped she read him right, because she really did want to see his place and where this feeling tingling inside her would take them.
He slipped out of the truck and held his hand out to her. She undid the seat belt he’d insisted on to keep her safe and protected and scooted across the seat to the open door. She turned her legs toward him but remained seated.
His eyes locked on the scrapes on her knees. “That must hurt like hell.”
“I feel a little raw on the inside and out,” she confessed.
“I’m really sorry, Mia.”
“You didn’t do anything, Caden. What happened, it’s not your fault.”
“I really wanted last night to be special.”
“You made it special. Hands down, best date I’ve ever had.”
“If you take away everything that happened after we kissed, right?”
“I don’t know. I learned a lot about you last night. Stuff I might not have gotten a glimpse at on ten dates.”
His head cocked to the side. “Like what?”
“It’s easy to see you’re a smart guy, but you can think clearly and strategize under pressure and in the moment when others might freeze or come up with things too late to make a difference. You’ve got an inner strength that comes through without your even trying. Your presence was enough to reassure me that we’d make it through anything last night.”
“Not a bullet to your head.” He raked his fingers through his dark hair. “Man, I was scared to death he’d actually shoot you.” Caden reached out and touched her face again, like he needed the contact to reassure himself she was really here and okay.
“You weren’t going to let that happen. You’d have told him about your connection to Beck and where to find him.”
“I stalled as long as I could.”
“I know. Because you’re loyal to your brother, to your family, and the last thing you wanted to do was put him, or any innocent person, at risk.”
“I put you at risk last night. I should have gone to work the second I found out Marco escaped.”
“But you stayed with me because you wanted to.”
His eyes softened and filled with warmth. “You have no idea how much I wanted to stay with you. I still do.” He took a breath and let it out. His gaze held hers. “Last night was the first time I set aside the job in a long time because being with you filled me up in a way that made me want more even as I had everything. Maybe that doesn’t make sense. Maybe I’m crazy.”
“If you are, then so am I because that makes perfect sense. I never thought something like this existed, let alone would happen for me, and certainly not with lightning speed like this.”
“We’re dancing around this, so let me just say, I want to be with you, Mia. I feel like I already know you even without all the specific details. I want to know them, you, everything, but most of all, I don’t want to mess this up or miss another moment you’re willing to spend with me.”
She reached out with her good hand, grabbed his black T-shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss. She didn’t have to pull too hard to get him to come to her. His lips met hers, soft, warm, tempting, once, twice, again and again until he sank into her, his tongue slipping past her lips. His big hands slid up her thighs to her hips and squeezed, holding her close.
She spread her hands wide at his sides, then mapped his taut stomach, up to his wide chest. Everywhere she touched, strong muscles tensed beneath her fingers. When she raised her arm too high and her shoulder pinched with pain, she let loose a small yelp against Caden’s lips. His hands came up to cup her face. He planted one long soft kiss against her lips and pulled her in for a sweet hug. He held her close, letting his breathing and hers even out from that amazing moment.
She smiled when he yawned and his belly grumbled.
“Hungry?”
“I guess so. It’s been a long day.”
“Since it started yesterday for you, I guess so. Come inside. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Our third date already,” he teased, because she’d told him she’d cook for him then.
“Well, you did feel me up on our second. Maybe you should buy me dinner again,” she teased back.
His chest rumbled against her ear with his chuckle. As much as she loved being this close to him, the fourth yawn from him in the last ten minutes told her he’d surpassed tired and gone straight to exhaustion.
The drugs and restless night in the hospital left her drained, too.
Reluctantly, she pushed away from Caden. He stepped back and held his hand out to her to help her down from the truck. She dug her keys out of her small purse while he grabbed her tote and the huge bouquet of flowers out of the back of the truck cab.
“I see why you like flowers so much. Your garden is amazing.” Caden’s sharp gaze took in her front yard and house in one long sweep of his gaze over everything. “I like your place. Seems rather small for you.”
“It’s cozy, not small.”
He followed her up the stone path to the tiny front porch. He loomed large behind her, every cell in her body aware of his nearness.
Caden walked into the house behind her and set her tote by the table in the entry and carried the flowers to the dining room table off the kitchen past her living room.
“Have a seat. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“Mia, honey, you don’t have to do that. You must be tired and sore.”
She dropped her purse on the counter and went to him, wrapping her arms around his middle, her heart mushy with emotion from that sweet honey he called her.
His hands brushed up and down her back. “Hey, are you okay?”
“It’s just kind of hitting me. You’re here. You’re okay. We’re both okay.” She leaned back. “Please sit. Have something to eat. We’ll do something normal. Stay with me a little while longer.” Not such an easy request for her to make. She prided herself on her independence, but she really didn’t want to be alone. Honestly, she didn’t want to let him go for fear it would be way too long before she saw him again. Right now, a few minutes seemed too long. A day, two, a week seemed like an eternity.
Caden didn’t say anything. He simply sat in the chair behind him, his hands still at her waist. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with understanding. “I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
She brushed her hands through his dark hair, down his face, and cupped his rough jaw in her hands. She rubbed her fingers over the day’s worth of beard stubble. “Thank you.”
His gray-blue eyes narrowed. “For what?”
“Last night. Today. Everything.” She shook her head, unable to put everything she felt into words.
He took her hand, kissed her palm, then looked up at her again. “Thank you for last night. Today. Everything. You’re so much more than I expected or deserve.”
She pressed her thumb to his lips to stop him. “You are such a good man. I see that, Caden. That’s why I . . . am so overwhelmed by all I feel for you.”
He pulled her between his legs and wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head against her breasts. She wrapped her arms around his head and held him close. They stayed that way, both of them enjoying the closeness, the tenderness they both needed.
Caden yawned again. She copied him, unable to hold back the contagious effect or deny her own fatigue.
She pulled free of his embrace and smiled down at him. “Let’s eat, then get some sleep.”
One of his eyebrows went up. She didn’t answer his unspoken question, just letting it settle between them.
Thankfully, she liked to plan ahead for busy weeks where she worked long hours at the restaurant and tending the garden and greenhouses where she grew the vegetables and herbs they used in the restaurant. She had a chicken-and-pasta salad already mixed in the refrigerator and pulled it out along with the block of Parmesan cheese. She grabbed the loaf of crusty bread out of the breadbox, flipped on the oven to warm, and went back to the fridge to grab the butter and fresh parsley.
“Seriously, Mia, you don’t have to go to all this trouble.”
She smashed a clove of garlic on the cutting board with a knife, then chopped it into fine pieces and tossed it into the small bowl she pulled off the shelf next to her. The brace and mostly using her left hand made things awkward, but she managed and pushed through the dull pain. “What trouble? Most of this is made. I’ll just heat it up. You’ll love it.”
“I’m sure I will, but I can see how stiff you are, and working with that brace on your hand has got to hurt.”
“Caden, I’m fine. Let me do this for you.”
She needed the distraction, something normal for her to do to keep her mind off the terrible images in her mind from last night. She still heard the pop of gunfire, felt the stinging pain of the scissors slicing through her arm, felt the welling terror that she might die or that she’d lose Caden.
Caden’s strong hands settled on her shoulders and squeezed her tense muscles. “Hey now, where’d you go?”
She shook off those dreadful thoughts. “Sorry. It hits me all at once at odd moments.”
Caden leaned down and kissed her on top of the head. “I know what you mean. I was sitting in a meeting with my boss going over the details of last night. My mind replayed that moment Marco held the gun to your head, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe. My heart stopped and I needed to see you. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough and get back to you at the hospital.” Caden’s hands brushed softly down her arms to her elbows and back up again. He ran his hand over her long hair and kissed her on the head again.
She leaned back into his chest, needing the contact and his strength to hold her up.
He turned her toward him, leaned down, and kissed her softly again.
“What do you want, Caden?”
“To be with you.”
Simple. Complicated. Wonderful. Scary. Amazing.
He touched his fingers to her face. “How can I help with this? It looks really good.”
“Sit. I want to do this for you.”
He smiled. “Control freak in the kitchen, huh?”
She laughed. “This is where I excel.”
“I don’t know. You’d make a kickass DEA agent.”
That made her smile and eased some of the tension out of her mind and body. She gave him a little push to make him go sit down. In five minutes she heated the chicken, pasta, tomatoes, spinach, and red onion concoction on the stove with some added chicken stock and Parmesan cheese. The garlic-butter-slathered bread came out of the oven melted and warm. The yummy aroma filled the kitchen. She plated up the pasta for both of them, adding an extra sprinkling of Parmesan to each plate and a couple of slices of warm bread. She set one plate in front of Caden, who picked up his fork and dug in immediately, sighing over the food he’d been starving for, since he hadn’t eaten since their dinner last night.
“Oh. My. God. This is amazing.”
“You’re just really hungry,” she teased, knowing he really did like it.
“Doesn’t mean this isn’t outstanding.”
She set a bottle of beer in front of him and sat in the chair beside him. He leaned over, grabbed the edge of her chair, and pulled her closer. She laughed and moved her plate in front of her.
“I like having you close.”
“I see that.”
He brushed his hand down her hair again, then dug back into his food and downed the beer as he ate. He finished before her, sat back in his seat, and stared at her. It never became uncomfortable. In fact, his presence comforted her. He seemed perfect in her space. The newness made her nervous and excited. The thrill of anticipation of all that was to come fluttered in her belly.
Caden yawned beside her and scrubbed his hands over his face and tired eyes. “Thank you for dinner, Mia. I hate to do this, but I really need to get some sleep before I pass out.”
The disappointment and regret filling his eyes touched her. He really didn’t want to leave.
Mia stood and held her hand out to him. “Come on.”
Caden rose slowly and took her hand. He followed her into the living room and tried to head for the entry, but she tugged his hand and pulled him toward her room.
“Uh, Mia?”
“I’m not letting you drive home in your condition. You’ll fall asleep at the wheel and crash, and I just can’t have that.”
She led him into her room. The king-size bed filled most of the space. She let loose Caden’s hand and walked to the head of the bed and pulled back the cream cover and light blue blanket and sheet.
“Get comfortable, Caden, and climb in. You’re dead on your feet.”
“Uh, I can’t take your bed.”
She looked him the eye. “You’re not. We’ll share it.”
His eyes flared with desire. As much as she wanted him, he wanted her.
“Uh, I’m not exactly sure how this works,” Caden admitted, feeling her out on what her intentions were for them sharing her bed.
“We both need some rest, you especially. I don’t want to be alone. Maybe you don’t either.”
“I don’t. I’m so tired, but I’d really like to hold you.”
“That sounds perfect.” To get him to relax and get in the bed before he literally fell asleep on his feet, she kicked off her sandals, then hooked her fingers in her skirt and pushed it down her hips and let it drop to the floor. She stood before Caden in her panties and the soft shirt she’d worn home from the hospital. His eyes scanned her body, stopping on the scrapes and bruises on her legs. She pulled her bra straps down and off her arms without removing her shirt, reached under the soft material to pull the bra down to her belly, spun it around, unhooked it, and dropped it on the table beside the bed. Caden’s eyes never left her, the heat building in them with every move she made.
She went to the side of the bed and slipped in under the covers.
Caden still hadn’t moved. He stared down at her with a question in his eyes. “You’re sure about this?”
He’d said he didn’t want to mess this up.
She normally didn’t go this fast, but this felt right.
“I’m sure.”
He unhooked the gun from his belt and set it on the bedside table, reminding her of who he was, what he did for a living, and all that happened last night. He watched her watching him. He hesitated again, hoping she didn’t change her mind. She didn’t. She wouldn’t. She wanted this. Him. A way to solidify the connection and bond they shared.
She didn’t regret much in her life, but she’d regret holding back and going slow when she really wanted to leap. She didn’t want to miss anything with him.
Caden reached over his shoulder, snagged the back of his shirt, and pulled it up and over his head, revealing every sculpted muscle she’d run her hands over earlier. If she didn’t get a chance to do it again, she’d really regret it.
He pulled his wallet and phone from his back pockets and set them on the table beside his gun. He pulled off his shoes and socks, then stood tall again. His fingers went to the button on his jeans, and he hesitated again, waiting for her to stop him or change her mind.
She couldn’t stand it any longer and rose up and scooted to the edge of the bed. She reached out, hooked her finger in the waistband of his jeans, and pulled him toward her. She stared up at him. “Let’s promise to be honest and hold nothing back between us.”
He brushed her hair away from her face, held her head, and stared down at her. “I promise.”
“Then if you want me, come to bed, Caden.”
He gave her a soft quick kiss. “You can’t be real.”
She set out to prove him wrong and rose to her feet, kissing his chest, slipping the button free on his jeans, then sliding the zipper down his rigid length. She slid her good hand around his side and dipped it down the back of his jeans, moving her hand over his ass and squeezing, pulling him closer. His rigid cock pressed to her belly. He tilted her head up and kissed her hard and deep. His hands trailed down her sides in a long sweep. His fingers gathered up the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. He broke the kiss and stared down at her, admiring her bare breasts. His gaze darkened with desire mixed with regret. He traced his finger along the bottom of the long cut and small row of stitches across her chest.
She didn’t want to be reminded of last night. She wanted Caden focused on her. Them. This moment. She took his hand in hers and pressed it over her breast. His thumb brushed her nipple, and she sucked in a breath at the urgent need that swept through her whole body.
Caden quickly discarded his jeans and stood before her in his black boxer briefs, the evidence of how much he wanted her long and thick behind the thin barrier. He leaned down and kissed her again. “Does it hurt your shoulder to lie on your back?”
“A little.”
“I’m sure we can find a better position.”
Several popped into her mind. She wasn’t usually the adventurous sort in bed, but she wanted to try all of them with him. “I just want to feel you against me.”
Caden wrapped one arm around her, leaned over her, and followed her down to the bed, keeping her on her side and facing him as he settled on the mattress beside her, his body pressed down the length of hers. He kissed her and trailed his fingertips softly over her shoulder and arm. She melted. His touch became bolder, sweeping up her stomach and over her breast. His palm settled over the mound and squeezed. She arched into his touch. Lying on her left arm, the brace on her right wrist, she had a hard time touching him without scraping the rough straps on his skin. She slid her leg up and over his, brushing her foot along his calf, her thigh rubbing against his.
Caden replaced his hand at her breast with his warm mouth and tongue. She sucked in a surprised gasp at the heat and intimate contact, reveling in the feel of his lips on her skin. His big hand swept down her side, over her hip, and covered her ass. He squeezed, sending a bolt of heat low in her belly. She rocked her hips against his hard length, needing his touch, wanting him to fill the emptiness that throbbed inside her.
Her panties disappeared in one swift move of Caden’s hand rubbing down the length of her legs. His fingertips trailed back up, his hand squeezed her thigh, rubbed up her skin to her center. His fingers swept over her soft folds. One slid deep into her slick core. She rocked her hips into his hand, wanting more.
The brace hindered her movements but didn’t diminish her need to touch him. She stroked her fingers through his dark hair as his mouth found her breast again, his tongue sweeping over her tight nipple. He built a need in her that she could barely contain any longer.
“Caden,” she called, wanting him to continue loving her but needing so much more.
He rose above her, his finger sliding deep inside her again, stroking in and out. She sighed out her pleasure that was really a plea for more.
“You are so beautiful.” His deep, rich voice came out thick with desire.
He slid his hand free from between her thighs and gently nudged her leg off his so he could free himself of his boxers. She reached over to the bedside drawer and pulled out a condom.
He smiled down at her. “You’re really too good to be true.” Caden tore open the condom with his teeth and sheathed himself. She gave in to her need to explore even more of him and kissed her way up his neck to his mouth. He kissed her hard and deep, pulling her leg back over his hip, nudging her entrance with his thick length. She rocked forward as he thrust into her, filling her. They lost themselves in the kisses and sheer ecstasy they shared.
The slow-and-easy loving, a concession to her injuries, warmed her from the inside out as his hands caressed her skin, his lips tasted and teased every hollow and oversensitive spot on her neck. The heat between them flared into a fire. She wanted more. Of him. And this thing between them that happened so fast but seemed so right.
She held his shoulders and fell back, taking him with her. His body covered hers. She loved his weight, the sheer size of him rising over her as he thrust deep, filling her completely.
“Oh God, Mia.”
She slid her hands up his chest, making sure not to scratch him with her brace, but needing to touch that wide expanse of rock-hard muscle. Caden stared down at her, pulled out, then rocked back, filling her again. She lost herself in the depth of caring in his eyes, the feel of him against her, and the heat radiating through her. All the soft strokes and slow, sweet loving turned to an urgent need. Caden thrust hard and deep again and again. She rocked against him, riding the shimmering heat to the explosive climax they shared.
Caden braced himself on his forearms and stared down at her, a look of utter satisfaction and wonder in his eyes. Even with his breath sawing in and out, he kissed her softly, reverently. The softness of his lips on hers, the emotion he packed into the simple kiss, meant so much to her. With her heart pressed to his, she fell even harder for him.
He kissed her cheek, then the soft spot behind her ear and whispered, “You’re not real.” He kissed her again, then fell beside her exhausted and pulled her close, his arm wrapped around her back, his big hand on her hip, his thumb softly brushing her skin.
She lay with her head on his shoulder, her hand over his thumping heart. If this wasn’t real, if this was some kind of dream, she didn’t want to wake up.
CADEN WOKE UP slowly with a feeling of complete contentment and a soft warm body pressed along the length of his. He opened his eyes and stared into Mia’s soft blue ones as she lay beside him, her braced arm over his chest, her chin propped on her other hand.
He reached over and brushed his fingers through her long, wavy golden hair. God, he loved it and waking up to her. “You are real.”
She chuckled, her chest vibrating against his side.
Unable to help himself, he rubbed his hands up and down her bare back, loving the feel of her skin against his.
She didn’t say anything.
He stared at her watching him. “Are you okay, honey?”
The bright, open smile she gave him warmed his heart. “I’m really, really good. So happy to be here with you.”
“Then I guess you don’t mind if I stay awhile longer.”
Her eyes softened in a seductive look that sent a blast of heat through his already aroused body. “What do you have in mind?” Her husky voice did something strange to his belly and drew him deeper under her spell.
“I’m on paid administrative leave for the next two weeks because of the shooting. I thought we’d spend it on a hot, sandy beach. Want to go to Hawaii with me?”
She rose up on her forearm with a gasp of surprise. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. I can have us on a plane in a couple of hours if you’re willing to go.” He slid his hand down her side and over her perfect bottom. “Unless you just want to stay right here for the next two weeks.”
“We could delay leaving for a little while.” The sexy smile undid him.
Caden pulled her down for a searing kiss that turned into a need both of them were panting to satisfy. He lost himself in the kiss, her warmth, the feel of her body surrounding him, and the intense feeling filling his heart. He really wanted to spend the next two weeks with her.
With every kiss, touch, breath they shared as they made love, the need to spend every day with her intensified.