"Well, look what we have here.” Tene’s eyes widened, but her voice stayed evenly calm. “This is definitely not something a sister should see." She strutted in, readjusting her Chanel purse on her shoulder and shut the door behind her.

I jolted up to a sitting position so quickly my head spun. I blinked, eyes wide, mind disoriented. My vision clouded and my body in orgasm-robbed-shock quivered at my sister simply standing there.

"Oh, my god. I'm blind. I'm fucking blind." She gawked at me, a slow smile building on her face as Cade picked up my panties and slacks, handing them to me.

Nothing seemed to faze him, but I was mortified.

I wanted to run or hide or something. Anything but lay naked in front of my sister.

Cade brushed his fingers comfortingly down my arm, simultaneously stepping in front of me to block Tene's view. When he handed me my panties, I slipped them back on.

Tene piped up, "Please, Cade. She's my sister. We used to bathe naked. But I can say I've never seen Angie at that angle before. I could’ve lived without it, quite honestly." She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth like I was the one in trouble. "No wonder you aren't answering my calls. I tracked your phone, then I saw your car outside, but would’ve never guessed this." Her eyes took me in, as though she were looking at me for the first time.

"Don't," Cade commanded, his face hard. "This is all me. Not her."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Tene propped a hand on her hip. "Like the saying goes, ‘it takes two to tango.’" She eyed Cade with a mischievous grin. "Or it takes a guy with a thick tongue to give good oral."

"Tene," I gasped, finally finding the ability to speak. My hands shook as I slipped into my pants. "Cade, can you leave so I can talk to my sister?"

His jaw tightened, his protective stance not changing as though he had to shelter me from my own sister, but she was the least of my problems at this point.

I placed my hand on his chest, begging him with my eyes. "Please."

He hesitated at first, but then he reached for my hand, kissed it, and turned to the door. "You know where I'll be."

"Oh, Cade," Tene sassed. "Just a word of advice, maybe you should brush your teeth before you go out there." She pointed to me and back to his mouth area. "Ya know, good hygiene and all."

He grunted, and his eyebrows pulled together before he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Oh, Angelica Armstrong!” Tene chided. “I didn't know you were such a freak. And to think you've picked the unattainable Cade Ryder. The finest man in Rosendell.” She appraised me, looking impressed and pleased, shocking me yet again. Then she shook her head. “It's always the good girls. I would high-five you, but I don't know where your hands have been." She grimaced.

I backed up and leaned against the desk for support. The room, my world, my life was crazy messed up. I rubbed the back of my neck, unable to look her in the eye. "Please, Tene. Not now. Please stop." I swallowed hard, on the verge of tears, mortified at the position she’d caught us in and not knowing where to start, how to explain the fact that I’d slept with our tenant.

"Stop?” Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. “I just got started. You'll never live this down, little sis. You know I like to tease you, but nothing will top this." She stood right next to me and crossed her ankles, leaning against the desk. "So, baby girl. Do tell. How long has this affair been going on? Does Roland know? Are you still with him?"

"No!" I snapped. "Roland and I were over a long time ago."

She lifted an unbelieving eyebrow. "Does he know that? He doesn't know where you are, but I think in his mind you are still very much together. How about dear mama? Does she know?"

"We're not together,” I sighed mournfully. “I've been blatantly clear to him. And no."

My parents ...

A sourness hit the pit of my stomach. Gone were the days of my alternate happy universe. Reality had hit the fan. Our families were so tightly interwoven together that I knew our breakup would hurt my parents.

"Not like I'd let this leak, but I just want to snap a picture of mother's face.” She held her fingers in a square as if demonstrating snapping a picture. “Just to spite her. Her reaction would be epic." She grinned with malevolence.

"Tene. Enough." I couldn't handle her jokes. Not now. My voice lost its gusto as the guilt and pressure finally surfaced.

She lowered to my level, and her face pinched. For once, her cheery features fell, and her lips pressed together in a slight grimace. "Tell me you didn't, Ang."

I turned away, but she ducked in to get in my line of sight. "Shit, baby girl. You did." She quieted, her face less animated. "I thought this was just a fling. I thought you knew what you were doing here." She searched my face for answers—answers that I would soon have to own up to—then her eyes leaked with sympathy. "I should’ve known. I know you. You don't do flings." She blew out a long breath, as though she were the one in this predicament. "You did, didn't you? You fell in love with him."

As soon as the words left her mouth, tears erupted, like a dam bursting open, finally after all this time, flowing down my face. Because it was the truth. Above getting caught, tears flowed endlessly because I was in love with Cade, and my family and history would not make it easy for us.

When I cupped my face with both hands, Tene's arms and warmth surrounded me. She rested her chin on my head. "What are you going to do?" she whispered. "What are we going to do?"

* * *

When Tene left, Cade entered his office. He walked right up to me and raked in my features, his lips pulled together in a slight grimace. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I replied. Because although my life was totally discombobulated, like a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle mixed in a box, I was weirdly centered, and it had everything to do with him being right in front of me.

My life had been turned upside down and inside out because of him because I’d chosen him, but for some reason and everything that mattered, together we were rock steady. Even though our future was uncertain, I at least felt that.

He put his hand in mine and intertwined our fingers.

My eyes locked on where we were connected, the warmth spreading down my arm. Then my nervous jitters from my conversation with Tene evaporated.

"What happened?" He brushed a tender finger through my hair—light, soft, comforting.

"She wanted to know what I was going to do."

“And?" Conflict reigned in his eyes. Was he afraid I'd end it? This affair? Us?

"I don't even know where to go from here," I said, feeling lost.

He squeezed my hand and opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again. After a beat, he spoke, but for some reason, I didn't believe it was what he was originally going to say. "You take it wherever you want it to go, Angel. This is your decision. Your life."

My life.

I sighed.

Roland was selfish in our relationship, but with Cade, I was on an equal playing field. He let me decide, take the lead. But I knew I was falling for him. Last night and my conversation with Tene confirmed that. And I wanted more.

I glanced up at Cade and his crooked smile and took him all in. His steel grey eyes were guarded.

"What are we doing here, Cade?" The thoughts in my head, what I'd been wondering about this whole time we'd been together came out, super fast, without hesitation, without restraint, with all honesty.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in. "We're having fun, Angel."

I winced. What was happening between us was more than that.

He cupped the side of my face, and I leaned into the warmth of his hold, reveled in his touch. I was in too deep with him. Tene was right.

Inhaling deeply, I put everything out on the line because I had to know. "Is that all this is? Fun? Because ..." I shied away, my voice trailing off, but when I met his gaze again, I said, "Because, for me, this feels ... different."

His fingertips skimmed along my jawline. "If you think you're just an easy lay for me, you're not. I haven't been with another girl for a while. What I said the other night, it's all true. I like you, Angel."

I wanted to ask him, for how long. Until he got tired of me? I couldn't look him in the eye, afraid he'd know I was in too deep.

He gripped my chin to force my focus up to his. "I've got baggage, okay? Things you don't know about, and things I'm not about to tell you."

Pulling his hands down, I said again, "Why not? Why can't you tell me? What are you going through that's keeping this from going any further?"

He was silent for a moment. "I've got obligations."

My body warmed with irritation. "What the hell does that mean?” I asked, my tone sharp. “What kind of obligations?"

Cade was giving me control, so I seized it, dragging things into my playing field. I stepped back, away from him. The man who lit a fire in me. The only one in my whole world who had never treated me like I was some little child who needed guidance.

"I can't.” I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest. “Because at the end of this ... you move away and I'm the one left behind. And I won't be able to handle that. I won't."

When his arms went limp, and he nodded once, an intense pang hit the center of my chest. "You walk away now, that's your choice." He stared intently with a seriousness I hadn't seen before. "But that's you, not me. I'm here, and I'm staying for you."

I shook my head, unbelieving. "You said you're prolonging your trip. That's not the same thing."

"But it is, Angel,” he urged. “I would be long gone now if it weren't for you. I have no other reason to stay.” He let out a long breath, his look pensive. "Have you ever thought that I'm protecting myself?" I scoffed, but he continued. "You've been with Roland for years. Years. You haven't told him about me, right?"

"I broke up with him," I argued.

"It's not enough. Ninety-five percent of your stuff is still at your old place. Have you even told your family that you’re no longer together?"

I blinked, unable to speak because he had me there. I hadn't told Roland I'd moved on. I hadn't told my family.

"It's complicated," I said, knowing that was a loaded answer.

"And my life's just as complicated." He softened. "I understand. I do. But you have history with him, and your families are close. So, yeah." He leveled his gaze with mine. "How do I know you're serious about me? I know what Tene's thinking. I saw it all over her face when she stormed out of the restaurant today. But how do I know you're not playing me?"

He was right. About every single thing. I could see his reservations, and if that was one of the reasons that was keeping us from being fully together, I could fix this. I could and would rectify the situation.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and went up on my toes to get even closer. "I'm telling Roland. To finalize things with the apartment and finally move out. And I’m telling my family, too.”

A beaming smile touched his face, and he cupped my face and gently brushed his thumb against my cheek.

And when our lips met, I knew with every fiber of my being that I was doing the right thing.