Chapter 29
Kade
I walked into the kitchen and Leah was up on her tiptoes, stretching to reach for a glass. Her pajamas were one of those silky shorts and tank top combos that smoothed over her figure effortlessly.
I walked behind her, grabbing the glass and handing it to her, my body flush with hers for a second longer than was good for my mental wellbeing. Even the way she smelled nearly undid me, reminding me of cotton candy. I moved to a safe distance.
“Thanks,” she said. “Did I wake you?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Actually, I’m glad you’re up. I need a favor.”
“Sure.” She was asking me for something? Had we finally turned a corner? I went to get a glass for myself so she couldn’t see me smiling.
“Could you ask Alec to come to the wedding?”
Not the favor I was hoping she’d ask for. Did she have a thing for him? She had to. Why else? Was he holding out on me? I was going to punch him in the face when I saw him if he was.
“Kade? Is that okay?”
“Huh, yeah. I’m not sure if he’ll come, but I’ll ask. Does Cassie know him?”
“No. I just thought it might make Missy feel more comfortable.”
I spun, going from a boiling rage to suspicion.
“They don’t have a thing, do they? I’m not sure that’s a good match.”
“No, I don’t either, but…” She threw her hands up. “I don’t want to get into the details, but can you see what you can do?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Thank you. See you in the morning.”
This was the first thing Leah had asked me for since she’d been here, and I’d be damned if Alec wasn’t getting his ass here. I grabbed my phone as soon as I went back into the bedroom.
“You up?”
“Would it matter if I wasn’t?” he asked. He sounded like he was wide awake.
“I need you to come out here for a wedding.” It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes on Leah’s stepfather.
“Will there be available women there?”
“It’s a wedding. What do you think?”
“Okay, I guess I can make it. Text me the date and I’ll add it to my schedule.”
“Can you do me a favor, though, and not bang your way through the entire guest list?”
“Now you want two favors?” He groaned. “I won’t touch the bride or Leah. It’s the most I can promise.”
“Fine. Just get here.”
“Alec? What are you doing? I’m getting cold all alone,” a female voice said in the background.
“I gotta go,” he said, and hung up.
I tossed my phone to the side and remembered the last time Leah had looked up at me and asked for a favor.
Ten years ago
Leah was sitting up in the barn loft, waiting for me.
“You know that wood is half rotted,” I said.
I walked until I was standing right below her and raised my arms. Sometimes I had a feeling she hung up there just to have me catch her.
She scooted off, dropping into my hold.
Normally I’d step back away from her, but she wrapped her arms around my neck, squeezing me tightly, as if she wanted to hold on to me like this forever.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she whispered.
“It’ll be better than you think. It’s just different, is all.” She’d been dreading this move more by the day, but she’d be okay. She had her mother and brother, and now a stepfather who seemed like a stand-up guy. She’d be okay.
I felt her nod, the movement barely perceptible, as if she were trying to convince herself more than me.
“You can always call me if you need me. I’ll come. No matter what it is or where you are, I’ll come.”
“Kade? Can I ask you for one thing before I go?”
“You know you can.”
I waited, but she didn’t say anything right away. Her fingers twisted in the fabric of my shirt, like she were trying to gather the courage to speak.
“What is it? You can say anything to me. You know that.”
She tilted her head back, staring at me with that strange intensity she had. “Will you kiss me?”
I tensed, but not because I didn’t want to. I’d wanted to kiss her too much—that was the problem. But she was only sixteen. There might not be that many years between us, but there were more life experiences than I could explain. Nineteen to sixteen seemed like a lifetime at the moment.
She pulled away stiffly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted my first kiss to be from you. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal for you since, well, it’s not like it would be your first or anything.”
I’d suspected she’d caught me fooling around in this very barn with Becky a couple of months ago. Now I was sure of it. I hoped that was the only one she’d caught me with.
“You aren’t like other girls, and you’re only sixteen.” How the hell was I supposed to explain to her that I didn’t want to just have sex with her?
“I just thought that, I don’t know, the way you called me pretty… I thought you might want to,” she said, her voice growing even softer.
She was killing me. My arms tensed around her, pulling her closer again.
“You’re not just pretty. You’re gorgeous.”
She looked up at me, eyes so big and blue that it felt like I was holding spring in my arms. I couldn’t look at her and not get lost in them, or the way they looked back at me. I’d tried to deny wanting her, but I wanted to be her first kiss more than she’d ever know. I wanted to be her first and last everything, but that wasn’t meant to be. I was a nineteen-old nobody who was holding on to the family ranch by pure grit and force of will, and it probably wouldn’t be enough. I had no future and she deserved a castle on a hill.
But one kiss wouldn’t be the end of the world, would it?
I leaned my head down toward her and she licked her lips, instinctively understanding that I was taking her invitation. I pulled her snugger against me, and onto her tiptoes, until her body fit into mine from thigh to chest.
“Just a kiss,” I said, my voice growing rough with strain as I reminded myself that that was all I’d take from her.
Her lips were soft as I grazed them. Her whole body was as she arched against me. The taste of her was so sweet, and her breath hitched as I pulled her even closer. The way she responded made it hard to keep it just a kiss.
She let out a small, helpless sound against my mouth, and I pulled back before this took on a life of its own and spiraled into something that wasn’t so harmless.
She looked up at me, mouth parted and breathless, her fingers still threaded through my hair. Pulling away from her might end up being the hardest thing I’d ever do in my life. There was an ache that settled in my chest, making me fight to not kiss her again.
“I already miss you and I haven’t even left,” she whispered, dropping her head to my chest.
“Me too,” I said.
“We’re leaving in the morning, so I guess this is goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Leah,” I said as she pulled away from me. She walked out of the barn and I knew I’d never see her again.
After that day, I’d made a determined effort to force her out of my mind and my heart. I’d thought it had worked, at least somewhat. What a fool I’d been. She wasn’t the type of woman you forgot about. She was the type who could take down an empire with a look.