A Lifetime to Find Love (6 page)

“It shouldn’t take too long, just a few pictures should do,” Tessa quickly said trying to sound as professional as she could. 

“No problem.  Is there a certain pose or anything you want me to do?”

Susan came running up to Tessa and Andrew; she was quick to add her opinion.

“You should probably unbutton your jeans. You know, show just a little bit more, but not too much.  Keep us guessing.” She winked at him.

“Susan!  I am so sorry Andrew.”

“That’s okay,” Andrew said laughing.  “Dominick already told us we’d have to show a little skin for the calendar.” 

Just as he said it he un-buttoned his jeans but thankfully left several buttons intact. Susan protested that fact with her eyes.  Tessa felt her face flush when she noticed the patch  of dark hair that continued from his navel down past his waistband.  She was a professional and she would damn well act like it, but she felt like falling to her knees and thanking the gods for such a fine specimen.  Pulling herself together she got on with the shoot.  It went quickly and Andrew was actually quite pleasant.  She had expected some hard ass from Rowan’s assessment of him, but he was very polite and relaxed.  The second doctor walked up just as the shoot was complete and Susan pulled Andrew to the side for her questioning.  Tessa finished  quickly with all the doctors that morning, not wanting to take more time than really needed.  She knew Susan would be keeping them as long as she possibly could.   She decided to give Cade a call, once she completed the last shoot..  She really couldn’t keep putting him off.  Pulling her cell phone from her purse, she saw that she had a message.  She quickly retrieved it, hearing Cade’s voice.

Hey Tess, I know you have photo shoots scheduled today, but I was hoping that maybe we could meet for lunch in-between your morning and afternoon appointments.  Susan let me know what your schedule was.  So, well, just give me a call when you get a chance.  I am seeing patients this morning, but will be done by noon.  Just give me a call at the office.

Tessa hung up quickly and dialed Cade’s office.  She paced back and forth waiting for someone to answer.  Kicking at the sand beneath her feet, she glanced over to Susan who sat questioning Robert Adams, a young doctor right out of school.    Apparently, Susan had no  concerns with his age.  She  leaned in towards him as if  trying to inhale him and he looked absolutely petrified.  Poor kid didn’t realize what he had gotten himself in to until it was too late.  It made Tessa laugh.  Susan  definitely could not be accused of being a shy person.  Tessa realized at that moment, that even with all her quirky ways, that she really did enjoy Susan’s company and that she had a good heart.    She just needed to get laid.

Chapter 7

Tessa let the phone ring several times before giving up on anyone answering at Cade’s office.  Apparently, they were either busy or out of the office already.  She hung up and started packing up her equipment, deciding she’d swing through a drive thru to grab lunch and head on over to the next site for her afternoon shoots.  Susan had finally finished with Robert and was heading over in her direction.

“Well, that was interesting,” Susan said.

“Yeah, I’m glad it went so quickly.  I’m very happy with the shots I got.”

“And I got two phone numbers.  I love my job!”

“As a friend of mine used to say a long time ago, you are too much.  You definitely keep me on my toes.  Well, I was thinking I would grab something to eat on the way to our next location.  Do you want me to pick you up something and meet you over there?”

“Nah, that’s okay.  Robert and I are going to go grab lunch,” Susan said, signaling with her head towards the young doctor leaning against a navy blue Nissan Sentra.

“Alright then, I’ll just meet you over there.”

Susan helped Tessa carry her things to the car and headed out with Robert.  Tessa couldn’t help but think how that would be an interesting relationship, especially since Robert was so much younger than Susan.  Not only was there the age difference, but Susan would definitely be the one to wear the pants in that sexual relationship.  The boy didn’t realize what he was getting himself into.  Maybe it was true though, maybe opposites did attract.  Tessa and Cade were complete opposites.  He planned everything out, where she just let things happen the way they happened.  She said what was on her mind; he was very careful with his words.  He spent years in school to become a doctor and she dropped out from the community college after only two semesters to become a freelance photographer.  The more she thought about them the more she convinced herself that she and Cade wouldn’t work.  Opposites may attract, but there was no way that Cade and her would survive an intimate relationship and still have their friendship come out intact.  How could they?  Tessa pulled out her phone once more and began to dial Cade’s cell, then decided against it.  She admired him for all that he had accomplished so far in his life.  And he certainly made her body heat up with just a glance from those blue eyes.  She did want to be with him sexually and she just knew if they were ever to have sex that he would be an amazing lover.  She enjoyed his company and no one had ever made her body ache the way he did.  Just a thought of him sent heat pooling to her very core.  It was dangerous that one person had that much of an affect on her and it scared the hell out of her.  As much as she wanted Cade to be a part of her life, she wasn’t sure that she could give that much control to someone when she was such a free spirit.  She couldn’t right?  But how could she walk away from something that could potentially be the best thing that ever happened to her? 

Just as she got into her car and started to shut the door, a hand stopped it from closing.  Startled, Tessa looked up to see Cade standing there.

“Cade…”

“Shh, don’t say anything,” he said, gently pressing a finger to her lips.  “Just listen to me, Tess.”

Completely ignoring him, she asked, “What are you doing here?” Her words muffled by the finger still pressed to her mouth.

“Damn it, Tess, just for once, let me talk without you interrupting me. “

Tessa sat there dumbfounded.  In the whole time that she had known Cade, he had never spoken to her this way.  Even when they were kids and Rowan would boss her around, Cade always sided with her and wouldn’t let Rowan or anyone else treat her badly.  What he just said did three things to her; one, it pissed her off that he had the balls to speak to her that way. Two, it made her want to body slam him on the ground. And three, her heart did a little flip inside her chest.  He was making  himself vulnerable by showing  up here to speak to her, knowing that she had been putting him off.  She could at least sit quietly and listen to what he had to say since he was making an effort above and beyond what she thought any guy would.

“Go ahead,” Tessa said.

Shaking his head, he kneeled down next to her open door.

 “Look, Tess. First of all when I called you from the bar, I wasn’t drunk.  It really bothers me that you would think so little of me to question whether I would call you when I was not myself.  I’m not going to lie to you.  When Rowan called me to go out with him, I had every intention of doing just that
and
,honestly, I had planned on getting laid.”

Tessa winced. She really didn’t like the idea of him being intimate with someone else.  She wanted it to be her and her alone.  Damn it, Cade was supposed to be with her, not some woman who wouldn’t appreciate who he really was. 

“Cade, you don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“I know I don’t, but I want to and I need you to hear what I have to say… without any interruptions,“ he said with a crooked grin.

 A wave of her hand signaled for him to go on. 

“As I was saying, I went to that bar wanting to get you out of my head, but I couldn’t.  Every woman I came across just didn’t compare to you, Tess.  They didn’t take my breath away the way you do just from a simple look.  You, Tess, you are the one that makes my heart skip every time I’m near you or from just a thought of you.”  Taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you after what happened at your house.  Honestly, I didn’t know what to say to you.  I thought, hell, I don’t know what I thought.  All I know is that I want to give this a go; you and me.  I don’t know if it will work out, but I can’t just walk away without trying.”

“Shut up Cade,” Tessa said softly.   She wanted him to shut up and kiss her no matter that he was on his knees confessing his feelings for her.

“What?”

Cade was shocked.  Tessa had just blurted out the last thing he expected.  He’d planned  out perfectly what he wanted to say, but it wasn’t unfolding the way he envisioned it.  He would   tell her how he really felt and she would throw herself at him.  That’s how it was supposed to happen.  Not with Tessa though, nothing  ever came that easy where she was concerned.  Here he was pouring out his heart and soul and she tells him to shut up.  That was so typical Tessa he thought.  Cade slowly started to get up off his knees.  Nothing had prepared him for this, he felt as if he’d just been sucker punched in the gonads and left at a loss as to how he should even react to her words.

With more conviction than anything she had ever said in her life, Tessa asked, “Are you going to kiss me or just keep talking?”

Cade grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car quickly as he stood before she changed her mind.  He hooked his fingers into her front belt loops and pulled her into his hard body.  He needed her as close as possible. 

Tessa’s body trembled with anticipation as he bent ever so slowly to kiss her. She had dreamed of this, of Cade’s mouth on hers.  She was finally going to feel those lips against hers; she was going to taste that delicious mouth on her tongue.  He gently pressed his lips to hers, tracing the seam of her mouth with his tongue.  Tessa let out a small gasp and as she did, Cade’s tongue slipped into her mouth.  He explored her mouth with such gentleness it made her knees weak.  She felt completely weightless as she leaned into Cade, not wanting a single wisp of air between them.  Her hands, of their own accord, made a caressing sweep from his abdomen up to wrap around his neck.  Cade’s own hands began to move, one wrapping around her waist and pulling her even closer, the other cupping the side of her face.  As he continued to kiss her, his lips against hers became more bruising while his thumb gently stroked her cheek.  She took all that he was giving her and wanted more.  Tessa hadn’t realized that her hands had slid up and cupped the back of Cade’s head pulling him deeper into her mouth until he slowly pulled away from her laughing.  Both were trying to pull air into their lungs as Cade leaned his forehead against Tessa’s.  Placing his lips to her mouth once more, he kissed his way from her lips to her neck.

“It is so good to finally have you in my arms,” Cade whispered as he nipped at her ear.

“Mmmhmm,” Tessa responded, leaning into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent; that musky scent that was Cade’s and his alone. 

She slowly slipped her tongue out and traced the vein that ran along his neck.   God, he tasted so good and she didn’t want this moment to end.  As she kissed along his neck, she made her way up to his jaw, to his chin then finding his lips again.  She gently pressed a kiss to his mouth.  As much as she wanted to continue their interlude, she quickly remembered she had a job to finish.  Damn Dominick and damn this calendar.  She would throw it all away to stay here in Cade’s arms.  He pulled slightly away from her holding her chin in between his fingers. 

“Don’t you have photo shoots this afternoon?” he asked.

“I do.” 
Damn it, why can’t I just forget the photo shoot
.  “It’s hard to imagine that I was actually looking forward to them, but not so much now.”

“Hmmm and why not now?” Cade tried to sound unaffected.

He knew exactly why she had been looking forward to the shoots.  She’d been avoiding him and when she avoided anything, she buried herself in her work.  She  always immersed herself in her work anyway, but when it came to uncomfortable situations, she completely lost herself.  He knew that she was trying to distance herself from any part of him, because he had been doing the same thing.  He’d been working long hours, even taking late appointments.  No matter how much he worked though, thoughts of Tessa   always consumed his every waking moment.  Now, however, after tasting her and feeling the way she responded to him, he knew that she wanted to continue as much as he did.  He wanted to scoop her up and take her back to his place and make love to her for the rest of the day and the evening.  He wanted to keep her in his bed as long as he possibly could.  She looked so damn sexy standing there, her lips swollen from his kisses and he almost couldn’t resist pulling a caveman and throwing her over his shoulder and hauling her off.  He had the rest of the day off; he had made sure his secretary hadn’t scheduled any appointments for him in the afternoon with the hopes of being able to spend some time talking to Tessa.  He thought for sure he’d have to convince her to give him a chance; to give a relationship with him a chance.  He never, in his wildest dreams thought she would have this response to him, but he was damn happy for it and relieved.