Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six (14 page)

The mixed berry sponge cake was a hit with Andie. Cade looked on, mesmerized, as she licked and moaned at the Chantilly cream-filled base, topped with organic blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, red currants and strawberries.

Every flicker and swirl of her tongue spoke straight to his cock, and sitting cross-legged on the floor was getting mighty awkward. She was making love to the cake, her eyes half closed and fortunately, unaware of the throbbing below his waist.

Cade emptied his wineglass and pulled himself up onto the sectional sofa. The way Andie’s hair shimmered in the candlelight, fiery with the hues of fallen leaves, made the room glow with a magical wonder he’d known only in the fantasy storybooks one of his foster sisters had read to him.

If this were a fairy tale, he’d be the orphan who was really a prince, and she’d be the princess who turned out to be a good witch, and after they’d defeated the evil king and queen, they’d live up in the mountains happily ever after.

Andie finally finished her dessert. Licking her lips and opening her eyes, she turned toward him. “That was heavenly. Thanks for dinner. You really went out of your way.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He patted the leather sofa. “Come, sit with me.”

Her brow furrowed before she climbed off the shag carpet and slid onto the sectional. “I guess we have to talk.”

“Yes, but if you’re tired from the trip, it can wait until the morning.”

“No, I’ll never get any sleep wondering what’s going on or not.” She clasped herself by her elbows.

Cade wanted nothing more than to move over and pull her into his arms, but he’d already gone too far with the kiss, and he couldn’t trust himself. How the heck was he supposed to act when she tempted him so much?

Nerves he didn’t know he had clanged with alarm, and sweat ringed his neck. He wasn’t good at being a good guy, because he’d always gotten away with being bad, but Andie was different, and he didn’t want to go back to the emptiness of three women in his bed and wanting them gone before he woke.

“What do you want to talk about?” He folded his hands together and rested his elbows on his knees.

“For one thing, why am I here? It’s all been so overwhelming. How’d you know my flight and where I’d be? Why’d you bring me to your house?”

“I arranged it with your boss,” he admitted. “I wanted to surprise you. I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“I was shocked.” Andie’s eyes flickered at him before turning away. “And I was happy, but I’m confused. I feel like you’re assuming a lot.”

“Like how?” Spikes of panic danced on his scalp. “I want us to be friends.”

“But are we really? We only knew each other for about a week, and then you left. To tell you the truth, it feels kind of creepy to be sitting here with you after you practically kidnapped me at the airport.”

Cade blinked, his throat thickening. It was like she’d forgotten everything they’d said to each other, how they’d declared their love at the ski lodge after a harrowing day of mountain biking down the killer slopes.

“Isn’t this house better than a hotel? It’s better here for your dog, too.”

“Well, yes, of course it’s generous of you to offer me a place to stay.” She scooted closer and touched him. Her fingers trailed down his upper arm, over his biceps and squeezed his elbow before resting on his forearm. “But you should have asked or given me the choice back at the airport.”

Her touch was both comforting and disturbing at the same time. How was he supposed to resist when all he wanted to do was pin her down on the couch and kiss her senseless?

“You’re always free to leave. I’m not stopping you.” His jaw clenched, and the muscles on his shoulders bunched together. “As I recall, you asked to see the bedroom, and dammit, you kissed me as hard as I kissed you. You’re touching me right now, as if you want me.”

She jerked her hand back. “We can’t be anything more than friends. I’ll stay because it’s a good place for Gollie, but only if we don’t sleep together.”

“Can I be honest with you?” He skewered her with narrowed eyes. “You’re a tease, Andie. You practically had an orgasm over the berry sponge cake, and you’re sitting here running your hands all over me. You want me to control myself when you can’t control yourself?”

Her mouth gaped open and snapped shut while her face turned all shades of pink. “That’s not true. Did you know I was afraid of taking this job because I didn’t want to run into you? I held off from replying for weeks, worried that LA wasn’t big enough for the two of us.”

“What are you afraid of?” He leaned toward her, almost nose to nose. “Tell me, Andie. I already promised you I’d never hurt you. Don’t you believe me?”

“You already did. You got some other woman pregnant.”

“That happened before I met you. I can’t change the past.”

“You can change the future, for you and your child.” Her eyes were steady on him. “Thank you for dinner, Cade, and thanks for the place to stay. But we weren’t meant to be, and that’s all there is to it.”

All the hopes and dreams he’d held onto for the past five months collapsed in front of his eyes. How could he have been so mistaken? She’d told him he was precious to her, no matter what.

Cade clenched his fists and stood, walking to the floor-to-ceiling window. He knocked his forehead against the glass, his gaze focused on the astounding view that suddenly seemed hollow.

“So you’re saying you’d never adopt a child of mine? That you couldn’t see yourself caring for him? Can you not forgive me a mistake I made before I met you? Or is it that I don’t deserve your love since I screwed up? I’m worthless and will always be no good in your eyes.”

“That’s a low blow, and you know that’s not true.” She rose from the sofa and jutted herself at his side. “It’s a big deal. You’re having a baby with another woman.”

“I don’t love her, Andie. I love you.” He held his hand to her, but she didn’t take it. “I thought you knew. She being pregnant shouldn’t change anything.”

Andie grabbed her hair with both hands and shook her head as if he wasn’t getting something. Without a reply, she strode from the sunken living room, through the gallery hallway, and into the great room.

Cade followed her. “Answer me. Why should it matter? Isn’t it more important that I haven’t slept with anyone after being with you? That I’m killing myself being responsible and doing the right thing? I’m not turning my back on Roxanne and the baby, but at the same time, I shouldn’t be blamed for my past.”

Andie stopped at the base of the spiral staircase. “You don’t really know what love is, Cade. You think it’s all about rewarding you a gold star because you did something right for a change. I’m sorry, it’s not all about you.”

“Show me what I’m doing wrong.” He hated the desperation in his voice. He’d never known why his mother gave him over to foster care, or why he was shunted from one home to another just when he thought he’d been accepted. “No one ever showed me. They always left or sent me away.”

Andie halted on the first step of the staircase. She was face to face to him, almost eye level. “It’s not a do this, do that, and then it happens. It just has to be.”

“But I thought we had something there, back in Itasca. I thought …”

“I didn’t know the real you back in Itasca. Sorry.”

Andie slammed the door to her movie theater bedroom and flung herself on the huge bed. This room was clearly Cade’s room with its stark clean lines, black and silver color-blocked velvet bedspread and the large movie screen. Andie pushed a button and the velvet curtains closed over the screen. There. One less distraction. She pushed another button, and the room darkening shades retracted upward.

Another stunning view, this one higher up than the sunken living room. The streams of red taillights contrasted with the white headlights on the freeway below, and in the distance, the City of Angels glittered.

What was she going to do about Cade? It had taken all of her will power to walk up the spiral stairs, to turn her back and leave him hanging there. The Cade she loved in Itasca wasn’t a football player, a guy bedding three girls a night, if what she’d read in the gossip rags were true. The images of his party life ran rampant through her mind. She shouldn’t have looked, but she’d read every bit of gossip, although to his credit, there hadn’t been any recent reports, and the press had gotten tired of the Roxanne story.

Andie yawned as she took off her makeup. It had been a long day, and she was way past her bedtime. After brushing her teeth, she got into her pajamas and pulled out her dog-eared copy of
Michal’s Window
, her favorite story about King David and his first wife, the princess Michal.

Flipping to the bookmark, she settled back under the covers and continued where she’d left off.

Michal has just discovered that David, her beloved, has been betrothed by her father to marry her sister, Merab. David meets her on the palace wall to say goodbye, but finds that she’s thrown away the stone he gave her. He’s hurt, so he’s cold and tells her now that they are going to be brother and sister-in-law, that they need to behave and get along. She jeers at him and tells him her sister doesn’t love him, and then delivers her famous line: You should have a wife who loves you.

Andie wiped a tear from her eye. Of course everyone should have a wife or husband who loved them. That should be obvious, but back in those days, people married for position and privilege. Women were used as pawns. How did Michal handle the heartbreak of losing David to her own sister, and later to all of his other wives?

She tucked the bookmark back between the pages of the thick book and placed it on her nightstand. Would it really be fair to Cade to marry Roxanne for the baby’s sake? That woman obviously did not love Cade, for had she loved him, she would never have embarrassed him in public. But still, she was carrying his baby, his seed, and there was nothing Andie could do to change that fact.

Except, she loved Cade, didn’t she?

Correction. She loved the fake Cade, the traveling dog breeder who’d cared enough about Gollie to search through the snowy fields for her. She loved the fake Cade who’d ridden his fat bike off a cliff, and who’d opened up to her and told her about his past, the baby with the cleft palate, rejected by many.

That was the Cade she’d fallen for.

She turned on the ceiling fan and cooled the room. It was warm, but the heat was dry, not at all humid like back in Itasca. If anything, her mouth was dry, and she needed to keep a bottle of water at her bedside.

After setting her alarm clock, she slipped into bed and closed her eyes. There was a soft knocking at her door, and then a large, warm body pounced onto her bed.

Andie turned to hug him, but instead of hard muscle, she found the soft fur of her dog, Gollie.

“Good night, Cade,” she said to the partially open door.

“Good night, Andie.” The door clicked shut.

# # #

The next morning, Cade stretched his long legs and loped down the hilly street. Beside him, his buddy Ronaldo pumped his arms to quicken his short, choppy stride.

“You wait … for the uphill. I’ll … catch you … there,” Ronaldo shouted between breaths behind him.

The motorcycle racer whose parents owned Silver Studios was a bullet of energy, fit and compact in a sport that had weight limits, yet required strength, daring, and coordination.

Cade increased his pace, gaining as much yardage as he could before the uphill where his weight disadvantage hindered him.

It was early in the morning, just before dawn, and he was already bushed. The night before, he’d tossed and turned in bed so much that his dog had jumped off and crawled into a corner. Andie wasn’t giving him a chance. She was like all the others who’d turned their backs on him because he had problems.

The street leveled and turned upward. Cade blew out a breath and eased into the shorter strides.

“Ha, ha … got you, dude.” Ronaldo caught him.

“Not yet.”

Bearing down, Cade sprinted up the hill, his breath rasping and his muscles burning. His legs felt like lead, but he couldn’t let Ronaldo beat him, especially not today. Not after his plans with Andie had backfired.

The two were neck in neck as they approached the training facilities at the Flash Stadium. Ronaldo wasn’t a member of the team, but he was Cade’s buddy. He’d taken a year off of motorcycle racing after he’d crashed so many bikes his sponsor refused to build him another one, and Cade had told the team he was his conditioning coach to allow him access.

They grabbed towels and headed for the weight room. Cade set up the barbells while Ronaldo prepared the dumb bells, lining them up for their workout.

“How’d things go with getting Andie to your place?” Ronaldo asked as he spotted Cade for the bench press.

“She’s there.” Cade hefted the bar up and down.

“Just there?” Ronaldo bent over him, wiggling his eyebrows. “Or are you too worn out to talk about it?”

“I didn’t get much sleep if that’s what you’re asking.” Cade completed the set and placed the bar back on the uprights.

“Good going, dude. Think she’s fit for work this morning or should I give her another day to acclimatize?”

“She’s okay for work, I guess.” Cade wiped his sweat with a gym towel. He hadn’t meant to give Ronaldo the wrong idea about Andie, but heck, he couldn’t be the laughing stock among his friends. Even worse would be his teammates. The guys had already been ribbing him for not going with them to strip clubs and bars.

“Good for you.” Ronaldo punched his bicep. “Get them early and often.”

“Yep.” Cade vacated the bench for his friend. He couldn’t even fake a shit-eating grin when all he could think about was how Andie had rejected his advances.

“I could never do it.” Ronaldo positioned himself under the bar after stripping off some of the weights.

“Do what?” Cade held onto the bar lightly as he guided it down onto his friend’s chest.

“Stay celibate for what, months? You sure you didn’t sneak in some head once in a while? Or did you totally rely on the five-finger salute?”

“Andie’s worth it.” Not that he was so sure after last night’s disaster. He’d left the house early after letting the dogs out, and she’d been fast asleep, tucked in one corner of the bed, her red hair splayed over the pillow was the only touch of color in the black and silver room.

“No woman who wants to hem me in is worth it,” Ronaldo said. “That’s all it is, a power play. She wants to pussy whip you and show she’s got control of you. There’s no better control than locking up your cock for her use only.”

Cade tightened his jaw and stayed focused on the bar. “The weights must be too light if you’re talking so much.”

“Hey, I’m not trying to bulk up like you guys. These muscles are for the girls to cream over. They like rubbing their pussies over my washboards and pecs.”

His buddy was nothing if not crude. “Good for you, bud. So you got any action with the actresses trying out for Bathsheba?”

“Enjoying the audition, although all of David’s wives are hot, hot, hot.”

“Even saintly Abigail?” Cade had boned up enough to catch the gist of the women in the mighty king’s life, if only to have something to talk to Andie about.

“Of course. The books don’t do her justice. They act as if a woman who has God on her mind can’t have multiple orgasms. Anyone who says ‘oh God’ as much as a pious woman is popping her cookies on a regular basis.”

Cade had a feeling Andie might disagree. “So what’ll you have Andie doing?”

“She’s working with the screenwriter. I imagine she’ll be real helpful with the love scenes.”

“Why? In what way?” A burst of sweat prickled Cade’s skin.

“The writer’s a man. One of those nerdy types. Probably a virgin, but he was the only one we could get for this project since it’s not easy finding men who idolize King David as much as Leroy does.”

“Leroy, is that his name? Is he gay?”

“No, not gay.” Ronaldo replaced the bar onto the uprights and sat up. “Why, you worried he’ll get his fingers into her panties and have her ready for Freddy?”

He hated Leroy already.

“I didn’t know enacting love scenes would be part of the job description.”

Ronaldo chuckled and waggled his eyebrows. “She’s kind of got to know how it goes to choreograph it.”

“I didn’t know this was rated X.”

“It’s not.” Ronaldo patted his chest and sniffed, as if affronted. “It’s a real high-brow drama about King David and his love lives. How dare you call it smut?”

They worked through the rest of the stations without much conversation. The only reason Cade recommended Andie for the job was to get her out to California to be with him. He hadn’t counted on a nerdy scriptwriter to get more time with Andie than he.

“Hey, stop looking so glum.” Ronaldo slapped his upper arm. “You’re not seriously worried about a geek named Leroy, are you?”

“Uh, no. Not at all.”

“’Cause if you are, then you’re more pussy-whipped than I thought. Let me give you some advice.”

“Not interested.”

“Gonna give it to you anyway. The trick to keeping women interested is not to give in to them. Women say they want monogamy, exclusivity, you to toe the line and be a choir boy, but they always go after the guy with all the girls. Once you end up a monk, they lose interest.”

“You think?”

“I know so,” Ronaldo said. “You let yourself get whipped and poof, you’re emasculated. Give a woman too much power over you and she tosses you in the bin. Didn’t your daddy ever tell you that?”

If only he’d had a daddy, maybe his life wouldn’t be so royally fucked.