I swear I was not in love with Cade. Shut up. I wasn’t.
I found myself texting him to say hello, and we talked two or three times a day. Sometimes we’d talk dirty, but sometimes we talked about his work or my design project.
Today I wanted more than to hear his voice, so I surprised him with a picnic lunch at his office. Sandwiches, potato salad, and chocolate covered strawberries should be enough to find a way to any man’s heart. A half hour later and chocolate was covering more than the fruit.
Cade lounged on the couch by the window while I pulled my dress back on. I’d taken to wearing more of my own designs and less of the accountant uniform of grey suits.
“Babe, you need to produce your line and sell it. It’s easy to set up an online retailer site these days.” Cade sounded more excited about the idea every time we talked about it. Maybe more excited than when he was commanding me to get on my knees for him.
Nah.
He did have me seriously thinking about starting my own business. It would be a huge commitment, but one I could easily get behind. “I could actually get a collection together, but customers don’t easily appear. I’d need to get my name out there.”
Cade sat up and stretched some well-worked muscles. “How do other designers do it?”
I tried not to get distracted by his lickable abs and concentrate on his suggestion. “A show in Bryant Park. But that’s not realistic, they cost, like a quarter of a million dollars.”
I may have done an excellent job of saving and building a stock portfolio, but I didn’t have that kind of money. I pulled the new strapless maxi dress over my head only to have Cade sneak up behind me and pull it down to my waist. He nuzzled my neck and pulled my breasts out of the half-cup strapless bra.
“How do people who don’t show in the park do it?” How was the man able to think business and sex at the same time?
I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the teasing pinches to my nipples and the scratch of his whiskers on my neck. I leaned back into him laying my head on his shoulder to give him more access to my skin. He gave me a small nip on the neck and a hard smack on the ass. Then walked back to the couch and pulled his pants on.
Too bad, but it gave me the chance to recover and answer his question. “They do local shows, sell their lines to small boutiques.”
Cade buttoned his shirt and nodded his head. “Do that. Have a show at the club. I told you Angelina is always looking for special events to attract new members. She’d love something like this.”
“I’ll think about it.” What I was actually thinking about was ripping that shirt right back off him. He must have read my mind because in less time than my quick fantasy, Cade had me bent over his desk inching my dress up my thigh.
“Good girl.”
Mmm-hmm. I was a very good girl for way longer than my lunch break. I can’t say my legs were all that steady on the walk back to my office.
Every conversation with Cade inspired me to draw or take a real look at turning my long time hobby/dream into an actual business of my own. That afternoon back at the office I even started putting together a business plan. The rest of the week I walked around downtown on my lunch breaks paying a lot more attention to the smaller locally owned clothing shops than I did before.
Danica loved the idea. I told her about it on one of our coffee breaks. “Nessie, you’re the one who got me into fashion in the first place. Do you not remember the overalls and plaid shirts I used to wear?”
I wrinkled my nose. Dani had not always been the fashion plate she was now. Our sophomore summer in high school I talked her into being my model for the clothes I created. We did about a million make-overs. That was back when I was sure I’d go to design school at Parsons and be a sought after couture designer by the time I was twenty-one.
I was thirty-three and occasionally wore a dress or a shirt I’d made myself. Until recently. Until Cade.
Dani fingered the blouse I was wearing today that I’d paired with tuxedo pants. “I love everything you design. I get compliments on them every single time. I’d steal everything you make if you’d let me. Please, please take a go at this.”
I slapped her hand away because she did steal most of my clothes and had for years. She’d take the shirt off my back if we weren’t in a coffee shop. “I’m seriously thinking about it. Why don’t you come over this week and look through what I’ve come up with so far? I could use some constructive critiques and brainstorming to round out the collection.”
“Yep. Sounds great, but let’s do it during the week. I’ve got naughty plans for the weekend.” Dani stole a glance at Taylor, but a big blond man stepped up to the counter. She whipped back around blurry fast and held one hand up, blocking her face.
“Of course you do.” I glanced at Dani and back at the man who looked familiar. Maybe even from the club. “Who is that?”
She didn’t turn. “Who? I don’t know. Nobody.”
I started to ask why she was being so weird, but Dani interrupted me. “Are you and Cade going to be at Angels?” After glancing back at the counter again, she turned her chair so her back was to it.
Clearly, she did know that guy and he made her uncomfortable. I’d let it drop for now, but she was getting grilled later. “I don’t know, he said something about dinner at his house.”
“Huh.” Dani leaned back in her chair and looked at me sideways. That look that says something strange is going on. Something besides the hotty at the counter who was staring in our direction.
“Why huh?”
“I’ve never heard of anyone going to Cade’s house. He plays at the club and the rest of his life is sort of off limits.”
“I understand people aren’t comfortable with their after-hours activities bleeding into the rest of their lives.” Except, I’d been to his office and now I was going to his house.
“Yeah. By my reckoning, Cade is one of those. I always figured he was either some high powered CEO of a publically traded company or a school principal or something.”
“He’s not.” I didn’t know how much more I should say. He’d shared his job and life with me so freely. Apparently not to everyone else. Cade was such a puzzle.
Dani, on the other hand, was not. The way she kept taking a sip of her latte and then setting it down, only to pick it back up and fiddle with the cozy practically screamed she wanted to ask me what I knew. We’d carefully avoided too much talk of Cade and we hadn’t gone anywhere near the feelings talk. It was killing her.
“I’m not in love with him, Dani.”
She raised one eyebrow at me.
“I’m not. You and Angelina warned me not to fall for him. So, I haven’t and I won’t. Just because we play around doesn’t mean I have more than feelings of affection for him.” That even sounded stupid to my ears. Dani’s eyebrow agreed with my ears.
“As long as you know what you’re doing.”
I had no idea.
Chapter Eighteen