Chapter Ten

To say she was shocked was an understatement of monolithic proportions. Laia couldn’t move, could barely breathe even though her heart pounded fast and loud in her ears.

He had to be kidding if he thought he could drop a bomb like that and just walk away. He’d never stopped thinking about her. He wanted her. He’d always wanted her. Oh my God. How was that even possible?

They’d spent a grand total of about forty minutes in an elevator plus a few angry words at her wedding reception, followed by one sentence of condolences at Josh’s funeral.

Somehow the signal from her brain finally made it to her feet, and she raced after him through the living room, but he was already climbing the stairs. “Kade, wait.”

“Mommy,” Rosa said as she draped an arm over Smoke’s back. “We’re hungry. When can we eat?”

“Soon, sweetie,” she mumbled, staring at Kade’s back. “Kade, stop. We need to talk.”

His back stiffened. “I know you can hear me.” At the top of the stairs, he turned and disappeared. Damn him. Damn all men. The Sampson brothers anyway.

Numbly, and with her heart slowing only fractionally, she headed back to the kitchen.

“Mo-meee, I’m hungry,” Rosa wailed. She and Smoke were still cuddled up on the floor. The best thing to do would be to get her daughter fed and up to bed before she had a real crank-fest.

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” Laia called out.

She went back into the kitchen. For a full minute, she stared at the three perfectly constructed quesadillas waiting to be heated.

Just because you said I do to my brother didn’t make that stop.

A man with Kade’s looks and personality could have any woman he wanted, and she’d assumed that once he found out she was engaged, he’d moved on. Had she known on the day of her wedding what she knew now, would she have done anything differently?

Perhaps not. Probably not. No. Admitting it sucked, but back then she’d been a different person, one incapable of standing alone on her own two feet.

Weeks before she’d ever met Kade, the wheels of fate had already been set in motion. Two pink lines on the pregnancy test wand and her life changed forever. More importantly, her life was no longer her own. From that moment on, she, and only she, was responsible for another human being—the tiny life growing inside her.

She turned on the faucet, splashed cold water on her face, then dried herself off with a towel.

Minutes before walking down the aisle, she’d nearly taken off and escaped down the beach. All because she’d looked into Kade’s eyes. Kade had said he’d wanted her. But would he have wanted Rosa, too? Rosa was another man’s child. His brother’s child. She couldn’t have taken that chance. Securing a future for her child was the only thing that had mattered. So she’d sacrificed her own happiness, her dreams, and agreed to a marriage that wound up failing miserably in so many ways she could never have imagined in her worst nightmares.

She drizzled oil into a pan and, when the oil was hot enough, placed one of the quesadillas in to heat. As she chopped the rest of the tomatoes and lettuce, she did a mental rewind, trying to remember everything Kade had said and done in the last twenty-four hours. Since coming to my rescue, which was exactly what he’d done, no questions asked.

In truth, over the last twenty-four hours, Kade had been nothing but kind and had behaved more like a father to Rosa than Josh ever had. It was almost as if Josh had been in love with the idea of having a family, but when it came down to the practical realities of it had become disappointed. And there was no way the picture Josh had painted of his brother was accurate.

It had all started at the wedding reception. Kade had just warned her not to hurt Josh.

“What’s going on here?” Josh had asked.

“Good question,” Kade snapped. “I was just saying goodbye.” Then he’d walked away, leaving her upset and confused by his hurtful words.

Josh had cupped her face. “Laia, did he hurt you?”

“No, of course not. Why would you say that?” She stared at Kade’s receding form, wondering how she could feel something so strongly for a man she barely knew.

When she turned back, Josh’s expression had gone hard. “There are things you don’t know about Kade. He can be a real selfish bastard.”

Now she understood Josh’s harsh words stemmed from sibling rivalry. She’d often wondered if Josh had been envious of Kade. Maybe he’d sensed something between them.

Laia dumped the chopped lettuce into the bowl Kade had taken down for her. Despite his words to her that day, and the fact he’d avoided her entirely since then, she’d never stopped thinking about Kade, either, which made her partly responsible for her marriage spiraling downhill.

Josh had hoped she’d eventually come to love him the same way he’d been in love with her. She’d honestly tried to love him back in the same way, but it just wasn’t there. Eventually, he’d realized that and given up on their marriage.

Sizzling drew her back to the stove where she flipped the quesadilla, pressing down on it once more with a spatula. Now for the big question: How do I feel about Kade?

Honestly, she didn’t know. In fact, she knew next to nothing about him. She placed the salad on the table, wondering what kind of dressing he preferred, then transferred the quesadilla to a large platter, rolling a pizza cutter through it to form wedges.

Voices drew her attention to the living room, and she turned, about to announce that dinner was ready. The sight that greeted her instantly dried up every saliva gland in her mouth.

Kade sat on the sofa, his long, tanned, muscular calves and thighs on full display stretched out on the coffee table. He’d changed into khaki cargo shorts and a snug black T-shirt that hugged his broad chest, but that wasn’t what made every saliva gland in her mouth instantly dry up. Oh, no siree. Well, okay, maybe it did, but it wasn’t the only thing.

Smoke now lay on the sofa, his big furry head resting in the crook of one of Kade’s arms. Rosa sat in his lap as he read to her from a large book. Still remaining in the kitchen, she crept closer until she could read the book’s title. Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds.

The tightening in her chest was almost unbearable.

Had she made a terrible mistake all those years ago?

And more importantly, why did the answer scare her almost as much as Colon coming after the ledger?

…

An hour after dinner, Kade carried Rosa up the stairs. Smoke padded silently ahead, still limping slightly.

“Once we put Rosa down, I’ll help you ice his paw,” Laia said from behind him.

“Thanks,” he whispered over his shoulder.

Rosa’s head lolled against his shoulder, and tiny little snores came from her open mouth. Moonlight lit the interior of the bedroom, so there was no need to turn on the lights.

“Give me a second.” As Laia edged past, she brushed against his back, instantly cranking up his body temp all over again and making his abdominal muscles tighten. She pulled back the covers, then stepped aside for him to lower Rosa gently to the bed. Smoke sniffed her little hand, which she’d fisted against her mouth.

Kade backtracked to the open door, watching as Laia tugged the covers over her daughter, then leaned in to brush a lock of hair from her forehead and kiss her softly. At this point in his life, he wondered if he’d ever have a child of his own, let alone one as sweet and beautiful as Rosa.

When he’d first heard the news from his parents that Laia was pregnant, he’d done the honorable thing, smiling and expressing his joy. It had occurred to him then that they sure hadn’t wasted any time starting a family. If Rosa hadn’t been a bit premature, she would have been born about nine months after the wedding.

All the more reason to have kept his distance.

“Mommy,” Rosa mumbled, half asleep. “Can Uncle Kade and Smoke kiss me good night?”

Laia winked at him. “I’m sure they’d love to.”

He pushed from the door and leaned over to kiss Rosa on the forehead. “Smoke, give Rosa a kiss.” His dog stretched his neck over the edge of the mattress. When he gently licked Rosa’s chin, she giggled. “’Night, Cream Puff.”

“’Night, Uncle Kade.”

For a moment, he couldn’t move, could only stare down at the adorable little face. His niece—the best thing Josh ever did in his entire life.

Moonlight streamed in behind Laia, backlighting her hair. She looked like an ocean goddess. The only thing missing was a scallop shell.

“Help me with Smoke’s paw,” she whispered. “Then we need to talk.”

Oh boy. He nodded, then followed her from the room.

After blurting out his guts, having a deep-dive conversation was inevitable. He’d never regretted saying something so much in his life.

A tactical retreat was in order, and he knew precisely how to execute his withdrawal. Thinking about her as his brother’s widow was all it took to re-erect the barrier he’d so skillfully built between them and so stupidly and carelessly bulldozed to the ground.

Smoke led the way downstairs, then curled up on the living room rug. After Kade had set the alarm code by the front door, Laia came in from the kitchen with a plastic bag filled with ice and a colorful scarf.

“Give me a hand?” she asked, then knelt on the floor to stroke Smoke’s ears. “This is going to be a little cold, and he probably won’t like it.”

Kade knelt next to Laia, doing his best not to stare at the gentle curves of her breasts just visible beneath the top of her dress.

“This will make you feel better. I promise.” Smoke’s ears flicked as she continued talking to him in a soothing voice. “You’ll be back to chasing bad guys in no time.”

The moment the ice pack hit the pads on the bottom of his paw, Smoke jerked his leg away.

“Easy, boy.” Kade rested his hand on Smoke’s belly, rubbing it in slow circles, distracting him while Laia applied the icepack.

“Here. Let’s try this.” She picked up Smoke’s paw and held it on the ice for a few seconds, then removed it, repeating the process and adding in a few seconds each time. By the time she’d gotten to the fifth round, Smoke allowed her to wrap her scarf around his paw and secure the icepack to his injured joint. “See?” She pet his head, smiling. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

When Smoke gave her an answering snort and a quick lick to her chin, she smiled. “Thank you. That’s all the payment I needed. Now,” she added, pointing a finger at his dog, “I want you to ice your paw at least three times a day, fifteen to twenty minutes each time.”

The directions were, Kade knew, for him more than Smoke. He continued rubbing Smoke’s belly, wanting to make sure he remained still and didn’t dislodge the icepack. “You’re as gentle with animals as you are with children. You’ll make a great vet.” She’d make a great anything.

“I hope so.”

For a few more seconds, she continued petting Smoke, then she looked at Kade, and he knew his momentary reprieve had come to an end.

“Stay,” he ordered Smoke, and when Laia sat on one side of the long sofa, he took up position on the other end. As far from her as he could get. He rested his arm over the back of the sofa, doing his best to look relaxed. Inside he was tied up in knots, his muscles coiled tighter than a muzzle spring.

The corners of her mouth lifted. “I won’t bite you.”

I can only wish.

“Tell me something.” She scooted to the center of the sofa, halving the distance between them. “Josh has been gone for over two years. If you never stopped thinking about me, why did you stay away? Why didn’t you take any of my calls?”

He struggled to find the right words that wouldn’t land his sorry ass in a world of hurt. “I wanted to.” He took a deep breath, then stared for a moment at the ceiling. “I just…couldn’t.”

“Why not?” she repeated.

Kade dragged a hand down his face. Josh might as well have been sitting on the sofa between them, pushing them apart with his bare hands. “I stayed away all this time because if I heard your voice, let alone saw you in person, I wouldn’t be able to walk away again. It was better if I just didn’t show up at all.”

What he should do was get up and walk away. Now. Sitting right there, not three feet away, she was his worst nightmare and his hottest dream. “You were in mourning.” They’d all been in mourning. Especially his parents.

“Exactly.” She pointed to her chest. “I was in mourning. Part of me will always miss Josh. He’s the father of my child, and nothing will change that. But I don’t intend to wear black for the rest of my life or enter a convent. Six years ago, you said there was something between us, so don’t even try to deny it.”

She was right. He couldn’t deny it. But it didn’t change a thing.

“It’s more complicated than that. I can’t just move in on my brother’s widow.” To this day, he’d never told his parents how he felt about their daughter-in-law. They’d been blissfully ignorant, celebrating their oldest son’s wedding, then the birth of their first grandchild. He couldn’t take away their bad memories of what happened to Josh, but he could still preserve the good ones.

Laia’s brows drew together. “When this is over with Colon, you’ll walk away and leave all over again. Won’t you?”

His throat closed in so tightly he could barely choke out the word he hated saying. “Yes.” Because the guilt eating him up inside was still there like an immovable steel barricade that not even a missile could penetrate. But he couldn’t tell her that. Ever.

She took a deep breath, then shut her eyes. When she opened them, they were soft, calm, drawing him into their beautiful depths as they always had. “Since we’re being honest here, tell me…what would you have done if I hadn’t married your brother?”

Moved heaven and earth to make you mine. “I’d have asked for your phone number.”

“And then?” She inched closer on the cushion, sending up warning flags in Kade’s brain.

“Then…” Don’t do it. The last thing he should be doing was playing this dangerous game with her because he was weak and getting more so by the second. “I’d have asked you out to dinner.”

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips, not a seductive move, just nervousness, judging by the white-knuckled way she twisted her hands together.

“Where would you have taken me?” she asked.

That was an easy one. It was a scenario he’d gone over and over in his head hundreds of times. “Mandino’s in Long Branch.” His favorite restaurant, one he’d been certain she would have loved.

She smiled. “I know that place. It’s on the water. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. And romantic.”

Yeah, there is that. He’d never taken a date there before for just that reason, but it was exactly why he would have taken Laia there.

Laia stood, then smoothed her hands down her dress. She sat down again, this time parking her pretty little butt right next to him. The air conditioner took that untimely moment to kick on, sending her intoxicating and sweetly flowered scent directly into his nose. At least he had Smoke there to—

But his dog’s snout now rested between his paws. His eyes had closed, and his chest rose and fell evenly.

Way to abandon your partner. He’d been hoping Smoke would have wedged himself between them the way he usually did when someone got into Kade’s personal space.

She rested her hand on his forearm, lightly swirling her fingers across his skin. It was like being stroked by warm satin and velvet. His skin erupted in goose bumps and his heart hammered faster. “Laia, don’t do this.” He reached for her hand, intending to remove it when she clasped it, threading their fingers.

Sweat trickled between his shoulder blades. She had him in a corner—literally—and he was powerless to move.

“Don’t do what, touch you?” She skimmed her hand up his biceps, over his shoulder to his neck, caressing him there with lightly stroking fingers.

Oh, boy. He swallowed again, then had to open his mouth to get enough air to breathe. And that hammering in his chest was now a loud and constant pounding at every one of his pulse points. Including the one he could swear was in his dick.

Wasn’t this what he’d always wanted, what he’d dreamed about during so many hot, sleepless, sweaty nights?

“What would we have done after dinner?” Again, she licked her lower lip, only this time there was no doubting her intent.

“I, uh…” Christ. Soon he’d be out of religious expletives.

He’d participated in countless high-risk warrants involving drug dealers, gun smugglers, and violent terrorists without sweating a drop and with his heart rate barely in the sixty-beats-a-minute range. Now he was sweating bullets and his pulse had to be soaring into the nineties.

She cupped the side of his face, and before he knew what was happening, he was leaning into her palm. “Well? What would we have done?”

“I’d have taken you down to the beach.”

“Would you have held my hand?”

“Uh-huh.” To start with.

“Would you have kissed me?” She leaned in, placing her hand on his hip, way too close to his groin. “Would you?”

Yeah. This was what he’d always wanted. She’d been a craving he’d never been able to eradicate, never been able to erase with anyone else. So what was he waiting for?

Don’t do it, the rational part of his mind screamed again.

Once he had the taste of her mouth and skin on his tongue, there’d be no stopping him.

Laia leaned in closer until her soft breasts pressed against his chest.

“Laia—” He clamped his jaw together. If she were any closer, she’d be under his skin.

So much for religion because she was already under his skin.

“Kade,” she whispered, his name warm and gentle across his lips, the way he imagined a butterfly’s wings would feel.

Her teasing gentleness was the spark, the emotional catalyst that set off a nuclear chain reaction.

His head grew hot. His blood started to boil. Then an explosion rocked his heart, releasing everything inside him that yearned to take full possession of the woman he’d wanted for so long he couldn’t remember.

With a loud groan, he cupped the back of her head, then slanted his mouth across hers. She answered with a throaty moan, throwing her arms around his neck.

Her taste was nectar on his tongue, and he wanted more. Deeper, hotter…he wanted to take all she was offering.

With a hungry, feral growl, he pushed his tongue inside her mouth. Molded to him as she was, with no space between their bodies, hers was warm, soft, and infinitely perfect.

He crushed her against him, wrapping his arms around her back, skimming his hands over her bare shoulders as he deepened the kiss. How he thought he could ever manage walking on this earth without her, without kissing her, touching her, breathing in her very essence, he didn’t know.

“God, Laia,” he rasped against her lips, pulling away only long enough to get more air. He began kissing his way to her ear, then down her neck. Finally, he pulled away, breathing hard.

Her chest heaved as hard as his. “Kade, don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.” As she eased backward, she pulled him down on top of her, spreading her legs for his body to settle between her thighs.

The second his straining erection contacted her panty-clad pussy, he nearly came in his shorts. He’d always known this was how it would be—sparks, fire, total combustion because she was always meant to be his.

He pressed his lips to her breastbone, kissing and lightly licking her skin, loving the taste of flowers and woman and…heaven was the word that came to mind. When her hips surged against his raging erection, he groaned and slid one hand beneath her ass, cupping her bottom.

Chee-rist. He was in way over his head, and he didn’t care anymore. Whatever was happening between them might very well be a mistake, but at this point there was no turning back.

Vaguely, through the haze of lust overtaking his body and every thought in his head, he heard Smoke snort. Then something clicked. The front door.

Someone was coming inside the house.

Kade bolted from the sofa, getting a quick glimpse of Laia’s glazed eyes and her kiss-swollen lips before he shot across the room and reached to the top of a bookshelf where he’d stashed his gun out of Rosa’s reach.

Smoke leaped to his feet, his tail down and his head hung low. The ice pack wrapped around his foot slipped off.

Whoever was about to come through that door was in for a nasty surprise.

The muzzle of my Glock jammed in their face.

He slipped his gun from its holster and inched toward the door. Slowly, it swung open. A large black boot appeared first. Then Kade aimed in.