A Lifetime to Find Love (15 page)

“Just sit with me and listen to the night,” he said as he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss at the nape of her neck.  “This is my favorite place to come when things get too crazy.  It’s not only peaceful, but I find my center when I sit here allowing the ocean to capture the negativity and carry it away with the tide.”

Tessa leaned back into his solid chest as his arms circled her waist, holding her gently as if she were a precious gift he never wanted to let go of.

“Do you want to know how many women I have brought here to this alcove?” he asked seductively.

“No!”  Tessa let out a laugh.

Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear, “Just one.”  They both let out a soft laugh and relaxed, enjoying the night.  “Actually,” he said, “no one even knows I come up here, not even Rowan.” 

Tessa felt her heart stutter for a moment.  Cade and Rowan knew everything about each other.  They had been best friends for so long, it was just natural for them to share everything.  She realized this was Cade’s way of giving her something that he’d never given anyone before, a piece of him that he held on tight to, just as she’d given him a piece of her earlier.  She would never take for granted this gift he was willing to give her.

Tessa wasn’t sure how long they spent in the alcove, but she found herself drifting off, her head nodding every now and then.  She felt like one of those bobble head dolls that had no control of her neck muscles.  Cade lifted her off his lap, sweeping her up into his arms.  He walked them back to the car.  She gently caressed his jaw line, admiring the strong angles, enjoying the stubble against her fingertips.   He absolutely took her breath away.  She couldn’t believe this incredibly sexy man was hers, at least for the time being.  Although she wasn’t particularly fond of being carted around like a child, she reveled in the strength of Cade and the security she felt in his arms.

“Where are we going?  I was enjoying just sitting there.”

“You were falling asleep.  It really is late, I should get you home.”

“I was not falling asleep and it’s so peaceful here I don’t want to leave.  At least tell me we can we come back again?”

Cade smiled down at her, amazed at how beautiful she was; amazed that she was his.  “We can come back anytime you want, just say the word.  And yes you were falling asleep, you even started snoring.”

“Cade!  I do not snore!”

He couldn’t keep the laughter in.  She was the one person that brought joy to his life and laughter to his heart.  He’d planned on carrying her to the car so that he could get her home, but there was no way he could resist those delicious, tempting lips that formed a smile reaching to her eyes. He gently placed her feet on the ground, bunched his fist in her hair and covered her mouth with his.  He needed to taste her, to know that she was real, not just some figment of his imagination.  They devoured each other until they were both breathless, both fighting for air.  As he pulled away from her mouth, Cade cupped her cheek and stroked it gently with the pad of his thumb.  He bent his head to hers once more, his mouth lingering near hers. 

“Thank you,” he whispered against her lips.

“For what?” She was taken aback by the emotion that filled those two words.

“For accepting me, for being willing to give this relationship a chance, and for trusting me with a memory that is very precious and painful to you.”

“Then I must say thank you also.  This place is absolutely amazing and I’m glad you shared it with me.  You know, not many men would be able to put up with me, Cade.  Are you ure you’re up for it?”

“Oh, I know that and, yes, I am,” he said with one last quick kiss.  He pulled her into the shelter of his arms as they walked to the car.

Chapter 16

After the blissful weekend Tessa just encountered, she hated that her week was starting off on the wrong foot and to top it off it was as if she were walking through hell.  Monday’s were never her best days as it was, so it was icing on a cake she didn’t want to eat.  After Cade dropped her off Sunday night, she spent the remainder of it editing pictures from the first photo shoots for the calendar.  As a result of the time she spent with Cade, she forgot all about the pictures and her deadlines causing her to be rushed and panicked at the same time.  Two things she didn’t handle well.  She hadn’t realized she’d gotten so many good shots and so she ended up working until two in the morning.  When she did finally stumble into bed, she couldn’t fall asleep.  Oh, she was tired enough, but Cade’s scent permeated her entire room.  It reminded her of all the wonderful things they had done in the very bed she now tossed and turned in.  She lay awake for two more hours inhaling every inch of air that took up the space of the small room.  Then, what seemed like only minutes after she had fallen asleep, Susan called her to work on the week’s schedule.  Why people didn’t feel the need to understand someone else’s need to sleep was beyond her comprehension.  Tessa was a cranky old bear if she didn’t get at least eight hours of sleep.  And, she had not gotten eight hours of sleep.  Susan informed Tessa that of the five doctors she had left to photograph, only one had changed his shoot to a different day.  She didn’t have the names, but knew that Wednesday she would be shooting the two remaining doctors from the hospital and on Thursday she would shoot two of the three private practice doctors.  The last one re-scheduled for Friday in the afternoon.  She hadn’t really wanted an afternoon shoot on a Friday, but what choice did she have.  News like this only made waking up so early more of a nuisance.

Cade didn’t keep Friday afternoon office hours, so she had planned on taking full advantage of some alone time with him.  Between his patients and her deadline, spending time with him during the week would not be an option for them.  Come Friday, some alone time would be required and she had planned on an afternoon and evening enjoying a lot of hot  earth shattering sex.  Visions of her enjoying every inch of his body played out within her mind.  Her tongue tracing every muscle his body had to offer her, her mouth devouring his cock, and a ride that would last hours on end.  She needed release and if she had to do it herself this morning, she would as soon as she got Susan off the phone.

“Which doctor scheduled for Friday?” she asked quickly.

“Honestly, I’m not sure which one it was, but I’ll check.” 

“Well, if there’s any way you can get him to either move it to Thursday or even Friday morning that would be helpful.  I was really looking forward to being done by Friday afternoon.”

“I will see what I can do, Tess.”

“Thanks, Susan. I really do appreciate you taking care of the scheduling.”

“Not a problem.”

“Well, not to cut this short, but if we are done, I am going back to bed.”  Tessa wanted to have some playtime with her favorite sex toy, her jack rabbit, and then to close her eyes and shut herself off from the world for a while.  If she could get a couple more hours of sleep she would be good for the rest of the day, not perfect, but at least enough to make it through without biting anyone’s head off.

“Yep, I will email you the schedule of the shoots and I will see you tomorrow morning for the meeting with Dominick.”

Tessa hung up the phone and rolled over to retrieve her toy and some lube.  As she reached down to shed her panties, her cell rang out with that wretched song Sexy Back that Rowan had programmed into it so she would know it was him when he called.  She let it ring until it went over to voicemail.  She wanted some alone time with her battery operated boyfriend and then sleep, so Rowan was just going to have to take a number until she was ready to deal with anything else.  Well, maybe there was one other thing she wanted more than sleep, but Cade was working and she just couldn’t wait for him.  Her phone belted out that horrible song again. This morning was not going to happen the way she hoped, so as she answered the phone, she returned B.O.B. and the lube back to their place in her bedside dresser. 

“Seriously, Rowan. Are you really calling me this early in the morning?  How many times do I have to tell you not to?”

“Sorry, Sis.  It’s just that I hadn’t heard from you after your date with Cade and I wanted to make sure everything was okay.  I thought you were going to call me.”

“I was, but the date turned into days and I thought you didn’t want details.  And have you not talked to Cade?”

Quickly, before she could say anything else Rowan told her, “No, I haven’t talked to him and, no, I don’t want any details.  I don’t want to know.  I just wanted to make sure you were still alive.  I see that you are and apparently the date went well, so I will let you get back to sleep.”

Tessa could just imagine the look on Rowan’s face.  She delighted in tormenting her brother and she realized her relationship with Cade would be the ultimate torture.

“Thank you.  I will call you later.  I’m just so tired Rowan.  I was up late doing, um…”

“Tess, please. For God’s sake, I don’t want details!” he practically yelled at her.

She couldn’t help but laugh.  Rowan was just too easy to pick on that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make him squirm. 

“I was going to say editing pictures, Rowan.  Geesh. Cade and I only had sex on Saturday night, not the whole weekend.  Although, I wouldn’t have complained...”

She laughed and rolled over once she heard the click from his end of the phone.  She should have shut her phone off, she knew this but apparently she was a glutton for punishment.  As soon as she closed her eyes, it rang again.  It was as if everyone she knew got together and had decided to call her at the same time.  Let the tormenting of Tessa commence. 

As she picked it up she practically screamed into the phone, “Damn it, if one more person calls me today…”

“Well, good morning, beautiful.”

“Cade.  I am so sorry.” 

His laughter filled her ears and she thought it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.  “I’m so sorry.  It’s just I didn’t get to bed until early this morning and I’ve already gotten two phone calls before yours.  And one thing you will learn quickly about me, if you don’t already know, is that a morning person I am not.”

“It’s okay, Tess.  I just wanted to call and say good morning.  I’d actually been hoping I would be the first voice you heard this morning.”

“Well, yours is the only voice I heard this morning that matters.  So, what’s your schedule like today?”

“I’m pretty booked up.  I have an appointment at seven tonight, so it’s going to be a late night.”

“I guess that means I won’t get to see you today then?”  It had not even been but a few hours since he had dropped her off and she was already craving his company.  

“Unfortunately, not today or tomorrow.  I’m pretty busy here at the office until Wednesday.  I was hoping maybe we could get together for lunch on Wednesday.”

“I can’t, I have photo shoots starting on Wednesday and going through Friday.  As a matter of fact, one of the jack-hole doctors rescheduled for Friday afternoon.  I was hoping to be done with the shoots on Thursday so that I could get all my editing done.  Which means now my weekend is going to be spent doing nothing but that.  If Dominick had not dragged his ass on this project, I wouldn’t be so rushed.”

Cade let out a laugh. “Did you just say ‘jack-hole doctor’?” 

“I did!  The guy must not have much of a life if he’s willing to participate in a photo shoot on a Friday afternoon.  Don’t all you doctors go play golf on your days off anyways?  Golf was probably a prerequisite for your degree wasn’t it?”

“Now you’re just stereotyping.  I have never played golf in my life.  I’m sure that whatever reason this ‘jack-hole’ has, it’s a damned good one.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever.  It doesn’t change the fact that because of him I’m going to be a day behind on this project.”

Tessa heard Cade being paged in the background.  She thought she recognized the voice but wasn’t sure.