A Lifetime to Find Love (5 page)

“I’m sorry,” Cade said as regret filled the space between them.

“That’s okay.” The brunette walked over and leaned into him, her pants still unbuttoned. “I really don’t mind.”

Shaking his head, Cade gently pushed her to the side and walked back toward the bar.  He kept reminding himself that she wasn’t Tessa and he’d never be complete with anyone but her.  That thought pattern consumed him throughout the night and he was just realizing it.  Every time the thought crossed his mind to ask a woman to dance or to buy her a drink, knowing that it could lead to something physically fulfilling, he found himself comparing each woman to Tessa.  The poor women had no chance, not because they weren’t pleasing to the eye, but because not one measured up to his Tess.  None of them smelled like her, or had that same quirky smile, or made his heart skip a beat from just a simple look.   And that thought scared the hell out of him.  He needed to get out of this hormone infested bar, get some fresh air, and clear his head.  He’d never let any woman affect him the way Tessa did and he hadn’t even slept with her yet.  Cade scanned the room for Rowan and found him at a table with a couple nurses from the hospital. 

“I’m gonna call a cab and get out of here,” Cade told Rowan as he leaned in close to his ear.

“No way, you are not bailing on me,” he said, sitting up abruptly.

“Rowan, seriously, I need to get out of here and clear my head.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Rowan grabbed Cade’s arm as he started to walk away.  “Call
her
.”

“Who?” Cade asked trying to at least sound somewhat confused.

“Who do you think?  Tess!  Just call her, Cade, and talk to her.”

With a wave of his hand to dismiss the suggestion, Cade strolled out of the bar.  Standing on the sidewalk, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket to call a cab.  His phone flashed that irritating red light that alerted him to a missed call.  He must have really been out of it tonight because he hadn’t even felt his phone vibrate.  He nearly dropped it when he saw that it was Tessa’s call he had missed.  Suddenly he forgot why he had stepped out of the bar and his focus was only on the message announcing he’d missed her call.  Quickly, he dialed her number before he lost his nerve to do so.  He didn’t even check to see if she’d left a message or what time it was.  Surely it was a sign that he was to call her; that they were supposed to talk.  Rowan was right; he did need to call her.  She had been thinking of him tonight, just as he had been thinking of her.  His heart began to beat faster and faster with the anticipation of her answering.  He decided he would go over tonight; he had to see her and feel her.  His body and heart ached to be with her.  Finally, on the fourth ring she picked up.

“Hello,” Tessa answered, sounding exhausted.

“Hi ,Tess. This is Cade.”

“Cade?  What are you calling me so late for?” 

Tessa heard music blaring in the background.  Great, he was at a bar and probably drunk. On top of that, he was calling her at a God forsaken hour.  None of that ever added up to anything good.

“I just saw that you called and thought I’d return the call.”

“I called you three hours ago, Cade, and I left a message.  Did you not listen to it?”

“Sorry, I didn’t,” he stammered.  “I just saw you called and thought I’d call you back.”

“Are you drunk, Cade?  Is that why you are calling me now?” she asked, then added for good measure, “after weeks of nothing?” Tessa hoped that he heard in her voice how hurt and angry she was that he hadn’t even attempted to make contact with her after what happened between them or what almost happened.  Sure, she’d kicked him out of her house, but damn it, he should have at least called her or something.  Anything.

“No, not at all.”

Cade wasn’t sure where that had come from or why she would even think that and, honestly, he didn’t care at the moment.  He had her on the phone now and planned to have her in bed shortly; just as soon as he could get there.

“Then why are you calling so late, Cade?”

“Like I said…”

“If you would have listened to my message, I said to call Susan and she could schedule you for the photo shoot next week sometime.  I’m not sure what your office hours are, so I didn’t want to just schedule you.”

“Photo shoot?  What are you talking about?” Cade asked as confused as ever.

“The calendar for the hospital fundraiser.  I was selected to photograph everyone, but Susan is the one interviewing.”

“Oh, the calendar, that’s right.  I completely forgot about that.  Yeah, I can call her…”

“Okay, then I will see you at your scheduled time.  Goodnight, Cade.”

“Tess, wait.  I was hoping that we could…”

“Cade, it’s late. I’m tired, and you’ve been at a bar drinking and doing God only knows what else with God only knows who, so I have no intentions of talking to you right now.  By the way, let me just point this out right now so you’re not confused.  Nothing gets under my skin more than a guy calling me in the middle of the night from a bar.  It really is a big turn off when the last call is sounded at the bar, that I’m the last call.  Goodnight, Cade.” 

And with the last word, she hung up.  Cade stood  on the sidewalk staring at his phone like it carried some kind of virus, feeling more than a little irritated at her.  He wasn’t drunk, he hadn’t done anything he shouldn’t have, other than the short encounter with the brunette, and he  returned  her call.  He wasn’t just randomly calling her on a whim of courage he got from a bottle.  The woman absolutely drove him mad.  He didn’t know if he was coming or going and this just sent him over the edge.  Rowan said to call her and, again, he got the short end of the stick.  At this rate, listening to his best friend would get his heart broken.  At least this time he didn’t have his jaw realigned. 

Nothing went as he planned and his anger  with the situation made the thought  of taking a cab less appealing  to him.  Cade found himself heading back to the bar for Rowan.  His first thought to
prove
Tessa right.  If she wanted to accuse him of being drunk and doing God only knows what, he would do it.  He certainly didn’t want to make a liar out of her.  He had every intention of going right back in to the bar and participating in all those wicked vile things.  Once he stepped back in the building, however, he found that he couldn’t do it.  He didn’t want to get drunk. He didn’t want to be with someone else.  He wanted and needed Tessa in his arms.  He wanted to get drunk off her kisses and her taste, nothing else would quench the desires that found their way into his heart and body.  Pushing through his frustration, Cade turned around, found a cab and headed back to Rowan’s house to retrieve his car.

Chapter 6

Eight o’ clock in the morning came entirely too early for Tessa.   Getting up this early was completely against everything she held sacred.  Today, however, was the first day of her scheduled photo shoots.  Thankfully, none of those doctors would be Cade.  Susan had scheduled all the doctors as planned and Cade’s shoot wasn’t until next week.  She wasn’t ready to see him yet, that was a small plus in the win column for her this week.  Tessa slowly dragged herself out of bed and got moving.  She took a quick shower and grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for the door.  Just as she reached for the knob, her cell phone started ringing.  She pulled it from her purse, glanced at it to see if it was worth the time to answer and came to an abrupt stop.   Cade’s number came up on the screen.  For a split second, her chest tightened and her heart stopped beating.  She had an internal argument with herself over whether she should answer or not.  God, she wanted to hear his voice, but then again didn’t.  Maybe she should apologize for being so rude to him the other night when he’d called her from the bar.  Then again, maybe not, that really was something that she hated.  She decided that the pros outweighed the cons on talking to him.  The ringing stopped just as she answered a second too late. The call went to her voicemail, or so she thought.  Standing there, staring at the phone, she waited for the flashing light   to alert her that  she had a voice message.  And she waited.  He hadn’t left a message and all of a sudden she felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest.  Tessa started to wonder if she was avoiding him too much.  Had she pushed him away too many times?  Was he getting tired of chasing her?  He had called several times last week after his call from the bar and had left messages, but she hadn’t returned any of those calls.  She wanted to make him pay for making her wait and then calling at the most inopportune time.  Enough was enough.  She would call him when she had a break today, but now she had to get going to make her first appointment on time. She had three weeks to get all the doctors photographed and all the editing completed, so she had not time to sit around and dwell on all that was Cade.  Tessa drove down to the beach where the photo shoots were taking place.  There were several beautiful places along the shore that would work out well for the photos, so they had chosen a particular spot that showcased the ocean perfectly as a backdrop.  When she pulled into the parking lot, she saw Susan leaning against her car.    The look on her face revealing her eagerness to interview, as she called it, the doctors.  Tessa,  certain that the interviews were more for Susan’s benefit than they were for those who would be buying the calendars, felt a little sorry for those who would encounter Susan during this assignment. 

“Are you ready for this?” Susan asked as she walked up to Tessa, excitement lacing her voice.

“Of course, why would I not be ready?”

“Only because there is going to be a lot of skin to look at.  Thank God Dominick wasn’t politically correct on this project.”

Tessa was a bit confused by that statement, which had become common  with her encounters with Susan.   She had no idea what Dominick’s lack of political correctness had to do with their photo shoot.

“How do you figure?” she asked.

“Well, he picked only the hottest doctors.  Thankfully, we don’t have to deal with some scrawny, nerdy doctors.  Only the most ripped, tanned men for this project.  I can’t even tell you how much I have been looking forward to this.”

“Oh, I’ve heard it enough to know that you are.  Susan, we really need to get you laid.   You’re like a teenage girl who just realized what the male species is for.”

“Tess!  Are you making a joke?  Geez, after the last few weeks, I thought for sure your sense of humor was buried, never to be seen again.”

“Ha! Ha!  Let’s get set up.  Andrew Balen is scheduled first and, if what Rowan says is true, he’s never late and hates when others are.   I just have a few things to set up, but you might want to find a good spot to do your questioning.  And Susan, let’s keep the questions to what the readers want to hear, not you grilling them to try to get a date.”

Susan gasped. “I’m shocked that you would question my professional integrity.  Besides, if what you say is true about Andrew Balen, I cannot even consider him as a potential candidate for dating because I am often late.”

Tessa couldn’t help but laugh with Susan.  She was incorrigible.  Tessa finished setting up all her reflectors and umbrellas that she would need during the shoot just as Andrew walked up.  He wore a white polo shirt that clung to his muscled chest with faded blue jeans that hung just slightly off his hips.  His dark hair was cut short and accentuated the most beautiful hazel eyes.  The photo shoots were starting off just right. 

Andrew stretched out his hand.  “You must be Tessa.”

“Tess, you can just call me Tess.”  She felt like a giddy school girl standing next to her junior high crush.  Andrew certainly didn’t compare to Cade when it came to looks, but he wasn’t a slouch either. 

“So, where do we want to do this?” Andrew asked.

Tessa pointed to the spot she had set up and as Andrew walked to the rock she indicated, he pulled off his shirt.  She heard Susan gasp and swore she heard her say holy shit.  Or maybe those were just the words playing over and over in high definition in Tessa’s mind.  Dominick did choose well.  Andrew may have an issue with other’s lack of time management, but he was beautiful.  Beautiful in the manly sense and he was definitely all male.  Tessa shook her head quickly to bring herself into focus.  She was here to photograph the doctors, not stand there gaping at them.