Almost Like Being in Love (31 page)

“Hey!
What happened to being careful?”

“Oh, please. It's just a little bit of water.” Kade moved the hose so that the spray landed full force on her bare feet. “No big deal, see?”

“That's cold water, Kade.” She picked up the bucket. “I think it's time I took over rinsing the car.”

“You're in charge of the sponge, Miss Hollister.” Kade backed up, positioning his hand on the grip that controlled the flow of water. “Don't make me do something you're going to regret.”

“You wouldn't. And I seriously doubt that you could, with a sore back.”

Kade raised the hose, easing the handle as he pointed the nozzle directly at her heart. “Don't be so hasty to throw down a verbal gauntlet, Miss Hollister.”

Oh no he did not!
Caron took two quick steps forward and tossed the bucket of water straight at his bare chest—and then dropped the container onto the driveway and ran.

Kade's bellow was followed by an immediate blast of water against her back that sent her running to safety on the other side of the car, her feet slapping on the wet cement.

“You can't outrun me, Caron—”

She tossed the soggy sponge at him. “Drop the hose, buddy!”

“I don't think so.” Kade rounded the front of the car, aiming a nonstop stream of cold water at her.

She had no water bucket, no sponge . . . nothing but bravado to try and get out of this one-sided battle. Putting her hands up in front of her face, Caron ran toward Kade, trying to grab the nozzle away from him. But the man only laughed as he pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her waist and anchoring her against him.

“Stop! You're all wet!”

“I'm all wet, am I?” Kade's words were laced with laughter. “And whose fault is that?”

“I'm sorry—”

“Oh, right. You sound sorry.”
He directed the spray toward her again. “Ready to give up?”

As Caron sputtered and tried to squirm out of his arms, Kade held the hose over her head. He manipulated the grip, allowing it to shower down, dousing her with a cold spray that soaked her hair and T-shirt.

“Kade Webster, you stop right this instant!” She closed her eyes against the downpour and pushed against his shoulders.

A few seconds later, the stream of water stopped. She opened her eyes, and found herself staring into Kade's eyes, tiny droplets of water clinging to his eyelashes. He dropped the hose, not even seeming to notice how it clattered to the driveway. He moved his arm so that it encircled her back, pressing her up against the length of his body. With one hand, he pushed her wet hair back from her face.

“Caron—” Kade's voice pitched low, his fingers tangling in the wet strands of her hair and tugging her toward him with the lightest of pressure.

“What?” The one word was a mere whisper.

“Kiss me—please.”

Caron closed her eyes, her kiss an immediate yes to his request. His lips were damp and cold from their recent battle, but within seconds heat flared through her body as his mouth warmed, his kiss slow and insistent.

“Oh, how I've missed you—” Kade's words were whispered against her ear, sending a shiver down her neck.

The embrace . . . the taste of Kade's mouth . . . it was achingly familiar, causing Caron to press herself closer as his arms tightened around her and his mouth found hers again.

Kade's kisses were so much more potent than Alex's kisses.

Alex.

“What am I doing?”
Caron pressed her hands against Kade's chest, turning her face away from him.

“I think . . . it's pretty clear what you're doing.” Kade pressed his lips to her jaw, trying to find her lips again. “I asked you to kiss me . . . and you did. Amazingly well, I might add.”

Even as the huskiness of his voice lured her closer, she forced herself to step away. “I'm sorry.”

“You're sorry . . .”

“I can't do this, Kade. I'm with Alex—”

His hands encircled her upper arms, pulling her toward him. “Don't be.”

“
Don't be?
That's it? Just end my relationship with Alex like that?”

“There's obviously still something between you and me, Caron—”

“And how would I explain this to Alex? To my father?”

“Fool me once . . .” The light disappeared from Kade's eyes, his hands dropping to his sides. His inhale was sharp as he stepped away from her. “Our relationship never worked because there were always three people involved. You. Me. Your father.”

“Kade—” A shiver ran through Caron's body.

“And ultimately, you chose your father. You just never bothered to tell me.” He stepped away, increasing the distance between them. “You'll have to excuse me . . . the effects of those two muscle relaxers I took last night are wearing off. I'll finish washing the car later.”

As Kade disappeared into the shadows of his garage, Caron wrapped her arms around her waist, water dripping from the hem of her T-shirt onto the ground. There was nothing else to say. No way to apologize for what had just happened . . . or to apologize for what had happened two years ago.

H
e didn't know which hurt worse—the heat coursing through his back or the remnants of Caron's kisses that scorched his lips.

The first kiss ignited all his longings for Caron like the initial spark of fire to an abandoned building. He wanted her even more fiercely than he had when they dated two years ago. Like a man who'd been locked in the darkness of solitary confinement and been offered an unexpected pardon, kissing Caron overloaded his senses. Was he shaking because he was wet . . . cold . . . in pain, or because he was resisting the urge to walk back outside and grab her in his arms again and kiss her until the ache lodged in his chest disappeared?

Not going to happen.

He wasn't going back outside—and kissing Caron Hollister again wasn't going to ease all the hurt that had surged past the protective barrier he'd thought would keep his heart protected.

He'd played a dangerous game, hiring her to stage Eddie Kingston's home. But he'd been flat-out stupid to go outside
when he saw her in his driveway this morning, washing his car. Why hadn't he taken his meds and gone back to sleep? Let Caron finish her little good deed for the day all by herself?

Kade shrugged into his dry robe, tossing his wet pajama bottoms into his tub. It didn't matter. The damage was done. He'd made a fool of himself over Caron Hollister—again.

He wanted nothing from Caron Hollister except for her to stage Eddie Kingston's house. He couldn't want anything more from her. All he needed to do was reestablish the professional boundaries and get through the next week. Pacing his empty bedroom, which was the room farthest away from the front of his house, Kade voice-dialed Mitch. Waited for him to answer. Groaned when it went to voice mail.

“Hey, it's Kade. Hope you're not too sore after the Mudder. I know it's Sunday. I slept through church. Can't go into the office, but I'm going to look at listings. Give me a call when you get this message, okay? Thanks.”

He might as well do some work—or try to before the muscle relaxers kicked in. Put his effort into finding his clients the houses they were looking for since he'd failed—again—at getting what he'd wanted. Who he wanted.

•  •  •

“Caron, you know I will walk all the way to Denver and back with you if it takes that long for you to talk to me. That's what girlfriends do.” Margo matched Caron's pace. “But I gotta admit I'm trying to figure out why you showed up here soaking wet just as I was getting home from church.”

Caron paused on the sidewalk, her arms hanging by her sides, her T-shirt still damp. “He kissed me, Margo.”

“What? Kade kissed you?”

“Yes.”

“Glory hallelujah, girl!” Margo grabbed Caron's arms and tried to twirl her around,
but when Caron stayed rooted in one place, she settled for a modified happy dance. “Why aren't you dancing in the street with me?”

“Because he kissed me. And I kissed him back . . . and it shouldn't have happened. I'm almost engaged to Alex—the perfect guy for me, remember?”

“If you recall, I don't think you should be marrying Mr. Perfect—and it's nothing against Alex. Besides, kissing another guy should have you seriously rethinking whether you really want to say ‘I do' with Alex.”

“The kiss was an accident.”

“On whose part? Yours or Kade's?”

“Both.” Caron swallowed back a sob. “I forfeited any chance with Kade two years ago when I broke up with him, Margo. I made my choice—”

“Did you make the choice you really wanted to make?”

“I made the only choice I could.”

“Really, Caron?” Margo put a hand on her arm, stopping her from walking away. “You made the only choice you could? I'm going to have to disagree with you. A
choice
implies more than one option. You could have chosen to stay with Kade—”

“Not if I wanted to keep working with my dad.”

“Well, not to be obvious, but how did that work out for you?”

“It was going well, until he made Nancy Miller his partner.”

“So, you're saying life would be perfect if you could go back to things the way they were before Nancy Miller? You working for your father and dating Alex—being almost engaged.”

“Yes.”

That was the right answer, wasn't it?

“Then tell me this—”

“Margo,
are we really going to do a Q&A out here on the sidewalk?”

“These aren't just random questions, my friend. These are life-changing ones. Why did you kiss Kade Webster? You had a choice there, too. Why didn't you stop it?”

“I did.”

“Before or after you got lost in the moment? You don't have to answer that question out loud, but even if you don't, I think we both know the answer—”

“I can't talk about this anymore, Margo. I can't. I'm so confused . . .”

Margo stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Caron, not seeming to mind her damp clothes. “I know. I know. Come on home, get dry, and we can talk about this later—if you want to.”

True to her word, Margo gave her space, waiting until Caron sought her out in the kitchen after she'd showered and changed into jeans and a long-sleeve Henley.

“So, any advice for me?”

Margo handed her a glass of iced tea, motioning for her to join her at the small table and picking up the conversation as if it hadn't been interrupted. “Have you ever thought that maybe you've got love all wrapped up with approval? That for you, love is a bunch of if-thens?”

“What does that mean?”

“If you do this or that or something else, then somebody will approve of you. And someone's approval means they love you. And for most of your life, you've wanted your father's approval so much you'd do and be anything he wanted—including walk away from Kade Webster, even though you loved him.”

“I understand what you're saying, Margo. And I know you're saying it because you're seeing something I don't . . . that maybe I'm just beginning to see . . . but what do I do now?”

“Just think about what I said.
Pray about it. I'll be praying, too. Nothing has to change today.”

“But I'm afraid something did . . . and I don't know what to do. I didn't come out here to turn my personal life upside down.” Caron shook her head. “And I can't think about Kade. Or me. Or what any of this means. Right now, I have to make sure everything is ready for the Tour of Homes.”

“Okay, then you concentrate on the tour. I'll pray about this whole mess and you finish your job.”

I
n less than twenty-four hours, the first ticket holders for the Peak Tour of Homes would walk through the front doors of Eddie Kingston's house. And she was ready for them.