Breathless (144 page)

Caden

I flipped the phone off and quickly pulled on a dark blue button-down over my rumpled T-shirt and went to the bathroom to dampen my fingers and run them through my hair. God, there was nothing for it. I shrugged. Brook wouldn’t bloody care anyway.

“You’re leaving?” Ethan looked at me incredulously. “What the hell?’”

“That was Brooklyn,” I said, as I bent to tie the laces on my Nikes.

“No shit. Why else would you be high-tailing out of here like your ass was on fire?” he raised an eyebrow and smirked at me. Grabbing the remote, I tossed it to him since he’d just started a beer.

“Yeah, I guess Dave left. Feel free to stay as long as you like.”

His eyes widened at me. “What does that mean?”

I shrugged, trying not to get my hopes up. “I don’t know. She just said they had a row.”

“A what? What the hell is a row?”

“A fight, okay? An argument. Jesus,” I laughed. “You should get out more.”

“The hell I should. This is America! Talk
American
,” Ethan teased and I went to grab the guitar case from behind the chair in the corner.

“No, it isn’t. It’s Canada, dickhead,” I teased, and Ethan grinned.

“Did she say what it was about?”

“Uh, no.” I decided to keep it to myself. Brook didn’t need anyone else to know, unless she decided to tell the story herself.

“Well, it’s her birthday, but you just got a gift from heaven. Have fun.”

I shook my head at him in disbelief as I headed to the door. “It’s not like that. We’re friends.”

“Yeah, sure you are. Who are you trying to convince?”

“No one. We
are
friends. Cheers,” I said, and with that, I was out the door. It was chilly in Vancouver, since it was only early April, but I hardly noticed as I walked the two blocks to Brooklyn’s hotel. Another of Marin’s futile attempts to make sure I didn’t cross the line.
What a bloody joke.
We were together constantly.

I walked through the lobby, and the concierge nodded at me. “Hey, Cade,” he said. He knew me well enough. I was here more than I was at my own hotel.

“Good evening, Trent,” I smiled as I rushed into the elevator. “How are you?”

My heart started to beat faster as I got closer to Brook’s room, and finally I was at her door. I set the guitar to the side so she wouldn’t see it when she opened the door and then knocked very softly.

I could hear her coming to the door and when she opened it, a big smile split her face. Suddenly, I found my arms full of her. I wanted to crush her to me, but restrained myself and just hugged her back gently. She smelled all Brooklyn… shampoo, a light dusting of musky perfume and something slightly sweet. I turned my head into her neck, allowing myself the small pleasure of breathing her in.

“Thanks for coming. I hope Ethan wasn’t mad,” she said sheepishly as she moved backward into the room.

“Who fucking cares? It’s your birthday, not his.”

She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear on one side. “So are you going to stand in the doorway all damn night, or what?”

I reached to my right and pulled the guitar in with me. I had a big red bow tied around the neck of the case and her eyes lit up.

“Oh, my God! Really?”

The pleasure I felt at the look on her face was beyond words. My heart swelled with the love I felt, and her obvious joy at the gift, and she hadn’t even opened it yet.

I walked toward her and handed it to her. “Open it,” I said softly.

Her right eyebrow raised and she bit her lip as she took it. “Well, it’s either a guitar or you’re totally creative in wrapping whatever it is.”

I burst out laughing and shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “No, it is a guitar,” I said stupidly. “Um, I thought we be able to play together, and you said you wanted me to teach you some stuff, so I just thought…”

She’d moved to the bed and set the case down, flipped the locks and pushed open the red velvet lined case. The guitar was mahogany and very dark, with the wood grain visible on its shiny surface. It had been delivered to me, only two days earlier by Federal Express.

She raised her eyes to mine and her hand went to her mouth. “Cade! Oh my God, it’s gorgeous!”

“More importantly, it sounds amazing. I tuned it for you.” I sat down next to her and she reached out to touch my cheek, so gently that I wanted to close my eyes. Her eyes were glassy and filled with tears.

“It’s just… perfect,” her voice sounded thick.

“Yeah. I wanted to give you something that you wouldn’t get from anyone else.”

She blinked a couple of times to push back the tears, and shook her head. “Only you would take the time to listen to me enough to understand what I really wanted. Thank you.”

She took the guitar out of the case and strummed across it. The perfect chord filled the room.

“You don’t have to play it now. I know you’re tired.”

“Are you tired?”

I nodded. “Yeah, beat. Today was rough.”

“Too tired to play a song for me?” she asked hopefully.

“You want me to play it before you do? It’s yours.”

“Yeah, but somehow it feels like it’s
ours
, so yes, I’d love to hear you play. Just one song?”

I smiled, shedding my coat and kicking off my shoes as was my habit when we hung out together. I pushed back on the bed until my back was resting against the headboard, and reached for the guitar.

“You know I can refuse you nothing. It is your birthday, after all.”

“Nothing?” she said softly, and my heart thumped in my chest. She’d just had a fight with David but who knew how she’d feel in the cold light of day. I felt it best to ignore the comment and try to distract myself from the implied meaning of her question.

I softly strummed the guitar and watched Brooklyn’s face. She looked thoughtful, like she was thinking about something, and I longed to know what it was.

“Do you want to talk about what happened with Dave? I’ll listen if you need to talk about it,” I said over the chords I was playing; then started to pluck out some individual notes. Her eyes came up to meet mine and she took a breath.

“Um… it’s not that important. Just, I guess I was just tired and I didn’t want…” Brook bit her lip and went to the little refrigerator, pulling out a soda.

I nodded silently as I watched her back. She brought me a beer. I stopped strumming and cracked it open to take a long pull. I felt a measure of satisfaction knowing what she was implying, like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, and I could suddenly breathe again. She told me on the phone that the argument also had something to do with me. I could only guess that he could sense the connection Brook and I shared and was jealous. I couldn’t bloody blame him, but knowing he had a right to be with her, only served to put me in hell. I decided not to press her, mostly because I didn’t need the details to add to the torment I felt whenever he was in town. My imagination was bad enough.

“What should I sing? Something soft, so you can relax and sleep?”

She crawled onto the bed next to me and curled up on her side, her head resting on the pillow next to me. “That sounds good.”

Here was a golden opportunity. Brook and I connected over music and here was a chance to tell her how I felt, to use the song to communicate what I couldn’t talk to her about. How I felt about her and how I knew she was trying to push down her own feelings, and
close her eyes
to what was happening between us. I knew what I wanted to say and which song to sing.

I picked out the first few notes of the bluesy tune, and then started to sing… words that said
I know you don’t want to love me, and even though I know it, I can’t stay away…

I felt Brook’s hand come out to rest on my leg just above my knee and she moved closer to me on the bed. My heart started to jump around inside my chest, but I kept on singing. These were words I couldn’t speak to her, even though I was dying inside.

She was closing her eyes every time she chose to ignore or fight the feelings I knew deep down in my gut that she had for me. I knew she was fighting falling in love with me. It would be easier not too, and I knew that, too, but she needed to know I would still be in her life… always waiting and hoping; no matter what.

When the last of the notes died out, I slid off the bed and moved to put the new guitar back in the case. I felt her eyes watching me until I came back to the bed and resumed my position next to her, only this time, I laid down and turned on my side toward her. I could drown in those deep brown eyes and I wanted to. I wanted this to be my life… not David’s or any other man’s. In my heart, she belonged to me.

I picked up her hand and brought it to my lips, barely brushing my lips across the top of her knuckles. Her eyes became liquid as she looked at me. “I know you don’t want to see it, but I know you can feel what is happening between us, Brook. It’s real.”

She slid the hand I had kissed across my stomach and snuggled in tighter, resting her head on my shoulder. She didn’t utter a sound for at least ten minutes. I tightened my arms and turned my face so my lips were resting on her forehead. I kissed her softly and she nodded against my mouth.

“I know, but I’m scared.”

“You don’t need to be. You know, if you’re going to marry me, you’ll have to trust me,” I said softly and waited with bated breath for her response. I’d asked her to marry me before, but always in a flirty or teasing way. This time I was serious. Seeing her with David, once again, had a way of strengthening my resolve. The seconds ticked by in silence before she finally spoke.

“I do. I trust you more than anyone in my life. That’s part of the reason I’m scared.”

I drew in my breath and my chest rose and fell beneath her head. I ran my hand lightly down her arm and then back up to cup the back of her head, her luxurious hair sliding around my fingers. “It’s late, I should go,” I murmured quietly after a while.

“Why? I mean… we’ve spent lots of nights asleep together… so will you stay?”

Those were the most beautiful words she’d ever said to me, and I knew she wanted to fall asleep in my arms. A great river of contentment flowed through me.

“Okay, but let’s get you beneath the covers before you fall asleep.” She nodded and moved from me to pull the covers back and crawl under them. I did the same, but first removing my button-down and my socks, but leaving on my jeans and my t-shirt. I was there to take care of her, to make her feel safe… to offer comfort.

I flipped off the lamp and she curled back into me and I gathered her close.

“Cade, thank you for everything today,” she said softly in the darkness. “You’re so good to me. The guitar is very beautiful. I love it.”

“You’re welcome, love.” I turned my head to place a soft kiss on her forehead. “My pleasure.”

I felt my lids getting heavy as sleep came up to consume me. Brook’s breathing was already soft and even, rushing against the skin of my neck as she slept. Now it was safe to tell her the words my heart was screaming… the most profound truth in my world.

“I love you… more than anything, Brook. I love you.”

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OTHER BOOKS BY K.A. ROBINSON

Torn Series:

Torn

Twisted

Tainted

Toxic: Logan’s Story

Ties Series:

Shattered Ties

Twisted Ties

Breaking Alexandria

Taming Alec: A Novella

Prologue

Every child puts his or her parents up on a pedestal. Parents could do no wrong, and their opinions were your opinions as well.

At the tender age of six, I felt the same way. My mother, the famous supermodel, Andria Bellokavich, was my idol. I wanted to wear her clothes, make my hair look the same as hers, and share her opinions with the world.

“I can’t
believe
they let that kind of riffraff in this park,” my mother said as she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

I followed her gaze to see a boy around my age and his mother playing by the sandbox. “What’s wrong with them, Mommy?”

“They’re low-class white trash, and I don’t see why they feel the need to invade
our
park.”

I stared at the boy. I saw nothing low-class about him, but what did I know? My mommy knew everything, and if she said they were icky, then they must be.

“Can we make them go away?” I asked, eager to please my mommy.

“I wish, but unfortunately, this is a public park, so there’s nothing I can do. I will say this—we will not be coming back here anytime soon.”

I loved this park, and it made me sad that we couldn’t come back. I instantly hated the boy and his mother for taking away my favorite place in the world.