Hard to Love (12 page)

MacKenzie chuckled. “Relax,
Lex
. I told you.
H
e’d be
freakin
’ lucky to get a girl like you. I still think you’re too good for the likes of him
, but that’s my opinion
. Just promise me one thing if you really are set on this.”

Was I set on this? I wasn’t sure. The only thing I was sure about
—
Cade provoked strange reactions in my body. “What’s that?”

“Have your fun with the porn star, but promise me that you won’t involve your heart.”

I nearly laughed at her ridiculous warning.
My heart?
I wanted to assure MacKenzie that there was no possibility of me falling
for
Cade, but my mind
flickered back to
his gentle nature with Lily and the words stuck in my throat. I nodded my consent. “My parents set me up with another son-in-law candidate. His name’s Peter and
he’s
taking me
to lunch tomorrow
.”

She rolled her eyes. MacKenzie was well-briefed in my parents
’
meddling ways. “Okay. Can I give you one tip, in all seriousness
,
if you’re going to do this?”

“Sure.”

“You’ll want to shave everything
—
thoroughly
—
he’s used to those girls in the videos, and you won’t find a speck of hair anywhere on them.”

I rolled my eyes. This was her advice? I
wasn’t about to
shav
e
off all my pubic hair just to appease a man. W
as I
?

“I’ve got to get back to work.” I tossed the cup into the trash and stuffed the last bite of bagel into my mouth.

*****

Why I’d agreed to a date with Peter Wyndham III
today
was beyond me. It was a moment of
weakness
—
my mom had caught me coming off the high of spending time with Cade, and I’d agreed.

I’d first met Peter at last year’s Christmas party at my dad’s office. The same party where they’d parad
ed
me around like a prized possession
since
the day
I turned eighteen.
A
s
if I wanted a fat, bloated accountant for a husband.
Thankfully Peter had been different. He was twenty-four, fresh out of business school
,
and felt just as out of place with the middle-aged accountants and their spouses as I did.

We’d spent the evening sitting on
a
balcony, me with his suit coat draped across my bare shoulders talking about our favorite college courses
—
mine, philosophy, and his, economics.

My parents had been delighted to see us hit it off
.
H
e was a prized catch in their eyes, everything they wanted for me
—
a
white male aged twenty to thirty, good genetics, well-bred
,
from an upper
-
middle
-
class New Hampshire family.
Wholesome as a glass of milk.
And just as exciting.

Their excitement alone caused me to squirm. I’d avoided his calls and their feeble attempts to set us up for the better part of six months.
Which was why I found it baffling that I was
currently
curling my hair, and
ironing
my
navy shirtdress
,
getting ready for my date.

We’d made plans to play tennis at the country club where both he and my father were members. I packed my tennis outfit into my large purse, which MacKenzie had named the Mary Poppins bag and went to wait for Peter.

When he pulled up in his sleek silver Lexus, I jogged out to meet him.
Peter emerged from the car, all gelled blonde hair and straight white teeth indicating years of orthodontia.
He met me at the car door,
dressed casually in jeans and a
button-up shirt
and
kissed the back of my
hand before helping me inside
the car
. The rich smell of leather
en
veloped
me and I settled back in my seat.

Something about
Peter was familiar, like a pair of worn
-
in jeans
, or you
r
comfy
flip flops
, but
nothing about
h
is
presence
—
and
certainly
not his kiss
—
brought me anywhere close to fireworks
.
More like tolerable indifference.
Cade on the other hand…
well,
my nipples pebbled at the mere thought of him.

After a
n
uninspired
tennis match, which he’d predictably let me win, we had lunch on the spacious stone patio at the club.
I o
rdered a champagne strawberry salad and Peter the truffle risotto. We sipped sparkling water while
we
ate and Peter told elaborate stories designed to impress me. He began with adventures on his father’s sailboat, crazy parties with his friends from prep school, and finally his career ambitions
—
to make partner by the age of thirty-five
.
N
ever once
did he ask
about mine.
Or anything about me, really.
I found my mind wandering to Cade and Lily. I wondered what they did on the weekends. I imagined
chocolate
-
chip
-
pancake breakfasts eaten in pajamas while watching cartoons. The thought made me smile.
I couldn’t help the occasional glances down at my watch, counting down the minutes until this date was over and I could go see Cade and Lily.

After our date, Peter walked me out to my car, opening the door while I settled in to t
h
e driver’s seat.

“That was fun. We should do it again. My family does this wine tour every fall,
you should come
.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, then pulled my car door closed.

Chapter 11

Cade

I got home from
work
just moments before six
.
Ian
’s younger sister, Sophia
,
who was nineteen and taking classes at the nearby community college often babysat for me and had been here since three to see Lily off the bus.

I wandered inside and found Lily eating dinner at the table,
and
Sophia sitting with her, filing her nails. 

“
Caden
!”
Lily
dropped her fork and was in my arms in seconds
.

“Did you do your exercises?” I kissed the top of her head.

“Not yet.
Me
and Sophia were
playin
’.”

I frowned at Sophia. She shrugged and
mumbled an apology, rising up to greet me with a hug. “
Mmm
, someone smells good.” She buried her nose in my neck.

“Don’t
.
I have a…date coming over.”
After work, I’d gotten in a quick workout with
Ian
and showered at the gym before coming home.

“You?
A date?”
Sophia narrowed her eyes in disbelief. “You don’t date.
Lord knows I’ve been trying to get you to ask me out for years.
”

“Sophia…
” I
gently
steered her
away
by her shoulders
,
adding some distance between us
.
“
Y
ou know
Ian
would have my balls if I laid
so
much as a finger on you.” Which was entirely true
, but it was more than that
.
Sophia had
grown in to a beautiful young woman, the problem was, when I looked at her, I still saw
the
gangly ten-year-old
girl
whose Barbie dolls regularly became
Ian
’s and my prisoners of war
.

“We could work around that and you know it.
Ian
isn’t the boss of me.” Sophia smiled, batting h
er eyelashes, resting her hand on my forearm.
Oh,
I
definitely knew
sure she’d be more than happy to work around it.

She’d been trying for months to get me to notice her, cleaning my house in
her
tiny cut-off
shorts,
and
offering to watch Lily for me
at any time of the day or night.
A
nd even though I knew her motives, I let her
do it
. If that made me a dick, then so be it. I wasn’t about to refuse her help. We both knew I needed it, though I’m sure she held on
to hope I’d change my mind about her.
About us.

“
Finish your dinner
, Lily
.
I
have company coming
over
tonight.”

“Is
Lexa
comin
’ back?” Lily’s face broke out into a grin when I nodded.

“Who’s
Lexa
?”

Who was Alexa? That was a very good question. A girl I had no shot in hell with in real life.
A girl
who
had the face of an angel and the
body to riva
l any porn star.
Someone sweet to my sister and probably capable of destroying my heart in the process.
“Just a friend,” I said.

Sophia rolled her eyes.
“Uh huh, friend my ass.”
She
slapped a palm over her mouth. “I meant bottom.” She looked down at Lily who was now giggling. “I’
ll
clean
up
for you
a little
. Go
get ready for your date, stud
.”
She slapped me on the ass.

“Thanks, Soph.” I shuffled off to
the laundry room, dropping my damp gym clothes into the washer
.
“
Did
you
pick up your room,
Lils
?
” I called from down the hall. I tried as much as possible to treat her like a regular kid. I wanted her to grow up independent and self-reliant, not thinking she was any different than anyone else, or incapable of taking care of herself. After all,
the day would come when I wouldn’t be there to help her
.
And that was s
omething I didn’t even want to think about.

I heard her scamper off to her room
and I
smil
ed
to myself as I started the washer.

When I walked into the living room
Sophia had thrown her hair up in a ponytail
and
had shed her
baggy
sweatshirt, leaving her in a skin-tight T-shirt
and pair of jeans
.
S
he was
flitting around the house,
dusting the living room, picking up stray items and generally making the house presentable.

I had a feeling she was only sticking around to size up the girl I supposedly had a date with. I
wasn’t
even sure this was a date
.
I d
idn’t
know what had prompted me to say that. Maybe because I knew Alexa wasn’t the kind of girl you
screwed around with
casually.

 
A knock at the front door sent a prickle down the back of my neck, raising the hair there and lighting all my senses in anticipation.

Sophia jogged to the door,
but
I stopped her from opening it. “Let me.”

She stepped back and placed her hands on her hips.
“Of course.”

I shook my head and took a deep breath, then pulled open the door.
Alexa looked stunning. She
wore
a
short-sleeved
navy
-
blue dress that hugged her curves
, and fell just above her knees. Her legs were tanned and tone, and ended in sexy feet encased in a pair of silver sandals.
She look
ed
sexy and innocent all at once. “Come in.” I stepped back to allow her inside.
Sophia clear
ed
her throat from behind me, and I drag
ged
my gaze from Alexa.