Hard to Love (24 page)

We drove in silence toward the theatre, and I found myself yawn
ing
.
T
he sleepless nights
over the past few weeks
had caught
up with me. “Do you mind if we stop for a coffee before the show?”

He glanced at the clock on his dash. “If we make it quick, it should be fine.”

A few minutes later, I pointed out the green
sign
of the coffee chain coming up at the next exit.

Peter pulled off the highway and into the parking lot, navigating to the drive-thru lane, which was backed up by a traffic jam of coffee seekers.

I counted the cars ahead of us.
Seven.
“Shoot.”

Peter slid the gear
shift into park and let out a sigh.

I slipped off my seatbelt. “I’ll just run inside. It’ll be faster.”

“Alexa, we’re already in line.” He glanced in the rearview mirror. “And now I’m blocked in.”

“Don’t
worry,
it’ll be like a race. You wait here and I’
l
l go inside.”

“A race
,
huh?” He grinned.

I nodded, and hopped out of the car. “Yes. And I’ll win. Be right back.”

Once inside,
I noticed
there were only two people ahead of me
at the counter
.
Piece of cake.
I contemplated my order, remembering that Peter liked hot chocolate with whipped cream, when the sound of rich, male laughter met my ears from across the room. There was something strikingly familiar about it and panic rose in my stomach. I reluctantly turned and
spotted
Cade seated at a small round table across from a woman.

I wished I could hide, that the floor would open and swallow me whole, but of course that didn’t ha
ppen. He hadn’t yet noticed me. T
here was still a chance I could get away
without being seen
,
but
I couldn’t resist one more glance. Cade was exactly as I remembered, all hard muscle and masculine features
, a shadow of beard growth dusting his jaw
. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, listening intently to the woman. I could only see her profile,
but
she looked familiar and my mind worked to place her. Was she one of the babysitters he used?
S
omething about
the
auburn hair hanging down her back had my mind working overtime. It didn’t matter. I needed
to get
out of here.

I took a step back and knocked right into a
tower
of reindeer mugs,
rattling the display. 

Cade chose that exact moment to look u
p
. His eyes settled on mine and a line creased his brow.
“Alexa?”
He was on his feet
and heading toward me before I c
ould even contemplate escaping. “What are you doing here?”

“Cade,” I mumbled incoherently
, meeting his concerned gaze
.

“Yeah.
It’s Cade.” He pressed a palm to my cheek. “You okay? You look a little flushed.
”

My eyes darted
back across the room to the red
head at his table. She had turned to watch us, and
her
seeing her full on, I instantly knew who she was. My knees trembled and a wave of
nausea
crashed through me. Cade was on a date with
the girl
from his first film
sh
o
ot
.
Desiree I think.
I reminded myself to breath
e
, but little good it did me. My head was swimming with this discovery. Was she the reason he chose his work over me? How long had they been seeing each other outside of work?

Cade glanced back at the woman, and bit out a clipped apology. “Sorry. Let me introduce you to
Sara
.”
He motioned her over.

Sara
?
I supposed Desiree was her stage name.

When she rose from the table, her hand moved to cradle her swollen round belly and
realization struck. She was several months pregnant. M
y legs went out from under me.

When I came to, I was lying on the floor. Cade was holding my head in his lap
, sweeping his fingers across my forehead
.
M
y hazy eyes met his concerned ones.

“Cupcake?” he asked.

I moved to sit up, but his large hands on my shoulders held me in place. “Stay put. You took quite a spill
.
You
hit your head on the floor before I could catch you.” He rubbed the back of my head, massaging the swollen lump beneath my hair.

“Ouch
.
” I winced at the contact.

“That’s what I thought.”

When I remembered what had
sent me crashing to the floor
in the first place
—
seeing
Sara’s
pregnant belly
—
a sob broke free from the back of my throat and I
struggled to free myself from Cade’s grasp. I didn’t want him holding me, trying to comfort me right now.
Not to mention, I could see that I was
causing
quite the commotion in the coffee shop, sprawled out
across
the floor
the way I was
. Cade waved away a barista
who was headed in our direction, her expression one of concern
. “I’ve got her.”

“Cade, let me up.”

He
opened his mouth
to argue, but the determination in my eyes
had to have
convinced
him. He helped me up from the floor and sat me down in a
leather
chair
in front
of
the
fireplace.
I wiped
fresh
tears from
both
cheeks, but
the
effort was futile. The tears refused to stop.

Sara
was hovering by his side, and I heard Cade ask her to go get some tissues for me. She scurried off for the restrooms.

Peter came strolling into the coffee shop. “Alexa, come on, we’re going to be la
—
” He stopped in front me, looking down at my tear
-
streaked face.
“Alexa?”

Shit. I’d completely forgotten about Peter. I took the tissues from
Sara
and pressed them to my cheeks.
So much for putting on mascara today.
Cade knelt down beside my chair, taking the tissues from me to help mop up the tears.

“Alexa…
?
W
hat’s wrong
?
A
nd who is this guy?” Peter asked.

“I’m sorry, P
eter,” I managed. “This is Cade
.”

Peter’s eyes went to Cade’s kneeling form and a look of disbelief overtook his face.
“This guy?”

Peter didn’t know much about Cade, just that
he
was
the guy I
’d been
seeing before him
, and that he was the reason I
didn’t want anything to do with a relationship right now because of
the
rocky
way
things had ended between us. I could see Peter’s surprise that I’d dated a guy like Cade at all
—
scruffy
,
worn jeans, work boots and a fitted long-sleeve pullover that emphasized his over-muscled chest
made him the polar opposite of Peter’s gelled hair, tweed blazers and Italian-leather loafers
.
I blew my nose,
knowing I looked like a mess and
long past caring. I felt like I’d been hit by a train.

Cade looked between Peter and I.
“I’m taking her home,” he informed us both.

I squeaked out a protest, and Peter took a step closer. But Cade rose to his feet, towering over us both. He turned to
Sara
,
placed a hand on her belly, and leaned in toward her to whisper something in her ear
.

A pain stabbed at my chest.

Peter placed his hand on my shoulder, but turned to address Cade. “You’re not taking her anywhere. First of all, we’re on a date. Second of all, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason she’s crying right now.”

Sara
kissed Cade’s cheek and headed for the door. I didn’t blame her for disappearing. That sounded pretty
appealing
right about now.

“We don’t have to go, Peter.” The last thing I wanted to do at this very moment was watch a ballet that included a sweet little love story.

“I, ah, didn’t tell you before,
Alexa,
but I got these tickets from my uncle. We’re joining him and his wife at the play.”

He’d tricked me into some weird family get
-
together? There was no way I was meeting his aunt and uncle right now
—
or ever.

“I just want to go home,” I murmured.

They both looked down at me.

“I’m taking her home,” Cade repeated.

Peter sighed.
“Fine.
I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late. Are you sure you’re okay with him taking you home?”

It
wasn’t
like I had much of a choice
—
Peter was practically stranding me
, miles away from home
. “It’s fine. Just go
,
Peter.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll call you later.”

Don’t bother,
I uttered to myself.

I’d never been inside Cade’s truck before. The cab was in need of a good cleaning,
and
there were water bottles
littering
the floor and a Cinderella coloring book on the seat between us. It smelled like a mix of his subtle cologne and the spicy scent of a man after a hard day’
s
work.

He didn’t say anything as we drove
.
H
e just stared straight ahead and rest
ed
one hand on top of the wheel.

When he pulled into my condo complex, I realized I hadn’t provided my address, nor had he asked for directions. He parked next to my car and turned off the ignition.

We sat in silence for a few moments
.
T
hankfully
,
my sobs had quieted into little hiccups. “Thanks for bringing me home.” I pushed against the truck door, and climbed down carefully, realizing the ground was f
a
rther away than I thought.

He met me
at
the side of the truck and took my hand, stopping me. “Wait. Let me explain.”

I don’t know what possessed me, whether it was the closure I was craving, or my own morbid curiosity about his expectant girlfriend, but I nodded. I wrapped my arms around my middle
, bracing myself for his explanation.

“Not here. Invite me inside,
Lex
.”

I nodded my consent
and led
him
inside.
I tossed my purse and keys onto the entryway table and made m
y
way to the couch, not knowing how much longer my
shaky
legs would hold
my weight
. 
I collapsed
and immediately
curl
ed
myself into a ball. I expected Cade to be right behind me, but strangely, I heard him rummaging around inside my kitchen.

I lifted my head and watched him walk toward me carrying a glass of orange juice, a box of Kleenex and a bottle of pain reliever.
He held out the glass of juice for me while he opened the bottle of pills. Only once I had swallowed a dose
did he sit down
beside me. His news
had to
be
even
worse than I imagined
,
since he was being so kind to me. Maybe
Sara
was pregnant with twins, or they were engaged. Crap, why hadn’t I checked her left hand? Not that it mattered, I reminded myself.

I took a deep breath. “So when is she due?”

His face
twisted in confusion.
“Who, Sara
?”