Marrying Cade (13 page)

Chapter Fourteen

It wasn’t exactly a love seat, but it wasn’t a full length sofa either, and every inch of Cade’s long frame ached as he swung his legs onto the rug and levered himself up to sitting. He kneaded his neck and stretched it side to side to ease out the kinks. Sleeping on the sofa had never been part of the plan. He hadn’t exactly slept either. Part of him waited for the bedroom door to open, and for Melo to come out and talk to him. Maybe even take him back to bed with her.
Fat chance.

With a groan, Cade stood, his leg muscles protesting as he stretched them out and headed in to the kitchen area to put on a pot of strong coffee.

While he waited for the coffee machine to do its job, he pushed open the door and strode down toward the lake. The sun was coming up accompanied by birdsong in the early dawn. The foreshore was covered in pebbles washed smooth by the clear lake water, and the glasslike surface was broken by spreading circles as fish snapped up insects dipping too close. Cade ran a hand through his hair, and stooped to pick up a flat stone, weighing it in his hands and caressing the smooth surface for a moment before skipping it along the surface.

Everything had changed, and for the life of him he couldn’t work out where the hell it had all gone so wrong. After his proposal the shock in Melo’s eyes had cut him to the core. For the first time in a long time he’d felt raw, exposed, vulnerable. Dammit, he should have told her he loved her, not just cared for her, but thank God he hadn’t.

She obviously didn’t feel the same. After all, what had she told him the night they’d fallen into bed at the hotel?
Let’s enjoy the time we have together.
His hands clenched into fists. She wasn’t looking for a long-term thing. And why should she be? He’d made his aversion to a permanent relationship more than clear. The fact the world had shifted on its axis in the time they’d been together was immaterial.

She wanted him; she couldn’t hide her body’s reaction or the desire flickering in her eyes every time they met his. But wanting someone short-term was a very different prospect to
loving
someone.

She hadn’t been able to get away from him quickly enough.

Cade’s chest felt tight and he strode along the lakeshore away from the cabin, breathing in deep lungfuls of the frigid air. She’d smiled, obviously not wanting to hurt his feelings, but she’d run all the same. And this morning they would “talk,” and the fact she hadn’t at any stage left the bedroom last night was an ominous sign.

Whatever happened next would be her decision. If she didn’t want him, he’d make sure she took his money, anyway. After all, he could afford to buy the beach without building on it. Cade bent to pick up a branch of twisted wood, bleached white in the sun, and ran his fingers over its knotted surface before flinging it into the undergrowth fringing the water.

Once all this was behind them, maybe he could show her how he felt. Show her by
being there
that they could build a future together. A thought weaved through his mind but he pushed it away firmly. He wouldn’t think that it was over. It could never be over.

****

The smell of fragrant coffee hung in the air as Melo pushed open the door of the bedroom, and glanced around. The room was empty, the discarded blanket on the sofa the only sign Cade had been there. She padded across the floor in her socks, and pulled down a cup from the cupboard, filling it with coffee and adding a splash of milk from the fridge.

She’d stayed up practically all night, searching through the paperwork. Eventually she found what she was looking for. The investment contract was with The Bellucci Winery, not her father. Melo felt sure that since he was chairman, not a sole proprietor, the entire deal had been illegal. Now, she urgently needed to get to Rome to see Aldo Renda, the lawyer Cade had engaged to investigate the veracity of her claim.

The thought of talking to Cade had her stomach in knots. She strode to the door, jerked it open, and settled down on the chair by the table. There was no sign of Cade. Calm settled in her by degrees as she gazed out over the lake, glistening where the sun hit it. It was so beautiful here, so completely untouched. Nature in all its glory. The cabin was the only addition to the unspoiled environment and was so skillfully made it seemed a perfectly natural addition. As she’d always dreamed the house she’d build on Paradise Beach would be. A complement rather than an eyesore.

She swallowed a mouthful of coffee. Closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her eyelids as she tuned out her own thoughts and surrendered to the sounds of the forest. The breeze brushed the high branches of the trees, rustling the leaves. Somewhere, far away, an animal bellowed, perhaps a cow, or a moose. The sound was indistinct, and Melo let her mind drift over the possibilities. A thud, then another. Muffled but regular. Coming from behind the cabin. Melo opened her eyes to the blue sky. She would miss being here. Their time in Canada had been too short, but she needed to get back to Italy to meet with Mr. Renda. And there was no time to spare.

Rising from the chair with a reluctant sigh, Melo swallowed the last mouthful of coffee and set off to investigate.

The thudding got louder as she came into the clearing and paused, hidden by the trees that ringed it. Melo pulled in a deep breath, and stared.

A shirtless Cade was splitting logs cleanly with a single stroke of an axe. His skin gleamed with a faint sheen of perspiration, and the muscles in his back and shoulders flexed powerfully as he took aim and brought the heavy axe down again and again.

Melo couldn’t tear her eyes away.

It wasn’t fair.
All she wanted to do was walk over, touch him. Reach up and bring his mouth down to hers, and tumble into bed with him for the rest of the day. His jeans rode low on his hips. She knew the front view of his rock-hard body would be just as spectacular. She took one step forward, her body acting on automatic in response to her thoughts. Drawn toward him like a moth to a flame.

A twig cracked underfoot, and Cade hesitated mid-swing, the axe lowering to hang at his side. He turned and saw her, then slammed the axe into the tree trunk he’d been chopping on, and ran his hands over his thighs.

“Good morning,” Melo croaked, cursing the fact her voice was misbehaving, when she so desperately wanted to sound strong and capable. She strode across the clearing, relief blooming inside as he smiled. “Are you coming in for coffee?”

“I could sure do with some,” he answered, his gaze lingering on her lips for a moment before he grabbed his T-shirt from the ground nearby and straightened. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Not really,” Melo admitted, striding to the house. “I have to go back to Italy.”

A touch on her arm stopped her mid stride. “What?”

“I have to see someone in Rome.” Melo avoided his eyes, not wanting to share her suspicions until she had concrete proof, a definite solution to her family’s problems. “I have to go back sooner than I planned.”

His hand dropped from her arm and an uncomfortable silence blossomed between them. “You don’t have to leave. If what I said last night makes you uncomfortable, I won’t talk about it again, but you don’t have to leave.”

There was no getting away from it then. “It’s not that—I have a meeting to get to. It’s work.”

He didn’t believe her. She could tell from the way he held himself, aloof and reserved. Closed off.

“Come on, let’s go in. We can talk.”

He followed her silently into the house. Slipped the T-shirt over his head, and crossed his arms. Waiting. Melo pulled in a deep breath, pushed the discarded blanket to one side and sat down on the sofa. To her relief he didn’t sit down next to her, but instead settled on a rocking chair opposite.

“About last night…” she started, feeling her face warm with heat as he regarded her silently. This was much harder than she’d anticipated. “I appreciate your offer, but I don’t want to marry you, Cade. If the beach must be sold, then I’d be happy to sell to you.”

She twisted her hands together and wished he’d say something. Show some emotion.

He stared back impassively.

Nerves compelled her to elaborate. “We don’t need to complicate things between us—we’re friends—”

“We’re a lot more than friends,” he said, in a deep husky voice.

Melo nodded. “A lot more. But we don’t need to marry to find a solution to this problem. We always knew
this
was temporary.”
Why was he looking so…so hurt?
“Let’s not let a difficult situation force us into something neither of us really want.”

Cade’s expression shuttered. “You’re right of course. There’s no need for that.” He stood. “I’ll take a quick shower and then we’ll go back to the hotel and organize flights. When are you going back to Isola dei Fiori?”

Melo did some quick calculations in her head. Rosa and Adam would be returning from honeymoon in five days; the deadline to pay Mezzuti was a week away. If she was wrong, or couldn’t reverse the situation by then, the beach would have to be sold.

“I’ll be back on the island by the eleventh.”

****

“So, what’s next?”

Melo stretched out her jeans-clad legs and glanced across the acres of dark mahogany desk at Aldo Renda.

He pushed his tortoiseshell glasses up with a finger, and put down his pen on the desk’s surface.

“As you supposed, the contract is invalid due to the fact that the investment wasn’t sanctioned by the board. But the fact that your father signed it is damning for him. Mezzuti could claim he signed the contract fraudulently, should they desire. And if the board decides to press charges…” Aldo grimaced. “Your father could be facing a jail sentence for fraud.”

Fear pulsed through Melo. Her frail father couldn’t be put into that position, but really, what choice did they have? She couldn’t protect him any further; his bold black signature on the papers ensured that.

“What if the board could be persuaded not to press charges?” Melo held her breath for Aldo’s answer.

“If they did that, he could escape prosecution. But Mezzuti could still decide to sue—and at that stage it would be out of our hands, I’m afraid.”

Melo twisted her hands together. A headache pounded in her temples. She’d spent two long days barricaded in the room with Aldo. Her eyes ached from reading through endless papers.

Two days of intense work, with sleepless nights between, did nothing to ease the strain. Every time her eyes closed, an image of Cade drifted to the surface. Walking on the lakeshore, wielding the axe in the clearing, with his glistening body flexing in the sunlight. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t settle, couldn’t find any peace in the Eternal City. Even her usual addictions—the little shops stuffed with jewelry and shoes on the route to the Spanish steps—failed to alter her mood or distract her. When she’d arrived in Rome Aldo had regretfully told her that her father was right, he was the legal owner of Paradise Beach, not her. And she hadn’t cared. Not really. Not when she remembered what else she’d lost.

She’d told Cade no and walked away. Her reasons were perfectly valid, but her heart ached with the prospect that their romance was over. She didn’t think she’d ever get over it.

She forced her mind back to the matter at hand.

“Surely they would have to do due diligence, make sure he was entitled to sign on behalf of the company?” She felt like she were clutching at straws, but couldn’t banish the suspicion that Mezzuti knew exactly what they were doing, and would have done everything in their power to slant things in their favor. They wouldn’t be above bending the rules.

“That wouldn’t stand up in court. It’s your father’s responsibility to ensure that, I’m afraid.” Aldo forced a hand through his thinning grey hair, and stood to stride to the large window overlooking a small park. “I think we need more coffee.”

The nerve endings of Melo’s hands trembled with the overload of caffeine and stress. If she drank any more coffee she’d pass out.

Aldo walked to the desk, and his eyebrows rose as he looked at her face.

She’d doubtless been grimacing.

“Tea, then?” he questioned. At her nod, he pushed the button on the intercom on his desk, and passed on the request to his super-efficient secretary.

“Let’s go through it again,” he said, with a calm, soothing tone.

Melo walked to the flip-chart they’d set up to jot important points on, and stilled as her eyes focused on a date scrawled in the corner.

The 15
^th
of May.

She scrambled to the chair, grabbed her bag, and pulled out her filofax with shaking hands. Rifling through the pages, she identified the date, then flicked a couple of pages further on, unerringly finding the page with the date circled in red.

Her legs felt shaky. She sank down onto the chair. Her heart was thundering, and her head filled with white noise as a memory floated to the surface. She’d seen something in the paperwork, something that was causing bells of alarm to sound in her head, and driving up the hairs on the back of her neck.

“What is it?” Aldo said, his voice laced with concern. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“The dates,” Melo whispered. “Something about the dates.”

She leafed through the stack of paperwork with shaking fingers. Finally found the contract that her father had signed. She’d read every inch of every page. And…

Her eyes skimmed the pages impatiently. There! She stabbed at the sentence with her finger.

Clause Two: There is a cooling off period of 14 days.

“Here,” she said.

Aldo strode around the desk to peer over her shoulder.

“It’s a standard clause; I don’t see how it helps us.” Disappointment flickered across his face.

Melo forced down the excitement that threatened to explode from her. She wasn’t a lawyer, and maybe she was just going to receive another disappointment, rather than the solution she prayed she’d just found. She opened her diary wide, then flicked back to the front page of the agreement.

“Look.” She pointed at the date of the agreement. “The 15
^th
of May. The contract refers to a cooling off period of 14 days. At any stage during this period my father could have cancelled, right?”