Kade, p.20
Kade, page 20
After Bob stormed out of the house, I watched Kade and Shay through the window in the kitchen. It’s amazing how a man so big and intimidating, a man who can cause so much destruction and harm using nothing but his fists, can be so gentle and sweet with my little girl. He stayed hunched down to her level, as if not wanting to frighten her with his size, comforting her, trying to help her forget that her father was inside foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal. Whenever my mind drifts back to his easy smile and her excitement over their silly little game, tiny chills break out on my skin.
Kade sets the bottle on the counter next to me, nuzzling my neck and breathing me in. “How was your day, sweets?”
“It’s getting better.”
I swivel the stool around to face him, tangling my fist in the neck of his shirt, and pulling his lips to mine. Hormones assault my body like a home invasion. His tongue edges along my lips, and I don’t bother to fight it, accepting it into my mouth and hooking my leg around him as he leans over me. Saturday night hasn’t been far from my thoughts in days, but seeing him now brings the memory front and center.
He pulls me to the edge of the stool and trails his hand down my cotton-covered thigh, making me squirm under the teasing touch of his fingers. I moan against his mouth. Warmth spreads from my belly to the area he’s fondling between my legs. “Forget the takeout. Let me eat you for dinner instead.”
“Deal.” My leg falls, and I sit up straighter on the stool. “But I have to pay these bills first,” I add, spinning back around to the stack of envelopes and snatching the top one. If I don’t get this done now, I’ll never come back to it later.
Kade glides around the kitchen unassisted, grabbing a wine glass from the cabinet, heaping it full of ice just the way I like, then filling it with a heavy-handed pour. People don’t generally drink wine with ice. I’m impressed he remembered. The corners of my mouth kick up in a knowing grin as he slides it in front of me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was trying to get me tipsy.
He grabs a beer from the fridge next, popping the top and sitting on the stool in front of me. My entire body reacts as I watch him bring the bottle to his lips and take a sip. His Adam’s apple bobs as the frosty liquid goes down his throat.
“It’s getting cold out there. You ever light that fireplace in the family room?” He shivers and licks some residual foam off his luscious bottom lip.
I reply with a snort. It’s only November and California boy is already cold. “Yeah, I do. There’s a pile of wood out back that needs to be split. I keep forgetting to hire someone to do it.”
He leans back on the stool, holding the edge of the counter and craning his neck as he peers out the glass slider. There are giant logs piled up by the shed, the remnants of a fallen tree from last summer’s storm. “Don’t pay someone for that. I’ll take care of it.”
A sheen of sweat breaks out on my chest just thinking about Kade in a flannel shirt wielding an ax. It definitely brings new meaning to the term lumbersexual.
Everything about him is sexual.
My fingers clack along the keyboard, pushing the thought from my lust-addled mind as I make the payment for my electric bill then move on to the next one. We can play Lumberjack later. Right now, I have adult business to take care of. I tear it open without reading the address on the front, dying to get through this monotonous task and onto more pressing matters. I read the letter and feel like I’m going to pass out.
“You all right?” Kade’s brows clip together with worry, but the typewritten words begin dancing on the page, making them impossible to read. I’m suffocating, trying to find breath that’s virtually disappeared from my lungs. My hands are shaking so hard, the letter slides from my fingers and flutters to my lap. “A. What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“He’s suing me,” I croak out over my dry throat.
“What?” Kade’s face twists up in confusion. “Who?”
The severity of the situation finally sinks in. I grab the letter from my lap and slam it down on the countertop. “The bastard is suing me!” I shout, leaping off the stool and stomping back and forth through the kitchen. “That jealous, petty, spiteful, piece of shit, scumbag, asshole…”
Kade jumps off the stool to grab the letter from the counter. “Who’s suing you?” His eyes skim the paper as I continue my furious pacing, choking an imaginary throat in midair. “That motherfucker!” He turns and latches on to my forearm. “He can’t do this, can he? This is ridiculous.”
“He can, and he is.”
My anger instantly switches to fear. Tears shoot out of my eyes and cascade down my face as I slide down the fridge and crumple into a ball on the cold tile floor. Gasping for breath, I bury my face in my hands. “He can’t take her from me, Kade. I can’t let him take her.”
Kade sits next to me, pulling me close and resting my head against his chest. “He’s not going take to Shay from you. He’ll never win this case. It’s absurd,” he says, gently stroking my hair and back with both hands.
When Bob left me, I was a mess. There were days when I found it hard to even get out of bed, leaving Shay to mill about the house watching cartoons alone. Just a few days after the divorce was final, I ran off on tour with a rock band and started a steamy love affair with the temperamental lead singer—the very one I am currently having casual sex with under the very same roof Shay resides in. I dropped the ball on all her after-school activities, choosing to focus on my career, a job that keeps me away from home long hours commuting back and forth to the city. He has plenty to build a case on, and any lawyer will be able to spin it to prove Shay’s best interest doesn’t lie with me. “I am an unfit mother. Just like he says.”
“Ainsley, listen to me,” Kade says, drying my tears with the pads of his thumbs. “Bob doesn’t want Shay. He wants to hurt you.” Kade swings his arm up, grabbing a napkin from the holder. “He can’t touch you with his hands. All he’s done is find a legal way to beat you up this time.”
My body sags against his arm as we sit together on the floor. I have no more tears left. I feel empty. As usual, Bob got the last word. If I lose Shay, I lose everything.
Chapter 30
Kade
“This is silly. I can’t see how this is going to make me feel any better.”
Ainsley stands in front of the black hanging bag at the hotel gym. I held her on the floor of her kitchen for a while, but a man can only handle so much crying before he feels the need to fix it. I know exactly what she needs—a jolt of adrenaline.
“It’s not silly, A. Trust me.” I take her slim shoulders in my hands and turn her toward the bag. “Give it a whack.”
She gives the bag a girlie little punch and looks back at me defeated. “Happy?”
“No, do it again,” I say rolling my eyes. “Hard, with all your might. Pretend the bag is Bob. What do you want to do to him right now?” I slam my fist against the bag, growling like a bear and letting out a tiny piece of aggression to show her what to do. It jerks hard, and I steady it with my hands waiting for her to follow my instruction. Ainsley turns back toward it and looks it up and down while rubbing her palms together. She curls them into balls and gives the bag a hard jab. “Better! Do it again!”
She throws a second punch than a third and a fourth. The bag barely moves at first, but then I see it. The look. Determination. The anger starts emanating off her in droves. A high-pitched grunt follows each punch as she unleashes everything into the bag with all her might.
I stand back, holding it tight. Watching the transformation from babe to beast take hold, I’m loving every second of it.
She kicks it, stomps it with the bottom of her little Nike sneaker with a loud thwap like she wants to annihilate it, while cursing at it again and again.
“You suck!” Thwap!
“Screw you!” Thwap!
“I hate you!” Thwap!
Sucking in sharp, wheezing breaths, she stops, her volatile eyes roiling with wild, brutish abandon. “Kade,” she rasps, licking her dry lips.
I let go of the bag and scoop her up in my arms, smashing her up against the wall in a kiss as hard and ardent as her vehement punching was a few minutes prior. Her legs wrap around my back, holding herself against me as our teeth grate together.
She lost control. She surrendered to her primal instincts. And it’s the hottest thing I’ve seen in my entire life. Ainsley is an animal. Just like I am.
A moan fills my mouth. The entire length of her body is pressed against me so tight I can feel every crevice of her skin through our clothes. “Letting go feels good, doesn’t it?” I say against her lips.
“I gotta get one of these bags.”
***
I’m sorry I didn’t kill that asshole when I had the chance. Bob suing for custody of Shay is a joke. The guy doesn’t even feed her breakfast. He’s a piece of garbage.
The antiseptic-smelling lobby pumps in top forty hits while I sit and wait for my name to be called. My hat is pulled low, and I purposely didn’t shave. I can’t let this happen. The notion that this is all my fault festers in my mind like a plague. If I hadn’t been at her house on Sunday, would he still be doing this? If I think for one minute that he’ll drop this lawsuit, I’ll get on the first plane back to California, no matter how my heart breaks.
The door opens, and a squatty woman in pink scrubs comes out. “Jack Mehoff?” The sound of the fake name I gave releases me from my thoughts, and I follow her into the little room. My knee bounces, my foot tapping on the linoleum while I wait. I’m taking a huge risk being here, but I have to try.
“Well, Mr. Mehoff, what seems to be the trouble?”
Bob comes in wearing his little white lab coat and carrying a clipboard. In this professional atmosphere, he looks less like the asshole I know and more like a regular guy. Somewhere deep inside him has to be something good. Something must be there that Ainsley saw and fell in love with. If I can somehow channel that part of him and show him he’s wrong about everything, I can fix this situation.
“The only one I see causing trouble around here is you.” I pull the hat off my head and clutch it in my fist. His eyes widen when he sees me then narrow into slits. He chucks the clipboard on the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. For a dentist, he’s a pretty big guy, but he’s short. If I had to guess, I’d say five-foot-seven on a good day. His false bravado is endearing but unnecessary. I’m not here to fight with him. “It’s time we had a talk, Bob. Man to man.”
“We have nothing to say to one another. Unless you’ve come here to thank me for not pressing charges last year when you assaulted me.”
Everything about this guy makes my skin crawl, from his Ken doll haircut to his fake Malibu tan. Having obviously peaked in college, he’s nothing more than an aging frat boy with a Napoleon complex.
“Let’s get one thing straight, bro. You hit me first. I had no beef with you.” I take a step forward trying my best to keep my voice calm. “This lawsuit against Ainsley is bogus. What do I have to do to get you to call the dogs off?”
His humorless laugh makes my hands twitch, and I imagine knocking his veneers down his throat. He’s baiting me. My lungs fill with air as I count to ten in my head. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s done. Shay needs a good influence in her life, not some poor starving artist.”
I push my fist against my palm and crack my knuckles to keep from hurling it into his smug face. “Would you really call divorcing your wife to screw around with the nanny a good influence?” He opens his mouth to speak, but I raise my palm to silence him. “We can go tit for tat on this all day, but I’ll get right to the point. Ainsley doesn’t deserve to be dragged through the wringer because of some hang-up you have with me. She’s a good woman, and you’ve hurt her enough.” I swallow the bile rising in my throat as I prepare for what I have to say next. “I’m sorry about the way things went down last year. You and I are not all that different, Bob. We’re both hot-blooded men who want what we want.” I can’t believe I’m standing here kissing this guy’s ass. The shit we do for love.
“Don’t compare yourself to me. You’re a pretty face and a set of vocal cords. Without them, you’d be swinging a hammer in a construction site somewhere like the uneducated loser you are.” He swipes the clipboard off the counter and tucks it under his arm. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have patients waiting for me.”
My long strides put me in front of the door in two steps. I push it closed without taking my eyes off him. His face turns five shades of red as I step into his personal space. “I’ve been real nice to you, man. I gave you a chance to do the right thing. You get one more shot to show me that you’re not a total asshole and drop this lawsuit.”
“Or what?”
“I may be an uneducated loser, but the team of lawyers I have at my beck and call are not. I have the power to drag your ass into so much legal dirt, you’ll never get yourself out,” I seethe. “Every secret you’ve ever had since preschool will be uncovered and aired. Every filthy piece of dirty laundry you think you’ve kept hidden will be brought out, and I will not stop until you are completely destroyed.”
A drop of saliva shoots through my gritted teeth and lands on his cheek, but he makes no move to wipe it away. “And as for me thanking you for not pressing charges against me? Maybe you should be thanking your lucky stars that I don’t march over to your house and tell your pregnant girlfriend the reason you were at Ainsley’s house to begin with.” Bob’s chin falls as I open the door and walk out, leaving him standing in the room.
“I won’t need another appointment,” I say to the girl at the desk as I breeze past.
Before the glass door behind me is even closed, my phone is out and I’ve already started dialing. “Vic? I need you to work your magic, bro.”
Chapter 31
Ainsley
Kade: Talked to Bob. The guy’s a dick. Expect a phone call.
I peer down at the text message wondering what the hell Kade is talking about.
Ainsley: A phone call from who?
Before I get a response that explains Kade’s bizarre message, the phone rings in my hand. “Hello?”
“Hello, this is Maxwell Stein’s office calling for Ainsley Daniels,” says the pleasant voice on the other end.
“This is Ainsley Daniels.”
“Please hold.” I wait while the line goes quiet, wondering what this is all about.
Before long, I hear a click, and a quick-talking voice comes through the phone. “Ms. Daniels, Maxwell Stein from Berghammer and Stein, thanks for your patience. I received a call this morning from an associate of mine who represents Black Diamond. I was instructed to give your case special treatment and to handle it personally.”
My mouth drops open. Kade.
I spent all morning talking to lawyers. Their fees are out of control. I do okay at the gallery but not well enough for a monetary commitment of this magnitude. I thought about asking my parents for a loan, and while it’s not completely off the table, I’d rather not have to subject myself to another degrading game of Ainsley Needs a Husband with my mother.
“I appreciate that, but I’m not sure I could afford you.”
Saying it out loud makes me feel like crap. I’m a grown woman with a child and very little savings. Starting over at thirty was no easy task, and up until now, I’ve been so proud of the way I’ve overcome the odds. Leave it to Bob to always know how to make me feel worthless.
“It’s all set, Ms. Daniels. My fee has already been taken care of. You have a tentative court date of December ninth. I’d like to meet with you to go over a few things in my office...” My mind wanders, and I stop listening. Kade paid my lawyer fee. Why would he do that? I can’t possibly accept this from him. “...does that work for you?”
“Sure,” I blurt out, even though I have no idea what the man just said to me.
“Excellent. We will see you this afternoon at two p.m. Have a good day, Ms. Daniels.”
The line disconnects, and I sit there stunned, still gripping the phone in my hand. Kade really is full of surprises, and this one takes the cake. Various parts of my brain play tug of war with each other. The independent side is immediately angered at his assumption that I need his help, but the logical side wants to cry because, as humiliating as it is, he’s right. I can’t let my pride get in the way. This is an amazing gift, and I’d be a fool to refuse it.
I go outside to collect my thoughts. The city sidewalk is lively with people bustling about. I lift my face to the sky, letting the midday sun shine down on me. The wind is cold, but it’s unusually warm for this time of year. I’ll never be able to repay Kade for his generosity. He never ceases to amaze me with his kind and giving nature.
A familiar voice stops me as I turn to go back into the gallery. “A?”
As if I conjured him out of thin air, Kade emerges from the crowd. He’s a day past shaving. A ball cap shields his face and giant aviators mask his brilliant eyes, but his massive height and confident stance are a dead giveaway. “You stalkin’ me now or what?”
His face splits into a smile. “Not yet. I have an appointment downtown. Is this where you work?”
“It sure is.”
“I’ll have to come back when I have more time. You can show me some art.” He pokes me in the stomach, and I coil back. Even when I feel this low, Kade always manages to put a smile on my face.
“After the phone call I got today, I’m going to owe you more than an art tour. I might have to give you a kidney.” I cross my arms around me as the wind blows through my hair. It’s sleek and straight today. A piece gets tangled in my eyelashes, and Kade runs his finger down the side of my face, freeing it and tucking it behind my ear as I continue. “You’re incredible. Thank you.”
