Lucky Break (8 page)

“Or that time we were at the park and you bet me you could climb that pole!” Now she was laughing—laughing so hard she could hardly speak. “And…then…” More giggling. He loved it. It sounded just the way it used to.

“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.”

Finally she calmed down enough to speak. “No, I’m pretty sure you were the one trying to be all manly by climbing a pole, and then slipped and banged your face on it.”

Leave it to her to remember his idiotic stunt. Kade shook his head, but he was smiling, too. He hadn’t thought of these things in years—not that he wanted to now, considering the way they made him sound, but he enjoyed it. Enjoyed her. “You’re really trying to put a dent in my manhood here, aren’t you, Peaches?”

The laughing died and he knew it was because of the nickname.

She let go of his hand, and damned if he didn’t want to grab it again just to keep her from running away. Her eyes were so bright and clear as she held him with her stare. “I’m…I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Want to kiss it and make it better?” he teased.

Sidney rolled her eyes, but a smile curled her lips. “No thanks, you clumsy oaf.”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She surprised him then by being the one to grab
his
hand and kiss his finger.

Kade sat on the porch, a bottle of beer in his hand and steaks on the grill. They’d cut out early today and he wanted nothing more than to come home and relax with a drink. Unfortunately, his body was wound up too tight to do much relaxing. Maybe it wasn’t even his body, but his mind. He kept seeing Sidney’s blue eyes pinning him as her lips touched his finger, before she’d scurried away.

Kade needed control. Not that he was an egomaniac, but when it came to his feelings and thoughts, he wanted to be in the driver’s seat. With Sidney, it wasn’t like that. It never had been.

As much as he enjoyed their time together lately, there was still that elephant in the room warning him not to get too close, knowing she’d be gone in a few short weeks. Logically, it was a good thing, but his body didn’t always agree.

Kade downed the rest of the beer in his bottle and tossed it into the recycling. Just then, his cell rang and, glancing at the screen, he saw it was his mom. He answered quickly. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

She laughed on the other end and his heart slowed back toward normal. “Why does something always have to be wrong? You’re such a pessimist.”

“I’m not a pe—”

“Oh, yes you are. Always thinking the worst and always trying to take care of everyone. I just called to hear your voice. How’s everything going?”

He relaxed a little and kicked his feet up on the other chair. “Everything’s fine here. How are you? How’s Justin doing?” Damn, he missed the little guy.

“I’m fantastic. We all are. We sure do miss you, though.”

Guilt pummeled him. He’d been so busy lately he hadn’t had much time for them. “I can come for a few days. I planned on making the trip in a couple weeks, but—”

“No, no,” his mom’s quiet voice cut him off. “No need to make an extra trip. I’m glad you’re finally out there doing something for you, Kade. You deserve it.”

He wasn’t so sure about that, but decided not to say anything.

“Now, don’t think I didn’t catch how you changed the subject to us. I want to know what’s going on with
you.
How’s Lucky’s coming along? How does it feel to be back? I know there has to be a lot of bad memories to go along with the good…”

Yeah, he definitely didn’t want to take a trip to the past. It spent enough time in his head. “It’s coming along well. There’re a lot of people pitching in, which is nice. Rowan’s been a big help.”

“Oh! She was such a sweet girl. I always loved her. Both Rowan and Sidney.”

Even without mentioning Sidney, things always came back to her.

“I sure miss them… I wonder what Sidney is up to after all these years.”

“Driving me crazy.”

“What? She’s home? That’s wonderful! I know how much you lov—”

“She’s leaving soon. It’s not that big a deal.”

“Kade,” she huffed. And he knew what that huff meant. He was about to get an earful. “Don’t tell me you’re giving that girl a hard time. I know things didn’t end well with you guys, but you were kids. She couldn’t have known…she had to live her life, just like you should have done. Stop being stubborn. You’re getting too old for it.”

“Argh!” He dropped his head back. “Who said I was giving her a hard time? We’re fine.”

“Kade,” she warned.

He sat forward, planting his feet on the deck. “I’m serious. Why do women always call me stubborn?”

“Because you are! You always have been. You take on too much and it’s time you got over it. You know you missed that girl. If she’s going to be leaving soon, you should make the best of it. I know what it’s like to live with regrets. I don’t want you to make the same mistake.”

Too late for that. He had too many regrets to count. But damn it, he’d love to take Sidney out of that equation. “What part of my telling you she’s home and ‘we’re fine’ makes you think I’m doing anything I’ll regret?”

“Because I know you. And this is also the first I’m hearing about her being back, which is a big clue right there. You worry too much. Overthink things. For once I wish you’d just relax and let it be.”

She was right. It shouldn’t be such a push and pull, but he didn’t know any other way to react to her. “I’m trying. She’s helping with Lucky’s. We talked…worked out the past.”

“Good. No one is expecting you to marry the girl. All I’m saying is she used to be your best friend. You’ve never been as close to anyone before or after. Don’t let this chance to renew an old friendship slip you by. I promise you, you’ll be mad at yourself for it eventually.”

Would this be a regret one day? Or would he just be setting himself up for more pain by giving in to the draw he felt to her? Because the truth was, every time he saw Sidney, he both got more comfortable with her and had to fight the urge to let himself dive in completely.

He’d had enough regrets in his life, and either choice he made, he risked another one. “She babied me when I slammed my thumb today,” he found himself saying. “You would have thought I cut the thing off by the way she looked at me.”

His mom laughed. “That sounds like her. I’m sure you took advantage of that, too, you rake.”

Only his mom would call him that. “I didn’t take advantage of anything.”
But I wanted to.
“She’s different.” He didn’t know where that came from.

“Everyone grows up; that’s something to remember. We all make mistakes we wish we could take back.”

He knew they weren’t talking about Sidney anymore.

Just then, he heard the rumble of Mae’s truck in the driveway. “Thanks, Mom. I’m going to let you go. Tell Justin I love him and I’ll see him soon.”

“That’s my boy.” He practically heard the smile in her voice. She knew she’d won. He never could deny the women he cared about.

Kade hit end on the call and tossed his cell on the table. He walked around the side of the house, just as Sidney got out of the truck. “Get your butt over here, you,” he called. “You’ve been working your ass off. The least I can do is feed you.”

And this time, he wouldn’t fight his instinct. His mom was right. He was old enough now to deal with the consequences.

Chapter Five

Sidney almost tripped, she was so startled by Kade’s invitation. They hadn’t spent any time together except at Lucky’s and none without knowing people were semi-close.

Which was much safer.

Her thoughts had shocked her earlier today. She wanted to do more than kiss his finger. Maybe let her lips trail up his arm and to the crook of his neck.

To bandage it and take the pain away.

Danger, danger!
These were not good signs. She refused to let herself desire Kade Mitchell. Or to fall for him.

Sidney held her head high and marched onto the deck. After setting her bag on the porch, she sat in one of the deck chairs. It was so gorgeous out here, trees for miles behind the houses. She hadn’t come out back since she’d been home. They’d spent a lot of time in those woods when they were kids.

“So…are you on something, or what?” she asked when the curiosity became too much to handle.

Kade’s eyes crinkled, showing off the little lines in his forehead. Like always, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She couldn’t help but wonder if he owned any. Maybe he really
did
still hate her and this was his form of torture—tempting her with sun-kissed skin and firm, defined muscles. Not a hint of the boy she’d known showed in his features.

Kade had grown up nicely.

“Yeah. I smoked it up before you got here. You want some?” His words came out half teasing and half serious. Not that she actually thought he toked it up.

“Well, how do I know? Things are different. I don’t
really
know you the way I used to, and you have to admit, it’s not like we’ve spent a ton of one-on-one time together. Your invitation wasn’t exactly expected.”

“You’ve always known me, Peaches.”

She gasped and then laughed casually, as if his reply didn’t nearly cause her heart to seize. He shrugged. “You’re here. I’m here. It’s just a barbeque.” Kade walked to the door. “Beer?”

She nodded, more because she wanted a few minutes to figure things out than wanting something to drink. More quickly than she would have liked, Kade came back out and handed her a bottle of beer with the top off. “Thanks.”

Without a word, he went to the grill and put the meat on. She watched his muscled back and the carefree profile of his face as he handled the grill like a pro, adjusting a knob here, rearranging the meat there. When had he become a grillmaster? How many clumsy grill moments had she missed while she was waiting in line at open auditions? How many—then he sat in the chair across from her.

“It’s weird,” she found herself saying after a beat, not even really sure what she wanted to voice.

“What is?” he leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head.

Sidney thought for a minute. “How things can be different, but sometimes feel the same. Like how I feel like I know you, but I don’t. We get along and we can talk, so it shouldn’t feel strange.”

Now it was his time for silence. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, “I hear ya. It doesn’t always feel that way, but when it does…”

“You miss how we were.” What she really meant was
I
miss how we were. And she hoped he felt the same.

He chuckled. “You always would finish my sentences.”

She let out a heavy breath that she hadn’t realized she held in. “Only when you had trouble doing it for yourself.”

He cocked his head like he was confused, like he didn’t expect her to see those kinds of things in him. Did he think it was only him that knew her? She knew him just as well. “I miss how we were, too.”

Kade winked at her. With his no-shirt policy and all those sexy winks, she was a goner.

Then she jumped a little when he leaned forward and picked something out of her hair. “When are you leaving?”

Leaving…

For a minute, she forgot she was leaving soon—that they weren’t going to work indefinitely on getting back what they had.

His stare was so intense, she wondered if he could see everything inside her. If he knew what she was thinking. Or maybe he just wanted to. She almost shied away from him, but found she couldn’t. “About three weeks.”

He nodded. “The soft opening for Lucky’s is in a week, the real opening in about two. I’d love it if you came.”

Her heart did a rapid dance. “Absolutely.”

Kade held up his bottle of beer. “To remembering the past and getting to know each other again. To…” A pause and then he cocked his head to the side, his familiar half-smile breaking the sober tone of his voice. “To the next three weeks.”

With those words, something broke inside her. Pain shot through the length of her body. She didn’t understand it and fought to stamp it down. “To the next three weeks.”
And to hoping that by
remembering the past
, you don’t mean
remembering how I left
.

“Oh my God. I’m stuffed.” Sidney set her plate on the table and leaned back in the chair. Her pants felt two sizes too tight. He’d fed her steak, baked potatoes, and a salad. She hadn’t eaten this much in…she couldn’t even remember how long.

Evening danced on the horizon as the sun dipped lower. It was nice, just sitting out here and
being
with him.

“What do you mean you’re stuffed? You’ve always loved to eat. You hardly touched your food.”

She put her hand on her belly. “Have to watch my weight. I’d be as big as a house if I ate the way I wanted.”

He rolled his eyes and put his boot-covered feet on a chair. Not cowboy boots either—that wasn’t his style. “Women are ridiculous. You
Hollywood
girls especially. Females are meant to have curves. There’s nothing wrong with the way you look.” His eyes skated over her and left goose bumps in their trail. It felt like a caress, and she had a niggling feeling that he meant it that way. “I don’t much see the point in it all if it takes away your will to eat.”

Sidney picked up a napkin and threw it at him. “It doesn’t take away my
will
to eat, you jerk! And guys always give girls a hard time about what they eat, but then they want to date girls who wear a size two instead of girls who look like me.”

He had the gall to laugh. She wanted to sock him. When he calmed down, his voice came out smooth as honey as he said, “You look good to me.”

She totally didn’t want to hit him anymore.

Her cheeks warmed. It was so strange hearing him say things like that. It hadn’t been like this before—they were best friends, always had been. He hit on other girls, went out with other girls, but the only time they’d crossed that line was when they’d kissed on graduation.

Now, he had the confidence to say whatever was on his mind. She both loved and hated that about him. “Thanks…”

He turned away from her, leaving her feeling a little lonely. When the silence became too much to bear, she said, “It’s so peaceful out here. I forget how quiet and relaxing it can be.” And beautiful, too. She took in the two small houses, the trees—firs, spruces so dense all around them. They lined the sky.

“Yeah, it’s incredible. That’s why I wanted to come back. It will always be home.”

His words hung in the air between them. Shamrock Falls would always be his home. It would always be the place of her past. They both knew it.

“Sidney—”

“I hate that name.”

Kade put his feet on the deck and leaned forward. “It’s your name.”

She had a feeling he knew exactly what she meant and just wanted to hear her say it. “I know, but it’s weird coming from you. You almost always call me Sidney now. Ever since I was thirteen years old you’ve called me Peaches.” She still remembered when he’d given her the name.

They’d just gotten home from a birthday party where a game of spin-the-bottle had felt like the end of her life.

“Come on, Sidney. You have to play! Sid-ney. Sid-ney.” They all cheered her on as nausea took over. How could she admit she’d never kissed a boy? “I…” She couldn’t find the words to say so, but she knew she couldn’t do it. She’d dreamed about her first kiss her whole life. It was supposed to be perfect with someone she trusted. Not some stupid boy she didn’t like, with everyone watching.

“Are you scared?” One of the boys asked.

“Leave her alone. She’s not scared. She just knows I have to leave and she’s supposed to go with me.” Kade’s voice sounded bored, nonchalant. Not like he’d just made up a lie for her.

Sidney’s heart slowed. She looked at him and tried to thank him with her eyes. He gave her a smile.

They walked home from the party together and he hadn’t brought it up at all. When they got to Aunt Mae’s, they sat on the porch swing. He’d wait for her to be ready to talk. She knew that. He always did.

“Thanks, Kade.”

He shrugged. “No biggie.” But to her, it was.

“I know it’s stupid. I mean, who’s scared to kiss? I just don’t want…” She shook her head, feeling like a dork. “I just want my first kiss to mean something…to be with someone I trust, but the only people I trust are Rowan and…”

Oh no! Would he think she wanted to kiss him? She hadn’t meant for her words to sound like that. He’d feel obligated to do it, just because she wanted it. That’s how Kade was. “I didn’t mean—”

“I’ll do it. I mean, I want to…for you. If you want…” He turned to look at her, not shy at all even though she felt like she could die.

“I don’t want you to kiss me because you feel sorry for me. You don’t have to try and save me from everything, Kade.”

But she
did
want him to kiss her. Wanted to get that first kiss out of the way. With him. She didn’t trust anyone else in the whole wide world to give it to her.

“Maybe I just want to practice my technique.” He winked at her and something suddenly started to tickle her insides.

Sidney licked her lips. She wanted to do this. Wanted this stupid first kiss, but didn’t know if she could make herself say it. Not even to Kade.

Luckily for her, he didn’t make her. Her body trembled when he leaned toward her and licked his lips, too. “Don’t be scared, Sidney. You know I’d never hurt you.”

And she did. She knew that to the marrow of her bones.

His hand slid through her hair as he came closer…closer. He leaned his forehead against hers, his breath warm on her face. “You always smell like peaches.” And then his mouth was on hers. He teased her slowly, giving her one gentle kiss after another. She jumped a little when his tongue traced the seam of her lips. “It’s okay.”

All her nerves evaporated. This was Kade and there was nothing to worry about.

His tongue probed her mouth, licking and tasting. She caught on quickly, moving her tongue with his. Letting him taste her before she did the same to him. Too soon, he’d pulled away from her, his forehead on hers again. “You taste like peaches…”

The sound of Aunt Mae’s truck echoed from the driveway. Kade leapt away from her. After that, she was always…

“Peaches…,” Sidney said again. Oh, yes. There had been one other time they’d kissed. It wasn’t in the same category as graduation, but it had been special.

The soft tilt of his eyes made her wonder if he was thinking of the same memory. If the conversation had transported them both back in time to that moment on Aunt Mae’s swing.

Kade pushed to his feet and she thought they were going to get into an argument again, but instead he just kneeled down on the ground. This time when his hand came toward her, he didn’t take something out of her hair. No, he slid his hand into it. His palm cupped her cheek and his fingers played with her hair.

He smelled so masculine and his hand was calloused.

He was going to kiss her. Good God, he was really going to kiss her this time. Nerves shot through her, and suddenly she was scared. Scared he would kiss her and scared he wouldn’t. Scared if he did she would never want to leave and freaked out of her mind at the thought of staying. Worried about their fragile friendship and nervous thinking about how incredible this could be.

Kade leaned forward and her body screamed for more. Her heart did, too, but her head warred with it. He got closer, so close she could almost taste him. Sidney’s eyes dropped closed, turning off her brain. Tentatively, his lips brushed hers; her hands itched to latch onto him and pull him closer. A tingle started where their mouths met before traveling the length of her. It was small, but monumental at the same time. She craved more. Just when she resigned herself to kissing Kade for real, to open her mouth and let him in, her phone rang. She jumped back.

He didn’t move and she wasn’t sure what that meant.

It rang again. With quick hands, Sidney pulled her cell out of her pocket. “Um…it’s my agent. I need to take this.” Sidney stood up and did what she did best—she ran.

Sidney was tired, but too wired to sleep. This had been different than the other time Kade almost kissed her. It had been…more. She didn’t see resentment in his eyes as she did before—when he’d looked as though he was about to do something he would regret.

That had freaked her out.

She was still freaking out. It would be a huge disaster, because when he was that close, she didn’t want anything as much as she wanted him.

Thank God Lydia called before it was too late.

Sidney opened the attachments her agent had e-mailed her. As she scrolled through the casting calls, multiple listings sounded promising. Lydia had set up a couple of auditions for when she returned. None too terribly exciting, but jobs she would definitely take if they offered. They still had those other possibilities that they’d spoken about earlier floating around, as well.