The Taylor Ranch: Cade (4 page)

Come on…you can
do this.

He
knocked, hoping it hadn’t come across as too loud.

No
answer. Cade was about to turn and walk away, wondering if he’d have the nerve
to do this all over again, when Patrick opened the door.

“Cade,
how wonderful to see you… Come in, son.”

Cade
removed his hat and stepped across the threshold, wiping his boots on the mat.

“I’ve
been meaning to stop by your ranch and say hi, but things just got so busy,”
said Patrick. He hoped that sounded sincere.

“And
I should have done the same, sir.”

Without
warning, Patrick threw his arms around Cade’s shoulders and hugged him.

“Sorry
that you left here so swiftly, but I know why you did.”

He
pulled away and Cade nodded, picking at the edging of his hat that had begun to
fray. “No disrespect to you, sir, but
you’re
not the
real reason I’m here. I mean, not the person that I specifically came to see.”

Patrick
smiled. “First of all, would you stop calling me
sir
? You don’t work for me anymore, and even when you did, you know
I didn’t think any of you guys needed to address me so formally.”

“Okay,
si
…Patrick.”

“Secondly,
I’m sure you heard that April’s back living with me because her marriage to Ben
ended.”

Cade
nodded. “Is she around? I thought maybe we could break the ice and it wouldn’t
be so awkward if we ran into one another in town.”

“She
thought the same thing and I’m guessing she’s at your place right now. She told
me she’d stop by on her way back from running errands.”

Cade
laughed.
Typical and ironic.
Both thinking the same
thing, but not getting their timing right.

“You
want to stay and have a beer with me while you wait for her?”

“Nope,
I have to be getting back to the ranch… lots of chores to do.”

It
was true, his list of to-dos got longer each day, including knocking down a few
of the old barns.

“I’ll
tell her you stopped by. Maybe you should give her a call next time you want to
stop by just to make sure she’s here. You know April… she’s always out and
about.”

“Yeah,
I guess I should have done that the first time around, but I wanted to see her
in person first. In fact, let me give you my number and maybe she can call me.”

“Sounds
like a good idea. Let me go grab a pen and paper.”

Cade
looked around the hallway of the house while he waited for Patrick to return.
Looked the same as it had since he’d worked here, but that was a good thing
because it always felt like a real home.

“Okay,
you want to write down that number and I’ll make sure April gets it.”

Cade
took the pen and paper and wrote the number of his cell phone under his name.
He handed it and the pen back to Patrick. He put his hat back on and turned
toward the door. Patrick went ahead of him and opened it.

“
Don’t be a stranger
anymore,” he said. “In fact, come for
dinner one night.”

Cade
simply nodded. He’d love to, but he didn’t think it would be a good thing––he
didn’t want to be April’s rebound man. Well, that was if she was even interested
in getting involved with another guy.

“Nice
seeing you again,” said Cade before he headed back to his truck.

Damn,
he’d missed her and she’d been intending to go to his ranch. He took a deep
breath. He’d have to go through all this again. He turned on the ignition and
headed out of the parking area and down the road that exited the Dubois Ranch.

Another
truck was heading toward the house, setting up dust and making it hard to see,
but as it got closer he was able to recognize who was driving it.
April
. Would she know it was him?
When she slowed her truck, he guessed she did. She stopped, pulled over and got
out so Cade decided to do the same.

April
looked better than she had two years ago. A hell of a lot more curves, in tight-fitting
jeans and a short leather jacket. The white-t-shirt underneath it pulled across
her chest, showing the outline of her heavy breasts and bra. He was in love all
over again.

They
stood looking at one another, neither of them saying a word. He knew what his
next move was going to be. It was pure stupidity, but he couldn’t help it.

Taking
two large strides over to her, he grabbed her, pulling her close into his body.
And then he kissed her.
Not just a quick peck like old
friends, but one befitting old lovers who were reuniting.
She opened her
mouth to him, letting him glide her lips with the tip of his tongue, and
obviously giving him permission to slip it into her mouth.

She
even smelled exactly how he’d remembered. He’d never forgotten the perfume she
always wore. He had her in his arms again and he never wanted to let her go.
His cock pulsed and that’s what made him realize he was playing with fire. So
much had gone on between them, the betrayal and those angry words spilling from
his mouth.

Cade
pulled away, once again, neither of them saying anything. He quickly realized
he shouldn’t have kissed her–– he couldn’t handle this right now. He got into his
truck and simply drove away, glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing April
standing there, watching him leave.

Chapter Five

April
stood watching Cade’s truck disappear from sight. She brought her hand up to
her mouth and ran her fingers over her lips where Cade had kissed her. Her
first instinct had been to push him away, and not because she didn’t want him
to kiss her. When his lips had touched hers she’d thought back to the days
without him, when she’d tried to relive their very first kiss over and over
again. Sometimes it was what kept her sane, kept her going.
Kept
her positive about seeing the finishing line of her phony marriage.

He’d
obviously had second thoughts about kissing her again, hence the reason for his
hasty retreat. However, he’d stirred up not only memories of previous kisses,
but her libido too. Cade Mallory had always been good at pushing that
particular button.

 
So how dare he kiss her and take off, leaving
her wanting more.

Damn,
he could be stubborn at times, but that was another quality she loved so much
about him.
April
couldn’t blame him, and that was the reason she needed to talk to him and get
things straightened out.

Getting
in her truck, she put it into gear and headed toward the house. Her father was
just walking across the path that led to the barns and stables. He waved and
then walked toward her. She pressed the button to open the truck window.

“Cade
was here looking for you. Well, at first I think he pretended he was stopping
by to say hello to me, but while I’m charming and handsome, I was realistic enough
to know he was here to see you.”

Her
father’s wonderful dry wit again. Despite now being in a somber mood, she
smiled.

“Yeah,
he passed me on the road.” She wasn’t going to tell her father about the kiss.

“What,
he didn’t see you?”

“I’m
not sure, because there was a lot of dust swirling around.”

“Cade
left his cell phone number and said for you to call him. It’s on the fridge,
you can’t miss it.”

That
was before the kiss. Maybe now he wouldn’t want her to contact him.

Well,
she was going to whether he liked it or not.

“I
think I’ll do that right now.”

“I’ll
see you at supper.”

“And
don’t be late because it’s another one of your favorites.”

He
touched the brim of his cowboy hat and walked away.

April
parked the truck and went inside and through to the kitchen where she saw the
slip of paper her father had mentioned, under a magnet in the shape of the
state of Montana that April had made when she was six.

She
removed it, walked over to the phone and dialed the numbers. Since the kiss,
she’d become more confident about talking and reconnecting with him. A woman
knew when a man still had feelings for her, and this time no Ben Parker and his
deals were getting in her way.

“Hi, Cade Mallory speaking.”

“What
was all that about?”

She
didn’t say who it was because she was sure he knew.

“It
was a foolish impulse and I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Didn’t feel foolish to me.”

“Well,
you weren’t the one on the receiving end of hurt and pain.”

He
did still carry a grudge and she couldn’t blame him one little bit, but maybe
when he heard the true story he’d understand.

“Cade,
I’d like to…”

“Look
I thought us saying hello was a good thing, so there’s no awkwardness when we
run into one another, which being in Pine Creek we’re bound to do. So now we’ve
done that with this phone call, and we’ve even thrown in a kiss for good
measure, so I think that pretty much takes care of it.”

“No
it doesn’t. Not in my books. Cade, I have to tell you what happened and why I
walked away from you.”

“April,
it’s
water under the bridge. I’ve moved on. I have my
ranch and I’m seeing someone right now, so like I said let’s be civil when we
see one another and leave it at that.”

The
purring noise in her ear told her he’d cut her off.

She
sat down still cradling the phone in her hand, pushing it into her chest as the
first tear fell onto her cheek.

Fool to come
back.

How
arrogant of her to think that because Cade was living just down the road, they
could pick up where they left off.
He had
someone.
Her father had been wrong about there not being a girlfriend.
However, he wasn’t to blame because her dad wasn’t really into gossip, and who
was seeing who and sleeping with which person in town didn’t interest him in
the slightest.

Maybe
she’d leave Pine Creek for good this time. She’d miss the ranch and her father
all over again but she couldn’t go through years of wondering, every night when
she went to bed, if she’d hadn’t made the deal with Ben how things could have
turned out for her and the only man she’d ever really loved.

Chapter Six

He’d
been so good at being strong and putting on a different persona so people
couldn’t see that he’d almost fallen apart when April had married Ben, that it
was almost second nature to him now.

Yes,
he’d moved on with his career, hence him buying his own ranch. That much was
true. However, him seeing someone …
a
total lie
. He’d tried dating, even
giving in to
well meaning
friends who’d set him up on
blind dates. Despite some of the women being cute and nice, his heart would
always belong to April Dubois.

He
hadn’t slept with another woman since she’d left his life.
Not
that he hadn’t wanted sex,
but he didn’t think it was fair to make love
to a woman while wishing April was the person underneath him.

He
threw the saddle over his horse, secured it under its belly and got on, riding
out into the pasture and beyond. Cade dug his heels into the side of the horse,
willing it to go faster, and hoping the wind whipping by his ears would clear
away the thoughts of her.

Wishful
thinking.

Cade
slowed the horse down again. He’d go back to the house and his paperwork. Order
some supplies and get absorbed in all the boring stuff … that should do the
trick. He rode the horse back into the stables and fifteen minutes later was
sitting at his desk figuring out how much feed they’d need when he heard
someone knocking on his door.

He
wasn’t expecting anyone. He pushed his glasses up on his head and walked out
into the hallway. He opened the door.

“May
I come in?”

His
mouth went suddenly dry.

“April,
I thought I’d made it clear on the…”

She
put her hand on his chest, and pushed him backwards until she was inside the
house. She closed the door.

“I’m
seeing someone,” he said, knowing this was his last and only chance of defense,
but she had her hand on his body, for god’s sake. What was a man to do?

“I
think the only person you’re seeing is yourself when you look in the mirror.”

He
bit his lip, hoping the corners of his mouth weren’t curling up. Since she’d
been away she’d obviously inherited Patrick’s dry wit.

“She’ll
be here any minute,” he said.

“Then
I’ll wait, because I’d like to meet her.”