The One and Only (Heart of Hope 7)

Cade smiled widely, “Mom even said that she’d take care of the press.”

“Yes, I saw that. I’m grateful to her.”

“Dad’s still in a bit of shock, I think. But he’s coming around. Especially with Mom on my side. They have a lot of faults, but they do love each other.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what else to say.

Cade took another deep breath. “I’m sorry for leaving you. Again. Especially after I said that I wouldn’t. But I do want you to know that it wasn’t willingly. I didn’t want to leave you. I love you, and I meant it. I just didn’t see any other way to protect you.”

This last part ended with Cade doing a massive yawn, trying his best to cover his mouth. “Sorry for that. I got the first flight that I could. I’ve spent more time on planes the last two days than on the ground. I haven’t really slept.”

“You can crash in Drew’s room,” I said, leading the way. “Caitlyn, could you take Drew out to the yard while I get Cade settled in?”

“Settled,” Caitlyn mumbled. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

I sighed, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll look after Drew. As long as Cade promises that he’ll never ever break your heart.”

“I promise,” Cade replied.

Caitlyn didn’t look too convinced, so I hustled Cade down the hall. She was my best friend. She was allowed to hold a grudge on my behalf, at least for a little while. I understood why she wasn’t quite ready to believe that Cade wasn’t just jerking me around again, and I appreciated her protectiveness. Hopefully, her reservations—and mine—would be proven wrong.

We got to the bedroom and I closed the door behind us. Cade immediately moved towards me, taking my face in his hands, his thumbs lightly stroking my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Again. I’m sorry for causing you pain, and I’m sorry for leaving you. I won’t ever do it again.”

“This won’t be the only time in our lives that this sort of thing happens,” I pointed out. “Even if you don’t want a career in politics, your father is still in the government and your mother is still a famous actress. Things like this could happen in the future. What if I got pregnant again and the press hounded us? You can’t flee from one city to another to protect me. That’s not how a relationship works. You stay, with us, and we weather it together, whatever ‘it’ might be.”

Cade nodded, his hands still on my face. “I promise. I won’t ever leave, whatever happens. We’ll get through it together, the two of us. Being without you, leaving you—it was the worst choice I ever made. Both times. I can say that my intentions were good all I want, but it doesn’t change how much I’ve missed you and wanted you, and how miserable I made both of us. I never want to experience that again. I want to be by your side, and have you by mine, for the rest of our lives.”

That was all I needed to hear. “Could I get that promise in writing this time?” I teased. “Given the last couple of times you promised and all….”

“I’ll get it drawn up and have it notarized,” Cade replied with a smile, and kissed me.

Cade had kissed me in a lot of different ways during our relationship. But I had never gotten a kiss from him that tasted so much like pure relief. More than relief though, I was feeling blissful.

I wrapped my arms around him as he continued to kiss me tenderly, his arms around me, holding me like I was the most precious thing in the world.

I’d felt this way once before, but he had made it seem like it was a lie and he had hurt me. Now, I knew that he wouldn’t hurt me again. All my fears had gone away now—it was just the two of us and our love, at last. I didn’t have to guard my heart anymore.

To my embarrassment, I cried a little. Cade stopped kissing me and wiped my tears, “Kitten, no need to cry. Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

“I know, I know.” I laughed. “I’m just so happy. I’m so relieved.”

Cade kissed me again, sweet and soft, and gently led me to the bed. It felt like the only thing keeping me weighted to the ground was the feeling of his hand in mine.

He undressed me slowly, like I was a precious gift, like he had to be reverent. He kissed my body slowly, moving his mouth from my legs up to my face, and I just felt so loved. I felt like I was worthy of worship. I got my hands on his clothes and stripped him, feeling the firmness of the muscles under my fingers. He was so sexy, so strong, and he was all mine.

“I can’t wait to do this to you for the rest of our lives,” Cade told me as he pulled me down with him onto the bed.

And oh, I believed him. I couldn’t wait, either.

33

Cade

For a moment, it was like all of my exhaustion had faded away. I wasn’t tired, I couldn’t be tired, so long as I was making love to Laura.

She was so happy, I could feel it in every kiss, see it in her eyes when I pulled bac